Chapter : 20
“Your Majesty, the ministers request an audience. Shall I let them in?”
Kasiellope set down the documents she had been holding regarding diplomatic exchanges with the Ehmet Kingdom.
She nodded toward the maid who had delivered the message, and immediately, the door opened to admit three heads of noble houses.
In order, they were Count Yurtina, Count Florens, and Viscount Hetsen.
As the three approached in a line, Kasiellope curled her lips into a sharp, thin smile.
It had been exactly two hours—just two hours since the tea party ended and their daughters had returned to their respective estates.
They must have been in quite a hurry.
The three heads of houses lingered, eyeing her cautiously. Sitting without the Empress’s permission would be a breach of etiquette. Yet, knowing this, Kasiellope deliberately did not instruct them to sit.
“It seems you have a lot of free time,” she said. “Judging by how quickly you ran here, it doesn’t seem that the position of a house head comes with much work.”
Their faces could not have been more misaligned with the composed expressions their daughters had tried to maintain.
“My apologies for coming so abruptly without prior notice, Your Majesty,” Count Yurtina said.
“You are well aware of etiquette. Then why come at all? There was no need to create a situation warranting an apology.”
His face flushed, pride clearly wounded. Kasiellope had to bite back a laugh at the sight.
“So, what is your purpose?”
“I’ve heard that you intend to take the Yurtina family’s daughter as a concubine. Is that true?”
At Count Florens’ question, Count Yurtina looked helplessly at him, clearly unsure how to respond.
Despite withdrawing from the political scene at the same time, differences in each family’s influence were natural.
Florens had accumulated wealth through skillful management of royal business rights. Hetsen had succeeded by owning mines and trade routes. With Kasiellope’s influence, the prominence of these two families had soared.
By contrast, Yurtina had failed to make a significant name for themselves. In other words, among the three families, theirs was the weakest.
Now, in a meeting of all three, to deliberately suggest taking Yurtina’s daughter as a concubine—it was natural they would rush here in such a flurry.
Count Yurtina looked at Kasiellope as if pleading for mercy. She met his gaze in silence.
They never expected this.
Yurtina had lagged far behind Florens and Hetsen, and even Count Lottes, the closest retainer of the Duke of Icart, was present. Of course, they thought Yurtina would be outmatched. Their plan was clearly to push their own daughters forward first, then if unsuccessful, to raise the selected family as superior.
Outwardly, they probably pretended the engagement was broken for form’s sake and consoled their daughter, calling it just a formality for Miss Yurtina.
Kasiellope knew the Yurtina family well. Unlike other arrogant nobles, they could humble themselves and flatter others as needed.
This was no different. Had she not intentionally avoided naming Yurtina’s daughter, things could have gone differently.
“Well… we are still considering it,” Count Yurtina replied vaguely, avoiding a direct answer.
Kasiellope, pretending ignorance, asked him, “Is something troubling you, Count Yurtina? You look pale.”
“Oh, it’s nothing… really, nothing at all.”
“Then you should smile. Your daughter might become a concubine, after all.”
Count Yurtina’s face stiffened. Kasiellope’s lips curved upward in a thin smile.
Count Florens frowned, his suppressed frustration breaking through as his voice rose slightly.
“I heard there was already a designated concubine. Why then suddenly change Your Majesty’s mind to Miss Yurtina?”
“A designated concubine?”
“Yes. We know of Your Majesty’s meeting with Miss Bletin.”
“And what of it? Is that a problem?”
Florens let out a short, exasperated sigh at her question. Problem? Of course it was a problem. She knew it full well, but was deliberately asking.
“Of course it’s a problem. You said you would choose a concubine with complete impartiality, without letting personal feelings interfere. But if there is already a designated concubine, aren’t you breaking your own word?”
Kasiellope lifted her gaze slowly after a pause. Locking her unwavering eyes on Florens, she spoke in a soft, yet cutting voice:
“I honestly don’t know where to start.”
“What do you mean?”
“Is that your only proof that Miss Bletin is the designated concubine?”
“What else would there need to be? You met her personally.”
“Then by that logic, I am meeting with your daughters today as well, under the pretense of a tea party. That counts as a private meeting too.”
“That is… different—”
“Different how? To me, it all seems the same.”
“….”
“Ah, so since I am having private meetings with you now, does that mean your daughters will also be designated concubines? Though I wonder if a married man would match the Emperor’s preferences.”
Despite her sarcastic tone, none of the three house heads could respond. She had not said a single thing that was false.
“You asked why I chose Miss Yurtina. Isn’t it remarkable that Count Yurtina went to such lengths to break off the engagement and send his daughter for this purpose?”
“….”
“Miss Florens and Miss Hetsen have never been engaged before. Among nobles, a broken engagement could be a serious disqualification later. This decision is made for the sake of Miss Yurtina.”
The house heads’ eyes rolled in shock.
Then, Hetsen suddenly smiled slyly, as if an idea had come to him.
“You said a concubine cannot live in the palace, correct? Even as a concubine, she is the Emperor’s woman. Surely she has the right to live in the palace—”
“Wrong. Only members of the royal family have the right to live in the palace. Do you intend to break imperial law?”
“….”
“Assuming she gains the Emperor’s favor in the future, doesn’t that make it even more necessary for her to live outside the palace?”
The three stared at her, utterly confused.
“Viscount Hetsen, did your wife tolerate your mistress?”
At this pointed question, Hetsen visibly flinched. He seemed unaccustomed to such open scrutiny.
Kasiellope deliberately raised her voice.
“Your wife reportedly cut off all of the mistress’s hair herself.”
“I… I don’t understand what you are talking about. That never happened.”
His face was pale, clearly lying, yet he denied it. The sight was comical in a grim way.
“…Then I must believe the Count,” Kasiellope said, her eyes softening in a mock display of trust.
“When a lawful wife and a concubine live together, someone always ends up badly hurt.”
“….”
“And if such a thing were to happen, I assure you, I would not be the one hurt.”
The three looked at Kasiellope’s hands folded neatly on her lap—hands marked with scars and calluses from swordsmanship.
“I trust you understand my meaning.”
The chilling warning ended with a calm, aloof smile. The ministers could not meet her gaze or smile back.
At that moment, someone burst through the door.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
