WDWAE 01

 Chapter 01

**【The King of the Desert】**

Arsak bit down hard, feeling the weight of the quiver slung across her shoulder. She glared at the gleaming armor spread out before her eyes with utter disgust.

‘If we fight like this, there’s no chance of winning.’

She turned her head to look at the tribespeople lined up beside her and behind her. There were hardly any young people like Arsak—everyone was either middle-aged or nearing old age.

They sat atop horses with straight backs, ready to draw their bowstrings the moment her command fell, but even so, there was no possibility of defeating the Empire’s soldiers armed with iron armor and weapons.

Arsak took a slow, deep breath. The Empire’s flag fluttered high, riding the west wind.

“Lower your bows.”

Arsak said. The tribespeople, who had been poised on horseback ready to spur forward at any moment, all looked at her with bewildered expressions.

“Chieftain!”

“Lower your bows. If we fight like this, the tribe will be annihilated. I can’t let everyone die.”

“Then you’re going to follow their absurd demands? I’d rather we all die together! Out of nowhere—not even empress, but ’empress candidate’—to come and be evaluated! What do they take us for!”

A girl beside Arsak, who looked a few years younger than her, shouted in a ringing voice. Everyone else nodded as if in agreement, but Arsak’s stance was firm.

“Tiriya, do as I say. Everyone, lower your bows. What they want is just me. If I comply with their demands, the tribe can be safe.”

“Arsak! No—Chieftain! Without you, our tribe is as good as gone anyway! Do you think they’ll leave us alone? And……!”

“Don’t worry.”

When Arsak spoke in a low voice, Tiriya—who had been so overcome with rage that tears welled in her eyes—gasped as she saw Arsak’s smiling lips tremble faintly as she suppressed her anger.

“They will never get their way with the Emperor. Trust me.”

Having spoken as if making a vow, she unfastened the quiver from her shoulder and dropped it to the ground.

The tightly woven leather struck the hard earth with a dull thud. As people murmured in surprise, Arsak successively unstrapped the bow she carried and the two swords at her waist, then rode forward bare-handed a few steps and shouted.

“I will comply with your demands!”

As Arsak shouted, the Empire’s soldiers also began to stir. Theodor Ungel, who led the soldiers at the front, stared intently at Arsak with a hardened expression. Arsak spoke again.

“However, swear that you will do nothing to my tribespeople. If you do so, I will go to the Imperial Palace as you wish.”

“I swear on the honor of the Empire.”

Theodor answered without relaxing his tension. He swallowed dryly as he watched Arsak’s eyes gleam fiercely like a hawk.

‘For now, this is the best option. But I will never simply dance to your tune.’

Arsak’s hand, gripping the thick reins, trembles terribly. She grinds her teeth so hard they creak, glaring at Theodor with the ferocity of a predator about to devour its prey.

—

It was clear from the mere movement of his fingers that Erich Klotz was in a very bad mood.

Tap tap tap, tap tap, tap tap, tap……

The sound of fingernails striking the wood grain of the desk in his study continued ceaselessly before slowly diminishing. Theodor, who had been standing like a statue about five steps away from Erich, closed his eyes tightly and counted inwardly the moment the sound ceased.

‘One, two, three… crash.’

“Theo.”

Theodor’s closed eyes flew open. He had expected Erich, unable to contain his temper, to hurl everything on the desk—but Teo stood with a bewildered face, mouth shut, before belatedly straightening his back.

“Speak.”

“What punishment does one receive for killing a noble?”

Erich said in a murky voice, pressing his forehead. Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Teo gaped with a flustered expression before replying in a rigid voice.

“Under national law, regardless of whether one is noble or commoner, anyone who takes a life shall be publicly executed.”

“And if the killer is the Emperor?”

“…It would depend on why he was killed. But petitions would pour in and joint statements from the heads of each family would follow in succession. In the worst case, the unfortunate possibility of someone rising in rebellion against Your Majesty cannot be ruled out.”

“Good. So I’ll kill Volfin first, and if there are signs of rebellion, I’ll hang them all on that pretext.”

Erich said. Compared to him looking refreshed as if he had finally found the answer he had been agonizing over, Theodor’s complexion had now grown terribly pale.

“Your Majesty… that is impossible. Marquis Volfin is also Your Majesty’s fourth cousin, so…….”

“Fourth cousin, first cousin—I don’t care. Every time he sees my face, every time he opens his mouth, he sings that Empress, Empress song—I can’t take it anymore.”

“An impertinent question, but… Your Majesty, are you thinking of insisting on remaining unmarried?”

At Teo’s question, Erich narrowed his eyes, which seemed to spark fiercely, and turned to look at him.

“Who said anything about staying unmarried? I’m simply saying I cannot fall for Volfin and his lot’s obvious scheme. If I were to say I’ll take an empress right now, who do you think would be the most likely candidate? Volfin’s and Holdvig’s daughters. Those bastards already hold more power than they can digest. And now they’d become royal in-laws? I’d rather stuff the entire country into Volfin’s or Holdvig’s mouth and become their sheep herder.”

“I agree with the statement that Marquis Volfin and Baron Holdvig are abusing their power, but… isn’t the final selection of who becomes empress the domain of the divine? There is no guarantee that one of their daughters will definitely be chosen…….”

“You’re naive.”

Erich said as if reprimanding. Teo stared at Erich with his mouth firmly shut, as if asking what he meant.

“Domain of the divine—what divine domain are you talking about? The one currently in the position of High Priest is Volfin’s former guardian. You—surely you haven’t been believing all this time that that splendid light actually descends from the heavens?”

He had believed it.

Teo quickly turned his gaze to hide his shocked expression, but could not conceal his startled, widened pupils. Fake? Then the beautiful light that soared from the bell tower every holy day and imperial anniversary—that was all fake?

“Bring me some firewood and a few pieces of colored glass. I can show you that ‘divine light’ right now.”

“…Then, if Marquis Volfin’s daughter were to reach the final candidates…….”

“Naturally, the ‘divine light’ would go to that woman’s head. Marquis Volfin would become my father-in-law from that day on. And is that all? Once that happens, the next emperor will sit on this throne bearing Volfin’s name. I’d rather set the Imperial Palace on fire than see that.”

Erich said in an agitated tone. Only then did Teo seem to understand why Erich had been agonizing over this issue and dragging it out for over a year.

This year marks five years since Erich Klotz ascended to the Emperor’s throne. If one includes the period when he served as regent while his father, the previous Emperor, lay ill, he had already been governing the nation for nearly eight years.

Since around the age of seventeen when he began his regency, there had been numerous recommendations and petitions regarding the matter of taking a crown princess, but Erich had always declined the issue under the pretext of the Emperor being ill. Choosing who would become crown princess or empress was one of the nation’s most important events, and unlike a common marriage, it was not something that could be settled with a word or two of “I will marry this person.”

First, candidate young ladies from eligible noble families—unmarried daughters—would be sent to the Imperial Palace, where they would stay for about a month as “candidates” and undergo examinations in various fields to become crown princess or empress.

And regardless of how many candidates there were, only three could reach the final stage, and finally, at a ceremony conducted by the High Priest, the candidate touched by the ‘divine light’ would be chosen as the final selection.

Erich’s argument that such a complex and tumultuous process could not be conducted during a time when the Emperor was ill and the nation was in chaos seemed plausible at first glance, and eventually the matter of the crown princess was postponed indefinitely.

“Doesn’t Marquis Volfin have several daughters?”

Teo said. Erich, gazing out the window, nodded while wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue.

“That’s right. The eldest daughter is older than me and already married, so she’s ineligible. But from the second to the fourth—he has three daughters after that. When they demanded I take a crown princess, he must have had the second daughter in mind rather than the eldest. The optimal marriage timing has already passed somewhat, but seeing as he still hasn’t arranged any engagements, the intention is obvious.”

Erich muttered through gritted teeth as if grinding his molars. Knowing full well of the scheme that was plain for all to see yet seeing no way to deal with it was nothing short of the utmost humiliation for him.

After the previous Emperor passed away, Erich held his coronation immediately after the funeral and formally obtained the title of Emperor.

The first year was a time needed for the entire nation to adjust to the new Emperor, and the following year was consumed with a project to cultivate empty land in the plains for agricultural expansion.

And the year after that was spent entirely on improving trade with neighboring countries, and finally, as Erich entered his twenty-fourth year, the nobles once again took up the marriage issue in earnest.

The increasingly persistent and escalating demands continued until today, when Marquis Volfin went so far as to bring his daughter’s portrait—and Erich’s weak patience, which had been consistently ignoring it all, finally exploded.