🌹🌹🌹
“AND if I approved the idea of unification, even the conservatives who opposed me would recognize my rule. Once that was done, you would help them regroup and make sure they behaved. That was what you said back then.”
“Yes. You were hesitant, but you agreed to my suggestion to end the turmoil troubling Erdal.”
With the promise made, the positions of ruler and chancellor were decided, and the pair discussed politics for several days before emerging from the room.
But the empress failed to keep her promise.
✦ ✦ ✦
🌹🌹🌹
ON coronation day, the newly crowned Elizabeth addressed the masses from the castle balcony and explicitly denied the possibility of Erdal’s unification with Heilland.
When approached by Yggdrasil, Elizabeth was cold, saying that she’d only agreed to end the turmoil and nothing else.
“That means you had no intention of following my suggestion from the beginning…!”
“That’s not true. If I understood the rationale behind why you wanted unification, I would have taken your advice and followed through, but I’ve come to the conclusion that such a move is unnecessary.”
Yggdrasil was enraged by the empress’s dismissal. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, the image of his dying friend flashed in his mind’s eye.
“But the Senate!” he shouted. “Aren’t they also part of the empire that is now yours?!”
“What I’m saying is, they are unnecessary,” was the empress’s cold reply. “Unfortunately, they are not part of the new empire I’m aiming to build.”
After that, the conflict between the old Senate and the empress ended. One by one, the empress removed the conservative nobles who opposed her, strengthening her political standing in court. As she carved out a bright trajectory and new future for Erdal, many were left behind, mercilessly punished with confiscated territories, imprisonment, or death.
Yggdrasil was unable to grant Raven’s last wish to save the Senate.
✦ ✦ ✦
🌹🌹🌹
“WHAT do you hope to achieve with this, Yggdrasil?” The chancellor looked down to meet the empress’s narrowed eyes. “Raven is dead, and his cronies are in hiding. Why do you still want Heilland? What has obsessed you this much?”
“Nothing that will mean anything to anyone else but me.” Yggdrasil stood quietly, fatigue showing on his thin frame as he smiled sadly as if yearning for someone no longer there. “This is my personal vendetta, my challenge. Can I take what you denied and rejected as unnecessary and make it succeed? Do I have the power to override your choices? Most importantly, I’ve unwittingly discovered something far more interesting.”
Yggdrasil bent down to whisper into Elizabeth’s ear.
“I swear to the guardian star that my next words are true. It was His Highness Fritz who decided to drug you and frame Heilland’s ambassador as an excuse to start a war. He longs to become an emperor that surpasses you, and all I did was give him a push. Should he succeed in unifying the two countries, he will go down in history as a greater ruler than you.”
“What…?”
The chancellor stared calmly at the empress’s shocked look.
“Now that you know the truth, what will you do? Will you remain cruel and condemn your own child? Or would you betray your morals and forgive him? Or better yet, would you choose to join us in our quest to take Heilland? Not that your choice matters to me.”
“Have you become so obsessed that you’ve lost your entire mind?” the empress growled through gritted teeth, her gaze deadly even as she lay unmoving on the bed.
Yggdrasil just chuckled and shook his head.
“Think whatever you want of me, but I’ll see this to the end.”
With that, Yggdrasil left the room, signaling to the waiting medic that he was done. Soon, arrangements would be made to transfer the empress to Mylene Hall, a separate villa on the castle grounds.
The chancellor was surprised to see Crown Prince Fritz, whom he’d thought had returned to his rooms, lingering by the window in the hallway. Seeing Yggdrasil, the prince frowned.
“Took you long enough,” he muttered in complaint. “Don’t sneak around and do things without my knowledge. What did you speak to Mother about?”
“Nothing much, just a little story about the old days.”
“And you think I’ll be satisfied with that answer?”
The crown prince moved quickly to grab Yggdrasil’s shoulder. The look in the young man’s deep green eyes showed he was of the empress’s blood.
Yggdrasil didn’t respond, and after a period of silence, the crown prince let him go.
“Whatever,” he murmured. “No matter what your intentions are, things are already set in motion. Neither of us can afford to back out now, so you’ll have to support me till the end.”
The chancellor smiled calmly. If only the crown prince knew who was the support in the other’s cause.
“It’s my pleasure,” he answered instead.
Just then, a soldier hurried down the hallway, announcing they had a visitor.