Chapter 40: Revenge

The nobles decided to push forward with the succession issue after Belia herself made remarks denying her royal roots.

“Your Majesty, how could you speak such nonsense? The past emperors would condemn the current empire!”

“That’s right. The neighboring countries might see the empire’s unstable succession as an opportunity and start moving suspiciously!”

“You must appoint the princess as the crown princess!”

‘Yes, they sure know how to talk,’ thought the emperor.

“Hah. I gave birth at seventeen and am not even forty yet. Am I supposed to die or something? Why are they rushing the succession so much?”

Indeed, the emperor was still young.

The emperor’s appearance, still looking like someone in their early twenties, was the envy of all the noblewomen.

Even the nobles wondered if the emperor, who had given birth to four children, was really human.

“The succession should be decided without delay.”

That phrase, “without delay,” had been irritating when Aslan was named crown prince.

The emperor sighed.

‘Aren’t they just exasperating? Now that they have lost their power, they come to me, hoping I’d wield absolute authority as emperor, rather than going to the council.’

“I respect my children. Aslan, that foolish one, stepped down from the crown prince position on his own after realizing his shortcomings in this matter, so I plan to watch over things for now. By what right do you come to me?”

Those before the emperor had no qualifications at all.

“Th-that’s…”

“Do you think I don’t know? Because local nobles might replace you all, you want to secure your positions by establishing a successor, isn’t that it?”

It was obvious.

“T-that’s not…”

“How many necks do you have?”

“Your Majesty, we only worry about the future of the empire.”

“Even Ashtar, the emperor’s closest confidant, has not approached me to talk about succession. Who do you think you are?”

When succession issues arise, Ashtar is the first to come forward.

However, he had not approached this time.

Because of his daughter’s issues, he likely planned to leave the succession matter entirely to the royal family.

As a result, these useless fools came forward, clamoring to reestablish the crown prince and crown princess positions.

“We… we apologize.”

The conversation itself was becoming increasingly annoying.

They would undoubtedly repeat this behavior, so it might be necessary to take a firmer approach.

“Or what? Are you suggesting I spend the night with you to produce a new crown prince? Fine, who wants to spend a night with me first?”

The emperor’s bold words were so shocking that the nobles bowed their heads even lower.

“Your Majesty! How could you say something so outrageous!”

“Then stop talking nonsense and get out of the palace immediately.”

***

As the nobles stood frozen in shock, the emperor drew a hidden sword from within the folds of a servant’s attire.

This sword, known as the holy sword of the royal family, had been passed down since the time of the founder and could only be wielded by those with the blood of Armenia. The creator remains unknown.

As the emperor held the sword, the nobles felt an inexplicable pressure.

Even while standing still and bowing their heads, they felt as if a blade was pressing against their necks.

“Must your heads roll for touching the emperor, or will you leave willingly?”

At the emperor’s commanding voice, the nobles submitted and left the palace.

In their absence, the maids who had been kneeling like the nobles remained behind.

The maids had their heads bowed to the ground, as there was no other choice.

They hadn’t stopped the emperor from playing servant, which had led to a slap from the nobles.

“Y-your Majesty, we failed to stop you. Please, kill us!”

‘Goodness, everyone wants to die here and there. At this rate, I’ll become a tyrant.’

Already, there was plenty of talk about succession; ‘if the emperor started killing nobles and maids, wouldn’t people really call them a tyrant?’

“I said I’d serve as a maid, didn’t I? You simply followed the emperor’s command. Isn’t that so?”

“Th-that is…”

With those words, they had nothing left to say.

The maids frowned.

“Alright, let’s continue playing. This time, I’ll be the maid again, so who would like to take over the emperor’s role?”

“Your Majesty, please, we beg you. Spare us! If you continue like this, our lives won’t last!”

‘Are they even fit to be called the emperor’s maids when they’re this fearful?’

It would be better if they were a bit more confident.

That’s why the emperor had confidently acted as a maid in front of the nobles.

This was meant to show them.

“Is there anyone who dares defy the emperor? Even if authority and policies come from the council, I am the emperor. Who would dare try to kill my maids? Do they think I would let that happen?”

The emperor had no intention of killing the maids.

It was amusing to see their distressed faces.

In fact, if anyone took issue with this incident, whether a central noble or a high-ranking council official, they might be cut down.

“Your Majesty, though I am but a lowly maid, I fear that the empire’s prestige may waver if Your Majesty continues in this way.”

‘So that’s how they’re playing it now.’

The emperor’s prestige, huh? As if it mattered.

To maintain the empire for so long, power had been given to the council rather than a dictatorship centered on the emperor.

And now, here they were.

As the emperor, they didn’t particularly hold any real power, ‘so what prestige did they need?’

Of course, the noble bloodline that had lasted over 1,500 years was respected, ‘but was it really worth such a fuss?’

If the maids went this far, there was another way.

“Sigh. Fine. I’ll let it go today.”

“Your Majesty!”

The maids rejoiced, finally relieved that it was over.

“They shouldn’t be so happy. Next time, I’ll raise the difficulty even higher.”

“I’ll return to play again tomorrow. Ah, next time, let’s call the royal guards. And then…”

The maids’ faces turned pale.

‘Calling for the knights? Did this mean they’d be playing a game where the knight becomes the emperor and the emperor becomes the knight?’

The knight’s position was one of loyalty to the royal family.

While nobles couldn’t even dare raise their heads, the imperial guard knights existed solely to protect the emperor.

Regardless of the reason, if it became known that the emperor had been playing servant, it was inevitable that this would spread through the knights’ rigid understanding.

Unlike nobles, knights were strict and inflexible—death would be certain if word got out.

Better to match the emperor’s whim than face that outcome.

“We apologize, Your Majesty! If you could let us handle this ourselves, we would be willing to give our lives!”

‘They should’ve said that from the beginning.’

“I’m just playing around. But fine, I’ll stop for today since you all seem startled.”

“But…”

A thought suddenly crossed the emperor’s mind.

“Is there something you wish to say?”

“The child who started this trouble, I heard, is Olivia—the one who was almost my daughter-in-law. Is that true?”

It was ultimately because of that girl that these nobles had come to bother the emperor.

The first time the emperor had seen her, she had seemed intelligent.

But to think she not only awakened as a saint but also dealt with her own sister and the nobles under her influence.

This left the central nobles in retreat, leading Aslan to even step down from his position.

“So, this girl is the reason I’ve been pestered.”

“Yes.”

“How strange. That child didn’t seem like one destined to be a saint.”

It wasn’t meant as an insult; the emperor genuinely hadn’t sensed any divine power in her.

Although their connection was severed, she had once been considered as a potential daughter-in-law, so it would be fine to call her to the palace at least once.

“Before that, though. Did you remember the faces of those nobles from earlier?”

“Good.”

There happened to be a task for them—how fortunate.

“Kill them.”

“Your Majesty? But…”

The maids were taken aback.

These were no ordinary maids—they came from an assassin guild with close ties to the royal family through Ashtar, whose support the royal family had relied on heavily.

In this generation, Emperor Belia had assembled her maids from guild members associated with the Ashtar family’s assassin guild.

The emperor used these maids freely, not only for role-playing as a servant but also to dispose of those she found displeasing.

Although they appeared to be simple maids, these women were assassins in disguise, capable of transforming into an execution squad even more fearsome than the emperor’s personal guard upon command.

“Not only did they dare lay hands on my cheek, but they also brought up the royal succession.”

“But they aren’t central nobles, are they?”

Despite their humble positions, the maids had access to the guild’s information network.

Even though the central nobles were corrupt, removing their figureheads could lead to unpredictable chaos.

“Even if they’re central nobles, most of them are just riders on famous family names. None of the real figures came forward today, so there’s no significant impact.”

Among the nobles they’d seen today, none were from prominent families.

Killing them might cause brief chaos, but it would be insignificant compared to the empire as a whole.

For that reason, the maids couldn’t predict what the emperor would say next.

“…Bring me their heads by tomorrow morning.”

The emperor’s absolute decree.

The command given by the supreme ruler of the empire.

The maids knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads.

“We accept your command.”

***

Late at night, after Claire had gone to bed, I quietly left the dormitory.

If she was thrown into the Flanon River, then her corpse should be there.

Even if it’s just a body, it should still be put to use.

I’ll bring her back as a zombie if I have to.

Olivia may have died without fulfilling her revenge, but I should at least let her soul rest.

Drowning? That wouldn’t be nearly enough.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Flanon River.”

I knew the way to the Flanon River.

Although it was quite a distance from the capital, I could reach it in no time with teleportation, thanks to my familiarity with the place.

Arriving at the river, I saw an overturned carriage bearing the Ashtar family’s crest.

If it was Ashtar, they’d likely report it as a carriage accident and send knights to handle the aftermath and publish it as news.

If it’s this bad, she would have already been dead.

‘Should I really turn her into a zombie?’

That was my initial thought.

Splash, splash

Until I heard sounds from within the carriage.

There were sounds of splashing water, not the sound of a carriage sinking, but deliberate splashes, like someone playing in the water.

The splashing grew louder, and then the voice I’d been waiting for finally reached my ears.

“Help! Help, somebody, please! Cough! Somebody help!”

“Well, well… so she’s alive, is she?”