Ch#21

Episode 21

A question everyone predicted yet no one dared to ask directly.

Even Arpad had never directly questioned his father, the Emperor, about this matter.

But Hilia asked the Emperor directly.

Did he truly intend to make Ludwig the next Emperor, bypassing his own son?

The Emperor furrowed his brow and asked her in return.

"Why do you think I would do that?"

"It's something everyone knows. After all, Your Majesty was the one who arranged the marriage between me and the Grand Duke."

The Emperor didn't even bat an eyebrow while having this conversation in front of his son.

Hilia, standing beside Arpad, wasn't intimidated in the slightest before such an Emperor.

"If it wasn't to raise him as a counterweight against His Highness the Crown Prince, there would be no reason to hand over the Delphin Ducal Family to him."

"...Are you saying you disliked handing over the Delphin Ducal Family to him, and that's why you caused this incident?"

Hilia blinked her large eyes and muttered harsh words internally.

'Of course, I damn well hated it! Frankly, I wanted to punch the Emperor in the jaw at least once for arranging that marriage!'

But her smiling mouth said something else.

"How could I have made such an important decision based on such personal feelings."

"Then?"

Hilia, who had been standing quietly beside Arpad, took a step forward.

Toward the Emperor's throne.

And with utmost courtesy, she knelt and raised her head.

"How much does Your Majesty know about your nephew?"

"Are you saying now that I lack the eye for judging people?"

Hilia smiled and gave no answer. But this silence was soon an affirmative answer.

'I've actually heard those words before.'

And from the person himself.

"My son was better than me in many ways. His eye for people was like that too. If only it weren't for the Madness......"

"Pfft!"

A sound of Arpad unable to suppress his laughter was heard from beside her.

The low, snickering sound rolled across the audience hall floor like shards of broken glass.

Unswayed by Arpad, Hilia calmly finished what she had to say.

"I haven't had many opportunities to see Your Majesty up close, so I have little to say about other aspects. But I can confidently say that is not the case regarding Ludwig."

It was an impudent statement.

But the Emperor crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.

An expression showing even more interest.

"It sounds like the Duchess knows Ludwig quite well?"

"Because I've been close to him as his fiancée for three years."

In reality, Delphin Residence was practically like a newlywed home for Ludwig and Evangeline.

'I was the only one who didn't know that.'

"So you're saying the Ludwig you saw is not fit to be Emperor."

"Yes, he is narrow-minded, has an inferiority complex, and has ambitions too big for his abilities."

Beside her, Arpad burst into laughter again.

"Ahaha! Quite scathing. It really doesn't match your appearance, does it?"

He looked very pleased.

The Emperor furrowed his brow but at least agreed with his son on one point.

"Certainly, the Duchess has a very sharp tongue, unlike her appearance."

'Because I suffered too much thanks to someone.'

...was the answer Hilia barely swallowed.

Frankly, she objectively judged that the Emperor also had quite a share in her suffering.

Hilia added an anecdote she knew.

"My perspective may be narrow and my knowledge limited, but there was a problem with the internal affairs of the Delphin Ducal Family's territory."

Currently, the internal affairs of the Delphin Ducal territory were also handled by Ludwig.

"An administrator embezzled some funds and failed to properly manage the dams and reservoirs, but Ludwig used that same administrator again the following year."

"Why?"

"The new administrator candidate was critical of raising the land tax the next year. Because it was a poor harvest. On the other hand, the administrator who had embezzled had a weakness, so he agreed to raise the land tax."

"......"

"It's a small matter, but how one handles small matters shows how they'll handle big ones."

Hilia looked straight at the Emperor with unwavering eyes and concluded.

"If that person were to become the Emperor deciding matters for the entire Empire, what would happen, I believe Your Majesty also knows well."

The Emperor didn't answer immediately, stroking his beard with his fingertips.

After a brief silence, the answer that came was one affirming Hilia.

"Certainly, your criticism is correct."

"Then......"

"Even so, my judgment remains unchanged."

"Are you saying someone who decides public matters with private ambition is suitable to be Emperor?"

The Emperor tapped the armrest and retorted in an icy voice.

"Better than someone who goes mad and kills people indiscriminately."

"......!"

At this cold, almost cruel answer, Arpad stopped laughing.

His vertically elongated red irises narrowed, thick with murderous intent.

"Your Highness!"

Even with Hilia's scolding call, Arpad didn't stop.

Nor did the Emperor back down.

The thick murderous intent of the father and son, both born with the dragon's bloodline, clashed within the audience hall.

For an ordinary person, just being caught between them would be enough to feel as if their throat was being choked.

But Hilia sprang up right there and grabbed Arpad's wrist.

"Your Highness! Stop it!"

Seeing this, a strange light appeared in the Emperor's expression.

'What's this? Moving about so casually amidst the murderous intent of two royals? She doesn't look like someone trained to that extent.'

This was possible because Hilia had actually experienced death three times.

But neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince could know this fact.

After Hilia's earnest pleas, Arpad reluctantly withdrew his murderous intent, and the initiative of the situation passed back to the Emperor and Hilia.

Arpad had taken a step back.

Because he wanted to see how she would break through this situation.

"So Your Majesty's thoughts are due to concern about His Highness the Crown Prince's Madness."

"That's right."

A fact everyone knew but had never been publicly discussed was spoken and made concrete by the Emperor's mouth for the first time.

Arpad frowned in displeasure but didn't bother to point out the injustice of it.

Because even he himself couldn't be certain he wouldn't go mad.

Hilia smiled and spoke nonchalantly.

"Then Your Majesty no longer has reason to worry about His Highness the Crown Prince. The Madness issue has been resolved."

"...What?!"

* * *

The Emperor was so shocked he unconsciously lifted his buttocks from the throne before sitting back down.

Even Arpad was astonished, and she could feel him staring at her, frozen.

Ignoring this, Hilia continued with a bright smile.

"Because I'm by His Highness Arpad's side now."

"......"

After a moment of searching for words, the Emperor could finally ask.

"You're saying Arpad's Madness is solved just because you're by his side?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She uttered such a shocking statement with an innocent expression and a friendly voice.

The Emperor let out a hollow laugh as if finding it absurd.

"What nonsense is that? Even I've never heard that a person can solve the Madness passed down through the dragon's bloodline."

Arpad was still staring intently at Hilia, frozen like a pillar of salt.

Hilia briefly ignored Arpad's intense gaze and focused only on the Emperor.

After all, the one she needed to persuade now was the Emperor.

"I don't know if Your Majesty will believe this... but I had a dream the night before the wedding."

Hilia clasped her hands together over her chest and raised her head again.

A moment ago, she had looked directly at the Emperor, but now it was different.

She looked higher. Above the Emperor's throne, there was only one thing.

'The Dragon Artanus statue.'

A sculpture made of gold and ivory, with red diamonds embedded in its eyes—a work of art.

A symbol that declares with all its might that this Empire began with a dragon.

Looking up at it reverently, Hilia declared.

"Because Lord Artanus appeared in my dream and spoke to me."

"...!"

"He bestowed His blessing upon me, saying that as long as I am by their side, no descendant of the dragon will suffer from Madness."

* * *

The blessing of Dragon Artanus.

I claimed before the Emperor that I had received it.

'Our marriage needs at least this level of justification to be recognized.'

It's a marriage that came about by shattering a marriage personally decided by the Emperor.

To support this, naturally, a higher authority was needed.

There are only two authorities stronger than the Emperor.

'God or the Dragon.'

Especially since the Istride Empire prides itself on being descendants of the Golden Dragon Artanus.

Moreover, Artanus had once declared.

─The fertility of the Artanoa Plains will continue as long as I and Istride's descendants sit on the throne.

The Artanoa Plains, the continent's granary located at its center, possesses fertility that can feed the entire continent.

So, even if you search the entire continent, with Artanus as your backing, no one can challenge it!

Then, is this really true?

That Artanus appeared in my dream and bestowed His blessing upon me?

'Of course, it's a damn lie!'

Translator: Nox