Chapter 10
“The will of Your Majesty is my will alone.”
Anel replied, almost forgetting to breathe.
“If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have brought such an answer.”
Johannes looked down at the woman in his grasp.
She was oddly stubborn.
But the nature of that stubbornness was unclear.
It was amusing that she brought her own beliefs into this imposing palace.
As if her resolve could break at any moment.
“Tell me your true intentions.”
Those imposing eyes were so irritating.
Honestly, Johannes had no immediate plans to nominate her as the Empress.
Since the coronation ceremony was moved up, there was no need to adhere to tradition.
There was no urgency to hastily seat an Empress.
“After all, it would only attract more dogs sniffing around the imperial family.”
“So, he was considering granting her request.’’
Selecting five candidates for the empress in just one week was too difficult.
He thought he might at least delay the empress coronation ceremony or postpone the nomination of empress candidates.
If he said that, he thought he might graciously agree.
‘But, it seems he’s not going to come out like that.’
“It must be trying to frame me as a traitor somehow.”
Like she had said to her father, Duke Morata.
Anel barely swallowed her boiling anger and injustice.
“Well then, Lady, are you a puppet?”
Johannes asked with a sneer.
At that, Anel’s face turned red.
A puppet.
It was the title she found most embarrassing.
“If it’s not your own will, what’s the difference between that and a puppet?”
As Anel’s face turned more flushed with shame, Johannes’s voice became filled with delight.
Even knowing that, Anel couldn’t push him away.
Helplessly in his hands—
“Yes.”
“He will only give the answer he desires.’’
“Your Majesty’s words are correct.”
Anel stared straight into his eyes.
The green eyes, symbolizing the Hwangga lineage, now looked simply repulsive.
“I was raised as a doll.”
Anel said calmly. She had already endured all the shame.
Such trivial matters couldn’t hurt her heart.
“Your Majesty didn’t desire that doll, did you?”
Now his face was revealed.
There was no fear, but it was possible because her heart was slowly sinking.
“So, as you wished, I became a doll that only reads the intentions of the owner.”
However, just like when Anel bowed her head, she still couldn’t read his face.
Because there was no emotion on his face.
“Skip the nomination of candidates.”
“!”
Right from the beginning, he was not at all cute.
Johannes blinked his eyes slowly.
There had never been a time when he wanted to yield to someone.
Because everyone had always yielded in front of him before such a thought could even cross his mind.
So, he might not have expected to be irritated even more.
Despite losing everything, he maintained a strong front only in front of him.
‘I don’t have any intentions like that.’
Is he trying to test her again?
Anel couldn’t understand Johannes, who kept questioning her intentions.
In the imperial palace, the least needed thing was Anel’s intentions.
He couldn’t possibly not know that.
‘’Still, asking was perhaps an attempt to test her.”
From a face devoid of any emotion, only the corners of the mouth faintly lifted.
No, distorted.
“On the day of the Queen’s coronation, immediately appoint the Queen Consort.”
“That goes against tradition-”
“Is it violated?”
Johan bowed and brought his face close to Anel’s ear.
He felt the cool texture of her skin on her cheeks, which had reddened with confusion.
“Did the Queen see me as a beggar seeking help from some nobles?”
But the warmth of his breath against her ear was so intense that the coldness was quickly forgotten.
It seemed like all her senses were focused solely on her ear.
“I wasn’t raised like a doll, unlike you.”
Even at the mention of seeing her only as a doll, Anel couldn’t speak.
She didn’t even realize that she was now free from his hands.
“Would you like to be my doll?”
A quieter laughter than before tickled her.
Resonance, and the breath gently ruffling her hair.
“You chose it, Anel.”
All these things were holding her in place.
“Does that make any sense?”
Gesu Salon.
It was a salon where the children of wealth and nobility gathered, known to be operated by Madame Gesu, who was well-regarded in the underworld.
For a price, it was famous for fulfilling all fantasies.
It was a place with a bad reputation that anyone with a sense of honor would never approach.
However, those who knew understood.
Under the salon, there was another world.
“It seems so. Because I heard it with my own ears today.”
Magrot, the real owner of the salon, replied while cleaning his pipe.
As he did, sighs of annoyance erupted from all around.
“Your Majesty, you are indeed relentless. To directly nominate Hwangbi…”
“It’s not like you have a month of grace after nominating a candidate for no reason.”
Lord Rodian silently laid down his cards.
Everyone in the room felt uneasy, but in truth, he was the one most affected.
Among them, there was no one else who had to turn his daughter into Hwangbi.
“It’s an unexpected decision from Your Majesty.”
“Yeah, exactly. Watching us maneuver here and there, I thought you would ultimately make a decision on your own terms.”
“We should be thankful that we don’t have to make a fool of ourselves.”
“I can’t sense any true feelings; perhaps it’s time for retirement.”
The seven nobles gathered in the salon were all high-ranking aristocrats, at least the rank of a viscount.
Among them, the most powerful one was—
“Do you have any idea whom you will nominate?”
Naturally, it was Duke Magnen.
The Emperor’s stepfather and uncle, the mastermind behind the current Emperor Johannes I.
However, precisely because of this, he faced the greatest constraints from the Emperor.
Johannes skillfully utilized the power of the Magnum family’s satellite, but at the same time, he thoroughly restrained the authority of the Magnum family.
He elevated the Duke to the position of Grand Duke, yet ensured that he could never participate in public office or politics.
The Grand Duke obediently followed the orders of the Emperor, but beneath the surface, discontent was brewing.
“Ask yourself, Chancellor.”
With the Grand Duke’s precise accusation, all eyes turned to the youngest noble among the seven, known as the right-hand man of the Emperor.
“….”
Ern Lars.
Ern Lars, the Marquis and Chancellor of the Empire.
Having studied in three different countries, he graduated at the top of each royal academy, known for being nearly impossible to graduate from. Despite such achievements, he returned to claim the throne, becoming the right-hand man of the Emperor.
“I have reasons for taking these steps.”
Even Johannes, who ignored everyone’s words, pretended to listen when it came to Ern Lars’ advice. It was widely known that Ern Lars’ political acumen and sociability were more famous than his extraordinary intelligence. Despite being the right-hand man to the Emperor, he openly participated in the ‘Gesh’ gathering, aimed at restraining the Emperor.
“From the beginning, Your Majesty has not been one to share much with me.”
Ern opened the poetry box and distributed one to each noble.
It was a kind of bribery.
The men knew that the young man before them was favored by the Empress, but they chose to turn a blind eye.
“If you don’t know, who would speak ill of it?”
Duke Magrot asked with a poem under his nose.
The fragrance emanating from the poem indicated that it was not an ordinary item.
“This, is it extraordinary?”
“Have you ever seen me bring trivial things?”
Ern smiled discreetly.
“One thing is certain; it was a sudden decision.”
“Sudden?”
Duke Magnem furrowed his brows.
He knew well that there were no sudden decisions for Johannes. If there was anything absent in Johann’s character, it was only ‘impulse’ and ’emotion’, just those two.
“As you all know, during the coronation ceremony, the original plan was not to name the Empress, let alone nominate a candidate for the Empress. The original intention of Your Majesty was to take time to tame the nobles.”
“I agree!”
Duke Magrot chimed in.
“I thought he would play with me for at least a month.”
At that moment, Lord Rodian, who had been silent, spoke up.
The audience fell silent.
No one was unaware that Lord Rodian’s daughter was a gem.
“Of course, one of them must be my inexperienced daughter, right, Duke Lars?”
“Would you acknowledge my fervent hope as well?”
Ern laughed awkwardly.
“Of course, it must be your daughter, Dyerson.”
Duke Magnem patted Ern’s shoulder as if to reassure him.
“Even though the Emperor may be arrogant, he is not foolish.”
Duke Magnem sighed.
If his nephew had been a little more foolish, everyone would have been happy.
His niece was too excessively intelligent.
“The problem is which household will occupy the remaining seat.”
At those words, the eyes of all the men flickered.
