The Next Emperor Is You!
The next leader to guide the Empire.
Prince Lucian had come to my room to decide who would be the next Emperor of the Empire.
Lucian’s face was rigid. His body was the same. He was as tense and stiff as a knight ready to draw his sword at any moment.
It was understandable. Lucian had come to have a showdown with Irene. It was only right to be nervous when negotiating with a woman who had neither blood nor tears.
I had one problem right now: I had absolutely no information. The Lucian and Irene I remembered were completely different from the ones standing before me. I didn’t know the dynamics of their relationship, either. I could make rough guesses, but since they weren’t facts, I had to be careful.
In times like these, there was only one way: to extract information through questions.
I crossed my legs and lifted my chin. Assuming the most arrogant posture I could muster, I opened my mouth.
"It hasn't even been a week since the Emperor closed his eyes. Why are you in such a hurry to decide on the next Emperor? Are you that desperate to become the Emperor yourself?"
At my question, Lucian’s brow furrowed sharply. Clear bewilderment and displeasure flickered in his eyes.
"...I have no idea what you are talking about."
Lucian’s voice dropped even lower. He let out a short, scoffing laugh, as if he found the situation absurd.
"The one who has been moving the most urgently until now was Mother... was it not you?"
"W-what??"
"You are the one who has been gathering the nobles and focusing on selecting a successor ever since Father collapsed from his illness. From my perspective... it is truly baffling."
Ah.
I let out a short sigh inwardly.
'Irene, you crazy bitch. You're even crazier than I thought.'
A normal wife would have tried to save her husband. But she left him to die and worked on the succession instead? This made it certain.
Irene did not love the Emperor. She only loved the power of the Empire.
Skevan. What a pitiful man you were.
And I perfectly understood why Lucian was so wary and tense while looking at me—at Irene. Irene must have always been interested only in power. Regardless, I had to handle this situation. I quickly fixed my expression.
"...Given the circumstances, I suppose I was a bit sensitive back then. Regardless, my heart has simply changed a little."
"...Is that so?"
A moment of silence. Lucian did not open his mouth.
He stared at me with sharp eyes, as if trying to discern my true intentions. He clearly thought I had set some kind of trap.
"I will speak directly."
Lucian opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.
"...Go ahead and speak. What is it that you have to say so directly?"
I mimicked Irene’s signature sarcastic tone. I saw his fists clench tightly on his knees.
Lucian must have inherited the spirit of a warrior like his father. Just seeing him clench his fist sent a chill down my spine.
"Rene will not do."
"...Rene?"
A dumbfounded voice slipped out of me before I could stop it.
"Who is Rene?"
In an instant, the air in the room froze. Lucian’s eyes widened in disbelief. His mouth parted slightly. He was stunned. The way he looked at me had shifted from wariness to pure shock.
"Mother... are you in your right mind right now?"
"W-what? Are you using such vulgar language to your own mother?!"
"It is only natural! Rene is your daughter! How can you expect me not to be agitated when a parent pretends not to know their own child?!"
My heart sank. A biological daughter.
There was a daughter between Skevan and Irene?
Only then did I remember what had happened. When I was the Saintess Elise, Irene had been pregnant. But that wasn't the case now. That meant she had given birth.
It finally came back to me. Irene’s pregnancy. The child she gave birth to then... a daughter. It was Rene.
My mind went blank. This was too big of a mistake.
"A-ah, no!"
I hurriedly waved my hands to make an excuse.
"With the funeral preparations and the Emperor’s passing overlapping these past few days, my mind hasn't been sound. Fatigue has piled up, and I misspoke. Of course I know Rene. Isn't she my precious daughter?"
"Are you truly alright?"
"It means my mind has become so exhausted that I couldn't even bring my own daughter’s name to my lips. Do not try to test your mother any further."
I tried hard to hide my panic and snapped at him coldly. Lucian’s gaze still flickered with suspicion, but fortunately, he didn't dig any deeper. It seemed that because our relationship wasn't very good, he let it slide.
Instead, he let out a deep sigh and returned to the main topic.
"I know well that you want to make Rene the Empress, but that, at the very least, is absolutely impossible."
"And why is that?"
"Rene is only sixteen years old."
Lucian’s voice carried weight.
"The current situation on the continent is too dangerous for a sixteen-year-old Empress to lead."
"What is wrong with the situation?"
"Did you not see at the funeral today? Numerous powerful nations from the south and east sent delegations to this small, barren country located at the northern tip of the continent. Do you really think they came to mourn Father?"
Lucian seemed to be right. The envoys who came to pay their respects—their eyes didn't look like they were there to mourn, but rather like they were interested in something else.
"Emperor Skevan was the greatest sword on the continent. He achieved the subjugation of the barbarians, which no one else had ever accomplished, and built an empire on the land of the barbarians."
"That is true. Indeed."
I didn't know, but I nodded as if I did.
"Despite possessing such overwhelming military power, Father only wished for the annexation of the Church state. He did not invade other countries."
Lucian was trying to remind me of Skevan’s achievements once again. Thanks to him, it was good to know what kind of foundation Skevan had built.
"They are the ones who came to check how much our Empire is shaking now that the massive military power that was Father is gone. And in this situation, you want to seat a sixteen-year-old on the throne? That is the same as throwing the easiest prey to them."
Lucian’s analysis was sharp.
Unlike the original Irene, who was blinded by greed and wanted to put her daughter on the throne as a puppet regardless of what happened to the country, Lucian was accurately worried about the safety of the Empire.
However, I still didn't know. The end of this logic was ultimately a structure where Prince Lucian benefited the most. He was of an appropriate age to become Emperor, and he was a person whose martial prowess was not inferior to his father’s. That was because there was only Lucian.
"Then what do you propose? Are you saying you will become the Emperor?"
When I asked, Lucian shook his head firmly.
"No. I will renounce the throne."
"What? You renounce the throne?"
"Because I do not want to make Mother anxious."
Lucian bowed his head deeply toward me.
"Instead, please choose someone who can truly protect the Empire, Mother."
"……."
"If you seat someone you trust on the throne, I will actively support them as a subject. I will devote all my strength to protecting the Empire. So, please... stop using Rene, my precious younger sister, as a shield."
I was speechless. Lucian.
This man was truly worried about the Empire. He had laid down all his ambitions and greed for power, and to prevent the country from being devoured by foreign powers, he had bowed his head to Irene, his most uncomfortable political rival, and proposed a compromise.
'He’s a truly excellent guy.'
He was deep.
He was fundamentally a different human being from Irene, who was crazy about power. And... above all, he was the one who had saved me.
I, who had been going insane while covered in the semen of dozens of men. The only benefactor who had pulled me out of that terrible hell by stabbing my heart, even while staining his own hands with blood.
I wanted to repay this guy. The feeling of regret that I couldn't do anything for him right before I died—I could convey it now.
I was the most powerful person in the Empire. Because I was Irene.
I leaned back into the sofa and looked straight at Lucian.
"Lucian."
"Yes, Mother."
"Do you think such a scarecrow could run this Empire well?"
At my cold words, Lucian’s face hardened again.
"Mother, please...!"
"You become the Emperor."
I could confirm that Lucian’s thick-lined eyes had turned round in an instant. He blinked like a fool, as if he couldn't understand what he had just heard.
"...Yes?"
I smiled lightly and declared in a very clear and firm voice.
"The next Emperor who can lead the Empire correctly is... you. Only Lucian. Do you understand?"
※Below is the service cut.
This is the Irene version of mating with a horse.