Punish Letanasia.
Kill the Deposed King.
We want to see the esteemed face of our new emperor.
God’s chosen Emperor, Her Majesty, will lead us.
Hold the coronation ceremony already!
The voices of the people thundered through the square, sweeping across the empire like a wave.
Like a tsunami, the waves crashed into the depths of the imperial palace.
Trapped in a dark, dusty, moth-ridden hole, the emperor scraped his fingers against the floor in despair, while Letanasia, who had secluded herself in the Princess’ palace, was covering her ears and sobbing until her neck bled.
The world was filled with voices cursing at them, yet those same voices were praising Aristine, whom they heavily despised.
The wave swept past Silvanus, reaching not only the neighboring countries but also one country that lay faraway—Irugo.
Episode 38. Awwww, my little bwaby (1)
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“What did you say? Emperor?”
The book that the Queen of Irugo was reading crumbled in her hands. And her face quickly crumpled in turn.
If Aristine became Emperor, power would naturally shift towards Tarkan. Regardless of whether Tarkan could become the king of Irugo if he was the husband of the Emperor, the change in power dynamics would be irreversible.
“I should have taken action when I heard she was pregnant.”
After all, that was the king of Irugo’s first grandchild.
Obviously, whoever conceived the first royal child and showed no problem bearing heirs had a much more advantageous position in the battle for the throne.
Moreover, Tarkan was now first in line to the throne.
“It’s not like there was anything we could do. By the time we got the news, Princess Consort Aristine had already left Irugo.”
The queen raised a brow at Hamill’s relaxed words.
Her son’s relaxed attitude usually made her feel happy and supported but not this time. How could he talk like this was someone else’s issue?!
Most importantly, something about this made her feel suspicious.
“Hamill, did you really not know that Aristine was pregnant before?”
“If I knew, I would have taken action first.” Hamill replied crisply as his eyes curved. His words did not have a shred of hesitation.
The queen narrowed her eyes and stared at Hamill.
She heard that at the very beginning of the pregnancy, Aristine fainted, and it caused a commotion. She also heard that Hamill had visited Tarkan’s palace at the time.
‘…Right, just because you went there doesn’t mean he knew everything there.’
The Queen thought and decided to put aside her doubts.
“Yes, I know my son would have definitely handled it if you knew.”
“That said… she doesn’t seem to have any intention of becoming emperor for some reason.”
Duke Skiela said, and the Queen frowned at that.
“She’s refusing the throne? Has she lost her mind?”
“Because of that, I think there’s a high chance she’ll be returning to Irugo. And if you consider His Majesty’s behavior too…”
Nephther, the King of Irugo, had been in a foul mood lately.
It was so bad that even the nobles were dialing things back and refraining from arguing about their interests.
Nephther’s foul mood began precisely after Aristine traveled to Silvanus.
Even though no one wanted to believe it, the timing coincided so well that they couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of Aristine’s absence.
Afterwards, when it was revealed that Aristine was expecting, people nodded as if to say ‘sure enough’.
But ever since the day before yesterday, Nephther had been in a very good mood. It was said that he was even humming a song.
‘But to say His Majesty was humming of all things, that is obviously made up.’
Everyone who knew Nephther’s personality thought the same way.
“If she’s returning to Irugo, then that’s even better. It would be difficult to deal with her directly if she’s in Silvanus.” The Queen remarked.
Hamill’s forehead wrinkled at her words, “Royal mother, if a problem arises with Princess Consort Aristine’s health, it won’t just be a problem for us but a Silvanus—.”
“I know that much. Do you think I’d use such a foolish move?”
“…”
“For now, it is important that that heir disappears.”
Duke Skiela nodded at the Queen’s words.
“Yes, that is indeed the biggest hurdle. It’s quite common for things to go wrong with an unborn fetus.”
The queen’s smile deepened in response, “His Majesty’s trust will surely plummet when she fails to properly protect his royal grandson.”
Hamill watched as the Queen and Duke Skiela smiled at each other then he fell into thought.
* * *
“Hm, hm-hu-hmm ~.”
A low voice softly trickled out.
Even though the heads of the court ladies were down, many of them were sneaking glances.
Sure enough, King Nephther was humming a tune once again.
This was already the third day.
On the first day, they thought they were hearing wrong and couldn’t believe their ears, on the second day, they were trembling because they thought they did something wrong, and on the third day, today…
‘I-Is His Majesty okay?’
‘When he collapsed last time, maybe…’
They couldn’t help but wonder if he had possibly hit his head.
However, there was just one person who was watching Nephther’s strange behavior(?) with satisfaction.
He was the grand chamberlain who had served Nephther since he was a prince.
“Are you that happy?”
“Ehem, not necessarily.”
“Then are you looking forward to it?”
“Hah, I said it’s nothing like that.”
“Yes, of course.”
The chamberlain smiled and placed a wine glass and bottle on the table.
Just aa he was about to pour himself a drink, Nephther’s hand paused.
“I can’t.”
“Pardon?”
The chamberlain was taken aback because this was the first time that Nephther was refusing a glass even though he loved wine.
“I haven’t seen them in a while, so I can’t possibly meet them smelling like alcohol. Plus, she is carrying my grandchild too.”
This was truly contradictory behavior coming from someone who said he was neither happy nor looking forward to it.
But as they say, to be a king is to be brazen. The grand chamberlain did not point that out and quietly removed the drink.
To be a warrior meant you must be good with your drink as you are with a sword, and all Irugoian men are warriors.
The very Nephther who lived by this mindset was refraining from having a drink.
‘If anyone heard this, they’d think the humming was more believable.’
The grand chamberlain thought to himself and handed the tray over to a court lady.
“But why aren’t they here yet? It shouldn’t take long since they’re using the portal.”
“I suppose they haven’t departed yet. The situation over there seems complicated, so there must be a lot to sort out.”
“But they said they’d leave this afternoon!”
“…It is 12:07 right now, Your Majesty.”
“If it’s past 12, it is afternoon, isn’t it?”
“Usually when people say afternoon…”
“Then is it morning right now?!”
The chamberlain lowered his head at the sight of Nephther getting riled up.
“…I shall go see what’s going on.”
Only then did Nephther huff and turn his head away.
The grand chamberlain sighed inwardly. Honestly, this had been happening since this morning.
“Ha…Princess Consort, please come back quickly.”
The chamberlain prayed earnestly.
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the king is adorable lmao
Ah.. Typical soon to be grandfather behaviour. Hahaha