68.

“Did that happen last night?”

The emperor, who had been lying in bed listening to the morning news brought by his chamberlain, sat up in disgust. The chamberlain naturally lowered his eyes at the sight of the emperor’s thick chest hair and sideburns.

“Hah! McFoy nearly died, and now their actions have become even bolder. McFoy with Diazi?”

The emperor, chuckling, gestured for the concubine lying naked beside him to leave. The perceptive concubine quickly covered herself with a robe and left the emperor’s bedroom.

“So, Norma Diazi was in the capital… Is he still at the McFoy estate?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

If another noble had caused such a scandal, it would have been amusing news, but McFoy and Diazi? It was nothing but a mood spoiler for the emperor that morning.

He scratched his dirty golden hair, which had started to mix with a few strands of gray, irritably.

“How did that cold old witch manage to snare Norma Diazi? Are the rumors true that Norma Diazi has gone a bit mad?”

“Well, he doesn’t seem like himself, being infatuated with the head of the McFoy family and courting her, so that might be why such rumors have spread…”

“Being infatuated with that arrogant woman is proof of madness! Or she’s undoubtedly got some hold over him, like a viper!”

Just like she did with me!

The emperor thought of the head of the McFoy family, who dared to treat him, the emperor, and someone much older than her, with such disdain. He assumed that her arrogance had led even the lowly Morfolk to betray her.

“So, is Diazi really going to proceed with that damned duel?”

“If Norma Diazi issues the challenge, Morfolk will have to respond. If Your Majesty allows the duel, it will take place.”

“Good grief. It looks like I’ll be dealing with something straight out of the history books.”

The emperor had only learned about duels in his youth when he studied the empire’s history and laws.

It was a peculiar and quite bothersome matter for the emperor. And at the center of it all was Aisa McFoy, that arrogant woman.

Annoyed, the emperor threw a silver cup filled with lukewarm water. The sound of it hitting the marble floor was chilling, but the chamberlain didn’t blink and signaled the frightened young attendant to clean it up.

“Did that McFoy woman curse Norma Diazi or something? Otherwise, how!”

“Your Majesty.”

The chamberlain quietly cautioned the emperor when he carelessly uttered a forbidden word.

The emperor, biting his lip, thought back. When had the head of the McFoy family started to bother him so much?

He hadn’t liked her since she first attended the assembly at seventeen. To be honest, her fierce eyes had always irked him.

But he had been complacent. Everyone thought McFoy could never rise again, and the nobles no longer considered McFoy a great noble family.

So, when she exploited loopholes in imperial law to establish a trading company, he had let it slide. The nobles, flattered, laughed at her, thinking McFoy had lost all sense of shame and was trying to become commoners.

In the meantime, Romdak had quickly succeeded, and for the past five years, their influence had grown stronger than ever among the nobles. Since then, he had tried several times to suppress McFoy but had failed.

“Who would have thought that small woman was a beast? I should have crushed her when her fangs were still small.”

The emperor lamented, and the chamberlain bowed his head apologetically.

“I should have done it for the crown prince’s sake.”

Although Calliphe had been difficult to handle even in her father’s eyes, she was still fit to be an emperor. She was both fierce and intelligent, able to deal with the arrogant nobles with boldness and acumen.

So, the emperor had granted her requests, even the unreasonable ones. He had even manipulated the oracle long ago to arrange her engagement to Norma Diazi because Calliphe was his most cherished child.

But his only son, the new successor, Billinent, was different.

The emperor loved the crown prince, born to his beautiful second empress, very much. However, he knew better than anyone that the boy had only cunning and none of the ferocity needed to rule.

The boy would end up as a puppet of the sly nobles. At this rate, the imperial power would plummet, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the royal family’s name changed.

The emperor saw Billinent’s position as extremely precarious. He had intended to suppress the power of the great nobles to ensure Billinent’s stable ascension. But now, the leaders of the West and East were suddenly uniting through marriage, which was outrageous.

The emperor didn’t care whether Norma Diazi genuinely loved Aisa McFoy. The problem was that their marriage would ultimately be an alliance of two great noble families, which meant the East and West were uniting.

The emperor had planned to empower the South to counterbalance the already overblown influence of the West and East nobles. Especially McFoy, who had practically established their own kingdom in the West, could not be left unchecked.

After a long rant about Aisa McFoy, the emperor finally grinned maliciously. He was greedy and foolish, but not unintelligent.

“Listen, Ivan.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The emperor’s serene voice called the chamberlain, who bowed his head.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the princess.”

The chamberlain hesitated briefly.

The emperor had one discarded child at the desperate request of Billinent’s mother, the current empress, Adrienne. Sent to a small kingdom in the far west for convalescence, everyone knew it was essentially an exile.

Princess Merke Rodensi was no longer treated as a princess. Though innocent, she bore the royal blood, and her madness made her a criminal in their eyes.

The chamberlain, Ivan, only received occasional reports of her well-being.

“Summon Merke to the capital. It’s been too long since I’ve seen my daughter.”

The emperor ordered with the pretense of being a merciful father.

‘There’s no way I can let McFoy and Diazi become in-laws.’

With that thought, the emperor’s mind churned.

There were rumors that Norma Diazi had gone mad due to a curse. And the second princess was also considered mad and deficient. Pairing two crazy people together seemed fitting. The emperor chuckled at his own malevolent thought.

“Norma Diazi was originally supposed to be my son-in-law anyway.”

This was a good opportunity to reconnect with Diazi and strengthen the imperial power.

Above all, the emperor was thrilled at the thought of humiliating McFoy.

—

“This is the most threatening letter I’ve ever received without a single curse word.”

That was my impression of the lengthy letter from the Diazi family estate. The letter was filled with such palpable humiliation, anger, and screams that it was almost astonishing.

I felt a pang of pity imagining the elderly Diazi elders gathering immediately upon hearing the news and painstakingly writing this long letter.

It had been a week since I had boldly taken Norma Diazi’s hand and left Lady Tibey’s mansion.

The fact that it took only a week for the news to reach Diazi and for them to send a messenger pigeon to the McFoy mansion in the capital showed just how alarmed they were.

“It’s quite effective.”

I muttered as I set the letter down on the table.

‘If you don’t take responsibility for the first son we’ve raised with such care, you will be imprisoned.’

To sum up the letter, that was the gist of it. The old men of Diazi were convinced that Aisa McFoy had devoured the innocent Norma Diazi.

‘People, if we’re being precise, I was the one who was completely charmed by your sly but innocent fox.’

Thinking that, I glanced at the handsome man sitting across from me. The scene in front of me was so peaceful that it was almost ironic given the tone of the letter, which seemed on the verge of declaring war.

Norma Diazi, glowing as ever, was stroking Antoinette and sipping tea. The scene was so idyllic it was as if only happiness existed, with no worries or concerns.

“You really can’t escape now. What else can you do? You have to take responsibility for messing with an innocent young man.”

Anyone would think we had spent the night together. Erika was clearly mocking me, recalling how I had embarrassed her in front of Lady Seymour. I cleared my throat and avoided her piercing gaze.

“Of course, you knew this would happen when you took Sir Diazi’s hand and walked out, didn’t you?”

Erika sneered, but I couldn’t respond to her provocation.

A week ago, when I impulsively grabbed Norma Diazi’s hand and stormed out of Lady Tibey’s mansion, Erika had clutched her neck in frustration for the first time in ages. She said it was the worst incident I had caused, one that left no room for excuses.

Erika had been incredibly busy for the past week. She had to craft romantic rumors about me and Norma Diazi while also handling temple affairs related to Morfolk.

So, I decided to accept Erika’s grumpiness.

Meanwhile, Erika was deeply troubled. Her lord had always been troublesome, picking fights with anyone. But in a moment of distraction, she had caused a massive scandal.

Norma Diazi himself was an excellent choice for a husband. But given the emperor’s preparations for a power transfer, his background could be a liability. He was set to become a public enemy.

‘The one who knows this best is…’

Erika glanced at Norma Diazi, who was enjoying the morning with Aisa, as if he were already her partner.

‘Did she cause this scandal just because of his face?’

Of course, she knew well that her lord had a weakness for beauty, and with a face like his, it was understandable even if it started a world war.

‘Sigh, I don’t know.’

As Erika let out a small sigh, a servant approached her swiftly and whispered something in her ear. Erika’s brow furrowed slightly.

“My Lord, Milan Diazi has arrived.”

The inevitable had come.

Milan Diazi’s visit was expected. Seeing that he arrived exactly a week later, he must have heard the news on his way back from the assembly and turned his horse around immediately.

‘There’s no need to panic. I didn’t kidnap Norma Diazi.’

Still, I gulped. Milan Diazi was the one person in this empire I found difficult to handle.

“My Lord.”

Then, Norma, sitting across from me, called me softly.

“My father has come to punish me, so there’s no need to be tense.”

Punishment? At my age, I hadn’t even considered the possibility of being punished.

“Am I being punished too?”

I asked, shocked, and Norma widened his eyes before laughing heartily. He seemed to laugh out loud often since coming to the McFoy mansion.

“We are soon to be married.”

“…”

Hearing the word ‘married’ from his mouth sent a strange chill from my ear down my spine.

“While I’d love to share everything with you.”

“…”

“I will take the punishment alone. It will take some time, so please go about your usual business.”

Norma said with a bright smile.

“If you say so…”

Whatever the punishment was, seeing him smile like that made me think it would be fine.

thought they were both acting foolishly but barely managed to keep from saying it out loud.