The Abandoned Empress

“What the hell is he talking about?”

“This is an insult to the Spear of the Empire!”

“She is a woman mixed with vulgar blood!”

“It’s ridiculous!”

The astonished pro-emperor faction members came to their senses after a while and shouted, standing up all at once. On the other hand, the noble faction members were looking at the duke with a perplexed expression. Obviously, they were not informed by the duke about it beforehand.

When I looked at his malicious eyes, it seemed that my face was drained of blood and animation. I clenched my fists unconsciously.

“Well, I tried not to disclose the behind story of the marquise because it was a disgrace to myself. But I would like to reveal the truth about her in this place in order to ensure fairness in selecting the crown prince’s bride. Let me tell you now.”

“Duke Jenna, can you stop there? What you have just mentioned can be taken as an insult to the Monique family,” said the emperor.

But the middle-aged man with purple hair sitting next to the duke balked at the emperor’s interruption.

“Your Majesty, this is not only a disgrace to the Monique family, but also my family. Despite that, my family tried to reveal the truth even at the risk of suffering disgrace. It’s because discussing the qualifications as the child of God’s prophecy serves to determine who will ultimately be the First Lady of the empire in the future. Even my family suffered it. In that respect, as the most loyal family in the empire, I think the Monique family should actively cooperate in finding out the truth for the empire.”

“I think he is right, Your Majesty. As Duke Jena has already raised doubts about Lady Monique, the suspicion about her will only grow rapidly even if you try to cover it up. So, I think it’s reasonable to reveal the truth about her clearly right now, ” said Earl Hamel, the distant relative of Duke Jenna.

As if he thought Earl Hamel’s efforts to take side with the pro-emperor faction, the emperor turned his mouth up and said, “Earl Hamel, what’s important now is to determine how to handle the matter of the woman named Jiun Graspe. So, don’t confuse the discussion point today.”

“… ”

“And is there anybody here who thought Aristia Peonia la Monique didn’t have the right qualifications as the crown prince’s fiancee? If so, why didn’t any of you raise an objection for so long? Think about what happened a year ago. When I invited the foreign princesses here, I called Lady Monique as the crown prince’s bride candidate, not fiancee. I think her qualifications are more than enough. So, don’t discuss her qualifications anymore. Got it?”

All the members of the noble faction were silenced by the emperor’s harsh warning. Even Duke Jena breathed hard without refuting at all.

Looking at them coldly, the emperor said, “As the atmosphere seems to be overheated, let’s take a break before moving on.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After pondering over something, Duke Lars asked to see my father, me and Marquis Enesil for a brief informal meeting as soon as the emperor left.

When the four, including me, moved to a separate room, Duke Verita, who already arrived, said with a serious expression, “The situation is worse than I thought.”

“That’s true. I think we should take extreme measures. ”

“Before that, I think I have to ask your opinion first. Kairan, I need your consent to overcome this situation. ”

“My consent? What are you talking about? ”

Duke Verita opened his mouth carefully at my father’s asking, “Even though we knew the danger of that dark-haired girl, we let her contact the noble faction instead of engaging her into our fold just because if something went wrong, we might antagonize you. Maybe other factions might feel the same way.”

I opened my eyes wide.

‘That’s right. Obviously, there was also a way to draw Jiun into the pro-emperor faction. ‘

Because of my embedded memories of Jiun in the past, I seemed to take it for granted that she belonged to the noble faction. As my father heard from me about her, he also seemed to have never thought of it beforehand. He remained silent while Duke Lars spoke to him.

How much time passed?

My father slowly opened his mouth, “… Well, I never thought about it. Why didn’t you ask me early on? ”

“Your daughter was certain to be the next empress. Who was going to adopt Jiun as his foster daughter to compete with your daughter at the risk of antagonizing you? Well, I thought I could undermine the noble faction even without taking that risk. Who would have ever thought that stubborn Duke Jena offered to adopt her as his foster daughter?”

After Duke Verita finished talking, Duke Lars opened his mouth. Looking at me in a pensive mood, he said to my father in a soft voice, “Well, we let our guard down too much. We need your answer. What are you going to do with her? Are you going to promote her as the crown prince’s wife or your family’s successor?”

“I am planning to install her as my successor.”

Duke Lars sighed at my father’s resolute answer and said, “Privately, I’m glad to hear that. But from the point of our faction, I think it’s a great pity. Got it. With your consent granted, let me officially propose to the emperor that I want to adopt her as my foster daughter.”

“Well, I agree with Duke Lars. I feel uncomfortable about it, but we have to stop Duke Jena from adopting her as his foster daughter by all means.”

“Hmm, I think I know why you called me here. In case of an emergency, do you want me to be ready to accept her?” said the golden-haired young man, who had been silently listening to their conversation.

Duke Verita pulled up the glasses and said with a smile, “I’m glad we’re on the same page, Marquis Enesil. I think you can be our strong partner in the future. ”

“Thank you. By the way. How about the Monique family accepting her?”

“Oh, that’s a good way. I didn’t think about it because I was preoccupied with Lady Monique. I think Marquis Enesil is right. Kairan, this matter can be solved easily if you decide to accept her.”

“Hmm, yes, but…” My father was lost in thought for a moment.

He had never thought about it.

‘Adopting Jiun as our family’s foster daughter?’

I remembered her words in the past that she always wanted to get along with me like a sister.

If she becomes the empress and I become the successor to my family, will things like what I experienced in the past not happen anymore? Perhaps her adoption was the most rational way to keep the interests of the pro-emperor faction while avoiding the repetition of my past.

After getting his head together, my father turned to me as if he asked for my opinion.

“Okay. Let me propose it to the emperor first.”

“That’s good thinking. Then let’s go back. It’s time to resume the meeting.”

“Let’s move.”

When we were about to go back to the conference hall, we bumped into the noble faction members including Duke Jena in front of the door.

Only

We argued with them about who should go in first, but in terms of hierarchy, it was our group who included Duke Lars. Leaving the angry Duke Jena and his followers behind, we stepped in and sat in the same seats as before.

“Now, let me resume the meeting.”

Right after Duke Verita announced, Duke Lars immediately asked for a say.

“Your Majesty. As you said, I don’t think we need to discuss Lady Monique because her qualifications have already been verified, but if we end the meeting like this, I’m sure there will be people who will continue to raise the issue of Jiun Graspe. So, if we have to give her the so-called ‘equal qualifications’, I would like to adopt her as my foster daughter. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for that woman to be my foster daughter than Duke Jenna, who is only No. 4 in the noble ranks in the empire?”

“What nonsense!” Earl Larnier stood up, screaming at him.

However, Duke Verita said, stopping him, “My family is also willing to accept her as our foster daughter.”

“The Enesil family also wants to adopt her as our foster daughter, Your Majesty.”

“… Well, the Monique family is also ready to accept her as our family’s foster daughter.”