Chapter 45
“Both of you, please show your entry passes.”
I took out the golden medal the Empress had given me last time and said.
“Will this do? This is my older brother next to me.”
He looked at the medal and, without asking any questions, bowed deeply and opened the door wide.
Our confident entrance was quite bold considering our suspicious purpose.
The entry pass the Empress gave me last time was like a permit allowing access to the imperial palace anytime.
Since the debutante party, the Empress and I had met quite frequently.
The Empress said I was like a daughter to her and hoped I would come to the palace often, which is why she gave me this pass.
Only one accompanying person was allowed per pass.
After passing through the door, Taro poked his head out of Miller’s bag.
[Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate.]
“Wow, it’s been so long since I came to the imperial palace. Where is this place?”
“Just follow me, brother.”
Having been invited so often by the royal siblings including the Empress, I had become very familiar with the palace’s layout. Now, with Miller and Taro, I was sneaking into the main palace where the grand nobles’ meeting was taking place.
We snuck past the gardeners tending the beautiful garden, avoided the servants escorting guests, and even bypassed Rachel, who was nervously pacing around the palace.
Finally, we arrived at an empty courtyard behind the castle.
While the front of the castle was beautifully decorated with gardens, this area was completely deserted, as if it was a place for servants to slack off.
“Bend down.”
We lowered our heads and hurried towards the meeting place.
After passing about ten windows, we heard someone’s voice.
“Thank you all for participating in today’s grand nobles’ meeting.”
It was Lady Jeria’s voice.
“This must be the place.”
I lifted my head and peeked into a room next to where the meeting was held.
It seemed to be a lounge where nobles who had just been to the meeting were resting.
The tea in the cups had all gone cold, and no one was inside.
There were guards standing in the hallway, so we had to sneak into the room by climbing over this window.
Resolutely, I placed one foot on the window ledge and pushed myself up.
Had my physical training paid off? I easily stepped onto the windowsill, higher than my height…
“Whoa, trying to climb up?”
It turned out Miller had lifted me from behind.
[Master, you actually have a cute side. Such ambitious dreams.]
‘I don’t want to hear that from someone short like you!’
[What? Seems you’ve forgotten my true form. I can grow as big as a house! This is just a phase…]
‘Hmph!’
Ignoring Taro’s passionate chatter, I stepped inside the room and looked around.
Miller and Taro followed me inside by climbing over the windowsill.
“No one’s here.”
Miller’s words were more reliable than my own eyes.
He was a skilled swordsman; if anyone had been inside, he would have sensed their presence immediately.
“Two knights guard the hallway in front of the meeting room; besides that, no one else.”
I nodded and pressed my ear against the wall, listening intently to the ongoing meeting.
Faint voices gradually became audible.
Marquis Gasen had been waiting for today, one might say.
Nobles live and die by their honor.
The royal family was no different.
If even the slightest blemish tarnished a prestigious reputation, it would become a crack that leads to collapse.
Today, his task was to throw a stone at the Crown Prince — whom he had painstakingly built up — to create at least a small crack.
The Crown Prince, who seemed to have been nowhere to be found for the past two years, had already faded from the memories of the empire’s citizens.
The passionate support from the people who sustained his legitimacy no longer served as a proper shield.
At this, the nobles gathered exchanged meaningful glances, aware that a huge tidal wave was coming to topple Luca.
Marquis Gasen thought to himself.
The nobles would change their opinion about Luca after today’s grand nobles’ meeting.
If he could win over Lady Jeria’s favor, including the Croa Marquis family, he could arrange for his eldest daughter to become the future Crown Princess, or at least a prince’s consort.
Marquis Gasen looked up at Lady Jeria, who sat atop the platform with a greedy gaze, as if worshipping her.
The Emperor was busy cozying up to a new foreign woman he had just met, and the frail Empress was serving an unrequested exile in the strict palace of the Empress.
In contrast, look at Lady Jeria’s eyes, filled with desire.
Marquis Gasen admired the lifeline he had grabbed.
In his judgment, the Crown Prince had already lost power.
Looking at those seated in the Crown Prince’s faction, aside from Duke Rayes, none were of any significance.
The Marquis sneered at this declining faction.
Meanwhile, the Croa Marquis family had been fearfully expanding its power for the past two years.
Even street children would know which side to back.
Also, depending on the outcome of the meeting, the 30 grand nobles present today and the lesser nobles beneath them would begin to move.
The massive board was starting to shake.
In the center of it all, the young Crown Prince finally entered the room.
The meeting room, attended by the 30 grand nobles representing the empire, two secretaries, Lady Jeria, and the Crown Prince himself, resembled a gigantic hunting ground.
Everyone seated knew exactly who today’s prey was.
There were those who wanted to protect him and those who wanted to kill him; it felt as if silent arrows flew in all directions.
When the time came, Lady Jeria broke the silence.
“Over the past two years, His Highness the Crown Prince has been absent, and the flow of the empire has changed. Not only the citizens of the empire but also the vassal states of the Griffin Empire have been thrown into great turmoil. The numerous recent rebellions also stem from this.”
When this unprecedented event shook the empire’s history, chaos ensued for a while.
The heir to the throne, the next emperor-to-be, was kidnapped.
That fact alone caused considerable uproar.
“Now that stability has finally been restored, signs of internal strife have reappeared, leading to this 21st grand nobles’ meeting.”
Since she requested the meeting, Lady Jeria took the lead.
Normally, the Emperor would have to attend ceremoniously, but it seems he declined sharply, likely out of annoyance.
He was indifferent even to issues concerning his wife and children, which ironically became a good opportunity for Lady Jeria.
She took a breath and looked at the nobles seated in her faction.
“As you all know, a month before the Crown Prince’s return, the crown prince title was already revoked. The justification was sufficient: they could no longer wait for the Crown Prince, whose return time was unknown. Therefore…”
Lady Jeria’s pale blue eyes met Luca’s vivid red ones in midair.
At that moment, her red lips curled cruelly.
“I believe once again that the three princes should be given an equal opportunity to claim the Crown Prince’s position.”
She mentioned Luca’s dethronement with a calm tone.
Although she said another chance would be given, there would be no returning the Crown Prince’s seat to Luca.
The glory of the past had faded.
When one star sets, another star rises.
Lady Jeria was confident without a doubt that those stars would be her two sons.
At least she must have forgotten the Luca she had seen with her own eyes a few days ago at the debutante party.
In contrast, the nobles firmly seated in the Crown Prince’s faction probably had not forgotten the fierce Luca from that day.
Duke Clare and his eldest son Esil did not sit in any faction.
Before the meeting started, he had laughed heartily and said, “Clare will always be a spectator. It has been so since the beginning.”
Though not attending today, Cabros was with the nobles’ faction, and Rayes was with the Crown Prince’s faction.
Those who had worked hard to recruit another duke, Clare, gave in with blank expressions.
Drehan was one of them.
“Esil, that guy said he’d try to persuade Duke Clare.”
Having known him since academy days, Drehan did not distrust him.
Rather, Drehan thought Clare’s kind face hid a stubborn man tangled in his own ways.
Luca, seated on the throne of the Crown Prince’s faction, looked at the nobles of the opposing faction with an unreadable expression.
As if he was familiarizing himself with their faces one by one.
His gaze was so chilling that some of those present involuntarily flinched in front of the young Crown Prince.
Marquis Gasen stood up and fluttered the documents he was holding, beginning to speak earnestly.
“To vacate the Crown Prince’s position again and distribute opportunities fairly to the princes is not only because of the two-year absence.”
He swallowed hard.
The Empress is still alive. Though she looks like a candle that might go out anytime, she is still called Empress and alive…
“Here are materials that cast doubt on the legitimacy of His Highness the Crown Prince.”
His words caused a stir in the room.
Duke Rayes quieted the commotion with a low voice.
“Quiet. Marquis Gasen, I regret to say I have no time to entertain your nonsense. This is not a place for jokes.”
Although I almost got intimidated by Duke Rayes’ calm tone telling him to stop talking nonsense, Marquis Gasen was deluded into thinking that he would soon cut down even Rayes himself.
“You all will remember the rebellious prince.”
Everyone knew who the Marquis meant even without hearing the name.
The rebellious prince was the Emperor’s brother who was executed a few years ago for treason.
That name was Duke Gruben.
Like Luca now, Duke Gruben was a praised and capable prince.
He was also a man of integrity who proposed policies to divide the nobles’ private lands for the benefit of the commoners.
His territory had developed welfare policies that left a great mark on the empire’s history and was a model of noblesse oblige.
He was a beloved ruler whose praise from his subjects never ceased.
However, he was executed due to absurd false accusations.
Years later, a rumor began circulating.
“There are witnesses who saw Duke Gruben conspiring with Her Majesty the Empress.”
Marquis Gasen smirked.
