First decree: Anyone who sullyes Lady Odette's honor by word or deed is to be imprisoned.
This makes sense. After all, didn't that girl suffer a lot from rumors?
It may be natural for a ruler to allow others to rest in peace, even after death.
It was a very personal order for the always orthodox John, but wasn't John a supernatural being?
Since he lost the Purifier, his feelings are bound to be special.
Plus, there was a rumor that he cried so passionately at the funeral, so they thought it could be true.
Second Decree. The Crown Prince has sworn to Lady Odette a knightly oath, and therefore Lady Odette is to be treated as befitting her office.
A chivalric oath? That was a custom that appeared briefly in the barbaric age and then gradually disappeared.
It was a crazy time in the past when men would throw gauntlets at each other's faces and cut each other's throats with spears, all with the sole goal of looking good for a lady.
The content of pledge contained extreme content such as, 'From now on, my life will belong to the Lady, so please use it generously.'
He will prioritize the Lady's orders over any imperial law. If the Lady dies, this body will naturally become a corpse and live as a corpse.
Isn't that too brazen for a Crown Prince, the foundation of a nation, to do?
But compared to the third decree, the second edict was of the easy class.
The third decree read: 'The Imperial Household appoints Lady Odette as the sole Crown Princess. No other woman may become Crown Princess except Lady Odette.'
It even contained detailed rules of conduct regarding how the dead Odette was to be treated as the Crown Princess.
The story of Odette being granted the most beautiful 'Palace of Heaven' in the palace, and the details of the ceremony she will receive in the future.
The most objectionable part was the statement that 'Odette is not required to follow any of the duties of a Crown Princess, including marriage.'
This meant that she would receive all the treatment and benefits of a Crown Princess, but would not have to follow any obligations.
How can you become the Crown Princess if you don't marry the Crown Prince? No, you're already dead? The more they read the decree, the more they felt like they'd been shot in the head.
Another frustrating point was that, as if to prove that it was not an order given in a fit of anger, there was no legal flaw whatsoever.
Even though the Emperor hired a lot of lawyers and dug deep, he could not find any loopholes to invalidate the law.
It seems His Majesty has come to his senses.
The lawyers clicked their tongues as they read the decree.
***
John's icy voice rose through the banquet hall.
"I am the Crown Prince. I cannot escort a commoner."
"...Your Highness"
It was an overly cold and firm rejection that did not suit the occasion. Charlotte's face turned bright red after being publicly rejected.
There was no other way. This banquet was to welcome the ambassador sent from the kingdom. The Empire and the King.
Since all the country's key figures were gathered together, a friendly atmosphere was more important than anything else.
"..."
As such, no one in this room could have imagined that John would publicly reject the Empire's only high-ranking purifier. Of course, Charlotte herself did too.
"As a Purifier, it is not you who should be demanding proper treatment from the Empire. I know you are a valuable Purifier, but do not break the rules so easily."
John's gaze was turned to Charlotte, but he wasn't talking only to her.
'Don't ever get me involved with this woman again.'
That is clearly a clear warning to everyone in this room.
Those who had been secretly helping Charlotte purify John could not help but flinch.
"Your Highness."
Despite his firm warning, Charlotte grabbed the Crown Prince's sleeve even more tightly. Then she took a step toward John.
"I am sorry to say this, but rumors are spreading throughout the empire that Your Highness the Crown Prince is not of sound mind."
"So?"
"How about using the girl to put that rumor to rest?"
Charlotte whispered in a low voice so that only John could hear her secret suggestion.
"Is it really necessary to put it to sleep?"
But John didn't seem to be interested in the suggestion.
"Your Highness loves the Empire more than anyone else. If you knew how anxious the people of the Empire of Barceha are because of the rumor that Your Highness the Crown Prince has gone mad..."
"It's none of your business what my rumors say. Just don't cross the line."
John cut off Charlotte's words and pulled at his sleeve. The sleeve of his blue uniform slipped out of her grasp.
"Ha. But there is a rumor that Lady Odette's ghost is tormenting Your Highness."
Despite the Crown Prince's cold response, Charlotte insisted on finishing her speech.
Odette.
When that name was mentioned, John's eyes, which had been indifferent throughout, sparkled and lit up.
"You are not worthy of being called that name."
Charlotte took a deep breath. The pressure from John was so strong that it was difficult to breathe.
Wasn't John a decent man? He was so mad that he could strangle her at any moment.
As if responding to the madness, a crackling, crackling sound of sparks could be heard.
'Are you trying to use your powers on me?'
The opponent is now the Empire's sole Purifier.
Charlotte wasn't the only one with doubts, the banquet guests were looking at them with worried eyes.
Charlotte decided to take a step back.
"I am very sorry, Your Highness. I did not mean to offend you. I dared to act insolently. Please kill me."
She fell to her knees on the floor with her eyes downcast.
A simple one-piece dress and a simple outfit that did not fit the luxurious occasion. The way she was hunched over to the point of being pitiful made anyone who saw her look like a powerless, petty bourgeois, Young Lady who was not used to such banquets.
The only advantage of being a commoner was that it made it easier to excuse mistakes.
That's why she overreacted a little. Charlotte wanted the Crown Prince to react to her in some way.
But the Crown Prince didn't even look at her, just straightened the sleeves of his clothes and strode out of the banquet hall.
Charlotte kept her head down on the floor even after the Crown Prince left. After a while, people came up to her.
"Get up, Miss Charlotte, don't be too upset. His Highness has been so... cold lately. He's become a completely different person from before."
Charlotte, who had been helped up by a lady, raised her head and forced a smile.
"It's okay. Did I ask His Highness for something too much?"
That sight made Charlotte look even more pitiful.
"Is His Highness cold-blooded? He's completely crazy."
A local nobleman who was drinking in a corner of the social hall intervened.
A middle-aged man who had created a remedy for hair loss a few months ago. Since then, he had regarded Charlotte as a benefactor and had been kind to her whenever they met at banquets.
If you hate Odette from the beginning, you're probably a Zygmy.
"Didn't I tell you, Madame? That Your Highness didn't look quite right at Meursault's funeral mass? That his eyes were properly round!"
Perhaps he was drunk, but his words were vulgar and shallow, as if he were speaking in private.
He had a small estate in the Meursault region. Although his status was far inferior to that of the central nobility, he was a man of great influence in the Meursault region.
That's why he was able to watch Odette's funeral mass from the front row.
He was so shocked that he felt nauseous when he saw the bizarre sight of John obsessively kissing a burning corpse from the front row.
So he felt frustrated that the scene was being distorted and spread as a romantic rumor.
Until the decree came down, even the nobles did not believe his cries that His Highness was mad.
Of course, more nobles agreed with his opinions, but the commoners still believed distorted rumors.
As the 'Crown Prince giving a pious and reverent kiss to the back of the hand of the dead Purifier.'
While still loving and trusting the Crown Prince who had long since returned, as much as before.
He continued to express his regret over the country still blindly believing in the Crown Prince who had gone mad.
"Stop being so noisy. What's the key to respect?
"Oh my. This guy! I think he's hallucinating because he was drinking too much. Hahaha."
The wife of a local nobleman desperately covered her husband's mouth.
If he had gone any further, he could have been accused of insulting the royal family. It was only two years ago that he was able to give honest advice, trusting only in John’s personality, which was not easily criticized.
If John was possessed by Odette's ghost, he would easily cut off the neck of a nobleman from the small estate.
"Anyway, don't worry too much about His Highness's actions, Miss Lotte. You haven't done anything wrong."
Charlotte nodded cautiously.
"I will. Thank you for your concern, ma'am."
Charlotte headed to the lounge prepared in the banquet hall. After the women who had been comforting her left, she sat alone on the sofa, tilting her head with a cold expression.
"It's strange. It's so different from my previous life. John has to be consistently affectionate to me all the time."
Charlotte crossed her arms in agony.
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