In the end, they decided to combine the empress’s coronation and knighthood ceremony, kneeling on both knees instead of one, with a sword placed on the shoulders.

The sword was a thin rapier, said to be light enough for even a woman to wield. Since it was merely symbolic and I wouldn’t be swinging it anyway, I didn’t care what type of sword it was.

“Even when the ceremony ends, you mustn’t raise your head immediately. Especially, meeting the Emperor’s eyes would be disastrous.”

“I’ve heard that so many times it feels like nails in my ears. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to get caught.”

They said many were displeased about the conferring of titles this time. Ironically, most of those displeased were the ones who had argued not to give awards to the McCain family but to bestow a title on Claire.

It was a decision made assuming Claire wouldn’t wake up, but because I opened my eyes in Claire’s body, their plans went awry.

The hereditary title and territory should have disappeared with Claire’s death, but instead, the influence of that title and territory ended up strengthening the McCain family, which must be frustrating.

They can’t change their words and say not to bestow the title just because Claire woke up, so they probably want to find any excuse to take back what was given.

I practiced thoroughly to avoid giving them any reason to find fault.

“Of course, it’s important not to be caught by other nobles. For nobles, face is everything. But more important than that is not going against the Emperor’s will. You know how fearsome His Majesty the Emperor is.”

“…Yes.”

The current Emperor, Emperor Blake, was originally quite far down in the line of succession.

The previous emperor was politically incompetent and a womanizer. He had five wives and over thirty children.

Even that was just the officially recognized wives and children; if you included the unrecognized ones, there were enough to form a village.

His five wives were greedy and each wanted her son to become the crown prince. They pretended to get along on the surface, but behind the scenes, they committed cruel acts, driving each other’s children to their deaths.

Most of the emperor’s bloodline died early, and even those who survived were driven to the battlefield. The current Emperor Blake was the child of the third empress the previous emperor had, and his mother was from the Kingdom of Stefan.

Whether it was difficult to adapt to a new country that wasn’t her own, or due to stress from her husband’s womanizing, or because of her inherent frailty, she died of illness when Blake was 12 years old.

After his mother, who had been his shield, died early, he was driven to the battlefield at a young age. In the name of fulfilling his responsibilities as a member of the imperial family.

No one cared about him. There was no guardian, and the life of a child far down in the line of succession was not of concern to the imperial family.

Everyone expected him to die soon. The battlefield was not a place where a mere child could endure.

But he defied everyone’s expectations and endured the battlefield for 15 years, leading the seemingly endless war to victory.

When he returned alive from the battlefield, everyone remaining in the imperial family feared him. The life they had hoped would end had returned as a war hero, so they couldn’t help but feel threatened.

Those who felt insecure about their positions spent large sums of money to send assassins to kill him, but it was useless. The bodies coming out of his chambers early in the morning only confirmed how formidable he was.

A month after he returned to the imperial palace, six princes died for various reasons. And finally, even the old and powerless emperor died of lung disease. In the end, only he remained with imperial blood.

Everyone suspected he had taken the lives of his other siblings, but they dared not say it out loud. Despite only being back for a month, he already held all the military power in the Kalovanian Empire.

The first thing he did upon ascending to the throne was a bloody purge. Nobles who had long used political power to expand their influence were hanged on the gallows daily.

But it wasn’t that the nobles just took it lying down.

Those with territories returned to their lands and prepared for war. However, no one could defeat him, who seemed to have the blessing of the goddess of war. All internal rebellions were quelled in just 6 months.

After the bloody purge, the Emperor never again drew his sword from its scabbard. Rather, the commoners did not hesitate to call him a sage king for his generous politics.

But the nobles who had witnessed his bloody festival up close never forgot the terror of that time, even now years later.

They cowered as much as possible, fearing that someday the Emperor might be seized by madness again and swing his sword, and that sword might be aimed at their necks.

When I trembled slightly from tension, Ileana quickly changed her words to comfort me.

“You don’t need to be too scared. Even if you fall out of favor with His Majesty the Emperor, your head won’t roll. At worst, he’ll just take back the title he gave. So, go and do well.”

“Ileana, is that supposed to help me relax? Somehow I feel my heart tightening even more.”

“Oh no… Claire is delicate and freezes up when she’s even a little nervous. I was just joking because I was worried you might cause an accident if you’re too tense…”

“…”

What if I really make a mistake and His Majesty the Emperor gets very angry? I felt the back of my neck stiffening with tension. Ileana gently smiled and patted my back.

“Don’t worry too much. Shuri is the Emperor’s most cherished subject. So even if Claire makes a mistake, nothing will happen.”

Ileana tried to comfort me, saying that since Lord Shuri McCain was my elder brother, it was as good as having strong backing, but it didn’t help much to calm my mind and body.

“What if elder brother’s name alone isn’t enough?”

“He can smooth over most mistakes, so don’t worry. It would be even better if you don’t make mistakes and do just as you’ve practiced hard all this time.”

I asked back, a little stiffly.

“Can you protect me even if I go crazy and grab His Majesty the Emperor by the collar?”

It was a joke to lighten the mood, but Ileana’s expression hardened.

“Surely you’re not really going to grab him by the collar, are you?”

“Of course it’s a joke. As if His Majesty the Emperor has done anything to make me his enemy that I would grab his collar.”

“That was a really brutal joke. But would you really grab his collar if His Majesty the Emperor did something to make himself Claire’s enemy?”

Instead of answering her question, I showed her a smile.

Ileana, perhaps taking my smile as affirmation, turned even paler. Seeing her startled by my joke made me feel a bit more at ease. My tightly wound shoulders seemed to relax a little too.

I held Ileana’s hand and said,

“Thank you. Thanks to you, Ileana, my tension has dissipated.”

“I’m not thankful at all. Claire’s words have made me incredibly anxious now. I think I’ll have to stay tense and watch until the end of the ceremony.”

I laughed out loud at her words, and she made a pouty face.

“By the way, where is Lord McCain… I mean, elder brother Shuri?”

I asked, curious that he wasn’t showing his face when his beloved sister, whom he cherished enough to put in his eyes, was receiving a title for the first time in the Kalovanian Empire. Ileana laughed as if it was amusing and said,

“He’s worried that if he’s here today when Claire receives her title, it might overshadow Claire’s achievement. After all, Claire receiving a title today is solely her own accomplishment, without anyone else’s help.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t worry. He’ll definitely appear when Claire needs a dance partner. He’s so looking forward to being Claire’s first partner.”

When I smiled at her words, she pouted jealously and said,

“There probably aren’t siblings as close as Shuri and Claire in the whole world. Even I’m envious… Actually, he’s probably avoiding showing up at the conferment ceremony because he might cry loudly like when Claire woke up and show an embarrassing side. I bet he’s hiding somewhere in a corner here, watching Claire receive her award and crying. I guarantee it.”

I couldn’t argue with Ileana’s words. Though it hasn’t been a long time, the Shuri I’ve seen would definitely do that and more.

Even now, just making eye contact makes his eyes turn red as if he finds his younger sister pitiful, so it was obvious that seeing her receive a title from the Emperor that she risked her life for would make him cry like a child despite his large frame.

“That’s fortunate then. To be able to maintain the honor of the McCain family.”

“Right? And I don’t want to show Shuri’s crying face to others. He’s already handsome and cute, so I’m worried others might covet him, we can’t let others see that cuteness.”