Episode 21
The tall, white Imperial Palace stood high above all.
At the end of the Emperor’s audience chamber was the golden imperial throne, decorated with fancy gold details and raised a few steps above the ground. Emperor Kyle sat there with one leg crossed lazily, looking like he thought no one in the world was above him.
Below him stood Count Livingston, the Emperor’s chief attendant. He was bowing deeply and reporting various matters with a submissive posture.
“Your Majesty, Lady Cowet has returned safely to the Duke’s mansion after the kidnapping.”
“Really?”
The Emperor answered without a change in expression. He just swung his leg back and forth, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Count Livingston watched him for a moment, then added quietly:
“At first, I thought the kidnapping was something you ordered.”
This finally made the Emperor react. He stopped moving his leg and lifted his eyelids slightly.
“Why would I do that?”
“You only got engaged to her to keep the late Emperor in check, didn’t you? I thought maybe now that she’s no longer useful, you were trying to get rid of her.”
“If I wanted to throw her away, I could do that anytime. No need for a dramatic show.”
The Emperor mumbled lazily while rubbing his neck and then looked up.
“But since the situation’s already set, I might as well use it. Besides, I can’t make a girl with a bad rumor hanging over her the Empress.”
“Haha, very true, Your Majesty.”
The attendant nodded eagerly in agreement.
The Emperor uncrossed his legs and asked:
“Count, what was the name of the spy working near Raymond?”
“Kargo, Your Majesty.”
“Kargo, huh? Get Raymond’s schedule from him. He’s going to pay for this kidnapping mess.”
“Understood!”
As the count bowed his head, the Emperor added another order as if he just remembered something.
“Also, send Lady Cowet a huge bouquet of flowers as a consolation gift. And assign an investigator to look into the kidnapping. Even if I’m going to throw her away, I should do the proper formalities first.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After receiving all the orders, the count bowed deeply again.
Later, Emperor Kyle invited Lady Cowet to the palace. He knew full well that it was strange to invite a recently kidnapped girl, but he did it to make her decline the offer herself.
“Lady Cowet has accepted the invitation.”
“What? She accepted it?”
The Emperor, who was putting on clothes with the help of his attendants, looked up in surprise. The news had come directly from the Duke’s household.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
‘Huh.’
The Emperor knew Lady Cowet’s personality very well. Her strict and upright nature was well known in high society. That’s why this news was very unexpected.
‘I thought she’d refuse right away and lock herself in at home. What changed?’
He was confused by her unusual reaction—but also found himself looking forward to the day she would come.
When Lady Cowet arrived at the palace, the Emperor noticed her staring at his face, completely dazed. That caught his interest.
‘That expression is different too.’
The usually expressionless girl now looked lively. Curious, the Emperor made a spontaneous decision.
“Today, let’s spend the whole day together.”
He wanted to see more of this different side of her.
During the “date,” the Emperor discovered new sides of her.
She loudly praised tasty food, yawned openly during the opera, and even said the Emperor looked like a statue.
When cake was served, she looked so happy like a child. And when she was startled by his words—
Was she… a rabbit?
Just like a baby rabbit who twitches its ears at every sound and then runs off into the bushes.
The Emperor found her honest and unpretentious behavior extremely amusing. Traits like that were rare among nobles.
Because of that, he decided not to get rid of her just yet. It might be fun to watch her a little longer.
The plan to catch Raymond doing something wrong completely failed. The secret meeting between Kargo and the Imperial Special Unit had been discovered.
Because of that, the Emperor lost both his spy and the skilled special unit soldiers he had worked hard to control.
What really annoyed him was that he only found out a week after it happened.
“….”
The Emperor sat on his throne, tapping the armrest with his finger. His face was full of displeasure. The attendant, too nervous to look up, stood awkwardly with his back bent.
Even though he had just reported the situation in a trembling voice, the Emperor stayed silent for a long time. He was someone who hated the idea of failure more than anything.
“Count.”
“Y-Yes, Your M-Majesty?”
“Why is your voice shaking?”
“B-Because… I’m deeply sorry, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor rolled his eyes to look down at him, then slowly sat forward.
“It’s only one special unit gone. It’s not even your fault. No need to shake like that.”
“T-Thank you, Your Majesty!”
The count threw himself flat on the floor in gratitude. The Emperor glanced at him coldly, then turned to look out the window.
The day was coming to an end, and the sky was painted in the deep red of the setting sun. While staring out at the fading light, something popped into his mind.
“Call Lady Cowet tomorrow morning. Tell her I’d like to have tea with her.”
“Pardon? Lady Cowet?”
The count accidentally questioned him, but after seeing the Emperor’s icy expression, he quickly fixed his tone.
“Y-Yes. Understood, Your Majesty.”
He didn’t understand why the Emperor wanted to meet a woman he’d planned to get rid of. But there was no time to wonder. Right now, it was more important to distract the Emperor’s attention.
Kyle was the young Emperor of the Prares Empire.
It had only been two years since the former Emperor passed away. His reign of terror, which had seemed like it would last forever, had finally ended with his death.
When his overbearing father died, Kyle felt like he could finally breathe for the first time in his life.
While his father was alive, even Kyle—his own son—had no power. The old Emperor had been cruel even to him. Lonely and afraid, Kyle would secretly meet his cousin Raymond, the son of his uncle, to share his worries. They had promised to one day fix the Empire together.
But when the old Emperor died, Kyle changed completely. He inherited all the power his father had, and greed started to take over.
He liked having power and money come to him without effort. He liked seeing people bow and flatter him. Now he was the all-powerful ruler of the Empire.
‘Ah, so this is why Father never let go of power.’
Kyle enjoyed everything about being Emperor. He didn’t want to give up a single bit of it.
Tyranny? That was easy to avoid. He would just be a kind and gentle Emperor. People had survived under his father’s cruelty, so wasn’t this already an improvement?
He justified everything in his head and built a new worldview centered around himself.
The nobles loved Kyle. As long as they flattered him, they could enjoy all the benefits and special treatment. For them, this was paradise.
But it was the ordinary people who suffered. Their lives became even worse than before. At least under the former Emperor, they feared death. Now, they simply waited to starve after everything had been taken by greedy nobles.
Raymond was deeply disappointed in Kyle. To him, Kyle was no better than the previous Emperor. He might not be openly violent, but he was still doing the same things. Raymond could clearly see the people suffering.
One day, loud voices echoed from the Emperor’s audience room. It was Raymond.
“Your Majesty, are you saying you’ll just let the nobles continue to exploit the people?”
“Oh, Raymond. Stop shouting. Think about how hard things were under my father. The nobles deserve a little freedom now.”
Kyle frowned and waved his hand casually.
“Then what about the people who’ve suffered all this time? Can’t you see them at all?”
“The people? They’re like weeds. No matter how much you step on them, they always grow back. They’re tough. Don’t worry about them.”
“Your Majesty! How could you say that…!”
Raymond was so furious that he was breathing hard, but Kyle just shrugged. When their conversation clearly wasn’t going anywhere, Raymond stormed out.
As soon as he left, the nobles swarmed around the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, no matter how close you are, wasn’t that too disrespectful?”
“Exactly. He dared to go against your will. That was arrogant and inappropriate. He must be dealt with.”
“Tsk.”
The nobles seized the opportunity to criticize Raymond. With no heir yet, Raymond—the second in line to the throne—was a major obstacle. The fact that he stood with the people made them hate him even more.
Kyle also found Raymond increasingly annoying. But the previous Duke Ruslo (Raymond’s father) was well-respected by the nobles and beloved by the people.
Because of that, Kyle couldn’t punish Raymond openly. He had to find a way to secretly work behind the scenes.
