The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 49

A few more days passed uneventfully. The burning moments known only to Cayenne and Alicia remained locked within their hearts, and the Imperial Palace continued to operate as quietly and swiftly as ever.

“Your Majesty, new word has arrived from the Knight Commander.”

Glenn could not hide his fatigued complexion after being tormented as Cayenne’s nightly sparring partner, but as a capable knight, he fulfilled his duties faithfully.

“Your Majesty?”

The problem was Cayenne, who, unlike his usual self, kept drifting into a daze. Seated in his study staring out the window, Cayenne turned his head belatedly at the sound of his name.

“What did you say?”

“New information from the Knight Commander of Rubeo.”

Glenn placed a letter on his desk. Cayenne crossed his long legs and unfolded the letter to read it, but his expression soon contorted into a heavy scowl.

“Why is the situation not improving in the slightest?”

Rubeo was still in combat with barbarians accompanied by mercenaries, and the report that they had failed to finish winter preparations greatly irritated him.

“That is because… Your Majesty and I are both here,” Glenn said, piercing the heart of the matter.

Since arriving at the palace under the pretext of the Empress’s fever, Cayenne had seldom mentioned returning to Rubeo. Since he had never stayed this long at the Imperial Palace before, Rubeo was likely caught unprepared.

“Pathetic. To think things are in this state just because two men are absent.”

“It is not a matter of ‘just two men,’ Sire.”

Even on a chaotic battlefield, Cayenne’s massive frame stood out as he cut down enemies.

“If it were two ordinary knights, it would not matter, but ten men could not replace Your Majesty’s absence alone.”

He was a natural-born warrior; wherever a gap appeared in the enemy lines, he was there to fill it. Of course, Glenn, who had followed him since childhood, was the next most skilled, even if he could not match Cayenne.

“Furthermore, I pride myself on doing the work of five men. It is only natural that the Knight Commander is in distress.”

Cayenne let out a disgruntled sound and tossed the letter onto the desk.

“Your Majesty, if the fighting drags on, it will be harder for the people to survive the winter. If the number of settled citizens decreases, all your past efforts will be for naught.”

Glenn had keenly felt the change in Cayenne lately. Though he was insensitive enough to suggest pinecones as a gift for the Empress, he was no fool. While he couldn’t fully grasp Cayenne’s emotions, he knew his lord was lingering here because of his relationship with the Empress.

“Your Majesty, if things continue like this…”

“Are you starting to sound like the nobles too? If you have something to say, say it.” Cayenne’s dark eyes seemed to see right through him.

“The revival of Rubeo has been the long-held wish of Your Majesty and all of us. The day we see the fruits of that labor is not far off, provided we can overcome the immediate problems.”

Glenn knew well what Rubeo meant to Cayenne. It had been his place of exile as a young prince, but as he grew, it became a dream rather than a shackle.

“You needn’t repeat what I already know. The Rubeo revival plan will be realized.”

Rubeo was a harsh land where crops barely grew, and territorial disputes were constant because the late Emperor had seized it by force. However, once stabilized, it was a place with more potential than any other trade city.

“That is true, but timing is also critical.”

“The Knights of Rubeo can hold out well enough without me.”

“But the people will grow anxious.”

Those gathered under Cayenne’s firm resolve had built a castle in Rubeo, found crops that could grow in the harsh soil, and dug wells. The people who gathered there on the condition of tax exemption had already raised children and made Rubeo their home.

“Did Your Majesty not always say that having more people make Rubeo their home is truer proof of imperial territory than claiming it through bloodshed?”

“If they are subjects who only stay when they can see me with their own eyes, then I cannot even call them my people.”

Glenn bowed his head at the cold remark. Looking at the path Cayenne had walked, it didn’t seem like he was being stubborn just because of one woman.

“The Knights can drive out the enemy, but there is work here that only I can do. And for that work, I needed you as well.”

“I am aware.”

The starting point had been Alicia’s innocent question: why did the enemies never decrease despite Rubeo winning every battle?

“And today, I have brought you my answer, Your Majesty.”

Glenn had not forgotten his mission even while being exhausted as a sparring partner until dawn. He pulled a map and several documents from his tunic and placed them on the desk. As Cayenne unfolded the map, there were markings on the west, and the documents were meticulously filled with Glenn’s diligent handwriting.

“…How lawless.”

Fury was embedded in Cayenne’s low murmur.

“I had my suspicions, but I did not think they had actually stepped onto the path of traitors.”

Cayenne slammed the documents onto the desk. The map showed the garrison of western mercenaries, and Glenn’s report summarized the Knight Commander’s investigation along with information obtained by secretly planting people in the capital.

“Mercenaries from the west, weapons from the north.” Cayenne let out a hollow laugh. “They used filthy money to hire them and encouraged the slaughter of their own imperial subjects?”

Glenn remained silent. He felt that if he added even a single word, Cayenne would draw his sword and hunt down Duke Nigel immediately.

“That is the nature of the capital nobles.”

“No. No matter how corrupt and foolish they are, there were lines that should never be crossed.”

The Darius Empire had a longer history than any other nation on the continent. The same was true for the prominent capital nobles represented by Duke Nigel. While Cayenne’s ancestors ruled the Empire, their ancestors had participated in the process.

“I understood their opposition to my coronation, and their manipulation of state affairs in place of my powerless father.” Cayenne paused. More accurately, he had to understand. “It was all because I was young and powerless.”

Cayenne’s true strength was his ability to acknowledge his own weaknesses. To suppress his pride and admit his flaws was a difficult task for any ruler, especially an Emperor.

“Those shameless creatures dared to say I was unfit to be Emperor, but at least then, it was advice offered by subjects of the Empire! However, to support enemies of our Empire with rotten money… how is that any different from personally massacring those who died in all those battles!”

Battles in Rubeo always resulted in victory, but unavoidable sacrifices always followed. As a ruler, Cayenne had never forgotten their blood, even if he did not show it.

“Have they truly given up on being human? How can they commit such hideous acts in the name of nobility?” Cayenne let out another frustrated, angry laugh. This was no longer a political dispute; it was clear treason. “Did they truly feel the need to kill those living in that harsh land, even at the cost of their humanity?”

A terrible sense of futility was evident in his voice. Having dedicated his entire life to the land of Rubeo, he could not put his current feelings into words. To think that what he had been fighting all this time was not an external enemy, but Duke Nigel—a subject of this very Empire.

“They have been killing… their own imperial subjects.”

His fist struck the desk with a heavy thud. The realization that he had unknowingly sacrificed his people while remaining unaware of the truth hit him with a sense of guilt more terrifying than his rage.

“And they likely mocked me as I struggled in Rubeo.” His breath hitched with fury.

“It is not Your Majesty’s fault. You have read my report.” Glenn stood firm and spoke his mind. “They crossed the line they should never have crossed because they feared you and Rubeo.”

The abandoned prince had grown into a fine young man, and the harsh land where he was raised now held the potential to become the continent’s greatest trading city.

“Is it not quite bold for a deed committed by those who are afraid?”

“Duke Nigel did not want to give up his current position, which is essentially that of a regent. But contrary to his expectations, Your Majesty grew into a proper Emperor.”

Cayenne knew that much. From the moment his father lost his mind and abandoned him, no one had wanted him to survive.

“It appears the Duke began intervening within the last few years. Before then, he likely did not believe in the revival of Rubeo, but as Your Majesty brought that possibility to the brink of reality, he must have felt anxious and afraid.”

No matter if he were an abandoned prince, as long as he had ascended the throne, Cayenne was the sole and noble Emperor continuing the legitimacy of the Darius Empire. Even if Duke Nigel had ruled as a regent for a long time, everything would vanish like smoke once the true master returned.

“If Rubeo is reborn as a complete trading city, all the merchant groups influenced by the Duke’s faction will suffer massive losses.”

The hope Cayenne had placed in that land was not mere attachment. The completion of Rubeo was intended to be a move to shake the foundation of the capital nobles, who had grown too powerful during the void left by the late Emperor.

“No matter how great the prestige of the capital nobles, their power requires money. They likely needed even greater sums as they expanded their influence.”

That was the move Cayenne had been aiming for. At the same time, the Duke’s concerns were correct, as Cayenne intended to return to the palace and reclaim everything once Rubeo was stable.

“The Duke’s intervention over the past two years from another perspective, means that the momentum of Your Majesty and Rubeo has become that much of a threat.”

Cayenne nodded. “The Duke was not wrong about one thing.”

Right now, the arrow Duke Nigel had fired to strike Cayenne had circled back to pierce himself.