“How should I interpret this?”
The First Consort’s face turned ashen as she bit her lip, distorting the rouge-stained red into an ugly grimace.
“Speak, First Consort,” the emperor pressed.
If it had only been the First Prince’s concubine, she could have severed ties and walked away. But Marquis Moiton was different. House Moiton was her family, the backbone of the First Prince’s power. Losing them would strip her of much of her influence. After a long silence, she spoke slowly.
“Marquis Moiton’s actions constitute a grave crime, but given his loyal service to the empire, I believe demoting his title and confiscating his wealth would be a fitting punishment.”
“A grave crime…” The emperor stroked his chin, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. “Treason is indeed a grave crime.”
“Your Majesty!”
Her lips paled further. As the emperor noted, while treason fell under grave crimes, its punishment was far harsher than others in that category.
“Treason? That’s absurd!”
“If not treason, how do you explain the discrepancy in the reported number of knights?”
“It’s a misunderstanding! They may hold the title of knight, but they lack any real ability. They’re incapable of rebellion!”
Marquis Moiton was a man of ambition but little competence, surrounded by equally incompetent sycophants. As the First Consort claimed, his knights were all show, hollow inside—a result of his preference for flattery over skill.
The emperor and most nobles knew of Moiton’s vanity, which had never been an issue until now. The First Consort’s negligence in managing him stemmed from this. Even her cautious nature couldn’t have foreseen that long-tolerated flaws would become a vicious trap.
“Are you saying capable knights would have committed treason?”
She glared at the emperor, struggling to steady her ragged breathing.
“What do you want?”
“I don’t follow,” he replied, feigning ignorance.
“Don’t play coy. Isn’t this all a scheme to cut off my hands and feet? Shall I hand over House Moiton entirely?”
The emperor smirked, stroking his chin again.
“House Moiton alone doesn’t balance the scales.”
“Name your price.”
“The right of succession.”
Her eyes widened to their limit. The hall filled with the sound of nervous swallowing.
Only two people held succession rights in the empire: Sys and the First Prince. The other princes had theirs revoked when Sys was named crown prince. Unlike other nations where royal sons retained succession rights until death, the empire reclaimed them upon naming a crown prince to minimize future conflicts.
The First Prince was an exception.
“You can’t mean to demand the First Prince relinquish his succession rights!”
The emperor didn’t respond. Her face contorted as she shouted.
“His rights? He’s your eldest son! Who has supported you tirelessly in place of the young crown prince? Would you discard him like a worn shoe?”
“Because of that!”
The emperor slammed the table, his voice booming. Unfazed, she glared back. He continued, his tone restrained but sharp.
“Hasn’t the First Prince enjoyed ample privileges as the eldest?”
“Privileges far outweighed by his contributions!”
Unlike other princes, who left the palace upon marriage or maturity, the First Prince remained, wielding power akin to the crown prince’s, thanks to the emperor’s indulgence.
They say no parent favors one child over another—only the degree of pain differs. To the emperor, Sys and the First Prince were both his sons. The First Prince, as the firstborn, might have held a special place in his heart.
If Sys had any disqualifying flaw, the crown prince might have been someone else.
Had the emperor fully backed Sys from the start, this situation might not have arisen. He’d weighed Sys against the First Prince until Sys proved himself. The emperor’s indecision and the First Consort’s ambition had led to this.
I glanced at Sys. His face revealed nothing. Sensing my gaze, he turned, his golden eyes softening as they met mine, his lips curving gently upward, as if unbothered by the chaos.
“Choose,” the emperor said coldly, as if delivering a verdict. “Face charges of treason, or surrender the succession rights.”
Her face twisted hideously.
“You can’t do this to me!”
She shot to her feet, screaming at the emperor.
“Do you know what I endured to bear that child?”
His face hardened like ice. Her blazing eyes locked onto him, oblivious to everyone else.
“Do you intend to dredge up the scandal of thirty-five years ago?”
The emperor’s lips twisted, mirroring Sys’s mocking smile.
Her body trembled with rage and humiliation. This trap, crafted with Father and the emperor’s aid, was one even the cunning First Consort couldn’t easily escape.
She took a deep breath, as if to quell her fury. Blood seeped from her bitten lips, glistening against the rouge.
“Grant me time until the First Prince returns.”
The First Prince was currently in the east, ostensibly to gauge public sentiment in Sys’s absence, but actually to court nobles and monitor neighboring kingdoms.
We hadn’t stopped him because his absence worked to our advantage. As the First Consort’s son, he was highly capable. Facing both him and his mother would have been daunting, even with our thorough preparations.
Had he not left, mistaking Sys’s injury for an opportunity, we might not have succeeded so smoothly.
“Denied,” the emperor said, leaving no room for negotiation.
“You can’t settle this without the person in question!”
“The east borders the Kingdom of Canaan.”
“What does that—”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know why he went there?”
Her eyes trembled, and she fell silent.
The First Consort’s mother, the previous Marchioness Moiton, was a Canaanite princess, born to a concubine, a nominal title. She married the previous Marquis Moiton, then a count and diplomat, to cement an alliance.
Canaan, desperate for the empire’s favor, had sent a princess to a mere count, as the empire cared little for a peripheral kingdom. The First Consort was their daughter.
“You shouldn’t have involved foreign powers.”
“A misunderstanding, Your Majesty.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Yes, Canaan is my family. How could I sever blood ties?”
“Are you saying the empire’s funds flowing to Canaan are also due to family ties? Do you know how they’re being used?”
She bit her lip, unable to respond. The emperor’s gaze was icy.
“You’ve been so talkative, yet now you’re silent. Why can’t you answer this?”
Tracking noble funds revealed significant sums flowing to Canaan. The Pison Guild, operating across the empire and beyond, uncovered their use.
Mostly military funds for raising private armies.
Not a formal army, but mercenaries—closer to a private militia. A kingdom like Canaan, wary of the empire and its neighbors, lacked the resources for such forces.
I already knew what was coming.
Though devoted to Sys, I was once the empress. Major imperial events reached my ears.
Soon after Sys ascended, Canaan waged war to reclaim lost territory—or so it seemed. It was actually the First Consort’s plot to destabilize the young emperor.
That war cost Sys significant forces.
Until recently, I believed it was merely Canaan’s bid for land. But combining the guild’s intelligence with the funds’ flow painted a different picture.
Not Canaan’s army, but the First Prince’s private militia.
Though she stood poised, her body trembled faintly with anxiety.
For the First Consort, ousting Sys through formal means was ideal, but with House Eliant backing him, it was challenging. She likely considered suppressing him by force.
Despite his succession rights, the First Prince lacked authority over imperial forces, which were under the emperor’s control.
Raising a private army under the emperor’s nose would’ve been difficult.
The emperor overlooked Moiton’s knights because they were incompetent. Had they been elite, he wouldn’t have been so lenient. Though indulgent toward the First Prince, the emperor was strict about military matters.
Knowing this, the First Consort raised a secret army in Canaan, leveraging House Moiton’s longstanding ties to send funds undetected.
The emperor, while supporting Sys, had shown leniency to the First Prince. But internal politics differed from involving foreign powers.
“If you won’t choose, I’ll decide for you.”
