“His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Calius Declair, enters!”
Once everyone had taken their seats, the courtroom doors swung open and the Emperor stepped inside.
His entrance drew every muscle in the room taut with tension.
Riersha found herself clenching her fists without realizing it.
A silence thick as a held breath fell over the hall — and then, from somewhere behind her, came the faintest whisper of voices.
“Heavens, that’s the Emperor… I never thought I’d live to see him with my own eyes.”
“Shh. Keep your head down and stay still. People like us can’t afford to draw the wrong attention.”
“…But don’t you think they really look alike? Anyone would know they’re related.”
“I said, be quiet.”
Riersha agreed with every word of that exchange, deep in her heart.
The Emperor, seen for the first time, was…
He really does look like Isierd.
The resemblance was uncanny — the kind that made blood ties undeniable without a single word of confirmation. Even if the Emperor had never acknowledged paternity, anyone looking at the two of them would have simply nodded and moved on. There was no room for doubt.
“All may forgo the formalities. The setting and circumstances seem ill-suited for them.”
“We are deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s gracious consideration.”
The judge offered his thanks on behalf of the room, and Calius gave a small, unhurried nod.
He continued forward, then turned his gaze toward a particular spot in the room.
There sat a boy — born from a brief, fleeting mistake made long ago, so long ago the memory had nearly faded to nothing.
It was almost laughable. The child Calius had cast aside was the one who resembled him most.
The Emperor looked at Isierd and spoke.
“An incident has arisen that threatens to disturb the Imperial household, so it falls to Us to settle the matter directly. But before that…” He paused. “Which child was it that requested an audience with Us?”
“Lady Riersha Arachrene, Your Majesty.”
“A familiar name. If Our memory serves, she is the youngest daughter of House Arachrene?”
Riersha startled. The Emperor knew who she was.
His pale blue eyes turned slowly toward her — a gaze as cold and dry as winter stone.
“She resembles the Duchess quite a bit,” the Emperor murmured quietly.
But sitting so close to the front, Riersha heard every word with perfect clarity.
…He knows me?
Of course, House Arachrene was one of the pillars that upheld the Declair Empire, so it was entirely reasonable that the Emperor would know the family’s name. And yet — Riersha knew there was something more layered, more complex, buried in what he had just said.
“Your Majesty may be seated here.”
“Very well.”
Calius Declair settled into the chair at an unhurried pace. He looked utterly at ease.
Which was, in itself, a strange thing to witness.
By his own admission, a matter capable of shaking the very foundations of the Imperial household had come to light — and yet he alone seemed perfectly untroubled by it. If anything, everyone around him appeared far more unsettled.
Calius Declair opened his mouth.
“So the reason We have been summoned here is to confirm whether or not that boy carries Imperial blood?”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty. …This court humbly requests that you personally confirm whether the boy is of Imperial lineage.”
“I suppose a matter this grave would be difficult for a mere tribunal to handle on its own.”
“We are grateful for Your Majesty’s understanding.”
The judge had cleared his throat several times, yet his voice still trembled faintly.
“Confirmation,” the Emperor repeated.
He was silent for a moment, as though turning something over in his mind.
Then a small sound escaped him — something close to a quiet laugh — and the corners of his mouth curved upward.
Riersha tilted her head at the sight. Beside her, Pernoa spoke in a tone laced with unease.
“That is not a typical reaction. His hidden son has just appeared before him, and yet he shows no sign of being shaken.”
“Yes, I noticed that as well. He looks almost…” Rosinante agreed, finishing the thought. “As though he already knew this would happen, doesn’t he?”
Riersha glanced back and forth between the Emperor and Isierd.
Neither father nor son seemed to have any particular interest in the other. Both were looking elsewhere.
Then it happened.
“It has been a long time, Isierd.”
Calius Declair’s voice was warm as he called the name and turned his gaze to the boy.
“…!”
The audience, who had been holding their breath in rapt attention, broke into expressions of stunned disbelief.
There was no more definitive confirmation than the Emperor himself speaking the boy’s name.
“Indeed — has it truly been eight years since We last saw you?”
“…It has been a long time, Your Majesty. Though I rather suspected you had no particular wish to see me.”
“What are you saying?”
The Emperor shook his head as though the very notion were absurd.
And then he spoke loudly, clearly, as if he wanted every person in the room to hear.
“Do you have any idea how long We have been searching for you?”
“…”
“It seems We owe the House of Arachrene our gratitude.”
Silence blanketed the hall.
“Ha.”
Pernoa let out a hollow, deflated laugh — the sound of someone who had just realized they had been outmaneuvered.
Riersha blinked, dazed, struggling to make sense of what had just happened.
So the Emperor had just…
He had acknowledged Isierd’s existence — enough to preserve the Imperial household’s dignity before the public — while simultaneously denying everything else.
“We would like to speak with Our son, whom We have not seen in some time. We will handle the remaining matters personally, so this pointless trial may now be considered concluded.”
With those few words, the Emperor brought the proceedings to an end.
When the sovereign of an entire empire declared that he would resolve a situation himself, there was nothing left for anyone else to say.
Pointless trial?
Did that mean this entire proceeding had been nothing more than a trifle to the Emperor?
Did he have any idea how much Isierd had endured to make it this far?
Isierd rose from his seat with a composed expression — the look of someone who had already expected exactly this.
And that was precisely what made Riersha’s chest tighten with a surge of emotion she couldn’t hold back.
⁂
The Declair Empire was thrown into an uproar.
【The Ill-Fated Prince Lost by the Imperial Household — His Imperial Highness Isierd Declair Makes His Appearance!】
The newspapers bearing those enormous headlines sold out at a frenzied pace, nearly impossible to come by. The news that the Emperor had acknowledged the boy without a single denial focused every eye in the empire on this figure called “Isierd Declair.”
Whether the performance staged by the Kadimo Troupe had been fact or fiction was a question that interested no one. Not a single line of Sonnet’s claims made it into print.
There were a few newspapers that had tried to cover that angle, but the public had little appetite for anything so complicated and headache-inducing. The Emperor himself had just served up something far more sensational.
Riersha’s chest ached.
“We have been well and truly outplayed,” Oberon said.
“I didn’ think the Emperor would pull somethin’ like this neither. So underhanded,” Riersha muttered.
Of course, Isierd would likely return to the Imperial Palace without further obstruction. But still…
I genuinely cannot understand what the Emperor is thinking.
His intention in suddenly welcoming a son he had ignored all this time — even going so far as to claim he had been searching for him — was utterly opaque.
One thing was certain: whatever the Emperor’s motives were, they were far from pure.
And that was precisely why she was so worried about Isierd, who was alone with the Emperor at this very moment.
What are the two of them saying to each other right now?
Riersha looked back down at the newspaper.
【Emperor Calius Declair expressed great joy at being reunited with His Imperial Highness Isierd Declair, who had been missing for eight years, and extended his gratitude to House Arachrene.
However, several questions remain unanswered.
The first is that the identity of whoever attempted to destroy Isierd Declair’s divine protection has yet to be uncovered. The second is that, given that His Imperial Highness Isierd Declair is the same age as Crown Prince Adrian Declair, it is now unclear as to who was truly the subject of the oracle delivered eight years ago.】
Riersha’s brow furrowed as she read.
Her round red eyes drifted back up to the very first line of the article.
【Emperor Calius Declair expressed great joy at being reunited with His Imperial Highness Isierd Declair, who had been missing for eight years…】
“Wait.”
“Is something wrong, Miss Riersha? Did you find something strange?”
“Somethin’ feels off. Why did the Emperor tell Isierd it had been eight years? Specifically eight years?”
There had been no need to be that precise.
Come to think of it, that particular phrasing had actually undermined the Imperial household’s position — or at the very least, made things more complicated.
Oberon nodded slowly.
“That is a fair point. Even if the Declair Imperial family’s tradition is to determine the Crown Prince through merit and ability…”
There were still conservative nobles who firmly believed the eldest child ought to inherit the throne.
In practice, even in noble houses, was it not common for the title to pass to the firstborn?
Then Pernoa spoke up, his tone carrying the weight of someone who already understood.
“He did it on purpose. He announced Isierd’s age — that the boy is eight years old — in order to strip Crown Prince Adrian of his position.”
“An’ why’d he wan’ to do that?”
“Because once that’s done, power consolidates entirely in his own hands. Every small word that falls from his lips becomes something that matters.”
“…?”
“Think about it — an Emperor who has long been overshadowed by the Pope, quietly sidelined by his own nobles… how much do you imagine has been building up inside him all this time?”
“Then what you’re saying is…”
Rosinante’s expression darkened.
Pernoa continued, his voice even.
“Calius Declair’s purpose in all of this is to manufacture chaos — to set the Imperial Palace, the Magic Tower, and the Temple at each other’s throats.”
And in that scheme, Isierd’s sudden appearance was an exceptionally useful card for the Emperor to hold.
