episode_0086

In the words of the Marquis Jude, the ball was ‘a great success’.

The nobles say that this ball helped them build friendships and achieve political goals, and that it was especially helpful in solidifying the power of the female members of the group.

It seems that the sons and daughters of those nobles also had quite a few looks on their faces at the ball.

The parents of Marquis Jude and the other females of the group said that they spent a lot of money on this ball, but they also gained a lot of ‘unseen benefits’ that outweighed it.

So what did I and my group of females gain by being the center of such a ball?

“I heard that you are an outstanding knight, Young-ae Ion. I hope you will continue to work hard for the empire and maintain good relations with Elfin.”

“You are too kind, Your Majesty.”

The place we are in is a reception room. It is the reception room of the imperial palace.

Because we had not been able to attend the ball, we were invited by Empress Alexandra the day after the ball to have tea with her.

“Is this Youngae Bandi, the daughter of Marquis Jude? I heard that her talent and intelligence are just as great as her mother’s.”

“Ugh… thank you…”

Bandi barely manages to answer the Empress’s question, as it is not easy for nobles to meet the Empress, the ruler of the empire. It is not uncommon for nobles living far from the capital to have never met the Empress.

“I heard your opinion well at the last Imperial Council, Night. Duke Knight Sustained said without hesitation that it was his daughter’s opinion.”

“I’m honored that you remembered me.”

Surprisingly, the night was a time when the Empress could converse without much difficulty. Perhaps it was because the Knight Sustained Dukes were a central noble family, a tower centered on internal affairs, unlike the Moratium Dukes, who were a prestigious knight family and the shield of the Perion Empire.

“And…”

After finishing her brief conversation with Night, Empress Alexandra stares at Hoyo. Hoyo hesitates, as if he is not used to the gaze.

“I remember last year’s test of strength. It was quite impressive.”

“Yeah, nyahahah…”

As Empress Alexandra spoke with a sly smile, Hoyo let out his characteristic laugh, embarrassed.

“Isn’t it funny to meet a student here in this place who, as soon as the test of strength began, was wrapped in steel and knocked down everything he saw?”

“Was it so?”

I only knew that Hoyo participated in the Tri-Conflict last year, and that he passed the Test of Strength without a hitch, but was defeated in the Test of Wisdom. I was surprised and asked because I didn’t know the full story.

“That’s true, So-Guk-Seo. The test of strength was originally to select about half of the participants, but I defeated most of the students by myself. I can still vividly see how neither swords nor magic worked in front of the flash of steel.”

However, Empress Alexandra explains with a smile that only two students that year passed the Test of Wisdom, and that they both fell to the dragon, a fantasy creature, in the Test of Courage with one breath.

“That happened.”

“Didn’t Hoyo Youngae tell you?”

“I didn’t ask in detail.”

“It’s one of the male virtues to insist on not listening to what the female doesn’t want to say. I’ve never seen it.”

The Empress smiles brightly at my answer.

“I heard that Lulu Youngae has also made progress in magic recently.”

“I’m somewhat used to level 4 spells.”

Among us, except for Elfin, Lulu, who showed the most confidence in front of the Empress, calmly acknowledged her achievements. Empress Alexandra also nodded at such confidence.

“There are high expectations for you based on the reports coming from the Academy. Do your best for the Empire.”

“My magic will always be used for the Empire.”

Empress Alexandra nodded her head vigorously, as if she was pleased with Lulu’s impeccable manners and bold ambitions.

And then the female conversation started right away.

“So, no one is pregnant yet?”

“…”

At the Empress’s single word, silence falls over the room in an instant. This silence is heavy.

“I might be thinking too hastily. All the letters are lions like me.”

As is often the case with this type of worldview, the default is that the reproductive rate is high between the same species, and the more different the species, the more difficult it is to reproduce.

However, in my case, the most likely reason is that females do not get pregnant ‘because I did not want to’, as the Creator X said in the Tri-Conflict, the Test of Wisdom.

“That’s… Nyahahaha… It doesn’t work! There’s no problem with Ain!”

“Is that so? Can you explain what the small country in bed is like?”

Empress Alexandra catches Hoyo’s awkward remark like a ghost and asks him a question. Hoyo stutters and explains in a flustered manner what kind of male he is in bed, but as he gets excited on his own, his explanation becomes more and more explicit.

“Hmm, hoo…”

As Hoyo’s explanation became more and more detailed, everyone, including me, wiped our faces with our palms and felt regretful.

But what I clearly caught was the ‘desire’ burning in Empress Alexandra’s eyes. I just hope it dies down without any major problems…

“From what I’ve heard, it seems that there are no problems with the small country. Elfin and menstruation seem to be normal, and they are all healthy females. The Creator God X must have thought of it. Let’s not ask about this any more.”

Empress Alexandra, who actually seemed to just want to laugh about this topic, now continues the conversation on a lighter topic.

“I heard that Elfin is spending part of his vacation at Lulu Youngae’s family mansion. It must be because of the whereabouts of Soguk Seo.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t object, but please understand that it is an unavoidable measure to dispatch some of the Imperial Guard during that period.”

“Is there any problem? I will also take measures to ensure that the Imperial Guards dispatched with Elfin do not experience any inconvenience.”

“Good.”

Empress Alexandra smiled happily and nodded at Lulu’s flowing response.

“Half of the vacation was spent at the Knight Sustained Mansion, and the other half was spent at the Anastasia Mansion.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Empress smiled faintly at my answer and continued speaking.

“At first, I didn’t understand. Normally, it’s common sense to move to the house of all the females in the group and spend time with one female in the group. But.”

The Empress glances at Hoyo.

“After listening to Hoyo Yeong-ae, I realized that there was no need for that. Three of them should be enough for So-Guk-Seo. It hasn’t been long, but it seems like the six females have become quite close.”

“I am grateful as a male that everyone is so friendly.”

“Okay, that’s fine… You said there was a slave separately.”

Empress Alexandra also mentions Hela’s existence without forgetting it.

“Yes, I took it because I was reluctant to kill unnecessarily when an unpleasant incident occurred.”

“I think it’s a weak judgment, but it seems that So-Guk-Seo didn’t think so.”

It seemed that the Empress judged it to be lenient for not dealing firmly with the serious crime of kidnapping and for dealing with Hela and her hyenas without severe punishment.

Even though I was in the position of a minor official, the crimes of the Hellas gang at that time were not light.

“I think it is greater for an evil person to be reborn as good than for someone who is born good.”

“…I heard that story. It is truly great when an evil person is reborn as good… I thought about it a lot after hearing that. ”

Empress Alexandra tapped her fingers on the table, seeming to think about something for a moment.

“Of course, my opinion is still that good people should be treated well and bad people should be put in jail. But…”

This time the Empress looks at Elfin.

“Elfin, what do you think?”

Elfin responded without being flustered by the Empress’s gaze.

“You can’t judge everything by one case, but I think Hela is a great example of Ain’s theory. I agree with his opinion.”

“I see…”

Empress Alexandra smiled brightly after hearing Elfin’s answer.

“To do that, I guess I need to focus more on the path to the throne. The throne of the Perion Empire is usually taken by a stronger royal family.”

Empress Alexandra indirectly told Elphin to ‘keep fighting for the throne’, which (as she had done before) meant that the Empress acknowledged Elphin as a candidate for the throne.

“…Natalia comes to mind.”

Someone’s name comes out of the Empress’s mouth. That’s why Elphin was called the ‘Collateral Princess’.

This is why Elphin is a collateral princess, even though her father, Prince Alexei, was the husband of Empress Alexandra.

Elphin’s original mother was Natalia Le Perion, the younger sister of Empress Alexandra.

Unlike her physically fit older sister Alexandra, Princess Natalia was frail and died shortly after giving birth to Elphin.

The reason Elphin is a collateral branch is because she took in the newborn baby, Elphin, and married her younger sister’s husband, Alexei.

“Natalya was physically weak, but she had a strong will and a charisma that attracted people. If Natalya were healthy, she would have been like you, Elfin.”

A hint of longing passes through Empress Alexandra’s eyes as she speaks like that.

“Right now I’m just going to focus on the present and the future.”

“Yeah, I know that too. But I also know that you visit Natalia’s grave periodically.”

Elphin blushed slightly at Empress Alexandra’s words.

“It’s not that I’m a tree. But sometimes I think about it. When I’m buried in the ground, I wonder if other kids will do the same to me as you did when you went to see Natalya.”

Having said that, Empress Alexandra lightly clapped her hands and declared, “Enough with the tangled talk,” before returning to a lighter topic with us.