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TL: Hi! Uploading a day early to focus on exams. Will upload again after the 24th. Enjoy!
“….Emperor.”
“As you know, our budget is already stressed as it is with supporting the North.”
I felt a deep disgust.
The Emperor was clearly enjoying every second of making his mother depend on him.
“A budget is not like an indefinite spring of water.”
“But!” retorted the Empress Dowager before being cut off.
“Of course, southern Lebane is also part of the same empire, so not supporting it at all is absurd. Though…”
The smile on the emperor’s lips grew a little wider.
“Isn’t it rational that we should first support the North that shields the empire from beasts?”
I gaped.
Wow…
Beforehand, he arbitrarily persecuted the North, now he’s using the North as an excuse to deny the South support?
Is this really happening?
“…then.”
The Empress Dowager, who had bitten her lips to the point of bleeding, spoke sharply.
“Please return the Empress Dowager’s budget to the South.”
“Ooh,” the Emperor said, intrigued.
The Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Does southern Lebane mean that much to you, mother?”
“What are you getting at?”
“Getting at? Mother, you’re being very unkind to your son who’s just had a stomach ache…”
The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager with a venomous expression.
“Did you not come here to ask for help? Instead, you pester me like this!”
“Emperor!”
“I am a son who loves his mother dearly, so I cannot grant that request.”
“What?!”
“You so badly want to support the South that you send your own budget there…”
The Emperor rolled his eyes.
“Is that the better option? Having yourself reduced to what commoners eat and wear?”
“Look now!-”
“If that were to happen, this son of yours would be so heartbroken, he wouldn’t sleep well at night.”
At those heartless words, my mouth was agape.
How many times has he harshly treated and cut off Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager, his own mother, in front of everyone?!
Now he’s saying to us, ‘I’m a filial son who cares first and foremost for his mother, so much so that he isn’t capable of supporting her’?
I was at a loss for words.
The Emperor spoke casually.
“However, should Mama choose to go there directly-”
“In respect for Mother’s attachment to the South, I’ll allow for a minimum budget.”
The Emperor shrugged and added further.
“Even though Mama was very hard on me, I don’t want to be the same as Mama.”
“Fine.”
A calm voice interrupted the conversation.
It was Damian.
“I’ll go down to the South.”
“…you?”
The Emperor twitched his eyebrows.
Damian silently nodded.
“Grandma Mama’s consideration for the South is praiseworthy, but realistically, her physical condition won’t be enough to handle the trip down South.”
“Damian.”
The Empress Dowager called out to Damian in a faint whisper.
Damian concluded his words, steadfast in his decision.
“As your grandson, I’ll take over this duty.”
“I’m sure you know I have no reason to help you.”
The Emperor tried to rattle Damian.
“As mentioned before, there’s no supporting budget.”
“I’m well aware of it.”
Damian answered without batting an eye.
The Emperor glared at his nephew for the longest time before saying one last word.
“It seems so, do as you please.”
And with that, the Emperor turned around and departed, leaving only the cool evening wind where he once was.
At the same time, the Empress Dowager looked back at Damian with a pale complexion.
“Oh my God, Damian! What were you thinking!”
“That Grandma Mama can’t go to the South.”
Damian smiled reassuringly.
“Don’t worry too much. It’ll work out.”
“…but.”
The Empress Dowager couldn’t shake off how uneasy she felt.
Wanting to ease her mind, I spoke up.
“It’s getting late, I think it’s best to head back to the palace.”
***
We left, taking the Empress Dowager back to her palace.
I tugged on Damian’s sleeve.
“So, Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“His Majesty said that he wouldn’t support a budget. How will you solve that?”
“Won’t the Crown Prince’s budget and the subsidies I received from subduing beasts in the North be enough to solve the budget issue?”
…yes, I thought Damian would answer like that.
However.
“Well, won’t there be almost nothing left of His Highness’s available funds?”
I looked at Damian, baffled as to why he would consider that.
This was no small town on his hands, it was supporting Lebane, the largest city in the South.
To save an entire city, Damian would be left completely penniless.
But, Damian just smiled casually.
“It’ll be okay.”
“How is it okay?!”
“It will be. After all, the reason I was well-treated as the Crown Prince was because the citizens of the empire were by my side, right?”
…no, you did not say that.
How could he say that he was well-treated?!
Damian suffered much because of his title as Crown Prince. He’s rarely benefited from it!
Getting a bit emotional, I nearly raised my voice at Damian.
Born as a prince, imprisoned at the age of three, endured one assassin to another, and so, so much more…
‘All he’s lived is a hard life.’
However, Damian always brings up his responsibility.
Even though the Emperor, who’s in charge of the empire, turns his back on it for his own benefit every time.
Damian’s a little too reckless…
He could have thought about his well-being first.
Without realizing it, I quietly reached out and held Damian’s hand.
A wide-eyed Damian called my name with a tender voice.
“Charlize.”
“Yes.”
“In reality, I didn’t care for Winsor at first.”
Damian started recalling the distant past.
“I thought of it as something I wanted nothing to do with. What has Winsor done for me?”
“….Your Highness.”
“But now…I want to take some responsibility for this empire.”
Damian strengthened his hands.
“Because I want to be happy.”
Scarlet eyes shining like the sun look back at me.
The kind gaze I adored so much, the gaze focused directly at me.
Damian’s smile grew a little wider.
“With you.”
…with me?
Seeing how I was hesitant, Damian quietly continued.
“This empire is where you and I will live together in the future.”
For a moment, a hint of mischief was apparent in his voice.
“Though what worth is the title of the Crown Prince if I could throw away everything and run away with you…”
“Of course not!”
No! You’ve worked so hard and come this far, and now you’d give up your title as Crown Prince?
I’ll never want to see that!
Damian has to walk the path that leads to happiness and success! That means unconditionally becoming the Emperor.
Seeing my adverse reaction, Damian smiled.
“Yes, Charlize, I thought that would be your reaction.”
Unable to overcome my embarrassment, I averted my gaze.
Then Damian added.
“I can’t run away now, so I ought to do everything I can.”
“Those words…”
“You and I can only live safely and happily in the long run if the citizens of the empire support us.”
There was a firm determination in his voice.
“I will keep my promise.”
“A promise?”
“Yes. The promise of elevating you above any Princess of Rochester or anyone else.”
As Damian said so, he gently raised my hand and lightly kissed my hand.
“I’ll definitely make sure of it.”
His breath on the back of my hand…
It was so warm.
No, maybe…
Maybe my heart is hot.
I didn’t know what to say, so I bowed my head.
Does Damian know?
Every time he looks at me with those sweet eyes…
Honestly, the way those eyes tickle the depths of my heart is unbearable.
***
“Charlize!”
That same evening.
Her Majesty, the Empress stormed into the Crown Prince’s palace with a surprised expression on her face, as if she were about to faint.
“His Highness, the Crown Prince and you are going down directly to support Lebane, is that true?!”
“Yes, that is correct.”
As I nodded calmly, Damian glanced at me with a frustrated expression.
“Even if I tell you not to follow me…”
“What was that, Your Highness? You really intended to leave me and go alone to the South?”
As I met Damian’s gaze with squinted eyes, I only then realized that the Empress was already seated in front of us.
Ahem.
I coughed, embarrassed.
For some reason, being with Damian makes me more childish.
I explained to the Empress everything that happened at the imperial palace earlier.
As soon as she heard the story, the Empress couldn’t hide her astounded expression.
“Not to mention, what about the budgeting for the flood-damaged areas…”
“I know! Isn’t that just too much?!”
I raised my voice, filled with indignation.
“So, you’re saying you’re going to deal with everything, using the budget from the Crown Prince’s palace?” the Empress questioned.
“We shouldn’t. But without support, we can’t help it.”
I dropped my shoulders in a defeated manner.
The Empress asked me with a puzzled face.
“What do you mean? There’s already a way to get a budget, no?”