A Coward's Excuse
Perhaps Imperial Consort Cleo thought that as long as she never touched it directly, holding onto it for a brief moment before surrendering it to the temple as evidence would keep her blameless.
That so-called piece of evidence was a concentrated, solidified mass of demonic energy harvested from the cores of hundreds of demonic beasts. On its own, it acted as a potent catalyst that drew other beasts straight toward it. And should a beast swallow it whole, a true catastrophe would unfold. Even if no formidable monsters dwelled within the capital, there remained the chilling possibility that a genuinely lethal terror might be lured in from afar.
At the very least, every last demonic beast lurking in the nearby outskirts was guaranteed to swarm the Imperial Palace.
Anticipating this disaster, the Castrein Duchy had covertly scattered specialized monster traps throughout the palace grounds. It was an indispensable measure designed to scatter the beasts' attention away from the consort's evidence.
Before long, frantic screams began to echo from the distance.
"Demonic beasts! How could there be demonic beasts in the palace?!"
"Requesting backup! Backup!"
"Aaargh! Why is this happening?!"
Those who lacked real skill—the ones who had bought their posts with bribes without passing even the most basic tests, routinely abandoning their stations—were mauled in short order as they scrambled to flee. Only those possessing the baseline martial competence expected of the imperial guard managed to hold their ground against the assault.
I had no intention of letting matters spiral out of control. With the exception of the beast sent after Prince Brian, none of the monsters were exceptionally menacing. Moreover, we had deliberately steered the beasts toward the quarters where guards were always stationed. So long as they weren't complete freeloaders looking to draw a salary for nothing, they could keep the creatures at bay even if they couldn't outright kill them. After all, the Imperial Palace was hardly wanting for soldiers and knights.
Even so, listening to the chorus of shrieks rising from every direction, a hollow laugh slipped past my lips. That was right. The present imperial court was nothing but empty chaff.
The Royal Guard, who supposedly pledged allegiance solely to the Emperor? With the Emperor casually lending them out to his favorite consort, their grand reputation was an utter joke. Claiming they took orders exclusively from the sovereign and cared for nothing but his personal safety, they were the Royal Guard in name only—in reality, they had been reduced to the Emperor's flashiest fixers.
And what of the Imperial Knights? Most had chosen to serve within the palace walls specifically to avoid ever having to face a demonic beast. Out on the front lines, promising young men and women of all ages were bleeding and dying to hold back the monstrous hordes; how could knights who ignored that bloody reality just to swagger about the safe imperial grounds possess any genuine prowess? It was hardly surprising that Consort Cleo had spent her own fortune and effort hiring seasoned mercenaries to place in Brian's personal escort. I had been thoroughly appalled to learn she had even recruited a ruthless serial killer, concealing his face just to employ his lethal skills as Brian's bodyguard.
Not that it mattered much in the end—even someone like that had been taken down with a single blow when the beast struck earlier.
Surveying the surrounding turmoil, I rose to my feet. The hour I had planned for was fast approaching. Just as I took a step forward, the Empress broke her silence.
"Come to think of it, I have yet to hear what role you play in this grand drama you orchestrated."
"A drama? Well, I merely thought of it as returning an insult in kind."
"You would have lost very little even if you had let the consort deceive you."
"……."
"The consort's true target this time was me."
I turned to look at the Empress. Though her posture remained impeccably upright, her eyes betrayed a profound, bone-deep exhaustion. Strands of gray were beginning to fade into her hair, yet the graceful, swan-like curve of her neck remained unbroken despite the shadows clinging beneath her gaze. She was the woman who, when summoned at dawn and confronted with my wild proposal, had listened without a word of interruption and simply replied, I will do it.
Among all the souls dwelling within this wretched palace, she was the only one who truly deserved to be called noble.
She had endured silently for so many years. I had heard that gray hairs were already creeping into her locks, forcing her to dye them repeatedly to keep up appearances. Even as the Emperor—gorging himself on health tonics to maintain his vigorous youth—openly mocked her fading beauty by comparing her to the radiant Consort Cleo, she had merely lowered her eyes and endured every humiliation in calm silence.
"His Imperial Majesty favored the consort's whim simply because he was displeased that I took Duke Castrein's side and shielded you."
"If Your Majesty falls, I will be the next target regardless."
"Were you not hesitant to join hands with my son?"
"The moment you sheltered me in your palace when I lost consciousness, I was already indebted to you. I only wished to settle that debt before I took my leave."
"My only motive was to place the Castrein Duchy in my debt."
"Had I truly perished, not even Your Majesty would have escaped unscathed."
That was precisely why I had been so astonished when I awoke and discovered I had been treated within the Empress's residence. An Empress who had already lost the Emperor's favor wielded no real political power. Though I was fortunate enough to survive and make a full recovery, had my breath failed and I remained dead, the Empress would have been forced to shoulder the entire blame.
"You are far gentler to those around you than you let on."
"...Pardon? Gentle? Me? I just despise being in someone's debt, that's all."
My brow furrowed on instinct. Good grief. The woman who had stunned me simply by granting me sanctuary was now calling me gentle just because I had plotted a little revenge against the consort who tried to ruin us both? What nonsense was this?
The Empress offered a faint, fleeting smile at my reaction.
"And shy, to boot."
"...Your Majesty, I would honestly feel far more comfortable if you just scolded me as a brazen little minx who recklessly stirs up trouble."
I would rather deal with Adrian's slippery, teasing banter. Being treated with such soft warmth by the Empress was profoundly uncomfortable.
"I believed I simply needed to endure longer."
Her quiet voice caught me just as I turned to take my leave.
"I told myself that the time had not yet come. That until the princes reached their majority, merely discussing the imperial succession bordered on high treason. Since His Majesty would never appoint a crown prince while he still possessed his vitality, I believed the key to victory lay in preserving our strength until the very end, outlasting everyone else."
She was not wrong. In the original story, the Empress and Adrian had stubbornly clung to life and ultimately seized the throne. Though the Empress did not survive long due to the horrific injuries she sustained during the civil war, and Adrian was plagued by relentless stomach spasms from the crushing stress of rebuilding the ash-choked palace, they had nonetheless survived to tread upon the corpses of their enemies.
"Yet, when I reflect upon it... I find myself wondering if a battlefield favorable to us would ever truly arrive."
Her confession stole the words from my tongue.
Even after Adrian and Brian reached adulthood, the political landscape would neither drastically worsen nor noticeably improve—all because of the Emperor's fickle indecision. Brian would only formally enter the succession struggle after securing a marriage with the daughter of Marquis Havilios. From that point onward, the Havilios Marquisate joined hands with Consort Cleo, dedicating their entire fortune and influence to crowning Brian as Emperor.
My memories regarding that particular detail were oddly hazy. I vaguely recalled that their household possessed some strange influence tied to demonic beasts... At any rate, they were the ones who hurled the decisive kindling onto the civil war that reduced the Imperial Palace to cinders.
In truth, the Castrein Duchy commanded the empire's preeminent military force. Yet despite holding such overwhelming martial might, they had been unable to deploy their troops freely. They were bound by their duty to anchor the northern defense. If that front line buckled even once, cities and towns would fall like dominoes before the demonic beasts. Because of that solemn duty, even when the civil war turned catastrophically vicious, the Castrein family could not commit their entire army to the capital.
Their adversaries, by contrast, fought with utter disregard for the realm, caring nothing for whether the continent burned or the common people were torn to shreds by monsters. Ultimately, though Adrian's faction emerged victorious, the toll had been devastating beyond measure.
Perhaps, if the struggle began far earlier than it had in the original tale—at a time like this—the final outcome might change entirely.
"I am sorry for turning a blind eye to your plight under the pretext of my own hardships."
The Empress's soft apology made me freeze in my tracks.
"Watching the spectacle you orchestrated today, I realized that every excuse I harbored was nothing more than a coward's rationalization."
"……."
"As Empress of this realm, it was my sacred duty to care for all the children of the imperial house. Yet, in my desperation to protect Adrian, I feigned ignorance of your suffering. It was utterly irresponsible of me."
In a certain sense, the Empress bore an uncanny resemblance to Raymon.
Duty.
Pride.
She seemed forged entirely from the weight of such words. And once those ideals were shattered by court cruelty, she had lived solely for Adrian's sake. No matter what slander was whispered behind her back, she was a flawless empress and a far more dignified adult than the wretched, self-absorbed Emperor could ever hope to be. Yet here she was, branding herself 'irresponsible.'
"...Why are you apologizing to me?"
"It means that whether today's gambit ends in triumph or disaster, I will never place the blame upon you."
A faint, unburdened smile touched her lips. A strange, prickling sensation settled over my chest.
"What right does an adult have to offer excuses, whatever the outcome may be, when she shifted her own burden onto the shoulders of a child?"
It was precisely because he had such an upright mother that Prince Adrian had been forced to cultivate the venom and cunning of a viper.
In truth, he might never have cared for the imperial throne in the first place. By nature, he was easygoing and had known no desperate wants. Yet because his mother, fully conscious of shame, had swallowed every humiliation and ground her teeth in the shadows just to crown him victor, he had no choice but to grow far more ruthless, moving through the court without leaving a single vulnerability exposed.