The Marchioness of Schroz’s lack of knowledge about politics was not entirely her fault, strictly speaking.
From a young age, she was good at singing, and she had caught the Emperor’s eye simply because of her family’s logic that a beautiful woman who sings well should marry a talented man. Therefore, not learning about politics from a young age was not her fault.
After entering the imperial palace, she bore healthy sons and survived merely by being perceptive, covering her shortcomings with her wealthy family background. She learned etiquette to the extent that was expected.
But that was exactly it. The Marchioness of Schroz was simply born without any interest in politics.
She lacked the persistence to learn and study, and easily gave up on things that bored her. While she was interested in human relationships and socialized with high-ranking officials, she was not interested in their conversations.
She thought, ‘Isn’t it enough that my son is intelligent? Now that he’s the Crown Prince, he can take over even the responsibilities that normally belong to the Empress, who is portrayed as passive or inactive.’
Therefore, the Marchioness of Schroz could not understand why this situation had occurred.
“Why? What is happening?”
No one answered her when she grabbed someone and asked.
The Duke of Ostein and the Grand Duke of Lusenford immediately walked somewhere, and the Crown Prince was pale, receiving consolation from his close aides. However, that consolation was not particularly helpful.
“Please calm down, Your Highness. For now, be composed…”
There was no reassuring words of “It’s okay” anywhere.
The Marchioness of Schroz instinctively knew that this was something that should not reach the Emperor’s ears. The anxious mother avoided the fearsome Grand Duke of Lusenford and caught the relatively gentle Duke of Ostein.
“Your Grace, Duke of Ostein. What is happening now…?”
She tried to smile, but her lips trembled with uneasiness.
The Crown Prince is facing a significant engagement.
Even after establishing his position through engagement, then marriage, and then producing an heir, the Emperor’s lukewarm nature constantly made him uneasy. And now, on the eve of the engagement ceremony, such an incident occurs.
“An urgent matter has arisen. Marchioness, please rest and catch your breath. You’ve worked hard leading the banquet.”
The Duke of Ostein, thinking that his dinner with his daughter and son-in-law might be canceled this evening, hurriedly went to find the Emperor. As expected, the Emperor was wearing a furious expression and shouting.
“Shut everyone’s mouths immediately and convene a meeting right now!”
The ‘meeting’ the Emperor was talking about was not an ordinary meeting. It was an emergency meeting where the Emperor himself would participate, and all major high-ranking officials related to the matter would attend.
In a meeting secretly but urgently gathered, only the most important people, careful not to be noticed by the overseas guests, the Emperor forgot about his dignity and was shouting wildly.
“What the hell are you doing! Huh? Are you not aware of what position you’re sitting in? Do you not understand the meaning of the words coming out of your mouth? Who educated this guy!”
The Crown Prince, pale-faced, bowed his head deeply.
“How many times have I told you to think before speaking! Don’t you know that the Bayetta base is being conducted in absolute secrecy!”
“Your Majesty, it’s not good for your health. Please calm down a bit. I’m sure the Crown Prince did not intentionally do this.”
Some ministers and the kind-hearted Duke of Ostein tried to restrain the Emperor.
“Intentional, my foot! He’s acting like he’s accomplished something, blabbering excitedly and leaking military secrets! This guy doesn’t even know what he’s done! What does he know! If he knows nothing and can do nothing, he should just stay quiet! Why step forward when he knows nothing!”
The Emperor’s face turned crimson as he continued shouting. Fearing something might fly and harm the Crown Prince, who must attend the engagement ceremony tomorrow evening, the ministers quickly removed all heavy objects near the Emperor.
Who could possibly calm the Emperor? In times like these, only the Empress could do so, but with the Empress unconscious, the only ones to rely on were the Duke of Ostein and the Grand Duke of Lusenford.
“Your Majesty. What’s important now is damage control. You know better than anyone that we cannot appear shaken during the engagement ceremony.”
The Duke of Ostein intervened between the Crown Prince and the Emperor, trying to calm him down.
“Since it’s already been noticed, there’s nothing we can do. The Bayetta naval base was bound to be revealed eventually, so please be confident. It’s okay, Your Majesty. It’s just a matter of timing being slightly accelerated. Proceed as you were.”
The Grand Duke of Lusenford calmly added support. The Crown Prince was utterly humiliated. The Emperor, who had been shouting, momentarily fell silent.
“We will assist you.”
“Yes, we will do our best. Please calm down, Your Majesty.”
As the Grand Duke and Duke of Ostein spoke, the Emperor slumped down. Then, looking at the Crown Prince who was standing awkwardly, he suddenly shouted:
“You, get out, you bastard!”
The Crown Prince, who had made a significant blunder, was expelled from the meeting, deemed unqualified to sit there. The Emperor clutched his throbbing forehead.
“Adeo, what do you think? You know about the South Sea and the navy well.”
“I also agree with the Grand Duke. Wasn’t this constructed with the preparation that it would be revealed someday? It was bound to happen anyway.”
“How much has been constructed?”
“It will be completed by next summer.”
Reports were being made from various corners of the room.
“Accelerate it as much as possible. Damn it, once he’s married, even Keruzhan won’t be able to say anything. Incompetent fool! That guy needs to relearn the geographical situation of the south and military facilities!”
Bayetta was an extremely sensitive location. At least five countries would immediately be enraged if a naval base and port were established there, and the Kingdom of Keruzhan, with whom they were about to form a marriage alliance, was among them.
Prince Elkanan, who brought his nephew, would not remain idle. And since this had slipped out of the Crown Prince’s mouth, there was no way to take it back.
“And we must properly control his mouth! Once he’s married, he’ll be chattering like a magpie to Keruzhan!”
As the Emperor was speaking, he suddenly closed his mouth and became lost in thought.
“No, no. I can’t stand that sight. He’s capable of even more than that.”
Peon was waiting for time to pass, not even expecting what words would come out of the Emperor’s mouth. He just wanted to finish quickly and see Kaela.
He knew that she was breathing evenly now, working busily and not thinking about death. But whenever she was out of sight, his heart would constrict.
Kaela had quietly wasted away in a place beyond his reach, eventually dying without eating anything. Since he couldn’t trust anyone, he had to take care of her himself and prevent her from dying.
“I must revise the regency law.”
The ministers in the meeting room looked at the Emperor with wide eyes. Peon raised his head.
This was somewhat interesting.
****
Kaela had also intuited when the Crown Prince spoke the ‘words that should not be spoken’ that something had gone wrong. The Marchioness of Schroz seemed to have only now understood the situation after receiving a kind and detailed explanation from her close aide that matched her level of understanding.
In Kaela’s view, the Marchioness of Schroz was somewhat lazy. She disliked complicated and difficult things.
But wasn’t she just one of many? Among the nobility, such people were very common. They lived peaceful, comfortable, and enjoyable lives, living lazily.
Kaela was different. From the beginning, she had learned that laziness was a sin and had worked and struggled to the point of death to be recognized.
“It’s okay, Marchioness. Tomorrow is the eve of the engagement ceremony. Nothing will happen. You must stay strong.”
The Marchioness of Schroz and high-ranking noble ladies like Kaela were currently staying in the inner palace under the pretext of rest.
While they called it rest, it was actually to prevent any unpleasant incidents where they might be questioned by guests walking around the palace about the Crown Prince’s mistake today.
Kaela looked up at the ceiling beautifully depicting the founding myth of Crania. Though her eyes were on the ceiling, her mind was already clearly unfolding how things would proceed from here.
Today, the Crown Prince made a mistake that a Crown Prince should absolutely never make. Consequently, the Emperor would not stay idle, and Prince Elkanan from Keruzhan would also take action. Things were going to get complicated…
‘What am I even doing here?’
It was natural for people who were living to be busy. In the future altered by the regressed Peon, the Crown Prince was facing an engagement and had caused an internationally significant incident.
Among people who were trying to manage the situation, those wanting to dig deeper, those angry, those anxious, and those busy with subsequent events, Kaela was just floating aimlessly.
What did the Crown Prince’s engagement or the unconscious Empress have to do with her? She had no connection, so why did she come all the way to Craine? Kaela found this extremely puzzling.
Coming to her senses, she was here. Unable to die, she had drifted this far. She had drifted here and was now receiving punishment from the Emperor in the monster garden, standing blankly in the Craine Imperial Palace where no one could even breathe due to the Emperor’s rage.
What good was she expecting to see by coming here? Why was she still breathing and alive?
“Time will make things better. You must stay strong. Not much longer remains.”
The maids’ words consoling the Marchioness of Schroz seemed to be directed towards her.
Please overcome this quickly.
Time will make things better.
You must stay strong.
You must overcome this. You must forgive. Forgiving is winning.
Haven’t you suffered enough to forgive?
She didn’t know what to do and had nowhere to consult. Kaela, who had been mocked for reading uninteresting books, could only open a book again—the only method she knew.
In biographies and novels, protagonists who suffer humiliation forgive people, overcome their wounds, and triumph over harsh adversities. It was, literally, a fairy tale.
So she discarded that and delved into actual historical accounts. What happened to people who experienced terrible things? Did they really overcome everything as those stories claimed? Did they forgive? Was forgiveness even possible?
Wasn’t it impossible because she was fundamentally flawed? Kaela looked down at herself. If forgiveness was easy for others but so difficult for her, she must be defective. So it seemed.
‘This is too large to forgive.’
The terrible scar left on her, which had bled profusely and never properly healed, had darkened and remained grotesquely. It was so large that when she looked at herself, all she could see was the scar.
She was terrible. She was bad. Since she couldn’t die, she should forgive kindly. A despicable and cowardly girl, living ambiguously, unable to forgive. She knows how to do nothing. So she should die. She should die quickly.
“It’s too high here. I can’t breathe. Oh, it’s scary.”
The Marchioness of Schroz went out to the terrace to get some air but came back in, saying it was dizzying.
Kaela looked down at the supposedly dizzying view below. Indeed, it was dizzying. The neatly arranged vast garden was visible at a height where the wind blew strongly.
Suddenly, a familiar darkness that had squeezed through her busy daily life opened its mouth below, laughing as if asking, ‘Did you think you could easily shake me off?’
If she fell from here, wouldn’t it hurt?
She knew she would need to be in extreme pain to properly die. She hadn’t died because it wasn’t painful enough.
The woman who had starved to death locked in the northern tower muttered depressingly.
She would need to be in incredible pain to die. She was good at enduring pain.
Must she die while enduring pain?
He will be in great pain if he dies. Isn’t that enjoyable?
Enjoyable?
“Kaela.”
Within the brilliant summer, the woman who was being swallowed by a cold winter shadow trembled slightly at the arm around her waist.
“What could My Lady be thinking that she doesn’t hear me no matter how much I call?”
The man who pulled her back to reality asked softly with his eyes, saying “Hmm?” The sharp energy settled and refined.
The man who in an instant destroyed Kaela’s world and then spread it out normally again boasted an excessively perfect appearance, unlike a natural disaster.
Isn’t this a bit mean? If he’s a disaster, he should look frightening so people can’t easily approach him.
“Shall we go, My Lady? It’s gotten quite late.”
Peon didn’t even listen to her response. A strong hand grabbed her waist and pulled her slightly. An indecipherable light passed through the purple eyes that always looked at her as if to devour her.
“Your Highness, how…?”
The Grand Duke of Lusenford who suddenly appeared seemed like he might deliver some new message, and everyone was curious. But Peon said nothing and quickly left the place.
When Kaela couldn’t keep up with his wider-than-usual stride and fell a step behind, he applied more force to the arm holding her. Kaela was lifted slightly, not touching the ground.
“Oh my!”
An exclamation burst among the maids surrounding the Marchioness of Schroz.
Kaela stared blankly at the maids quickly moving away behind her, then looked up at Peon.
It was always like this when she was with him. A world she had no interest in flowed like water, and held in his embrace, she moved forward, distancing herself from death regardless of her own will.
“You have an appointment this evening, Kaela. Remember? We were supposed to meet with father-in-law.”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be canceled?”
Certainly, if the royal palace was this tense, the Duke of Ostein and he would be spending the night in the palace preparing countermeasures. But Peon shook his head as if he didn’t understand what she was talking about.
“How could we cancel such an important appointment? We’re meeting after several months. Should I go and stay overnight?”
Kaela discovered an emotion in Peon’s eyes that was far from her usual listless self. What would she call this? Urgency?
“That would be good. Talking late into the night and spending a good time will be enjoyable.”
He didn’t let her go even in front of the dizzying stairs. Standing near the railing, he held her tightly and descended.
“Father-in-law has been eagerly waiting for you to come.”
“Um, yes, well, couldn’t you put me down first?”
“No. It’s urgent.”
It was urgent. He needed to pull his fragile wife, who could be blown away by the wind, from a high place to safe ground. Today, he caught her.
Caught her, so she would live one more day, and death would be postponed by one day. Peon desperately waved something that she might ‘at least’ enjoy in front of her eyes.
The desperate thing was that it was all just a temporary measure. Whether it was managing the territory with some interest, royal events she had to focus on reluctantly, or even her beloved father, it was insufficient to make Kaela breathe.
“Let’s go.”
Aren’t we already going? Kaela looked up at Peon questioningly. Yes, that was urgency.
No, beyond urgency, it was desperate and earnest. The woman who had always been desperate and ultimately tasted despair found her husband’s eyes full of earnestness strange and fascinating.
Those emotions are not hers.
