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Chapter 47
Sornya and Karte were sprawled out in the room. Sornya was lying facedown on the sofa playing with dolls, while Karte was stretched out, dozing.
“Kids.”
“Mom!”
Sornya spun around with a bright smile. Tossing her doll to the floor, she ran to Kiera. The moment they left Katieron, the children—who had been unstable before—quickly returned to normal.
Even Karte, who used to wet the bed at night from nightmares, and Sornya, who would throw tantrums and refuse to eat. To Kiera, they were nothing more than pitiful children who had been abused by Taibern.
They never received a single ounce of love from their grandfather. And it’s not like they got any real love from their father either.
Kiera believed it was her duty to give them everything they’d been denied. That’s why she had never once scolded them, only coaxed and comforted them. Besides, Karte was physically frail.
“Mom, guess what? That weird lady totally blew up at me today!”
Sornya pouted.
“She said everything I was doing for imperial court etiquette was wrong! Can you believe it? I worked so hard to learn it!”
“Of course. Who knows better than me how hard you’ve worked? You did great. How do you even put up with it?”
Kiera had no intention of making her live a life where she had to endure such treatment. In her eyes, these children were more precious and lovable than anything in the world.
They deserved only the very best. As for Sornya’s future partner, Kiera hadn’t decided yet, but if there wasn’t a boy she liked, she was considering bringing in a son-in-law from a suitable noble family.
That way, Sornya could live her whole life enjoying luxury without a single hardship.
And unlike Karte, Sornya had no family title she’d be forced to inherit. Kiera gently stroked her daughter’s soft, lovable cheek.
“So I told her off for you. I did good, right?”
“You did great, Sornya.”
“That lady just kept getting mad. She even yelled at me! And at my brother! So I yelled right back at her!”
“Oh, heavens. How ill-mannered. She yelled at children? Sornya, are you all right? You must have been so startled. What if she hurt your confidence?”
Kiera ground her teeth.
Next time they met, she intended to correct that woman’s manners properly. Who did this Theus woman think she was? Kiera would also make sure the other noblewomen knew just how unfit Theus’s wife was as an educator.
Let her lose her livelihood—then she’ll come to her senses. I won’t forgive her until she kneels and begs the children for forgiveness.
Kiera swallowed back a curse.
“Mm. I’m fine. But I think Karte got scared!”
Sornya pointed to her brother, who was still lying on the sofa, not even trying to get up. She chattered on,
“But he’s been in a bad mood all day.”
Kiera took Sornya’s hand and walked over to Karte with a worried look. Karte stubbornly turned his head away.
Up close, he looked even paler. Kiera clenched her fists. She couldn’t let Theus’s wife get away with this. To put her son in this state?
She also planned to confront the noblewoman who had introduced her to Theus’s wife in the first place.
“Karte, what’s wrong? Tell Mom what happened, hmm? I can’t fix it unless you tell me.”
“I hate you, Mom!”
Karte shot up to his feet, shouting, tears welling up in his eyes as he glared at her.
“I told you I didn’t like Princess Siela! That brat’s ugly! Would it make you happy for me to marry some ugly girl?”
“Oh my, Karte!”
Kiera glanced around nervously, then gripped her son’s shoulders. Of course, Karte had always had a sharp eye for beauty, even from a young age.
He had lived surrounded by only pretty, fine things—how could he not? Even Kiera had to admit that Princess Siela, who took after the Empress, fell a little short in the looks department.
“Karte, she’s still Princess Siela. Do you not understand how important she is?”
Kiera coaxed her son in a gentle voice.
“If you get engaged to Siela, every boy will look up to you.”
“They already do! I’m above them all right now!”
Karte shot back stubbornly. The only hardship he had ever faced was Taibern—and that was hardly enough to build resilience.
Kiera continued soothingly,
“Even so, Karte… Princess Siela could make you an even greater person. She could even put your grandfather beneath you.”
Kiera deliberately mentioned Taibern, the one person Karte feared most.
“That crazy old man’s dead!” Karte snapped.
“So what’s the point of putting him beneath me?”
“It matters,” Kiera said, ruffling his hair.
“There are people in the world even higher than your grandfather. For example, the Emperor himself.”
There were also the three Sword Masters, who rarely appeared in public. They existed beyond the reach of the class system—untouchable, even for royalty. Only the Emperor commanded them.
The nobility both resented and feared them.
But Karte was far too young to grasp any of this—he was only twelve, after all.
Your mother will take care of all the hard things, my son.
Kiera stroked his pale cheek.
“If you’re engaged to Princess Siela, even the Emperor won’t be able to touch you.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. It means you’ll be able to do so much more.”
Kiera smiled sweetly.
“And once you’re married, you can still play around with other pretty girls, can’t you? Marriage doesn’t have to mean love.”
Karte hesitated at that.
“…You mean I can have all the pretty girls I want?”
“If that’s what you want, you can have anything. So, have you changed your mind?”
Karte thought for a moment, then nodded. Seeing that, Kiera’s lips curled into a sly smile.
These children were so easy to handle. It was Theus’s wife who was incompetent for failing to manage them.
Kiera coaxed them into getting ready. They were running a little late, but she still needed to prepare for her own outing.
Hider adjusted his stance slowly. Perhaps due to his own shortcomings, he hadn’t made much progress, but Sir Hilden had always emphasized diligence and persistence.
That diligence will shape your future, Hider. And you are improving—faster than most your age. Never forget you carry Lord Taibern’s blood.
If he could surpass the towering wall that was Taibern, Hider would become the Empire’s greatest knight—just as he dreamed.
Despite the cold, sweat streamed down his face as he trained tirelessly. Today, Sir Hilden had gone to plow the fields.
Rani had announced they needed to expand the farmland, so every servant had been mobilized.
Of course, Rani was no doubt proving herself to be the most capable among them.
Hider had been excluded, told he mustn’t skip his sword practice.
Young master, everyone has their own work to do! Yours is sword training. So, keep it up!
Remembering her bright smile gave him renewed strength.
“Hyaaaah!”
He swung his sword with a shout—
“Young master!”
The very person he’d been thinking of appeared. Slowly turning his head, Hider saw Rani, who he’d assumed would be weeding the fields by now, waving something in her hands.
“Want a potato?”
Just like before, she was holding freshly boiled, steaming potatoes.
Hider couldn’t help but smile.
The frustration he felt over his lack of progress melted away, leaving only warmth behind.
He wiped his sweat with a towel and walked over to her.
“Weren’t you busy? I thought Master was out in the fields.”
Rani rolled her eyes playfully.
“I got tired and thought I should take a break. And besides…”
A sly grin—wholly unfitting for her cute face—spread across her lips.
“I’ve discovered how easy it is to dump work on other people.”
