The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 17

The events that unfolded in the imperial palace in the early dawn naturally reached Duke Nigel.

“Hah, to cut down a court lady who wasn’t even holding a weapon since dawn with a sword, is that what an emperor should be doing!”

His scowling face was filled with contempt.

“Even an uneducated commoner wouldn’t kill someone in their bedroom, so how is the emperor any different from a barbarian? It seems he’s become the same level as the barbarians he’s been dealing with in Rubeo.”

If Cayenne had heard it, he would have been dumbfounded, but the loyal Marquis Seil, who was listening to the Duke’s words, nodded, expressing vehement agreement.

“To think that the noble name of the Darius Empire would fall so low. It’s a deplorable thing.”

Marquis Seil finished the remaining whiskey in his glass and sighed.

“If the late Emperor had been more firm in his intentions from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s a pity.”

“The more lowly and barbaric they are, the longer they live.”

Duke Nigel said meaningfully.

“Who would have known that a prince who was only seven years old would grow up so well in the abandoned land of Rubeo?”

His lips twisted with displeasure. When the late Emperor lost his beloved wife and went half-mad, Nigel was the one who catered to his mood more than anyone else, subtly blaming the young prince. He thought that would be the end of the succession issue, but it was a miscalculation.

“Count Hayer volunteered to take the young prince to the barren land, and at the time, it seemed like a good idea. If I had known this would happen, it would have been better to leave him in the imperial palace.”

“Yes, if that were the case, he could have received a proper education as the successor.”

At Marquis Seil’s words, Duke Nigel let out a burst of laughter.

“No. If we had left him alone, the late Emperor, who was going mad, would have cut down the prince with his own hands.”

The Duke’s dark gaze flickered coldly. Marquis Seil swallowed hard at the Duke’s deeper intentions than he had expected.

“You’re still young, so you don’t know. Back then, your father and I couldn’t rest for a moment dealing with the late Emperor who was suffering from madness.”

Marquis Seil, who had been with him at the time, was already dead, and Carlson, who was barely thirty, was continuing the strong bond with Duke Nigel, following his father’s wishes. However, he couldn’t share his father’s memories and experiences.

“Please teach me a lot in the future, Duke.”

The Duke nodded in satisfaction at Marquis Seil’s polite words.

“More than that, now that the spies who were watching the Emperor have died, what are you going to do? Perhaps, the Emperor won’t hold you accountable, Duke?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Duke Nigel laughed heartily as if he found it truly absurd.

“If he had the ability to do that, he would have interrogated them instead of cutting them down. He’s just beheading them, which is the same level as a barbarian, so who would dare to hold whom accountable?”

“Indeed. The Emperor has been stuck in Rubeo all this time, so he couldn’t possibly hold accountable the Duke, who has been taking care of state affairs and the parliament.”

Duke Nigel nodded and leaned back on the sofa.

“Either way, the Emperor will leave the capital, where he has no place. Be careful while the Emperor stays in the capital, but after that, just do as you always do.”

“Yes. The Emperor will soon go back to Rubeo after the Grand Assembly and massacre the barbarians again.”

It was purely luck that the late Emperor suffered from madness. If Cayenne’s mother had been alive and well, Cayenne would have been the only successor, receiving his father’s love and thorough education, and suppressing the nobles. Of course, he would have smoothly inherited his father’s power as well.

“The moment the Emperor was abandoned by his father at the age of seven, he lost his place in this capital.”

Contrary to expectations, Count Hayer took the prince away, so he managed to survive, but there was no place for Cayenne in the imperial palace or the parliament.

“To be abandoned by his own parents, he’s worse than a beast.”

“That’s right. That’s the Emperor’s origin now. It can’t be hidden, and it can’t be changed.”

As Nigel took over the parliament because the late Emperor suffered from increasingly severe madness in his later years, the state affairs were already the Duke’s when Cayenne ascended the throne.

“Rather than the Emperor Lucan is the problem.”

“Lucan? Don’t you have a deep relationship with the Great Sage, Duke?”

As soon as the Duke saw the Great Sage talking about truth and wisdom, he recognized him as the same kind of person as himself. It was very natural for the two to join hands.

“There was a strange report about the dead spies, so I’m concerned. What does that barbaric Emperor know that he cremated the bodies and respectfully sent them back to their hometowns?”

It was definitely an inconsistent action. If he was going to cover up the rumors and show respect to the dead, he wouldn’t have killed people in the imperial chamber in the first place.

“Could someone have advised him?”

“To the Emperor who just chopped off people’s heads? I wouldn’t do such a reckless thing.”

However, there was one person in the imperial palace who had a small possibility.

“Unless the Empress intervened.”

“Yes? The Empress is Lucan’s daughter, and isn’t she already in a situation where she’s unlikely to receive favor?”

“That’s certainly true. In the first place, the Empress is just reciting the words of the Great Sage Lucan without any will of her own.”

Nigel’s thorough calculation was behind making Lucan’s daughter the Empress. There was no way that Emperor would take Lucan’s daughter as his wife and give her affection, so it was safe, and it was good to maintain the alliance by throwing a nice bait to Lucan.

“I need to sound out Lucan’s intentions. Perhaps he gave the Empress strange orders.”

No matter how skilled Duke Nigel was in political maneuvering, he couldn’t know the small changes that were happening in the Empress’s palace. Moreover, he couldn’t even imagine that the Empress, who was just a puppet, could do anything on her own.

That was the only and fatal mistake that Duke Nigel was currently making.

❖ ❖ ❖

Alicia, dressed in neat indoor clothes, her hair tied up in a bun, and wearing a handkerchief, entered the kitchen of the Empress’s palace. She looked completely at home in the kitchen, which had recently become too busy to even breathe due to preparing the Emperor’s meals.

“Tell everyone not to pay attention to me coming and focus on their work.”

“Yes. I’ve already told them.”

Even though it was autumn, the kitchen was hot and stuffy. Alicia, guided by Agnes, carefully examined the court ladies who were preparing the food one by one.

“Today’s dinner menu. Hmm, it’s difficult.”

Alicia, holding a notebook with the dinner menu written on it, was deep in thought. If it was just for her to eat alone, it wouldn’t matter, but Cayenne had already come several times, so she couldn’t help but be concerned.

“It’s good to have a salad as a side dish, but I think the food itself should all be warm.”

They say you lure animals with food, and her situation didn’t seem much different now. It was surprising that the other party was the Emperor of the Empire, but he was also a person who felt joy in warm and delicious food, so perhaps it was only natural.

“Above all, I like food that can be served warm. That’s the characteristic of the meals served in the Empress’s palace.”

Judging coldly, Cayenne was definitely not visiting the Empress’s palace because he had fallen for Alicia’s charm. Alicia was neither arrogant nor foolish enough to think that.

“Yes. After all, the other places in the imperial palace focus on etiquette, and the kitchen is far away, so the food is bound to get cold. Moreover, in Rubeo, it’s even more.”

“Yes, so it’s counterproductive to make the food more fancy or increase the courses just because His Majesty is looking for it.”

What was moving that simple man now was the warm and delicious food that he couldn’t taste anywhere else.

Not the cold meat or cold soup that had been sitting out for a long time while going through tedious and long courses, not the formal banquets that required tedious and complicated etiquette, but the warm and comfortable meals unique to the Empress’s palace. That must be what was constantly calling Cayenne in.

“He already had fish today, so I need to change the main course.”

“But we’ve already served several kinds of meat.”

“It’s okay.”

Alicia found the answer in a place that people of this era rarely paid attention to.

“We haven’t served chicken yet, have we?”

“That’s. It’s not like it’s pheasant, and why would we serve something so common.”

Alicia smiled. It was a very confident face.

“Fry it.”

“Yes?”

They say even shoes taste good if you fry them. All the means to make fried food were available in this era, but no one was actually using that method.

“Marinate the meat properly in advance and let it soak in, then fry it twice in clean oil at high temperature. Our chef is capable, so that should be enough.”

When Alicia first became Alicia, it was also difficult to adapt to the food. However, as a result of trying a few things in her past life, she was able to recreate some of the flavors she missed in a similar way. It was truly something that was possible because she was a leisurely Empress.

“But, why are you frying the meat in oil?”

“Hmm, tell the chef to prepare a generous amount. You’ll know the answer in the evening.”

Fried chicken is delicious. This was more important information at this moment than any modern common sense.

“And there’s one more thing I need to do. Who’s in charge of making desserts?”

“It’s over there!”

“Agnes, first gather a lot of sugar.”

Agnes nodded blankly. She didn’t have detailed knowledge of baking, but the cookies in the Empress’s palace were already excellent. However, there was one fatal flaw except for the culinary habits of this era, which didn’t use sugar well.

“I’m sorry!”

“I know, there are plenty of various syrups and jams. But what I need now is sugar. White sugar, too.”

Alicia smiled.

“And make sure to serve the beer as cold as possible.”

“Are you going to use that kind of alcohol for a banquet with His Majesty?”

“Yes. Just watch.”

If she had to tame a beast-like man who didn’t know where he would bounce, food was naturally the first thing to do.

“It will be a dinner that can never fail.”

If she had to seduce such a man with food, then it was the standard to pour in fried chicken and white sugar. She knew how attractive they were, and it would be a waste not to use them on this occasion.

“Regardless of status, everyone feels joy in delicious food.”

Alicia decided to take a gamble on that simple fact.