Episode 140. The Truth Hidden by the Empress
Even in the darkness, Locard could see the Empress's rapidly aging appearance. In just a few weeks.
But he felt no pity for her.
"Your Majesty, there must be something you want from me, too."
"Do you insist on receiving something in return? It's mine. You crossed the sea with your own hands, and it's the legacy my love left me."
"It's mine now, Your Majesty. Your safety and His Highness Orl's life are now mine."
"Tell me what you want!"
The Empress screamed, but the words that came out were pitiful.
"Have His Highness Orl come before His Majesty and tell him that he will give up the competition and relinquish the Crown Prince's position."
"...Is there anything else? I'll give it all to the Prince. The position of the First Lion, the iron ore mining rights, anything."
“Persuade His Highness Orl. If you don’t, I will report it to His Majesty. I cannot predict how far his wrath will reach.”
She moaned through her tightly clenched mouth, her pain excruciating as she endured the unbearable.
She said,
“How do you think a mother would feel, having made her son sick with her own hands? How would she feel, having resorted to such extreme measures to save her son, only to discover that the antidote had rotted in the meantime?”
Locard’s breathing became ragged.
“His Highness’s illness was... a contrived attempt to avoid war... to avoid the Armata War?”
“Didn’t Drake tell you that...?”
The Empress gave a faint, hollow laugh.
Her lover had been watching over her like a guardian angel, and she must have known the whole truth. It was a slip of the tongue, born from the belief that Locard, who had just met him, knew everything. It was a mistake she wouldn’t have made under normal circumstances, but now she was no longer the Empress Leora she had been yesterday.
Having lost something precious, she easily gave up.
“Yes. I couldn’t stand to see my precious son return from the Tunbar Mountains as a frozen corpse. Orl is a child who should be protected and become the Emperor. That is his destiny!”
“...Do you realize what Your Majesty the Empress is saying now?”
“What’s wrong with a mother loving her child?”
Locard simply gave her a look of contempt. But the Empress, oblivious to anything, was struggling with her old memories.
“I had an antidote. I could have prevented Orl from going to war, let him suffer for a year or two, and then completely cured him. But I failed to keep the herb in good condition, so it rotted away.”
Locard clenched his fist. The suffering and death he and his men had endured in the Battle of Amata still burned within him.
Yet the Empress was insulting those countless sacrifices with mere words of love for her child.
“I was in so much pain. I was dying inside. But Drake knew it and contacted me. He had been watching over me for so long, when I really needed it. How could Prince Locard offer such love to someone?”
Locard gritted his teeth.
“Then why did His Highness Grayon have to be a substitute for His Highness Orl? Why was Her Highness Miliora never your daughter?”
“Ah..."
The Empress turned to Locard as if remembering an unfamiliar name.
Then she roared madly.
“His Majesty the Emperor insulted me! He trampled me!”
“...”
“I gave everything for His Majesty the Emperor. Blood is on my hands! But what did I get in return? He looked at my swollen belly and said he would burn Drake’s seed in front of me as soon as it was born!”
She laughed madly.
“Do you think that makes sense? His Majesty the Emperor called me the whore of whores. If Miliora hadn’t been born with Tagar’s silver hair, she would have been burned before she could cry.”
“You are out of your mind.”
“All the insults and contempt he has heaped upon me... It was our loyalty to him that kept me from running away with Drake in the first place, but His Majesty has instead betrayed and trampled upon me. May the Tagar blood be cursed!”
The Empress shook her shoulders with a madman’s laugh, then suddenly said,
“Miliora? Every time I see that girl, I can’t stand the thought of His Majesty’s gaze, which despises me like trash... I am the Empress of this empire!”
She gritted her teeth.
“Orl is enough for me. That child is my legitimate son, my eldest son, whose blood no one can doubt. He is the fruit of the time when His Majesty loved and worshipped me the most.”
Locard slowly opened the door and left the bedroom.
The maids were surprised when an unfamiliar guest emerged from the Empress's chambers, but no one could turn Prince Kydel around to ask him why.
He walked the hallway, exhausted, feeling a slight nausea.
The Empress had sent her children to war and abused them, venting her anger at having her affair exposed.
The suffering of the two Princes of Tagar had stemmed solely from her own infidelity and her anger at her husband.
It was so trivial it was almost sickening.
And what of Drake? A man who spent his life watching and protecting his adulteress, then ended his life by searching the oceans and the world for a rare medicine.
Could there be another life so desperate and pitiful?
'It must have been a slow, lingering obsession. It's become so familiar now that I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't love.'
Locard's memory of Drake's final moments overlapped with the image of the Empress.
He didn't want to know more about the powerful emotion that had bound them together their entire lives, disgusting as it was, but he had to admit that their madness had the same shape and intensity.
As he stepped outside the Empress's Palace, sunlight poured down, clouding his vision.
"Damn it. Love."
He took a deep breath, free from the stale air of the Empress's Palace. Then a new face appeared in his mind.
The woman who would swear at him if he went back now. The woman who would cry and kick him.
He snickered.
If such a terrible obsession was to be called love, he could have just bickered and argued with Lorisha for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, his throat burned with longing for her.
"What are you delaying? I feel bad for people staring at me, so take me somewhere quickly."
The one waiting in front of the Empress's Palace lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing a dark-skinned, smiling beauty. She had curly brown hair and fierce red eyes.
"Yes. Yes. "
Even in the darkness, Locard could see the Empress's rapidly aging appearance. In just a few weeks.
But he felt no pity for her.
"Your Majesty, there must be something you want from me, too."
"Do you insist on receiving something in return? It's mine. You crossed the sea with your own hands, and it's the legacy my love left me."
"It's mine now, Your Majesty. Your safety and His Highness Orl's life are now mine."
"Tell me what you want!"
The Empress screamed, but the words that came out were pitiful.
"Have His Highness Orl come before His Majesty and tell him that he will give up the competition and relinquish the Crown Prince's position."
"...Is there anything else? I'll give it all to the Prince. The position of the First Lion, the iron ore mining rights, anything."
“Persuade His Highness Orl. If you don’t, I will report it to His Majesty. I cannot predict how far his wrath will reach.”
She moaned through her tightly clenched mouth, her pain excruciating as she endured the unbearable.
She said,
“How do you think a mother would feel, having made her son sick with her own hands? How would she feel, having resorted to such extreme measures to save her son, only to discover that the antidote had rotted in the meantime?”
Locard’s breathing became ragged.
“His Highness’s illness was... a contrived attempt to avoid war... to avoid the Armata War?”
“Didn’t Drake tell you that...?”
The Empress gave a faint, hollow laugh.
Her lover had been watching over her like a guardian angel, and she must have known the whole truth. It was a slip of the tongue, born from the belief that Locard, who had just met him, knew everything. It was a mistake she wouldn’t have made under normal circumstances, but now she was no longer the Empress Leora she had been yesterday.
Having lost something precious, she easily gave up.
“Yes. I couldn’t stand to see my precious son return from the Tunbar Mountains as a frozen corpse. Orl is a child who should be protected and become the Emperor. That is his destiny!”
“...Do you realize what Your Majesty the Empress is saying now?”
“What’s wrong with a mother loving her child?”
Locard simply gave her a look of contempt. But the Empress, oblivious to anything, was struggling with her old memories.
“I had an antidote. I could have prevented Orl from going to war, let him suffer for a year or two, and then completely cured him. But I failed to keep the herb in good condition, so it rotted away.”
Locard clenched his fist. The suffering and death he and his men had endured in the Battle of Amata still burned within him.
Yet the Empress was insulting those countless sacrifices with mere words of love for her child.
“I was in so much pain. I was dying inside. But Drake knew it and contacted me. He had been watching over me for so long, when I really needed it. How could Prince Locard offer such love to someone?”
Locard gritted his teeth.
“Then why did His Highness Grayon have to be a substitute for His Highness Orl? Why was Her Highness Miliora never your daughter?”
“Ah..."
The Empress turned to Locard as if remembering an unfamiliar name.
Then she roared madly.
“His Majesty the Emperor insulted me! He trampled me!”
“...”
“I gave everything for His Majesty the Emperor. Blood is on my hands! But what did I get in return? He looked at my swollen belly and said he would burn Drake’s seed in front of me as soon as it was born!”
She laughed madly.
“Do you think that makes sense? His Majesty the Emperor called me the whore of whores. If Miliora hadn’t been born with Tagar’s silver hair, she would have been burned before she could cry.”
“You are out of your mind.”
“All the insults and contempt he has heaped upon me... It was our loyalty to him that kept me from running away with Drake in the first place, but His Majesty has instead betrayed and trampled upon me. May the Tagar blood be cursed!”
The Empress shook her shoulders with a madman’s laugh, then suddenly said,
“Miliora? Every time I see that girl, I can’t stand the thought of His Majesty’s gaze, which despises me like trash... I am the Empress of this empire!”
She gritted her teeth.
“Orl is enough for me. That child is my legitimate son, my eldest son, whose blood no one can doubt. He is the fruit of the time when His Majesty loved and worshipped me the most.”
Locard slowly opened the door and left the bedroom.
The maids were surprised when an unfamiliar guest emerged from the Empress's chambers, but no one could turn Prince Kydel around to ask him why.
He walked the hallway, exhausted, feeling a slight nausea.
The Empress had sent her children to war and abused them, venting her anger at having her affair exposed.
The suffering of the two Princes of Tagar had stemmed solely from her own infidelity and her anger at her husband.
It was so trivial it was almost sickening.
And what of Drake? A man who spent his life watching and protecting his adulteress, then ended his life by searching the oceans and the world for a rare medicine.
Could there be another life so desperate and pitiful?
'It must have been a slow, lingering obsession. It's become so familiar now that I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't love.'
Locard's memory of Drake's final moments overlapped with the image of the Empress.
He didn't want to know more about the powerful emotion that had bound them together their entire lives, disgusting as it was, but he had to admit that their madness had the same shape and intensity.
As he stepped outside the Empress's Palace, sunlight poured down, clouding his vision.
"Damn it. Love."
He took a deep breath, free from the stale air of the Empress's Palace. Then a new face appeared in his mind.
The woman who would swear at him if he went back now. The woman who would cry and kick him.
He snickered.
If such a terrible obsession was to be called love, he could have just bickered and argued with Lorisha for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, his throat burned with longing for her.
"What are you delaying? I feel bad for people staring at me, so take me somewhere quickly."
The one waiting in front of the Empress's Palace lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing a dark-skinned, smiling beauty. She had curly brown hair and fierce red eyes.
"Yes. Yes. "
"Understood."
Locard replied halfheartedly and led the way to the Second Prince's Palace. She quickly pulled up her hood and followed.
When His Highness Grayon contacted me to enter the palace, my heart literally dropped.
What could have happened? Had something happened in the meantime?
But even so, I had no choice. I immediately boarded the carriage. The Duke didn't stop me.
The atmosphere of the Second Prince's Palace looked much the same as before. As I approached, the servant opened the door without even asking.
As I nervously entered, a woman in a shirt and pants that exposed her shoulders and arms sat on the sofa, legs trembling. Her eyes widened at me. Judging by her skin tone, it was definitely Smilean.
She shouted at me.
"Locard! Who's here!"
Then, Prince Kydel and His Highness Grayon appeared from the balcony at the same time.
"Ka..."
My throat choked up, and I couldn't continue. My mind went blank, and I remained frozen.
“Lorisha!”
Prince Kydel rushed to stand before me, but the voice of His Highness Grayon from a few days ago rang in my head.
‘Don’t worry, Locard will return on his own. If you really want to worry, worry that he might bring a Smilean woman with him.’
Prince Grayon smiled broadly, glanced at me, and spoke to her in Smilelan.
"Shanla, this is Locard’s wife.'
"Oh, it’s not even a handful?"
Prince Grayon introduced her to me.
“Lady Kydel, she is Shanla. They say she followed him here as compensation for helping Locard escape from Smilean.”
“...You brought a Smilean woman, Your Excellency?”
“Lo... Risha?”
Prince Kydel glared at His Highness Grayon as if he were going to kill him, then fidgeted.
The voice he called me in was so small and soft, it sounded like someone who had done something wrong.
“Rorisha, I know you must have been worried. I know you must have had a hard time because I suddenly disappeared...”
I desperately tried to regain my senses. I could feel my nails digging into my clenched fist. We were going to get divorced anyway. What could I possibly say if he had a woman now? Nothing!
Whether he liked his foreign lady or not was up to Duke Kydel. It wasn't my concern. Not at all.
But, but what was this sense of betrayal? Why did I want to kill this man?
"Ahhh..."
I staggered back, dizzy. I had to go home.
"Let's walk straight out, Lorisha. Let's make a clean appearance at the end."
"Lorisha!"
Locard replied halfheartedly and led the way to the Second Prince's Palace. She quickly pulled up her hood and followed.
***
When His Highness Grayon contacted me to enter the palace, my heart literally dropped.
What could have happened? Had something happened in the meantime?
But even so, I had no choice. I immediately boarded the carriage. The Duke didn't stop me.
The atmosphere of the Second Prince's Palace looked much the same as before. As I approached, the servant opened the door without even asking.
As I nervously entered, a woman in a shirt and pants that exposed her shoulders and arms sat on the sofa, legs trembling. Her eyes widened at me. Judging by her skin tone, it was definitely Smilean.
She shouted at me.
"Locard! Who's here!"
Then, Prince Kydel and His Highness Grayon appeared from the balcony at the same time.
"Ka..."
My throat choked up, and I couldn't continue. My mind went blank, and I remained frozen.
“Lorisha!”
Prince Kydel rushed to stand before me, but the voice of His Highness Grayon from a few days ago rang in my head.
‘Don’t worry, Locard will return on his own. If you really want to worry, worry that he might bring a Smilean woman with him.’
Prince Grayon smiled broadly, glanced at me, and spoke to her in Smilelan.
"Shanla, this is Locard’s wife.'
"Oh, it’s not even a handful?"
Prince Grayon introduced her to me.
“Lady Kydel, she is Shanla. They say she followed him here as compensation for helping Locard escape from Smilean.”
“...You brought a Smilean woman, Your Excellency?”
“Lo... Risha?”
Prince Kydel glared at His Highness Grayon as if he were going to kill him, then fidgeted.
The voice he called me in was so small and soft, it sounded like someone who had done something wrong.
“Rorisha, I know you must have been worried. I know you must have had a hard time because I suddenly disappeared...”
I desperately tried to regain my senses. I could feel my nails digging into my clenched fist. We were going to get divorced anyway. What could I possibly say if he had a woman now? Nothing!
Whether he liked his foreign lady or not was up to Duke Kydel. It wasn't my concern. Not at all.
But, but what was this sense of betrayal? Why did I want to kill this man?
"Ahhh..."
I staggered back, dizzy. I had to go home.
"Let's walk straight out, Lorisha. Let's make a clean appearance at the end."
"Lorisha!"
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