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Chapter 79
Kiera nearly lost her mind when the divorce papers flew into the mansion.
“…Divorce? That’s impossible!”
The divorce papers already had the temple’s approval. It didn’t matter what Kiera thought.
“No, I didn’t agree to this. I never said I wanted a divorce!”
She trembled furiously as she shouted, and the maids around her gave her pitying looks.
“That senile old man must have forced it! There’s no way Herden would ever do this. After everything we went through to get married!”
Kiera desperately cast Tybern as the villain. If it weren’t for him, she and Herden would never have divorced.
The temple wouldn’t have approved it either!
She bit her lip hard.
“I’ll go to the palace immediately and seek an audience with Her Majesty the Empress.”
If she couldn’t beat Tybern, then she would cling to absolute power. Surely the Empress—and the Imperial Family—would overturn this divorce.
Kiera hurried to make her preparations.
Lately, the Empress’s fatigue grew worse day by day. Princess Ciela’s endless whining was reaching its peak.
“Mother, would you really want me to spend my whole life with someone so ugly?”
With a pouty, cutesy expression, the princess clung to her.
“Besides, Hider is of Katerion blood too, isn’t he? Please let me marry Hider instead. Please?”
The Empress sighed deeply.
“An imperial promise is sacred, Ciela. We can’t just break it on a whim.”
“Aaahhh! I want to marry Hider! Please?”
Not only the Empress, but even the Emperor was being tormented by Ciela’s tantrums. The real problem, however, was that with the Eastern trade booming, breaking off the engagement with Aites was too dangerous.
The Empress rubbed her forehead in frustration.
Just then, she heard that Kiera was requesting an audience. She dismissed Princess Ciela before admitting Kiera.
She certainly didn’t want Ciela to witness this disgrace.
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
Kiera rushed in, pale as a ghost, and dropped into a seat. The Empress frowned faintly.
Judging by her appearance, this was clearly not a pleasant visit. She clicked her tongue.
“Something’s troubling you, I see. Your face doesn’t look well.”
In other words—speak quickly and leave.
“I—I’ve been subjected to an unjust divorce!”
Kiera spoke tearfully, pulling out the papers she’d received that morning, her hands trembling.
“This must have been forced by my father! I never once discussed divorce with Herden.”
“…Divorce?”
The Empress murmured.
“Yes! Right now, Herden is practically imprisoned by my father. He’s terrified of him. That’s the only reason he must have signed these papers!”
Kiera recited her delusions aloud. She had long erased from her mind the memory of Herden telling her he never wanted to see her again.
“Please, Your Majesty the Empress, you must correct this! This is tyranny! My father dares such things only because His Majesty the Emperor favors him.”
Tears welled as she pleaded.
“Please… I beg you.”
“Divorce, you say.”
The Empress let out a short, incredulous laugh. In her eyes glimmered a faint anger.
“You think now is the time to come to me with such selfish requests?”
“Y-Your Majesty?”
“The one betrothed to my daughter was Lord Carte, not some Aites heir. Do you not understand the significance of that?”
Kiera’s lips trembled. Only then did the reality of her position come crashing down on her.
She should never have come to the Empress.
Her whole body turned cold.
“Tyburn holds the right to designate his successor. No doubt he will make Hider the heir of Katerion. It feels like we’ve been swindled in broad daylight!”
The Empress slammed her fist against the table. Kiera bit her lips until they hurt.
“What am I supposed to do now? You promised my daughter the position of duchess!”
Before the Empress’s fury, there was nothing Kiera could do. The Empress continued to pour her anger onto her for a long while.
“Return home and wait! Until I decide with His Majesty how to handle this matter.”
With that, the Empress dismissed her.
Kiera left with nothing accomplished. In the carriage, she chewed her nails anxiously, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
“What should I do? What do I do?”
If she was divorced and Carte’s engagement annulled, House Aites would become a laughingstock.
She couldn’t allow that.
Not for Carte, nor for Sornia.
“How can I preserve the engagement?”
Her eyes darted wildly, until suddenly they stopped.
“…A Sword Master?”
If Carte became a Sword Master, that alone would grant him immense power. Even the Imperial Family couldn’t ignore a Sword Master.
There were only four in the entire Berbeje Empire, and every one of them wielded tremendous authority—Tyburn included.
If Carte became a Sword Master, that power would be his.
Swallowing hard, Kiera recalled the expensive medicine she had recently purchased for her son. He had been taking it regularly with no apparent side effects.
‘If you increase the dosage, the effects will come much faster. But never forget—the side effects can be dangerous.’
Kiera pushed that warning out of her mind.
‘Nothing’s happened so far. Why would something suddenly go wrong now?’
She bit down on her lip.
Returning home, she went straight to find her son.
Terrified by Tybern, Carte was still convalescing.
“Carte, listen carefully to me now.”
He glared at her with a sulky expression.
“You said you wanted that maid of Hider’s, didn’t you?”
“Why? Are you going to bring her here?”
His eyes lit up at once.
“I’m going to tell you how you can have her.”
Carte tilted his head.
“You become the princess’s husband.”
“What are you talking about, Mother? Don’t say weird things when I’m already annoyed!”
“No, it’s true, Carte. Do you think anyone could stop the princess’s husband, no matter what he does? Don’t you know he’s treated like quasi-royalty?”
At that, Carte’s eyes spun thoughtfully.
“Well… that’s true.”
“As quasi-royalty, you would enjoy privileges far beyond what you have now. Do you understand?”
He nodded. He disliked Princess Ciela, but the position itself was enticing.
“But the Empress seems to want to annul the engagement.”
“Why?”
Kiera forced an awkward smile.
“Because your father and I divorced.”
“Divorced?”
She nodded.
“So, for you to become quasi-royalty, we need another way.”
“What way?”
“You must become a Sword Master, Carte.”
“Mother, are you crazy? How could I possibly become a Sword Master?”
“You really can. Remember the medicine I gave you?”
Carte nodded. He had continued to take it every day since being expelled from Katerion. In truth, becoming a Sword Master had always been his dream.
“From now on, take four pills a day.”
Kiera’s eyes gleamed with greed.
“Then you will become the youngest Sword Master in history.”
Carte swallowed hard.
“Even the Imperial Family won’t be able to ignore you. Do you understand?”
He nodded again, and began to picture it—himself as a Sword Master and quasi-royalty.
It was irresistible.
“I’ll do it. I’ll become a Sword Master, marry that ugly princess, and—”
His face filled with feverish desire.
“—and then I’ll take Rani, and make Hider kneel at my feet!”
“That’s my brilliant, wonderful son.”
From that day on, Carte began taking four pills daily.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Family moved to annul the engagement, but the Aites marquis and Kiera struggled desperately to resist.
Their pleas for a grace period, along with the bribes they offered, left even the Empress and Emperor momentarily hesitant.
