“And what has Ardiana been doing lately?”

Lavennia, who had just picked up her spoon, paused and asked.

The Emperor replied,

“Who knows. It seems she’s still busy with Association matters.”

“Association matters...”

“It appears she’s been summoning mercenaries to the princess’s palace.”

Lavennia flinched.

She leaned forward across the table.

“Why would mercenaries be brought into the sacred imperial palace... What reason could there possibly be? She isn’t plotting something strange, is she?”

“Nothing like that.”

After saying that, the Emperor let out a quiet sigh.

“I’ve already placed people around her.”

Only then did Fides raise his eyes toward the Emperor.

The Emperor slowly set down his utensils as well.

Looking at Fides, he continued,

“...I know you’re feeling impatient too. After what happened at the Myeongseong ceremony, there’s no way you wouldn’t.”

The knuckles gripping Fides’s napkin turned white.

The moment the Myeongseong ceremony was mentioned, memories of that day surfaced on their own.

‘Not some formless favor. Not vague promises to hand you the throne someday. What exactly was officially bestowed upon you, Brother?’

That arrogant gaze overflowing with confidence.

‘What right does a prince born to a concubine, one who was never even formally acknowledged, have to speak of succession? Legitimacy is not granted through words.’

And that unmistakable sneer directed straight at him.

After that incident, Fides had been unable to sleep for a long time.

It felt as though the years during which he had never once doubted that he would become Emperor were collapsing before his eyes.

Ardiana no longer looked powerless.

If anything, it seemed she was using the past as fuel, building something of her own.

And Fides was not the only one shaken.

‘That lunatic... She’s completely lost her mind!’

On the day she had been thrown out of the Myeongseong ceremony—

‘What do you mean I’m merely His Majesty’s concubine? And not the Empress, much less my mother? Are you saying I’ve lived all this time clinging to empty illusions?! Aaah— aaahhh!’

Lavennia locked herself in her room and cried the entire day.

The one who comforted her was the Emperor, who returned earlier than planned.

‘Even a rat will bite a cat if cornered. You must have pushed her too hard before the expedition.’

‘No, Father! Her eyes were different! There’s definitely something, something absolutely—!’

‘You’re being too loud, Fides!’

‘....’

‘If you had at least handled what was entrusted to you properly, today’s humiliation would never have happened. Do you even realize how many years I spent building up your legitimacy? And you still haven’t earned the trust of the senior nobles!’

‘But—!’

‘Enough! Stop throwing a tantrum. The sky will not fall just because you turn the earth upside down.’

The Emperor’s gaze toward Fides had been cold enough to make him shiver.

‘Please. Just do nothing. Nothing at all!’

‘....’

‘Haah, enough. Stay under house arrest for the time being. I’ll deal with the princess myself.’

Those days had been hell.

Locked inside the Crown Prince’s palace, he drowned in anxiety and fear that kept rising higher and higher.

Every day, Lavennia came to him and said:

‘His Majesty surely has everything planned out, Fides. Perhaps this time he’ll finally name you Crown Prince.’

‘Mother....’

‘Besides, Ardiana will be leaving soon anyway, won’t she? Whatever she’s plotting, once she departs for the Central Continent, we’ll gain time. And if she dies there altogether, even better.’

That was right.

Ardiana was supposed to leave regardless.

Winning over the senior nobles?

Fides believed he could deal with that later, once Ardiana disappeared.

But—

‘Your Majesty! What are you saying? Ardiana decided to stay?!’

‘That’s correct. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, so don’t reveal that you know.’

Just days before the expedition, Ardiana suddenly changed her mind.

And the Emperor approved her decision.

Inevitably, Fides became consumed by a single thought.

‘It’s over.’

It was over.

The Emperor must have changed course after becoming disappointed in him.

How much easier would it be to make Ardiana Empress—the legitimate daughter born to the primary wife—rather than place Fides, the son of a commoner woman, on the throne?

The Emperor could avoid unnecessary disputes with the senior nobles.

He would no longer need to fear the Empire’s people looking down on imperial authority.

And above all, unlike Fides, Ardiana had already proven her own worth time and time again.

She was the one who created the Mercenary Association and raised it to its current position.

She was the one who grew close to the King of the Dead, regarded as the strongest among mercenaries.

And in the end, she was the one who made him swear loyalty to the imperial family.

‘Damn Ardiana... Damn Father!’

And at the center of all those thoughts lay despair that reeked of rot.

‘It’s over, [N O V E L I G H T] Mother. It’s all over....’

Inside the darkened prince’s palace, Fides drunkenly muttered to himself.

The ceiling swayed before his eyes, and shards of broken glass littered the floor.

‘If Ardiana becomes Empress, she’ll kill me. She’ll never forgive me. Never...!’

But at that moment—

Lavennia, sitting at the edge of his bed while nervously biting her nails, spoke.

‘No... No. That’s not true.’

Maybe it was because he had been drunk, but his memories of that day remained hazy.

Everything felt distant, like a dream.

And yet there were still certain words he remembered.

‘We simply can’t give him time, Fides.’

‘....’

‘If we don’t give His Majesty time to change his mind. If we make sure he never even gets the chance.’

Slowly.

His consciousness returned from memory to reality.

The Emperor was still speaking before him.

“The shadow assigned to Ardiana reported exactly that. Both that Ardiana decided to remain, and that she’s summoning other mercenary squads to the princess’s palace.”

“......”

“Because she concluded Agavert would never return alive.”

The Emperor leaned back in his chair with a tired expression.

“There are many things I dislike about her, but the girl truly is clever. She realized early that the mission was doomed and withdrew from the game in advance.”

“......”

“And the fact that she’s already searching for a replacement mercenary squad for Agavert shows foresight as well.”

“Is the information reliable?”

Lavennia asked at that moment.

The Emperor glanced at her.

“The report came through Sir Balthazar, so it can be trusted.”

Lavennia closed her mouth.

Balthazar Greyl.

The imperial palace’s chief treasurer and one of the Emperor’s most favored aides.

At the same time, one of the few people currently supporting Fides.

The Emperor slowly rose to his feet.

“In any case. Since this is the situation, there’s no need to worry about Ardiana. Besides, things with her will soon be settled.”

Fides froze.

“At the earliest, in three days. At the latest, in four, I intend to announce the successor before the senior nobles.”

This time, Lavennia’s eyes widened.

The Emperor smirked as he looked at her.

“I know how much you’ve suffered all these years alone. No matter how many times I reassure you—whether a hundred or a thousand—you still can’t calm yourself. But I suppose that is a mother’s heart.”

The Emperor walked toward Lavennia.

“You’ve worked hard. Didn’t I promise you when I first took you in? That your son would become the next Emperor.”

The Emperor’s gaze shifted to Fides.

“He still has much to learn, but that too will come with time.”

The Emperor smiled.

“Begin preparing in advance. In a few days, at the Crown Prince appointment ceremony, you’ll need to recite the decla—”

But he never finished speaking.

As though sensing something strange, the Emperor suddenly froze.

His wide eyes slowly lowered downward and to the right.

Then his chin trembled faintly—

Thud—

And in the next moment, he disappeared from sight.

Fides stood frozen in place.

A barely audible whisper escaped Lavennia’s lips as realization struck her.

“No... No, that can’t be....”

She immediately rushed toward the Emperor, who had collapsed onto the floor.

As though time itself had stopped, the Emperor’s body remained twisted at a strange angle.

“Is he... dead?”

Having finally come to his senses, Fides asked in a trembling voice.

Lavennia whipped around and shook her head.

“No, no. I....”

Fides felt as though he understood exactly what Lavennia was thinking.

The Emperor had not abandoned him.

On the contrary—he intended to keep Ardiana under his own control and truly pass the throne to Fides this time.

Fides’s face slowly twisted.

“...What.”

He looked at Lavennia with eyes full of disgust.

“What have you done?”

Lavennia trembled violently and turned toward him.

“What the hell did you just do?!”