The Age Of Arrogance

While Carlyle succeeded in ascending the throne and stabilizing the situation, Giles sent several letters to Pervaz.

 

The recipient of this letter will come to the Imperial Palace immediately.

 

The recipient was naturally Dorothea.

 

The letter, which consisted of only a short line of command, became increasingly filled with scolding and threats as the number of letters increased.

 

However, Dorothea remained silent.

 

At first, Giles thought that the messenger had lost his way or that the letter had been lost in transit, but when he received a reply to the third letter he sent, he realized that Dorothea had been ignoring him all this time.

 

To Father.

 

The space is limited, so I will keep it short.

 

I do not want to be the empress. There is no way His Majesty the Emperor will make me the empress.

 

I will not go to Zyro.

 

I am sorry. Please consider me as a non-existent child.

 

– With respect and sincerity, Dorothea.

 

At first, he couldn’t believe it.

 

His daughter Dorothea had been obedient since she was a child and had never disobeyed him.

 

However, no matter how many times he looked at it, it was Dorothea’s handwriting.

 

“What the hell are you doing there!”

 

Giles, furious, ordered his men to bring Dorothea. He told them to kidnap her if she resisted.

 

‘Once the urgent matter is over, His Majesty will divorce Countess Pervaz. I need to make Dorothea the empress candidate before that.’

 

TL/N: GRANDPA IS DAYDREAMING AGAIN!!

 

Although his relationship with Carlyle was not the same as before after the Southern War, Giles was confident that there was no better empress candidate than Dorothea.

 

‘She has a beautiful appearance, a good head, good manners, and is obedient… No matter how much I search the social circles, there is no woman who can support His Majesty the Emperor as well as Dorothea.’

 

However, his expectations hit a wall from the very first step.

 

“What, what do you mean? His Majesty hasn’t signed the divorce papers… ?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Since he hadn’t heard any news of Carlyle’s divorce, he had secretly asked Lionel about it, only to hear something he hadn’t expected.

 

“Countess Pervaz, no, the Empress, writes divorce papers every other day, and His Majesty the Emperor avoids Her Majesty the Empress under various pretenses. He is clearly refusing to divorce her, you see.”

 

“Ah, no, why on earth… ?”

 

Giles was shocked to hear that Carlyle was refusing to divorce even though Asha herself was asking for it.

 

‘What is going on? Why is Carlyle refusing to divorce Asha? And why is Dorothea ignoring my orders?’

 

Giles’ head was filled with confusion.

 

Lionel was about to say he didn’t know and send Giles away, but after a moment’s hesitation, he changed his mind.

 

‘He should know about this anyway. If he accidentally insults the Empress in front of His Majesty, he’ll really be in trouble….’

 

He told Giles about Carlyle’s true feelings.

 

“Why? Because His Majesty loves Her Majesty.”

 

“Yes……?”

 

Giles asked with a look of disbelief.

 

“Are you talking nonsense, Sir Bailey? Love?…. No, let’s say His Majesty loves Countess Pervaz. So what?”

 

“So what do you mean, so what? Because he loves her, he wants to stay married.”

 

“That’s just a convenient excuse for ordinary people.”

 

He still clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression.

 

“The marriage of the Emperor is completely different from that of ordinary people. It is an event that will be recorded in history, and it is also a good thing that can be said to be related to the fate of this country, as it is the birth and upbringing of the future emperor.”

 

Lionel stared at Giles, who was trying to teach him with his mouth open wide.

 

“Especially His Majesty Carlyle is the one who led the golden age of the empire. Such a Majesty’s wife should naturally be able to discuss state affairs with His Majesty on the same level, manage the inner palace for His Majesty, and overflow with the dignity and culture of an empress…….”

 

He argued that a woman who was raised as the ‘wife of the Emperor’ was needed. Lionel knew well that he meant his daughter, Dorothea.

 

After Giles finished explaining for a while, he ended his speech with “Do you understand?” Lionel smiled and raised his eyebrows.

 

‘This stuffy old man….’

 

He sighed and said.

 

“Do you think your Majesty the Emperor doesn’t know that?”

 

“Why is he being so stubborn when he knows?”

 

“Because that’s what ‘love’ is, it’s irrational.”

 

“……Do you mean you want to talk to me from the beginning again? Did you hear what I said earlier?”

 

“Sir Raphelt.”

 

Lionel now felt like shaking his head.

 

“The world doesn’t revolve around ‘reason’ alone. Don’t you know that? And the most powerful ‘irrationality’ among them is ‘love’. ……Sir Raphelt will never understand.”

 

“No, that’s not….!”

 

“What can we do? His Majesty himself says he would rather die than not have Her Majesty.”

 

His voice was filled with annoyance without him realizing it.

 

Then Giles got angry too.

 

“‘Irrationality’ means wrong thinking! And we have to correct His Majesty who is going down the wrong path!”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Sir Bailey, please come to your senses! You keep calling her Your Majesty, but that person is not the real Empress, she is just Countess Pervaz!”

 

Lionel wanted to lash out more, but he gave up. No matter how much he explained, this person would not understand.

 

‘It seems Sir Raphelt is determined to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to anything that doesn’t go his way.’

 

On the one hand, he was envious of Giles, who was completely oblivious to Carlyle’s true intentions and was simply stubborn.

 

Since being ordered to self-reflect, Giles had rarely seen Carlyle face to face, but Lionel had to see Carlyle, who was becoming expressionless and looking like he was about to die, every day.

 

“Your Majesty, you don’t look well. Are you getting enough sleep?”

 

At his concern, Carlyle lifted his tired eyes and looked at him, answering without any emotion.

 

“I sleep for about four hours. I eat three meals a day, a mix of meat and fruit, and I exercise for about an hour every day.”

 

His hands were constantly flipping through the documents that had come up on his desk.

 

“I know I need to take care of my body for my duty and responsibility. I won’t be lazy in the future, so don’t worry.”

 

“Are you saying that you think I’m worried that you’ll shirk your duty?”

 

“Ah, so you were asking as a friend. Then I’ll answer differently.”

 

A faint smile appeared on Carlyle’s lips.

 

“I can’t sleep without brandy. I haven’t been able to taste food for a while. Swordsmanship practice hasn’t been enjoyable at all for some time. I miss Asha so much, but I can’t see her every day. To be honest, I don’t know why I’m living anymore.”

 

He still spoke in a nonchalant tone, but Lionel could feel the confusion and pain that Carlyle was experiencing for the first time, and he felt miserable along with him.

 

However, Giles, who had never seen that look before, and even if he had, would not have understood, rambled on for a while and ended the conversation by asking Lionel to persuade Carlyle.

 

‘I don’t think His Majesty will change his mind just because you bring Miss Dorothea.’

 

After seeing Giles off and sighing, Lionel thought that he should go and see Carlyle’s condition since he was talking about it, and he headed straight to his office.

 

Carlyle was still having a busy day, reporting to managers, meeting with nobles, and skimming through documents.

 

“Ah, Lionel! You came at a good time. Please arrange a tea time with Duke Dupret. I have a promise to keep with the young lady Dupret.”

 

“You mean the one where you said you would give her the successor position to the Dupret Duchy?”

 

“Yeah. I’ve made it clear to the two brothers that they should be grateful to their sister for saving their skin, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”

 

He didn’t seem depressed or tired, just busy. At first glance, that is.

 

However, Lionel had been watching him from the closest distance since he was a child.

 

“Has Her Majesty the Empress come and gone again?”

 

At those words, Carlyle’s busy hands stopped.

 

“……How did you know?”

 

“I just know.”

 

Looking at the way he was pushing himself as if he wanted to forget something, I could guess roughly what was going on.

 

Carlyle smiled bitterly and rummaged through the pile of papers again.

 

“I said that I had no choice but to reject her request as well, since I had already refused the requests for a private audience from other nobles. This time, she only left the divorce papers signed with her name.”

 

Lionel checked Carlyle’s face once more, wondering for a moment if he was crying. However, he was expressionless.

 

Lionel sighed and asked.

 

“I think I can guess the answer, but… have you confessed to Her Majesty the Empress?”

 

“Confession? I don’t want to make the situation any worse than it already is.”

 

Carlyle firmly believed that the worst would happen the moment he confessed his love to Asha.

 

“After all the trouble I’ve put her through, all the bad things I’ve said, all the disappointments I’ve caused, and in a way, I’m the reason she lost her people. How do you think she’ll feel if I confess that I love her? Especially now that I’m the Emperor.”

 

Carlyle’s well-composed expression crumbled in an instant.

 

“It would be better if she rejected me and ran away to Pervaz. What if she feels like I’m shamelessly using my power to force my love on her?”

 

“Your Majesty…

 

“Asha might reluctantly accept out of fear of the damage that will befall Pervaz. She might kill herself and live in pain.”

 

Carlyle clenched his fists.

 

“That’s why… I just can’t say it. I should have said it before I marched on Zyro.”

 

At that time, he didn’t think it was the right time to talk about love. No, he didn’t have the nerve to do so.

 

It was not right to suddenly confess his love to the lord who had been attacked because of him and who had been lying unconscious for over a month.

 

However, when he almost confessed in the place where Gabriel’s magic circle was, he realized that it was already too late after seeing Asha’s hardened expression.