Aftermath
Aftermath
The subdued venue completely froze over. The texture of that split second when the air stiffened hard was vivid enough to give me goosebumps.
This was verbal abuse and humiliation on a completely different dimension from my initial remark to the Lord Protector, which had merely shown ignorance of etiquette.
Even the Lord Protector, who had spent decades rolling around in the nobles' political arena, faintly glared with widened eyes and momentarily held his breath.
Without a doubt, in his scenario, there was no option where a 10-year-old emperor like a madman ignored the Gate Grand Duke's tribute and treated the Gate Grand Duke's young lady as a substitute for a toy.
At my verbal abuse, Narea's face turned white as a sheet before flushing as red as her own hair.
The small hand gripping the scabbard trembled violently. When her eyes met mine, what surfaced in her green pupils was contempt akin to looking at a bug.
I felt sorry for her, but this was the most powerful first strike I could throw.
As I said before, I had forgotten all the minor details about that romance fantasy novel I had read.
In the first place, I had only read two chapters, so there was far more I didn't know than what I did know. But even out of that, after ten years, all I remembered were three characters and—
[Even the current emperor felt uncomfortable toward the Rosencavalier Grand Ducal House.]
—just that single sentence I had been chewing on until now.
The Lord Protector was already the emperor in the novel I read.
If that novel shared the same past as the world I lived in now, wouldn't the original Lord Protector have held authority just like now?
No, rather, the Lord Protector who became emperor must have wielded power even far greater than now—truly absolute authority in the real sense of the word.
And yet, even someone like him was said to find a certain Grand Ducal House 'uncomfortable.'
A family feared even by a ruler who held the world in his hands in the truest sense. If so, what if I brought such a family into my fold?
It didn't have to be rock-solid. It could be as thin as a sheet of paper. Wouldn't it still be able to serve as a shield to protect me from the Lord Protector, who had not yet become emperor?
Of course, I couldn't be 100 percent sure it would succeed. However, seeing the Gate Grand Duke's reaction to my actions today, I thought this was a gamble well worth taking.
And right now.
"......."
Look at that faintly distorted face of the Lord Protector. It wasn't disgust, nor was it contempt.
I was right.
Of course, the aftermath would be huge. Countless nobles would view me as a stupid and ignorant tyrant, and even a few in the Anti-Lord Protector Faction might turn their backs in disappointment. I might lose my weapons.
But right now, I needed a shield to survive the immediate moment rather than weapons for the future.
I looked around, adopted a cowering expression, and shut my mouth. I forged the image of a young child who had realized he did something wrong. Then I read the room between the Lord Protector and the Gate Grand Duke.
The Lord Protector remained silent with his face still scowling, but for some reason, the Gate Grand Duke's expression held a definite smile, unlike the expressionless face he had when the bomb dropped from my mouth.
Then, as if nothing had happened, the Gate Grand Duke uttered his words of courtly congratulation.
I could see the other nobles looking astonished at the Gate Grand Duke acting like that in such an atmosphere. Even the Lord Protector had an expression that looked like he would have clicked his tongue had it not been for this place.
However, it was impossible to simply resume the congratulations starting from the marquesses after the Gate Grand Duke as if truly nothing had happened.
When the Lord Protector made a certain gesture toward the Minister of the Imperial Household, who didn't know what to do, the Minister nodded slightly.
Clearing his throat with an "Ahem, ahem," the Minister of the Imperial Household opened his trembling mouth.
"Your—Your Majesty's sacred body is indisposed due to the prolonged ceremony, so His Majesty will temporarily retire to his quarters. The remaining congratulatory addresses from the feudal lords and nobles will be respectfully received by the Imperial Household Ministry and reported to Your Majesty without omission."
Before those words could even finish, the Lord Protector spoke to me.
"Now then, Your Majesty. Please rise. It is time to return to your quarters."
I thought for a moment about whining like a young child, but the Lord Protector's eyes didn't look like they would accept that. I obediently stood up and decided to leave the Great Banquet Hall, taking my escort knight with me.
I walked slowly behind the knight.
The brilliance that weighed down my vision receded behind my back.
Neither the chandelier light pouring down like a constellation of stars nor the illusion of the golden snake coiling around my toes could be seen anymore.
Neither contempt nor ridicule could be heard. Only a silence brought on by shock and astonishment hovered.
As I stepped past the crimson carpet, the door closed with a clack.
The sweet smell of wine and the pungent scent of perfume vanished, leaving only the cool smell of marble.
Refreshing air rushed in as if the previous heat had been a lie.
The desperate eyes of the Lord Protector. The relaxed eyes of the Gate Grand Duke. The scene I last saw where the Lord Protector and the Gate Grand Duke were saying something to each other.
Various thoughts wandered through my head.
Still, there was one thing for certain.
With this, I had secured a solid shield.
A massive shield known as the Gate Grand Duke of Rosencavalier, who took the bait I threw with full enthusiasm.
So eat shit, Lord Protector.
This time, it's my victory.
At that time, in the highest-ranking annex room inside the Imperial Palace where foreign guests of the empire stayed.
Two titans touching steaming teaware sat facing each other across a table.
Inside the room, there were a total of three people present, including one scribe.
"......Grand Duke."
Breaking the silence calmly, Maximilian spoke first. His characteristic refined voice was mixed with a low sigh.
"Since your feelings were hurt by what transpired at the Great Banquet Hall today, as one who serves the Imperial House, I am truly apologetic."
The Lord Protector wore an expression as if he were genuinely regretful.
"His Majesty's sacred body was indisposed from the lengthy ceremony, causing his remarks to be excessive, but it was by no means intended to look down upon your family."
Words embellished with utmost politeness flowed from Maximilian's mouth.
"However, since you also presented a tribute capable of inviting misunderstanding, if you would cover today's matter with broad generosity, the Imperial House will likewise not forget that grace. Nonetheless, if you desire a different resolution, I am prepared to hear it in this very place."
From Maximilian's standpoint as well as the Imperial House's, it would be best for the Gate Grand Duke to keep his mouth shut. However, knowing he wouldn't do so, Maximilian had to manage the fallout against his will.
Offering a sword was different from a mere verbal pledge of loyalty. It could also be read as a declaration to hand military power into the emperor's hands.
Since there was no way the Gate Grand Duke was unaware of this, it had been a tribute targeting the Lord Protector from the start.
The thick fingers of the Gate Grand Duke lightly tapped the saucer. Clack, the sound of the teacup bumping settled heavily.
"How could this subject pretend not to have heard His Majesty's words?"
The Grand Duke's gaze narrowed sharply with a slick motion.
"Before the eyes of hundreds of feudal lords, His Majesty clearly chose my daughter, Narea. For a father to pretend not to have heard this honorable proposal of marriage—would that not fail in one's duty as a subject?"
Receiving the Grand Duke's relaxed gaze, Maximilian twitched one corner of his mouth slightly. Not a single word saying 'proposal' had been uttered, yet the Gate Grand Duke was already speaking of it as if it were an established fact.
Maximilian brought the tea to his lips and swallowed his inner frustration.
As the two nobles went quiet, only the sound of the scribe writing desperately could be heard in the room.
What the Gate Grand Duke aimed for was clear. The Rosencavalier family had always been waiting for a chance to extend their power into the central court. And now, the moment they were handed an excuse called the Emperor to legally burrow into the heart of the central politics, they snapped up that opportunity.
If it were possible, the Gate Grand Duke would have interfered starting tomorrow, using his daughter's engagement to the emperor as a pretext to recklessly plant his own faction inside the Imperial Palace.
It was tantamount to holding a blade directly to his throat. Maximilian felt intensely displeased.
But was that really all?
Keeping his gaze fixed on the black tea, Maximilian began calculating gains and losses in his mind.
Maximilian would usurp the throne one day. And that scheme had been planned even before Julian was born, with the concrete plan currently underway.
However, if the Grand Ducal House stepped in to back the emperor, it was self-evident that he wouldn't be able to dispose of him easily.
However, this situation could be utilized.
A foolish and stupid emperor treated the noble lady of the Grand Ducal House like a toy and shoved her into the palace court.
If that rumor spread, the Imperial House's reputation would plunge into an irreversible abyss.
It meant a perfect pretext was created to brand the wet-behind-the-ears emperor as an ignorant rogue.
Having finished his calculations, Maximilian slowly raised his head again with a bright smile hanging on his lips. It was a relaxed face that completely covered his displeasure.
"Haha, the Grand Duke's loyalty truly moves me deep in my heart. If you intend to devote your whole heart to His Majesty, how could I, a mere proxy, gainsay the Imperial Decree?"
The corners of the Gate Grand Duke's lips also slowly curved into an arc.
"I am simply overwhelmed with gratitude for the Imperial favor."
The conversation between the Lord Protector and the Gate Grand Duke concluded in a dramatic compromise.
The Gate Grand Duke received an Imperial Rescript recognizing the honor of the Grand Duke, a partial reduction in war taxes for the next five years, and, in the event the engagement with the young lady of the Grand Duke was finalized, permission for certain members of the Grand Ducal House to enter and exit the Imperial Palace to prepare for her entry into the court.
Thus, due to the aftermath of the first strike Julian had thrown,
One month later.
Emperor Julian August von Aurelian und Rotaria and...
...the engagement to Young Lady Narea von Rosencavalier of the Grand Ducal House was decided.
The voice of a certain child opposing this was ruthlessly crushed,
...and simultaneously, Emperor Julian's proper imperial education began.