Belletria Lien Archesium (2)
Belletria Lien Archesium (2)
"No... so what's the situation?"
Still completely unable to grasp the situation, I sat blankly on the marble floor.
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't figure out what the hell had just happened to me.
The rumored Tyrant hadn't gotten angry at the Surrender Document; instead, she'd just left after muttering some incomprehensible nonsense.
'... Or are the knights coming in to execute me now? Did she leave just so she wouldn't get dirty?'
It wasn't entirely impossible.
Belletria Lien Archesium, known across the continent.
Among the rumors about the Iron-Blooded Emperor, there was one that said she was a woman with such severe mysophobia that she wouldn't tolerate even a single drop of blood splattering.
It was at that moment, as those ominous thoughts stirred in my head and slowly tightened around my throat.
—!
Footsteps sounded from behind.
"Please rise, Prince of Rihentra-nim."
"⋯?"
I lifted my head and looked to the side to see a middle-aged woman wearing a neat, luxurious Imperial maid's uniform, smiling gently.
"Uh... K-Knight-nim?"
"Hoho, you're a funny one. Unfortunately, I am not a knight, but Margaret, the Head Maid of the Imperial Palace. First, I will guide you to where you will be staying so you can lie down and rest."
A soft voice with absolutely no malice or killing intent.
Feeling slightly relieved, I nodded blankly and stood up.
I brushed the dust off my pants and started following her blindly as she took the lead.
The interior of the Imperial Palace was much larger than it looked from the outside.
To the point where it was incomparable to the Royal Palace of Rihentra.
However, even as the dazzling chandeliers and gold-leaf decorations sparkled and tried to steal my attention, my focus was entirely on the Head Maid walking ahead.
'Something is... a bit strange.'
For a palace of a Tyrant who had plunged the continent into terror, the Head Maid's attitude was overly bright.
Her footsteps as she tossed various light questions at me were incredibly calm, and her voice carried a strange, unmistakable excitement.
It was far too affectionate to be the attitude toward a prince of a defeated nation who had just been dragged in as a hostage and was begging for his life.
However, for me, stiff with the fear of death, her kindness wasn't bad.
It gave me the relief that at least she wasn't leading me to the dungeon to have my head chopped off right now.
'When I was with my family, I wanted to die so badly... but now that it looks like I might live, I don't want to die.'
"Ahem."
I nodded appropriately to the questions Margaret kept asking as I walked.
However, as we headed deeper inside, the doubts I had tried so hard to dismiss grew stronger.
We were clearly heading toward the center of the Imperial Palace.
We were climbing higher and higher, up a massive staircase covered in a thick red carpet that completely absorbed the sound of our footsteps.
Even the armor decorations of the escort knights passing by were distinctly different from the knights on the lower floors.
'Does this make sense?'
I looked around like someone with an anxiety disorder, checking the situation, and then carefully opened my mouth.
"Um... Head Maid-nim. As far as I know, the second floor and above in the Imperial Palace are spaces only for the Imperial family, so I heard that even the Head Maid cannot go up there carelessly."
It was a question I asked inadvertently, recalling the Imperial etiquette lectures I had crammed into my head before coming as a hostage.
Of course, I was about to add an explanation immediately in case my words sounded rude and I got picked on for it.
However, Margaret stopped walking as if she found it unexpected.
Then, she turned her head sharply, looked me in the eyes, and smiled.
"Oh my, you know the Imperial etiquette very well. That is correct. Ordinarily, this is a strictly restricted area where even I cannot set foot carelessly."
"Uh, um... but then why..."
"Because today is special. It was possible because I am on a very, very important mission to guide the person who will soon become the Emperor-pyeha's Imperial Son-in-law."
"...... Huh? Imperial what?"
At the completely unexpected word, I almost tripped and rolled down the stairs.
'What did she just say? Imperial Son-in-law? Did I hear that right?'
Imperial Son-in-law.
The Emperor's husband.
The Empire's consort.
My facial muscles stiffened at the combination of words that I couldn't possibly understand with my common sense.
Of course, Margaret didn't care how my expression twisted; she just hummed a Head Maid's tune and hurried her steps toward the upper floor again.
"Now, we have arrived."
Before long, the place where she stopped was in front of a massive door that looked extraordinary at a glance.
Right next to that door, which was embroidered with the Empire's emblem and flashy jewels, a much larger and more imposing golden door was firmly shut.
I could tell even without an explanation.
That was the Emperor's bedroom.
'No, that's not the important part.'
They're giving the room next to the Emperor's bedroom to a prince who came as a hostage? Is this right?
"This is... my room?"
I pointed with trembling hands, alternating between the Emperor's bedroom and my room.
The room right next to the mad Tyrant's bedroom.
Did they make this choice with the intention of just chopping off my head if they get bored while sleeping, rather than me being a hostage?
No matter how I look at it, there's no other explanation.
However, despite my reaction, Margaret just clasped her hands together, covered her mouth slightly with one hand, and twinkled her eyes like a giddy young girl.
"When I first heard it, I thought you were a madman... but looking at it again, it's truly romantic, Prince of Rihentra-nim."
"⋯ Huh?"
"I have served Her Majesty since she was an Imperial Princess, but this is a first. Someone who offered such a passionate and bold confession to Her Majesty."
"No, I mean, what is that..."
"I, Margaret, will earnestly pray that the love between the two of you is perfectly fulfilled."
She elegantly lifted her skirt hem, left a greeting with all the courtesy she could muster, and walked away toward the other side of the hallway without looking back.
"No... I mean."
Left alone, I gaped, staring blankly at the firmly closed door.
My head was spinning.
'Confession? Love? Imperial Son-in-law?'
Something was going terribly wrong.
What on earth is it? Where did the problem start?
Before opening the door and going in, I calmly retraced the situation from the beginning.
I definitely spent the first day cursing at the irresponsible remark of the man I call father, who said he would send me as a hostage.
I packed my bags, said goodbye to a few palace staff, learned the Imperial etiquette, and finally, I grabbed the envelope containing the Surrender Document....
"... Huh?"
Wait a minute, before I tore the letter to shreds, Ersil Ignethia.
Yes, I was looking at the Marriage Proposal I was going to send to her, my only friend and childhood friend... and I was holding it in my hand....
"Holy shit."
Only then did I realize the identity of the envelope I had handed to the Tyrant Emperor.
My legs gave out, and I slumped down on the spot.
Don't tell me... did I just send a Marriage Proposal instead of a Surrender Document to the strongest and worst Tyrant, Emperor Belletria Lien Archesium?
"What are you looking at so interestingly?"
Asked Chief Secretary Kalion.
To the Emperor, who had been wearing a blank expression ever since meeting the 3rd Prince, whom Rihentra had sent along as a hostage along with a massive amount of reparations.
Belletria, without much reaction to the secretary's question, which was mixed with a little worry and curiosity, simply handed over the single sheet of paper she had been looking at.
"This is...?"
"Read it."
"Understood."
Kalion, having received the paper, took off his glasses, cleaned them, and then read the contents written on it.
——
From the moment I first saw you, all the seasons of my world have bloomed and faded only for you.
Even in the face of the fires of war and a cruel fate, the reason I could breathe fully was because of the small yet overwhelming hope that I might one day stay by your side.
If you permit it, I now intend to dedicate the end of all my steps to you.
Please let me walk side by side with you in your shadow for the rest of my life.
My first and last love.
——
"Uh... um."
Having worked for the Empire as the Emperor's closest aide for five years.
Chief Secretary Kalion forgot how to use his brain for the first time.
Even so, because he was an elite, he somehow held onto his sanity and looked at the letter once more.
The letter did not clearly state the sender's name or the recipient's name.
Only the blind term of endearment written on the last line was all there was.
Kalion carefully flipped the paper over.
On the back of the high-quality parchment, the emblem symbolizing the Rihentra royal family was clearly stamped.
Only then could he perfectly grasp the whole situation.
"Don't tell me... was what the 3rd Prince brought a Marriage Proposal, not a Surrender Document?"
To Kalion's question, Belletria nodded slowly.
"Although a few of the overly excessive and explicit words bother me, I accepted it because it didn't seem bad."
She turned her gaze out the window and continued in a languid tone.
"Looking at him up close, his appearance is quite decent, and he doesn't seem to have any flaws. It bothers me a little that he is four years older than me, but... I heard that they don't even check compatibility for a four-year age gap..."
"Certainly, that talk has been going around the capital quite a bit."
"Above all... he is the first man to whisper love to me with such blind sincerity."
Belletria touched her red lips slightly.
A faint smile spread across her lips before she knew it, due to the emotion she was feeling for the first time.
"Of course, the biggest reason was to silence those noble factions who keep trying to force marriages on me by pushing incompetent men who don't even suit me."
With that, the Emperor stood up from her seat.
Then, she lightly snatched the letter from the hand of Kalion, who was still standing there blankly, unable to accept the situation.
"...?"
"First, I must give him a chance to show his ability so that everyone can acknowledge him."