episode_0021

As the sun began to set.

I called Theodora to my chambers.

A grand room.

An office adorned with elaborate gold and silver decorations.

A beautiful woman sitting across from me.

Long bright gray hair. Beautiful ruby-like red eyes and a cold gaze.

Gray eyebrows.

A strong nose and small, cute cherry-red lips.

And a woman who seemed as cold as the northern wind.

The woman in front of me, as if she were the rumored most beautiful princess in the empire, proves her presence as if she were the most noble and cold woman in the empire.

Noble, haughty, and cold, there is no one as noble as her in the empire.

The imperial princess and the rightful heir to the throne, Theodora Augusta.

And after the coronation, she will become the ruler of this empire.

A mere facade of a ruler…

“Release Yifa. Grand Duke.”

She says in a cold voice, holding a teacup.

But I ignore her words and deliver my own message.

“Unfortunately, that will have to wait.”

Theodora looks at me with cold eyes.

“How will you release Yifa?”

Ignoring her question, I talk about what I had envisioned in my mind.

“There will be a coronation soon. Probably around next month.”

Before Valoran executed the Emperor, Theodora had already prepared for her coronation and wedding.

Well… the preparations stopped after I killed Valoran.

So resuming the preparations won’t take long.

But, there will be many guests coming from afar.

The imperial faction, Mary, Octavia… even Sister Octavia will come.

I have set aside about a month for preparations.

“Our wedding will take place right after the coronation.”

The wedding will take place on the day of the coronation.

The reason for scheduling everything so tightly is… thinking about the future tasks, it seems better to do everything at once.

But she seems displeased with my words, furrowing her delicate forehead.

“If you give up your greed now, it will end well.”

She threatens me weakly.

But currently, the situation is unfavorable for her.

The imperial faction that formally supported her has turned to my side, and the capital of the empire is already occupied by our troops.

And…

Most of the members of the Imperial Council, the core of the empire, support me.

Of course, they are only following me due to their current interests.

Anyway, my allies firmly support me.

So, all the important political forces of the empire support me.

Currently, the only class supporting her is the imperial citizens.

But the imperial citizens are extremely weak in front of my army.

Therefore, at this moment.

Unfortunately, she has no one on her side.

She probably vaguely knows this situation.

In the morning, Councilman Alexander must have informed her of what happened yesterday.

She can no longer refuse.

“That will not happen.”

Even if she weakly threatens me, she will know it is a meaningless action.

So, we will just continue like this.

Theodora can do nothing at the moment.

Honestly, I don’t want to go through with this marriage.

I don’t want to marry her out of love.

I don’t have anyone I particularly like… but… this will make both of us unhappy.

For the empire and the imperial citizens…

No, for all beings living and breathing in this world, it is a necessary sacrifice for both of us to be sacrificed.

“You will come to regret this.”

She stares at me.

In reality, she scares me.

Considering her actions in the original work, wouldn’t she be terrifying? If I show any weakness later on, she will try to eliminate me by any means. She is just waiting for the moment when my power weakens…

At that moment, I crumbled to take revenge on those who stood by my side.

But that doesn’t mean I will go weakly.

My life is important, and there is no one else but me who can prepare for the coming of the demon king.

It is right for me to seize power.

Even if I speak of what I know, they will only think that I am plotting a political conspiracy.

That’s why I will put a noose around her neck now.

“Here, this is the contract that was endorsed by the Imperial Council yesterday and signed by Vice Chairman Alexander. Please check and sign it.”

I hand over the contract and start reading it slowly.

And…

Theo’s expression darkened.

-Boom!

Theo, who rose from his seat, hitting the tea table hard with his hand, seemed angry.

“Huh…? Are you telling me to give up my veto power, control over imperial territories, and command of the capital’s army?!”

I nod at her words.

“Yes, and if you look at the next section, it includes the appointment and dismissal rights, as well as the establishment of my own administrative, judicial, and political organization.”

With my relaxed tone, she trembles and blushes.

It’s like someone shivering in shame.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill me? Instead of doing this cowardly thing from behind, why not kill me and ascend to the imperial throne with dignity?”

I shake my head at her words.

“The people of the Empire do not wish for anyone outside the Augustus family to ascend to the throne.”

It is the law of the Empire that only the family of the former emperor can become the emperor.

Violating that law and committing theft does not end well for those who do so.

I’m not particularly afraid, but I don’t plan on committing acts that the people of the Empire cannot tolerate.

If the people of the Empire start to resist, the future plans will be completely ruined.

Theo speaks with a cold expression.

“Well, what will you do if I don’t sign?”

I sigh at her words.

“Sigh…”

As if she knows that I cannot harm her, she looks triumphant.

Pathetic.

I don’t want to resort to unnecessary threats. But when necessary, I must.

But knowing what kind of person she is, I have no intention of being intimidated.

-Thud.

I open the small box next to me and show it to Theo.

And in the most emotionless tone possible, I say, “Do you know what this is?”

As if she saw something, Theo trembles.

Her face gradually pales.

“Is… Is this… poison?”

And then a single tear flows from her red eyes.

Theo nervously grabs her long hair with trembling hands.

With a look as if the world is crumbling, she carefully touches the cute sparrow hairpin tied neatly to her head.

“No… No, it can’t be…”

“She was a loyal… maid.”

“Shut up!”

Theo glares at me as if she wants to kill me, pointing her finger at me.

“You too! You and that devilish bastard are the same, both traitors trying to steal the Empire!”

She bursts out in anger.

“Me… Me! Do you think I will submit to the likes of you?! You trash!”

And then she grabs the paper and crumples it roughly.

“Rather kill me! Kill me! If you’re going to hand over the Empire to you, then I’ll kill myself!”

She might actually do it.

Despite her beautiful and delicate appearance, she is a strong woman inside.

That’s why… I speak calmly.

“Don’t forget that there is an Empress and two Princesses in the palace. I cannot guarantee their safety if something happens to Her Majesty.”

A subtle threat.

Unfortunately, it is true for Theo.

If Theo dies now, the hard-won peace…

The hard-won peace will crumble, and we will be plunged back into war.

Teodora couldn’t just stand by and watch as Joy and Johannes’ son got married in her absence.

Teodora clenched her lips tightly, hinting at the threat of what might happen if she were to die.

As long as she was alive, there was no need to meddle with Joy or the Empress.

The moment they interfered with her, everything would go back to square one.

As a necessary member of the Augustus family, the Empress who was supported by the nobles and the people of the empire with a compassionate nature, in order to drive me out and seize power, I had to be the Empress who was essential.

Well… Teodora, who saw the Empress’s hair, would find it difficult to analyze the situation calmly.

She had already lost her composure to anger.

That’s why she had asked for the Empress’s hair to be cut.

To shake her up and make her waver.

And as I expected… Teodora glared at me with tears welling up in her eyes, giving strength to her red eyes.

She barely opened her trembling lips.

“Cowardly child…”

I won’t deny it. Even I think that the words “cowardly and despicable” suit me well.

I shrugged my shoulders at her glaring gaze.

“So, what will you do?”

If she resisted without signing… the plan would be greatly disrupted.

Leaving the throne vacant for too long was too burdensome.

And there was a world of difference between the Duke who had occupied the empire ruling without permission and ruling with the legitimate authority of the empire’s rightful Emperor.

Even those who opposed me would pretend to follow my orders as formal subjects of the Emperor.

But I couldn’t just leave Teodora, who held dangerous powers, to become the Emperor.

The Emperor’s authority was too powerful.

It was also too burdensome to establish Joy as the Empress through other means. After all, she was the legitimate successor of the empire.

In the original work, Joy had a weak personality.

In the original story, there was a woman who had escaped from Teodora and had been forced to marry and live a miserable life in her place.

I didn’t want to drag her back into this political arena.

She had already lived a terrible life.

Of course, we had discussed the engagement with the imperial family, but it was just a way to listen for now, as not doing so would lead to the worst situation.

There was no intention of marrying Joy to Johannes’ son.

So, if Teodora and I sacrificed ourselves, everyone around us could be happy.

But if she resisted further, I had no choice but to threaten a little more.

“Either sign now, or the Empress and the Second Princess will suffer like the Empress…”

-Crash.

Teodora threw the teacup.

With a face that was both angry and tearful, she glared at me.

As if she wanted to kill me with her eyes.

Sigh… I feel uneasy.

She’s only… 20 years old.

She had lived a life unrelated to this power struggle, so I didn’t think she would easily accept this situation.

She had no past life experience like me, and she hadn’t grown up under the ruthless Baloran.

She was far from a harsh life…

Or maybe she was close to Empress Ipha.

To me, who had seen the original work, her current appearance felt a bit unfamiliar.

I didn’t know she would cry so bitterly over the death of a servant and the hostage situation with her family.

She was a cruel Empress in the original work…

I felt a slight sense of guilt at her weak appearance.

But if I were to justify myself…

The truth is, Ipha didn’t die.

According to today’s report, she was doing well in the safe house I had arranged for her.

She even took walks late at night.

To defend myself, I never said that Ipha was dead or alive.

I just led her to misunderstand on her own.

Teodora, who didn’t know this, couldn’t contain her anger and shed tears.

The Ice Princess, who always wore a cold expression, is now consumed by anger, sadness, and humiliation in this moment.

Her trembling shoulders gradually calm down, and her bloodshot eyes glare at the table.

Soon, she picks up the fountain pen in front of her…

– Swoosh, swish!

With a glamorous and feminine handwriting, she signs and looks at me.

“You… you will regret what you did today, or rather, I will make you regret it.”

Her red eyes burn intensely.

“I will definitely… make you miserable… very miserable, and throw your body to the wolves as their food.”

With that, she rises from her seat…

– Slam!

She forcefully closes the door and leaves.

“Sigh…”

Watching her leave in anger, I look at the contract in front of me.

Everything seems fine.

I confirm that there are no issues with the contract and tidy up.

This… can be submitted to the council later…

Feeling overwhelmed by fatigue and a headache, I lie down on the sofa for a moment.

My head is spinning.

I haven’t been sleeping well lately, trying to handle the rebellion caused by the former Grand Duke…

I’m a bit tired.

“Phew… I haven’t even started yet.”

Three years later.

When Valoran didn’t die in the original work. The time it took for the Demon King to arrive.

Since I killed Valoran, I might be able to buy some time.

In the meantime… I must prevent the demon worshippers as much as possible.

And within two years, I must deal with the Imperial Faction.

Time is running out.

That way… I, the Empire… and many people can survive…

It’s a bit ironic to be tired before even starting, but right now my head hurts too much.

– Knock, knock!

Someone knocks on the door, and I respond.

“Who is it?”

“Your Grace, someone from the council is here.”

At the familiar voice of the man,

I get up from my seat and say.

“Ah… Agrifa, I’ll be out soon.”

“Yes.”

As I say that and leave the room, a handsome blond man appears…

As we head to the study, a thought comes to mind.

“Ah…”

Theodora seems uneasy… should I prepare for assassination just in case?

“What’s the matter?”

Agrifa asks me with a worried tone.

“Well, it’s nothing, but just in case the Crown Princess tries to assassinate me, keep a close watch until the wedding and be prepared for poison.”

She’s not an ordinary poisoner, after all.

Agrifa nods in response to my words.

“I’ll do that, but isn’t the Crown Princess not a fool to do such a thing?”

Well… if I die now, the Empire will be engulfed in civil war again.

In my absence… our military generals won’t just sit idly by.

They will fight and claw at each other to take my place.

But… if she’s consumed by revenge…

I’m a little afraid of what she might do once she’s set on revenge.

And… the situation isn’t ideal.

But… if I don’t do this… neither I… nor the Empire… nor she herself.

There will be no way for anyone to survive…

– Snicker.

“Why are you suddenly laughing?”

Agrifa asks curiously as I laugh unintentionally.

“Just… resentful towards the gods.”

Why did the gods bring me here?

Suddenly, I become curious about his thoughts.

“Save that thought for later, the council members are waiting for you.”

“Alright.”

And so, I head to my study.