The Emperor's Pilgrimage
Theodore spoke with a blank expression.
"Bring a chair for the lady."
One of the men moved quickly to fetch a chair. Sofia, thinking that maintaining her dignity was futile, brushed off her skirt once before sitting upright on the seat.
After Theodore had someone bring her water, he spoke as if offering an excuse.
"I had no choice, as I intended to swap you with a corpse. I made it look as if the entire transport carriage had been attacked."
"I see."
Sofia did not offer thanks prematurely. She still did not know why the Count of Lutgarth had spirited her away.
One of the knights handed her a canteen. She drank the water, finding it as sweet as nectar. It was enough to make her feel that she owed him a debt of gratitude for the water alone.
"What is it you want from me?"
She asked plainly. Theodore looked at her as if surprised.
"Are you not going to set any conditions for a deal?"
"You have already shown me the faces of my family. You must have wanted something from me to have extracted both them and myself. I know that if I refuse to grant what you desire, my life and the lives of my family will end right here."
"I had heard that Lady Sofia was wise, but your situational awareness is faster than I imagined."
Even for a smart person, it is not easy to keep thinking clearly when exhausted and desperate. Sofia was a sufficiently strong and capable person.
Theodore said calmly.
"There is someone who wants you."
"Someone... who wants me?"
Sofia repeated the words. More than the fact that someone wanted her, she was concerned about who it could be that the Count of Lutgarth spoke of with such a reverent attitude. To think he would personally step in to handle such a trivial and dirty affair.
Complex thoughts swirled in her mind, but the pieces refused to fit together. Her role had been limited to the Imperial Palace and high society, so she lacked sufficient information.
Theodore did not bother to test her. He had intended to eliminate Sofia right there if she did not accept his proposal anyway. So, there was no need to hide the information.
"Her Highness, the 1st Imperial Princess."
It took a moment for Sofia to process those words. But thinking of the time Duke Klaus had broken his seclusion, her eyes widened.
"Could it be...?"
"Her Highness Princess Olivia, born to the late Empress Adelaide, will soon return to her rightful place."
Theodore spoke as if to drive a wedge into her certainty.
"I need information from within the Imperial Palace in preparation for her entry. Furthermore, I wish to recruit your people."
"I have already been ousted. The maids and senior servants I personally brought in must have all been cast out as well."
"Not all of them, surely."
"..."
"You cannot replace everyone working in the Imperial Palace at once. And in my estimation, you likely planted your own people separately, beyond the authority or role of a head maid."
Sofia was not merely a head maid; she was the person who had governed the entire Imperial Palace in Lilian's stead. She must have constructed a separate intelligence network and built connections, not just to escape the Duke of Schwaben, but to fulfill the role she had been tasked with.
"If you do not cooperate, you will die here. This is hardly the time to be weighing your options, is it?"
"If I am judged to be useless, what happens?"
"That is for the Princess to decide, so I cannot answer. But at the very least, you will not end up in Wintertal."
Sofia took a deep breath.
"Please... send my family far away. I will not even ask you to protect them. If you only ensure they can discard their status and live safely in a distant land, I will cooperate."
Theodore nodded. In truth, he had no intention of killing her family even if Sofia refused to cooperate, but there was no need to say that aloud. Knowing that he held the location of her family would be enough to ensure she would not betray him twice.
"Very well. It would be dangerous to enter the capital for the time being, so rest here. In the meantime, I would like you to write down as much information about the inside of the Imperial Palace as you can."
"Understood."
Theodore stood up, called for a knight, and ordered him to provide Sofia with a clean room, meals, and clothing. Then, he stepped outside first.
The date of the Emperor's outing was decided with caution.
Ezekiel regarded the Emperor as a loser and ignored him, but he knew well that the man was a powerful justification capable of overturning everything simply by his existence.
He took every security precaution to ensure this news did not reach the outside, in case anyone tried to meet the Emperor. He had intended to mobilize the entire Imperial Guard for protection, but the Emperor refused.
"The Duke is doing something quite laughable. Mobilizing the entire Imperial Guard while hoping it doesn't reach the outside?"
"It is for Your Majesty's safety."
"I am on borrowed time, but I shall be truly safe until then. That is a comfort."
Helmut, caught in the middle, was having a miserable time.
"One cannot mourn under the eyes of surveillance. Tell the Imperial Guard to wait outside the cemetery."
"But, Your Majesty."
"My, my. It is the Imperial Guard in name, yet the Duke of Schwaben gives the orders."
"Your Majesty..."
"Isn't the goal to prevent me from contacting others? Who would be at the Imperial family's ancestral tomb anyway? You can achieve your goal even if you block people from entering from the outside. I wish to meet my wife and daughter in private, so do as I say."
Knowing that the Emperor had made a significant concession, Helmut had no choice but to persuade Ezekiel. Ezekiel frowned as if displeased, but eventually, he had no choice but to nod. The Emperor's words were not wrong.
"Surround the ancestral tomb thoroughly. Do not let a single ant escape."
He even went so far as to call the captain of the Imperial Guard and issue the order personally.
On the day of the visit, the Emperor woke up early, like a child excited for a picnic. He went out to the greenhouse and cut flowers himself.
"In the past, I had no interest in things like flowers. When I sent flowers to my wife, I would just point with my finger, saying 'this one, that one,' without even knowing their names."
"Is that so? You are an excellent gardener now, Your Majesty."
"When one has nothing to do, one acquires all sorts of hobbies."
The Lord Chamberlain wore a troubled expression again. Ignoring him, the Emperor gathered the large roses he had grown himself and wrapped them in fine paper.
White for his parents, red for his wife, and pink for his daughter. His arms were full with the three bouquets.
He entrusted them to the Lord Chamberlain and went to change his clothes. Even though there was no occasion to wear them, a newly tailored formal suit was prepared in his dressing room. Among them, he chose a navy blue suit. It was the color his wife had said suited him well.
Then, he took the bouquets back from the Lord Chamberlain, held them in his arms, and boarded the carriage. The Lord Chamberlain tried to follow him inside, but before he could, the Emperor grabbed the carriage door handle himself and spoke.
"I will go alone today."
"Your Majesty."
"Even if your position is difficult, it cannot be helped. No matter how powerless an Emperor I may be, I do not wish to show anyone the sight of me crying like a mess."
"Then, I shall follow in another carriage."
"Do as you wish, then."
Having received permission, the Lord Chamberlain bowed and stepped back. The Emperor closed the door himself.
It had been years since he had visited the Imperial ancestral tomb. His last outing had also been a visit to the graves. The previous Duke of Schwaben—whether one would say he had more humanity than Ezekiel or that he looked down on the Emperor even more—had not gone so far as to block his visits to the graves.
The carriage stopped in front of the ancestral tomb. He stepped out, holding the bouquets. The Imperial Guard stood surrounding the cemetery fence at regular intervals.
The Emperor smirked at the sight. Did they not look exactly like soldiers guarding a prison, no matter how one viewed them?
But today was a good day. So, he would not get angry at such things one by one.
"Wait here."
He commanded the escort knights following him coldly. The escort knights flinched, but since they had been instructed beforehand, they stopped at the entrance.
The Emperor slowly entered the cemetery, holding the bouquets.
The Imperial ancestral tomb was not very large, but it was laid out like a beautiful garden. Walking along the path, one could reach the desired grave directly without passing through others.