Chapter 5
Chapter 5: A Good Neck
The air in the conference hall was solemn. The person seated at the head was Emperor Tatar de Tessibania, flanked by Tessibania’s high-ranking nobles. The moment Empress Vinea Madretta Veshnu appeared, those who had been noisily opposing the Emperor’s opinions fell silent. Eyes swept over Vinea, wondering why she had come to the meeting.
Breaking the strange silence, a low voice echoed through the hall.
“What brings you here?”
Tatar rose from his seat and approached Vinea.
“Empress.”
He lightly kissed the back of her hand. Despite the affectionate gesture, their eyes met with emptiness.
“It’s the monthly council meeting today. Now that I am the Empress of Tessibania, I should attend as well.”
“…If the Empress wishes.”
Tatar’s gaze asked why she had come to this bothersome place, but Vinea had her reasons. She was here to keep an eye on the nobles, as Tatar had often lost his temper and beheaded them. In previous loops, she hadn’t cared whether he cut off heads or pierced hearts, but this loop was different.
A servant brought an additional chair to the head of the table. As Vinea sat next to Tatar, the nobles visibly displayed their discomfort.
A man seated at the far left stood up with a smiling face.
“It must be quite different from Veshnu. I worry that Her Majesty might find the seat uncomfortable. Ah, my apologies. I should have introduced myself first.”
Feigning friendliness, the man spoke with barbed words. Vinea looked at him indifferently. She knew his name but didn’t deem it worth her time to listen to it again; he was one of those who would be beheaded early in the loop for annoying Tatar.
“No need for introductions. Take your seat.”
Her dismissive behavior was clear. The noble, whose face had quickly turned red, sat down awkwardly. The Empress’s demeanor, unlike what they expected from a supposedly meek and naive person, filled the hall with sharp tension.
“Continue the meeting.”
Of all the people in the resumed meeting, the least focused were undoubtedly Vinea and Tatar. They had heard these discussions countless times. Like a wedding ceremony, they knew who would speak when and what the reactions would be.
As Tatar put his pen down with a snap, the meeting resumed, and the atmosphere grew heated. The noble who had been ignored earlier stood up abruptly.
“―To reabsorb control of the southwestern military into the royal authority?!”
Another noble across the table frowned and slammed the table.
“The war is over, Marquis! We’re even reducing military control in the eastern borderlands, yet you insist on holding onto it?”
“It’s been barely over a month since His Majesty ascended to the throne. As loyal subjects, how can we burden His Majesty with such responsibilities?”
The marquis turned to Tatar, wearing a pained and earnest expression worthy of a stage actor.
“The nation is not yet fully stabilized, Your Majesty. If you take control of the southwestern military now, it will undoubtedly cause problems.”
During the prolonged war, the royal knights had been distributed, and military control was handed over to nobles near the borders. This had been the case for over thirty years, and reclaiming the military power that had inflated their egos was naturally met with resistance.
The unexpected abdication and sudden end of the war had indeed left the state affairs in chaos. Taking back the military control given to the nobles would double the already burdensome workload.
The noble opposite him seemed to be dissuading him but was actually collaborating to bring this issue to the forefront.
After a moment of silence, Tatar turned to Vinea.
“What do you think, Empress? Should we let the nobles continue to fatten themselves on royal assets, or reclaim military control?”
The nobles in the room turned their heads, startled by Tatar’s blunt question.
“Well…”
Vinea’s indifferent eyes scanned the nobles. She understood that Tatar’s question was not merely about military control. He was asking whether to quickly kill the arrogant nobles and let the military power fall into their hands or to reclaim it through relatively ‘normal’ means, even if it was bothersome.
“Your Majesty, I do not believe this is a matter for the Empress to express an opinion on.”
“Indeed. To ask the Empress, who is not yet familiar with the affairs of Tessibania, to weigh in on such a critical issue is inappropriate.”
“I agree. If the matter is too difficult to decide alone, it would be wise to seek the former Emperor’s counsel.”
Worried that the Empress from an enemy nation might interfere with their interests, the nobles began to voice their opposition.
‘Not familiar? Seek counsel?’
Vinea stifled a laugh. If they knew how long the soul within this young shell had rotted in the palace, they would react differently.
“Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
“Reclaim the military control. Moreover, I understand that during the war, the number of private soldiers the nobles could retain was gradually increased. It’s now more than double the original number, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
A few perceptive nobles’ faces stiffened. Vinea answered with a slight curl of her lips.
“Confiscate them all. This was already decided during our marriage negotiations. With a peace treaty in place, it would look quite bad if one side remained armed.”
The marquis, who had stood up first, shouted.
“Your Majesty! Are you trying to weaken the border defense—”
“―Enough.”
Tatar’s cold voice froze the air instantly. His fierce gray eyes fixed on the marquis, who collapsed back into his seat.
“I’ll ask again, Empress. Should we cut off that rude man’s tongue or his neck?”
“Y-Your Majesty…!”
The nobles, their faces pale, bowed their heads. The marquis, who had been shouting with a flushed face moments ago, now looked like a ghost.
“It seems some still don’t understand what our marriage and your presence here signify. Isn’t that so?”
Their marriage was a symbol of the end of the war and a means to quell the seeds of rebellion. It was not a simple union but one that couldn’t be undone by divorce or betrayal.
Given the severe rebellion that had arisen during the prolonged war, it was understandable that both empires had resorted to changing their thrones. Only a madman would attack each other under such a fragile truce.
Vinea sighed internally. What should she do? Pretending to be kind wasn’t hard, but there was a much simpler way.
The decision didn’t take long. Vinea responded.
“A good neck.”
* * *
The nobles hurriedly left the conference hall, nine in total. One had fainted during the meeting and was carried out on a stretcher. As the pale-faced nobles disappeared, a calm settled over the hall. Tatar stood up and perched precariously on the edge of the table, leaning on his arms as he looked down at Vinea.
“If you change your mind, let me know. I’ll bring you his head anytime.”
“No need. He made such a spectacle; we won’t see him in any official capacity for the rest of his life.”
To explain, as soon as Vinea said “a good neck,” Tatar had drawn his sword from the waist of the guard behind him and pointed it at the offending marquis’s neck. Overwhelmed by fear, the marquis had fainted on the spot, falling backward. The nobles around him, horrified by the w*tness spreading in his trousers, had all moved away, even avoiding the area where he had lain after being carried out on a stretcher.
As a result, the balance of power had shifted completely to their side, and the meeting concluded in the direction they desired.
Tatar rotated his stiff neck from side to side and spoke.
“Bringing back military control will only increase our workload.”
“It’s more troublesome to deal with the aftermath of killing them, Your Majesty.”
“Once we regress, it’s over. Rather than facing those I detest, it’s better to relieve the frustration by beheading them.”
He raised his hand and gently tugged down the neckline of her dress, revealing the marks he had left the previous night. The red marks, like stamps, were still clearly visible. Tatar smirked as he looked at them.
“I thought I tormented you quite a bit, but it seems not enough if you’re still able to come here directly.”
Vinea frowned and lightly brushed his hand away. Tatar rubbed his fingers, still feeling the softness of her skin, and locked eyes with her.
“By the way, thanks to you, my side is settled. What about you?”
“Come to my quarters tomorrow. A bit earlier than usual.”
“Hopefully, you’ll make the right choice this time.”
* * *
Vinea looked at her reflection in the mirror. The white dress, falling lightly below her chest, softly embraced her body. It had been a long time since she cared about formality or appearances, but there were unavoidable occasions even in her repeated lives.
Like today, two days after the wedding, when she had to visit the main temple to pray for peace and the well-being of both empires.
As she touched her bare neck, Vinea spoke.
“Bring me a necklace. One with large diamonds.”
The head maid, standing behind her, stepped forward.
“Forgive my impertinence, but it is customary to keep the attire minimal. As an exemplary figure, Your Majesty should be particularly mindful of this.”
Vinea looked at the head maid’s reflection in the mirror. The same old routine, tiresome even in the seventy-seventh regression. She wondered how many more times she had to endure this pointless power struggle. Her eyes momentarily showed the weariness of long-standing irritation.
“It’s a custom, not a law.”
“However, Your Majesty, today marks your first official engagement as the Empress of Tessibania. If I may offer my opinion, it’s best not to create any unnecessary blemishes.”
Vinea’s bored gaze landed on the bowed head of the maid.
‘Should I cut off that useless head to shut her up?’
In the repetition of so much time, the weight of life often felt trivial. Trying to shake off the thought to preserve her last shred of humanity, Vinea lightly shook her head.
Turning around, she approached the maid. Vinea’s eyes fell on the purple brooch pinned to the maid’s left chest. She raised her hand.
Each palace had fewer than ten maids and servants with such a brooch, symbolizing their status and pride. But should she allow this symbol to someone who couldn’t recognize who truly ruled above them after seventy-seven lives?
Among all the people who had annoyed her throughout her seventy-seven lives, the head maid was relatively insignificant. But Vinea didn’t have enough benevolence left to spare even for such insignificance.
With a tearing sound, the fabric ripped, and the other maids around gasped in shock.
The brooch hit the floor with a thud, and the head maid lunged towards it with a desperate look on her face.
“Your Majesty!”
