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Chapter 07 — The Sleeping Magic Tower’s Prince Has Been Awakened?
After a long commotion had finally passed, a heavy silence settled over the Empress’s Palace.
Empress Elysia sat gracefully on the sofa in the reception room and slowly lifted her teacup.
It was an elegant movement, so refined that no one would have imagined she was the same person who had just moments ago been screaming like a madwoman while hurling plates at her maids.
“Oh.”
The Empress frowned slightly as she noticed a wound on the tip of one of her fingers holding the cup. A faint reddish mark remained—it must have happened when she had thrown those objects earlier.
Irritation welled up inside her.
“…Haa.”
No matter how hard she tried to calm herself, it always ended like this. Whenever she forced herself to face the Emperor, who deliberately avoided her, an uncontrollable rage would inevitably rise within her.
There had once been a time so long ago that she could no longer even remember it clearly—a time when merely looking at him made her heart race. She had believed those cold eyes would one day gaze upon her with warmth.
Back then, I was certain the day he looked at me would come soon. How foolish I was.
Her hopes had been shattered before long.
Back when the Emperor was still the Crown Prince, the former Empress—the last queen of a small kingdom that had surrendered without war—had entered the Empire together with her fallen kingdom and become part of his household.
Though she had been nothing more than the queen of a ruined nation, her breathtaking beauty captivated everyone who laid eyes on her, making her the talk of the Empire.
It was a famous story that even the influential noble families who had openly opposed giving the former Empress honored treatment upon entering the capital fell completely silent after seeing her at a banquet.
How ridiculous.
Her delicate appearance, gentle personality, and elegant bearing made it impossible for anyone to look down on her.
In the end, the Emperor crowned her Empress. Although Empresses were normally chosen from powerful noble families capable of supporting the Emperor, none of that mattered to him.
Yes.
The Emperor loved the former Empress that much.
No… it would be more accurate to say that he still loved her.
After watching such a man completely consumed by love from the sidelines… perhaps I was the fool for stepping into that place of my own accord.
A bitter smile escaped her lips.
Suddenly, the Empress recalled a day from the past.
It was during a trip to the Kaion Marquisate with the young Kaiden, who at the time loved spending his days reading books in the library.
It had been when the Emperor’s cold, distant attitude had wounded her over and over again until those scars festered.
If she gave birth to a prince…
If the child grew older…
If enough time passed…
If she became even more beautiful…
She had believed he would eventually look at her.
But even that hope gradually faded away.
All that remained within her was resentment.
At some point, the dream of becoming a beloved Empress disappeared entirely from Elysia’s life.
The only goal she had left was placing her one and only son upon the Imperial Throne.
And from that moment onward…
First Prince Licht, the son of the former Empress, became nothing more than a thorn in her eye.
Behind her stood the Kaion Marquis family, one of the most powerful forces in the Empire.
Gathering countless nobles connected to the Marquis family, she steadily built a political foundation in support of her son, Second Prince Kaiden.
She believed more preparation was necessary before revealing her ambitions openly.
She intended to proceed carefully…
Patiently…
Step by step.
But she was uneasy.
Licht had awakened as an Advanced Mage at a young age, while his swordsmanship had rapidly reached a level rivaling even the knights who fought on the battlefield.
The Empress was the first to notice the growing number of eyes quietly paying attention to Prince Licht.
Furthermore, because the Emperor cherished and loved Licht as though seeing the former Empress in him, Elysia’s anxiety only continued to deepen.
Then…
The leader of the Apostles, Deus, appeared before her.
“What do you think? I believe I can grant that intense wish of yours.”
“Do you not wish to see the Emperor of the Ludenza Empire kneel before you… begging for his life?”
“The suffering you’ve endured alone for so long… you could return it to him. No… you could make him suffer even more.”
Empress Elysia could not resist Deus’s temptation to relieve the resentment buried deep within her heart.
Even knowing what kind of sacrifice he demanded…
She could not turn away.
If the contract were discovered, it would mean not only her own death but the complete annihilation of her family.
“If you make my son, Kaiden… Emperor.”
“A simple matter. Is that all?”
“I want the Emperor… Ergo… to lose forever the bloodline of the woman he loves so obsessively.”
“That wish shall also be fulfilled.”
“If you offer a sacrifice worthy of it.”
From the moment that contract was made, the Empress secretly searched for isolated villages so remote that they were barely marked on maps before handing them over to him.
Countless lives disappeared as though they had never existed at all, vanishing like smoke.
The villages chosen as sacrifices were selected in absolute secrecy by the Empress herself.
Once a village had been chosen, every route leading to and from it was quietly cut off.
As a result, even if an attack occurred, news never reached the outside world until everything had already ended.
That method only became difficult after Prince Licht personally began touring the Empire.
Even so, once one or two survivors emerged from the vanished villages, it became impossible to hide the existence of the Apostles from the Empire.
In the end…
Licht was still the problem.
After much deliberation, she had taken the risk of supporting the plan.
Yet instead of finishing him off properly, they had simply disappeared.
The pounding in her chest began echoing loudly in her ears once again.
“Bring me some cold tea.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
If she didn’t drink something chilled with plenty of ice, she felt as though this anger would never subside.
Watching the Empress’s expression carefully, one of the maids quickly left the reception room.
Not long afterward, Lady Berensa, one of the Empress’s closest confidantes, entered through the door.
Berensa had served Elysia as her personal maid ever since before she entered the Imperial Palace, following her from the Kaion Marquis family.
She was the person closest to the Empress.
“Your Majesty, I apologize for my late return.”
Normally, Berensa would always remain at the Empress’s side, but today she had clearly been outside.
Elysia spoke with a weary expression.
“Any news?”
“I regret to report… they are still in hiding.”
The Empress quietly bit her lip.
Her anxiety continued to grow.
“Still no word whatsoever?!”
“That is…”
Unable to raise her head, Berensa trailed off.
There truly was no news.
At that moment, the maid carrying the cold tea quietly opened the door, only to freeze upon sensing the tense atmosphere.
Nevertheless, she calmly placed the tea before the Empress and Berensa before retreating without a word.
“Do you truly wish to see me lose my mind?”
The Empress muttered as she pressed a hand against her pale forehead.
Berensa gestured toward the maid.
The maid immediately ushered the other servants out of the reception room.
After staring silently at the closed door for a moment, Berensa finally spoke.
“We confirmed it several times with the one who had maintained contact… but communication with him has also been completely lost. It has already been nearly two years.”
The Empress bit her lip once more.
Nothing was going according to plan, regardless of which direction she looked.
And the Emperor still refused to speak with her.
“I wonder how much longer he intends to make me wait helplessly.”
Ever since Prince Licht had fallen victim to the curse, she had continued working behind the scenes to elevate Kaiden to the position of Crown Prince.
Those who followed the influential Kaion Marquis family had long since fallen into her hands.
It was more than enough power to pressure an Emperor who had no proper political faction because he had been too consumed by love.
The only nuisance was the growing noble faction that Licht had slowly built for himself.
At some point, Lucas Enderke had become inseparable from him.
More precisely…
It was Lucas’s family that posed the problem.
The Enderke family was renowned as a prestigious house excelling in both scholarship and martial arts.
Until now, they had remained neutral, supporting neither the Emperor’s faction nor the noble faction.
However, everything changed the moment Lucas Enderke was appointed Commander of the Glacies Knights led by Licht.
Having grown into a powerful Magic Swordsman, Licht traveled throughout the Empire, defeating Apostle forces and earning the support of the common people.
Within the Ludenza Empire, imperial authority depended not only upon noble families but also upon the support of ordinary citizens.
The Empire had been blessed by the God Merdemia, and the common people were faithful followers of Merdemia.
Furthermore, no one could ascend to the Imperial Throne without the approval of the Temple of Merdemia.
In the end, the support of the believers, who influenced the Temple’s will, was of vital importance.
Because of that, the situation had to be resolved before Licht’s reputation grew any higher.
I told them to kill him, not put him to sleep… What an awkward outcome.
While Licht remained unconscious, she had tried to pressure the Emperor somehow.
Instead, he continued avoiding her while buying himself time.
The situation was driving Empress Elysia mad.
Draining the cold tea in a single gulp, the Empress leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes.
“If it’s impossible to expect the Emperor’s heart to change…”
A moment later, she opened them again.
Her eyes now gleamed as sharply as a freshly honed blade.
The Empress slowly waved a finger through the air.
Berensa hurried to her side and knelt.
“Then perhaps… ending his hope with my own hands is the better solution.”
If he’s truly still hoping that his precious son will wake up, that is.
