Nights After the Wedding
It has been a few nights since the wedding. Tonight, of all nights, sleep eludes me. I had expected him to pounce on me like a beast, but fortunately, nothing of the sort has happened.
The fact that he has left my virtue untouched for this long... does it mean he has no intention of taking it by force?
"At least there's that," I murmur, staring at the empty half of the bed.
Aside from our wedding night, he has spent every single day holed up in his office. According to the rumors Ipa shared with me, he even eats and sleeps there.
Even before our marriage, I had heard whispers of his workaholism. They said the windows of his office remained brightly lit until the dead of night.
It is a relief, in a way, that he cares more about his paperwork than me. I am deeply grateful to be able to sleep alone like this after getting married.
But why does he work himself to the bone like that? It seems so foolish... Watching him pull all-nighters is a foreign concept to me. Neither my father nor my brother ever went to such extremes.
Perhaps because they were both family-oriented men, we always ate breakfast and dinner together. Once eight o'clock in the evening passed, we would gather in the family quarters to eat fruit and chat about our day. Even my father, who always seemed busy as the Emperor, never worked around the clock like this.
Of course, Deviang does join my mother, Joy, and me for breakfast every morning, but unless there is some urgent matter, he immediately retreats to his office afterward. It is a week-long national holiday; what could possibly require so much of his attention? I cannot fathom what there is to do when most of the empire's administrative offices are closed.
Granted, not having to look at his face is a blessing, but I truly cannot understand him.
"Yes, exactly. What do you think I would have done if you kept refusing to write?"
"In the end, my threat was a bluff. That was what Ipa's hair was for. I just happened to hear that she was passing my information to someone."
When he admitted to using my family to shake me and achieve his goals, he felt like a monster devoid of human emotion. Does he truly possess no feelings at all?
Yet, Deviang is not an evil man.
"Who do you take me for, a murderer? If anything, I actually quite like Ipa."
"You like her?"
"Yes. She is fiercely loyal, willing to brave danger for her master. I only wish I had a servant like her."
If he were truly wicked, he would have simply executed Ipa. He wouldn't have gone through the trouble of smuggling her out of the Imperial Palace. Then is he a treacherous, power-hungry sycophant? Is he staying up all night plotting how to bleed the empire dry? No... that can't be it.
I quickly shake the ridiculous notion from my head. I don't know. I have absolutely no idea what he is thinking or what he desires. He is not a villain, nor is he a corrupt official. Is he... planning a usurpation after all? One thought leads to another, keeping me wide awake.
I toss and turn, trying to force myself to sleep while wrapping myself in the soft embrace of the silk sheets. Faint moonlight filters into the room. This peaceful interlude will surely end soon, won't it? Once the holidays are over, will Deviang finally stretch out his evil claws? Will he openly disregard my authority?
He has already stripped the Emperor of all executive power. That is why his relentless diligence terrifies me. Because I do not know what he is plotting, I fear him.
Power cannot be shared, not even with one's own flesh and blood. It is a maxim I have heard so often it has worn a groove in my mind. There is no way Deviang, with his eroded emotions, would ever respect me. If given the chance, he might dispose of me and claim the throne for himself. Until then... he might try to humiliate me, trampling on the imperial dignity to solidify his own grip on power.
But I have no intention of submitting meekly. I still hold one final authority: the right to audit the Grand Duke. Surely, I can leverage that somehow. Perhaps I can save the empire with it. Clinging to that thought, I finally drift off to sleep.
"Yaaawn!" A massive yawn escapes my lips. I am incredibly sleep-deprived... I barely slept at all. At least the backlog of work is finally cleared. I look around my desolate, empty office. Is it because Agrippa isn't here?
"I really don't feel like working." Here I am, wrestling with mountains of documents and academic papers, while someone else is out enjoying quality time with his girlfriend. Feeling the sting of life's injustice, I force my heavy eyelids open and check the clock.
"Oops... It's time to pay my respects to my mother-in-law." I wash up quickly in the bathroom attached to my office and head out. For a man living with his in-laws, the Empress Dowager is a tremendous source of support. Unlike Theodora, who despises me unconditionally, she looks upon me with a touch of pity.
Perhaps she knows about the abuse I suffered at Valorang's hands when I was a child. It was a notorious affair, after all. If the late Emperor hadn't intervened back then, my head might have ended up on a guillotine. Since I can no longer repay the deceased Emperor, I believe I must treat his wife—my mother-in-law—with the utmost care.
Because I visit her every single day, the guards have grown accustomed to my presence. As my eyes meet one of them, he knocks on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Your Imperial Majesty, the Grand Duke has arrived."
"Let him in," a gentle voice calls from within.
The guard opens the door.
"Your Imperial Majesty, I hope you have been well," I greet her.
My mother-in-law offers a warm, benevolent smile.
"Indeed. Thanks to you, I have been sleeping peacefully."
Beside her sit Theodora and Joy.
"Did you sleep well too, brother-in-law?" Joy chirps.
"Yes, I slept quite well," I reply, taking a seat next to Theodora.
"Now that the family is all gathered, bring in the meal," the Empress Dowager commands.
The servants serve breakfast, and our meal begins. We eat in comfortable silence, and as the main course winds down, a light dessert is brought out.
"I heard you stayed up late again last night. Are you truly alright?"
How did she know I slept late? At her words, the eyes of the other two women naturally drift toward me.
"Please do not worry. When I think of it as working for my wife, Her Imperial Majesty, the fatigue vanishes entirely," I say, my voice laced with playful affection.
Poke, poke.
Theodora jabs my thigh with her finger under the table.
"You may be young enough to overwork yourself now, but it will catch up to you when you are older," the Empress Dowager warns, gently closing her eyes as she sips her tea.
Taking the cue from her mother, Joy chimes in.
"She's right, brother-in-law. It's a holiday, so you should rest a bit."
It is indeed a holiday, but Theodora's official duties are about to begin. Specifically, her first meeting with the ministers of the Five Ministries.
Under the empire's traditional political structure, the Emperor ruled directly through five core departments situated immediately below the throne: Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, Military Affairs, and Internal Affairs. Recently, however, the law was amended to insert a new institution between the Emperor and the Five Ministries—the Grand Ducal Department. And as the head of the Grand Ducal Department, I have a mountain of preparations to make for the upcoming cabinet meeting.
"Haha... There will be a lot to handle once the holidays are over, so I wanted to get a head start," I say, glancing at the clock on the wall before rising from my seat.
"Mother, Joy, if you will excuse me, I must return to my duties."
"Of course. Do not push yourself too hard today."
"Thank you, Mother. I hope you have a wonderful day as well. And... darling?"
I bow politely to my mother-in-law before turning my gaze to Theodora.
"Darling" is a perfectly normal term of endearment for a married couple. However, it is a word I never dare utter when Theodora and I are alone. I only started using it to reassure the Empress Dowager that we are living in harmony. Given how Theodora visibly recoils in disgust every time she hears it, I am genuinely terrified she might stab me in my sleep one of these days.
"What is it?" she snaps, her brow furrowing deeply to make her displeasure abundantly clear.
"Could you stop by my office for a moment after you finish eating?"
She nods dismissively, as if it is of no consequence. "Fine, I suppose."
With that, I leave the dining hall and make my way back to my office.
Step, step.
Lately, I have had a lingering concern regarding Theodora. Specifically, I wonder if she truly understands the harsh realities of this empire.
The throne is a position where immense authority and power are concentrated. Wielding that power incorrectly can easily ruin an entire nation overnight. In the original novel, Theodora learned the ways of the world through trial and tribulation, but the version of her married to me has lived a relatively sheltered life.
To prevent her from being humiliated at the cabinet meeting, and to ensure the empire continues to function properly when I eventually depart... it is time I start teaching her statecraft. To that end, I have spent my spare moments compiling and organizing the most critical issues currently facing the empire.
"I really wish I had a clone of myself," I mutter, arriving at my office and sorting through the academic papers.
Some time passes.
Knock, knock.
"Your Grace, Her Imperial Majesty has arrived."
"Let her in."
The door creaks open, and Theodora enters, her face still twisted in a scowl. However, her eyes widen as she takes in the sight of the office, which is practically buried under neat stacks of paper.
"Do you ever clean this place?" she asks.
"Every single sheet is something I have to read."
To be precise, they are piles of academic journals I have been combing through to find anything that might benefit the empire. Theodora clicks her tongue at the sight.
"Tsk, tsk... So, why did you call me here?" she asks, her tone suggesting she would rather be anywhere else than alone with me.
"The cabinet meeting is coming up soon, isn't it?" I ask.
"And?"
"Do you know what items are on the agenda?"
She shakes her head.
"Sigh..." A sigh escapes me before we even begin. While it is understandable that she is in the dark since the imperial advisors' posts have been vacant since Valorang's reign, the fact that the Emperor—the chairperson of the cabinet—does not even know the agenda gives me a throbbing headache. If no one tells you, shouldn't you at least take the initiative to find out yourself? I silently congratulate myself on having the foresight to prepare.
"Here, take this," I say, handing her a thick stack of papers numbering several hundred pages.
She takes the stack and flips through a few pages. Looking up at me, her crimson eyes are filled with confusion.
"What is this?"
"Those are the agenda items for the upcoming cabinet meeting, along with my summaries of the background context for each one. Read through them here, and ask me if there is anything you don't understand."
"Wait, what...?"
Ignoring her wide-eyed bewilderment, I set another stack of academic papers back down on my desk.
"Just so you know, you aren't leaving this room today until you understand at least half of that."
"W-Wait a minute?!"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"This is... way too much!"
Looking at her pale, horrified face, I tilt my head in genuine confusion. I point to the mountain of thousands of pages towering on my own desk.
"Not really. That's barely a few hundred pages."
Her face contorts in sheer outrage. "You mean hundreds of pages! And why on earth do I have to do this?"
I ask her calmly, "Do you already know all of this, then?"
"No..."
"But you are the Empress. Isn't it a bit embarrassing for the ruler of the empire to be completely ignorant of how her own nation is running?"
"T-That is..."
"Or do you plan to just sit there during the cabinet meeting, nodding blindly and agreeing to whatever the ministers propose?"
"No..." she mutters, giving a slight shake of her head.
"Then you have no choice but to read it all."
"..."
Grimacing at my words, she finally slumps onto the sofa and begins to read. Satisfied, I turn back to my own work.
Rustle...
That night, it was not until the first light of dawn began to break that Theodora was finally allowed to sleep.