STE 14

Chapter 14

The Archbishop, Minos Argen.

After receiving an urgent message from the Emperor late last night, he had rushed to the Imperial Palace before the first light of dawn had even faded.

Although the Emperor had made him sit in the chilly reception room for three hours under the pretext of needing time to prepare, the Archbishop did not mind in the slightest.

That was how unsettled he was.

“They say people sleep less in the mornings as they grow older. I suppose there’s some truth to it.”

Romain finally appeared, and it was obvious from his tone that he was displeased by the Archbishop for disturbing his peaceful sleep.

“I apologize for coming to see Your Majesty so suddenly. However…”

The Archbishop’s expression darkened.

He simply could not fathom what the ambitious young man before him was thinking.

“You intend to grant freedom of religion?”

This time, even the Archbishop could not help but cast Romain a displeased look.

Freedom of religion.

The new legislation proposed by Romain seemed excessive even when considering his usual hostility toward religion.

With most of the Imperial bloodline that had firmly supported Karnes for generations now severed, the people would naturally become anxious and seek something to rely upon even more strongly.

The one they should reach out to and seek salvation from had to be Aria, not some foreign god of unknown origin.

“The Aria Faith is the spirit and very root of Karnes. A tree that loses its roots can only collapse at the slightest disturbance.”

“My thoughts are different.”

Romain’s voice, supremely elegant yet unmistakably condescending, pierced the Archbishop’s ears.

Even in front of the Archbishop, Romain did not abandon his arrogant attitude. Instead, he wore a smooth smile.

“I think it’s more of an opportunity. Perhaps this is a good chance to test the faith of the believers.”

“…Pardon?”

The Archbishop was unable to continue, confronted by Romain’s tone as though he were explaining something obvious.

“You’ve preserved your positions all this time by selling people a god who doesn’t even exist, so I trust you’ll manage to get through this as well.”

So don’t ever expect me to retract my words.

Romain’s gray eyes stared directly at the Archbishop, saying precisely that without a word.

After turning twice around the corners of the vast Empress’s Palace and climbing a tall flight of stairs, Tethys found herself facing a familiar sight.

Until a year ago, the room once used by the former Empress had been a place Tethys had visited so often that she had grown tired of it.

“Mother…”

As forgotten memories she had tried to bury deep within her heart inevitably unfolded before her, Tethys bit down on her trembling lips.

I’m sorry, Mother.

Tethys herself had only learned much later that the former Empress had been the first person Romain killed, rather than the former Emperor.

When she first heard that, sorrow had come first.

Then came doubt.

She could not understand it.

Why had Romain done it?

The former Empress had been nothing more than a helpless woman without even the strength to protect herself.

If he had wanted to usurp the throne, he could have killed only her father and elder brother.

Why had he killed her innocent mother as well?

She had wanted to ask him, but it had not been the right time, so she could not.

Now, however, she did not ask because knowing the answer would no longer change anything.

“Hoo…”

Even so, Tethys exhaled a hot, trembling breath that had risen all the way to her throat.

Don’t cry now.

It’s not time to cry yet.

Only after spending a long while steadying and calming her heart was Tethys finally able to turn the handle of the former Empress’s bedroom.

As though proving that it had never been oiled, the heavy door opened with a long, creaking sound she had never heard before.

Soon, a strange scent reached Tethys’s nose—a mixture of the lavender perfume her mother had often used and the stale smell of accumulated dust.

Barely managing to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from something as simple as a scent, Tethys apologized to her mother once more before stepping deeper into the room.

The former Empress had never been extravagant.

As the princess of the wealthy Kingdom of Melba, she certainly possessed refined tastes, but she considered using her wealth to help the poor far more worthwhile than purchasing luxury goods.

Perhaps for that reason, there were no particularly expensive decorations in the bedroom she had used for so long.

Just as it had been seven months ago.

However, beside the mahogany bookshelf packed tightly with books stood the large desk the Empress had used for her official work, and that piece of furniture was exceptionally luxurious.

It should be somewhere around here.

Tethys approached it and opened the third drawer of the chest beside the desk.

“Ah… There it is.”

Only after seeing the potions still packed tightly inside the drawer could Tethys finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In truth, she had discovered the place where her mother kept her contraceptive medicine entirely by accident.

“What are you doing here, Tethys?”

That day, Tethys had seen a cold side of her always-gentle mother for the first time.

The green eyes that had always regarded her with warm affection had frozen solid, as though looking at a stranger.

“I-I’m sorry. I was waiting for you, Mother, and the drawer was open, so I was just trying to close it for you…”

“Did I raise you like that?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking whether I taught you to enter someone else’s room without permission and stay there.”

I wouldn’t have entered someone else’s room carelessly. But you’re my mother…

The protest she could not bring herself to utter lingered around her throat.

For some reason, she felt that something terrible would happen if she said it aloud.

In the end, Tethys could only lower her head and repeatedly apologize to the former Empress.

She had been around fifteen years old then.

At first, she had not known the purpose of the numerous medicine bottles.

It was only later, when she became engaged to Romain and received lessons about sexual matters, that Tethys finally understood what she had seen.

Contraceptives.

Her mother had secretly been preventing pregnancy without anyone knowing.

Perhaps… she did it so that the birthright of the throne would not threaten Crown Prince Theodore’s position…

Remembering the former Empress, who had always thought only of her children, Tethys once again felt tears welling up.

But she forcibly composed herself and closed the drawer.

Then—

“What is this…?”

The second drawer had opened slightly from the recoil as she closed the third.

Inside were stacks of what looked like old books, neatly arranged.

And Tethys had seen those books several times when she was still a princess.

—The amount stated on the above deposit certificate is guaranteed by the Gemis Merchant Guild.

When she opened one of the books, she found that an amount of 2.3 million Euros had ultimately been approved, together with the seal of the Gemis Merchant Guild.

Mother’s private fortune.

Tethys immediately realized that it was hidden money no one knew about and pulled out one of the deposit certificates.

Then she straightened her knees and stood.

I hope there will never be a reason for me to return here again.

Her radiant golden eyes swept over the remaining certificates inside the drawer.

But it probably won’t be that simple.

An unavoidable, bitter smile appeared at the corners of her lips.

Before leaving for Armus, Tethys had carefully calculated which maids to place in the Empress’s Palace while pretending otherwise.

It seemed that watching them closely had paid off, because they were doing their jobs rather well.

The most remarkable was undoubtedly Baroness Aegis.

Perhaps because she feared being demoted to commoner status by the agreement Tethys possessed, she was serving Tethys with even greater devotion.

Tethys went through the list of audience requests and invitations she had brought one by one, lightly marking the names of various families with a quill.

At this point, I suppose I can consider it reasonably balanced.

Like many nations, the Karnes Empire was currently divided into political factions.

Broadly speaking, there was the traditional aristocratic faction made up of high-ranking nobles, and the emerging aristocratic faction formed by bourgeois families who had received hereditary titles that could not be passed down in the traditional manner.

When arranging meetings, it was important not to show favoritism toward either faction.

“Baroness, have dinner prepared in an hour.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Tethys then gave Dalia a glance, and her loyal maid immediately understood and brought her a pair of shoes suitable for going outside.

“You’re going for a walk, aren’t you?”

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

“Are you going to the Central Garden?”

“No. I’ll just take a short walk in the Empress’s Palace Garden right outside.”

In truth, the Empress’s Palace Garden was visible simply by looking out the window.

Tethys had once spent countless hours running and playing there.

Yet after becoming its owner, she had rarely visited.

There were simply too many memories lingering there.

Tethys had only learned after losing everything that even places filled with happy memories could cause pain.

But today, perhaps because she had finally visited the bedroom where her mother had lived, she wanted to go to the pavilion at the center of the Empress’s Palace Garden—the place she had hesitated to visit for so long.

“It seems a little chilly, Your Highness.”

As Dalia had said, the moment Tethys stepped outside, she felt a chill that did not seem fitting for late spring.

The sun was slowly setting, and the wind was blowing as well, making the cold even more noticeable.

“Wouldn’t it be better to go back inside?”

“…Today, I think I should take a walk through the garden.”

“Then I’ll bring you a shawl to wear, Your Highness. Will that be enough?”

“That should be sufficient. Then bring the shawl to the pavilion in the center of the garden.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After sending Dalia away, Tethys slowly walked deeper into the garden along the beautifully maintained path.

There was, however, one thing she had overlooked.

Guests staying at Creta Palace and Treve Palace were permitted to roam freely around the Imperial Garden until 8 p.m. without needing separate permission.