Erdene’s uneasy feeling did not dissipate until they passed through the gates of the capital of the Hirschsten Empire.

No, far from dissipating, it only intensified.

Moreover, now even the knight commander, his subordinate officers, and the soldiers began to whisper in strange voices.

“Your Highness, what on earth is going on?”

“How should I know, Telma?”

Clearly, until they passed through the gates, the lively and bustling sounds had excited the hearts of soldiers returning home after a long time.

The smell of freshly butchered meat being grilled and sold at street stalls, and the fragrant aroma of fruit wine wafting through the air even in broad daylight, befitting a country with many drinkers, had made everyone’s hearts flutter.

The soldiers returning with news of victory were ready to be buried in freshly grilled chunks of meat and cups of alcohol that everyone rushed to offer them.

However, the moment they passed through the gates, they all realized, without exception, that something was amiss.

Aiman spoke up:

“Could it be that something was misreported? It seems the messenger might have mistakenly reported that we returned in defeat. That fool, when I see him again, I’ll give him a taste so hot it’ll snap him to his senses.”

But Princess Erdene remained silent… her expression even more serious than before.

Aiman’s words were merely wishful thinking.

It wasn’t a case of mistakenly reporting pheasant roast as sparrow roast for lunch. Turning a victory obtained after a long and arduous war into a defeat? It would be impossible even with a dozen heads.

But if not that, then what was this atmosphere all about?

The people on the streets, far from welcoming the soldiers with meat and alcohol as usual, wouldn’t even make eye contact with them.

Some people who had been loitering on the street hastily avoided them, while others lowered their gaze as if they had committed a crime and quietly hid behind the shadows.

Merten whispered:

“Your Highness, what kind of atmosphere is this?”

Erdene replied irritably:

“I told you, I don’t know.”

But something has gone terribly wrong. Erdene, with a serious expression, urged her horse to move a little faster.

Her ominous premonition was indeed correct, as even after entering the city, there were no cheers or congratulations for the soldiers.

The knight commander and officers were in a state of confusion, unsure whether to send the soldiers under their command back to the barracks or, as usual, lead them to the spacious hall where food and drink had been prepared.

“Merten, Telma.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Erdene easily handed over her war horse, which was much taller than herself, to the stable keeper as if handling a gentle lamb, and said:

“Take the soldiers and give them alcohol and food. If the chef says there’s nothing prepared or speaks impertinently, tie him up until I arrive.”

“Understood.”

“Won’t Your Highness be joining us?”

Erdene, tightening her gauntlet caked with enemy blood, looked up hostilely at the magnificent pillars of the Golden Palace.

“I will meet His Majesty first.”

She entered the Emperor’s quarters without removing her armor or laying down her weapons.

Although she had sworn again and again not to get angry, when she saw her twin brother occupying the Emperor’s seat that stood so majestically, her stomach twisted as if she would vomit.

“I have returned with news of victory, brother. We have wrested fertile plains and logging areas from Biotin, as well as part of the gold and coal mines. There are also some wetlands included, which we should discuss with the officials on how to use in the future. If we can drain the water, as there’s little salt, we should be able to farm.”

Erdene, who had briefly reported with her head bowed, waited for the Emperor’s commendation and permission to rise. However, her brother, Emperor Tenek, maintained silence for a long time before speaking in a disinterested tone.

“Well, good work. Why don’t you go and wash up?”

Erdene’s eyes flashed like fire as she raised her head.

Her brother Tenek, dressed in ill-fitting imperial robes and wearing the golden crown, looked as ridiculous as if a clown had been seated there.

Sitting next to him was the Empress, a woman named Roelica, who, though from a good family, had lost all emotion, expressionless, seemingly tired of Tenek’s infidelity since he was a crown prince.

Erdene moved her gaze to examine every corner of the changed interior of the palace. Wherever they had come from, there were now more luxurious items that looked almost crude, and even the huge tapestries of the conquest era that previous emperors had hung were gone.

She spoke through gritted teeth:

“The Golden Palace of the Empire has become more luxurious, Your Majesty.”

Groups of women in flashy and revealing dresses who had been gathered near the entrance leading to the corridor disappeared as if fleeing when they met Erdene’s gaze.

They were clearly Tenek’s concubines.

“…And the number of pretty ones has increased too.”

Tenek replied with a drunken-like grin:

“Doesn’t it make your eyes pop after seeing only dark things on the battlefield?”

Erdene did not respond to those words, instead glaring at Tenek with contemptuous eyes.

He giggled like a child who had found an amusing game, then spoke again in a bored tone as if he had lost interest in everything in the world:

“Well, you’re not a man, so it’s useless to you.”

“Father…”

At that moment, Erdene felt something hot rising in her throat.

Along with that, as she looked at the majestic throne that Tenek was sitting on with his small and ridiculous buttocks, her suppressed anger boiled over.

That seat was originally mine.

Erdene clenched her fist tightly in her gauntlet.

The more she pondered how Tenek, who didn’t even have a proper support base, had managed to seize that seat while she was away on the battlefield, the more dumbfounded she felt.

‘I’d like to make him spill everything about what tricks he pulled right here and now. If I pulled out a molar every time he spouted nonsense, he’d open his mouth soon enough.’

As the clanking metallic noise was heard, a slight crack appeared in Empress Roelica’s expressionless face.

Then Tenek spoke:

“Well, Father has passed on peacefully, so don’t be too sad.”

“He was in perfect health when I left for the campaign.”

For a moment, Tenek’s eyes, which had seemed distracted all along, flashed fiercely.

“What do you mean by that?”

Erdene bit the inside of her lip hard and clenched her fist even tighter.

Roelica, sitting like a ghost next to Tenek, was staring at her with wide eyes, and then very slightly shook her head.

As if to say: Don’t do it… Do it. No, don’t do it…

Erdene let out a long sigh and lowered her gaze slightly.

“I misspoke, brother. I apologize.”

However, her apology only further fueled Tenek’s anger.

He jumped up from his seat and, almost floundering in the heavy imperial robes that were too big for his body, came down the multi-tiered steps.

If only he had tripped and cracked his head, it would have been good, but unfortunately, the accidental mishap Erdene hoped for did not occur.

“Did you really think the world was at your feet just because Father favored you? Did you, not even a man, actually imagine you could snatch the Emperor’s crown, even surpassing me, your brother! There’s a limit to delusions, Erdene!”

At that moment, Erdene heard something snap in her head.

Staring at Tenek, whose face had quickly turned red with rising fever, Erdene burst into laughter.

“Delusions, you say? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Delusions are for those who dream of things they can’t achieve. Is there anyone who deludes about the ordinary act of breathing and eating every day?”

Though physically weak, Tenek was not a fool.

He clearly understood Erdene’s intention. Her words meant this:

My sitting on the imperial throne was as natural as breathing and eating.

Tenek raged, foaming at the mouth:

“Erdene! If you wag that loose tongue of yours recklessly, you’ll face beheading, blood relative or not!”

“Well said, brother. After fighting like a dog in the middle of a dragging war for a year, only to return to this sorry sight, I’d rather have my head cut off! You say I couldn’t get the crown because I’m not a man? That seat was mine. It was my seat that Father promised to me!”

There was a sound of “Chang!” It was a very light and quick sound, but simultaneously, Erdene’s great sword, which she always carried, was thrust into the solid floor of the Golden Palace, right in front of Tenek’s feet.

Roelica screamed pitifully like a bird with broken legs, and the blood drained from Tenek’s face.

Erdene exclaimed in an angry voice:

“Do you think I’m not cutting off your head right now because I lack the strength? It’s because I don’t want to be the first to stain with dirty blood the bedrock that Father and our ancestors laid with their blood and sweat. So stop your delusions and misconceptions, and don’t mess with me.”

She lightly pulled out the sword that had been thrust in a full span deep as if cutting through soft mud, sheathed it, and then turned her body sharply.

Tenek, glaring at Erdene’s back, which radiated an icy chill, shouted:

“Stop right there, Erdene!”

Should I just kill him?

Erdene, who had stopped and closed her eyes tightly, turned her head slightly. She was ready to rush in and break his ribs if he spouted any more nonsense.

No, she should have. As she watched Tenek’s sinister face suddenly start to grin, Erdene regretted not moving faster to strike him.

Tenek said:

“Calm that temper of yours. Now that the war is over, what man would look at you with such a fiery female temperament?”

A scornful laugh escaped from between Erdene’s lips.

“Stop talking nonsense. If you keep spouting rubbish, you’ll get beaten up by me like when we were young, as if dust was being shaken out on a rainy day. Back then, at least there was Mother to protect you, but not anymore, right? Or are you planning to cry in the Empress’s skirts?”