A Suspicious Heart
“Could it be that she had ulterior motives?”
We need to drive the wedge in deeper.
Because the visitor was a woman from a house so minor it hardly counted, Chloe had brought in a vassal of the Madarin Barony to argue that there was no reason to admit her into the imperial palace.
At Chloe’s gesture, a servant led the man forward. He kept darting his eyes around like someone who had been dragged here without the slightest idea why.
“I greet the sun of the Empire.”
The man approached cautiously and bowed deeply toward Conrad at the end of the hall.
“You may rise.”
Conrad waved a hand dismissively, as if the matter were trivial. He seemed to know the man’s identity already. The man straightened, but he still could not bring himself to meet the gaze of the exalted emperor and instead declared his station.
“I am Shuren, a vassal of the Madarin Barony.”
Shuren Adorf.
In truth, he was the second son of the Adorf viscount family of the Ferman Empire.
When Regina’s division of mages had been established, he had fled there to avoid a struggle over the succession of titles—a rather unusual fellow.
He had been Regina’s aide and the one in charge of espionage in the Fredericks Empire.
“I have a question for you.”
Before Conrad could even open his mouth, Chloe stepped in first.
Her attitude was displeasing, but Conrad did not bother to speak. Only the slight lift of his brows made his irritation plain.
Chloe ignored it and went on.
“Is there any direct blood relative left in the Madarin Barony?”
“There is.”
“Lift your head.”
When permission was granted, Shuren raised his face.
His eyes trembled as he looked up at the high throne. Regina, watching the dazed man with his mouth hanging open in shock, curved her eyes in amusement.
The nobles who had been staring blankly at that face all let out small exclamations. Her sharp, extended eyes drew into a beautiful arc, making her gaze all the more dazzling and captivating.
“Is the woman sitting beside His Majesty now truly the young lady of the Madarin Barony?”
Unhappy that the atmosphere was turning in Regina’s favor, Chloe asked bluntly.
Shuren, still staring at Regina with a bewildered expression, seemed not to have heard Chloe properly at all.
“No, but how in the world—”
His small murmur, as if asking what on earth was going on, scattered soundlessly into the air.
The nobles shared his shock. Who would have thought that a woman who was nothing more than a baron’s daughter would one day sit beside Conrad, the emperor himself?
“Answer me at once. Is this woman Lena Madarin?”
Chloe’s pressing voice echoed through the audience chamber. Yet Shuren still could not seem to gather his wits; he only stared at Regina in a daze.
It was Conrad who moved first beneath that piercing gaze.
“For a vassal of a house, your eyes are remarkably insolent.”
Conrad rose from his lofty throne. Once the emperor stood, Regina and the others had no choice but to rise as well.
The nobles bowed as he walked slowly down from above.
Chloe, wearing a displeased expression, bent her knees just slightly in the same way and waited for Conrad to pass.
But Conrad deliberately stopped before him and spoke.
“Are you displeased that Lena is at my side?”
“N-no, of course not!”
At Conrad’s pointed question, which seemed to know more than it should, sweat gathered on Shuren’s palms.
“Then why are you answering so slowly?”
Conrad urged him on, clearly worried that he might say something unnecessary.
If even a single foolish word slipped from him, all their efforts so far would be for nothing, so Conrad did not want to leave him any room to think.
That was not all.
He was also suspicious that, after the magic barrier had gone up, they might have been nursing some foolish idea.
Though Regina didn’t seem the least bit suspicious in that direction.
Still, one could never know.
Feeling the pressure, Shuren found it difficult to speak. He looked around with wavering eyes, but under Conrad’s sharp stare he could no longer endure it and finally forced out an answer.
“I was only taken aback that the young lady, who had not been feeling well, disappeared suddenly and then appeared in the imperial palace.”
“Is that so?”
By the time Chloe’s smile had begun to waver, Conrad was already descending.
The emperor drew near to Shuren, who felt as though he could not breathe beneath the crushing weight of his presence.
“That sounds almost as if you had been waiting for Lena to disappear.”
His cold words cleaved through the audience chamber.
It was a taboo topic for nobles, but when no direct bloodline remained in a house, the vassals or collateral relatives sometimes took over the main family’s seat.
Conrad’s mention of that worst-case scenario was nothing less than a warning to Shuren.
Hmm.
Regina thought she understood what Conrad was after. Now that time had passed since the barrier went up, he was likely worried that the loyalty of his subordinates might have weakened.
Still, she did not much care for the way he was intimidating Shuren, one of her own men, so she stepped forward.
“Your Majesty. The people of my house are all loyal.”
Her voice was low, but it was enough to draw the attention of everyone in the chamber. Pity colored the nobles’ gazes as they looked at Regina.
There was little a noble young lady could do to protect her house, especially a woman who had lost her guardian. The most common choice was marriage.
But she could not even choose her spouse freely.
She looked like a poor soul being forced into marriage by the pressure of her vassals.
Some thought of people they knew. Others thought of those they did not know personally, but had heard of in passing.
“Could it be that she had other intentions?”
But Conrad still would not let Shuren off easily. Only then did Shuren come to his senses and answer clearly.
“There is no such thing. Lady Madarin is the one who will lead the Madarin Barony as its head.”
“So it seems, Empress Dowager.”
Having confirmed Regina’s identity, Conrad turned toward Chloe.
Chloe had been standing with her knees bent for far too long, and as she straightened, her strength gave way and she nearly staggered.
She clenched her teeth, barely keeping her balance with a single thought in mind: she could not allow herself to look ridiculous before the nobles.
“Since this man says she is indeed a vassal, there can be no doubt that she is a young lady of a noble house. However… since even her vassals have been cast aside, there is no telling where she has been or what she has been doing.”
Conrad’s face went blank at her attempt to stain Regina’s reputation by any means necessary. Chloe, however, remained unmoved.
“Are you insulting the person I chose?”
“Insulting her? If you put it that way, this mother is hurt. I only mean that, since she is to become the exalted empress, we should be certain there is no room for doubt.”
Until that question was settled, Chloe declared, she could not permit the marriage. At her words, Conrad’s brow drew tight.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, he set a smooth smile on his face and brought the meeting to its conclusion.
“It has been proven that Lady Madarin is a noble. Does anyone have a different opinion?”
For now, he had succeeded in keeping Regina at his side. All that remained was to uncover Chloe’s plan and break it apart.
At Conrad’s hardened gaze sweeping over them, the nobles did not dare speak up.
“No.”
Seeing the nobles answer in unison, Conrad smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
“Good. Then let us end today’s meeting here.”
When Conrad extended his hand toward Regina, she rose and walked toward him. Only after he placed her pale, slender hand over the one that wielded a sword did Conrad begin to move.
As they passed, the nobles bowed in respect, and Shuren fumbled belatedly into a bow as well.
Conrad caught a sideways glance at Shuren, who was staring at Regina with a dazed, almost enchanted expression, and his hand tightened.
Once they stepped outside, Limutan hurried after them as if he had been waiting.
“Your Majesty.”
“Send for the Madarin Barony’s vassal and bring him to my office.”
“Understood.”
Leaving Limutan behind with a slight bow, Conrad and Regina headed toward the emperor’s office in the imperial palace.
“Is that man from Ferman?”
“Yes. Shuren and only some of the Madarin vassals.”
Regina did not even bother to hide the fact that she had sent spies and used them to build an entire house, and Conrad curved his lips in amusement.
She continued as if it meant nothing.
“The Fredericks Empire is no different, is it? I understand there are spies from Fredericks among the Ferman nobles as well.”
“That’s true.”
Since they had both been doing the same thing, Conrad accepted her argument that there was no need to assign blame.
“Are they all mages?”
“Yes. I can’t say how many of them survived, though.”
“They’ll be useful for the next monster wave.”
Conrad intended to wring cooperation out of them one way or another, and Regina could only offer an awkward smile in return.