A Cup of Poison Called Power
"A meal must not be lavish. It should be modest, and you must not invite the honored guests."
Cough!
It was morning, and as we sat down to a belated breakfast together after finally exchanging our greetings, I nearly choked on my father's words.
Because he brought up a topic I hadn't anticipated in the slightest.
Through Aria, who sat across from us feigning nonchalance, I belatedly realized that my father must have gone to her directly in the dead of night to hear her out—but even so, when a situation unfolds beyond all expectation, there's no helping the flustered feeling that follows.
"Her Highness must be exhausted. In any case, Aria has no factions backing her, so politically there's no room for conflict—though considerable slander will come her way before long."
"As your mother said, Rohen, the timing is poor, so once things settle down, there's a strong chance they'll try to sow discord. You've been married for less than a year, and now you're taking your own half-sister—the person closest to you—as your second wife. They'll tear into her, asking what kind of worthless woman she must be. For now, with the grand embassy following the Demonic Tree's resurrection, no one will make much of it, but..."
"Father, what would anyone even gain by driving a wedge between us? As Her Majesty the Empress said, I have no backing faction whatsoever."
"Having no backing faction means, conversely, that anyone could become your backer. And as for the timing—anyone can see that taking her as your wife was a matter of genuine affection rather than political gain. Even if people whisper, no one will fail to notice that you're clearly besotted with her."
"She's my blood relative, either way. Public opinion isn't going to look kindly on it."
"You've managed to cultivate some goodwill toward the Neutral Faction, but the influence of that bloc, centered on Duke Asis, remains formidable. No—perhaps they can no longer even be called a neutral faction. Nobles grasping at you as a means of checking them is simply their natural instinct."
I had expected a lecture directed at me.
Instead, my mother and father exchanged only a few words with me before turning to offer Aria advice, again and again.
Even if Father claims Mother was persuaded... just how deeply has Father carried his guilt toward Aria all this time...?
Wondering if things could really have gone this smoothly, I belatedly chewed down the mouthful of food I hadn't managed to swallow.
"People, even those with no impure intentions, can lose their way when those around them keep coaxing and scheming."
"Then I'll simply spread a rumor that I'm barren."
"......"
"I have no intention of conceiving before Lapis does anyway. Lapis won't even think about it until she's safely through the remaining embassy. If word spreads that I'm barren, the nobles won't bother with such efforts at all. A concubine who cannot provide an heir is worth nothing."
At the sheer audacity of Aria's remark, even I was left momentarily stunned.
For a woman in this world, barrenness is the most ill-fated shackle there is.
And judging by the period she'd referenced, it would last for years.
She was choosing to lock that shackle around herself for all that time—how could I not be astonished?
Is this some veiled pressure to get Lapis pregnant quickly once the embassy ends...?
Having finished a breakfast whose taste I couldn't properly register, I sought out my mother and father separately.
"I'm relieved."
The first to welcome me was my mother, with praise whose intent was hard to read.
"That child said she would spread the rumor of her own barrenness—the greatest humiliation a woman can suffer—rather than be dragged into petty jealousies and political tug-of-war. Had you come before us with your head hung in shame over it, I fully intended to scold you."
"Ahem! Yes, well. Rohen—public opinion on close-kin unions has indeed soured, but that is no reason for you to walk around with your head bowed. However, as I said before, the timing is poor. Should factions rise later to slander Lapis, this could hand them a convenient pretext."
「With both of you saying that to me, all I can offer is my gratitude.」
"Not speaking aloud—is it because you intend to use that opportunity on Duke Asis today?"
「Yes. I know it's better to take the blow sooner rather than later, and the very fact that I stopped here first, knowing that, means I've already put it off long enough... It's time I went.」
If I moved too slowly, Lapis might head down to the Asis Duchy a step ahead of me.
The fact that I had stopped in the capital at all was itself proof of how nervous I was about meeting Duke Asis. If I delayed any longer, Lapis would surely, out of consideration for me, go straight to the duchy and persuade her parents herself.
And in this matter, I had no intention of meeting the pathetic, contemptible outcome of hiding behind Lapis's back.
So with a wry smile, I lingered a little longer in conversation with my mother and father, then rose, shared a long embrace with them, and stepped outside.
Right after, I made for Aria to say my goodbyes—but...
"Her Highness the Princess left word that she departs ahead of you, and asked me to convey this to His Highness the Prince."
Without even giving me the time to part ways properly, she finished breakfast, boarded a carriage, and was gone to the Altair Dukedom.
Had she cut off my escape route with a single clean stroke, lest I use her as an excuse to dither and stall?
Haha...
Thinking how very like her that was, I let out a faint sigh, marked the coordinates of the Altair Dukedom, and used spatial movement.
*
The instant I arrived at the Altair Dukedom, the Demonic Tree—grown tremendously vast—filled my eyes.
When Lapis and I had seen it from afar back then, it had been nothing but a hazy, faint smudge of color.
Now it radiated its signature air of revulsion and menace in thick waves, enough to make any who beheld it shudder involuntarily.
And if it affected even me this way—
what must the people of this territory feel, experiencing that transformation moment by moment?
Their expressions were anything but good.
And Duke Asis and his wife, perhaps, might show me expressions even graver than those today.
Carrying that tension with me, I walked to the mansion and met with the two of them—and though my throat was not dry, I felt a thirst that seemed to burn me from within.
Even as the Duchess served the tea herself, I couldn't bring myself to reach for it. Before long, Duke Asis took his seat beside his wife, and I, putting the power of my Lingual Magic into my words, forced the voice out of my throat.
"Duke..."
"Yes."
They must have realized I hadn't come merely for idle chatter. The Duke and his wife, who had been about to speak first, quietly closed their lips.
"I am... to take a second wife."
"And here I thought Lapis had conceived, or that some calamity had befallen. It is hardly strange for a prince to take concubines for political gain. Neither I, nor my wife—nor Lapis—would ever demand you give us the single-minded devotion of a sunflower, Your Highness."
"That is..."
If only it had been that simple, I wouldn't be fidgeting like this.
"The one I am taking... is my half-sister."
"Oh my—"
The Duchess, startled, set her teacup back down before it reached her lips. The Duke, too, widened his eyes as if this were entirely beyond his expectations, and coughed.
As my mother and father had said, taking a second wife in under a year—and worse, when it was not even a relationship of opposing political interests—meant rumors would surely circulate in the shadows that things between Lapis and me were not well.
If the woman entering the household were bound by political interest, then Duke Asis, whose power had grown, could support Lapis at the head of his faction, or apply pressure on others, as much as he pleased.
But if the matter appeared to be nothing more than a simple tangle of affections, what could anyone do?
Not now, perhaps—but later.
I had handed Lapis a pretext to be swept up in such scandal, and I let the apology leave my lips.
"With the plague quelled, I thought there would be nothing left to shock us until the Demonic Tree revives... but you truly tower above all my expectations, Your Highness."
There was a faint edge to his voice, but I made no attempt to point it out.
"If this is all but a notification, what meaning is there in voicing my opinion? But should the embassy conclude in triumph, Lapis must be the first to conceive. Without fail. Only then will the rumors that your two relationships are unequal fail to walk about so brazenly."
"...That is my intention. My sister, concerned over the same matter, has said that until Lapis conceives first, she will spread word that she is barren."
"Th-that is—! Your Highness! That would be a grievous stain upon any woman."
The Duchess, visibly startled, broke the silence she had maintained until now. The Duke, too, parted his lips briefly, then shook his head and spoke.
"Why do you try to plant guilt in us?"
"It is not my wish, but my sister's. She has no desire to create conflict with Lapis, nor to be turned against her by a third party's scheming... so she resolved to do it without hesitation. Once Lapis conceives, and my sister conceives after her, the rumor will die down regardless."
"It may die down on the surface, but those who envy her later will seize on it as a pretext to spit their venom all the same."
"Haha... in a land without a king, one may curse the king all one likes. It may be laughable for me to answer that, but my sister—no, Aria—would likely say exactly the same."
"When do you intend to hold the meal?"
"Soon, and modestly. I plan to turn public opinion for a moment and be done with it quickly."
At my words, Duke Asis held a long silence before speaking in a measured, deliberate voice.
"I have watched you since you were a child, Your Highness. Though it began as an ordinary political match with my daughter, you answered her devotion with sincerity, and I know there was not a shred of falseness in it. So I ask only that you remain unchanged."
"Have no fear, Duke."
"Position changes a man, always. From a hollow title of prince, you became the one and only prince. Up to this point, your footing is firm and unshaken—but if you take the throne, who can say what will become of you? Power is always a poisoned cup, and the only thing that can dilute it is your own upright heart."
"Dear..."
With a pallid face, the Duchess nudged the Duke gently. His words were honest counsel, and at the same time carried a danger commensurate with that honesty.
Had I been a man of great ambition and greed, I might have nursed a grudge at his audacity in mentioning a childhood I could only call humiliating. And being told I might become a tyrant or a ruinous king once I wore the crown—I might have resolved, in my heart, to cast him aside.
Even setting that aside, it was more than enough to sour my mood, so the Duchess's reaction was only natural.
"I will keep it in mind, Duke. The poisoned cup of power will not stain my heart—nor will it stain my love for Lapis."
"Then this humble servant will be your sword, Your Highness, and stand beside you until the day I die."
...And with that, I crossed the final gate.