Episode 23

I pulled myself together and sat down at the desk again. Squinting, I inspected the outside of the envelope closely. Nothing really stood out.

In fantasy movies, they often draw invisible magic circles on the envelopes with some kind of mysterious liquid.

Not that the letter inside was anything important.

“…Does he have anything better to do?”

The image of the emperor, who had proudly stood as the officiant at my wedding with Apollion, flashed through my mind.

We didn’t actually need an officiant, but the emperor insisted on doing it himself. No one could really argue with the highest authority in the land.

He definitely seemed less busy than the emperors in other stories. There was a bit of a slacker vibe to him.

I cracked the window open slightly and checked outside.

The imposing black horse carrying the messenger was already disappearing into the distance, the flag fluttering in the wind.

In a hurry, the emperor’s messenger had declined Wilson and Apollion’s invitation to rest and immediately went back the way he came.

I watched the messenger grow smaller, like a matchstick in the distance, then turned my attention back to the letter from the emperor.

Sitting on the windowsill, I examined the letter again.

Finally, a sentence caught my eye.

As I read it, I finally understood the emperor’s intention.

* * *

The Emperor of the Ignite Empire, Blixier Ignit, was the only child of the previous emperor.

It wasn’t a family known for having few children, but strangely, no children were born between the previous emperor and the empress.

Both were healthy adults and had a good relationship, yet the imperial palace never heard the sound of a baby’s cry.

Then, after much difficulty, Blixier was born.

He was the only one to inherit the royal bloodline, and because of that, he grew up as a precious prince, watched and adored by the entire world.

This became even more true after his mother fell ill and passed away.

The former emperor spared no effort in showering his only son with love.

With only one child, there was no need to divide his affection to prevent jealousy or to weigh which child was more suitable for the throne.

Above all, he didn’t want his beloved son to feel the absence of his mother.

However, the throne is always a precarious place.

Blixier’s position at the pinnacle of the empire always put him in danger.

Because he was the most legitimate heir, he was constantly exposed to threats.

If the sole imperial heir with the purest bloodline were to disappear, who would take his place?

With no one else having a strong claim to the royal blood, many would surely flock to the capital, each asserting their right to the throne.

And such conflicts would undoubtedly bring a bloody storm to the nation.

Thus, the former emperor was dedicated to ensuring his son’s safety. He never let his guard down against intruders and surrounded the prince with the empire’s most skilled knights.

But as always, incidents tend to happen where they’re least expected.

When Blixier turned 14, he was kidnapped by assailants. This happened in the very heart of the capital, their supposed stronghold.

Shockingly, the ringleader of the kidnappers was one of the elite knights assigned to protect the prince.

The empire was thrown into chaos.

Upon hearing the news, Apollion’s father, the then Duke, immediately headed to where Blixier was being held. He successfully rescued the prince from the assailants.

However, that day was also the day Apollion’s biological mother, Lilie, was on her deathbed, and she passed away while her husband was away.

The Duke, being a loyal servant, never regretted his actions, but Blixier, who had lost his own mother early, couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt towards the former Duke and Apollion.

Losing a loved one is sorrowful enough, but being unable to stay by their side is even more heartbreaking. That day left a profound impact on Blixier in many ways.

The kidnappers, as soon as they were captured, all took their own lives. Though some were captured alive, they were later found dead, murdered by unknown assailants.

Ultimately, the royal family failed to uncover who was behind the prince’s kidnapping.

But just because there was no physical evidence didn’t mean their suspicions disappeared. The royal family wasn’t so naive as to not recognize the shadow of the Quentin Marquisate behind the incident.

However, the empire couldn’t search the Quentin’s family without any evidence.

In the end, the royal family decided to take a different approach instead of causing unnecessary strife. They chose to greatly honor the Due of Theabrite, who had played a significant role in rescuing the prince.

The emperor publicly praised the Theabrite family in front of all citizens, aligning them with the royal family.

This was the best way to check the Quentin family without concrete evidence.

The emperor expressed his gratitude to the former Duke of Theabrite, who had come to rescue the prince even at the cost of missing his beloved wife’s final moments, by bestowing vast lands and royal treasures upon him.

From that point on, the balance of power among the three leading families began to shift.

The royal family benefited greatly from the growing tension between the Quentin and Theabrite families, as the Quentin family’s anger, which had no clear direction, ended up being directed towards the Theabrite family. This tension eventually led to Sonode’s overt hostility towards Apollion.

This was why Sonode hated Apollion in the original story. In short, it was out of inferiority.

“Now that I think about it, it’s a pretty petty reason,” I scoffed, recalling Sonode’s smug face.

I thought Sonode was uniquely terrible, but it seemed like being petty and pathetic ran in his family.

Unable to openly show hostility towards the royal family, they directed their frustration towards the relatively easier target, Apollion. They were truly ridiculous.

I couldn’t understand why Petunia liked such a man before I got transported here.

In fact, the Quentin Marquisate was practically founded on inferiority and jealousy.

The roots of the Quentin lay in the royal family.

Erbun, the founder of the Quentin family, was born as the first prince of the empire, and his mother was the second wife of the emperor at the time.

Born a prince, one might expect him to boldly aim for the throne, but he was left with nothing.

The position of crown prince naturally belonged to the second prince, Reynold, the son of the empress. No one questioned this.

But that silence didn’t mean there were no objections.

There were factions everywhere wary of Reynold, the legitimate son.

Erbun, who lamented his inability to inherit the throne despite being the eldest, constantly eyed the emperor’s position.

Those factions opposed to Reynold probably found Erbun quite useful.

However, in the end, he didn’t become emperor, and the crown prince position went to Reynold.

Erbun believed he couldn’t become emperor because he wasn’t the son of the empress, but that wasn’t the reality.

Objectively, Erbun was far inferior to Reynold in many ways. Moreover, his inferiority complex towards his younger brother made him unfit for the throne.

The emperor of the time saw something in Erbun.

It was clear that after his death, when Reynold ascended to the throne, Erbun would likely cause trouble.

Thus, the emperor took measures to prevent Erbun from causing any problems.

He decided to grant Erbun a new title, the Marquis of Quentin, along with a vast inheritance from the royal family.

The emperor thought that if Erbun was given power and wealth nearly equivalent to the royal family, it might calm his twisted heart.

That’s how the Quentin Marquisate was born, and it immediately became a central power in the empire.

Of course, Erbun was not the kind of person to be satisfied with the title of Marquis.

He bided his time, waiting for the imperial power to wane, always eyeing the throne.

But as time passed, the imperial power only grew stronger. The Ignite Empire flourished through numerous conquests and developments, becoming the continent’s undisputed leading nation.

Ultimately, he died, passing his unfulfilled dream onto his descendants.

Sixty years have passed since then. During that time, the head of the Quentin family changed twice, but their ambition remained unchanged.

They still aimed for the throne, never concealing their sharp claws aimed at the emperor’s neck.

The inferiority complex that once targeted the emperor had shifted towards the Theabrite Dukedom as the imperial power became unassailably strong.

The Quentin family, born out of inferiority and sustained by it, never wavered from their goal.

And now, to keep this superficially impressive family in check, the emperor personally sent someone to the East.

He wanted to show that the royal family and the Theabrite family were still closely connected.

Of course, it wasn’t advisable for the emperor to display blatant favoritism towards a particular family. Such actions could lead to an undesirable concentration of power.

But our common enemy was the Quentin Marquisate, and with my marriage to Apollion, I was well aware of the rumors circulating in the capital.

Most of these rumors centered around me rather than Apollion. I also knew that Sonode was half-crazed because of me.

In such a situation, it was crucial to strengthen existing alliances.

And publicly displaying a connection with me, the new family member, would be more beneficial than emphasizing ties with Apollion, who was already well-known.

The emperor was acting with all this in mind.

“Oh, my fate,” I muttered, lightly tapping my shoulder with my fist. I pulled out a pen and paper from the drawer and started writing a reply to the emperor.

After all, in the original story, the emperor greatly trusted Apollion and never hesitated to help him in times of need.

Though it was a bit of a hassle, winning the emperor to our side would undoubtedly be helpful in dealing with Sonode.

I had little to write, and the thought of writing to the emperor weighed heavily on my hand, but I had no choice.

To eradicate the cockroach-like Quentin family and enjoy a sweet, enduring romance with Apollion, I needed to secure the emperor’s support.