35 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
“Stop looking.”
Alisha frowned and said quietly.
She tried hard not to let her expression show on her face, but her displeasure was evident.
“I wasn’t looking with any impure intentions, especially.”
Reikart’s gaze at Alisha was full of interest.
His sparkling amber eyes persistently followed her sulky face.
Alisha glanced at him several times to protest, but she averted her gaze the moment their eyes were about to meet.
Alisha tried to hold back what was trying to leak out on her face.
Dismay, frustration, disappointment.
Bewilderment, confusion, regret.
She tried to appear composed, but it didn’t work.
“Your Highness.”
A gloomy voice called out to Reikart.
“I wasn’t trying to break my promise or deceive you. It just happened as I was talking, and it’s difficult not to look when there’s something to see right in front of me. Well, I’ll stop looking.”
Reikart turned his gaze to the window.
A faint smile spread across his face as he feigned innocence.
Alisha let out a long sigh.
She decided to be satisfied that he hadn’t said everything he wanted to say.
Alisha relaxed her serious expression and snatched the teacup that she had been too awkward to bring earlier.
“By the way.”
Reikart, who had been pretending to look elsewhere, carefully spoke.
“You said you weren’t trying to deceive me.”
His sharp voice rang out sullenly.
“…No, I wasn’t.”
Reikart, who was about to say something, shrank back.
He quickly shut his mouth and remained silent, glancing at Alisha as she drank her tea.
“……”
Alisha forcibly maintained a meaningless composure.
She couldn’t help but feel her eyes sharpen at the gaze that flickered across her face.
Reikart looked at Alisha again.
“I just thought, I’m going to have a niece or nephew.”
His face was radiant as he spoke and smiled slyly.
He wasn’t even talking about his own child, but he seemed proud and happy that his half-brother was going to have a child, a true loyalist.
His face, spreading a gentle expression, seemed to have many questions he wanted to ask.
He seemed to have already guessed from Alisha’s words that the Emperor had several sons.
What do you mean, no?
Alisha gave up on observing etiquette and lay down on the spot, annoyed.
She piled soft cushions on the elegant armrest and used them as a pillow.
She vowed again and again to be more careful with her words in the future.
Imperial Capital Baden was like the calm before a storm.
The sky was gloomy, matching the quiet yet somber atmosphere.
The Imperial Palace was strangely deserted.
The Emperor summoned only a handful of people to the Small Audience Chamber.
Unlike the Grand Audience Chamber, the Small Audience Chamber had the same eye level for the head table and the guests’ tables.
As the room was also called the Purple Room, the interior was decorated in glossy purple.
The people inside the Purple Room couldn’t easily open their mouths.
Everyone was just watching, hoping someone would speak first.
As the silence awkwardly continued, the chamberlain opened the door and entered.
“Your Majesty, Grand Duke Tessen requests an audience.”
“Let him in.”
The Emperor said immediately.
The Emperor, who was sitting at the head table on the guests’ side rather than the separate head table, looked tired.
The other people at the table quickly exchanged glances.
Marquis Manners, the father of Lady Mode, the Chancellor.
Marquis Dvaab, who supports the Chancellor.
Count Strahl, Count Combat, and Baron Koph, who each had connections with the Imperial Concubines who currently wielded great influence in the Imperial Palace.
And Marquis Lennox and Count Istevna, the Emperor’s own brothers.
Finally, Grand Duke Tessen, Reikart, entered.
The Emperor stopped Reikart, who was about to pay his respects, and gestured to guide him to his seat.
“Sit down.”
“I am honored, Your Majesty.”
Reikart did not forget to express his gratitude and sat down.
He scanned the seating arrangement at the table and sighed almost imperceptibly.
The Emperor at the head of the table.
Reikart two seats away from the Emperor’s seat.
Next to him, the Emperor’s other brothers, Marquis Lennox and Count Istevna.
Next to them, Marquis Manners and Marquis Dvaab.
At the opposite end of the table, Count Strahl, Count Combat, and Baron Koph.
Count Istevna, prompted by Marquis Lennox’s gesture, opened his mouth.
“Grand Duke Tessen. What do you think?”
In an instant, all eyes were on Reikart’s face.
It was an expected situation.
But he didn’t expect to be asked so urgently as soon as he sat down.
Marquis Manners, the mother’s father, and his supporter, Marquis Dvaab, were in favor of Lady Mode entering the palace.
Even though the child was conceived outside the Imperial Palace, she could not give birth outside.
On the other hand, the Counts and Baron, who had close ties with the Imperial Concubines, were against her entering the palace.
However, given the situation, they could not openly voice their opposition.
The biggest problem here was the Imperial Family.
The Emperor’s brothers had to support the Emperor’s wishes, as it would look good on the surface.
But succession was a sensitive issue.
If the Emperor were to vacate his position without an heir, there was a possibility that they or their descendants could inherit the throne.
Even with the various doubts surrounding the birth, there was a big difference between whether or not the Emperor had an heir.
However, the Imperial Family could not easily oppose it either.
So everyone avoided making a judgment, saying that it was a complicated issue in many ways.
Unlike this quiet place where only a few people were gathered, there was fierce opposition inside and outside the Imperial Palace regarding Lady Mode’s pregnancy and her entry into the palace.
They pointed fingers at each other and raised their voices due to differing opinions.
The atmosphere was becoming increasingly ominous.
It was time to come to a conclusion.
“Brother, she is His Majesty’s first child.”
Reikart said to Count Istevna.
“……”
The current Emperor was 37 years old.
He had been under pressure from inside and outside the palace for not having an heir until now.
In the end, everyone knew that Lady Mode would enter the palace.
The key was who would directly voice their opposition to the Emperor and how the Emperor would overcome any opposition to achieve his will.
Grand Duke Tessen was a man who was stricter than anyone else when it came to rules.
He valued efficiency, but he was inflexible when it came to laws and regulations.
That was why everyone in this room was waiting for Reikart or felt uncomfortable with him.
The room fell silent at the unexpected turn of events.
“Grand Duke.”
Marquis Lennox stepped in, taking the place of the embarrassed Count.
Reikart ignored the face that was calling him and turned to the side.
The most surprised person in this room was the Emperor.
The Emperor had called the Grand Duke to suppress the noisy surroundings because it was a difficult issue to decide, but he naturally thought that Reikart would become the leader of the opposition.
He was his own brother, but he couldn’t deny that Reikart was narrow-minded.
“Your Majesty. I approve of the new sister-in-law entering the palace. Having an heir for my brother will also stabilize the Empire.”
Reikart said kindly to the Emperor.
The Emperor was so surprised that he couldn’t react in time.
“Your Highness, I……”
Marquis Manners tried to speak with a touched expression.
Reikart raised his hand slightly without even looking at the Marquis’s face, stopping him from speaking.
“I heard she’s already eight months along. Wouldn’t it be better to let her enter the Imperial Concubine as soon as possible to stabilize her condition, rather than following the formalities? We should also hurry with preparations for the birth.”
Marquis Manners tried to interject once again.
Reikart’s gaze remained on the Emperor.
“Reikart.”
The Emperor couldn’t continue his words and only called out his brother’s name.
“However.”
Just as the Emperor and the two Marquises were about to fall into emotion and relief.
Just as the remaining people were floundering in confusion and chaos.
Reikart uttered ominous words.
“However?”
“I am completely happy that my brother will have an heir, but I cannot deny that my first niece or nephew was conceived outside the Imperial Palace. Since His Majesty currently has no heir, if it is the firstborn son, we can discuss it again later, and if it is the firstborn daughter, how about we decide that she will not have the right to inherit the throne? The Imperial Succession Law does not distinguish between men and women, but for hundreds of years, no princess has ascended the throne.”
Reikart finished speaking and looked around at the Emperor and his brothers.
A sense of agreement flowed across the faces of the Imperial Family.
Marquis Manners’s eyes shook with confusion.
Marquis Dvaab, who supported the Chancellor, had a surprised face but inwardly agreed.
The Emperor’s decision was quick.
“I understand what the Grand Duke means. It’s better to have less room for argument when unexpected situations arise. We can’t know what the future holds. I shall decree it.”
The Emperor ordered Mode Manners to enter the Imperial Concubine.
He omitted all formalities because her health was not normal.
He ordered that if Mode Manners gave birth to a son, the order of succession to the throne would be discussed later, and if she gave birth to a daughter, the princess would not be in the line of succession to the throne.
The Imperial Order was issued.
It was not the expected flow, but it was not a bad compromise for both the supporters and opponents of entering the palace.
Everyone in the room stood up and praised the Imperial Order.
Only one person, Reikart, bowed his head to the Emperor when others sat down in their chairs.
“Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
The Emperor said with a generous face.
The complicated situation was being resolved surprisingly quickly.
“I was happy and relieved that Your Majesty would have an heir. I wanted my new sister-in-law to enter the palace as soon as possible because I was worried about the safety of the mother and wanted to see my niece or nephew. But as it is, many questions will remain about the birth of my first niece or nephew.”
“That’s possible.”
“I trust my brother and the Manners family. But that’s probably just the people here. To allow everyone to celebrate the birth of my first niece or nephew, please announce the Royal Dot and proclaim to the world that my niece or nephew is Your Majesty’s own child.”
At Reikart’s words, smiles flashed across the faces of the two Imperial Family members.
On the other hand, the nobles had puzzled faces.
“I shall do so.”
The Emperor made a quick decision this time as well.
“I am honored.”
Everyone in the room followed Reikart’s words.
He bowed to the Emperor to excuse himself and turned around the table to go to Marquis Manners’s side.
“Welcome to the Imperial Family, Marquis.”
Reikart greeted him and immediately left the Purple Room.
The Empress Palace was splendid and magnificent.
But the luxurious scenery lacked vitality.
For generations, the Emperor had appointed an Empress from a powerful political alliance family.
There were times when the Empress wielded the greatest power in the Imperial Concubine, but such cases were rare.
Even within the same alliance of the Emperor, they competed with each other, so it was rare for the Empress to come from the most influential family.
As a result, it was the nobles from great families who wielded the greatest power in the Imperial Concubine.
The greatest favor in the Imperial Concubine was determined by the Emperor’s actions.
Empress Eleanor had accomplished what the previous Empresses had not.
The Empress from the Isterun Duchy, the Empire’s oldest alliance, had as strong a family as the great families within the Empire.
When the Empress was called Eleanor of Isterun, her nickname was Lady of the Sea Fairy.
The people of the Empire were enthusiastic about the Sea Fairy who appeared as a prima donna on the stage of the celebration of the exchange between the Empire and the Duchy.
