Chapter 2
Chapter 2
After a fierce battle between the Emperor and Empress that lasted all night, Maria was defeated by Henry. She was bound and dragged to the interrogation room. Of course, all the forces loyal to the Empress were also taken into custody. The moment the door to the interrogation room opened, Maria couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. To think she would come here as a prisoner.
As expected, they were there at the head table. The former Empress Monica, smiling triumphantly, Laurent holding a newborn baby, and Henry with the nobles who followed him were seated.
"Here is the evidence that Duke James attempted to assassinate me."
Henry threw a piece of paper at Maria, who was sitting in the prisoner's seat. And on that single sheet of paper, there was clearly her father's handwriting and the seal of the Stuart Dukedom. The general content was that after ousting the incompetent Emperor Henry Coburg of Lastonia, his daughter Maria should be enthroned as Empress. It was all utter nonsense. Maria, looking over the faces of those who had joined in this ridiculous farce, felt nauseous.
"The Chancellor was too greedy. Setting up his daughter as a puppet Empress and manipulating the Lastonia Empire as they pleased."
Monica fanned herself with a fan, mocking Maria. Not to be outdone, Laurent's newborn baby began to whine.
"Are you hungry? Do you want milk?"
Laurent nonchalantly took out her breast and fed the baby. As if showing off to Maria. Then, she spoke to Maria in clumsy Imperial language.
"A woman who can't even have children can't do anything. The Emperor is a man's job. Women should live like flowers, being loved."
Maria burst into laughter at Laurent's words. She wanted to look inside the head of that foreign woman who could say such things so casually.
"Laurent, in the future, a woman who bears more of Henry's children than you will have more to do and will be loved more."
"That's too much. Why are you saying such harsh things?"
Laurent shouted, her face flushed.
"It's not harsh, but according to your logic, a woman only needs to give birth to children all her life to be loved. So, start working hard from tomorrow. Keep giving birth without rest."
"Shut up!"
Henry roared at Maria's retort to Laurent. But Maria didn't back down and retorted clearly.
"I know, why didn't I think of that?"
Maria looked around at the people sitting at the head table and spoke sharply. Especially while staring directly at Henry.
"I should have proven that a woman who can't have children can also become the Emperor of the Empire."
"What!"
People were agitated by Maria's statement. Monica, angered by her words, hurriedly came down from the head table and relentlessly slapped Maria's face with her fan.
"This insolent bitch is finally revealing her rebellious intentions!"
Maria was hit as Monica struck her. She only hoped that her father would come quickly and put an end to this absurd plot.
Huff, huff— Monica, her hair disheveled, gasped for breath after hitting Maria.
"Empress!"
Nancy, who had been watching Maria's tragic appearance from the side, cried out. Her face, which had been as clear as a porcelain doll, was full of scratches.
"Nancy, I will never bow my head to corrupt forces."
Maria said everything she wanted to say, with a face that seemed to despise Monica.
"Corrupt... forces?"
Monica, her eyes rolling back in her head, looked around wildly. Soon, she took a sword from a soldier's waist and rushed towards Maria. At that moment, Henry approached and barely managed to pull Monica away.
"Mom, please stay out of this! I'm the Emperor...!"
"Henry, that bitch called me a corrupt force!"
"I have everything planned out. So please, just stay put."
Henry was frustrated by Monica's behavior. He dragged Monica to the side and scolded her in a low voice. The more she provoked Maria, the more she revealed her own flaws, but she was too caught up in her emotions to properly assess the situation. It wasn't helping at all.
Henry changed his expression and winked at the Archbishop, who came forward with a scroll of paper.
"Our Lastonia Empire will sever ties with the Vatican from this moment on and create a religion for the people of the Empire. Also, the Stuart Dukedom, which attempted to assassinate His Imperial Majesty, will be exterminated."
As soon as the Archbishop's words ended, the door to the interrogation room opened, and soldiers carried two corpses inside. Maria didn't even realize it when the corpses were placed in front of her. That they were the corpses of her parents.
"I have executed the traitor Duke James and his retainers."
Maria's eyes widened at Henry's words. Only then did the gruesome corpses properly come into view. She stared blankly ahead and slowly approached the corpses.
'Could it be...!'
There was no way those corpses were her father and mother. But the closer she got, the more ominousness struck her heart.
"Did you set them on fire?"
Maria asked Henry with a dazed face. No matter how she looked, she couldn't recognize their faces because the corpses were severely burned. But the Duke's ring and family necklace on their blackened hands. The pearl ring and bracelet that her mother usually cherished contained the horror of last night. And that wasn't all. The clothes worn by the two corpses were made of silk from the Southern Continent that she had gifted them.
"Father... Mother."
The Empress's palace attendants began to wail at Maria's call.
"Henry, how... how could you do this?"
As Maria looked at Henry and asked.
"Maria, you brought this on yourself. It would have been nice if you had just divorced me from the beginning, right?"
"What? So you did this to my parents because of that?"
"Get a grip! Maria! I am the Emperor, and your father was a traitor who tried to assassinate me."
"Lies!"
As Maria shouted, Henry drew his sword.
"Everyone, look closely! This is the miserable end of a traitor! No one can survive if they try to assassinate the Emperor."
Henry took his sword and strode towards the corpses, striking them down mercilessly.
"Aaaagh! No!"
Despite Maria's screams, Henry struck the necks of Duke James and Emma. Not only did he burn them to death, but he also desecrated their corpses in front of everyone. At that moment, the nobles who followed the Emperor shouted from the head table.
"Your Majesty, execute the traitor's daughter!"
"She must not be left alive."
But Henry hesitated. He seemed confused, as if he himself was surprised by striking the heads of the Stuart couple. Then, Monica grabbed the hem of her dress and came down, snatching Henry's sword.
"I'll kill her!"
She raised her sword towards Maria with a vengeance, but Maria lost consciousness, unable to overcome the shock. It was then. The door to the interrogation room opened, and a rush of hot air and the smell of soil and wind from the northern wilderness swept in.
"Who are they?"
People held their breath at the sight of the red figures filling the doorway.
'The Red Army.'
The infamous existence that even the army of hell trembled at when they appeared on the battlefield. To think they would actually see them in person. And to encounter them in the Lastonia Imperial Palace of all places.
"That's the Helland Red Army, right?"
The nobles began to speak one by one.
"That's right. Tsk, tsk, what a degenerate age. How did those people get all the way here...!"
Helland was a country established by mercenaries who had gathered from various countries. All the imperial families of the continent dismissed them as barbarians and didn't even treat them as a country, but now their bravery and astronomical wealth could not be ignored. Of course, there were still people who were exclusive to them.
"Are they... human?"
"They're like barbaric heathens."
"I know, since when have those lowly things been allowed to enter the sacred Lastonia Imperial Palace so carelessly?"
"Be careful what you say. They're the Red Army, aren't they?"
In particular, they were a group that didn't care about anything when it came to war and money. It seemed that they had some kind of entanglement with the Lastonia Imperial Family over money. In fact, there were rumors that not only Lastonia but also the imperial families and noble families of various countries on the continent often borrowed quick money from Helland. Of course, there were also laughable stories that if they failed to repay on time, the brutal Red Army would step in directly, and then money that didn't exist would suddenly appear.
"I heard that the Great King of Helland rarely steps forward himself, but to come all the way here like this."
The nobles looked suspiciously at Henry all at once before turning their gaze back to the Red Army. In particular, all eyes were focused on the sturdy man wearing a dragon mask. A man wearing scaly armor like blades and armed with ferocious weapons. The energy he exuded was clearly different from that of ordinary soldiers. His presence, which overwhelmed the audience, was suffocating. Everyone closed their mouths and looked back and forth between the Helland Great King and Henry.
"Did you have to come... in person? I was about to send a message."
Henry was not only pale but also stuttering.
"I've come to collect the debt."
The Great King's voice was full of pressure. His gaze swept over the chaotic interrogation seat.
"Perhaps you've forgotten the date to repay the debt?"