Was the Empress’s Palace actually a powder keg?

Although there had been many incidents recently, Ilarid’s statement was quite shocking.

Lynette decided to set aside the composure required of a head maid for a moment.

“I… no, Your Majesty the Empress. I apologize for interrupting, but an explanation of the context is necessary.”

She almost blurted out her name in such a formal setting. Cecilia and Alice were also momentarily speechless, overwhelmed by the Empress’s tremendous statement.

The only one who remained calm in the bedroom was Ilarid. She calmly walked to the side table and brought something wrapped in paper.

“This is the medicine that was once in the tea the Empress Consort enjoyed drinking.”

“Medicine…?”

“It turns out to be contraceptives.”

A sound of Alice gasping and covering her mouth was heard. A mixture of shock and dismay stiffened the air in the room. Ilarid’s gaze also gradually settled.

After the tea party, the suspicion she had upon seeing Cledius’s excessive reaction was accurate. The mysterious medicine contained in the tea leaves had already been investigated through Leticia.

Several herbs stored together in the tea container and refined white powder. It was clearly a contraceptive drug.

It was the tea that Cledius himself had gifted to Selina, who was once a ‘shadow’. He probably had the medicine mixed into the tea in advance through the maids of the Imperial Palace.

The consumption of the tea continued under the name of love.

Ilarid had secretly switched the tea through the maids. There would have been a subtle difference in taste, but Selina didn’t seem to notice.

It was the day before switching the tea, wasn’t it? She quietly asked Selina. If she didn’t want to get pregnant, it would be a big problem to do it.

‘Empress Consort. Do you wish to have an heir?’

Selina answered with a flushed face and an excited tone.

‘Your Majesty the Empress, how can you ask such an obvious thing? I have devoted my body and soul entirely to His Majesty the Emperor.’

“…I see. I hope that someday the Empress Consort’s earnest desire will surely reach heaven.”

The answer was decided. That evening, Ilarid secretly replaced the tea entering the Empress Consort’s Palace.

With pure ‘tea’ in the literal sense, without any medicine mixed in.

“Since the Empress Consort’s Palace was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Palace for a while, it must have been much easier to manage. It would have been even more so when she was in the position of a ‘shadow’ before.”

“But why… If considering the issue of an heir, shouldn’t this not happen?”

“His Majesty the Emperor will want an heir from me, not from the Empress Consort.”

The incessant demands for unification. The hellish days that were held once a month. The unification took place on the most suitable days for having an heir, but no changes occurred in Ilarid’s body.

Perhaps her body had become too difficult for a child to settle in. Had she overworked her body and mind too much in the meantime? Ilarid tried to calm herself down deliberately.

“But the Empress Consort’s pregnancy means that Your Majesty the Empress’s position will be diminished. If the pregnancy is true… it will be more difficult for Your Majesty the Empress.”

“That’s what I was aiming for.”

If Selina’s pregnancy is revealed, most nobles will side with the Empress Consort.

“The nobles who sided with the Emperor will think it’s a golden opportunity to remove the last Melpiram, whom they’ve seen as a thorn in their side. But His Majesty the Emperor…”

He would never let go.

Cledius’s obstinacy would cling to Ilarid. Especially since he had made Lebel a ‘shadow’, he was in a particularly sensitive state.

“While they self-destruct, biting at each other in confusion and conflict, I plan to accomplish as much as possible within that.”

In the midst of chaos, taking away what they had one by one until nothing remains in the end.

“The reason I’m telling this plan in advance is… in case there’s anyone reluctant to participate.”

In the Empress’s Palace, there coexisted those tied by blood to the Empress Consort and those tied to the family. It was not right to force them to follow me without consideration.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

Alice was the first to break the silence and approach.

“I’ve already been promised a new life here.”

A new path unfolded in the midst of exhaustion. Ilarid willingly reached out her hand, saying it was fine to come here.

Even if it was for the purpose of using them, if there wasn’t sincerity in it, it wouldn’t have even started.

“Gabriel said that, didn’t he? That we’re going to be busy from now on. So I intend to work hard for Your Majesty the Empress.”

“The same goes for me.”

Cecilia followed Alice’s words. The Empress and ‘Ilarid’. She was the only person who promised and fulfilled help while those she considered family in her own way were turning their backs.

“From the moment Your Majesty the Empress found out about the corruption in the academy and stepped forward, I vowed to live for Your Majesty.”

She remembers another hand placed on top of hers. The invisible string not only filled the gap between lovers but also the gap in the hearts of those who cared for each other.

“What the hell, let’s become the first human in the empire to turn our backs on both family and clan.”

“Thanks to Miss Alice taking the lead, I missed the chance to be the first. How regrettable.”

“…How sincere everyone is.”

“Head Maid, I’ve actually endured a lot. It’s only now that I feel like I can breathe and live properly.”

Genuine laughter continued among those gathered.

Lebel quietly observed those who said they would live for the Empress, and at the same time felt relieved.

‘Even if something happens to me…’

The fact that there were more people to protect Ilarid allowed him to temporarily ease his heavy heart. The dull pain pressing on his chest revived again.

If the symptoms appearing in his body were eating away at his life, how much time was left?

Lebel hoped that he would collapse at least after more than half of Ilarid’s plan had passed.

He had to protect the person he loved and those who lived for that person until the end.

So please, until then, may his body hold out.

“Captain Lebel, do you agree?”

“Oh, wasn’t he agreeing already?”

“I hope for a positive answer. Otherwise, I might be quite disappointed.”

Unlike the rather sharp eyes of the three women, Ilarid just quietly looked at Lebel.

Now he could read that calmness. Even when they first met in the Imperial Palace, she was this quiet, but it was clearly different.

It wasn’t an awkwardly stiff and tense appearance, but a silence of infinite trust saying she believed in him.

Lebel smiled lightly and bowed his head to the women in front of him.

“…Of course not. How dare I deny the great work you all are about to undertake. I will help with all my heart.”

If those who had been beaten by Lebel saw this scene, they would be dumbfounded, their jaws hitting the ground.

The tall, ruthlessly cruel man lowering himself before women. Wouldn’t they click their tongues, asking where the northern beast had thrown away his pride?

But pride becomes more shabby the more it’s flaunted. Lebel guessed the moment he should step forward.

He judged that there was no need to block the path of the advancing women. When danger approaches them, he just needs to step a few steps ahead and cut down the enemies.

And there’s the gray hawk. Perhaps even here, in this space, there might exist a gray hawk that won’t reveal its identity.

For the hawk soaring from the ashes exists everywhere.

Alice was so surprised by Lebel’s words and attitude that she covered her mouth to express her emotion.

“Though I’ve lived a short life… I’ve never seen a man like this before…”

“Is it the same for you, Miss Alice?”

Images of the military academy and the imperial guard officers flashed through Cecilia’s mind. How many people had she met who would dismiss her first, either for being young or for being of a different gender?

At this rate, shouldn’t he be designated as a monument and protected as a new species? They couldn’t hide their surprised eyes, looking at Lebel as if he were a creature from legend.

‘Who on earth educated him so well… Ah, if he was educated as a private soldier of the mansion…’

Lynette had an ‘aha’ moment. In his childhood, he would have grown up among the young master, Limless, and the soldiers. If he had grown up practically in Limless’s hands, it made sense that he would have such character.

Was Limless just an ordinary man?

He was the son of Keira Rowen Melpiram and had inherited her fiery temperament intact. If Ilarid retained Keira’s cold aspect, Limless was the opposite.

‘Then he passes.’

A mark of approval burst forth with a loud fanfare in Lynette’s heart. She could entrust her friend and only remaining family with peace of mind.

Ilarid, as if she had anticipated such a reaction from Lebel, only wore a faint smile.

“I express my deep gratitude to all of you who have promised cooperation.”

It was sincere gratitude. Ilarid greeted her new family.

I too will live together for all of you.

Family doesn’t have to be a relationship tied by blood. Blood may be thicker than water, but sometimes a stickiness that doesn’t consider concentration connects us.

“Your Majesty the Empress, it’s time for you to sleep now. It’s too late, so we’ll take our leave.”

Lynette stood up and gave a look to Alice and Cecilia. She wanted to leave a little time for those two people.

The two were left alone on the bed unexpectedly. Did they tactfully make way? Although she thought they didn’t have to do that, the man next to Ilarid seemed to think differently.

“You can push me away if you don’t like it.”

Ilarid’s nights always started with the same words. Now, when they were alone, Lebel naturally embraced Ilarid. But before that, he always gave a hint that it was okay to push him away.

‘…As if.’

Ilarid inwardly repeated as she put her ear to his chest. There was no sound more comforting than the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart.

If only these nights could continue, she could break her insomnia any time.

To do that, there was much to be done. Ilarid raised her body that had been leaning and moved away from Lebel.

“I have something to give you.”

Lebel read a slight playfulness in Ilarid’s gently curved eyes. Did you think of something else?

She reached under the pillow and pulled out an envelope. On the wax seal that fixed the opening of the envelope, the Empress’s mark was clear.

“It’s an invitation to the upcoming Imperial ball.”

“To whom should I deliver it?”

“No. This is for you.”

At first, he thought it was a joke. When Lebel showed disbelief, Ilarid turned the envelope over herself to show the name of the recipient.

‘To Captain Lebel’

A name written down at once without any smudging. Lebel stroked his name with trembling hands. The black traces appeared and disappeared repeatedly under his fingers.

“I formally invite Captain Lebel to the Imperial Palace ball.”

“…Your Majesty the Empress.”

This joke is going too far. How can you invite me to a place where even the wealthy find it difficult to set foot? He intended to push back the invitation saying that.

But his lips seemed to have frozen, not moving as he wished. Ilarid, noticing Lebel’s hesitation, wrapped her hands around his hand holding the invitation.

“I’m going to show you to them. Not as a ‘shadow’, but as a member of the Imperial Palace. As a figure who will cooperate with the Emperor from now on.”

Ilarid had guessed that Cledius was eyeing the northern lands.

Nobles who already had territories near the north had detected the movement of the army and contacted Ilarid.

‘…Nominally, they say it’s training to endure the severe cold, but in reality, it’s no different from a reconnaissance unit.’

He will also ask for cooperation from the new Eastern Continent envoys coming this time. As much as they need to conquer unknown lands, the power of sorcerers will be essential.

“The new Eastern Continent envoys coming this time will want to see you too. Since most of the Likas mercenary group is from the north and operated around there, they’ll consider you the right person.”

That’s why she had prepared clothes on purpose.

Perhaps Cledius was thinking of suddenly calling Lebel out to the ballroom.

Hadn’t they experienced before how to show a shabby person in the most shining place?

Lebel refrained from speaking and stroked his name on the invitation again. The moment he had hoped to stand side by side with Ilarid began to beckon to him.

As he stood at the end of his hesitation and withdrew a faint smile, Ilarid’s hands touched Lebel’s shoulders. Lebel fell onto the bed, led by her strength without resistance.

“…Answer.”

There wasn’t even time to blush. From above Lebel, a playful voice and silver hair tangled together and came down.