The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 30

“A-choo!”

Cayenne let out an involuntary sneeze and instinctively acted as if nothing had happened to cover his embarrassment. Last night, he had felt as if he were burning up with a fever, but it seemed the seasons did not lie; the autumn chill was real.

“Your Majesty.”

“My nose was simply itchy,” Cayenne said brazenly, looking at Glen.

“No, it’s not that… I was referring to what I just said.”

Seated blankly upon the throne, Cayenne had been letting Glen’s words go in one ear and out the other for quite some time. Unable to bear the lack of communication any longer, Glen spoke up again.

“Are you perhaps feeling unwell, Sire?”

“Nonsense.”

“I thought perhaps you had overexerted yourself during that sudden swordsmanship training at dawn. It was a rather… perplexing hour, was it not?”

Glen, who had been dragged out of sleep to serve as a target for Cayenne’s restless blade, spoke with a hint of grievance. Cayenne, however, paid him no mind.

“That hardly qualified as training. I simply felt restless and needed to move.”

“Yes, well before the sun rose.”

Even on the battlefields of Rubeo, Cayenne’s impulsive behavior was legendary. The knights used to whisper among themselves that the Emperor’s whims were more terrifying than an enemy ambush. Of course, because those whims were born from a natural-born commander’s instinct and always led to victory, no one could truly complain.

“How shall I reply to Rubeo?”

Only then did Cayenne remember the letter he had been holding. It was a formal request for his return, sent by the Knight Commander of Rubeo.

“First, we must prepare for the journey,” Glen added.

Cayenne’s unplanned return to the Imperial Palace had been a move to pressure the nobles who were trying to exclude him from politics using the Empress’s fever as an excuse. Having successfully humbled Duke Nigel at the Grand Council, there was technically no further reason to remain.

“Shall we depart today, or shall we set it for tomorrow?”

Glen was an exceptional knight, but he was a man of stone who remained blissfully ignorant of his lord’s delicate state of mind. He hadn’t even considered Alicia’s existence in the equation.

“No. We are delaying the return to Rubeo.”

“Pardon? We are already quite behind schedule. May I ask why?”

At Glen’s genuinely puzzled question, Cayenne cleared his throat. Ahem. The answer in his heart was obvious, but it was too embarrassing to voice aloud.

“There is still work to be done at the Imperial Palace.”

Glen nodded with a serious expression.

“I see I have missed something. As expected of Your Majesty. What have you discovered?”

Cayenne found his loyal knight’s diligence particularly irritating today.

“It is not something to be spoken of yet.”

Cayenne was naturally poor at lying. He had no choice but to speak the truth in a way that slightly shifted the direction.

“I see… it must be a matter of great importance.”

Fortunately, Glen trusted his lord implicitly.

“Whenever Your Majesty reaches a decision, I shall follow.”

“I’m sure you will,” Cayenne muttered under his breath. This was a matter that even Glen could not intervene in.

“Sire?”

Fortunately, his voice was low enough that Glen didn’t catch it.

“It’s nothing.”

Cayenne stood up and walked toward the window. He had just sneezed, yet now that restless heat was rising again. It was a baffling sensation.

“By the way, the weather here is truly unpredictable.”

This time, Glen was the one baffled. The Imperial Palace and Rubeo were separated by a large mountain range, but the actual distance wasn’t that great; naturally, the weather was quite similar.

“I suppose the battlefield and the palace cannot be the same.”

“True. It is incredibly peaceful here.”

Cayenne’s dark eyes grew thoughtful. He couldn’t deny that Alicia’s presence was dominating his mind, but his awareness as an Emperor and a ruler had not vanished.

“The coming winter in Rubeo will be harsh.”

“Yes. The impoverished enemies will come swarming in, staking their lives on it.”

The borders of the vast empire were always prone to trouble. Rubeo, in particular, was territory seized by force during the late Emperor’s reign, making it a frequent site of conflict between various factions.

“However, the people of Rubeo believe firmly in Your Majesty.”

Unlike other monarchs who issued half-hearted orders from a throne, Cayenne had grown up fighting and living alongside them. They followed Cayenne himself, not just the Empire.

“First, expedite the supplies requested by the Knight Commander. That can be handled from here. Since I am at the palace, it would be best to ensure the people are fully prepared for the winter.”

“That is a wise decision. Everyone will be relieved once the winter preparations are finalized. However…” Glen hesitated. Even if it was the reality, it was difficult to report that the current Imperial authority struggled to accomplish even such a task.

“I don’t intend to leave it solely to you. I will devise a way myself.”

“Will you be reviewing the records all day again?”

“Yes. There is no one else to teach me.”

Cayenne smiled nonchalantly, but Glen’s heart ached seeing it. Born as the sole heir to the Empire, Cayenne should have studied statecraft and solidified his power as Crown Prince before becoming Emperor.

“Of course, Count Hyer was a good mentor, but we are no longer children.”

“You flatter him. My father was…”

“He was a good teacher. And a good father. To both of us.”

Cayenne spoke firmly with a faint smile. Count Hyer had saved his life and abandoned a path of prestige to go to the wasteland, spending the rest of his life raising the two boys.

“Count Hyer did his best. Even he couldn’t teach statecraft in place of my mad father. He did what was right.”

Instead of blaming a cruel fate, Cayenne had built his own strength to stand on his own—as if proving that a sovereign isn’t made, but born.

“Then I shall look into the matters you’ve ordered, Sire.”

“Very well.”

Leaving the battlefield didn’t mean the fight for these two men had stopped. Cayenne had to reclaim the power befitting the name of Emperor, and Glen had to uncover more details about Cayenne’s enemies.

“On your way out, tell the Chief Attendant. Dinner is at six.”

Since the Grand Council ended, Cayenne had been spending all his time in his study reviewing the Empire’s parliamentary records. Today, too, he would struggle to find his answers in the archives of the past. However, if he could find one small pleasure in that day, he saw no reason to refuse it.

“Shall you dine in the study? Then I shall join you to give my report at that time.”

As expected, Glen had completely forgotten about the Empress.

“Just… tell the Chief Attendant on your way out.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. I shall take my leave then.”

The Chief Attendant would surely handle the explanations. It wasn’t something to feel guilty about, yet Cayenne felt oddly bashful about voicing the fact that he was going to the Empress’s Palace.

“It’s just that the food suits my palate,” Cayenne added to himself once Glen had left the room. “Well… it serves both purposes.”

Left alone, the memories that had kept him awake last night resurfaced. He hadn’t even been that drunk, yet the memories were fragmented, and moments of burning heat kept flashing back.

The slender wrist. The scent of a woman that filled his senses as he caught her swaying body. And that fleeting kiss—sweeter and softer than anything he had ever experienced in his life.

“It’s not particularly because of that.”

Husband and wife shared a strange similarity. For now, neither of them realized it.

Even without being told, everyone in the Empress’s Palace was full of energy. Alicia lightly ignored the letters from Lucan again today and entered the kitchen herself, looking more beautiful than usual, to check on the banquet.

“Agnes, which do you think would be better for the main course?”

Alicia had been writing down recipes whenever they came to mind, and the kitchen staff had practiced them several times, building a diverse menu. However, for tonight’s dinner, the main course might not even be the most important part.

“Either would be a magnificent feast. The palace staff in the kitchen have become accustomed to the new methods, so you needn’t oversee them personally, Your Majesty.”

“I suppose so. Then tell the chef to choose the main based on whichever ingredients are freshest.”

The staff were indeed excellent and had adapted quickly to the changes Alicia introduced. Sometimes they even applied the new cooking techniques to create their own variations, so it seemed the “meddlesome” mistress didn’t need to frequent the kitchen much longer.

“Still, I feel a bit like I’ve run out of things to do.”

Agnes smoothed the hem of Alicia’s dress as she left the kitchen. Perhaps now was the perfect time to remind the Empress of her true duties.

“There are many things in the Imperial Palace that only you, the Empress, can do.”

“Me?”

“Yes. While His Majesty is the master of the Empire, it is traditionally the role of the Empress to govern the Imperial Palace itself.”

In her previous life, Alicia had lived as an Empress in name only, a right and duty she never dared to claim. But today, Agnes’s gentle reminder sounded as if it might actually be possible.

“I suppose, a lot has changed.”

Alicia had changed, and Cayenne had changed, so there was no reason other things couldn’t change as well. Especially since the life she wanted wasn’t just about deciding dinner menus.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what I should be doing.”

The Dowager Empress had passed away long ago, and no one else remained in this palace. It was only natural that as years passed, the title of Empress had come to be seen as useless.

“Since the Dowager Empress passed, no one has officially governed the Imperial Palace. Instead, Madame Emma, His Majesty’s Head Maid, has taken on those duties.”

Alicia nodded, remembering the old lady she had seen before.

“However, Madame Emma is elderly now, and since there is a rightful mistress here, there is no need for the position to remain vacant any longer.”

“Even if you say that, I don’t know what I could do right away.”

Alicia did not fear duty. She was simply being honest about not knowing the way. Agnes, seeing this, felt a spark of true hope.