The Emperor and the Empress
I'd confirmed the existence of the status window, but checking it could wait.
Something more urgent demanded my attention.
The fate of the former emperor, Ulysian von Nicator, and his empress, Elysis Floren.
I took only Theresia with me to the annex where they were confined.
The annex was guarded tightly by soldiers bristling with hostility.
The moment they spotted me, they shouted in unison.
"Attention!"
I waved a hand, and they responded with a roar.
"For His Majesty the King, salute!"
A forest of salutes rose toward me.
Through a second-floor window, I caught sight of Elysis.
Her face flickered with anxiety as she scanned the soldiers, then me, then Theresia.
I waved them off, and the soldiers returned to their posts.
The commander approached.
"What brings you here, Your Majesty?"
"You know what."
"Yes, sir! Clear the way!"
And just like that, Theresia and I entered the annex without issue.
The instant we stepped inside, Ulysian lunged for my collar.
Thwack—!!
My kick sent him sprawling, helpless.
"Je... guh..."
"Hey, Ulysian."
"Leon!!"
He glared at me with murder in his eyes, but what could he do?
The fool collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing.
"I should have killed you. I should have killed you!"
"Then it wouldn't have been just the imperial family—the whole Nicator Empire would have crumbled."
"Touch Elysis, and I'll kill you."
"You think you could?"
"Fuuuuck!!"
He could only scream, utterly powerless.
For the record, the palace minister who'd spent his days fawning over this idiot had fled the Imperial Capital and gotten caught—then beheaded.
His head was on display right here in the annex.
I grabbed Ulysian by the hair and yanked his head up.
Then I mimed slicing my own throat with my hand.
His face drained of color.
"Get ready for the guillotine."
"...Hah."
Ulysian clutched at my hand like he was begging.
"We were friends, weren't we? How can you do this..."
He spoke in the casual tone from before he'd become emperor, but it stirred nothing in me.
Even if the crown prince-era Ulysian had treated the real Leon Eisen like a friend, Leon probably never saw it as equals.
Just the imperial family's errand boy.
A knight from commoner stock.
The kind who'd have stayed a commoner forever without the war.
And a romantic rival Elysis fretted over.
That was it.
I flashed Ulysian a bright smile.
"Then at least you should have let me buy a house in the capital."
"Th-that was..."
"I know. Because of Elysis, right?"
"..."
"You married her to tie her down, but you were scared her heart might wander. Pathetic trash."
I chopped the edge of my hand hard into his neck.
Ulysian passed out cold.
Elysis, descending the stairs, witnessed the scene.
"Ulysian!"
She rushed toward him instead of me.
A bitter feeling stirred.
If this story had ended as intended, Elysis would have been the triumphant heroine.
Ulysian might have been an incompetent ruler, but as the male lead in a romance, he had his charms.
If I'd still loved her, the Empire might not have fallen.
But my transmigration twisted the tale.
Anyway, the revolution succeeded. I was king now.
The noblest status in the land.
Meanwhile, the former crown prince and emperor, Ulysian, was deposed—politically dead.
I was curious, just a bit.
How would she act in this moment?
Elysis dropped to her knees before me.
"Please, please spare Ulysian."
"What if it meant your death?"
"I don't care. Spare Ulysian!"
Hah.
No change there.
"Theresia."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Call the soldiers. Lock Ulysian and Elysis in the detention cells."
"Yes, sir."
Soldiers soon swarmed in and dragged them away.
They were moved to the underground cells, far from the palace.
"What the hell is love, anyway."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
I just stroked Theresia's head.
Her face flushed, but I ignored it.
The detention cell was cramped and cold.
Ulysian and Elysis were thrown into separate ones.
Elysis huddled in rough sackcloth, shivering violently.
Leon's just angry. If I explain, he'll understand.
That's what she thought.
But hours passed, and Leon Eisen never came.
Instead, two of his representatives arrived.
Women she'd seen at his mansion.
Names were... Katarina and Natalia, right?
Natalia spoke.
"Lady Elysis Floren."
"...Yes?"
"You are no longer empress of this country. And this nation has abandoned the imperial name."
Natalia impassively informed her that her possessions would be seized.
Jewelry, gems, clothes.
All items laced with memories of Ulysian.
Gifts he'd whispered sweet nothings while giving her.
"They'll serve the newly born kingdom. Try not to be too disheartened."
"Leon?"
Elysis clutched at Natalia's hem.
"Leon's not coming?"
Natalia sighed.
"His Majesty is attending to state affairs—the mess you two made of them."
"Just once, please let me see his face?"
"His Majesty deemed it unnecessary to interrogate you personally."
A roar erupted from the next cell.
"Elysis!"
Ulysian's voice.
"Still hung up on that bastard? The only man allowed by your side is me!"
"...Ulysian."
Elysis covered her face with both hands.
Four footsteps faded away.
The door slammed shut.
From next door, Ulysian kept screaming.
"Elysis! You're mine! Not some commoner's!"
"Hic... sob... Leon..."
All Elysis could do was weep like a tragic heroine.
But she was no tragic heroine anymore.
Nor the heroine at all.
She was just an extra, a symbol of Leon's past from his perspective.
As she thought of Ulysian howling himself hoarse next door.
Was the man I loved ever like that?
Without his noble blood and the allure it brought, was there nothing left?
Such doubts swelled, filling her mind.
Soon, she wondered.
Maybe I never loved Ulysian at all.
Seated on the throne, I received reports from Natalia and Katarina.
Ulysian's disgraceful antics.
Elysis's sobs.
Details on all that.
Theresia, standing right at my left, asked.
"What do you plan to do with them, Your Majesty?"
"Kill them."
"Both?"
"...Hmm."
Ulysian definitely had to die.
The people's rage at the imperial family centered on him.
His predecessor had centralized power, letting this incompetent wield peak authority in a twisted setup.
But public opinion on Elysis Floren?
It was neutral, really.
Yes, she'd draped herself in luxuries, but Ulysian gifted them all.
Plus, she was a commoner.
More than me—Leon Eisen—she showed the masses
just how far a commoner could rise.
A landmark figure, in her way.
She'd never grasped real power, either.
No skirts blowing to manipulate policy, no family dominating the court.
Her whole family died in the war with Demetrien, anyway.
So the people's view of her leaned toward pity, not the hatred Ulysian faced.
No need to kill Elysis Floren.
"Send only Ulysian to the guillotine."
"Understood. I'll handle it."
"Release Elysis and let her stay in the annex again."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Katarina and Natalia withdrew.
Theresia delivered another report.
"The Minister of Finance, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of War have entered the palace—what was the imperial palace, now the royal one."
"Reinstate them all."
"Yes, sir."
Theresia left too.
I sank into the throne, pondering how much the original Leon Eisen's memories influenced me.
"...Leon Eisen."
My name was Leon Eisen, but the one I meant was the original from the novel.
The Leon Eisen who'd vanished when I possessed him up north.
What did he think of my actions?
Was his consciousness lingering somewhere in this body?
Such thoughts crossed my mind.
No answers.
But one thing was certain.
"Status window."
The status window would hold all the answers.