Her Majesty’s Shocking Revelation
“!”
The moment I heard those words, I shot my eyes wide open in shock. I hadn’t expected at all that Her Majesty Cecilia would drop something like this at exactly this moment. I just couldn’t have seen it coming.
“You look quite surprised?”
“Y-yes… I am.”
I bowed my head and answered, then lifted it again to meet her gaze directly. In her crimson eyes, fixed on me, a serious aura lingered.
“To be honest, I think you’ve been secretly curious about it too.”
Cecilia leaned back against the backrest of the throne, legs crossed. Though her height was no different from mine, the unique dignity she carried made her seem as if she were looking down at me. Of course, it was only natural given the rank difference.
“……Yes. I’ve been dying to know why Your Majesty chose to promote a lowly commoner like me to such an important post.”
“Dying? ……I see.”
Had I overdone the expression? But right after, I shook the thought away. It really had been that intense of a curiosity.
“Before I explain, you must know one thing.”
“What is it?”
In a polite tone, I asked. Cecilia pointed her index finger at my forehead.
“I’ve decided to trust you completely with this story. Remember that well.”
“……”
It had only been two months since I entered the palace. After such a short time, she’d already given me her trust? I could have taken down that old fox Montersen yesterday thanks to me, but still…
“……So you’ve decided to trust me?”
“The answer?”
Oh no, I’d slipped into thought again without realizing.
“It is an honor for a lowly commoner like myself to have Your Majesty’s trust.”
I bowed at a full ninety degrees this time, showing my gratitude. After all, the trust from Her Majesty was something I could never refuse to cherish.
“In truth, the moment I saw your name—Nedville—in the applicant documents, I decided. I had to promote you as my Chief Personal Secretary.”
She wouldn’t suddenly say something like “the moment I saw your name, fate decided” for no reason, right? Since it was Cecilia, she wouldn’t spout nonsense.
“There are two reasons.”
Cecilia held up two fingers.
“The first is that your father, Baron Nedville, and I have a past connection. To be more precise, he once did me a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
Cecilia nodded once. It was the thing I’d been wondering about since the friendship gathering the last time. She’d said “connection,” but now it was “favor”…
“Your Majesty, may I ask one thing?”
“Granted.”
“……”
At this point, why not just tell me? I wanted to push, but how could I, a direct subordinate, do that?
“I hope you’ll relax your expression.”
“Oh! Apologies.”
I quickly switched back to my usual face. I’d built up a good impression, and I couldn’t let myself ruin it.
“I know you’re curious, but since your father hasn’t told you, I don’t want to either.”
My father had hinted at the same thing in his letter…
“Simply put, it’s like I’m repaying the favor he showed me—through you.”
“I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness for not understanding your inner workings and for taking up your vast generosity.”
“Luke, you tend to……”
Cecilia’s lips moved as if she was about to say something else. What was she about to say?
“Your words sometimes come across as excessive. Not that there’s bad intent, but they can seem over the top.”
“It’s simply proper etiquette befitting a secretary.”
“Hmm. Well, I’m not saying to stop entirely… but you don’t have to be so overly proper. It’s acceptable to interpret it that way.”
“How could I ever be improper before Your Majesty?”
Cecilia fell silent for a moment.
“……I wasted time on trivial matters. Let’s get back to the main point. The second reason is to build a third force to support me.”
The moment I heard her words, I couldn’t help but tilt my head. Her imperial authority was still weak, so I understood the goal of building strong support to strengthen it.
“Anyone would choose to either create a strong figurehead or gather the backing of powerful groups to bolster imperial power. And if both are done together, it’s the best of all.”
“However, Your Majesty has neither of those.”
The late emperor had been dead for over a year, and there was no late empress—your father’s wife—to shoulder the burden of supporting Your Majesty as the late emperor’s widow.
“By the way, the current late empress has been acting as regent for the past few years, but she’s been under so much stress that she’s now recovering in a quiet countryside village. Her age is also nineteen, same as mine.”
“Still, despite being only nineteen, she’s managed to handle state affairs with integrity and make cold, rational judgments. She’s even shown ruthless sides at times, but I’m grateful for that.”
“Even so, it’s undeniable that she falls short in many ways from leading the mighty Eckhart Empire, the strongest on the Arsenia Continent.”
“Your Majesty, if it won’t cause offense, may I ask for a more detailed explanation? My limited mind finds it hard to understand.”
“I was about to explain anyway.”
She took a deep breath and continued.
“You already know the Aristocratic Faction has never supported me. It was the same when my father ruled. We weren’t so divided, but the rebellion led by the Duke Hundrey family to seize the imperial throne became the decisive cause.”
“The Duke Hundrey family… was exterminated?”
“Yes. However, in the process of suppressing them, my father also suffered a serious injury. That’s why my mother became regent and ruled the empire in his place.”
“At this point, one question suddenly came to mind. It’s not easy for anyone to plot rebellion against the imperial family. Would the Duke Hundrey family have done it alone?”
“That’s unlikely, but……”
“Your Majesty, there was another noble house that…?”
“They joined them. Not just one or two.”
A bitter tone colored Cecilia’s voice.
“Wait… They weren’t just two. Then why was only the Duke Hundrey family exterminated?”
‘Is digging this deep too much…?’
Looking at her face, I realized I shouldn’t push further.
“Anyway, because of that, there’s a deep rift between me and the Aristocratic Faction now. The Imperial Faction supported my parents actively, but not me. They simply haven’t fully trusted me yet.”
“It’s quite a troublesome situation…”
“……”
Cecilia said nothing. She just let out a heavy sigh.
“That’s why I need to prepare carefully. To achieve my goal, I first appointed you as my secretary.”
Only then did I understand the second reason. In short, she planned to build her own support base through a third force—not the Aristocratic Faction, not the Imperial Faction.
“It’s a kind of gamble, but considering her situation, it’s far better than doing nothing.”
“Of course, it will take quite some time…”
“Those are the reasons I appointed you as my Chief Personal Secretary. Anything else you’re curious about?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“None right now, huh…”
Cecilia glanced at the clock. I checked too, and it was already thirty minutes past the end of my shift.
“I’ve kept you too long. That’s enough. You may go.”
She dismissed me, and I bowed.
“Thank you for the explanation, Your Majesty. I hope you have a peaceful night.” After leaving the office, I headed back to my room, my heart still unsettled.
“Huff…”
I flopped onto the bed with a sigh and stared at the ceiling, replaying the conversation with Cecilia. The conclusion I could draw from it was this:
“From what I see now, she doesn’t seem like a tyrant…”
But that was only for now. In the recent incident where she punished the embezzlers mercilessly, I could see the makings of a tyrant, but not yet.
“So what event will turn her into one?”
“No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like the original story’s major plot is changing…”
I closed my eyes and racked my brain, but no clear answer came.
“Ah, whatever. Just think about one thing—one thing.”
Whether Cecilia created a third support base through me or repaid the favor from my father through me… it didn’t matter.
I was only focused on one thing: preparing to leave the empire and submitting my resignation!
With that thought in mind, a sense of relief washed over me.
Meanwhile, at the same time…
“Is that really true?”
“Yes! Of course! It wasn’t Luke; Your Majesty must have been suffering so much.”
Right after finishing work, Floria rushed to Mulya’s room, mentioning she had something important to say. And Floria excitedly told her about how Luke had thoroughly crushed the treacherous plan of Duke Montersen.
“Duke Montersen is truly sinister.”
“I agree. I think so too.”
“If we could have helped back then…”
“But we’re just maids; we can’t attend noble meetings.”
“That’s true, but…”
Mulya spoke in a rare, gloomy tone.
Cecilia was both the empress and their longtime friend. It was only natural to want to help her friend. However, as maids, they couldn’t fully support her—especially during noble meetings.
“Still, I’m relieved because Luke is here.”
“……”
Mulya remained silent without confirming or denying it.
“Even if we could attend the noble meeting, could we have shown the same resourcefulness as Luke? I definitely couldn’t.”
“Same here.”
“See? So don’t be too hostile toward Luke. After all, he’s the one who does his best to support Our Majesty.”
“That’s… acknowledged.”
Mulya’s reply fell short of what Floria had hoped for, but Floria decided to stop there. Mulya had always been a girl who opened her heart slowly to others.
‘Still, that’s not a bad sign at all.’
Flora smiled faintly at Mulya.