Chapter 43
Chapter 43
“You’re suggesting we summon my daughter, Hestia Kainer, to the capital first?”
“That’s right. Elevating the Imperial Consort to the position of Empress makes no sense. We must not allow this matter to proceed according to His Majesty’s wishes. Therefore, as originally planned, we should summon Lady Kainer to the capital and assert our position.”
“Y-Yes! Summoning Lady Kainer to the capital is the proper course of action.”
“Indeed!”
In fact, before Calix ascended to the throne, it was widely believed that the true power of the empire lay not with the emperor, but with Duke Kainer. And no matter how strong the emperor’s authority now, Duke Kainer was not someone who could be ignored.
“If you all feel so strongly about it, then I suppose I have no choice. In accordance with your counsel, I will summon my daughter, Hestia Kainer, to the capital.”
Pretending to reluctantly concede, Duke Kainer accepted the nobles’ opinion. After deciding to discuss the rest of the matter later, most of the attendees quickly filed out of the grand assembly hall.
Just as Duke Kainer was about to leave the chamber himself, he saw Marquis Spencer walking ahead.
“Marquis Spencer.”
When the Duke called out to him, Blake Spencer turned around and gave a slight nod.
“I’m grateful for what you did today.”
“For what, exactly?”
Marquis Spencer asked in his usual expressionless tone.
“For being the first to propose summoning my daughter to the capital.”
“I only did what needed to be done.”
“What needed to be done?”
“Yes. I did what I must for the sake of the Roimann Empire.”
“Ah, I see. For the empire.”
So he hadn’t come under his wing after all.
Realizing his mistaken assumption, Duke Kainer quickly concealed the brief flicker of surprise on his face.
“Then, I’ll be taking my leave.”
“Very well. Until next time.”
“Yes. Farewell.”
Without a trace of hesitation, Blake Spencer turned and walked away.
‘He really is impressive.’
Spencer was the first person Duke Kainer had ever met who stood firm in his beliefs and refused to bend before him.
He watched the Marquis’s retreating figure for quite a while, his eyes filled with reluctant admiration and intrigue, until it disappeared from sight.
* * *
I kept riding in the carriage, not knowing where we were going. It was the first time Calix and I had spent this much time in the same space without speaking a word.
He had said he would explain everything once we arrived, wherever there was, so instead of making conversation, we let silence hang between us.
Staring out the window, I stayed wrapped in my thoughts. The fact that we were heading somewhere that wasn’t the palace or the Temple barely registered.
My mind was too full of questions: why he had done this, what might have changed within him. But try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a clear reason.
The only difference was that the daily intimacy we used to share had become a bit less frequent as the day of the pact approached. But maybe that was because, regardless of whether I conceived a child or not, he had already decided to make me Empress.
‘I don’t know.’
I really didn’t know.
I figured I’d find out soon enough anyway, so I decided to stop overthinking it. With that, I closed my eyes.
I wasn’t sleepy, but it was more exhausting to keep catching Calix staring at me. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel his gaze drilling into me.
I just kept hoping we’d get wherever we were going soon.
After what felt like ages, the carriage finally came to a halt. We’d been traveling for about two hours.
“Ariel.”
At the sound of Calix calling my name, I slowly opened my eyes. He held out his hand, and I took it without a word.
When I stepped down from the carriage with him, I found myself standing before a house I’d never seen before. It was a two-story building, smaller in scale than the Empress’s Palace or any other imperial property.
‘Whose house is this?’
It looked like it belonged to a noble, but I couldn’t guess which one, none of the ones I knew came to mind.
“Secure the perimeter. Not even an ant is to approach. No one is to enter the house until I say so.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At Calix’s command, the guards who had followed us scattered in all directions.
“Let’s go in, Ariel.”
“Huh? Okay.”
I followed him slowly into the house.
Beyond the entrance was a hall with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The interior was completely empty. There were no servants, no one else. With only Calix and me inside, the house felt even more hollow.
I looked around, but eventually couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer.
Looking up at him, I asked, “Calix. Where are we?”
“It’s a house I own.”
“A house you own?”
“Yes. Do you like it?”
“Um… yes, it’s nice.”
“I’m glad. I built it as a place for us to rest. I just hadn’t brought you here until now.”
A place to rest? Did that mean he brought me here to rest with him? Even after dropping such a bombshell?
“So… we’re here to rest?”
“I’d like to say yes, but not today.”
Calix replied with a wistful smile.
“Then why…?”
“Let’s go upstairs first, Ariel.”
“…Alright.”
I didn’t know what was upstairs, but I swallowed my questions and followed him up the staircase. We walked down a long corridor and stopped in front of the room at the very end.
He opened the door and led me inside. There was a bed and a few pieces of furniture. He guided me to the sofa, and we sat facing each other.
I didn’t know why we had come here, but now that we were alone, I waited for him to explain what had happened at the grand banquet. But he only stared at me in silence.
The stillness was heavy. I was just about to speak when a low voice came from him first.
“Ariel.”
I gave a slight nod, signaling that I was ready to listen.
“You probably don’t understand what I did today.”
“Honestly… no, I don’t. We had an agreement with the nobles. But in the end, I…”
I lowered my eyes, sounding as if I were weighed down by guilt and sorrow.
“I… I failed to conceive. So calling Lady Kainer to the capital and crowning her Empress would be the right thing to do. Not me. Calix, even now—”
“Ariel. Have you ever seen a mage?”
“Huh? A mage…?”
Just as I was about to plead with him to go back before it was too late, he cut me off with an unexpected question.
A mage? Where had that come from?
I looked at him in confusion, but then a memory surfaced and I responded.
“I’ve never seen a mage, but I’ve seen magic. You made fire appear.”
Come to think of it, if someone used magic, then they were a mage, so I had seen one.
“Ah, right.”
Calix replied like it was no big deal.
“But when did you learn magic? As far as I know…”
I stopped myself mid-sentence with a sharp intake of breath. I’d nearly slipped and said something I shouldn’t have.
My head swam a little. I quickly scanned Calix’s face to see if he noticed. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to find anything suspicious. Relieved, I cleared my throat on purpose.
“Ahem, ahem!”
“You alright?”
He asked with concern, and I blinked once to signal I was fine.
“Yes. I think I breathed in too much dust during the carriage ride.”
“I should get you some water.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine now.”
As Calix moved to get up, I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back. Hearing what he had to say was more important than drinking water.
“What I mean is, I thought you never had the time to learn magic… Don’t you have to go to the Kingdom of Hayton to study it?”
“That’s right. You can only learn magic in the Kingdom of Hayton. So… I learned it a long time ago.”
“A long time ago…”
He had dodged my question like this before.
“And with that magic I learned back then, I came to see things I hadn’t seen before.”
So I figured he wouldn’t go into more detail again, but I was wrong. This time, he continued and shared more than before.
“You saw something you hadn’t seen before? What was it?”
“Dark magic.”
“Dark magic?”
“Yes. Dark magic is a special kind of power, and only those who can use it can see it.”
“Then if you can see dark magic, that means…”
“That’s right. Among the magic I learned, there was dark magic too.”
“Oh…”
The shock stopped my thoughts cold for a moment, but then a flood of questions burst forth all at once.
……
T/N: Does this mean Calix learned that in the past? Just so he could turn back time and to be with Ariel?