Chapter 23

‘It was from the original story.’

Just as the Emperor had said, Miken Hediyom was someone deeply tied to the imperial family. Since his grandfather’s generation, the Hediyom family had served the Emperor.

‘At this point, he’s probably the servant who has remained in the Imperial Palace the longest.’

What mattered wasn’t simply that he had worked in the palace for a long time.

‘It means he survived that long.’

Normally, whenever a new master entered the Imperial Palace, all the servants were replaced.

Keeping the previous staff would certainly help stabilize the palace, but there was always the possibility that servants loyal to the former Emperor would not faithfully serve the new ruler.

‘And yet the Hediyom family has remained close attendants to the imperial family for three generations.’

It showed just how skillfully the Hediyoms had navigated political tides all this time.

‘Even in the original story, the nobles used to say that following the Hediyom family meant you were already halfway to survival.’

But despite that influence, they rarely appeared directly, so I must have forgotten about them.

‘Looks like Miken Hediyom has sided with the Empress.’

Judging from the conversation between Heinox and the Emperor, the Empress had clearly already revealed her hostility toward House Tanzeric.

‘Ah, damn it.’

Is our family already headed down the ruin route?

‘Am I….’

Shaking?

‘No. Calm down first and think this through.’

The incident in the original story where the Empress dealt the greatest blow to House Tanzeric.

That was…

‘When Roxina revealed Heinox’s plans to the Empress….’

While Roxina committed all kinds of atrocities, Heinox never stopped her.

Because he had been preparing to strike at the Empress after drawing everyone’s attention toward Roxina.

‘But Roxina leaked all of it to the Empress.’

Roxina, who had no attachment to her family, supported the Empress believing she would eventually be with the Crown Prince.

And in the end, she was discarded.

‘Wait. Then doesn’t that mean everything’s fine as long as I don’t betray them?’

House Tanzeric and the Empress had never been on good terms to begin with.

‘The conflict between those two families isn’t something I can stop.’

Eventually they would have clashed anyway, and Roxina had merely accelerated it.

‘And now my plans are completely different.’

The Roxina who had once been the Empress’s pawn would now move to protect House Tanzeric.

If that was the case, then perhaps the safest option was to move the Emperor against the Empress first.

Maybe Heinox was thinking the same thing right now.

While I steadied myself with a deep breath, the Emperor and Heinox continued speaking.

“You should meet with the Empress.”

“I was already planning to. The Empress isn’t someone who arranges meals together for simple reasons.”

“It was likely an unavoidable choice made to protect the Akarins family.”

“That damned family never lets me rest in peace.”

The Emperor sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes.

“Count Akarins is running wild without knowing his place. Every time we hold a regular council meeting, I can barely stand looking at that shameless face of his.”

“He acts that way thanks to the Empress’s full support. She’s the type who would do anything for her maternal family.”

“To think the so-called Mother of the Empire is busy filling her family’s treasury instead….”

The Emperor looked exhausted at a glance. Dark circles hung beneath the eyes of the most powerful man in the Empire.

‘I do feel a little bad for him.’

But this was ultimately his own doing. After all, he had been the one to place an Akarins daughter in the seat of Empress.

“No matter what stance the Empress takes, Your Majesty only needs to remain neutral.”

“I shall.”

As the Emperor slowly nodded, Heinox suddenly lifted me into his arms.

“Ah…!”

Despite my startled cry, Heinox paid no attention and merely inclined his head toward the Emperor.

“Then I shall await your letter.”

“Very well.”

Heinox gave another brief nod and left the audience chamber while still carrying me.

“D-Duke….”

When I called out softly, Heinox lowered his head to look at me.

“Y-You can put me down now….”

‘Ugh, this is uncomfortable.’

The closer we got to the entrance of the Imperial Palace, the more people stared at Heinox and me.

Everyone tried to avert their eyes and pretend they saw nothing, but whenever our gazes accidentally met, their startled expressions were obvious.

‘The Emperor’s not even here anymore, so why is he still doing this?’

The reason Heinox had carried me and stroked my hair in front of the Emperor was obvious.

It was to flaunt how close we were.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“N-No, it’s not that….”

Honestly, being carried by Heinox was comfortable.

Perhaps because he had trained as a knight for so many years, his arms were incredibly solid. Being supported by muscles like that naturally felt stable.

‘But mentally, this is uncomfortable.’

Sticking close to someone you weren’t actually close to wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Even if the palace was enormous and the carriage was still far away, I thought it would be better to walk with sore legs than continue being carried like this while feeling awkward the entire time.

“I just… want to walk.”

Heinox paused briefly before bending down and setting me on the ground.

“As you wish.”

‘Whew, thank goodness.’

I’d been worried he might tell me to endure it until we reached the carriage in case someone reported things back to the Emperor, but thankfully Heinox yielded without much resistance.

“Then hold my hand instead.”

“Mmm….”

When I scratched my head hesitantly, Heinox’s expression turned firm.

“You must hold my hand.”

“Okaaay….”

‘Then stop staring at me with such intense eyes already….’

Since Heinox had taken one step back, I decided I should compromise too.

‘Right. I can’t let my guard down.’

I obediently took Heinox’s hand and continued walking beside him.

“What did you go see?”

Heinox asked casually.

‘He’s only asking this because the servants are watching, right?’

Heinox wasn’t the type to ask about trivial things out of affection.

So I answered lightly.

“Mmm… first I went to the library.”

“Was there a book you wanted to read?”

“Yes. Though I couldn’t actually read it.”

When disappointment showed on my face, Heinox asked in a low voice,

“Couldn’t find it?”

“No. I think it was probably a forbidden book.”

The moment I said the word forbidden, Heinox’s grip around my hand tightened.

“What book were you looking for?”

“Something about the Goddess Artana.”

“The Goddess Artana?”

Heinox stopped briefly and looked down at me.

“How did you learn about the goddess?”

“Dikal told me.”

‘Why’s he reacting like that?’

Heinox’s expression looked as though he had just encountered a troublesome existence.

‘That’s unexpected. He’s not someone who openly shows emotion very often.’

As I stared at him in confusion, he quickly returned to his usual cold expression and continued.

“And what exactly did he tell you?”

“Mmm….”

In truth, Dikal hadn’t said much about the goddess.

Only that she had helped the first Emperor establish the Empire.

‘Because even Dikal doesn’t know much.’

Most stories regarding the goddess were little more than rumors, and the only properly compiled book about her existed inside the Imperial Library.

Naturally, there was very limited information available.

“He just said… that the Goddess Artana helped the Emperor.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

‘Didn’t Heinox originally have no interest in gods?’

I was pretty sure he had said in the original story that he didn’t believe in such things.

‘Ah.’

I had briefly forgotten why Heinox came to deny the existence of gods so strongly.

‘Priscilla.’

Considering that Priscilla—who donated to the temple every year—received no help when she stood before death, it made sense that he would believe there was no god at all.

No matter how much he prayed, nothing had answered him.

Suddenly, I became incredibly curious about how Heinox truly felt regarding gods.

“Do you… believe in gods?”

“Believe in gods….”

Heinox repeated my words slowly before twisting the corner of his lips.

“If such things existed, they would have helped me long ago.”

‘As expected….’

Could he simply not forgive the gods for allowing Priscilla to die?

“If such a thing truly exists, then I’ll kill it with my own hands.”

“……”

“Even if it’s a god.”