Chapter 15

"Please, please say it's true! Otherwise, I'm going to get so angry."

"......"

Lanawen remained expressionless and did not respond. However, the Duke of Artaxi instead let out a sigh of relief. Seeing her quiet demeanor, he thought she must have said something.

'Well, with her temper, there's no way she would stay silent after hearing such insolence.'

Though she was a prince, she was soon to be a concubine. Even if the prospective concubines fought among themselves, it was unlikely to escalate into a national issue. Therefore, it was better to preemptively suppress the situation to a manageable level, for the sake of the future. Finally arriving at the room, Lanawen paused with her hand on the doorknob. After a moment of silence, she spoke.

"As Father said, he is a fox-like person."

"Yes, that's right. So you must be careful, Lanawen."

"I will chase him away as soon as I become the queen, so don't worry."

Whether that was possible or not, the Duke of Artaxi nodded in agreement.

"Yes. That's what you should do. But... Lanawen. Are you really not going to tell me what you said to Prince Klein?"

* * *

"An ignorant foreigner? A guy who will ruin the country?"

Klein hit his pillow and gritted his teeth.

"Where did that cheeky brat come from...!"

Seeing him fuming, the attendant who had followed Klein from Carisen asked worriedly.

"Did you really say that, Your Highness?"

"Yes. He said it with a really annoying voice, looking me straight in the eye."

Klein kept pinning his annoyingly falling hair with a hairpin, and despite his frustration, he wriggled around on the bed like a fish.

"To think I have to live in the same place as that kind of guy! That cheeky brat!"

The attendant sighed. Just a few words and he was already making such a fuss. Could he really stay quiet for half a year? He was already worried.

"Still, it's a good thing."

"A good thing! That cheeky brat insulted me and said I would ruin the country, and you call that a good thing!"

"You held your temper, didn't you, Your Highness?"

"......"

"If it were a month ago, you would have thrown a punch. But you held back, so you've really grown up."

Klein sighed and waved his hand.

"Flattery won't help."

It was not flattery but genuine relief, but the attendant felt embarrassed and fell silent. He couldn't tell Klein that he had been anxious about his temper since they left Carisen.

"Since you'll be living in the harem, you'll have different rooms. I'll inform the head attendant that there was a bit of trouble between Sir Lanawen and Prince Klein today and ask for rooms as far apart as possible."

"Alright."

Klein answered weakly, hugging his pillow and gritting his teeth.

"Anyway, that cheeky brat. Just wait and see. As soon as I become the queen, I'll strip him naked and chase him away."

* * *

At the same time, Klein and Lanawen were preparing for a similar future. The knight commander who received Latil's secret order to investigate the letter thief was in Melosy, where his father was the lord. During the six months that Prince Tella illegally occupied the palace, Latil stayed in the Melosy territory, partly to check if any letters had been lost during this period.

"Letters written from mid-515 onwards, you said?"

"Your Majesty, at that time, they were letters addressed to Princess Latrasil."

The castle official took out a large box and detailed ledgers, checking various items before speaking.

"Let's see... 321 letters were delivered to Princess Latrasil, and 125 letters were filtered through 'censorship'."

"Censorship?"

"Yes. The censored letters were those without important seals. Officially written letters, or those sent with foreign royal or national seals, were not censored."

"Who did the censorship?"

"It was me."

The official raised his hand awkwardly.

"Of course, I had prior permission for this."

"What was the content?"

"I only did minimal censorship, just in case. The letters not delivered to Your Highness, or rather, the Princess, were all insulting letters from supporters of Prince Tella. I couldn't let the Princess read such things."

The official went to another cubicle and brought a thick file.

"Most of the senders used anonymous or pseudonyms, but sometimes crazy people sent them with their real names. Regardless of anonymity, investigations were launched into all those who sent such letters."

The file contained lists of the senders, the letters, and the investigation results. The blank spaces suggested that the investigations were not yet complete. The knight commander closed the file and gave instructions.

"This isn't all 125 censored letters. Bring all 125 censored letters, the list of suspected senders, investigation logs, related ledgers, and documents for the 321 letters that were delivered without censorship to my room."

The knight commander took the file and box and went upstairs. Just as he was about to head to his room, Lord Melosy called him.

"Sir Suneot."

Suneot turned around, and Lord Melosy approached with a serious face.

"Do you have a moment?"

Suneot nodded.

"Yes. What is it, Father?"

"...It's a bit personal."

"That's fine."

Despite Suneot's reassurance, Lord Melosy hesitated. Finally, he spoke.

"Sir Suneot, haven't you always disliked the Emperor?"

Suneot's expression hardened, not expecting his father to bring up this topic.

"Formal concubines will soon enter the palace and receive the Emperor's favors. As the knight commander, you will have to witness this... Are you alright with that?"

Lord Melosy looked at Suneot with concern. An awkward silence followed.

"I..."

Suneot trailed off, his expression clouding. But then he spoke in a calm voice.

"I believe there are many forms of love."

"......"

"I want to be a man who brings stability to the Emperor, not one who brings joy."

He smiled playfully, but his face was not bright.

"While others wait in the harem for the Emperor, I can protect him by his side. That's enough. That's my form of love."

Lord Melosy's mouth opened slightly. It could be satisfying. One could be happy while protecting the person they love. But watching the Emperor embrace another man would be painful. Moreover, there were already five concubines, and the number could increase. Could he really suppress his love and watch from the side? He could, but it would be very painful. But what could he say to his son, who had already made up his mind? Lord Melosy sighed heavily.

"Since it's what you want to do, I can't interfere. I just hope you don't suffer too much."

* * *

It was a particularly foggy morning. Latil, half-asleep, went to the dining room for breakfast, then returned to his room to get dressed and asked,

"Has Sir Suneot arrived yet?"

The nanny, attaching gold, silver, or red tassels to Latil's uniform, replied indifferently,

"He's on leave, so he'll be well-rested. He's been working hard."

He's not on leave. Latil had sent him a secret order to investigate in Melosy. Latil awkwardly nodded, saying, "That's right," feeling guilty for lying to the nanny. The secret order had to be kept confidential. Though he trusted and relied on the nanny, the fewer people who knew the secret, the better. Moreover, Latil considered the possibility that the letter thief could be someone very close, like his father or the nanny, who might have hidden the letters with 'good intentions' for Latil's sake. Despite the reason, Latil felt embarrassed for lying to the nanny and hugged her tightly before going to the audience chamber. The knight commander returned around 5 PM, just as Latil was discussing military matters with the defense and finance ministers. Unable to meet him immediately, Latil called for the knight commander after the ministers left.

"Sir Suneot!"

Latil approached the knight commander with a wide smile.

"Did everything go well?"

"I brought back a lot of things to investigate."

"Did you have any trouble on the way?"

"I missed you, so it was a bit tough."

Latil chuckled at the knight commander's playful expression and instructed the head attendant to bring 'the documents'.

"Which documents?"

"My list of prospective concubines. I've chosen five, and I'll show them to you first, Sir Suneot."

Latil sat at the table and gestured for the knight commander to sit diagonally across from him. The knight commander sat with a stern face, and Latil, folding his hands, smiled expectantly. The head attendant soon brought a thick file and placed it in front of Latil.

"Ah, Prince Klein is coming as a special case, so he doesn't have a separate file."

Latil explained and laid out four profiles in front of the knight commander.

"This is Lanawen, the eldest son of the Duke of Artaxi. The other is Gestar, the second son of Lord Rold. This is Tahir, the successor of the Anges Trading Company. Do you know who the other one is?"

Latil grinned excitedly.

"Kalin. The mercenary king, Kalin."

"......"

Suneot, with a stern face, looked at the handsome portraits and chuckled.

"You've chosen a variety."

"Did I choose well?"

"If you focus on diversity, you did."

"Do any of them look bad? The kind of bad that men can see in each other."

"They all look bad."

"Really?"

Is that all? They don't seem that bad to me. Latil tilted his head, examining the portraits, and the head attendant, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, how about bringing the concubine candidates to the palace in ten days? Is that alright?"

"Ten days? Is that enough time?"

The head attendant replied,

"They are all staying nearby, as they submitted their applications."

Latil agreed without much thought. After the head attendant took the documents, Latil, feeling tense, made strange faces repeatedly.

'A few years ago, I dreamed of marrying one man, and now I'm going to have five concubines...'

The strange feeling he had the day after announcing the harem returned. Latil bit his lip and turned to look at the knight commander, who was smiling lightly.

"Sir Suneot, how do you think Hysin feels right now? Is he flipping out?"

But the playful question hid a genuine desire. Latil really wanted Hysin to be extremely angry, almost to the point of madness. The knight commander smiled calmly and was certain.

"Of course."

"Right? But seeing that he sent his brother, he seems fine."

'Sending a fool suggests he's not just fine but rational.'

However, the knight commander answered obediently but firmly.

"No, he's definitely flipping out."

He paused and added quietly,

"I'm sure of it."

Latil didn't notice the faint sadness in his words.

"That's a relief."

Sighing, Latil gazed into the air, sighed again, and stood up.

"Have you eaten dinner? If not, let's eat together."

* * *

As Latil and the knight commander walked through the long corridor to the dining room, a knight assigned to monitor Anakcha, the former emperor's concubine and Prince Tella's mother, rushed towards Latil. Stopping at a respectful distance, the knight reported with a worried face.

"Your Majesty, Anakcha is refusing to eat and demanding that you come to her."

Anakcha had been confined to a tower a week after Latil reclaimed the palace, and Latil had not met her since.

"If she doesn't want to eat, let her not eat."

As Latil walked past, the knight added urgently,

"It's been five days. She hasn't eaten for five days."