It was shortly after Ilarid had officially become the Crown Princess.

The empress dowager held a small bottle in her hand. Cledius knew what that bottle meant.

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, this is…”

“Pretend you didn’t see it.”

“No. Ilarid has just ascended to the position of Crown Princess. If there are any shortcomings, I will call her separately and instruct her.”

Cledius’s voice trembled urgently. His usual composure and arrogant attitude were gone, replaced by tension as he confronted the empress dowager.

The empress dowager glared at Cledius with narrowed eyes.

“Do you think I’m doing this because I’m lacking?”

“Ilarid… No, you can’t.”

His mother was trying to kill Ilarid.

The bottle in her hand contained a newly made poison. He had already heard news that several political opponents had fallen ill and died. It was likely the empress dowager’s secret doing. Cledius bit his lip hard.

Mine. Something that could not be exchanged for anything else, completely and utterly mine. Cledius could not give up Ilarid. His red eyes, which held what he desired most, wavered.

The empress dowager, who had been looking at her son with contempt, frowned and raised her hand towards him.

With a slap, Cledius’s cheek quickly turned red. The empress dowager clicked her tongue without softening her frown.

“You fool. I don’t know who you take after to show such weakness.”

He had been a weak and easily swayed child from a young age. She had used every method to barely make him into a figure worthy of the emperor’s position, but now he was showing weakness over a mere woman.

“Do you know what the Melpiram family is doing right now?”

“…I know.”

“Recently, they increased the number of commoner seats in the assembly. It’s already troublesome with the friction with the high court, and now the Melpiram countess is stirring things up. Using none other than the Crown Princess.”

Keira Rowen Melpiram, the first woman to enter the assembly on the recommendation of Count Melpiram. Her unrestrained voice was hope for the common people.

The great figure they had longed for. An aristocrat who would fight for the common people. From the imperial family’s perspective, Keira was naturally a thorn in their side.

“The court bastards… We can break them and turn them into mere advisory bodies for the imperial family, but the Melpiram count’s family is no different from our political opponents. Get your act together.”

Cledius, who had been silent while holding his swollen cheek, finally knelt down. The empress dowager was appalled by her son’s pathetic behavior.

“Do you know how pathetic Your Majesty looks right now?”

“Please spare Ilarid’s life. She has done nothing wrong.”

“If there is a crime, it would be being born as Keira Rowen Melpiram’s daughter. Being the daughter of the Melpiram count’s family, she would naturally be influenced by Keira’s ideology. That damned liberty, equality, solidarity! You must know how threatening those three things are to the imperial family!”

The empress dowager raised her voice in irritation. At first, she had only considered it a belief that struggling commoners clung to like a religion due to the worsening economic situation. But it was the Melpiram count’s family that had fanned the small spark.

If left alone, who knew what kind of storm they would stir up. They would surely act as obstacles in Cledius’s future.

The empress dowager decided to deal with Ilarid, who had entered as the Crown Princess, first. Though she may have been favored by the late emperor, he was no longer alive. No one could stop the empress dowager at the pinnacle of power.

“Don’t worry. She will die slowly, as if weakened by illness. You’ll have plenty of time for farewells.”

Despite Cledius’s pleas, the empress dowager picked up a teacup beside her. Cledius watched, unable to resist, as the poison was applied to the teacup Ilarid would drink from.

It was just like the empress dowager to prepare identical teacups to avoid suspicion. Cledius’s gaze slowly sank as he watched the entire scene. His clear red eyes, which had seemed so bright, took on a dark light and fell downward.

“Surely you haven’t already given your heart to the Crown Princess?”

“…No, I haven’t.”

The empress dowager soon called for the head lady-in-waiting of the empress dowager’s palace. The head lady-in-waiting carried out the empress dowager’s orders with a tense expression.

“Make sure there are no mistakes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

The head lady-in-waiting took the prepared teacup and headed outside. The empress dowager left without offering any words of comfort to Cledius.

After remaining frozen on his knees for a long time, Cledius ran out. In the distance, he could see the head lady-in-waiting of the empress dowager’s palace.

“Stop!”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. What brings you running in such a hurry?”

The lady-in-waiting almost dropped the teacup she was carrying. She barely managed to calm herself before looking at the Crown Prince, who was breathing heavily.

“…I’ll do it.”

“But Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s orders…”

“We have formed a marital bond, so I will end it with my own hands.”

There was a bitter taste at the end of the forced smile. The pitiful Crown Prince who had to kill his wife so soon after their marriage. A fleeting look of sympathy crossed the lady-in-waiting’s face as she looked at Cledius, swept up in such a cruel fate.

Everyone in the palace knew that the Crown Prince could not properly stand up straight under the empress dowager’s pressure.

After hesitating for a moment, the lady-in-waiting handed the teacup to Cledius. The beautiful porcelain cup, with someone’s life hanging in the balance, was placed in Cledius’s hands. Beyond the Crown Prince’s sunken gaze, the lady-in-waiting’s stern voice could be heard.

“You must place it to the right of the flower vase.”

The place where the empress dowager and Crown Princess would have tea was still empty. Only a table neatly covered with a white tablecloth was spread out.

All deaths in the imperial palace were handled perfectly and cleanly. If Ilarid were to drink this poison, she would likely turn into a corpse and be removed from the palace before long.

‘But…’

Cledius hesitated in front of the flower vase. The last remaining piece of conscience uncomfortably rattled, making it difficult to unhesitatingly send his mother to her death.

Was there no way for no one to die? He bit his lip and began to ponder several times.

Suddenly, there was a presence behind him. Amidst the well-tended greenery in the vast lounge, someone’s silhouette was cast.

“You… why are you here…”

He stammered his words. As if he had witnessed someone who shouldn’t be there, Cledius’s red eyes grew wider and wider. Could he have seen wrong? He might have seen an illusion due to tension.

He heard the ticking sound of a clock’s second hand going off. A faint cracking sound was heard, and the sound of a spring seemed to ring out from under his feet.

It was much later that he realized there was no clock in the lounge.

Cledius continued with staggering steps. He couldn’t remember what state of mind he was in when he left the lounge. An inexplicable dizziness crowded into his head.

How long had he walked? A damp, clammy sensation was felt in his mouth. Cledius instinctively raised his hand to wipe his mouth.

‘Blood?’

Had he been shocked by the series of events? A nosebleed, which he had only experienced as a child, was slowly trickling out. The blood flowed between the lines of his palm, spreading like cracking glass shards.

A scratching sound was heard from Cledius’s throat. A smile mixed with a groan appeared on his lips. Where did this laughter come from? The future that would unfold, or the regret that would be left behind?

There was no regret. Cledius had always lived looking forward, and that’s how he had been taught. He only filled his empty mouth with one person.

“Ilarid.”

As if trying to reaffirm his possession, he murmured softly while blocking the flowing blood with the back of his hand.

And he kept walking. It didn’t matter where the destination was. With the name he held in his mouth like a spell of salvation, he moved only forward.

But he collapsed in place after just a few steps. When the servants found him, the nosebleed had already stopped.

Fortunately, there was no major problem with his body. The doctor also stated that it was a symptom caused by sudden mental shock.

A few weeks later, the empress dowager complained of unexplained dizziness. Other symptoms also came slowly afterwards. Cledius deliberately ignored the shadow of death that loomed over his mother. And he calmly paid a courtesy visit with Ilarid.

“Welcome.”

And his mother peacefully greeted the son and daughter-in-law. Even as she looked at Cledius, she didn’t show the slightest hint.

There was no way she didn’t know she had been poisoned, as sharp as she was. Judging by how often she had locked herself in a secret room around that time, she must have been researching an antidote. Perhaps she had even developed a more meticulous poison to kill Ilarid.

But nothing came to his mother’s aid. Only Cledius’s hand had risen a little higher. Only poison remained in the secret room, and no antidote was created.

Not long after, the empress dowager passed away, and Ilarid survived. And she remained by Cledius’s side, becoming the empress.

‘I saved her. The only thing I saved that is mine.’

Now Emperor Cledius stood alone in the place where his mother had developed poisons.

He who uses poison shall perish by poison. He recited weakly. Then will I also perish?

“…It can’t be.”

He suppressed the self-mockery that was rising. There was nothing to worry about. Since Lebel had shown symptoms of the poison’s effects, time would take care of the rest.

**

The real problem arose elsewhere.

“Your Majesty the Emperor. The elders of the Icastel family request an audience.”

It was right after Cledius had left his private study. He slightly furrowed his brow upon hearing the servant’s words.

Unless there was a national crisis or a major war looming, it was rare for the Icastel ducal family, of all families, to move together.

As soon as Cledius entered the audience chamber, the elders of the Icastel family all stood up and paid their respects.

The so-called “elders” were those considered the most outstanding among both the direct and collateral lines of the ducal family.

The Icastel family, founding contributors to the empire and united by the family motto to live for the country, was an existence that even Cledius could not carelessly disregard.

After exchanging perfunctory greetings, the elders soon got to the point.

“Your Majesty the Emperor. We have heard that you intend to hand over the Le Rosen Grand Duke, who led the rebellion in Rosen, and the main forces to Tamiel. Please reconsider.”

“They are traitors who disobeyed the empire’s orders and plotted rebellion. It is right to punish them severely as an example.”

“At times like this, you must respond calmly. We don’t know what agreements may have been made between the Le Rosen Grand Duke and Pegeia before the empire’s attack.”

Officially, Rosen and the eastern continent Pegeia maintained neutrality in trade. That’s why they didn’t show any particular reaction when the empire invaded Rosen.

“We don’t have much information about the eastern continent. Moreover, Pegeia is a country of sorcerers. We cannot predict what military pressure they might exert. We advise against creating any reason for them to find fault with us.”

Damn those sorcerers. Cledius barely held back the curses rising in his throat.

It hadn’t been long since the existence of sorcerers became known in the western continent.

People who use mysterious abilities. Rumors spread even to the empire that some could turn back time or save people’s lives.

Not much was known about them. Even militarily, their capabilities had not yet been grasped. Regarding the power of sorcerers, some dismissed it as superstition, while others praised it as an incredible force.

Soon, new envoys would arrive from the eastern continent. They would surely take issue with the attack on Rosen, so there was no need to make the problem bigger unnecessarily, the opinions continued.

The atmosphere gradually shifted towards not sending the rebels to Tamiel. One of the elders quickly stepped forward to drive the point home.

“Officially, the eastern continent and Rosen are neutral, but if tax issues arise in trade… we don’t know what pressure the eastern continent might apply.”

Cledius sighed and leaned back in his chair.

There was no need to be at odds with the Icastel family. They not only spared no military support but also invested unhesitatingly in the imperial family when it came to war.

Their help would be needed when conquering the north in the future. It was a task that could never be finished with just contracted mercenaries.

“…I understand.”

Cledius spat out grumpily. In the end, the intention to show the emperor’s power to the people through Tamiel was overturned.

It wasn’t just Ilarid who had slipped from his grasp. The things he had planned, the things he had thought were certain, began to fall apart one by one.