The Trash Lady Who Stole the Duke's First Night
Chapter 16
“His Majesty has decided to accept the dissolution of the engagement between the Imperial Princess and the Young Duke. How could the sacred oath made upon the Blue Orb ever be undone?”
“What?! A dissolution! How dare they make light of an imperial matter of such gravity! We cannot overlook Schuppenhardt’s irresponsible conduct!”
“Indeed! To dare abandon an imperial engagement—it is utterly deplorable! Schuppenhardt must explain themselves before a court of law!”
With neither the Duke of Schuppenhardt nor his son present, the nobles opposing the Emperor’s Faction raised their voices without hesitation.
Just then, Marquis Hoffmann, seated among the Emperor’s Faction, rose to his feet in defense.
“The Young Duke has not broken his engagement with the imperial family. For his betrothal oath with Lady Aquitaine is void.”
Marquis Hoffmann smoothly declared, holding open a noble roster.
“The name Aquitaine is absent from this year’s noble roster. Which means Aquitaine has been demoted to commoner status. And there is no obligation whatsoever to take responsibility for a wedding night spent with a commoner, is there?”
Marquis Hoffmann continued with an air of regret.
“It appears that after a single night’s mistake… the Young Duke made his first night’s oath without realizing Aquitaine had become a commoner. The marriage with the imperial family must rightfully be reconsidered.”
“Now see here! As if the Young Duke would ever swear such an oath without verifying the facts!”
Marquis Hoffmann raised his voice, defending his fellow Emperor’s Faction member, Schuppenhardt.
“It has only been a few days since this year’s noble roster was revised, so it is an understandable mistake. Therefore, the marriage with Her Highness the Imperial Princess must be reconsi—”
At that moment, the Empress smoothly cut Hoffmann off.
“The marriage with the imperial family has already been dissolved. His Majesty’s decree cannot be overturned. However, an oath made to a common woman—one he is under no obligation to take responsibility for—ought rightfully to be revoked.”
As if eager to quiet the uproar in the assembly and move on to the next agenda, the Empress gave a slight flick of her fingers, ordering her chief secretary to verify the Orthodox Noble Roster.
Across the assembly floor, nobles of both the Emperor’s Faction and the Papal Faction were already flipping through the Noble Roster of Imperial Year 1051.
The elderly members of the House of Nobles wore looks of sheer disbelief.
What kind of foolish noble would take responsibility for a single night spent with a commoner?
The doctrine of the Lübeck Empire did not hold men accountable for the first night with a common woman. It was a legal doctrine established for women in need of an aristocratic man’s aid.
“I-It’s true! Aquitaine isn’t on this year’s roster! They’ve fallen completely! She’s nothing more than a common wench!”
Having verified Aquitaine’s absence from the roster, Marquis Duran was the first to shout, waving the ’Orthodox Noble Roster’ in the air.
‘The Orthodox Noble Roster.’
It was a register meticulously recording the direct and collateral lines of the Lübeck Empire’s orthodox nobility—and a purge list that weeded out orthodox nobles every three years.
Over the past several centuries, hereditary titles had been granted so indiscriminately that the noble population swelled abnormally, causing a sharp decline in faithful, taxpaying laborers.
In response, the Empress, acting as the Emperor’s proxy, proposed the ’Noble Dignity Duty Law.’
Any fallen noble who defaulted on the Shield Tax—the sole tax paid by orthodox nobility to maintain the Imperial Standing Army—and failed to meet the wealth threshold required to maintain noble dignity…
…would be demoted to baronet.
The noble House of Nobles, composed of great lords wealthy for generations, readily accepted the Empress’s proposal.
A baronetcy was a title in name only; in both tax obligations and legal standing, it differed little from being a commoner.
Selling hereditary baronet titles to those who clung vainly to noble pretensions, only to purge them later through the death list to collect taxes, made it an undeniably brilliant policy.
“For a ruined wench to dare become the Young Duke’s wife would surely invite divine wrath! This morganatic marriage contract is unequivocally void!”
Marquis Duran sprang to his feet and roared. Marquis Hoffmann and the Empress looked on in silence.
“The Young Duke’s oath must be nullified right here and now! His Holiness the Pope will surely grant his permission!”
“Quiet, Marquis Duran. You always resort to stubborn insistence without listening.”
The Imperial Princess slammed a thick volume into the center of the Parliament.
“The noble roster from three years ago, Imperial Year 1048. The County of Aquitaine is recorded within it. A roster that remained valid until a mere five days ago.”
The Imperial Princess continued, the corner of her mouth curling into a slant.
“Five days ago, the Young Duke spent his first night with the daughter of ‘Count’ Aquitaine, and duly completed his oath with the ‘Count’s’ daughter according to the ethics of the Holy Book. Unless the Young Duke himself petitions for nullification, this first night’s oath remains entirely valid.”
The Imperial Princess shrugged with a laugh and wrinkled the bridge of her nose.
“Besides, reconsidering my marriage with a bachelor who has lost his virginity? How utterly filthy. I only deal in pure bachelors.”
Looking back and forth between the noble roster hurled into the center of the floor and the shameless Imperial Princess, the old men of the House of Nobles flushed in embarrassment.
To bring a mere baronet’s daughter into Schuppenhardt—even a count’s daughter would have been unacceptable.
Since the Duchess was the First Princess of the Kingdom of Cyprus, Carlos possessed succession rights to the throne of Cyprus through maternal lineage.
Yet he would take a ruined noblewoman as his wife? A woman who might one day ascend to the throne as the Queen of Cyprus?
What on earth was he thinking? Unable to fathom Schuppenhardt’s intentions, the elders sighed deeply and exchanged bewildered glances.
“This is entirely Aquitaine’s fault! Aquitaine must be dragged to court for feeding Schuppenhardt bootleg liquor brewed through forbidden methods!”
Marquis Duran shouted hoarsely at the other nobles, seeking agreement on an unverified rumor.
Marquis Hoffmann exchanged a meaningful glance with the Empress before turning his gaze to Marquis Duran’s grandstanding.
“Are we to sit by and allow all of Schuppenhardt’s vast inheritance to fall into the hands of some lowly son borne by Aquitaine?! It is out of the question!”
Marquis Duran raised his furious voice in growing agitation, as if Aquitaine were already carrying Carlos’s son.
“We cannot stand idly by while Aquitaine commits a pregnancy crime, daring to target the succession of the Cyprus throne and a colossal inheritance! Why do you think the Salic Law was suddenly abolished in the Kingdom of Cyprus, allowing inheritance through the maternal line? It is because social order collapsed after letting incidents like this slide one by one! My lords, the order of Lübeck could crumble in an instant as well!”
Marquis Duran, who had three daughters of marriageable age, cried out in lamentation.
“A pregnancy crime… Ahahahaha!”
The Imperial Princess clutched her stomach, her shoulders shaking as if unable to hold back her laughter.
The Empress, who had been watching in silence, spoke up.
“I have heard enough, Marquis Duran. Please take your seat. Marquis Duran is certainly right that Lady Aquitaine deserves severe punishment. The Young Duke must take another lawful wife.”
The Empress smiled calmly.
“First, it seems clear that Lady Aquitaine is guilty of inciting a man’s lust and reducing him to a state of compromised judgment. For if the first night had been by the Young Duke’s own will, we would have to punish the Young Duke for daring to defy His Majesty’s edict and the imperial marriage…”
The Imperial Princess halted her twisted sneer. Without so much as glancing at the Empress, she spoke in an even louder voice.
“My, how unfortunate. We cannot bring Lady Aquitaine before the court. It seems Marquis Duran has forgotten the very law he himself so frequently exploited.”
At the Imperial Princess’s sing-song tone, Marquis Duran’s expression contorted.
“What law are you speaking of?!”
“Holy Book, Chapter 7, Verse 29: ‘Whosoever cannot restrain their carnal lust and forcibly lies with an unbetrothed, pure person shall be cast into prison.’”
“So of course—!”
The moment Marquis Duran tried to cut in, the Imperial Princess slammed the Holy Book against the desk with a sharp cry.
“’Provided, however! If the one stripped of chastity professes through tears that their hearts were truly united, have pity upon that wretched soul, and the transgressor’s sin shall not be counted against them!’”
Marquis Duran raised a finger, his face flushed bright red.
“Sch-Schuppenhardt did…!”
“Yes. Schuppenhardt, who was ’supposedly’ violated.”
The Imperial Princess murmured “’supposedly’” under her breath, a wide, euphoric grin splitting her lips.
“He has reportedly already pleaded through tears for the forgiveness of the woman who defiled him. To His Holiness Pope Gregory, no less.”
Shouts erupted from the elders. The Imperial Princess narrowed her bright eyes and clapped as if in admiration.
“Ah! Just like those poor, ruined noblewomen who were defiled by Marquis Duran and yet knelt to beg for your forgiveness. How truly heart-wrenching, isn’t it?”
Marquis Duran gripped his desk, glaring with bloodshot eyes.
“Still, since we almost married, he candidly shared his feelings regarding this tragic affair with me.”
The Imperial Princess let her eyebrows droop with mock pity.
“It seems that after joining bodies, some affection blossomed between them. Since he humbled himself and wept, begging for the woman who plotted against him to be forgiven, how could we possibly drag Aquitaine before a court?”
The Imperial Princess drew up her long lips into a smile, looking thoroughly impressed from the bottom of her heart.
“Therefore, according to the Young Duke’s express wish submitted to the Papacy declaring he will not press charges, we cannot hold Lady Aquitaine liable under the law governing offenses unpunishable against the victim’s will.”
An offense unpunishable against the victim’s will.
A statute dictating that if a victim of a moral offense explicitly declares to the Temple their intention not to punish the perpetrator, no charges may be brought against them.
At the Imperial Princess’s blithe conclusion, crude curses erupted from the Papal Faction seats, and the agitated old men began pointing fingers at one another.
The violated Young Duke weeping and begging for the woman’s forgiveness…
The elders were on the verge of clutching the backs of their necks in shock at this unprecedented absurdity.
It was not that they believed the ridiculous claim that the Young Duke had been assaulted; rather, they could only groan in exasperation, baffled by Schuppenhardt’s true motives in using such an unmentionably disgraceful pretext to evade both the Emperor’s edict and Aquitaine’s punishment.
Had Schuppenhardt truly gone mad?
“Ahahaha! A pregnancy crime? Does a son just sprout up instantly after sleeping together once? It seems Marquis Duran’s head is filled with nothing but copulation and inheritance.”
The Imperial Princess bared all her teeth in a grin, as if finding it hilarious no matter how many times she thought about it.
“Ah. Is it because our dear Marquis Duran only has three lowly daughters? Well, you must be in a hurry to broker a pregnancy with them, so I understand your desperation completely.”
“H-How dare you…!”
Marquis Duran heaved ragged breaths at the reckless Imperial Princess.
The Empress and Marquis Hoffmann watched the Imperial Princess with subtle, rigid smiles.
“’How dare I?’ How hurtful, when I was only empathizing with your worries over your lowly daughters. After all, am I not also merely a lowly daughter without any right of succession to the throne?”
