“Since everyone seems to be gathered, let’s begin the investiture ceremony.”

As the Emperor announced the start of the investiture ceremony, the ministers and priests ascended the platform.

The service, led by the High Priest, was followed by blessing prayers from the high-ranking priests.

Jieselgrante, noticing that the blessing prayers were about to end, turned her head towards the lower part of the platform.

There stood Joshua, dressed in the Crown Prince’s attire.

And behind him, priests holding trays were lined up in formation.

As the blessing prayers ended, the priests holding trays moved towards the nobles, and Joshua ascended the platform.

Having envisioned the entire procedure of the investiture ceremony countless times in her head and actually rehearsed it, she was well aware of the subsequent steps.

Jieselgrante took the cup offered by the priest who approached her.

Lowering her gaze and staring at the wine cup, she made a vow.

To avenge those who had taken everything from her.

The Empress who killed her to remove the obstacle in making her son the Emperor, and Joshua who participated in this without hesitation.

And the Emperor who knew all these circumstances but pretended not to.

And she muttered inwardly.

‘Let us raise a toast to the Crown Princess.’

When Jieselgrante turned her gaze back to the front, the Emperor spoke.

“Let us raise a toast to the Crown Prince.”

The Emperor watched as all the nobles in the hall raised their cups, then finally raised his own.

The Emperor drained the wine in his cup. Joshua also emptied his cup.

Afterwards, the Emperor’s congratulatory speech followed, and the Empress also offered words of blessing to Crown Prince Joshua, who would lead the Faecius Empire from now on.

The investiture ceremony seemed to be heading towards a smooth conclusion.

The only remaining item was the High Priest’s congratulatory speech. Originally.

It was when the High Priest was about to move to the center of the platform.

“There is one more person who will congratulate the Crown Prince.”

The Emperor said.

“Pardon? What do you mean by that……”

Confused by this unexpected situation, the Empress looked at the Emperor. A look of bewilderment also appeared on Joshua’s face.

But the Emperor, without even glancing at them, stared somewhere and said,

“Come up.”

Naturally, the heads of the Empress, Joshua, the High Priest, and the nobles in the hall all turned to follow the Emperor’s gaze.

And soon, the person who ascended the platform was Filippo.

“……!”

In that moment, not only the Empress and Joshua, but all the nobles in the hall were taken aback.

The Emperor greeted Filippo, who was ascending the platform, with a very amiable smile.

With a gentle smile on his lips, Filippo went to stand beside Joshua, who was between the Emperor and Empress.

And he said,

“Congratulations on becoming the Crown Prince, Your Highness.”

“……”

The Empress struggled to control her expression that was about to contort, while Joshua furrowed his brow, seemingly not even trying to hide his expression.

Jieselgrante, without even blinking, took in all their changes in expression.

“What in the world is going on?”

Joshua growled low as soon as he entered the High Priest’s office.

“If you have a mouth, explain.”

The Empress also urged Marchioness Ratse with a chilly expression.

After briefly rolling her eyes in confusion, Marchioness Ratse immediately shifted the responsibility to Court Minister Anwaz.

“Yes, what is going on?”

Court Minister Anwaz, glancing at Marchioness Ratse, secretly sighed.

Soon, the gazes of all three people converged on Court Minister Anwaz.

Left with no choice, Court Minister Anwaz offered an excuse.

“To be honest, I don’t understand it well myself. Why things turned out this way… I will begin an investigation immediately.”

“You call that an explanation?”

Joshua raised his voice. His demeanor was so fierce it seemed he might throw anything within reach.

“I understand your anger. But Crown Prince, there are still many people outside. And His Majesty the Emperor is also present.”

The Empress intervened, blocking Joshua’s gaze that was glaring at Court Minister Anwaz.

Then she whispered softly,

“Don’t forget what I’ve told you repeatedly. It’s not over until the crown is on your head.”

At the Empress’s warning, Joshua whirled around. Then he roughly mussed up his neatly arranged hair.

The Empress looked at Court Minister Anwaz with an expressionless face.

Responding to her gaze that demanded an explanation, Court Minister Anwaz began to speak.

“Recently, the atmosphere around Countess Tarel seemed unusual, so we put her under stricter surveillance than before. As you know, a few days ago, the head butler took Countess Tarel on a secret meeting to a villa far from the capital.”

“As briefly as possible.”

Joshua barked as the explanation grew lengthy.

“We also sent Count Tarel away from the capital under the pretext of hunting, and we confirmed this as well. We truly never dreamed they would appear suddenly like this and blindside us……”

Court Minister Anwaz pleaded, claiming his innocence.

In truth, everyone here, including the Empress and Joshua, had not anticipated at all what the Emperor would do today.

And for good reason.

Filippo had visited the palace several times and had private audiences with the Emperor.

But even after that, the Emperor didn’t show any signs of particularly favoring Filippo or taking care of him in any way.

Given the Emperor’s capricious nature, the prevailing opinion was that he might be temporarily allowing Filippo to be close to him out of the emptiness of losing his daughter.

Nevertheless, because they couldn’t know what ulterior motives Filippo might have in approaching the Emperor, they couldn’t be completely at ease.

So on the day of the investiture ceremony, they had sent Filippo and Countess Tarel as far away from the capital as possible.

“And yet, he showed up at such an important event as the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony.”

Joshua said in a low voice, slightly curving his eyes in a smile.

Then he moved towards Court Minister Anwaz.

When Joshua smiled like that, rather than when he was angry, was when something unpleasant was about to happen.

Court Minister Anwaz, suddenly frightened, stumbled backward, and the Empress stepped forward.

“Enough! That’s enough. There’s no point in wasting time like this here. First, we must gauge His Majesty the Emperor’s intentions! Then we should prioritize making a plan.”

At that moment, the sound of murmuring came from the corridor.

The Empress quickly gave a look to Joshua, Marchioness Ratse, and Court Minister Anwaz.

The murmuring from the corridor grew closer, and soon the High Priest and the Emperor walked into the office.

The Empress, trying to quickly change the somewhat tense atmosphere, spoke up.

“You’re here! On such a wonderful day, how about having dinner together as a family, Your Majesty?”

The Emperor, after quickly scanning the expressions of those in the office, nodded with a gentle smile.

“…That’s a good idea.”

While the Emperor, Empress, and Joshua, who had become Crown Prince, were having a cozy family dinner, Filippo also faced his family.

As Filippo entered the mansion, Countess Tarel slowly closed and opened her eyes.

She seemed relieved to see him safe.

“…Are you alright, Filippo? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

Filippo deliberately smiled broadly to reassure Countess Tarel, who was full of worry and concern.

“Let’s talk inside first, Mother.”

Only after seating Countess Tarel on the reception room sofa did Filippo continue.

“Fortunately, His Majesty kept the promise he made to me before.”

Countess Tarel sighed in relief, stroking her chest.

“…Still, it’s truly miraculous. Duke Amaterasu’s daughter.”

Filippo nodded at Countess Tarel’s words.

In fact, it wasn’t just Countess Tarel who had been half in doubt until the last moment before heading to the Great Temple.

Filippo was also secretly worried.

What if the Emperor didn’t keep his promise?

But Filippo repeatedly recalled what Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had said when she suddenly visited on a day when no salon was being held.

The words that the Emperor would rather have much to gain from this.

Since the day Filippo first visited the palace to play chess with the Emperor under the pretext of comforting him after losing Crown Princess Trinity, Filippo had two more private audiences with the Emperor.

And each time, they had chess matches.

Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had said that Filippo must lose unconditionally in the first and second matches with the Emperor, but it was different for the third match.

‘When you have your next match with His Majesty the Emperor, give it your all. And you must win if possible. He’s likely to let his guard down after winning twice. So you should be able to win without much difficulty.’

‘But why must this time be different from before?’

When Filippo asked out of genuine curiosity, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had said this:

‘Because matches where you only win every time are not interesting.’

Filippo immediately understood the meaning of Duke Amaterasu’s daughter’s words.

When the opponent is too strong and you can’t win no matter what, and when the opponent is too weak and you win every time. In both cases, it’s easy to lose interest in competing with the opponent.

To continue requesting private audiences with the Emperor under the pretext of chess matches, it was better to give the Emperor the impression that Filippo had some skill.

And Filippo acted as Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had said.

Of course, being able to win this chess match with the Emperor was also partly due to luck.

‘If you won the match, the next step will be easier. His Majesty the Emperor will ask you to say what you want first. Then, just casually mention that you’d like to congratulate His Highness the Crown Prince on the day of his investiture ceremony.’

‘…Pardon? B-but I’m not even properly recognized as a prince yet… Is that possible?’

To Filippo’s questioning, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter said this:

‘For His Majesty, there’s absolutely no problem with you congratulating Crown Prince Joshua in front of everyone on the day of the investiture ceremony.’

‘I don’t understand what you mean at all.’

As Filippo looked at her with a puzzled expression, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter added:

‘He won’t say anything like “I now recognize my son Filippo as a prince of the empire” at that place. This is certain.’