Chapter 86

The emperor, Vittorio the Fourth, had always seen Elicia as a thorn in his side.

She was the sole heir of the late crown prince and held stronger legitimacy than Vittorio himself.

Even so, he had been able to seize the throne only because Elicia had been far too young at the time, and there had been no queen mother to serve as regent.

Even after ascending the throne, he hadn’t been able to relax for quite a while. He constantly worried that the nobles might bring up Elicia’s claim to succession again.

Fortunately for him, Elicia’s violent temperament gradually drove away most of the nobles who once supported her.

In the end, he succeeded in pushing her, stripped of all power, to the northern frontier that was little better than exile, and finally felt relieved.

Or so he had thought.

“Every contact we planted has gone silent, and the rumors reaching us are nothing but bizarre. My headaches never seem to ease.”

“And that’s why your son prepared this, to ease Your Majesty’s worries.”

The one who answered was the emperor’s eldest son, Nigel.

He too felt something was off about Elicia’s sudden change.

According to the rumors, her temperament was still filthy as ever.

Cursing and cruelty were the norm, and if something displeased her, she’d lash out with her feet. In western Bellamare, they even said she personally split her uncle Count Dorva’s head with an axe.

They claimed she’d gone so far as to hang the head on a pike…

Having been driven to the north, her brutality seemed to have worsened even further. And yet, despite that, public support for Elicia soared sky high.

It was thanks to her aggressive reform policies.

Even people in other regions were being stirred by the rumors.

“The Elicia I know isn’t that clever. She’s stupid and incapable of thinking.”

“Your Majesty is correct. However, after sending people to investigate, it seems all the rumors are true.”

“That woman is really reforming the north?”

“On the surface, yes. But the reality is hard to judge. It’s possible someone else is moving under her name.”

Nigel’s personality clashed completely with Elicia’s.

He despised stupidity above all else, and Elicia fit that description perfectly, so he didn’t even regard her as human.

‘There’s no way she could personally carry out that many administrative orders.’

He was convinced someone else had to be pulling the strings using Elicia’s name.

Even so, the emperor couldn’t suppress his irritation and ground his teeth.

“Even if someone else is moving, the result is the same. That woman’s name is only growing larger, isn’t it?!”

At the emperor’s shrill outburst, his attendants bowed deeply.

Nigel let out a quiet, exhausted sigh inside, but followed the others in bowing respectfully.

“Then how about inviting the Duke and Duchess of Lombard to the Capital?”

“Why would I summon a woman I already chased away?”

“Isn’t the social season beginning? With nobles from both inside and outside the empire gathering in the Capital, it would be a perfect opportunity to expose Elicia’s foolishness to everyone.”

“Oh. That does sound convincing.”

The emperor nodded and stroked his chin.

In truth, there was one secret the emperor hadn’t even shared with Nigel.

‘That woman is a heretic. I saw it with my own eyes. Terrifying demonic energy was wrapped around her.’

‘A princess being a heretic… can you take responsibility for such words?’

‘How could I dare lie before you? If we could show her to the high ranking clergy of the Holy City, I could prove my words even more clearly.’

The emperor had secretly secured several favored individuals, hiding them from the Holy City.

His original purpose had been to find a way to control the demonic energy of the north without relying on the Lombard family. But the people he’d sent north returned with an unexpected report.

That Elicia had become a heretic.

If he could prove it to be true, the emperor could erase the thorn in his side forever.

“Send someone to Lombard. Tell them I wish to invite them to the spring banquet, and that they must attend.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And send an invitation to the Holy City as well.”

The emperor continued, absently rubbing his signet ring as if confirming something.

“The pope himself won’t come, but if it’s an invitation written in my own hand, the Holy City will send high ranking officials. That will be fitting to judge Elicia’s nature.”

“I obey.”

Nigel rose from his prostration and withdrew.

‘What is he plotting this time?’

Hopefully it wouldn’t be something that took too much effort to clean up.

In truth, Nigel understood his father’s thoughts fairly well. The emperor belonged to the very type Nigel despised.

Stupid and greedy.

“Hmm. It’s been a while since I’ll see my dear sister’s face.”

Nigel’s lips twisted into a crooked smile as he walked through the palace corridor.

* * *

It was an ordinary morning.

With plenty of work to handle, I woke up early around ten in the morning and, while being attended by the maids, reviewed the documents scheduled for today.

“Mmm, Nero, are you bored?”

“Nyaah, nyanyanya… haak!”

As usual, Nero was enthusiastically clinging to me.

Maybe because we’d been apart for a while, I felt both happy and a little sorry seeing him cuddle up so eagerly.

But what was going on? Nero, who’d been staring at me intently, suddenly started beating up an innocent cushion.

He rubbed against it, then beat it. He clung, then beat it. He rolled around, then beat it again.

In the end, he even hissed and flipped over.

“Berry, did Nero eat something strange?”

“No, his meals are the same as always… Maybe he played a bit too hard this morning?”

Now that I thought about it, Berry’s well trained muscles did look unusually solid today.

Thinking it was just a cat’s usual mood swings, I turned my eyes back to the documents. Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor.

“Eli, it’s me. May I come in?”

“Ed?”

I was wearing only a negligee, so I quickly threw on a robe and nodded for the door to be opened.

But Ed’s expression didn’t look good.

Sensing something had happened, I dismissed the maids and let him inside.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“An invitation has arrived from the imperial palace.”

“…?”

For a moment, I couldn’t quite process what I’d just heard.

Through many conversations with Edwin, I’d learned that Elicia was essentially someone sent into exile.

The south and the north were geographically distant, so whatever Elicia did in Lombard would have little impact on the Capital.

That was exactly why the emperor had married her off to Lombard.

By isolating her in the north, he aimed to block any chance of her interfering with imperial authority.

That was why I’d felt relieved. At least I thought I could avoid headaches.

“Did I hear something wrong?”

“It’s an invitation written in the emperor’s own hand.”

And when he added that it had been delivered by a unit commander of the Imperial Guard, my head went blank.

I might not have been involved in noble society, but I knew how much political weight an imperial autograph carried.

And sending a guard commander personally meant…

“No matter what we do, they’re going to drag us to the Capital, right?”

Edwin met my gaze and slowly nodded.

“We can refuse for now, but they’ll eventually create a justification.”

“I figured…”

It would be better to accept the invitation while things were still polite.

According to my memories from my previous life, there were fortunately no major issues at the Northern Wall during this period.

And thanks to me ruthlessly cracking down on corrupt and lazy officials day and night, the administrative system had become fast and efficient overall.

Now there were even high ranking officials who shared my views, so being away for a season should be fine.

‘No, but…’

Even if I somehow learned the complicated imperial etiquette, I had no memories of Elicia. Everyone I’d meet in the Capital would be strangers. What if someone pretended to know me? How was I supposed to react?

If I hesitated suspiciously, I might end up face to face with the inquisitors stationed in the Capital this time.

My body trembled at the thought.

‘I don’t want to go. I really don’t want to go.’

Staying glued to home was the greatest happiness in the world.

A soft bed, fun books, and my beloved companion gold coins that made my heart ache just looking at them. Leaving all that behind…

And more than anything…

“My baby, let’s kiss.”

“Nyaak!”

Ever since Edwin mentioned the invitation, Nero had been clinging to me even more fiercely. I pulled him into a tight hug.

Even though he couldn’t understand human speech, did he instinctively sense the coming separation?

I showered kisses on the unusually frantic little one and answered.

“Ed.”

“Have you decided?”

“Let’s go. To the Capital.”