Chapter 75

Marriage life was not smooth.

Teresa wished to conceive an heir as soon as possible, but more than half a year passed without her becoming pregnant.

Around that time, rumors began to circulate about Emperor Tarkas's declining health, and her husband Zahar, who often left the capital to inspect the border knights defending the Ansheize border, was away more frequently.

Then, the day that would change everything arrived.

Her husband was inspecting the Leven fortress on the border with Securt, and while having breakfast with her father-in-law, Teresa felt nauseous and left the room.

It was the pregnancy she had been hoping for.

More than anything, she wanted to share this joy with her husband, who was far away, but her father-in-law, unusually flushed, praised her sincerely, saying, "Well done!"

It would be the last time she saw her father-in-law so delighted.

That night, Emperor Tarkas's condition suddenly worsened, and he passed away.

Teresa, as a member of the high nobility, tried to go to the palace immediately, but was stopped by the guards.

"You must not leave the Antore fortress. This is a direct order from Lord Antore."

She couldn't understand why she was being detained in the fortress.

She felt a strong sense of unease.

What came to mind was the determined look in her father-in-law's eyes that she had seen more often recently.

His eyes, which were somewhat dark, were filled with anxiety and loneliness, and while he seemed to have a resolve as if he had received a divine will, he was also deeply afraid of something.

Teresa hurried to the western corridor, from where the Antore knights' training ground was visible.

From a distance, countless bonfires could be seen, and it was immediately clear that something unusual was happening.

It was impossible for the knights to move on the day the emperor died.

Either news had come that the neighboring countries had attacked, or a rebellion had broken out.

...They intend to assassinate Prince Yorm.

The answer settled heavily in Teresa's heart.

Her father-in-law had long wished for the day when an emperor from the Antore knights would ascend the throne. For five generations, they had been far from that honor, and the next in line, Prince Yorm, was from the Lohman family.

She had hoped that at least the first prince of the crown prince would be from Antore, but the crown prince disliked Antore and cruelly trampled on her father-in-law's wishes.

There was another noble whose future was being unjustly twisted by the crown prince.

Dillemere, the prime minister who had served as the emperor's right-hand man and contributed to the country for many years.

The current emperor had hoped that Dillemere would continue to support the country after his death, but the crown prince began to appoint new people one after another, as if trying to weaken Dillemere's influence.

Dillemere was being gradually cornered, but the situation was even more dire for Prince Paresis, the younger brother of the crown prince.

He was deeply hated by his elder brother, who was to succeed the throne, and Dillemere, who was supposed to act as a buffer between them, was about to fall from power.

With the change of emperors, Paresis would likely be accused of some crime and punished.

It was not uncommon in the long history of the empire for brothers who had fallen out of favor with the emperor to meet tragic ends, and Teresa could easily imagine Paresis's fate.

After the emperor fell ill, Prince Paresis had been cautious and showed a submissive attitude to the crown prince, but she didn't think that would be enough.

The prince must have sought help from Lord Dillemere, who was a close friend of Lord Falmon Antore, a powerful military leader.

The noise from the palace did not reach the distant Antore fortress.

Teresa could only wait.

If the plan failed, her child would grow up without ever knowing its father, and even if it succeeded, the sin of assassinating the rightful heir would be remembered for generations.

Days passed like a dream, and Teresa, suffering from morning sickness, forced herself to eat for the sake of her child.

Five days after the emperor's death, Teresa was informed of Paresis's ascension to the throne.

On the same day, her husband, who had been at the border, finally returned to the capital, but he did not return to the residence where Teresa was waiting.

Paresis had planned the coup, Dillemere had orchestrated it, and the Antore knights had carried it out.

Everyone in the court knew this.

The coup plotters faced condemnation, disdain, and contempt, and her husband was busy with the aftermath and tightening the reins on the knights.

However, if she were allowed to say one thing in his defense, her husband had no involvement in the incident.

Her father-in-law had kept his resolve to himself until the moment of action. He was a cautious man, and no one had suspected that such a plan was underway.

That night, upon receiving the news of the emperor's death, her father-in-law immediately took action.

The knights' leaders were told for the first time that they were about to kill the rightful heir.

It must have been a huge gamble for her father-in-law.

Even his closest subordinates would likely be frightened by the enormity of the crime, and it wouldn't be surprising if some betrayed him.

But her father-in-law, without wavering, led Antore into an unprecedented coup.

Despite the lack of a just cause, he convinced his subordinates that this was the only way for Antore to survive, and with his fierce passion, he rallied them to seize the future by stepping over corpses.

He was a truly outstanding general, with a commanding presence and charisma.

About a month after the coup, her husband finally returned to her.

His eyes were sunken, and his exhaustion was evident.

"Antore has achieved its long-held wish, and I am benefiting from it."

In response to Teresa's words of comfort, Zahar replied.

Everyone knew the truth, and Zahar could not avoid it.

However, as if trying to escape from his suffering, he tightly embraced Teresa and whispered in a voice barely audible.

"I never dreamed of harming the main line."

Burying his face in Teresa's shoulder, her husband sobbed silently.

It was the first and last time she heard him cry.

Three years after the coup, Prime Minister Dillemere, her father-in-law's close friend, died of illness.

He had worked tirelessly to consolidate the country, and his death was the result of his efforts.

Dillemere had wished to make his daughter's son, Prince Alex, the crown prince, but the lingering resentment over the coup prevented this.

He died at the age of fifty, the same age as Emperor Tarkas when he passed away.

With the loss of his closest friend, her father-in-law became increasingly isolated.

In contrast, Emperor Paresis, who had seemed restrained before, began to show a strange brightness.

Paresis, though talented, had a hedonistic nature.

Before the coup, his excellent qualities were prominent, but after the bloodshed of killing his brother and seizing the throne, his balance as a person began to shift.

Perhaps he no longer cared what others thought.

No matter how well he governed in the future, the infamy of killing his brother and his children for personal gain would follow him for life.

So, he might have decided to live according to his desires. It seemed as if he had convinced himself of this.

From then on, he indulged in women, involved himself only in the minimum necessary political affairs, and ruthlessly dismissed those who advised him.

His treatment of those of royal blood was particularly harsh.

Although he was the only surviving male descendant of the previous emperor, he strongly guarded against the children and grandchildren of the emperor before that, who had succession rights.

Some were given the poisoned cup, and others were sent to the Tower of Goham, where nobles were imprisoned.

No one dared to oppose Emperor Paresis.

The day before his fifty-first birthday, her father-in-law drank the poisoned cup and committed suicide.

"I do not wish to live longer than His Majesty.

I will apologize to His Majesty in the afterlife for this ceremony.

Announce my death as natural."

The letter stated, and her husband announced his father's death as a sudden illness.

Her father-in-law believed that he alone should bear the sin of the coup.

In fact, it was he who had personally eliminated the noble bloodline during the coup.

While the princes and their children were one thing, it was unbearable for a proud knight to kill the innocent children and their mothers without just cause.

That's why her father-in-law took on the burden himself.

At the same age as Emperor Tarkas when he died, and with the consecutive deaths of Dillemere and Lord Antore, rumors spread in the court that it was a curse from the dead Prince Yorm.

Her husband let the rumors circulate.

What mattered was the future of Antore and the empire supported by the knights.

No matter what others said, he was determined to do what needed to be done.

Prince Alex, now twelve, joined the Antore knights as his grandfather Dillemere had wished.

"I will raise Prince Alex to be a proper person, even if it means risking my life."

Emperor Paresis had lost interest in governing and was now obsessed with his favorite dancer.

Still, he managed the minimum political affairs, and the Round Table, the foundation of the country, functioned properly, so there were no major political issues, but the state of the country was far from ideal.

Her husband placed his hopes in the future where Prince Alex, the only child of the empress, would succeed the throne and lead the country with strength.

However, Teresa was a bit worried about her husband's enthusiasm.

"At least don't hit him, please."

It was hard to imagine a future heir being hit, but her serious husband might go overboard.

"Perhaps throwing a bucket of water and locking him in the reflection room would be better."

The kitten Teresa brought with her when she married lived a full life but had many kittens, so the Antore family never ran out of cats.

Thanks to this, all three of Teresa's children grew up to be cat lovers.

She wondered if it was due to the environment or the bloodline.

Her husband, Zahar, was desperately trying to hide his own cat obsession, and the children were also desperately trying to hide their love for cats.

Her eldest son, Amon, had found three close friends but had not yet revealed his secret to any of them.

Teresa thought it was fine to enjoy it secretly, but Amon seemed to want to discuss the cuteness of cats with his friends.

One day, while Teresa was looking at the garden from the balcony, Amon brought one of his friends, Gruuk, to the garden.

He seemed a bit tense, as if he was about to reveal his secret.

"Hey, Gruuk, which do you like better, cats or dogs?"

Caught off guard by this sudden question, Gruuk was naturally confused.

"Wow, that's a tough question. I've never really thought about it."

Then, Gruuk said, as if in awe, "You're really Antore, aren't you? Thinking about it in terms of war?"

"Huh? War?"

"I've only eaten up to frogs. So, which is better? I've never eaten either, but are cats tasty?"

Teresa was surprised that Gruuk had eaten frogs, but Amon was shocked by the unexpected turn of the conversation.

"It's not about food!"

Amon was on the verge of tears, thinking his beloved cats might be considered food.

Seeing this, Gruuk finally realized his mistake.

"Oh, you mean as pets."

He then crossed his arms and pondered.

"Dogs are useful for hunting, and cats are great for catching mice. Both are good, I guess."

Amon, who wanted to share the cuteness of cats with his friend, was disheartened by Gruuk's response and vowed never to ask such a question again.

Since then, Amon quietly kept his secret and found solace in marrying a cat lover.

Thank you for reading.

When I wrote about Amon's love for cats, I received a comment suggesting that his grandfather might also be a lover of cute things. This made me think about what kind of person Amon's grandfather was. Although it's a short side story, it turned out to be a bit more serious than I intended.

Finally, thank you for your comments, feedback, and corrections.