Nathaniel’s response was, of course, a refusal.

However, I didn’t give up.

If Nathaniel were to stay here and become the emperor, he needed subordinates to trust with his work.

“Do you know you can’t handle everything alone every time?”

Especially these days, the emperor had been busy, inexplicably passing his work to Nathaniel. Even though he had long surpassed the level of being able to handle it alone, he stubbornly insisted on doing it alone.

“Alright.”

Nathaniel nodded reluctantly with an awkward expression. I comforted Nathaniel, hoping that he would see people properly.

“Do you happen to know that you might get a servant to boss around for a lifetime?”

Nathaniel’s eyes sparkled at my casual remark.

Being the prince consort came with its own set of annoyances, but the most enjoyable part was the tea parties.

Of course, the preparation process wasn’t fun, but it allowed for quick circulation of rumors.

Today’s topic was about the post-harvest tumult in the social circles’ matchmaking business.

“By the way, have you heard that rumor?”

“What rumor?”

The Trian Marquis’s wife, glancing around, quietly spoke.

“It’s about Lord Grolvan. There’s a rumor that he became the consort of the Empress.”

“Really?”

I looked at her in surprise.

Lady Trian smoothed her voice and whispered.

“I heard he walked into the townhouse himself.”
“What townhouse?”

It was a story I hadn’t heard before.

If it’s a townhouse, then it’s a townhouse. But what is ‘that townhouse’?

The invited ladies, in response to my question, made a slightly awkward expression and then quietly opened their mouths.

“It’s where Her Majesty the Empress lived in hiding before becoming the Empress. It’s a place the Emperor hid her away to keep her out of the eyes of the previous Empress.”

Since Milia became the Empress, the government’s periodic visits to the empty building have been reported.

“Oh, that’s…”

I hesitated, unable to say trash about the Emperor.

Diana seemed even more perplexed.

Sometimes she used to chase after Maximilian, saying he’s good, and now she became the Empress’s consort?

“I shouldn’t say this, but Grolvan Yeonga isn’t that great.”

“That’s right. He must have thought it was good to go in there…”

I wondered what they were talking about.

The ladies all looked around cautiously before speaking quietly.

“There’s no woman who went in there and came out unscathed. How much is the Empress holding back?”

“She probably regrets it by now, crying about her wrong decision.”

The ladies shared stories about what happened to those who entered that townhouse in the past.

Some were silenced, and others had wounds so deep that they couldn’t lift their heads.

The Empress was ruthless but never killed anyone.

She simply slowly tightened the victim’s lifeline.
Eventually, there were even those who walked out on their own, begging to be killed.

“How did that person climb up there? They probably couldn’t endure even for a month.”

I couldn’t say anything in response to this chilling revelation.

I thought the Empress was a fearsome person, but I never dreamt that she had this level of execution capability.

“The Emperor just lets it be like that?”

“Not just letting it be. Sometimes, the Emperor even uses that situation to advantage.”

If someone becomes a nuisance, the Emperor reportedly seeks the Empress’s help to resolve the matter.

Reportedly, the Empress expresses remorse for the situation, sends compensation to the affected woman’s family, and handles it with great sincerity.

They also added a story about those who carried out dirty deeds for the Empress, saying that they hung on to her with utmost sincerity.

“I thought he was decent, but the Emperor is also trash.”

It’s surprising that decent children came from such a father.

Although Diana didn’t turn out well, there was nothing I could do about it.

All I could do was silently pray that nothing bad would happen.

Nathaniel looked closely at Martin’s tense face in front of him.

Martin quickly bowed and expressed his gratitude to the Crown Prince.

“Thank you for summoning me!”

“Not really. I didn’t summon you because I wanted to.”

“Still, thank you.”

In reality, Martin was in a state of unemployment crisis.
Yesterday, after Nathaniel left, the envoys from the Freeche Kingdom openly displayed their discomfort.

Martin didn’t consider easing the envoys’ feelings.

Without much thought, he sent them back to their rooms, only realizing later the mistake of neglecting their complaints.

For a rookie like him, it was a greater shock to disturb the feelings of the nobility than to ruin an important task assigned to him for the first time.

He rushed to apologize to the Crown Prince, but when he returned to the office, he was greeted by the cold face of his superior.

“What did you do to welcome the envoy that they had to contact me saying they were uncomfortable!”

He showered Martin with reprimands, but Martin couldn’t comprehend his words.

Aren’t the people they serve part of the imperial nobility, not citizens of the Freeche Kingdom?