Chapter 1

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Hesitating despite the duke’s order, the court lady pressed her eyes shut. After the announcement that His Excellency had arrived, the door opened, and Court Lady Yeo stepped out and bowed. As he was about to enter the room, the duke saw the mess of a room, and the corner of his lips went up.

“Even if your servants’ lips are heavy, things like rumors move very fast. Isn’t that so, Consort?”

Consort Yu’s anger did not subside despite the duke’s words. Her clenched fists trembled as she glared into the distance. This was a woman who didn’t even raise a brow at anything, so to see her like this was almost unbelievable. Was it because even an abandoned son was still her son?

However, the duke shook his head at his own thoughts. To Consort Yu, the most important person was not the emperor nor her son. It was herself.

“What are you doing? What if the Consort steps on a shard? Go and clean the room.”

At the duke’s command, the court ladies entered the room and began to diligently clean up the mess. As the room was being tidied, the Consort and the duke remained silent.

Once the room was clean and refreshments were brought in, the duke sent out all the servants from the room.

“It looks like His Majesty the Crown Prince’s royal marriage will take place very soon. Now that His Majesty has made his move, it won’t be long before a daughter from a ducal family will become the Crown Princess.”

“Wasn’t this a marriage that was purposefully postponed? The daughter of a ducal family is satisfactory for the Crown Prince.”

The Consort’s voice was sharp due to the residual anger. Instead of replying, the duke remained silent. A few moments later, after taking a few deep breaths, Consort Yu took a sip of her tea.

“His Majesty told me it wouldn’t work this time. I had one wish, so I asked Your Excellency for help, but it seems that His Majesty refuses to understand my heart.”

“......”

“Why must it be the daughter from the Ju family? That family can hardly be called a proper House, but His Majesty plans on tying them around Heon’s neck. Does that make any sense to you?”

Because she did not share a son with the emperor, the only way the Consort could remain in the Palace was to raise the new emperor with her own hands. However, there was no way the Crown Prince would stretch out a hand to her now that she had pushed out the empress and taken all of the emperor’s favor.

In the end, all she could do was make the next emperor a figurehead and take away all of his power. In order to do that, she desperately needed Heon’s military strength and the duke’s authority.

“I am deeply grateful to you for taking my lacking daughter under your wing. However, an Imperial decree is absolute. If he said that Heon is to marry the daughter of the Ju family, then there is nothing I can do.”

“You must prevent this from happening. I cannot give my Heon to such a useless family!”

The Consort ground her teeth as she tapped her finger on the table.

She always needed one more person to add to Heon’s support. He was filled with resentment due to their past right now, but she was still his mother. She only needed to persuade him steadily, and it would be enough. However, first things first. She needed to stop this impending marriage as soon as possible.

“His Majesty cannot do this to me.”

She had everything she wanted right now, but once the emperor was gone, her life would basically be over as well.

She was doing all this in order to live, but His Majesty had warned Consort Yu to stop wanting more power.

“But there is one thing this servant is curious about. If he didn’t want to give you more power, he could have just used a daughter of another middle-class family. I don’t understand why His Majesty chose the daughter of the Ju family for the commander.”

The Consort bit her lips at his question.

“His Majesty is sending me a warning.”

Although the Consort could feel the duke’s gaze, she looked off into the distance. Love and affection were always subject to change, so she needed to work even harder to endure and survive.

“Can you find someone for me?”

The duke’s eyes grew sharp at her request. There was no reason to reject the Consort since she usually never stepped out of line.

“It’s better to get rid of the instigator in advance.”

Any family was better than the Ju family. She barely managed to detach herself from them. She couldn’t let them crawl back into her life again.

A dangerous gleam flashed in Consort Yu’s eyes.

[1] : The three most powerful noble families in the country (the heads of families who serve as major advisors to the throne).↩

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