Not as Easy as I Thought
He is far more difficult than I anticipated. I nearly ruined everything by underestimating him as a mere young lion.
"What a deeply insidious man."
If he couldn't find the answer to the question posed to him, he would have revealed that Lord Yohanes had taken Epirus and Egypt. He clearly knew the trick to make the betrayed high nobles turn their arrows toward Lord Yohanes instead of the Grand Duke himself.
That must be why Lord Yohanes did not easily agree to the tax reform bill either. Though he was ultimately forced to agree due to the attempted assassination of the Emperor...
If the Grand Duke betrays us at the very end, we will be forced into the absolute worst-case scenario.
First, the Grand Duke will revise the law. The time bought with that is enough.
In the meantime, we will build a massive military force. We are already negotiating with all the sizable mercenary groups in both the Empire and the Babylon Empire.
Soon... once the contracts with them are finalized, your thoughts, your plans, will all become mere scraps of paper.
I will reduce your petty plans to nothing.
I am already looking forward to seeing you, who act so arrogantly as if you've already won, freeze in shock and confusion.
Time... Just a little more time, and then you will be the one begging me for mercy.
Whether it is the Empress or the high nobles, we will no longer walk on eggshells around them. When the time comes, that is.
He gritted his teeth, thinking of Debian, who had held him hostage here.
"Without fail... you will fall."
Quite some time had passed since Theodora's risqué "event" that day. During that time, I had avoided meeting her as much as possible. Even when sleeping, I made sure to stay at the Grand Duke's Office whenever I could.
Thanks to that, I knew rumors were spreading that the Empress and I had fought, but honestly, I was highly satisfied with this trial separation. At least I didn't have to worry about being devoured.
Of course, I hadn't just been idling around. I had spent a lot of time agonizing over the tax reform bill. If a civil war broke out, I could redirect the arrows toward Yohanes, but I still needed to manage the risks.
What if things didn't go as I intended? Or what if they did, but it drained too much of the nation's strength?
If the war dragged on or the administrative network collapsed, managing the Empire would become incredibly difficult.
On top of that, I didn't just have to deal with Yohanes; I also had to face the Demon Worshippers. I had no intention of letting a prolonged war give them room to thrive.
"Whew... What should I do? Should I postpone the tax reform?"
If a civil war broke out and dragged on, it would be nearly impossible to stop the resurrection of the Demon King.
"They might be plotting something insidious somewhere even at this very moment... *Sigh*, this is complicated."
So, after long deliberation, I was leaning toward putting the tax reform on hold for the time being. At the very least, to push through with the tax reform, I needed to have Epirus and Egypt firmly in my grasp.
After that, purging the Demon Worshippers entirely and then instigating a civil war to consolidate my power was also a viable option.
Of course, thinking of the dying citizens of the Empire only made my head hurt more. I would have to use grain to keep the high nobles in check...
But there was more to worry about than just that.
Remembering how overtly Theodora had seduced me last time, it was highly likely she would try to drag me to bed again sooner or later.
"Things are getting seriously tangled."
I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling at it in frustration. Why was nothing going smoothly? If I was working this hard, shouldn't some kind of reward fall into my lap?
Honestly, I was struggling all on my own to save this place, yet there was no one to help me. Did I commit some terrible sins in my past life? I didn't think I'd done anything particularly bad.
Just as I was lost in these complicated thoughts—
Knock, knock!
[Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress, has arrived.]
At the guard's words, I replied listlessly. "Bring her in."
Creak.
The door opened, and Theodora walked in, holding a paper bag in one hand.
"Huh? What's that?"
At my question, Theodora strode over and placed a large box on my desk.
"Oh? Isn't this Montdique?"
At my words, Theodora nodded. "Yes. It's a gift for you."
"A gift?"
Puzzled by her words, I opened the box... and saw a familiar fountain pen.
"Th-this is...?"
It looked incredibly similar to the fountain pen I had received as a gift from my mother. I gently unscrewed the cap to examine it.
The familiar shape of the nib. The Lion family crest engraved on the gold nib, the texture... But it wasn't the exact same pen. The one I used to write with... was originally for children.
"I asked them to make it exactly as the late Grand Duchess had requested for you. Fortunately, since it was a custom order, they still had the order form on file..."
At those words, I quietly twisted the end of the fountain pen.
Calming my racing heart at the smooth sensation of the piston turning, I dipped the nib into the ink and tightened the piston.
"The one you used to use was originally for children, so I had this one made in an adult male's size."
Without saying a word... I tried writing on a piece of paper.
Scratch... scritch...
Debian Lion
"Ah..."
Goosebumps broke out over my skin at the feeling, which was almost identical to the fountain pen I had used for so long. How was this possible? When a fountain pen is used for a long time, the nib wears down to match the user's unique writing style. Yet, this felt astonishingly identical to the pen I had written with for ten years.
"I had them attach the tip of your old fountain pen's nib to this one. How does it feel?"
How did it feel...? Was that even a question?
Anyone would inevitably grow attached to an item they had used for over a decade. From the time I first learned to write as a child, to when I graduated from the military academy and ran the Grand Duke's Office in Roman... it was practically my lifelong companion.
Naturally, I couldn't help but be overjoyed.
"Thank you so much, Theodora."
My tone was calm, but I couldn't hide the happiness and joy bubbling up inside me.
How devastated had I been when my fountain pen broke? It was an object that had shared all my good memories, as well as the bad and difficult ones.
Seeing my expression, she smiled. "Fufu, seeing you so happy makes me happy too."
"Of course I'm happy. This... was bought for me by my mother."
To be honest, I hadn't known this fountain pen was custom-made. I had assumed I could easily find a similar one. When I went to the department store last time, I couldn't find a pen that felt just right, so I had simply bought one in a hurry because I needed to write immediately.
Looking at the fountain pen, I reminisced about the moments I had shared with my old friend.
"Come to think of it, I still don't know much about you."
Before I knew it, Theodora had stepped up right beside me.
"What is your favorite color?"
Caught off guard by her sudden question, I answered without much thought. "Blue."
"And the reason?"
"No particular reason. It just makes me feel a bit at ease when I look at it, I suppose?"
Theodora nodded at my words. "Then, what about your favorite food?"
My absolute favorite was Korean food, but since there was no Korean food in this world... I replied with a bitter smile. "I'm not particularly picky."
"Then... hmm..."
What was she going to ask next? My favorite artist or music? Honestly, I didn't mind answering anything, considering she had just given me such a wonderful gift.
But instead, she looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "Why don't you ever ask me things like this?"
Flinching inwardly, I replied, "Well... because I already know."
At my words, Theodora gasped in surprise. "Oh, stop lying!"
"I'm serious."
She eyed me suspiciously. "Then, what is my favorite color?"
I quickly searched through my memories of the original novel and answered, "Red."
"Then, what is my favorite food?"
"Tiamat's Nipple."
It was a dessert named after the goddess Tiamat, the younger sister of El, the god of this world. While the name "Nipple" might make it sound obscene, it was actually a sweet chocolate dessert that was highly popular here.
Theodora looked utterly astonished. "Oh? How did you know?"
I shrugged and replied, "I told you. I love you. It wouldn't make sense for me not to know what you like and dislike when I love you."
I just know because I read the original novel very carefully. In the first place, what a ridiculous notion that you know everything about someone just because you love them. Frankly speaking, I know what all the other heroines like and dislike, and even their erogenous zones. By that logic, I'd be a legendary playboy who loves four women at once.
And besides, I'm not a lecherous man like the Hero, Lee Seo-jun. A one-on-one relationship is best. I don't feel any need to have multiple women.
However, my words seemed to have hit Theodora in a completely different way... as her face flushed bright red.
"I... I see. I didn't know."
Huh? Didn't know what? It was just lip service to make her feel good.
I watched her, bewildered by how deeply she was blushing. "What do you mean?"
With her face burning red, she hesitated before speaking. "Well... I... I thought you wouldn't know. Thank you... for giving me such an undeserved amount of love..."
Her reaction left me a bit flustered. I mean, just a few days ago, she was wearing skimpy lingerie and overtly seducing me... yet now, she was blushing like a country girl over something so trivial? Women truly are difficult creatures to understand.
"Ahem... And, I'm not angry anymore, so you should sleep in the bridal chamber starting tonight."
Uh...?
A sudden wave of dread washed over me, fearing that I might get devoured tonight, but then a certain fact flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, isn't Theodora on her period starting yesterday?
Healthy women menstruate once a month. It wasn't that I was some kind of pervert who kept track of her cycle... it was just something I naturally came to realize from living together.
At any rate, she probably wouldn't try to seduce me while she was on her period.
I nodded and replied, "Alright. I'll sleep in the bedroom tonight."
Theodora nodded at my response, then quickly slipped out of the room with a deeply flushed face.