RPL 158

Chapter 158  

“Is this idiot deaf or something?! I told you that you could die at any moment! And what? Tomorrow? To-mo-rrow?”

“I was just going to say goodbye before I leave—”

“Why bother saying goodbye?! If you die while saying goodbye, do you think the person you said goodbye to will be happy about it?!”

Gerald hurled every curse he could think of as he approached Lucior and grabbed him by the ear.

“Enough! We’re leaving right now!”

As Gerald dragged him away by the ear, Lucior wondered what he should do.

If I leave without saying anything, she’ll worry.

But if his life really was hanging by a thread, as Gerald claimed, then he couldn’t afford to waste any time.

Lucior’s life no longer belonged to him. It belonged to Reijina, so he couldn’t carelessly throw it away.

Should he stay behind and risk dying while saying goodbye to Reijina, or leave immediately and do whatever it took to survive?

After weighing the two choices, Lucior made his decision.

“I’ll leave right now. Now let go of this.”

If I die, Reijina will be sad for a long time.

He couldn’t bear to make her sad, even if it meant making her worry a little.

“Just lend me some paper and ink.”

Having made up his mind, Lucior took a sheet of paper from Gerald and wrote:

I’m leaving to train. Don’t worry.

Fabiel knew where Gerald lived, so if he found the note, he would be able to pass the message on to Reijina.

“So, please help me out a little.”

I placed a bottle filled with a transparent liquid on the table.

The Emperor stared at the bottle expressionlessly before speaking.

“What is it that you want me to do, and how?”

“As I mentioned before, please prevent the Empress from spreading the drugs. And if there are already people who have become addicted, please use this to save them.”

A few days after meeting Marquis Kieri, I went to see the Emperor.

I told him about everything the Empress had done using the drugs and informed him that she was trying to profit from them.

“It’s too dangerous to simply leave this alone. It’s something that could drive the people of the Empire whom Your Majesty cares about into misery.”

The reason I had come to tell the Emperor was simple: I didn’t have the time to personally stop everything the Empress was doing.

It was also something the Emperor could accomplish without much difficulty. As the Emperor, he was naturally responsible for preventing drugs from spreading throughout the Empire.

“If you stop the Empress while making it seem as though Your Majesty is secretly aware of her evil deeds—”

“As the Princess said, this is a dangerous substance.”

The Emperor interrupted me and turned his gaze toward another bottle on the table.

“Dangerous enough that it should be publicly exposed and banned.”

I pressed my lips together.

He was right.

“And if this becomes known, you could bring down the Empress you wish to remove in one stroke.”

The Emperor took his eyes off the bottle and looked at me.

Though his tone sounded reproachful, there was no anger or irritation in his red eyes.

“Then why do you intend to resolve this by quietly preventing its spread from behind the scenes?”

What should I call that look in his eyes?

It was strangely similar to the look of the interviewers who had once watched me during my job-searching days.

“You already know, so why ask?”

I gave a small laugh.

Even so, the Emperor merely kept his mouth shut and continued looking at me with that same expression.

“If the Empress commits another crime and falls, the Empire will obviously descend into chaos over the succession issue.”

In the end, I sighed and answered, since he clearly wanted to hear it directly from me.

“All three of the leading candidates for the throne would become disqualified because they would all be the children of criminals.”

If every candidate had a reason to be disqualified, that meant there would be ample grounds to oppose whoever ascended the throne.

And if the Empress fell and the faction she had painstakingly gathered collapsed, the situation would become even more serious.

Those people would scramble to secure their own futures by attaching themselves to whichever successor seemed most advantageous to them.

In other words, chaos over the succession would erupt.

“And if that happens, Kiseira will be overwhelmingly disadvantaged in the current situation.”

Even if my mother had committed treason, I was still the eldest daughter of one of the Empire’s distinguished noble families, which gave me excellent legitimacy.

Then there was Prince Claudis, who was still favored as the heir to his family and was young enough to be easily manipulated according to the nobles’ wishes.

Compared to the two of us, Kiseira had no particular advantage that would make the nobles want to rally behind her.

Nor did she possess some extraordinary talent or exceptional ability.

“It wouldn’t be impossible if Your Majesty supported her. After all, I doubt Your Majesty wants the Empire thrown into turmoil because of the succession.”

The Emperor would never give the throne to Claudis, whom he already distrusted. And I had long since declared that I had no desire to become Empress.

If that situation arose, the Emperor would probably side with Kiseira.

“But even if she became Empress that way, there would still be a problem. She would constantly be suspected of having ties to the Kingdom of Tahinen, and her mother’s downfall and criminal record would cause people to question her beliefs again and again.”

I paused and met the Emperor’s gaze.

“Your Majesty and I both know this, don’t we?”

“Know what, exactly?”

I smiled coldly at his question.

“How difficult it is to live as the child of a criminal.”

“……!”

At that moment, the Emperor’s eyes widened.

The Emperor, who had been subjected to retaliatory persecution from the nobles simply because he was the son of a tyrannical father.

And me, who had grown up being ignored and scorned as the child of a criminal.

Of all people, the two of us had no choice but to understand how difficult such a life could be.

“I don’t want to give Kiseira that kind of life.”

“…….”

“I never said I would make her Empress so that she could suffer or endure hardship.”

That was how I had felt from the beginning.

From the moment I told Kiseira that she should become Empress and that I would help her.

So even though I was the one who had forcibly separated that child from the mother she loved so dearly, I couldn’t go so far as to drag that mother into a miserable downfall.

Not unless Kiseira herself was prepared to trample over her mother to climb to the throne and willingly accept becoming the child of a criminal.

That was why I had never brought the Empress’s crimes into the light until now.

“It’s a difficult path.”

The Emperor, who had kept his mouth tightly shut, spoke with a sigh.

There was always something dirty about bringing someone else down. Spreading false rumors, digging up weaknesses, sowing discord.

It was filthy, but easy.

Choosing not to use such easy methods and instead defeating an enemy by taking the clean path was undoubtedly difficult.

Especially when the enemy had no hesitation about using dirty methods.

“I know.”

It would probably be easier for me to become Empress, just like Reijina in the original story.

I could expose the Empress for embezzling majestones and spreading drugs.

I could find Dasha and reveal that the late Empress Ellielle had been framed for treason by Kayenne. I could even spread rumors that Prince Claudis was illegitimate.

It wouldn’t matter even if I didn’t have enough evidence. Evidence could be fabricated as much as necessary.

Whether the Empress fell from power or was executed because of those things would have nothing to do with my becoming Empress.

But I was the one who had chosen the difficult path when an easier one was available.

And I was the one who had brought Kiseira into this.

Therefore, I had to take responsibility for my choices.

“That doesn’t mean I intend to walk only the difficult path. If there’s an easy path, there’s no reason to deliberately avoid it, is there?”

I smiled and continued.

“It’s just that I’m walking quietly toward that easy path through the darkness, so it isn’t noticeable.”

If I truly wanted to defeat the Empress only through righteous means, I wouldn’t have been steadily gathering all her weaknesses.

And I certainly wouldn’t have brought the drugs to the Emperor and asked for his help in order to turn his heart completely away from the Empress, as I was doing now.

“All right. I understand.”

After staring at me for a while, the Emperor finally spoke.

“As the Princess requested, I will consistently prevent the Empress from using drugs to profit from them.”

“Thank you.”

“And I will make her believe that using drugs is no longer worthwhile, so that she eventually abandons them altogether.”

At his words, I flinched slightly.

He had pinpointed something I hadn’t said aloud.

No matter how lacking in conscience I might be, and no matter how much I devoted my heart only to my own people, I didn’t think sacrificing others for my goals was right.

That was another reason I wanted to make the Empress give up on drugs completely—so that no more victims would be created.

“Thank you.”

I thanked him once more and rose from my seat.

“Ah, but one more thing.”

I had been about to leave after offering the proper courtesy, but I stopped and looked back at the Emperor.

“I’m not going to become Empress, so please stop testing me like that.”

The Emperor gave a faint smile, as though he had heard something unexpected.

“Princess Kiseira, whom you wish to place on the throne, is still inexperienced. She needs help and guidance. Perhaps for quite some time even after she becomes Empress.”

“…….”

“If you have chosen to become Princess Kiseira’s guide, then you need abilities that can compensate for what she lacks.”

As I listened, I scratched my cheek with one finger.

“Kiseira is inexperienced because she’s still young. Experience and wisdom take time.”

“That is true. The Princess is right. But it is also true that Princess Kiseira is still young.”

“But children grow up quickly. Before long, Kiseira won’t need me anymore, so there’s no need to investigate what I’m capable of.”

At my words, the Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to delay Princess Kiseira’s growth as much as possible?”

I smiled bitterly.

“Growth comes with pain, so I want to postpone it as much as possible. But I can’t stop her from growing forever.”

Children grow up someday.

Whether it happens sooner or later.

And just as Lucior was doing, Kiseira was gradually growing as well.

“Once Kiseira is confirmed as the heir, my role will be over.”

When that happened, I would immediately flee this Imperial Palace.

I’ll find a lake filled with seawater and live there.

I’d fish, slice the fish up for sashimi, and live a genuinely peaceful life.

I gave the Emperor, who was looking at me with an odd expression, another formal bow before leaving his chambers.

“Pfft.”

I was walking down the wide, magnificent corridor of the Imperial Palace when I turned a corner and burst out laughing at the sight of someone appearing from the opposite side.

The person immediately glared at me fiercely.

Looks like she doesn’t even have the energy to control her expression anymore.

I gave a derisive snort at the Empress, who was glaring at me while gripping Prince Claudis’s hand.