ICM Chapter 137

“And what else? Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

“…If such a situation arises, he told me to follow the Duchess’s will.”

The confession came like a sigh, as if he didn’t particularly want to say it. Ashika’s black eyes sparkled as she spoke decisively.

“Yes, that’s right. This is my will. I won’t allow any insubordination.”

“Something could happen on the way there and back.”

“That would be my responsibility for giving the order.”

“You could be confined by the Emperor after entering the palace.”

“Do you think Rushia would just stand by and watch that happen?”

“If Your Grace becomes a hostage, His Grace’s hands could be tied.”

“Do you think I’d go in alone without any preparations? That’s not it. Even if it means committing treason, I won’t be the one to hold Rushia back.”

It was an unhesitating answer. Ashika was prepared to risk her life to meet the Emperor and settle matters face to face. And that would support what Drushia had been doing.

‘What is this…’

Now even sighs wouldn’t come. If she had been an ordinary noble lady, Aegonite’s threatening attitude might have worked. But Ashika was never an opponent he could fight and win against from the start.

Faced with her attitude of not backing down an inch, Aegonite squeezed his eyes shut tight and then opened them.

“I will decide on the escort personnel.”

“Do as you see fit. But if they fall behind in speed, I’ll leave them behind and go.”

Aegonite’s face crumpled.

“They’re all elite knights of Talion. There’s no way they couldn’t keep up with Your Grace.”

“The more people there are, the slower the movement becomes and the more attention we draw. Consider that.”

They had to rush to the capital at full speed, taking whatever risks necessary.

Aegonite’s gaze turned not to Ashika, but to Clemen at the bedside.

“Will that… work?”

“If it won’t work, we’ll have to make it work.”

Clemen responded calmly to Aegonite’s dubious tone. This might be the first and last opportunity. Clemen also had no intention of missing this chance.

The sound of urgent footsteps came from beyond the door. The rapidly approaching figure burst open the door without warning.

“My lady, why…”

Nile, who had rushed into the room, froze instantly. People he knew well were gathered together. With very serious expressions, no less. When puzzled gazes turned to him, Ashika spoke.

“You’re late.”

“Why is everyone so serious? Is there a war somewhere… Oh right, there was a territorial war.”

At his joking words, Aegonite glared at Nile.

“What?”

Ashika walked between the two men, waving her hand.

“No time for fighting. Both of you go and prepare for departure.”

“What’s going on? Where are we going?”

Nile still looked bewildered. Ashika looked back at Nile with a somewhat worried expression.

“Nile, we’re going to meet the Emperor.”

****

The capital Trellyn was the land with the most water in the Empire. Snow and rain fell abundantly throughout the four seasons, and the vast grasslands outside the capital became fertile farmland. It was quite a contrast to the Grand Duchy and its surrounding areas, which had been suffering from drought for several years.

Those who knew the founding myths didn’t believe that this place had once been a desert. They thought legends were just legends. Or perhaps there was some mysterious power hidden in the royal family.

Ashika’s party only saw snow accumulated for the first time this year after arriving in the capital. It meant that Talion and the adjacent regions were just as parched.

The period away from the capital was only about a month. Yet the feeling of looking at the entrance to the imperial palace, spread with short evergreen trees, was strangely moving.

“The escort knights cannot enter together.”

The attendant who came out as a guide restricted who could accompany them. Only Ashika had been granted an audience. Therefore, only Ashika could go to the audience chamber, while the rest of the party had to wait in the waiting room or outside the main palace.

“Let my lady-in-waiting accompany me. I’m not feeling well.”

Ashika’s face was somewhat pale. Even though it was midwinter, cold sweat was noticeably beading on her forehead, making her look quite unwell.

“Do you perhaps need a physician?”

“It’s not that serious. I can’t commit such discourtesy when I’ve come to see His Majesty.”

Though her face was pale, Ashika’s answer was firm. The attendant’s gaze turned to Clemen beside her. His expression was somewhat puzzled.

The lady-in-waiting that high nobles kept by their side was usually a young relative or an unmarried lady. Clemen seemed too old to be called the lady-in-waiting of a young duchess.

“Shall I support you?”

When Clemen stepped forward, Ashika nodded. It meant she would enter together in any case. Clemen gently took Ashika’s arm and continued speaking.

“You did overdo it. You would have been sick enough from just the wedding ceremony, yet you rushed all the way to the capital too.”

“I’m just a bit dizzy. I won’t collapse from something like this.”

Despite her delicate build, she was born with a healthier body than she appeared. Even when she went on forced marches on horseback for a month or two each year for territorial inspections, she never fell ill.

The attendant watching the two women nodded.

“However, only up to the entrance of the audience chamber. No one except the authorized person may enter the audience chamber.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Clemen forced a smile on her stiff face. As if managing her expression was difficult, she quickly bowed her head after speaking. She was worried the attendant might find it strange.

So Aegonite and the other escort knights along with Nile waited outside, while Ashika and Clemen went to the main palace where the Emperor resided.

Clemen looked only straight ahead throughout the walk. Even though she had returned after 20 years, her steps through the main palace were familiar.

Leaving Clemen outside the audience chamber, Ashika’s expression was somewhat subdued as she entered. With many eyes watching, the two women exchanged glances without words.

“Please enter.”

The attendant’s guidance ended there. Ashika had to enter the audience chamber alone.

Thump, thump. Ashika’s heart beat loudly. Last time she had been with Drushia, but this time she was alone. It was a moment when she desperately missed the large, warm hand that used to playfully hold hers.

‘I’m trying to do what I can do.’

She couldn’t lead knights onto the battlefield like Drushia, nor did she possess mysterious powers like Iben who didn’t age. She had simply run tenaciously without giving up at each moment.

To protect those precious to her, to prevent tragedy from repeating itself. So even now, she had to do her utmost with what she could do.

At the attendant’s voice announcing the Emperor’s entrance, Ashika clenched her tense hands.

“I have the honor of meeting His Majesty the Emperor, the Sun of the Empire. New Year’s blessings…”

“What exactly are Igraine and Talion trying to do?”

The Emperor cut off Ashika’s greeting as soon as she entered the audience chamber. He had already heard about what happened in Maiheller territory.

Ashika, who had been extremely tense, felt completely deflated by the Emperor’s angry voice. To think he was someone who expressed his emotions so directly – her previous fears seemed meaningless.

“It started as a minor dispute, but they committed acts that went too far. Do you know that an entire village burned down in a fire started by Maiheller’s soldiers?”

“And so you started a territorial war? A territorial war! Don’t you think about how much damage the people will suffer?”

Ashika’s expression hardened coldly. When she had been framed for murder, this Emperor had permitted a territorial war that didn’t even meet the conditions. It was essentially an abuse of power.

“Territorial war is a right held by nobles who possess territories. Isn’t it guaranteed by the Empire’s law?”

However, because the damage to both sides was severe when territorial wars were fought, it rarely went to actual combat. Moving troops was mostly for intimidation, with most situations concluded through dramatic agreements.

“Even so, Talion is the Empire’s foremost sword and shield. If Talion sets its mind to it, what noble wouldn’t kneel!”

“Has Talion ever once moved its soldiers for private gain? Your Majesty, instead of being angry, you should see the facts as they are.”

“How does one escalate a fight between houses to such proportions? Talion is thinking wrongly.”

The Emperor made no effort to hide his displeasure.

The Marquis Maiheller house, which had now become the Emperor’s maternal family. He remembered how they had helped the Empress Dowager both materially and spiritually while staying away from the center of power.

Though there remained the blemish that the Emperor’s mother was illegitimate, having a noble family with no power hunger but with prestige as backing was beneficial in many ways. But before he could even organize that relationship properly, Talion had stepped in and stirred things up.

“Your Majesty, past matters have not yet been resolved. There are no eternal secrets. The Arkpella Grand Duchy issue will surely become a fatal problem that holds Your Majesty back.”

“Why does the Grand Duchy issue come up here? It’s the Marquis Maiheller house that your husband, Duke Talion, has turned upside down like stirring up a hornet’s nest!”

Ashika raised her face, which had been bowed the entire time. Eyes black as an unfathomable well met the Emperor’s gaze. It was such an upright gaze that it was difficult to point out as impudent.

“It wasn’t intended, but in that process, a great secret was revealed.”

The Emperor’s hand flinched in response. When no answer came, Ashika took a moment to catch her breath and continued.

“The Marquis Maiheller house was raising unauthorized private soldiers.”

“Nonsense!”

The Emperor burst out shouting.

If Marquis Maiheller had power hunger, he would have revealed his true intentions long ago. But the marquis house had been a family of recluses for generations. They had only shown themselves in the capital for barely ten years. It was hard to believe they had sinister ulterior motives.

“That’s not all. Evidence has emerged that the Marquis Maiheller house was behind framing the Grand Duchy for treason.”

The Emperor shot up from his seat. As if he didn’t want to hear any more, he shouted toward the door.

“Open the door! Take the Duchess of Talion…”

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is deeply involved.”

At Ashika’s words, the Emperor froze in place. Even as the audience chamber door opened and a guard knight entered, he couldn’t speak.

“Your Majesty, shall we escort the Duchess out?”

The guard knight carefully observed the Emperor’s face. Ashika still stood upright, waiting for an answer.

“…No, the conversation isn’t finished yet.”

The Emperor waved his hand, sending the knights out of the audience chamber. His face showed a mixture of anger and bewilderment.

She had been the mother who had manipulated him like a puppet his entire life, never letting go. Sometimes when he saw the madness flashing in the Empress Dowager’s eyes, he felt fear even though she was his own mother. Her obsession with her husband and son, her obsession with power, her endless greed and madness.

He remembered words the late Emperor had uttered like a complaint when arguing with the Empress Dowager when he was very young.

[You resemble your father too much.]

He hadn’t understood then. The benevolent Grand Duke Arkpella and the Empress Dowager were completely different. But only recently had he realized that the ‘father’ the late Emperor spoke of was not Grand Duke Arkpella, but Maiheller.

The late Emperor had known. The fact that the Empress Dowager was Maiheller’s illegitimate child. That meant not only the Empress Dowager, but the late Emperor himself had been deeply involved in the Arkpella Grand Duchy’s destruction.

“…She is my mother. Do you intend to insult the Emperor’s mother?”

“Truth doesn’t disappear just because you turn away from it.”

“This truth you speak of…”

His voice came out strained from suppressing his anger.

“Truth that’s only words is meaningless. My position is such, and power is such. Only fools stake their lives on truth that’s merely words.”

He meant not to make crude threats. Now the Emperor openly displayed his rejection.

Ashika continued in a much calmer voice. Once started, it was spilled water now.

“What if it’s not merely words?”

Despite the Emperor’s anger and sharp interrogation, Ashika’s attitude remained consistent. That made it even more unpleasant, and the Emperor’s gaze was sharp as could be.

“How audacious. I thought the Igraines were prudent people who knew their place, but I was wrong. How do you think you can handle speaking so lightly?”

“It’s not me, Your Majesty.”

“Are you trying to play word games?”

Ashika’s gaze briefly turned toward the audience chamber door. For just a moment, anxiety flashed through her about what to do if refused. Her strongest evidence and witness was outside that door.

“Lady Majes wishes to see His Majesty the Emperor. Please grant permission.”

“…Lady Majes?”

Great ripples spread across his wrinkled face from the unexpected shock.