Empty (9)

“If that is the way the imperial family continues its life, then I will give the same order as many times as necessary.”

“That’s fortunate—because Your Majesty and the imperial family are cowards.”

Alicia straightened her back and fixed her posture.

“Are you not afraid of the crime of insulting the imperial family?!”

The Emperor shouted again.

“Your Majesty, I worry that your august self may be harmed. Please compose yourself. In my modest wish to live a happy married life, I committed discourtesy. May I speak again about the Great Temple’s lands?”

Alicia spoke with impeccable courtesy, infuriatingly so.

“Speak.”

The Emperor struggled to suppress his boiling rage, but he did not press further because none of her points were incorrect.

His expression, as he threw a glance at Reichardt, was saturated with displeasure.

Reichardt accepted the Emperor’s gaze in silence.

“Your Majesty. Tessen will cleanse the Great Temple’s lands by imperial command. In compensation, please approve the Grand Duchy of Tessen’s independence. Also, grant us the authority to negotiate regarding the Great Temple and the underground labyrinth.”

Alicia stated her terms without hesitation.

“A grand duchy?!”

The Emperor sprang to his feet on the dais.

It was exactly the reaction she expected—nothing surprising.

Alicia did not respond to his roar.

“…”

Reichardt stared at Alicia with a shocked expression.

Alicia spoke while looking not at the dais, but at Reichardt.

“I want you to be free, Rei. You won’t be able to throw away all the duties of imperial blood—but I want you to escape, at least, the shackles of being subordinate to your family. Even if only in form, I want you to be in a position where you’re not receiving the Emperor’s command, but receiving the Emperor’s request. The moment I stand on my own, I want to become, for you, the turning point you urged me to be. I want to be the one who gives you that, too.”

Reichardt, who had stood expressionless and tried to erase his presence, broke into a bright smile at her words.

“Lady Alicia. You cannot yet represent Tessen.”

The Emperor, watching the two of them, hurriedly cut in.

“Your Majesty, I can.”

“I cannot allow a request to approve Tessen’s independence as a grand duchy!”

The Emperor shouted loud enough to make the dais ring.

“Your Majesty, it is true that I presented a petition, but I am not asking permission. Do you not know it as well? From now on, Tessen will not move without proper compensation. I will await Your Majesty’s wise choice.”

Alicia’s gentle voice was neither soft nor kind.

“I…”

The sky-blue eyes trembled with unease.

To this day, the Empire had never once permitted the independence of a kingdom—or a grand duchy.

Instead, it had mustered all its power to destroy such lands.

The Empire had endured so long because it never forgave even the smallest territory that raised a hand against it.

And when force was needed to protect a single Empire, the one who had always stood at the front was the Grand Duke of Tessen.

“Lady Alicia, this is not a matter I can decide lightly.”

“Your Majesty. Accept your defeat. And remember this—without me, the imperial family has no ‘you’ to protect.”

Alicia offered the Emperor an arrogant declaration, then gave Reichardt a gentle smiling glance.

“…Reichardt.”

At the Emperor’s call, Reichardt withdrew the gaze he’d been sending Alicia.

He then offered courtesy toward the dais and answered.

“With due respect, Tessen submits this to Your Majesty. The punitive pain I endure began manifesting unpredictably rather than following a fixed cycle since the third month. By chance, I learned that if I hold Alicia’s hand, the pain disappears. After separating from Ingrid, my suffering has progressed in a form even I cannot understand. However—when I am with Alicia, the pain vanishes.”

The Emperor rose halfway—then collapsed back into his seat.

“Then…”

There was emptiness and crushing defeat in the Emperor’s voice.

“I may not be able to live without Alicia.”

Reichardt said it as if driving in the final nail.

“…”

The Emperor closed his eyes.

Without Reichardt, it would be difficult to guarantee the remaining royals’ safety.

In the end, without Alicia, there was no imperial family.

Alicia flicked a glance at Reichardt as he spoke to the Emperor.

She had passed him the floor because she wanted exactly this—but she hadn’t expected Reichardt to lie so smoothly.

The Royal Dot’s punishment was gone.

Probably.

Reichardt claimed he couldn’t be certain, but if he had felt a change, it was almost certainly true.

The Emperor did not doubt Reichardt at all.

Alicia wondered if Reichardt was the only one who could directly sense the Royal Dot’s punishment.

Silence fell over the audience chamber.

The Emperor did not move, delaying his decision.

Alicia and Reichardt held their silence as well.

“I will permit it. I will approve the Grand Duchy of Tessen. However, it is not a light matter, and not something I alone should decide. I will have the remaining direct line attend, and make the final decision.”

The Emperor’s voice sank heavily.

He looked nearly resigned, yet still unable to accept it cleanly, as though lingering regret remained.

“You will understand that much, yes? Lady Alicia.”

The Emperor added the rest with impeccable politeness.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I am in awe of Your Majesty’s brilliance. Shall this unworthy person withdraw?”

Alicia asked softly.

“No.”

The Emperor refused with a wave of his hand.

His gaze landed on Reichardt standing to one side.

It seemed the Emperor feared that without Alicia beside him, Reichardt could fall into pain.

“Reichardt, give the order to the Chief Steward.”

Though the Emperor was an old fox who committed countless sinister acts, the guilt he felt toward his suffering younger brother seemed genuine.

Those fear-drenched sky-blue eyes could not tear away from Reichardt.

At the Emperor’s command, Reichardt headed for the audience chamber door.

The Chief Steward’s voice was heard, and then footsteps followed.

It seemed the royals had been summoned in advance, before Alicia was called in.

Most likely, they had been kept waiting to finalize the marriage, and then hold a simple family congratulatory gathering.

“…”

Alicia rose from her chair and prepared to receive the royals.

“Your Majesty, we have come at your summons.”

The first to appear were Marquis Lennox and Marquis Estebna.

The two approached the dais naturally and stood side by side.

Princess Louise, Princess Anri, and Princess Henrietta entered the chamber and greeted the Emperor, Reichardt, and Alicia.

They stood beside the two marquises.

Servants entered and prepared chairs.

The Emperor descended the steps from the dais.

He had Alicia’s chair moved to the left, and had a seat prepared beside her for Reichardt.

Through the open door of the audience chamber, the final person entered.

“Your Majesty.”

“High Priest.”

The Emperor and the High Priest greeted one another with a nod.

“Lady Alicia.”

“High Priest.”

As she moved toward the Emperor, High Priest Banie acknowledged Alicia.

Alicia returned the greeting with a simple address.

With the Emperor at the center, the royals sat to the right, and Alicia and Reichardt sat to the left.

The High Priest observed from a seat set apart from the others.

At the Emperor’s gesture, everyone sat.

“The reason I have called you all today is to announce an important change. In exchange for resolving the issue of the unidentified monsters, Tessen has demanded independence as a grand duchy.”

Those suddenly summoned drew in sharp breaths at the shocking news.

They looked stunned—this was nothing like the reason they had been waiting for the Emperor’s call.

“Your Majesty… are you saying you permitted the creation of the Grand Duchy of Tessen?”

Marquis Lennox asked with a furrowed brow.

“I judged it could serve the Empire’s peace and stability, and thus decided to permit it. Do you have any other opinion?”

“Your Majesty, a grand duchy is absurd.”

Marquis Lennox objected strongly.

“Marquis Lennox. Then will you resolve the problem that arose at the Great Temple?”

Princess Louise spoke as she pulled off the lace gloves she had been wearing.

“B-But!”

‘But’ what? Reichardt is suffering in place of all the royals. We can elevate him as Grand Duke, but saying we cannot permit a grand duchy is nonsense. Your Majesty, is the seating arrangement meant to split us into sides? Should this man go over there?”

Princess Louise answered with a snort at Marquis Lennox’s protest.

“No, Sister.”

At the Emperor’s reply, the briefly stirred atmosphere settled.

“Rather than that, I have questions. If Tessen becomes independent as a grand duchy, what happens to the Rune Empire’s western border? Will it remain the boundary of Tessen’s Western Command, or will it become Restoe in front of Tessen? And the forces currently dispatched to Tessen by imperial order—if Tessen becomes independent, do they return to the Empire, or are they absorbed into Tessen?”

Marquis Estebna fired off a string of questions.

“If Tessen becomes independent, the Empire’s foremost line will be Restoe. In truth, even now, the troops stationed at Restoe are already the first inland line, so little changes. However, if Tessen collapses, the Empire will take the blow—so we will keep the forces sent by imperial order there. Well—if the Grand Duke of Tessen permits it.”

The Emperor answered quickly, then added the last part bitterly.

“A grand duchy—unprecedented—!”

Marquis Lennox thrust out another heated line in the brief opening.

“I agree to approving Tessen as a grand duchy. Even now, Tessen is so distant that the Empire’s center can hardly control it; it is practically an independent state already. The Empire has grown too vast. Allowing places that are hard to control to become independent may be better for the Empire.”

Marquis Estebna cut in with his opinion, slicing across Marquis Lennox’s outburst.

“If Tessen becomes a grand duchy, what of the lands Reichardt holds within the Empire? As I recall, all of them were granted by Your Majesty.”

Princess Henrietta raised a sharp-voiced doubt.

“As long as I rule the Empire and Tessen does not turn its back on the Empire, they will remain as they are.”

At that, Princess Henrietta puckered her lips.

“Your Majesty. Why did you call us here? To show us you wrung a big share out of Reichardt and let him go independent?”

“Henrietta.”

Princess Anri called to Princess Henrietta in an intellectual voice.

The call carried the meaning: Act your age.

“The Royal Dot’s punishment cycle has changed.”

The Emperor said, casting his gaze toward Alicia and Reichardt.

“…”

“…”

The royals stiffened in an instant.

After scanning one another’s faces, their eyes finally turned to Alicia.

She was the only outsider there.

“I have been threatened. Reichardt is in a state where he could be driven to death by pain at any moment, they say. By chance, we learned that the pain disappears if he is with Alicia Rain. Do you all understand what that means? It means the safety of every royal depends on Alicia Rain.”

At the Emperor’s words, the royals even stopped breathing for a moment.

“…”

Alicia found their consistent reaction absurd.

That they had all known about Reichardt’s suffering was horrifying and disgusting.

The Emperor was trying to formally approve Tessen as a grand duchy.

And he was also warning the royals— to be careful with Alicia, and not to act rashly.

“Be careful with your words and conduct.”

The Emperor said with a faint smile.

Just now, the Emperor had essentially made a declaration.

Alicia was the royals’ savior, and at the same time, the royals’ possession.

‘Damn it, Emperor.’

With her head lowered, Alicia cursed silently where no one else could hear.

Only Reichardt, with his sharp hearing, caught it.

Reichardt took Alicia’s hand and gave it a soothing squeeze.

All eyes converged at once on their joined hands.

Alicia spoke gently toward the eyes fixed on her.

“I’m healthy, so you needn’t worry too much. I won’t suddenly drop dead. Assassins come from time to time, but I can handle them on my own.”

The royals were startled by the calm statement.

The Emperor had effectively declared her the royals’ ‘property,’ yet Alicia remained unshaken.

Even if she was an untouchable ‘asset,’ being threatened by powerful royals was not a small matter.

Alicia didn’t seem to care at all.