Chapter 8
I steadied myself and turned my focus back to Aemon. My voice came out sharp and cold.
“Just because you barge in and tell me to come out, I’m supposed to obey?”
“Y-you, you, you…! How dare you! Do you even know who I am?!”
Aemon stomped his feet, his face flushed red.
“Ha! It’s always the ones who aren’t scary at all who shout, ‘Do you know who I am?’ Just because you’re the Crown Prince of Setrit, does that make you everything? I’m the Princess of Lesprys! My brother is a crown prince too! And he’s way taller than you!”
“You—you—! Restrain this wretched girl at once!”
When his words didn’t work on me, Aemon lashed out at his attendants. They shook their heads desperately, faces pale with fear.
“Ridiculous! Why should I kneel? Who dares to demand a princess of another empire kneel? Nanny! Go fetch all the knights of Lesprys!”
By the Emperor of Setrit’s permission, knights of Lesprys were stationed in this palace—fifteen of them, the same who had accompanied me back home.
“P-Princess… please, calm yourself…”
“If he’s coming at me with force, do you expect me to just take it?”
Aemon trembled violently.
What on earth did he come here for, just to provoke me like this? If he’d left me alone, I wouldn’t have bitten!
“You—you!”
“Don’t point your finger at me. Ugh, I hate rude people the most!”
“I—I hate you the most too!”
The crown prince screamed. His face bright red, his whole body shaking—it was almost funny to watch.
No wonder he’ll become a villain. Even from childhood, the signs were all there.
I could imagine how the Empress had raised him—spoiled and coddled. And the result? A tantrum-throwing child who couldn’t do anything without his mother.
“Well then, if you hate me, don’t come see me. Could you leave now? This place was granted as ‘my domain’ by His Majesty the Emperor of Setrit himself.”
“Temporary! That’s all it is! In the end, it’ll be mine!”
Oh, this childish brat. Did he really want to argue about mine and yours? I blew air at my bangs with a huff.
“Whatever the case, right now it’s not yours. So please, just leave!”
“…I-I wouldn’t even have come if Mother hadn’t ordered me to take you to the history museum!”
“What? I never got such a message. I wasn’t even sent an invitation!”
“H-hey! You didn’t send it? You didn’t send the invitation?!”
Aemon screamed at his attendants, jabbing his finger at them.
“T-that’s… because His Highness ordered us not to… You said it’d be funny to trick her…”
Caught off guard by the sudden blame, the attendant confessed. He quickly lowered his voice, but it was too late—I’d already heard everything.
Aemon snapped his head toward me, but I just smirked and looked at him with the most mocking face I could muster.
“I don’t go anywhere without an invitation. So, can you leave now?”
“Arghhh!”
Aemon stomped his feet hard. He pinched and smacked his attendants in frustration—he must have been absolutely seething.
“Nanny, I think I’ll get sick if I keep looking at him. Get him out of my sight.”
My nanny turned her gaze toward Aemon’s attendants. Her look clearly said: It’s better if you leave before things get worse.
The attendants exchanged glances, then scooped Aemon into their arms, bowed their heads to me, and disappeared.
“Phew.”
“Your Highness…”
“Hm?”
“N-nothing. Are you all right?”
“Ah… I think I feel a bit dizzy.”
Maybe I shouted too much. My body was frail as it was. My vision really was blurring… My body felt hot, and it wasn’t just anger…
“N-nanny…?”
“Your Highness!”
And just like that, my memory cut off, as if a film reel had been severed. Ugh, Roel must be waiting… System, if you’re messing with my death flags again, I won’t forgive you.
✦✦✦
The story of Crown Prince Aemon visiting Princess Sienna, acting rudely, and then leaving humiliated quickly reached the Empress.
“…Hahaha.”
The Empress chuckled.
Until now, no one had ever dared oppose Aemon. His status and his pampered upbringing had made his temper violent. He had grown up fearing nothing in the world. But now, at last, a worthy rival had appeared.
“Well, of course. The princess must have been raised preciously as well.”
“…That seems to be the case.”
“And besides, it’s true the crown prince acted rudely first, out of childish spite.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The head lady-in-waiting replied awkwardly.
“Still! Even so—does it make sense that in the Setrit Imperial Palace, she dared argue with my son? What were her attendants doing? Replace all of Aemon’s attendants immediately.”
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“If things went that far, they should have at least salvaged the purpose of the visit! And they let my son be the one forced to retreat?!”
The lady-in-waiting bowed her head. Blue flames burned in the Empress’s eyes.
In truth, she was venting her frustrations.
The incident of the princess collapsing had already forced her to sell off a small mine just to cover the costs of investigating the food. It had been enormously expensive, and now this fiasco on top of it all.
“There’s no need to let a quarrel between children escalate into a fight between adults.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty.”
The lady-in-waiting quickly nodded.
Though the crown prince’s behavior was an insult grave enough to spark diplomatic trouble, the Empress ordered strict silence from the servants, framing the event as nothing more than a childish spat.
“But… it wouldn’t hurt to teach that insolent girl a lesson. Summon the princess.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
The Empress tapped the table with her finger.
When Sienna arrived, she intended to persuade her with words first. A friendship between Sienna and Aemon would ultimately be a friendship between their empires.
She had no intention of marrying Aemon to someone as frail as Sienna, but for now, being close to her would benefit him. As long as Lesprys cherished their princess, they would look kindly on Aemon if he were dear to her.
Still… not like this, Princess.
The Empress planned to discipline Sienna thoroughly, to show her the overwhelming difference between Setrit and Lesprys.
At least, that was the plan—until she heard the next report.
“What… what did you just say?”
“The palace is in chaos, Your Majesty! All the doctors have been summoned! Princess Sienna has collapsed with a high fever! It happened right after the Crown Prince’s visit… and His Highness has already been summoned before the Emperor!”
The Empress’s plan was shattered.
The one who ended up in trouble was not the princess, but herself.
The Empress shot to her feet, face pale.
“I must see His Majesty at once. Prepare everything!”
“Your Majesty, they say the Emperor has forbidden anyone from entering. Especially you.”
The Empress staggered, collapsing back into her seat, clutching her head.
“Ha…”
Her heart pounded furiously.
The Emperor wouldn’t execute Aemon. Yes, he wouldn’t. It would be fine.
She bit her lip hard. Closing her eyes didn’t change reality.
“…The princess. Is she—will she be all right?”
If anything happened to the princess now, it would be disastrous. The Empress resolved to act.
“Contact Duke Evergreen again. I must see the princess at once.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Empress rose unsteadily to her feet.
✦✦✦
Cold sweat dripped down Aemon’s back as he bowed.
The Emperor’s piercing gaze cut into him.
“Your mother’s constant coddling has turned you into a fool who cannot tell heaven from earth.”
“F-father…”
Aemon trembled.
It was almost unheard of for him to be summoned alone like this.
Of course it was. The Emperor rarely concerned himself with his children. In fact, he rarely concerned himself with most things. His only focus was the empire and the throne. Nothing else mattered.
“From the moment you were born, I demanded only one thing of you—that as Crown Prince, you must never show inadequacy.”
The Emperor’s gaze was sharp as a blade.
Under it, Aemon always felt small. No matter how hard he tried, it felt as if the Emperor’s eyes screamed at him: You are not enough.
The Empress insisted the Emperor loved his son. But Aemon doubted it.
To him, the Emperor did not love him. The Emperor only loved what Aemon could provide—the empire’s safety and prosperity.
Aemon feared him.
To him, the Emperor was never a father. He was only… the Emperor.
