DYBAR - Chapter 174 < The Most Precious Thing To The Emperor >

DYBAR - Chapter 174 < The Most Precious Thing To The Emperor >

Do Your Best And Regret





Inside the luxurious Empress's bedroom.

“Is there anyone there?”

The Empress cursed and hit the door with her fist. Bang, bang, the skin on her knuckles peeled off as she slammed down the heavy door, but she didn't even feel any pain.

“Anyone, come here and open the door! Someone tell me some news about the Crown Prince!”

Leopold, what happened to her son?

At the same time, a red-hot flame appeared, burning fiercely as if it were going to consume everything. The black smoke was rising as if it were blocking the airways, and the attendants were urgently pouring water.

“His Royal Highness! Where are you, Your Highness?”
 
The servants' screaming voices rang in her ears. Apparently, her son was on Count Hodges' back when he went in and out of the fire.

The Empress, who was looking back at her memories, sat down in the same position she had been in when she knocked on the door.

...Did the Crown Prince really come out safely? The fire was so strong.

For a moment, her vision became blurry. She couldn't be sure if her son was alive or dead, and her thoughts were broken. She was out of breath.

In the end, the Empress buried her face in the hem of her dress. The acrid-smelling dress was a mess of soot and sparks.

As she took deep breaths, she could feel the bloody smell spreading from the inside of her throat. It was because she shouted without realizing the passage of time.

She slowly raised her head. She then looked out the window with a blank stare.

Before she knew it, it was pitch black.

It was definitely afternoon when the fire spread earlier.

“...After all, those stains are like those humble green eyes.”

A small lament escaped between her lips.

'Then what does Her Majesty value?'
 
What she values, is her son and get daughter. Children who are like her life.

The Empress mumbled the words that were familiar to her.

It was then.

As soon as the door opened, a loud voice echoed through the bedroom.

"Empress-!"

"Your Majesty!"

It was the Emperor. The Empress was about to raise her body towards the Emperor, feeling that she could finally find out about her son's safety.

“Did you really try to kill the Prince? Why on earth!”

“Trying to kill, trying to kill...?”

The Empress, who was blinking at the wrath pouring down on her, slowly repeated the Emperor's question. Then her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her palm.

How could he say such terrible things...!

Her heart was pounding. The Empress became thoughtful and stammered as she spoke to the Emperor.

“What is that...! How could a mother kill her child, Your Majesty! What a terrible conspiracy is that!”

The Empress's body trembled. Tears welled up again over her reddened eyes from crying endlessly at the fire scene.

Although she looked neat and beautiful, the Emperor washed his face dry with his tired face.

“Then tell me. So far, the testimony of everyone who saw you is consistent that you left the Prince alone in the fire.”

“What testimony! Someone shamelessly framed me!”

“...Empress. There’s soot on your dress.”

"Yes?"

The Empress momentarily looked down at her dress. Oh, right. Is it because of this soot? Does he really think she started a fire? 

The Empress hurriedly waved her hand and said.

“Oh, no, Your Majesty. The Prince rubbed the lit cigar on the canvas and it caught fire. Normally, the fire would only burn a little bit on the canvas and then die down, but it ended up getting transferred to the curtains....”

It wasn't difficult to tell the truth.

The Empress explained in detail what had happened earlier. Only then will the misunderstanding be resolved. But soon her expectations were dashed. The Emperor cut off the Empress's horse.

“But why didn’t the Prince come out together?”

"Yes?"

“Tell me. Did you try to harm the Prince and take advantage of his property? Is that why you left the convention chair so arrogantly?”

The Empress blinked her eyes slowly. The face of Leopold, who was leaning against the window, was superimposed on the Emperor who was criticizing her in a sharp voice.

A strong will that didn't give way no matter how much she pulled, and a green stain on his cheek.

The Empress's voice became increasingly trembling.

“The Prince said he would not come out. No matter how hard I pulled, he wouldn't come out, so I came out first to alert the servants. You know how much I love my son.”

The Empress looked at the Emperor with desperate eyes.

She indeed let go of the Prince's hand...

But that was all because the Crown Prince insisted on not coming out.

This was just an accident.

"...So, it is true that you escaped alone without saving the Prince.”

But the Emperor's reaction was exactly the opposite of her expectations. Sea-green eyes glared at the Empress with contempt.

“You indeed knew he would die if he was alone in the fire, but you did not come out and tell the attendants that there was a fire.”

“...”

“In the end, it is right to put the Crown Prince in great danger.”

The Emperor let out a soft breath. And glared at the Empress, who blinked her blank eyes.

He did try to use it as a way to throw away the Empress. But it wasn't like this. How dare she try to assassinate the Crown Prince?

The Emperor shook his head, remembering Leopold, whom he had seen earlier. The son, barely breathing, surrounded by dozens of courtiers and wizards, seemed like he would never be able to regain his dignity as a Prince.

“...Leopold's condition is not good. No, it’s bad.”

“...Let me preserve only My position as Empress, Your Majesty."

Suddenly, a withered hand grabbed the Emperor's wrist. Letting out her pitiful cries, the Empress forcibly hugged the Emperor.

“What are you doing?”

He got goosebumps.

The Emperor tried to shake her off, but the Empress clung tenaciously to his arm, wondering where the strength came from in her thin body. The Empress's tearful eyes flashed with a strange light.

“Your Majesty saw it earlier. Now I have no family to protect me. Please start by improving the relationship with the Kingdom of Auslan using the Prince's wealth and the Duke of Elkin's wealth. Please give me the credit. I will prove my effectiveness again from then on, Your Majesty."

“I say the Crown Prince is in critical condition. Are you only thinking about your own safety?”

The Empress, who was taken aback by the Emperor's anger, slowly blinked her eyes. The Prince's well-being and the Empress' position...

“... I have prepared to live as an Empress all my life, and have lived as an Empress. How can I harm my son, the Crown Prince? Why would I do such a stupid thing? Because of that, putting the Empress's position in jeopardy is worse than dying...”

At that moment, the Empress was out of breath.

The words she poured out to the Duke of Elkin and the voice she heard earlier overlapped and made her head dizzy.

“I have lived as an Empress. You promised that you would make me the Empress for the rest of my life. Now what?”

'Then what does Her Majesty the Empress value?'
 
What she values.

The children she gave birth to while her stomach hurt were as precious as her life. Because...

“...The Prince and Princess strengthen my position as Empress...”

The Empress slowly clenched her fists as she listened to the words she muttered. A chilling chill surrounded her entire body.

At that moment, the Emperor kicked down the door.

***

Bang, a sound rang out. The knights waiting outside entered the Empress' bedroom in perfect order.

What to do in this intimate space!

Marquis Offem, who had been stomping her feet, panicked and followed the knights.

“Take the Empress to the spire of her palace.”

The Marchioness of Offem stiffened for a moment at the Emperor's words, and the Empress blinked her eyes in shock.

“The palace, the palace spire. That place, that place is a prison, Your Majesty!"

However, the Emperor's order was not overturned. The knights who were watching her momentarily bowed their heads towards the empress.

“Imperial Moon, I see you, Her Majesty the Empress. I will take you to the spire.”

"No. This room is my room. This palace is mine!”

When her pleas did not work, the Empress screamed.

“Please don’t take my place as Empress from me, Your Majesty!"

But the Emperor looked at the Empress in silence. As the people here surrounded the Empress, loud shouts echoed through the bedroom.

"Your Majesty! Next is your turn! Do you know that Your Majesty will not have it taken away?”

“...What?"

The Emperor's voice suddenly lowered and the knights retreated. The Emperor approached the Empress with strides. In the meantime, the Empress laughed and screamed.

“What is most precious to you, Your Majesty?”

"..."

“She’s so precious, but hasn’t she already been taken away?”

The Emperor growled, pressing his face close to the Empress's, as if ready to bite. It was a desperate voice, like the howl of an animal.

Her shame seemed to widen her eyes. The Emperor could not hold back his wheezing heavy breathing. The Empress is pouring on him the insults and disgrace that he has endured through all his efforts.

In his youth, he was robbed of the Princess who had given his heart. The Emperor now had a loyal dog, a leash that allowed him to control the dog, and good faith with his allies.

He was even humiliated in front of his allies and subjects by the archduke, who they thought had killed with his own hands.

“This is all because of you, Empress! If only you had taken good care of the Princess, no, if only Olivia, the Prince, had taken good care of her...!”

“But you are the Emperor.”

“...What?"

“Because you were the Emperor, you could have coveted the Princess, had dogs, and even pushed the Princess’ husband to the brink of death.”

“Is it the same now as it was then?!”

The Emperor's eyes burned. Franz, who only a few months ago was the richest and most powerful in the Empire, is no longer there. The Empress tilted her head.

“...That's true. To stabilize the imperial family, succession is important...”

While her lovely hair fluttered, the Empress spoke softly.

“Then it’s not me that made Leopold like that, but Your Majesty, he’s no longer the same as he used to be! Your Majesty made my beloved son, my son, like that...”

The Empress's shouting suddenly stopped. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly as if she had found the answer.

A shiver ran down her spine. However, amid the tense tension that stretched her skin, the Empress spoke elegantly as usual, as if nothing had happened, and approached the dressing table.

“It’s not because of me, Your Majesty. So, please don’t take my position as Empress from me.”

And she spun around with the tiara on the top of the dressing table.

As the hem of her dress billowed and sank, no one in her bedroom could say anything.

***

“...I will have to strip her of her title as Empress.”

The drawing room of the Emperor's palace.

It was only long after her return that the Emperor nodded and muttered to her. The words that left her mouth reached his ears and helped him organize his thoughts.

The crime of murdering a grandson.

The Empress harmed the Crown Prince.

All he had to do was dethrone the Empress like this and end the problems with Auslan.

But...

“What is most precious to you, Your Majesty
?”

He could have ignored everything, but that one word wormed its way into his mind. The Emperor frowned. It's the most precious thing to him.

Was it a Princess, or a portrait of a Princess? Or was it the wealth and fame that his dog ​​had earned him?

The Emperor pondered as he scanned the traces that had already disappeared. But strangely enough, something didn't seem right.

"Your Majesty. Would you like some tea?”

The Emperor nodded at the chamberlain's recommendation. Soon, skillful hands set the teapot and tea cups on the table. Smoke spread to the tip of his nose along with the quiet sound of water.

“Here it is, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor slowly raised his cup and took a sip of his tea. And he slowly turned his head to relieve his stiff shoulders.

A maid standing nearby caught his eye. It was at this moment that the maid holding the tray quickly lowered her head.

“A cross-dresser and a clown.”
 
Suddenly, the teacup fell.

The Emperor was as frozen as ice and looked at the soaking carpet. Of course, it had the same pattern as the carpet that Vikander had spilled his tea on. A voice as creepy as a snake wrapped around his ear.

That’s the method I’ve been using every time I’ve had my people in the imperial palace since two years ago.”
 
Yes. If they were going to take over this empire, they would have brought knights to take over it. The reason they kept him alive was obviously because he wanted to repay ancient times for what they had suffered.

“Ugh!” 
 
The Emperor had to spit it out. In the end, a sip of tea went down his throat. The Emperor grabbed his neck and vomited. A strange energy seemed to spread throughout his body.

“Quickly call a doctor! Your Majesty! Are you okay?”

The Emperor, who eventually vomited out watery tea on the carpet, chuckled and pointed at the maid.

“I, I, I! This is my first time seeing that maid! Where does she belong! No, you’re actually a maid?”

It felt like his head was frozen with irrational doubt. The Chamberlain nodded his head with a bewildered expression.

“Your Majesty. This is a low-level maid. He is a distant relative of the Baron Benbans family. Isn’t Baron Benbans an imperial noble who is loyal to the Emperor?”

The chamberlain was astonished and complained.

But the Emperor could not allay his suspicions. His pulse raced as his blood rushed.

“Can we trust everyone in the imperial faction? Look at the Duchess of Madeleine. Didn’t the leader of the imperial faction dare to attack the Emperor?”

The chamberlain trembled, lowering his head as he shouted loudly, almost like a howl.

"You."

“My, the sun of the empire. I see you, His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Try all of this.”

"Yes...?”

The place where the Emperor's fingertips were directed was the carpet. The maid could not hide her embarrassment as she looked at the carpet soaked with the tea water that the Emperor had spit out a moment ago. The Emperor, looking at his trembling face, laughed.

“Why can’t you drink it? Have you been poisoned?”

“Your Majesty!”

The frightened chamberlain quickly fell down in front of the Emperor. Then he took a silver spoon from his arms and offered it to him.

"Your Majesty. It's a silver spoon. If there is poison, this spoon will react first.”

Even though he knew it couldn't happen, the chamberlain swallowed his saliva.

“...By the way, Chamberlain.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The chamberlain, who answered politely and looked at the Emperor, suddenly froze as if paralyzed by snake venom. The Emperor in front of me smiled sinisterly.

“Why is the Chamberlain holding a silver spoon now that I have finished drinking?”

Anxiety and doubt were constantly fluttering over his bright blue eyes.

For his most precious self, as always, he drew his sword towards others.

But the Emperor didn't know.

His sword, which he had drawn for pride, for possessiveness filled with evil, and for revenge, is now dull and rusty and no one can cut it.

***

From that night, sinister rumors circulated within the Emperor's palace.

"Really? He spat tea on the carpet and asked you to drink the tea that was absorbed?”

“That’s right. He asked me if it was poisoned, so I said absolutely no...”

In the past, they would have been silenced by the Majesty of the imperial palace, but not anymore. The rumor spread throughout the palace.

Soon the rumor became a scandal, and it took only half a day to cross the castle wall.

***

And a few days later.

Vikander Palace was busy from early morning.

This was because it was the morning when the Prince and Princess were to greet each other for the first time after their wedding and a four-week break.


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