Episode 23
“I can’t see her face because of the veil. Did he bring a relative?”
The man, who had better eyesight than most, squinted and looked at the woman stepping gracefully from the carriage.
Just as Jayden said, her face was hidden, but under the black veil, her silver hair flowed gently.
At that moment, Easton suddenly remembered Layla’s bright smiling face.
His heart dropped—and then started pounding loudly.
But that was a foolish thought.
Even if silver hair was rare, a countryside girl like her would never come here.
To clear his head, Easton shook it slightly and rubbed his chin.
“No matter how powerful Duke La Rose is, he wouldn’t dare push a mere relative.”
Each faction—the Emperor’s side and the nobles—was allowed a limited number of candidates for the Empress position.
Bringing a distant relative in front of an Emperor who didn’t want to marry would be difficult, even for the Duke.
“Well, it’s not impossible. If it’s that Duke La Rose.”
Jayden finally spoke after thinking for a while.
“If the woman is extremely beautiful, convincing the other nobles wouldn’t be hard for him.”
He glanced at Easton, trying to see his reaction.
“Shall I go and check?”
Jayden always got worked up when it came to Duke La Rose. He didn’t show it, but inside, his anger must have burned black.
“I think I should go—”
“I’ll go myself.”
As expected, Easton clenched his teeth and stormed out.
His face stayed calm, but his mind was spinning so fast it gave him a headache.
“How far is he trying to go?!”
Even after Easton became Emperor, Duke La Rose didn’t stop. It was like removing one obstacle made him even bolder—he began pushing terrible laws.
The Emperor’s loyal nobles tried to stop him, but it wasn’t enough.
They were gathering strength for a counterattack, but the Duke still had all the power and wealth.
“Damn it…!”
Easton couldn’t say it aloud, but curse words spun inside his mouth.
How far was the Duke trying to control him?
Now that he thought about it, the Duke was the type to create a daughter if needed.
Maybe she wasn’t a relative at all—maybe she was a hidden illegitimate child or an adopted one.
Whatever the truth, it was disgusting.
Filled with cold rage, Easton walked to the Great Hall—the direction the woman had gone.
When the nobles and consort candidates saw the Emperor appear suddenly, the hall erupted in whispers.
“The eternal ruler of the Inverno Empire…”
Some nobles loyal to the Emperor smiled and approached, but Easton’s eyes were locked on the hall.
Strangely, the veiled woman was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on?”
He tilted his head slightly and looked around. Then he spotted a maid.
She was the same one who had guided the woman from Duke La Rose’s carriage.
A cold smile appeared on Easton’s lips.
“You there.”
“Y-yes? Me?”
“Come with me.”
He took the maid straight to his office, where Jayden was waiting.
Jayden looked confused when he saw the girl following Easton.
Judging by her clothes, she was a royal palace maid.
“Why’d you bring a maid?”
“She’s the one who guided the woman from the Duke’s carriage.”
At those words, the maid—Emily—flinched.
Easton sat down, and Jayden began to question her.
“What’s your name?”
“E-Emily.”
“You guided the woman from Duke La Rose’s carriage. Who is she? Where did she go?”
“T-that is…”
Emily hesitated.
She had secretly worked as one of the Duke’s agents for a long time. As a palace maid, she knew the Duke was the one causing so much trouble for the Empire.
But the reason she obeyed him was simple: money.
She had nine family members to support. A maid’s salary wasn’t enough. She had to do anything to survive.
“If you tell the truth, nothing will happen to you.”
“…If I tell the truth, I’ll die.”
Emily spoke with a trembling voice.
“But if I don’t talk, I’ll be killed by Your Majesty… right?”
“You think telling the truth means death…”
Easton sighed.
Her words meant she was acting on the Duke’s orders.
“I don’t kill people for things like this.”
He muttered, thinking of the loved ones he lost because of the Duke.
“If you don’t want to talk, then don’t.”
“…But, Your Majesty,”
Jayden leaned in and whispered,
“If the Duke finds out we took her here—”
“That was my mistake.”
Easton frowned and pressed his temples.
His anger at the Duke had made him act recklessly, putting the maid in danger.
“Take her somewhere safe and hide—”
“Then give me money.”
“…What?”
“You don’t have to hide me. I’m fine with dying. Just give me enough money so my family—nine people—can live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”
She said it boldly, like she deserved it.
But Easton understood.
He saw it in her eyes—the blame toward the Emperor who failed to stop the Duke’s rise.
He looked at her with a bitter expression, then said:
“I’ll give you the money. I’ll protect you, too. So will you talk?”
After a moment of silence, Emily finally spoke.
“…She is the Lady of La Rose.”
“The Lady?”
“She’s Duke La Rose’s illegitimate daughter. I don’t know much more, but I heard she only recently came to the capital.”
“He had an illegitimate daughter…?”
It was a shock. Easton had thought the Duke was clean in that area.
He held back a scoff and gave Jayden a signal.
Jayden nodded slightly.
“Thank you for telling us. Come with me. I’ll prepare a place for you and your family.”
“Thank you… thank you so much.”
Emily bowed again and again as she left with Jayden.
Once the door shut, Easton’s expression turned icy.
“How interesting. He dares…”
His blue eyes burned with fury.
“…to push his own daughter at me?”
He couldn’t hold back the bitter laugh.
His lips curled into a smirk, then tightened into a firm line.
“Fine. I accept your challenge.”
Maybe this was a good thing.
Maybe today, he’d finally get to see the Duke’s twisted face break.
Easton stood slowly.
He wrapped himself in the Emperor’s cloak with the crest of the Inverno Empire—
and walked toward the Great Hall,
unaware of what was about to happen next.
