IN the imperial villa he shared with his mother, the Empire’s second prince, Claudio, awoke before dawn. Ten days left until his fifteenth birthday. Today was the day they would finally depart. When he got up from his bed, he instructed the maids.
“I’m leaving today. I’d like you to prepare some clothes that are easy to maneuver in as well as my formalwear.”
“Oh, are you attending some sort of function, Your Highness?”
The maids were surprised. Naturally, they knew nothing of the plan.
“Yes,” he replied with a smile. “I have somewhere important to be.”
Claudio’s life had no purpose before he met Bertine. After meeting her, all he wanted to do was escape his hollow existence. But everything was different now. Ever since he chose his own path, he had dedicated himself assiduously to training his body and mind. He had grown almost a foot these last two and a half years. Plus, his continued studies in both kingcraft and martial arts had instilled confidence in him. Without himself realizing it, a dignified aura suited to a leader now emanated from him.
Claudio suppressed his overwhelming desire to leave at once and then visited his mother’s room. Diana learned everything from him suddenly last night. She hadn’t slept a wink as she greeted the new day that would take her son away from her as he went forth on his own journey. When he stepped inside her chambers, she excused her attendants so that she could speak to her son in private.
“Claudio. I have only one wish as your mother. Live. Promise me you’ll treasure your life, that you’ll come back here alive.”
It was bad luck to cry before a journey, so she blinked hard and pushed back the tears threatening to fall. She was still shocked that her precious child had hidden a matter this monumental from her for two and a half years. Her anger toward the emperor had yet to abate because she knew without a doubt that he was the one who told Claudio to keep quiet.
Did His Majesty truly think I would tell someone if I knew? For Diana, Claudio had been her only light in this suffocating world. And now he departs for San Luenne to stage a coup with only a handful of guards? Absurd.
“Mother. You have nothing to fear. A great many people are on my side, lending me their aid. Be at ease as you wait for my return. I’ll be sure to return bearing good news.”
With those determined words, Claudio left his mother’s room. He deliberately didn’t look back at her as she watched him go. Don’t worry. I’m simply going to do what I must.
✦ ✦ ✦
PRINCE Ehrenfried arrived in front of the villa. They had decided he and Claudio would depart together. Not long after, the emperor too appeared. Only their closest, most trusted security personnel knew the truth of the situation. The rest of the guards murmured amongst themselves about what was happening since they hadn’t been informed of any events occurring today.
“Well, then, Father. Today is the day.”
“It is. Go on. I expect you to return bearing good news.”
From afar, the empress, Ekaterina, watched the sight with her son, Crown Prince Felix. She had been told nothing of the plan. To her eyes, Claudio’s spirited aura made him look larger than life. Uneasiness surged within her breast at the overflowing confidence on his face.
The time for Claudio and Ehrenfried to depart had come. The non-descript carriage bearing them rumbled out of the castle gate. Only the smallest contingent of soldiers accompanied them.
After seeing them off, the emperor returned to the imperial palace. Ekaterina rushed toward him.
“Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?”
“Nothing of import. They just have some minor business to attend to.”
On the off chance the empress decided to interfere with the plan, Emperor Christhardt had decided not to mention anything at all to her for the next week. The moment after his decision though, he realized how much he didn’t trust his wife of many years.
I wonder. When did it start? When did I stop trusting Ekaterina? Despite our marriage being an arranged one, I swore to myself that I would advance this country with this woman on the day we wed. So what happened?
Since Diana had captured his heart, the emperor had been careful not to let his wife see what was inside. But this morning, guilt toward his wife plagued him. She had done nothing wrong. It wasn’t her fault he fell in love with Diana. His own actions had transformed Ekaterina into a wife he couldn’t trust. As the feelings of guilt coiled around him, Christhardt walked toward his chambers.
The empress bit her lip, watching her husband walk away from her. Not once had he met her eyes. There’s no point worrying about this. My son will be the next emperor after all. Nothing else matters.
Yet an emptiness yawned inside her when she looked into the future and found no one there by her side who would love her even as the years withered her face and figure away. All she saw was a cold wind blowing through the barren wasteland of her life.
Ekaterina had been the envy of every young noblewoman after she had been chosen as the emperor’s wife all those years ago. Her family had been delighted to have their daughter become his wife, and eventually the empress. She should have been living a life of splendor. Instead, jealousy toward the young concubine burned within her. She had fallen so low, become such a wretched excuse for a human being that she even wished for that woman’s death and the death of her child.
And now, her husband wouldn’t even tell her why her brother-in-law and Claudio left.
“Mother? Are you all right?”
Her son stared down at her in concern. He was so much taller than her now. At the age of sixteen, he looked just like his father when he was young.
“It’s nothing, Felix. Right, then, off to breakfast.”
“Mother.” He wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders, sensing something was amiss. “I’m here. Please, won’t you cheer up?”
“Thank you, Felix.”
Felix too grew up witnessing his mother’s pain. The gentleness on his father’s face as he watched his younger brother leave. He had never looked at Felix that way.
He had always despised his father. Though he had never hated Claudio, he knew how much it would hurt and alienate his mother if he developed a bond with him as well. So he had deliberately kept his distance from his brother.
When I become emperor, I will never wound my wife like my father. And I’ll make sure to build up this country together with Claudio. Hand in hand.
The emperor had yet to realize that his way of life strongly influenced not only his second son but also his firstborn. Things changed little by little as his family’s feelings intertwined.