STE 17

Chapter 17

“I know you’ve all worked hard over the past three days, guiding and dealing with the countless guests who visited the Empress’s Palace. This is my reward for your efforts.”

“B-But, Your Highness…”

Baroness Aegis’s face repeatedly flushed bright red before turning pale again.

Following Penelope’s orders, Baroness Aegis had directly committed the crime of siphoning away the budget of the Empress’s Palace. She knew better than anyone how impoverished Tethys’s circumstances were.

And yet, she was being given a reward like this.

Ten thousand Euros was by no means a small amount. Around four thousand Euros was roughly enough to cover a month’s living expenses for someone of the bourgeois class or lower nobility.

“I-I cannot accept something like this.”

Baroness Aegis set the envelope down and knelt.

“Why not?”

At Tethys’s question, Baroness Aegis could say nothing, as though her tongue had been tied.

She was terrified of the gazes of all the people present and could not simply confess that she was refusing because she was tormented by guilt.

But neither did she have the nerve to casually pocket such a large sum of money.

So she could only lower her head.

Tethys picked up the certificate Baroness Aegis had set down and placed it back into her hands.

“You may refuse it when you can explain to me why you are refusing.”

“……”

“You can do so then.”

An image of Penelope giving her worthless tea leaves as though bestowing alms flashed through Baroness Aegis’s mind.

Once her weakness had been seized, Baroness Aegis had already resolved to work for Tethys precisely because of it.

But at this moment, that resolve seemed to become even firmer.

“I trust that you will all serve me well from now on.”

They were honorary positions with barely any actual salary.

Yet among the maids of the Empress’s Palace, whose positions looked splendid on the surface, there was not a single person without complicated circumstances.

All the more so because Tethys had deliberately arranged them that way.

“Th-Thank you.”

The maids who, like Baroness Aegis, could not bring themselves to put down the certificates, but nevertheless carried a measure of guilt toward Tethys, knelt and expressed their gratitude.

Winning someone’s heart was impossible through material things alone.

But material rewards could easily fill the gaps left by everything else.

One thing was certain: tangible rewards had a more immediate effect than intangible kindness or empty words of praise.

“Your Highness, Duke Tantalos has requested an audience.”

After the incident in the afternoon, Baroness Aegis, whose attitude had become even more respectful, quietly informed Tethys that she had a visitor that evening.

Tethys had instructed her beforehand to refuse all visitors that day.

Even so, Baroness Aegis had reported the visitor because whoever had requested an audience was undoubtedly a figure too important to ignore.

“You said it was Duke Tantalos?”

“Yes. Shall I escort him to the reception room?”

Tethys nodded.

There was no reason not to meet him.

He was effectively the leader of the traditional aristocratic faction.

Besides, there was certainly a reason he had requested an audience at a time like this.

“Let’s go.”

When Tethys entered the reception room, a well-built man sitting on a long sofa rose to his feet.

“Yoan Tantalos pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress.”

“It has been a long time.”

Tethys casually returned his greeting while committing the familiar man’s face to memory.

Duke Tantalos had been Theodore’s Taesa—the Crown Prince’s tutor—and his greatest supporter.

The eldest daughter of House Tantalos had also been one of Theodore’s direct knights, so it was only natural that Tethys had frequently crossed paths with him.

However, after Theodore was unjustly killed following Romain’s rebellion, Duke Tantalos had not even pretended to know Tethys.

And now, after several months had passed, Duke Tantalos had come to seek her out of his own accord.

The reason was obvious.

“It seems the world has been rather noisy because of the oracle.”

When Tethys got straight to the point, Duke Tantalos answered impassively.

“Congratulations on becoming the subject of an oracle that may bring fortune to the Empire. Because Your Highness has been particularly devout in your faith in the Guardian Goddess, you have been given an opportunity to reclaim the power once possessed by the Imperial Family.”

“Everything must be the Goddess’s will.”

“Indeed. It seems the Goddess has allowed Her Majesty the Empress, the last person possessing legitimate Imperial lineage, to make a ‘choice.’”

“A choice… you say?”

Duke Tantalos’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

“It said a child the Empress will bear. It did not say a seed the Emperor will plant.”

“The choice is yours to make, is it not, Your Highness?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean that pregnancy and childbirth take place entirely within a woman’s body.”

He added,

“Ah, abortion as well.”

“……”

“As Your Highness knows, some nobles have yet to abandon their loyalty to the late Crown Prince Theodore.”

What do you think?

That was what Duke Tantalos was asking.

If Tethys dismissed Theodore as nothing more than a traitor here, her relationship with those nobles would come to a complete end.

But that was not what Tethys wanted, either.

“…I believe tradition is important.”

The emerging aristocratic faction that Romain had elevated in large numbers after ascending the throne consisted mostly of the Imperial Guards who had played a decisive role in his seizure of the throne and people of bourgeois origin.

And the fact that the traditional aristocratic faction and the emerging aristocratic faction had been at odds for several months was so widely known that even those ignorant of politics were aware of it.

“The Karnes Imperial Family has existed for the sake of the Empire’s order. Sometimes, I wonder.”

“……”

“What should I do? And how should I do it?”

A gentle smile appeared at the corners of Tethys’s lips.

“As always, I’m sure wise people like Duke Tantalos will give me the answer.”

She was accustomed to being used as a tool.

And because she had experienced being used as a tool, she had also learned that using tools herself was not particularly difficult.

“I will come to see you separately on the final day of the Imperial Birthday Banquet. By then, I should be able to suggest a good course of action to Her Majesty the Empress.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Only as far as you’re capable of going.

Tethys concealed the words that followed and smiled brightly.

It was the same smile she had worn long ago, when she had been nothing more than the innocent little sister of Crown Prince Theodore, who knew nothing of the world.

Lotos Street, located in the heart of the capital of Karnes, was a district where one had to undergo identity verification before entering or leaving in the first place.

Because it was an area enjoyed exclusively by wealthy bourgeois and nobles, it rarely saw large crowds.

Yet now, Lotos Street was housing an unprecedented number of people.

The Emperor’s Birthday Banquet had coincided with the oracle concerning the Empress—an oracle that could shake the entire Para Continent.

At a time when the authenticity of the oracle had yet to be determined, the Karnes Empire’s attitude toward an oracle that could potentially threaten other nations was also unclear.

There was no way foreign nobles could simply return to their homelands.

The Imperial Family had provided Treve Palace and Creta Palace for its invited guests, but those who valued their privacy did not necessarily want to stay inside the Imperial Palace.

Especially when they had to communicate frequently with their own countries, the Imperial Palace’s strict surveillance could feel even more like confinement.

For that reason, quite a number of invited guests were staying at hotels on Lotos Street.

Among them, Hotel Ambrosia was the largest luxury hotel in the Karnes Empire.

“Your Grace, I apologize for disturbing you at such a late hour.”

The enormous ebony door to the special suite on the top floor of Ambrosia opened without making even the slightest sound.

Eden, who had been looking down over the splendid view of the capital through the transparently crafted crystal windows, turned his head toward the voice.

“What is it?”

The person who entered was Nils, who had grown up alongside Eden as his childhood playmate in Romayer and now served as his aide.

“Well…”

Nils hesitated with an uneasy expression before kneeling and bowing deeply.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. Three roots of Coldroot Herb being managed in Klesto have been stolen.”

“…Coldroot Herb?”

Eden’s voice sounded particularly cold.

Coldroot Herb was a precious material that could be used as medicine or poison, and it could also serve as an enhancer that increased the efficacy of various potions.

It contained the mana of the Forest of Everlasting Snow so deeply that even a tiny stem possessed enough power to replace a single magic stone.

For that reason, the Duchy of Romayer directly managed and distributed Coldroot Herb at the national level.

And now it had been stolen.

Nils’s expression was deeply troubled, clearly aware of how serious the problem was.

“Was there an intruder in the Coldroot Herb habitat?”

“No. If there had been, it would have been an even bigger problem… Some of the supply being distributed to the Magic Tower was diverted.”

“What about tracking it?”

“Actually…”

Unable to find a proper excuse, Nils swallowed dryly.

“It seems to have come to the Karnes Empire with Your Grace. Its whereabouts after that are unknown. However, considering that Coldroot Herb recently released through the black market is worth at least 100,000 Euros…”

Nils paused before cautiously offering his speculation.

“I suspect that only a high-ranking noble or royal within or outside the Karnes Empire—or perhaps a member of the Imperial Family—could quietly procure that kind of money.”