Chapter 40
The Queen stared at Karsiel, not even blinking.
She looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Balthazar gritted his teeth so hard that they almost made a cracking sound, and the members of Aphellemion, including Julius, just stared at him blankly.
“Ah, Karsiel! Is this true?”
The Emperor was the only one to greet him with an unexpectedly bright face, as if he were illuminated by light.
It was a stark contrast to the weariness from just moments ago.
“You say you took the surrender? Did you bring the documents? Where are the others?”
“I opened a portal from Kahnav to deliver the peace treaty personally.”
Karsiel handed the documents to the Emperor, and upon reviewing them, the Emperor broke into a wide grin.
“They agreed to all the demands.”
He trembled with joy.
“Now, I can finally rest. I can shed the disgrace that the empire’s territory shrank while I reigned.”
While the Emperor murmured in happiness, the Queen kept her lips tightly pressed, watching Karsiel.
“…How.”
Finally, she spoke.
“How did you win?”
“I didn’t know Your Majesty was so interested in military strategy,” Karsiel said with a cold smile.
“Well, the consensus among the soldiers is that they were blessed by the goddess,” he added, with a sly grin.
“Are you mocking me?”
The Queen asked stiffly.
“Does the Crown Prince think I don’t understand war because I’m a woman?”
“How could I say such a thing? I know Your Majesty’s knowledge of war far exceeds that of my brother,” Karsiel said softly, and both the Queen and Balthazar shot him a glare, understanding the insult directed at Balthazar.
“I’m not joking. The reason we captured the king was thanks to someone who gave us information about Tar’s terrain, and it was also that same person who helped cure the soldiers’ poisoning. The soldiers are praising her as the goddess of war.”
“Who is this person?”
The Emperor asked, still holding the peace treaty and beaming with joy.
“Iris Aphellemion.”
Karsiel answered.
“The Aphellemion Princess here. Or…”
He paused briefly and then continued.
“She is of age now, so she will naturally inherit the title. She should be called the Duke now.”
His gaze turned toward me.
His eyes, which had been cold until now, were subtly curving.
I exhaled deeply. I could finally sense the gravity of the situation.
Karsiel Parnass was alive and had returned.
And now, he was on my side.
Having perfectly understood the clues I gave about the Battle of Secse, he had applied them in the field and was now attributing all the credit for the victory to me.
Now, this was a fight with a chance of winning.
“That’s audacious, Crown Prince.”
The Queen furrowed her brows as she spoke.
“What’s audacious about it?”
“If the war is over, the custom is to send an envoy first to announce the news, and the commander should return with the troops. The problem is that you returned without any formal arrangements, and the battlefield hasn’t even been cleaned up.”
“No messenger could be faster than a portal, and only a few of us, besides me, had enough magic to use the old portal in Kahnav.”
“You’re arguing with me now!”
“I’m simply informing you about the battlefield.”
“Crown Prince!”
“The Queen doesn’t seem pleased with the victory or my return.”
Karsiel smiled coldly again.
“Why no congratulations? There are so many people here; what do you think they’ll say?”
“…!”
The Queen’s hand, which was gripping the armrest, trembled slightly, but in the next instant, she quickly relaxed her expression and spoke.
“Of course, I’m not displeased. Though I didn’t give birth to him, the Crown Prince is my son, just like Balthazar.”
The Queen’s eyes lost their firmness for a brief moment, and a chilling smile crossed her face.
“Any mother would welcome the return of her son. But besides war, the state affairs are busy, and the Crown Prince’s appearance has interrupted important discussions.”
“I heard outside that Balthazar proposed to the woman who loves me, but was rejected?”
He grinned and looked at Balthazar, whose face turned red.
“What, what are you saying, brother!”
“Didn’t I tell you to come quickly as reinforcements? If you had, you’d have made achievements instead of being rejected by a woman.”
“Brother! You’re being too harsh!”
Balthazar, shaking all over, didn’t argue back strongly.
I then remembered the reputation I had heard of Karsiel from the past.
The Crown Prince’s tongue is sharper than his sword.
The most skilled orators, the roughest fishermen, and even the Queen, who can control the country with a single word, all tense up when Karsiel speaks.
“The Emperor,” Karsiel spoke coldly, “the issue of Aphellemion’s succession won’t drag on.”
“Crown Prince, this is none of your business!”
The Queen spoke, and the smile she had put on earlier faded once again.
“I heard what Your Majesty said earlier. You mentioned that the princess cannot manage the family until she proves she can. You said a proxy is necessary.”
“That’s the empire’s tradition.”
“The princess led the war to victory, something she couldn’t finish in the last two years. She saved my life and gave me the wisdom to capture the King of Tar. If someone like her cannot lead a family, then all noble families in the empire should lose their title.”
“Are you saying we should recognize her achievements based solely on the Crown Prince’s words?”
“If you doubt it, you can investigate right now. You can check where the poisonous thorn toxin that poisoned me and my troops came from and how it was treated.”
The Queen’s fist, clenched tightly, trembled slightly.
She hadn’t known that the entire army had been cured of poisoning or that the toxin was a thorn toxin.
Despite her efforts to destroy the evidence and blame Gale Thales, she couldn’t help but flinch at Karsiel’s mention of the thorn toxin, knowing that he had already figured it out.
“I’ll say it again. The soldiers are already praising the princess as the goddess of war. If Your Majesty doesn’t like it, then you can convince them. If they trust Your Majesty’s words over mine, all those rumors will disappear.”
The Queen’s face twisted further.
Soldiers generally listen to their commander.
If the commander is a Crown Prince, even more so. Even if the Queen shouted that his words were false, without clear evidence, she wouldn’t be able to convince the soldiers who had already made up their minds.
“That’s not the same thing.”
The Queen finally spoke.
“The operation of the Duke’s family is vital to the empire’s standing…”
“The soldiers are happy to have the goddess of war as their protector. The rumor has already spread to Tar as well.”
Karsiel ignored the Queen and spoke directly to the Emperor.
“Which will raise the soldiers’ morale more? A princess who hasn’t earned the right to stand on her own without a proxy, or a goddess who’s praised by the soldiers? Which will demoralize the enemy and keep them from daring to target the empire?”
“…!”
The Emperor’s eyes widened as if he realized something.
“I heard rumors from Kahnav that the curse of the ancient evil god is spreading. The prophecy that the grudge the founding emperor had with the evil god from the western continent will soon come to fruition. You must have heard it as well, Your Majesty.”
“…I’ve heard.”
The Emperor nodded uncomfortably.
“According to legend, the first Duke of Aphellemion was the one who sealed the evil god who had dominated the continent during the founding era. That’s why the common people see the Aphellemion family as the symbol of the empire’s power against the evil god.”
“…”
“If the head of that family is left vacant for too long, the rumors about the evil god will only grow stronger. There are many reasons why the princess should be recognized as the head.”
Karsiel pressed the Emperor, the Queen, and Balthazar with a sharp tone.
The Queen and Balthazar were silent, and even the Emperor hesitated before speaking.
“…I will make the decision.”
Finally, the Emperor spoke again.
I instinctively lifted my head.
My heart pounded.
“The daughter of Bael Aphellemion, Iris Aphellemion, will inherit the title of Duke.”
It was done.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty!”
“From this moment on, Aphellemion will no longer need any proxies. Iris Aphellemion will receive the title and serve the royal family and the empire.”
The Queen and Balthazar looked at the Emperor with stunned faces.
“Your Majesty, how can you make this decision based solely on the Crown Prince’s words?”
“It’s not just that. The honor of the royal family was at stake. There’s no other justification.”
“…You’ve insulted me!”
“Lienne, it’s not like that!”
The Queen stood up abruptly, and the Emperor, sweating nervously, tried to stop her, but there was no reversal.
Reluctantly, she sat back down, her face cold.
“…The Duke of Aphellemion will not be welcomed in my palace.”
She added that spiteful comment, but since the Emperor had already made his decision, the Queen couldn’t defy it.
“Bael Aphellemion’s daughter, Iris Aphellemion, will inherit the title of Duke by royal command.”
I quickly bowed my head, hoping the command wouldn’t be revoked.
My chest was overflowing with emotion. I felt like I could fly.
I had finally done it.
I saved Karsiel, pushed out the Penton family, and officially inherited the Duke of Aphellemion, a title I never had in my past lives.
Now, Aphellemion was entirely mine. It would never be taken from me again.
“It’s done, it’s done!”
“Phew… I feel so sorry for Bael.”
“I’ve been waiting for this day for five years.”
Aken threw a fist into the air, Morve wiped his chest, and Jurik wiped away tears.
In the noisy hall, only Julius, Lucilla, and Balthazar stood silent, with hollow expressions on their faces.
“Iris.”
“Ah, Iris! Let’s talk.”
“Hey, why aren’t you answering when your uncle calls you?”
Julius shouted as he followed me and Morvet into the mansion, followed by Lucilla and Bartol, who were also trailing behind, staggering.
“Iri……”
“Julius Fenton and his family, please kneel.”
I said as soon as the mansion door closed.
“……What?”
The three people following me opened their mouths with blank expressions.
“Get on your knees.”
I gave the order again with a cold face.
“From now on, as the head of the Apellemion family, I will condemn the Fenton family.”
