Episode 10
“……What did you say?”
“He is my father, the one who had been unable to rise from his bed due to the worsening of his chronic illness.”
A strange conviction flickered in Kazen’s eyes.
“She asked whether that child truly carried the blood of the imperial family. My father’s second wife.”
“It is an insult!”
Bellavita trembled violently, still gripping her fan.
Her image—mouth shut, tears pouring down—was pitiful, the kind of sight that easily deceived people.
Huh?
Now she even started holding her stomach and crying.
‘……This is not good.’
I glanced around.
The crown prince was overlooking something.
There were not only three of us in this room.
“I hear the crown prince is pressuring the second empress again. What should we do?”
“She might collapse if this continues.”
The whispers of the attendants reached my ears.
‘Just as I thought.’
The crown prince had no evidence for his suspicion.
If he continued like this, he would only earn the reputation of having insulted the empress without cause.
‘Gossip spreads quickly among servants.’
Even though he was the legitimate imperial bloodline of this empire—one tied to the influence of the Seven Heroes—the crown prince lacked experience.
Something the second empress possessed.
Something the crown prince did not.
The crown prince did not know how to manipulate people’s hearts.
Those servants’ gazes—
‘He is losing public opinion. This is not a good flow. It is disadvantageous for the crown prince.’
“Y-you are too, sniff, sob…!”
“Empress!”
See? She collapsed.
The attendants carried the unconscious second empress out of the room.
Though they could not directly rebuke the crown prince, their eyes were full of disrespect.
Rumors would spread.
‘The crown prince drove the second empress to collapse.’
‘His actions were too harsh.’
And that would be tied directly to his qualifications as an emperor.
A crown prince deemed immoral would not be recognized as worthy of the throne.
‘It’s not that the crown prince doesn’t understand that, but the problem is that he is only thirteen.’
Even while his expression remained composed, the way he clenched his fist so tightly that the bones protruded looked exactly like a child.
He lacked the experience to handle his emotions and respond calmly.
‘He is not enough to face the second empress, that sly snake.’
But.
I agreed with the crown prince’s words.
‘If the room is filled with Aurel flowers and an expectant mother ignores it, that makes no sense.’
I looked at the blue flowers.
Aurel flowers were a rare species, known as blossoms that grew only in the divine garden, boasting dazzling beauty.
But they carried toxicity.
‘It doesn’t harm ordinary humans, but it contains a poison that threatens pregnant women.’
They emit a scent that repels insects, making them ideal decorative plants—but they can also cause miscarriages.
Early symptoms include nausea and headaches.
If the reaction is severe, hallucinations and miscarriage can occur.
‘I remember Erakan once picked a whole bouquet for his pregnant wife and got beaten for it.’
Erakan, one of my comrades, had been kicked out of his house that day and spent about a week sleeping in the temple of Perilei.
‘But the second empress, who is knowledgeable about poisons, doesn’t know that?’
I observed the strange situation.
A crown prince being condemned, and an empress of power—yet a deceiver.
It seemed like the empire would fall even without my involvement…
But that couldn’t happen.
‘If it collapses, it should collapse by my hand.’
I noticed the gray mana emanating from the second empress.
That meant she had tampered with forbidden arts.
And “forbidden arts” was not merely a cautionary term for prohibited magic.
It meant dangerous magic that required a tremendous price to wield.
And women who used forbidden arts faced a fatal restriction:
They could not bear children.
Understanding dawned, and I narrowed my eyes with a faint smile.
‘She isn’t pregnant.’
There was no child in the second empress’s womb.
“Since the crown prince has frequently caused disturbances in the palace and committed acts of filial impiety toward his mother, we cannot overlook his inhumane behavior!”
The imperial first council chamber buzzed with commotion.
Those aligned with the second empress raised their voices, condemning Crown Prince Kazen Huonis’s conduct.
“It has not been long since the emperor’s passing, yet you already bring turmoil to the imperial family.”
“The second empress was the only one who witnessed the emperor’s final moments and continues to work tirelessly for the nation’s development—how could you…?”
“Exactly. And she is soon to bear an imperial heir.”
“She even carries the blood of the hero Yulitie—she will give birth to a new sage of this era!”
“Such treatment of the second empress must not be allowed.”
Thus, they proposed:
“Therefore, I submit the motion for the second empress to act as regent of imperial authority.”
At that moment, the chamber did not even stir.
It remained silent.
As if proving that all of this had been orchestrated in advance.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
I quietly hid behind the wall and bit into a piece of candy, crunching it.
‘What a mess.’
Even though the emperor had died, Crown Prince Kazen Huonis was the legitimate heir of the imperial family, born of the first empress from Perilei—part of the Seven Sacred Houses, the great aristocracy above ordinary nobility.
‘If he holds no power despite that, it can only mean they had been plotting against him since before the emperor’s death.’
The Seven Sacred Houses.
Families of heroes.
They supported the imperial family from above and directed the nobility from below.
The heads of each house traditionally served as elders in the noble council.
Excluding the Huonis house of the imperial family and my own house—Clurion, the so-called ghost house—there were effectively five houses.
The council appointed one representative from each house, totaling five members.
The emperor alone held the authority to appoint them, but the noble council currently had no elders.
The reason was simple.
‘Elders are dissolved upon the emperor’s death.’
The council’s existence and fate were bound to the emperor’s reign.
Because the descendants of heroes wielded immense significance in the empire, their political power was limited.
Only five individuals chosen by the emperor could directly participate in governance.
Usually, these were the heads of each house; no one else could work in the palace.
This system existed to prevent the Seven Sacred Houses from becoming a threat to the emperor and to maintain a balance of power.
‘Since the council is dissolved, everyone left here supports the second empress.’
Bellavita, who claimed to be a descendant of Yulitie Clurion.
Was her popularity solely because she was descended from the empire’s beloved hero?
‘No.’
That was not my view.
‘It is ultimately a faction struggle.’
I narrowed my eyes and scanned the room.
Every face was familiar.
‘People who used to flatter Bellavita when I was with the second empress.’
The nobles supported the second empress for the same reason.
The Clurion house was the only sacred house they could exploit to surpass the other houses.
They wanted to pull a new heroic lineage into their faction.
In other words, it was a power struggle.
‘How lax things have become.’
I laughed bitterly.
When we faced the primordial great monster, I had realized what absolute power truly meant.
Arrogance crumbled in an instant.
The moment I witnessed people being swallowed into darkness and bones being spit out like scraps.
The emotion I felt was nothingness.
Beyond fear—an abyss where thought ceased.
We ultimately destroyed the primordial monster and secured peace.
‘Without the six traitors and me, these children would not even be alive.’
Annoyed, I tapped my foot.
“Thie, are you here?”
Jesse, who had found me, gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
“If it is frightening for you to see this, shall we return to the bedroom?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? You are trembling quite a bit.”
“Yeah, Thie likes to tremble.”
But sparks flashed in my eyes.
‘If the second empress begins exercising regency, the crown prince won’t even be able to open the underground door for me.’
I’d be lucky not to be locked in a tower.
At minimum, imprisonment—at worst, death.
I looked at Kazen Huonis, who sat with an impassive face.
‘That is not the posture of a thirteen-year-old.’
He looked like a sage who had finished years of secluded training.
“The crown prince has not expressed his opinion, so we will adjourn the meeting.”
By remaining silent, the crown prince chose a quiet refusal.
He knew that, for now, delaying time was the best defense.
When the council ended, the crowd of nobles left the chamber.
Kazen, who had maintained his expressionless composure, departed with his escort Roil.
I stared at the empty chamber and noticed something.
“Are those portraits of past emperors?”
One wall of the chamber was covered with portraits—emperors with purple eyes.
‘Descendants of Huonis.’
Feeling as if I had seen something I shouldn’t have, I looked away.
“Huh?”
Wait a moment.
“Jesse, Jesse.”
“Yes, Thie.”
“Does the crown prince have no other family? No grandfather or grandmother by his side?”
My words surprised Jesse slightly.
“Thie, didn’t you know?”
