Chapter 17.2

Selection: Cermiane’s Point of View. (2)

Eventually, we came to the front door of the detached palace, which is now used as the inner palace. Only a very limited number of people can enter the inner palace. I can enter with a ring, but Ralphine cannot enter with only a gold ring. It was only after I vouched for her as my wife that she was finally allowed to enter. She was puzzled by this.

I entered one of the salons of the inner palace. The emperor was originally a military man, and he was basically a man of simple virtue. He abhors extravagance. For this reason, this inner palace was also restrained in decoration, and the rooms were small. As a knight, I also liked this space. Ralphine sat down, drank tea, and began to eat sweets. I am used to it by now and didn’t mind it, but the chief chamberlain and the lady-in-waiting looked aghast. No wonder. It was absolutely impossible for commoners to enter the inner palace. They had never seen such a uncouth person before.

Soon after, the emperor arrived. I urged Ralphine to get up and greeted him with a bow. With his permission, I slowly looked up. Ralphine raised her head and made a face as if to say, “Oh, shoot.”

The Emperor’s expression was, as expected, grim. It was rare for the emperor to express his displeasure so clearly on his face. At least, I had never seen it before. It must have been really unusual, seeing as how the attendants and maidservants around him also looked surprised.

The emperor stared at I and Ralphine alternately for a while. It was a lot of pressure. Ralphine looked at the emperor a little nervously, but apparently she saw that it was not intended for her.

“I heard you got married,” the emperor said to me in a grave voice. Ralphine picked up the cup of tea as if she had nothing to do with it. Her behavior, which could have been taken as rude or disrespectful, startled the Emperor, and the people around her were astonished. The hand of the lady-in-waiting trembled as she poured a new cup of tea into the cup she had just finished drinking. She must have thought that the emperor’s temper might flare up.

“Yes.”

I replied immediately, partly to help Ralphine. His Majesty immediately turned his sharp eyes on me and snarled.

“Why didn’t you tell me before you got married?”

I dared to keep my face expressionless and said coldly, “I didn’t think it was necessary.”

We were both being very rude. The emperor’s face twisted with sadness.

He said, “Put yourself in my shoes, I was told by the Knight Commander after a month had passed.”

His expression reminded me somewhat of the face of Baron Kix of the Marquisate of Caliente. Even so, I still dared to say it.

“I would not trouble the Emperor’s heart with the marriage of a mere knight.”

His Majesty seemed a little surprised when I said this while looking at Ralphine, who was chomping down on a pastry.

“You didn’t tell her?”

I suppose he meant I haven’t revealed that I am a prince.

“Yes,” I replied.

Of course, I haven’t revealed it, nor do I intend to. His Majesty must understand my intentions by now. If I have such intentions, then His Majesty should keep my secret of being his child from Ralphine.

The Emperor looked utterly flabbergasted. Then he stared at Ralphine with a stern gaze.

“Absolutely. You refused the engagement I recommended and did as you pleased… such a thing…”

Up until that moment, the Emperor probably thought I had rejected his recommendation and married a commoner. Ralphine, who was tasting her sweets while ignoring the Emperor’s stare, looked like nothing but a commoner.

If I didn’t want to become a member of the royal family, the best thing to do would be to marry a commoner. Since my mother was from a viscount family, my bloodline was not very pure as a royal. In terms of bloodline, one could argue that Ralphine, who came from the Marquis of Caliente family, which frequently had royal marriage alliances and always married top-level nobles with strong royal blood, was better. If I married a commoner, the bloodline of my children would deteriorate, making it difficult for me to regain my status as a Royal. The Emperor wanted to prevent that by marrying me to a high-ranking noble.

Royals offer their magical powers in rituals, so it was recommended to maintain a strong royal bloodline as much as possible. Marrying a commoner who has little to no magical power and diluting the bloodline is almost a taboo. If I were to do such a thing, even if my father had earnestly desired it, I would no longer be recognized as a royal by the nobility.

The Emperor, who had been disappointed and angry with me, seemed to have noticed something when he looked at Ralphine. … Did he realize it after all? I was planning to insist that I could not become a member of the imperial family if I married a commoner, but he suddenly said,

“Is she the young lady that Cermiane was escorting at that time, by any chance?”

Ralphine was quite surprised when he suddenly asked her. She sipped her tea to wash down her sweets before answering.

“Yes, that’s right. We got married because of that.”

“If I recall correctly… Wasn’t she the sixth daughter of Marquis Caliente?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Emperor’s mood improved rapidly. He grinned and clapped his hands.

“I see, I see! You married the daughter of a marquis! That’s wonderful!”

I can now understand how relieved the Emperor must have been at that time. At that time, the Crown Prince was still healthy, but even so, having only one child is quite unsettling for the imperial family. Perhaps he wanted me to return to the imperial family to support the Crown Prince. It must have been very pleasing to find out that it was not a hopeless marriage to a commoner that would prevent that from happening.

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