Her cold words made Cecilia cry out sadly.
“Leviathan! EP tried so hard to save you. Truly, with every possible effort!”
“Do you think I would know such things?”
Ban remained as cool as the northern biting wind. Yet Cecilia kept repeating as if a broken clock.
“I stayed up for a hundred nights and days to tell you of that effort. It’s the truth.”
“…”
“But it was precisely the one who trampled on that effort and killed EP who became the Third Imperial Consort.”
That name again, the Third Imperial Consort. Ban did not say a word. Yet his brows narrowed in displeasure.
Cecilia took a deep breath after gripping the dagger.
“Ban, I now at last understand what you went through outside the palace and what your situation is now.”
Now, at last? Truly fortunate, one might say.
Ban inwardly sneered but did not show it.
“Are you planning revenge on Zeroth?”
“Your Grace the Second Consort has a lot of time, doesn’t she? She has time to talk about others’ revenge and so on.”
“Revenge, then.”
Even in a scornful tone, Cecilia spoke with resolve.
“I will go to the family’s name and help you. So take revenge on Zeroth. And… become emperor.”
For a moment Ban doubted his ears. Emperor? Was the Second Consort just now telling him to become emperor?
Then Ban burst into loud laughter.
“Your Grace the Second Consort, you’re joking, aren’t you? Are you perhaps feeling jealous of a Third Consort who will soon have a son who might become emperor?”
“According to my promise with EP, I will take you as my ward.”
But Cecilia did not waver and continued.
“Of course the Emperor’s approval is needed, but the Emperor is currently collapsed and cannot make big decisions. I will use the Authority of the Consort.”
The Authority of the Consort
That was a privilege granted by the Empire to three women who had ascended to the status of Calan’s Consorts, out of respect for the three who had joined the divergent line. Most requests were possible, except for pleas to spare rebels.
“With the Authority of the Consort, I will take you as my ward. That does not require the Emperor’s approval.”
Ban was surprised but did not show it. Cecilia, however, saw it quickly.
“Why, do you think I can’t do it?”
“…”
“No. I will. So you become a prince, ascend the throne, and avenge EP’s enemy. For that, you may stake everything.”
“You’re crazy.”
Ban’s shoulders shook as he laughed.
“For so small a thing as placing your friend’s son on the imperial throne? And with the family’s name on the line too?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you expect me to believe you’re sane?”
The moment Ban stopped laughing, he looked back at Victoria.
“Perhaps you, too, should offer a plausible excuse. At least something I can believe.”
Surprisingly, Victoria shrugged lightly.
“Surely I, too, am indifferent to palace intrigue, like you. To Your Grace the Second Consort… apologies, but.
“…”
“But people assign value to different things.”
Soon Victoria stepped closer to Ban.
“And what I value, and the purpose of my life, is to protect my country.”
She tapped the Calan Empire crest on her chest.
“I love my homeland.”
“…”
“Perhaps more than the elder who is emperor now.”
Ban, who knew her history, remained silent.
The former crown princess had the qualities to be emperor but could not garner the family’s support because she was a woman. She had not been prevented from becoming the leader of the Imperial Knights, though.
“But if Zeroth, who occupies the throne now, is all lies, then that brat does not deserve to be the emperor I serve.”
“…”
“The one who sits on the throne must be a legitimate person. That is my principle.”
Victoria then approached Ban and tapped his shoulder.
“You didn’t bring this empire this far, did you? So come back to surface now.”
Ban paused at her sincere tone. But it was only a moment.
He quietly walked to the door and flung it open.
“The time is late, Your Highness the Former Crown Princess. Your Grace the Second Consort.”
Then he gave a courteous smile that clearly showed distance as if nothing had happened.
“Please go back.”
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
“Woof…”
On the way back to the palace, the Second Consort left Ban with an unmeaning remark.
Leviathan, if you have any thoughts, please write to me—she said.
“A letter…? This still won’t do. I’ll ask around.”
After seeing them off, I hurried to Ban’s quarters faster than anyone else.
Of course, he was at the table near the large pot, glancing up at me only a moment.
“In times like this, being small helps.”
Ban looked lost in thought, not noticing me…
“Everything’s visible.”
“Woof!?”
No, not quite. A tiny barck within a black lion, perhaps.
I cautiously approached him and spoke softly.
“Woof.”
Tsja, do you have something to say?
In my teasing, I lightly tapped his forepaw, and he spoke.
“Lady.”
“Woof?”
“Do the Lycan already know who I am?”
“Woof, my Woof…?”
A surprising sound came out. I rolled my eyes and peered sideways.
-What is that sound?
Though I tried to act innocent, a creature’s instinct made its tail hide between its legs.
Damn it.
“The Former Crown Princess and the Second Consort knew me. And the Marquis naturally welcomed them both.”
“W-Woof-ong. Woof-woof.”
“…What do you know?”
His eyes, finished speaking, demanded truth rather than judgment.
“…My Woof.”
The gaze he fixed on me was terrifying. This is why one should not lie.
I remained quiet.
-So you’re saying I am the abandoned prince, huh?
“…”
-Or is it that Zeroth the Crown Prince… actually you have done everything?
“…”
-Everything… yes. In fact, I knew first.
“…”
-So I kept my honors. If not, Alect would have slain Zeroth or Pharen would have hidden me, one of the two events would have happened.
“Everything?”
-Oh, just a bit? Well, I knew most of it first.
-That means you kept up the pretenses. I don’t tolerate insolent people.
With a cautious closing, I climbed onto the chair in front of him.
-Ban, hey, are you angry?
“…”
-I’m sorry…
I expected anger from his mentioning of digging up my past, but unexpectedly he shook his head calmly.
“No need to be sorry. If you keep an unknown person by your side, digging up their past is natural.”
“Woof?”
Really?
“Still, it’s a bit surprising that you decided to keep me so close while you knew everything. I’m…”
He paused for a moment. It must be painful to say it myself.
Only the fact that I was born as a “black prince” who had been abandoned, the right-hand man of the crown prince, but discarded.
And I, who knew his background better than anyone, hoped he would not utter it aloud.
-You said it.
He lowered his gaze of red, still.
-There is no one in this world who can humanize me but you. And.
“…And?”
-Honestly, who would listen to that fact and take Zeroth’s side? Such a selfish man.
Having said what I wanted to say, I finally felt a little lighter.
Still, I glanced at Ban to see if he was displeased, and thankfully he smiled.
“My, my…”
“Woof?”
“… Emperor.”
He muttered something inscrutable and then sat again facing me. His crimson eyes, with no clear meaning, scanned me from head to toe, making my throat dry.
“Woof, Woof?”
He held out his hand.
-Is this humanization?
“Yes.”
I naturally placed my forepaw on him without thinking.
I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them again, I had become Irshelia in a pink domestic dress.
He stared at me intently and said something out of the blue.
“An emperor can do anything.”
Emperor? Why suddenly emperor? I had no idea what he was saying.
“Anything you can have.”
“That would make you a tyrant…”
I murmured without thinking and he raised an eyebrow.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you and a tyrant suit each other so well.”
In the original, he is depicted as a stern but capable emperor, a capable ruler.
He tilted his head.
“Right. If I become emperor, this empire will fall.”
“But it’s worth a hundred times more to have Zeroth as emperor.”
I frowned.
“What happens when a man who cannot do anything himself becomes emperor?”
“…”
“And more than anything, I don’t want such a person to have the Lycan nodding to him, to boss our brothers around with that hollow head, just because he is emperor.”
I clenched my fists and shouted, and he raised his gaze.
-They are not the kind of Lycan who would willingly bow to anyone, right?
-That’s true, but there is a standing order of status. And I might have to listen to this and that simply because I am emperor.
A noblewoman of a prestigious family. The answer is obvious: a marriage proposal would be coming. Of course, before I could reject, Alec might slit Zeroth’s throat or Faren might hide me, one of the two scenarios would occur.
-This and that?
-Oh, a betrothal thing? But—
Just as I was about to say I could refuse, a creaking noise echoed. Ban’s bedstead’s iron edge was bent into a round shape.
“What happened just now?” I asked, stunned.
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released on October, 31.
See you then!!
