The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 65

While Blake dealt with the nobles gathered in the audience chamber, Cayenne was still searching for a way to break through the situation. However, even after scouring nearly all the imperial records, he could not find a similar case, and his eyes were blurring from reviewing so many documents.

“Your Majesty, please have some tea while you work.”

Emma served the tea with a worried face. She had also spent the entire night searching through the records, but there was no clear answer. Had Cayenne’s imperial authority been solidified, he might have been able to settle such a matter by decree alone, but she felt only pity for him, having only just returned to the palace.

“Your Majesty…”

At her earnest plea, Cayenne finally looked away from the records and toward Emma.

“I have checked back to the generation of my great-grandfather, but it seems it was a futile effort.”

Cayenne roughly knew the history following that period.

“Before looking at the records, I had some hope that there might be a way, but the result is the opposite.”

“Why do you say that?”

“In the long history of the Darius Empire, every case where an Empress was deposed was one where she also lost her life. There is no precedent for an Emperor holding a second wedding with the same woman.”

Cayenne already knew. All of this was happening because he did not yet possess full power as Emperor. Had he held the solidified imperial authority of his great-grandfather, which noble would have dared to breathe a word about the Emperor’s marriage?

“It is all my fault.”

Bitter regret was etched into his low voice. Giving his new bride such shame by leaving without finishing the wedding, and now being unable to protect her perfectly due to a lack of power, was all his doing.

“It is not your fault, Your Majesty.”

Losing his mother too early was not his fault, nor was being threatened by a father who had lost his mind because of that loss. How could anyone blame a seven-year-old Cayenne for the fate of fleeing to the lands of Rubeo to avoid being murdered by his own father?

“Had I simply conducted the wedding properly in the first place, this would not have happened. And even after that, there was a whole year. Yes, a long time of one year.”

Years spent on the battlefield passed easily, but since returning to the palace this time, his clock had changed. Meeting Alicia, dining with her, and sharing each other’s breath and warmth was when he finally realized what it meant to live as a human being.

“The day is so long.”

Since he had been unable to see Alicia, the clock felt as though it had stopped entirely. It felt as if a vast age had passed since he last held her warmth.

“Is it not ridiculous? How some days can pass without a trace, yet a single day can feel so cruelly long.”

Cayenne had become a man in love with a woman. For the first time since he lost his mother, he had accepted and come to crave the warmth of another.

“That is because you have come to cherish someone, Your Majesty.”

“Do others also find the day as long as I do?”

“At least one person surely feels the same.”

At Emma’s assertion, a faint smile played on Cayenne’s lips. At some point, his expression began to soften automatically whenever he thought of Alicia.

“While I hope that is the case, I also wish for her mind to be at ease.”

If they shared the same heart, he could ask for nothing more, but it pained him to think Alicia might be feeling this same distress. She, of all people, had done nothing wrong in this situation.

“Time is truly heartless. I even feel like cutting out the days I wasted in the past and bringing them here.”

No matter how much he dug through the records or searched for legal loopholes, there was no answer. The more he searched, the more he realized how great a mistake he had made regarding this marriage.

“Your Majesty, that is…”

“I know. It is impossible. I am simply wishing it were so. There were so many meaningless days. If only I could use that time now.”

Emma frowned, a rare sight. She then looked at Seneschal Miller standing right beside her. He looked puzzled at first, but then seemed to realize something as his mouth fell half-open, and he nodded vigorously toward Emma.

“What are the two of you doing with me right here?”

Cayenne furrowed his eyebrows at the strange sight. However, Emma and Miller both looked at Cayenne with deadly serious expressions.

“Your Majesty, it might exist!” Emma raised her voice, which was unusual for her.

“What might?”

“A day that had no meaning.”

“There were many such days.”

“No, that is not what I mean. What I am trying to say is, well…”

Emma’s heart beat wildly. The possibility that had just occurred to her might be the only chance for him to reclaim his happiness.

“While there are no days without meaning, there are days when nothing is permitted to be done. Specifically, the mourning period set by the Holy See and the national mourning for an Emperor.”

Perhaps God was finally taking Cayenne’s side.

“There was such a time, surely.” Emma spoke as she searched her memory.

Cayenne looked at Emma, his dark eyes wide. He still looked as if he did not understand what he was hearing.

“It was summer. Was it not, Lord Miller?”

“Yes, it was certainly then.”

Cayenne was still the only one with a confused face.

“Explain to me exactly what you are talking about.”

“Your Majesty. It is still only a possibility, but your marriage vows might still be valid!”

Cayenne let out a shaky breath. Even if it was only a possibility, if there was a single ray of light, he was prepared to do whatever it took to protect it.

“Report calmly.”

Cayenne tried to settle his wildly beating heart and bit his parched lip.

“If there is even one possibility, I will do anything.”

He could not bear for this lonely day to continue. Like a beast that had become habituated without even knowing it, he constantly missed Alicia’s side and felt so lonely that it was hard to endure.

“A world without the Empress is no longer necessary.”

He did not know when such a heated heart had formed within him, but this heart desperately wanted and craved to be by Alicia’s side.

The atmosphere in the Empress’s palace was calm, and a subtle fragrance lingered naturally. Though there were no signs of excessive decoration, every floor tile and every thread of the curtains felt as though it had been painstakingly tended to.

“The Empress is waiting in the drawing room.”

When the Great Sage entered the Empress’s palace supported by his grandson, he was not greeted by Alicia as he had expected. Instead, Agnes, introduced as the Head Maid, offered her respects.

“It is the drawing room at the end of the left hallway. I shall lead the way.”

“No. This old man can make it that far. Besides, I have my grandson to support me, so we can go together.”

“I will guide your grandson to a separate place where he may wait.”

At Agnes’s calm words, the Great Sage finally looked at her face properly.

“Ah, it was you. Alicia’s nursemaid.”

“You must not refer to Her Majesty the Empress in such a manner.”

The Great Sage let out a laugh and stroked his beard.

“To me, all children of Lucan are the same. Have you not attained at least that much learning?”

Agnes offered a composed smile befitting a palace attendant and curtsied toward the Great Sage once more.

“I greet the Great Sage from Lucan.”

It was an action that clearly drew a line, as if they were meeting for the first time. It was as if she were saying that she was certainly no “child of Lucan.”

“I am the Chief Maid of the Empress’s palace, Agnes Hilden. You may address me as Head Maid or Madam.”

The Great Sage was still smiling, but his eyes were cold. She had always protected Alicia in Lucan and never lost her “outsider” air, and now she was even worse.

“Her Majesty the Empress is the most noble woman on the continent and the mistress of this Empire.”

Agnes’s current behavior was a reflection of Alicia’s intent. Thinking that, the Great Sage felt quite slighted.

“It is a fortunate thing that she graciously has time to share tea with you.”

It was a declaration of war—that Alicia was not a child of Lucan and would not follow the Great Sage’s will in the future. At the same time, it was obvious she was heavily emphasizing the status of Empress.

“I see. Since I have come such a long way, she must be very pleased.”

The battle of nerves was intense, even before he had met Alicia.

“Great Sage. Standing for too long will be a strain on you.”

The boy supporting him looked at Agnes. He had no memory of meeting her in Lucan, but his fair face and violet eyes were very impressive.

“Madam Agnes. As you can see, the Great Sage is of an advanced age and requires my attendance. The Empress is surely a generous person, so she will likely allow me to attend to him, will she not?”

Seeing a boy of only fifteen years old skillfully use courtly speech proved that the lineage of Lucan had not yet been severed. If this boy were to one day rise to the position of Great Sage, the power of Lucan would be immense.

“Of course, Her Majesty the Empress is a generous person. However, I must check if there is sufficient space. Will you wait a moment?”

When the Great Sage nodded, Agnes called a young maid and whispered something. A short while later, the maid returned at a brisk pace and whispered back to Agnes.

“Originally, a guest not invited to tea with Her Majesty may not enter.”

Agnes was intentionally asserting the Empress’s authority repeatedly.

“However, as she is a very kind and generous person, she has commanded that tea be served for your grandson as well.”

“My, I am so grateful I hardly know what to do with myself.”

The smile had vanished from the Great Sage’s face.

“Then, I shall…”

“No. I have Ray, so we shall find our own way.”

As if to back up his words, the beautiful boy supported the Great Sage.

“This child is my most cherished grandson.”

“I see.”

“He is the light of our Lucan, completely unlike those failures tainted by the touch of outsiders.”

Agnes did not blink and maintained the dignified smile of a Head Maid.

“Then, you may go to the last room on the left hallway.”

Curtsying slightly, Agnes watched the back of the old man and the boy as they walked down the long hallway for a long time.