Chapter 7.1

Chapter 7 – Part 1

“So is that why she was left alone in the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes, and Mother and Count Butler must have moved.”

Carlos grabbed Claude by the neck. Murderous intent was dripping from his eyes. However, even as he was grabbed by the Emperor, Claude’s expression did not change.

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Claude said, looking at Carlos’s expression calmly.

“You thought it would be too easy, unlike me.”

“You son of a b*tch!”

If there was anything the man called his older brother had, it was endless possessiveness and jealousy. What the brothers had in common were such intense emotions. The ‘jealousy’ that Claude has toward his younger brother now was not the jealousy he has for the opposite sex trying to take away his lover, but that Carlos’s love was likely to go smoothly, unlike his burning heart.

“You better go and not grab me by the collar, these guys are quick. The general may have already touched your woman.”

Before he could finish speaking, Carlos let go of his collar and started running on his horse. Claude looked back and a smile twisted. He remembered his woman in his mansion—the woman Carlos wanted most, Amelia Laszlo. Amelia Laszlo at least smiled at Carlos.

“Now, you can smile at me like that, too.”

A butterfly caught in a spider’s web never smiled at the spider. They knew that the spider was the predator. Claude knew this, but he was jealous of his brother. With a relaxed expression, he smiled at the distinguished guests of Kshamil who came with him.

“It seems that the will of the god king of Kshamil will be fulfilled.”

“What, what is the meaning of this!”

The Empress Dowager shouted and screamed. Claude gave orders to the knights.

“It is His Majesty’s orders. From now on, the Empress Dowager will be imprisoned for the rest of her life.”

Claude said in a dry tone. The Empress Dowager felt her heart sink. Even more frightening was the fact that the smile that had always hung on Claude’s lips had disappeared. As if his mother was no different from the others whom Claude treats coldly. Even Claude’s expression seemed worse.

“Grand Duke! Are you placing your own mother under an investigation?”

“What do you mean investigation? I had no intention of making this happen from the beginning, Mother.”

At Claude’s words, the Empress Dowager looked dumbfounded.

“His Majesty already knew it all and he deliberately left me with this role.”

“…….”

“His Majesty wanted to take this opportunity to destroy all those who threatened him. It’s a pity that it’s Mother, but it couldn’t be helped.”

“His Majesty—call His Majesty!”

“It is impossible. Now, His Majesty is fulfilling a long-cherished dream.”

“Dream?”

“Didn’t Mother give him an excuse?”

The Empress Dowager shook her head. Everything was ruined. She thought that if Durante would take advantage of the Empress, the Emperor would abandon her. She thought that if he became angry with Kshamil and became tense with the other country, the nobles here would abandon the stupid Carlos and establish the charismatic Claude as Emperor.

In fact, the Emperor mutilated Durante’s body and detained him. That’s why so far, it’s all according to plan. However, Claude did not intend to ascend to the throne in the end. Rather, he only became Carlos’ stand-in.

“Why, why are you doing this to your mother!”

“Isn’t that obvious, Mother?”

Claude smiled softly and continued.

“To get what he wants, Carlos needs the throne, and to get what I want, I must relinquish the throne.”

“…….”

“You said that you understood my renunciation of the throne, but you don’t seem to understand.”

Since when did her son have such an expressionless face? She didn’t understand. The fact was that for her, a child was not something to be loved, but rather a footstool for herself. And Claude was a good stepping stone.

“My mother didn’t even know that Carlos had the same abilities as me. He tried to hide it from me, but somehow our friendship was preserved as what we wanted became revealed.”

“What do you want? What is it that you want so much?!”

Claude smiled as she screamed.

“ I can’t talk about what I want. I can’t even tell you, Mother. I hate it so much that anyone other than me thinks about her.”

At the eerie madness that she sensed, the Empress Dowager stared at him as though she was looking at a stranger.

“To tell you one thing, I went to Kshamil not because of Mother, but because of His Majesty.”

At that, the Empress Dowager widened her eyes wide. And she finally realized what had happened. These brothers had completely deceived her. Just as she used her children, so did they use her.

“My brother seems to be weak until the end. If I were him, I wouldn’t have put my person in such a situation.”

Claude said sternly. It was a dry tone, as if talking about someone else’s business. The Empress Dowager looked up at her son with a desperate expression, but Claude’s expression did not change. No, the corners of his lips were slightly raised. It looked strangely sadistic.

“So, Mother, you will never be able to come out of the northern palace again for the sin of angering Brother.”

The northern palace! The Empress Dowager shuddered as she recalled the bloody palace where the Imperial Family was imprisoned for generations. She couldn’t believe this. However, when the knights surrounding her, who normally could not touch her with even a single finger, stretched out their arms to lead her, only then did she begin to realize the reality.

“Please, please call His Majesty! It’s a misunderstanding! I have only listened to Count Butler!”

“…….”

“Abandoning this mother! You can’t do that!”

Her attitude was blatant to her place, as she had already decided that she would abandon her own child. But Claude wasn’t particularly angry about this. He had only that much value to the human being who was his mother. In the bloody Imperial Palace, Claude survived by revealing his abilities, and Carlos survived by hiding away to survive without realizing his abilities.

Parents were not an essential condition for survival. Even the brothers were united to each other only out of necessity, not out of a sudden affectionate brotherhood. Each of them had their own irreplaceable things. It was ‘her’ for Claude and Amelia for Carlos. Nothing else mattered.

His brother had no particular affection for their blood, and they felt no need to show mercy to the weak. Although Carlos was slightly more humane than Claude, it was difficult to say that he was significantly different.

“No!”

As the Empress Dowager was dragged away, she let out a pathetic scream. But the one who listened to it was no longer her son. No, that relational connection didn’t exist in the first place.

Returning to her room, Amelia was in Carlos’s deep embrace. In the warm embrace, she wondered if everything she didn’t believe was, in fact, the truth.

“Are you very surprised?”

“…….”

He stroked her hair and caressed her cheeks. He didn’t seem to care about her messy attire or about her past being brought up again. Unlike her fiancé, Elliot.

“I’m sorry.”

At Amelia’s words, Carlos widened his eyes. His golden eyes flashed with anger, then clouded over, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.

“I can’t even be angry anymore, because I don’t have the right to.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I’m the one who’s really sorry. I should have paid more attention.”

“…….”

“I didn’t know that Brother had such a dirty personality. Shall I kill him?”

Carlos clenched his teeth and murmured grimly. What did he mean by ‘brother’? Amelia looked at Carlos with a puzzled expression on her face. He really had a terrifyingly handsome face. She had felt it before, but she was more familiar with Carlos’s face than Durante’s. She continued to look at his face.

As if Carlos noticed her gaze, he smiled awkwardly, letting her go, widening the distance.

“Your Majesty?”

“It looks like we have to deal with it after all, because it’s an issue…”

Amelia’s face was clouded with concern. No matter how narrow-minded she may be, she was well aware of the tensions between Kshamil and the Empire. Also even though they were quite literally an ’empire,’ they wouldn’t be able to win over the savages. Wasn’t she the one who had experienced and confirmed that terrible fact?

“Sir Reinkel!”

Reinkel approached at Carlos’s call.

“Protect her.”

Reinkel bent down. Amelia looked at him. It would be better to have someone she knew to escort her. She saw Reinkel greeting her, feeling relief. Carlos’s expression darkened slightly at the relief on her face.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

Carlos took her hand and smiled. Seeing that bitter smile, a voice began to rise above Amelia’s subconscious for some reason.

[ You were that kid! ]