Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Wisdom of the Imperial Family (2)
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Even in the radiant capital of the Empire, night inevitably falls.
As the sky darkened, the opulent heart of the capital revealed itself, ablaze with lights.
「….」
Emperor Leonhardt gazed silently down at the nightscape of the beautiful city he had built.
Whenever worries arose, contemplating his achievements from the terrace of his chambers had been his one solace.
“You, what are you doing out there?”
Of course, it was no longer his sole solace.
Now, he shared it once more with the stunning golden-haired woman, Rozanna.
She had arrived in black silk pajamas, a wine glass in one hand, his suit jacket draped over her shoulders.
The First Imperial Consort did not share the Emperor’s bedchamber.
However, they had recovered enough to converse together.
「My lady. What brings you here at such a late hour?」
The Emperor turned a gentle smile toward the approaching figure of his First Consort.
Yet his white brows remained furrowed, as if that alone could not dispel his concerns.
“Just passing by. I watched from afar and thought you looked troubled, so I came.”
「Nothing escapes you, it seems.」
Leonhardt nodded slowly.
Then he turned his gaze back to the sprawling vista of the capital.
「Indeed, two matters weigh on my mind at present.」
Rozanna pondered what those two might be, her sharp eyes narrowing slightly.
She swirled her wine glass slowly all the while.
Soon, she tilted her head and asked leisurely.
“Shall I guess?”
「….」
The Emperor offered no immediate reply to his First Consort’s words.
Taking his silence as assent, Rozanna parted her red lips.
“I’m certain about one, but the other two are a bit vague.”
「Tell me the certain one first.」
The Emperor, hands clasped behind his back, smirked as if testing his comparatively young consort.
Rozanna stepped up beside him.
Gazing down at the Empire’s nightscape together, she answered flatly.
“It’s Leon, isn’t it? Our son.”
The Emperor pressed his lips tight at his perceptive wife’s remark.
His eyes fixed on the pitch-black southern horizon, in stark contrast to the glittering city.
「Yes. By now, he should have reached the southern front and met Grand Duke Rosetta.」
“...”
The Consort closed her eyes, thinking of the son she had raised in hatred.
Honestly, she wanted to rush to comfort him right away, but confinement made it impossible.
“Thank you. For letting it end at that.”
「If he performs adequately on the front lines, I’ll bring him back to the capital. The throne, however... that’s another matter.」
Rozanna nodded slowly, apparently not hoping for succession herself.
After all, she no longer had reason to swallow the Empire and topple it from within.
Instead, she aided in rebuilding the ruins of Epina, now subjugated by the Empire, and helped its people.
「He won’t return easily until he has earned that much merit.」
The Emperor shot Rozanna an apologetic look, as if admitting this was the limit of what he could do.
“...”
Still, it spared him prison like Hakim.
Rozanna was grateful for that.
“Sorry? I’m grateful you ended it there.”
「It’s my fault. Keeping distance from the children for the sake of fair competition turned out to be poison....」
The Emperor muttered to himself in a somber tone.
But he quickly chided himself for showing weakness before his wife and schooled his expression.
「Even so, Leon will overcome it. He is our firstborn, after all.」
Leonhardt exhaled deeply, anticipating his son’s exploits.
To shift the mood, he broached his second concern.
「So, what do you think the vague second worry is?」
“The second one, I’m not entirely sure about either. But I know what lies at its center.”
Rozanna gazed wistfully at an Eastern-style carriage approaching the Heavenly Palace late at night.
Then she softly closed her eyes at the sight of her daughter descending in her school uniform.
“Probably Sir Bale Mikhail, right?”
「Correct.」
Unlike with Leon, the Emperor answered promptly.
It did not seem like a gravely negative concern.
「He seems particularly close to Irina, who returned with him.」
“...”
The First Imperial Consort fell silent at the mention of another consort’s daughter.
Much like Lea, who usually dismissed jealousy as petty.
“They make a fine pair.”
Yet no matter how trivial she deemed it.
She couldn’t hide the instinctive twitch of her brows.
「Yes, they may soon deepen their bond and even marry.」
“Well, isn’t that good? Having a Grand Master as a son-in-law. And since he was born a border noble, the Imperial Council won’t question his origins.”
Rozanna praised Bale again, playing along for the moment.
But her voice had cooled subtly.
「Yes, it’s good.... It’s just that the other girls seem to like Bale too, and that bothers me.」
“Why?”
Rozanna reacted instantly to her husband driving a wedge into her unease.
Her eyes said she couldn’t fathom why that would be a worry.
“Bale strikes me as quite the catch. Naturally, other girls would eye him too.”
The Emperor let out a deep sigh at his wife’s nonchalant words.
He fixed her with the jealous glare unique to a doting father.
「Monopolizing all my precious daughters single-handedly is a bit much...!!」
“...”
The Consort stared blankly for a moment at her husband’s rare human side.
It turned out the jealousy wasn’t hers, but his.
“Pfft, what did you say...?”
Rozanna burst into laughter at her husband’s pouting lips.
Then, elegantly covering her mouth with her hand, she said.
“What’s with the sudden fuss? They’ll handle their own romances.”
She shot him a piercing glare, sharp as a lioness matriarch.
“You took me, Estina, and even Vanessa from the East.”
「...!」
The Emperor coughed awkwardly at his Consort’s rebuke, reminding him of his three wives.
He averted her gaze and muttered softly.
「Those were all for the greater good....」
Ever the Emperor, Leonhardt deflected by invoking the national interest.
But Rozanna was no pushover.
“Oh my. You married all three of us for the greater good? So you didn’t truly love us, then.”
She ruthlessly punished his hasty excuse.
A woman famed for her peerless beauty, feared even in her homeland.
「Of course not! I spoke merely as the father of three daughters....」
Rozanna smirked at the Emperor, so cold and impassive in politics and war, yet so tender with his daughters.
Finding the situation intriguing, she pressed her index finger to her lips.
“...”
Having finished her thoughts.
She glanced down at Lea entering the Heavenly Palace and continued.
“Let the children handle their romances. If they all want Bale, that must be ‘fate.’”
「Ahem....」
The Consort left the Emperor stewing in his unease and withdrew slowly.
Crossing the dark bedchamber alone, she murmured softly.
“Watching which one becomes the principal wife should be fun, no?”
The Consort opened the bedchamber door.
With ambition gleaming in her eyes, she descended the stairs.
To meet her daughter, Lea.
「――――――.」
Dark corridor.
Few people ventured to its end, where only the First Imperial Consort’s chambers lay.
Yet one female student headed there late at night.
No, her sensually voluptuous figure scarcely resembled a mere student, shadowed in moonlight.
“Mother.”
She carried a thick bag in one hand.
She faced the First Imperial Consort before her, clad in provocative silk pajamas.
“You’re here, Lea.”
The mother and daughter, their relationship still awkward.
It felt like mature lionesses sizing each other up.
“Visiting so late, something must be up.”
“I already knew you were watching from the second floor.”
Indeed, her daughter took after her—a formidable opponent in her own right.
Yet Rozanna maintained her generous smile.
“Very well, then what brings you here? Weren’t you with Bale?”
“I didn’t realize you tracked my schedule too.”
Lea spoke while indifferently tugging her stuffy necktie.
Her parted white blouse buttons revealed a glimpse of her ample cleavage.
“Hehe.... I know everything.”
Rozanna gazed intently at her daughter’s superior figure, so like her own.
Yet she rebuked her all the same.
“But to return so early after seeing him? Disappointing for my daughter.”
“...”
Lea realized her mother’s intent and furrowed her golden brows.
“Since when have you taken such interest in my love life?”
“Interest...”
The First Imperial Consort closed her eyes at her daughter’s words.
Then, opening them with a seductive, bewitching blue gaze like a mature succubus, she said.
“I’ve always been interested. What mother wouldn’t wish for her daughter’s happiness?”
Rozanna pulled the jacket from her shoulders.
But it failed to cover her ample bosom fully and slipped down again.
“Tonight, Leonhardt noticed the deep bond between Irina and Bale.”
The Empire’s First Imperial Consort approached her daughter slowly.
A rich pomegranate scent wafted from her, like perfectly ripened fruit brimming with sweet flesh.
“But there was no mention of you.”
Compared to her own full breasts, she gently embraced Lea’s slender shoulders.
Whispering like a goddess tempting a hero.
“You don’t intend to be born my daughter only to lose the First Consort’s seat, do you...?”
Yet Lea showed no reaction to her Consort mother’s heated whisper.
She merely brushed aside her alluring touch.
“I’ll handle it.”
Clutching tight the strap of her bag with clothes and crystal orbs.
She faced Rozanna squarely, their voluptuous skin nearly touching.
“If it were me, I’d claim that boy in one go, until he thought of nothing but me.”
The Consort pressed her daughter’s skin harder where they met.
Her upper breast’s black mole smiled along with her.
“That’s how much I pity your pathetic defeat.”
Defeat.
Lea reacted sharply to those two words.
“Taking the capital once in war doesn’t mean complete victory.”
The Empire’s First Imperial Princess flashed her blue eyes in the dark corridor.
“It’s merely occupation.”
Her gaze was like a predator calmly eyeing prey.
“True victory is fully ‘conquering’ the foe and ‘annexing’ them.”
Lea gently stroked her lower belly, stained with cheese marks.
“...”
Rozanna listened to her daughter, lips parted in silence for a moment.
Then, grasping her intent, she smirked.
“Hmm—your ambition pleases me.”
Confirming her daughter’s desire, the mother finally glanced at the bag Lea carried.
“So you came to me for that ‘conquest’?”
“Yes.”
Lea pulled a blue crystal orb from her bag.
She boldly showed it to her mother and said.
But.
“...!”
As she did, a black bunny headband popped out too.
Rozanna furrowed her fine brows at the sight.
“Oh my.”
Rozanna unwittingly covered her lips with her fist.
Unaware of this lewd side to her daughter, her own lips curled upward involuntarily.
“What’s that inside?”
“Th-this is nothing!”
Lea, deep in serious talk amid the tense atmosphere.
She hastily shoved the bunny ears back into the bag and blustered.
“You really are peculiar at times.”
But Rozanna had already identified the ears.
She chuckled at her daughter, whose desires so mirrored her own.
“First those lewd novels with odd titles.”
“Wh-when did you see my study?!”
Perhaps because they were family.
Even that aloof, icy lioness brimmed with emotion toward her mother.
“Hehe, come in already.”
Rozanna turned gracefully, leaving her indignant daughter behind.
Her beautiful golden tresses danced in the moonlight.
“I’ll teach you something far ‘better’ than in those novels.”