ICM Chapter 139

“Hah….”

An exasperated sigh escaped from the Emperor’s lips. Like driving in a wedge, Ashika continued speaking in clear tones.

“The Marquis Maiheller family has committed crimes that cry out to heaven and earth. Please make them pay the price. If you do so, all these sins will be borne by Marquis Maiheller alone.”

“You’re telling me to strike down Maiheller.”

“Question Maiheller’s crimes, and please lift the false accusations that have been unjustly placed upon the Grand Duke’s family, Your Majesty.”

For Ashika and Igraine to survive, they must shed the stigma of being descendants of traitors. To do that, they must overturn the unjust past of Arkpella.

The Empress Dowager was nothing more than a puppet. The real mastermind was Marquis Maiheller. If they didn’t cut this persistent thread of evil fate now, the hallucinations she had experienced could become a horrific reality once again.

“I don’t understand. Why are Igraine and Talion going all out for the Grand Duchy issue? Even staking their family’s fate on it?”

He seemed genuinely curious. At the Emperor’s question, Ashika raised her head. In her black eyes burned a deep blue anger that had never been there before. It was a bone-deep fury that would not rest until she witnessed Maiheller’s complete destruction.

The Emperor couldn’t understand how the two families had come to be on such bad terms with Maiheller.

“Forty years is a long time, Your Majesty. I no longer wish to see the innocent people of the Grand Duchy suffer. Please show them mercy.”

“Is it merely out of compassion?”

“Igraine also wishes to withdraw from Grand Duchy affairs.”

“Hah….”

The Emperor’s hand drummed nervously on the armrest. The fact that it was Ashika, not himself, who was leading this conversation was infuriating.

“Both of you have quite the nerve. Birds of a feather flock together.”

It was a complaint that sounded like a soliloquy.

The Emperor always found Neoren difficult. The man who carried the weight of gold in every word was stronger and more imposing than anyone else.

Perhaps that’s why he also found Drushia uncomfortable. He found it difficult and uncomfortable that this man exuded a stronger presence than the imperial family itself.

At the same time, he was displeased and angry that he, as royalty, was being outmatched by a subject. He could emotionally understand why the previous Emperor had been so wary of Talion, why he had ultimately brought the Arkpella Grand Duke family to complete destruction.

“But even if the Arkpella Grand Duke family is restored, isn’t there no one to inherit it? There shouldn’t be any collateral blood relatives left either. That could make the problem more complicated.”

The founding families were particularly blessed with few descendants. Even if they passed the position to collateral branches, there was a high possibility they would be relatives from the maternal side without direct bloodline.

“That… the surviving retainers of Arkpella will take care of it themselves.”

Ashika answered evasively. What mattered now was clearing the Arkpella Grand Duke family’s false accusations. There was no need to reveal prematurely that direct descendants were alive.

If they learned that the Grand Duchess was alive, they might become as wary as the previous Emperor who had feared Arkpella’s power. It was better not to know for now. After all, Iben would prove herself simply by revealing herself.

“What if I refuse? What if I charge Igraine and Talion with the crime of insulting royalty?”

“Your Majesty.”

Ashika looked at the Emperor with an unwavering gaze.

“The problem has already surfaced. It’s only a matter of time before this fact becomes known. If it’s not resolved from above, eventually a much greater disturbance will erupt from below.”

Once this fact was revealed, the nobles of the Grand Duchy would be the first to rise up.

The Grand Duchy had once been so powerful with independent forces that there was talk of whether to become an autonomous duchy or not. That’s why the previous Emperor had so desperately wanted to bring the Grand Duchy under his submission.

Though they appeared weakened by forty years of confinement orders, the situation would change if they had supporting forces. If Talion’s armed forces joined them, what would happen was obvious. A real civil war could break out.

“Are Talion and Igraine planning to start a civil war?”

“That decision lies with Your Majesty.”

The fact that she didn’t deny it was even more astounding. Ashika was genuinely hinting that things could escalate to civil war.

“What in the world…. Do Duke Igraine and Duke Talion know that you’re being this reckless?”

“My opinion is the will of Talion and Igraine.”

The Emperor was no longer even angry. He simply stared down at Ashika, who remained unshaken while staking not only her own life but the fate of two families.

The Emperor’s gaze shifted to Nile, who stood like a stone statue maintaining his position.

“…Why did you get involved in this matter? If you had come to me instead….”

Perhaps he would have acknowledged his status as a prince. The Emperor’s unfinished words carried such meaning.

After a long silence, Nile spoke for the first time. With eyes so cold it was hard to believe he was looking at blood relatives.

“Please clear my mother’s dishonor.”

Mother. At that single word, Clemen’s face contorted as if about to cry. She was finally hearing a word she had never heard once in her lifetime. In places where people were present, they couldn’t even exchange comfortable greetings with each other.

“Don’t you have something you want, having come this far? Like status as a prince or a title?”

“There’s only one thing I want. I want to clear my mother’s dishonor and live as my mother’s son.”

Nile emphasized once again that he was his mother’s son. That he would live as the son of the deposed Empress, not as the son of the Emperor who was the ruler of the Empire.

“I simply want to reclaim my family.”

Though he had grown up in affluent circumstances receiving proper education, the Viscount couple who occupied his parents’ place had always remained distant. To them, Nile had never once been family.

The Emperor’s face hardened coldly. He could feel it without words being spoken. That this young man who looked so much like him was rejecting him.

“If you want to reclaim your mother, you must first reclaim your name. Clearing Lady Majes’s dishonor is also possible through you.”

What was he trying to force? For the first time, disturbance appeared in Nile’s expression.

As if lost in thought for a moment, the Emperor closed his mouth.

Ashika asking to clear the Grand Duke family’s false accusations and lift the confinement order, the deposed Empress bringing evidence to question his mother’s crimes, and the meeting with a son whose existence he hadn’t even known.

Silence descended upon the audience chamber. It was none other than the Emperor who had to sort out this situation.

“The Grand Duchy is a dangerous burden. Duchess Talion, you know this.”

Weak though he was, he was still the Emperor and had lived his entire life in the palace. He was well aware of the meaning and danger that the Grand Duchy held.

“There have long been opinions about dividing the Grand Duchy. I’ve been postponing it because I couldn’t touch it carelessly.”

Like a pack of starving wolves, nobles had been eyeing the Grand Duchy constantly. At that time, there wasn’t enough justification to divide it among them. The Empress Dowager’s presence was still backing things up then.

“I cannot lift the Grand Duchy’s blockade and entrust everything to the judgment of nobles who have been confined for forty years. That place has always asserted too much independence.”

“Your Majesty, that would mean….”

Ashika seemed to know what the Emperor was trying to say.

“I’ll split the Grand Duchy in half and handle the rest under my direct authority.”

“Your Majesty, the Empire doesn’t have nobles capable of managing such large-scale territories.”

High-ranking nobles already possessed vast territories, and even if split in half, the Grand Duchy wasn’t a place that just anyone could be put forward to manage.

“I can appoint new ones.”

The Emperor’s tone was dry. This was a matter where he couldn’t find answers by asking someone else. Calculations were rapidly taking place in his mind.

“And even after the Grand Duchy’s blockade is lifted, Igraine must serve as guarantor for at least ten years. This means I’ll hold you responsible if problems arise.”

It meant they should continue wearing the shackles called the Grand Duchy for some time to come.

“Your Majesty, but the nobles of the Grand Duchy….”

“Half of the Grand Duchy’s nobles were destroyed forty years ago. Even if restored, finding their blood relatives won’t be an ordinary task. No matter how much resources Igraine pours in, do you think collateral blood relatives of Arkpella can take care of a Grand Duchy lacking in nobles?”

In the long term, external intervention was inevitable. The Emperor intended not to miss that opportunity. The chance to split the Grand Duke family’s power completely in half.

“Or shall we really try a civil war?”

It was an ultimatum. Accept it or really fight against the imperial family – choose.

Even Ashika had no choice but to hesitate at this moment. Having rushed here alone without Drushia who should have come together, even the important decision that would divide the Grand Duchy’s history had become her responsibility.

“Your Majesty, then….”

No one wanted a fight with the imperial family. That much was certain. Ashika hoped this deal would benefit everyone as much as possible.

“The Grand Duchy no longer needs external armies. Please allow Talion’s soldiers, who have been incorporated into the imperial forces, to return to their original positions.”

She was asking for the return of soldiers that had been forcibly taken. The Emperor’s face crumpled.

“Hah. This is really something.”

The Emperor looked at Ashika with fresh eyes. To create such an astounding situation and then demand the return of the army they had taken.

“Yes, you were Igraine too.”

Igraine, who with excellent skill had established various businesses and controlled the Empire’s purse strings. She had balked when asked for soldiers last time, but now she was determined to take them back.

“Duchess Talion, no, Young Duchess Igraine. You must take responsibility for what you said today. If there’s any falsehood or deviation, I’ll hold both families accountable.”

Though angry at being manipulated, he also felt refreshed as if a troubling tooth had been pulled. The imperial family could now shake off the Grand Duchy problem that had dragged on for forty years without lifting a finger.

“Call the attendants outside.”

At the Emperor’s voice, the audience chamber doors opened.

“Escort Duchess Talion and…Lord Nedrov out. Lady Majes will speak with me for a moment.”

Nile frowned and looked back at Clemen. She lightly nodded to indicate she was fine.

It was their first meeting in twenty years. There would be private matters between just the two of them that others couldn’t interfere with.

“Nile.”

Ashika called softly to the stiffened Nile. Seeing that he still wouldn’t move, Ashika lightly tugged at his collar.

“Lady Majes needs time too.”

Though he had been hiding his expression throughout, Ashika could see it. A disappointment that felt almost hollow. His deflated gaze finally turned toward Ashika.

Nile left the audience chamber as she led him. Hearing the sound of the door closing behind them, he looked back at the audience chamber door once more.

“Are you okay?”

Ashika was worried about Nile. Strangely, she had been concerned about him from the beginning. Though not blood-related, it felt like having a younger brother who acted spoiled.

“Surprisingly, I don’t feel anything.”

He had once imagined it. They say blood calls to blood, so what would he feel when meeting his father? Though he had never seen him, wouldn’t there be something felt upon meeting?

But the person Nile faced was merely a strange man. Despite the splendid clothing and solemn throne, he was a shabby man whose strength was waning with age.

“It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”

Tap, tap. Slender knuckles patted Nile’s arm. Only then did Nile manage a deflated smile.

“My lady, you’re strangely kind in odd places.”

“If you call me ‘My lady’ now, Rushia will scold you.”

“Then let me call you by name.”

“Hmm….”

Come to think of it, their relationship had become awkward. It wouldn’t do to treat each other as casually as before.

“I’ll think about it later. Don’t waste energy on useless worries.”

As if reading Ashika’s thoughts, Nile spoke curtly. The two were escorted by attendants to the waiting room.

It wasn’t over yet. It was time to cast the net to catch the viper.