NOVEL NEXT chapter 7
7 – Episode 7
The funeral is almost over, and the Emperor’s officials enter the underground tomb.
Oh, great Emperor… may you find peace with your ancestors…
After a brief mourning for him, they come out of the tomb.
At that moment.
“Nice to meet you, Your Grace.”
A woman with an uneasy expression in the corner greets me.
A cute impression with red hair and freckles that go well together.
“I’m Ifa. Um… Princess Hwangtae wanted to meet you after the funeral, so she sent me a letter.”
She says so and hands me a letter.
“Um… she asked me to listen to your reply…”
Hesitating, Ifa glances at me, and I briefly glance at her before turning my attention to the letter.
The seal of Princess Hwangtae engraved in red wax.
After confirming that there is no one around, I tear open the seal and read the letter.
[Greetings, Your Grace.
I am sending this letter despite the inconvenience, as I would like to discuss state affairs with you and have dinner together today.
If you are not too busy, I hope you can come.]
A letter from Theodora.
Hmm…
I ponder while looking at her neat handwriting.
Well… it’s something we have to meet someday.
I say to Ifa.
“Thank you for the dinner invitation. Tell her I appreciate it, and I’ll arrive on time, even if it’s a bit late.”
Ifa nods in response to my words.
“I… I will deliver it that way.”
He watches as Ipa quickly leaves her seat and looks at the envelope.
“A gift… I should bring it with me, right…?”
***
“Sigh… The work is never-ending.”
The reports piled up in front of me.
From the deployment of troops and urgent complaints from the Grand Empire to the movements of the Emperor’s faction preparing to march to Roman…
There is too much to review and see.
“Phew…”
-Knock, knock!
“Your Highness, I am here.”
I weakly respond to the voice coming from outside.
“Come in…”
My left eye hurts a bit.
When I rub my left eye with my hand.
-Squeak
Agrifa brings a gift for Theodora.
“What is this…?”
Theodora had asked Agrifa to bring a gift for her.
“It’s famous chocolate from Roman.”
Chocolate…
I heard that they started making chocolate even here, using cocoa fruit from the New Continent.
I have to find time to go out lately…
“Thank you… *sigh*”
-Thud.
Like a cotton soaked in exhaustion, I slump into the chair, leaning my body against it.
“It seems like you haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”
Agripa says with a worried tone…
“Pot calling the kettle black. You’ve got dark circles too.”
Half-curly golden hair.
Intellectual-looking glasses.
Refined clothing.
And… a handsome face.
Though Agripa possesses a handsome appearance that could belong in a pure-hearted comic book, his face is marked by heavy dark circles.
“hahahaha…”
At present, the only people I can trust and rely on are Agripa and Mary.
Well, as for Mary… she’s staying in the Grand Kingdom to prevent any unfortunate events that may occur there, and Agripa is pondering ways to remedy this situation in the midst of enemy territory with me.
*Sigh*.
“Well then, I’ll have dinner with the Princess and come back.”
Saying that, he gets up from the chair and hands me a gift.
“Here it is.”
“Thank you.”
With one hand accepting the gift, Hwang Tae-nyeo heads towards her dwelling.
The sun gradually sets.
She follows the long and splendid corridor.
A massive royal palace.
My dwelling now is a guest room.
It is quite distinct from the place where the royal family resides.
Hmm… What should I do…?
Should I really hand over Epirus and Ejip to the Emperor’s faction?
After much deliberation with Agrippa, we ultimately agreed that we must prevent a war.
War is an extension of politics.
In other words, it means that war can be prevented through politics.
“Well… both the anti-Emperor faction and the Emperor’s faction are ultimately bound to the Empire, so it’s not an incorrect statement to say that politics is wrong.”
In the end, the compromise that Agrippa and I chose is to give the Emperor’s faction the enormous territories that the Emperor has held for generations.
Epirus and Ejip, the massive territories held by the Emperor.
Neither of them is an ordinary territory; they are both territories of kingdom-level scale.
Moreover, they are not insignificant kingdoms.
Epirus is an important region that accounts for 20% of the Empire’s revenue, with abundant mines and numerous industrial guilds.
Ejip is a vast city-state of Rome, serving as the Empire’s premier musical center and providing stable food supply.
The emperor controlled the imperial faction nobles in these two regions.
“Sigh… There will be strong resistance, won’t there…?”
That’s why there would be much opposition in the negotiations that span such vast territories.
Especially… Theodora would surely oppose.
Because it’s the land owned by the imperial family for generations.
But if I can just get through this crisis now, I am confident I can reclaim it within a year.
What I need now is to rebuild the anti-imperial faction and seize the neutral faction… So, I can bow down for now.
“How can I quell the opposition…?”
Even if Theodora becomes the emperor, she has no real power. Right now, I need to address the internal opposition first, don’t I?
I ponder on ways to quell the internal opposition.
Wait? But why is she asking to see me?
As I think that, I arrive at the residence where the princess is staying.
The eunuch who brought the letter from the funeral bows to me and says, “Your Grace, Princess Hwantaenyuh is waiting.”
“I understand.”
Nodding at my words, the eunuch guides me somewhere.
As I follow her, I hear the beautiful sound of music.
The elegant and graceful sound of the violin grows closer and closer.
Ipa stops in front of a room and knocks.
– Knock, knock!
“Princess Hwang, His Grace has arrived.”
The sound of the violin stops at those words.
“He asks you to come in.”
A beautiful voice comes from beyond the door.
– Creak!
As Ipa opens the door, a woman in a black dress appears.
Long gray hair.
A tall, slender woman is seen organizing her violin.
And then.
– Snap!
The woman puts her violin in its case.
“Welcome, Your Grace.”
She turns her head and our eyes meet, a beautiful woman with cold expression facing me.
Long gray hair, slender legs, and a beautiful face.
The cold eyes and the red lips as captivating as her eyes, it’s Theodora.
She looks at me with a chilly face.
I lightly bow and express my gratitude.
“Thank you for the invitation, Princess Hwang.”
And, taking out the gift that Agrifaga handed me from my arms, I speak.
“I apologize for only bringing such a gift in haste after being invited.”
Teodora seems to deny my words.
“No, not at all. Just by accepting the invitation like this, I don’t know how to express my gratitude.”
She says that, but she wears a colder expression than anyone else.
“Thank you for saying that.”
At that moment, Ifa intervenes and says,
“If you give the gift to me, I will deliver it to Lady Hwanta later.”
In response to her words, I hand the gift to Ifa.
“Please take a seat, Your Grace.”
When Teodora suggests sitting at the table, I follow suit.
Then, she sits across from me and speaks with a beautiful voice.
“Thank you for arranging the funeral for the former emperor.”
“No, not at all. His Majesty the former emperor… was a cherished figure for everyone. I just did what needed to be done.”
As I say that blankly, Teodora stares at me intently.
Her red eyes coldly scan me.
It’s uncomfortable.
In the novel, knowing how vengeful she is, it feels a bit uncomfortable.
“Yes… Thank you for saying that.”
-Clap, clap!
With those words, she lightly claps her hands.
*Clap!*
The restaurant door opens, and the servants start bringing in the food one by one.
“I’m sorry there’s not much prepared for you.”
They start setting the food on our table.
“No, just the fact that you invited us is more than enough.”
“Is that so?”
I feel a bit puzzled by Theodora’s indifferent face and her questioning tone.
But… what’s with this attitude after inviting us?
Her expression and tone make it seem like she didn’t want to invite us in the first place.
Well… I kind of expected this.
I heard that the imperial family had a good relationship.
There was no typical competition for the throne, and the former crown prince was said to have adored his younger siblings.
I think Theodora might see me as some kind of enemy.
The one who shattered the peaceful family of Valeran.
Even if I killed Valeran, I’m still his son.
So, I understand why she’s reacting this way.
“Please, enjoy your meal before it gets cold.”
The expressionless woman says as she holds the tableware.
“Yes, of course.”
As the burdensome mealtime began.
Her glances flickering towards me are burdensome.
Though she tries to hide her gaze, her dazzling eyes are so…
Obvious.
When I’m pondering on what to say.
Theodora speaks up.
“Duke. Even if by any chance I were to poison the food, would you still eat so easily, thinking about what to do?”
In response to Theodora’s abrupt words, I casually reply.
“Have you poisoned it by any chance?”
At my words, Theodora smiles for the first time.
A very cold smile…
“Don’t you not know about that?”
She looks around once and continues.
“Your family executed the former emperor and the ex-crown prince. If that’s the level of sin, even if I were to poison you, no one would blame me, would they?”
-Sigh.
“That might be true. But since you are not a fool, you wouldn’t concoct such a sinister plan, would you?”
At my words, she responds with a slightly playful expression.
“What does my not being a fool have to do with your food not being poisoned?”
A smile that combines playfulness and coldness.
It seems like she brings up such things to threaten me.
Half-heartedly opposing marriage.
She might be threatening me as if she could kill me alone…
Is it because she’s still young?
Clumsy…
“Whether it matters or not, our capital has been occupied by soldiers from our Grand Duchy. The Golden Knights guarding the emperor have been expelled from the capital…”
She says that and soon opens her mouth as if ignoring her.
That’s how… she won’t do strange things.
“If I die, my soldiers will run wild. Can you handle that chaos?”
Even now, in this chaotic situation, if I die?
It’s obvious that the nobles and soldiers within the Grand Duchy will run wild.
In other words, it might turn into chaos or even transform into a bandit group.
A military without a leader and factions…
What kind of chaos they will bring is unknown, but everyone can anticipate that it will bring great chaos to this beautiful city of Roman within the Grand Duchy.
The Imperial faction and the soldiers who will soon fight.
Will they leave alone the Hwangtae-nyeo, who killed me? I absolutely don’t think so.
Both Hwangtae-nyeo and the remaining Hwangjok will… terribly die.
Their confusion will turn into clear violence, engulfing the palace.
And well… the council will likely fall apart.
After that, they will plunder Roman, full of expensive goods, and turn it into ashes, fleeing to the Grand Duchy.
It’s inevitable that something like Roman’s violation will happen.
If that happens, the empire will see the end of an era of peace that lasted for centuries.
Even if I were to survive as a survivor in such a chaotic situation… would Theodore be able to handle it?
Perhaps I would only be captivated by a second Balrong or a second me, only to be humiliated again.
That’s why I calmly spoke of the harsh reality.
She must obviously know this too…
“…”
So, she must be glaring at me with such an angry face.
Ignoring her, I continue to enjoy my meal.