Now Come and Regret

“It’s absurd. Genair’s imperial family, and an illegitimate child, to be the Crown Prince’s wife!”

“That thing is said to be a rag that wandered about the Imperial Palace of Genaire. How can you bestow it on such a thing?!”

A furious roar erupted from everywhere.

The Emperor of Rezan narrowed his forehead as if he had a headache, and the Crown Prince’s expression was as serious as ever.

“Your Majesty. Cut off the envoy’s head and send it back. We must not fall for their tricks like this!”

“It’s not about reacting emotionally, Count.”

“Lord Ardin. Then we’ll see if they try to insult Rezan like this?”

The round table meeting, convened in secret at midnight, showed no sign of ending after already two hours. The opinions of both sides were strongly at odds.

Accepting the nonsensical demands of the enemy as it is, or resist and fight?

It was just last year, in the midsummer of 1132, the year of the Rezan Empire, the Northeastern Sun, the Millennium Empire, was defeated by the rising Holy Empire Genaire.

After a long seven-year war, Genaire took ownership of the granary in the southeastern part of the continent from Rezan.

In addition, they succeeded in establishing a number of colonies in the western part of the continent and transformed them from a kingdom to an empire.

Genaire’s prestige soared day by day without realizing it was high in the sky. They were bold and arrogant, and did not hesitate to show off their power to the whole continent.

After pacifying almost all of the alliances that had friendly relations with Rezan, Genaire finally succeeded in obtaining a letter from Emperor Rezan requesting a ceasefire.

And they found a way to humiliate and bring the Millennium Empire of supreme status to its knees.

It was a marriage.

They have said that they want to marry one of the royal family of Genaire to the Crown Prince of Rezan.

But if that was all, today’s meeting would not have been overheated.

“She is the daughter of the second princess who committed an affair. She didn’t even receive the surname of the Genaire royal family!”

It was true. The imperial family sent by Genaire was an illegitimate child of the imperial family. A girl born from an affair of the second Princess and an unknown wandering sorcerer.

Their request to accept the woman as the Crown Prince’s wife meant that she would soon become the Empress of Rezan.

From a distance, it was also a ruse to mix the blood of the Rezan imperial family with the blood of an unknown bastard.

It was an insulting request. There was no way the proud Rezan imperial family and the nobility could simply accept it.

“We can no longer sacrifice the state treasury and innocent youth in war.”

“Then do you think Genaire will be satisfied if we bend over now? I bet they won’t. What they ultimately want is this Rezan itself!”

The meeting was turning more and more heated.

Since it was in front of the emperor, no one dared to leave the place, but everyone raised their voices with blushed faces.

The emperor, too, could not easily make a decision and only sighed.

There was a man who watched all the sights.

He was seated directly opposite the emperor’s golden chair.

He showed off his deep masculinity with his tight-fitting shirt and vest, his well-knit muscles bulging out.

The movement of picking up the teacup in front of him was surprisingly stiff and flexible at the same time. There was not even a trace of agitation on the elegant face.

The Crown Prince was the first to notice that the person with the second largest voice after the imperial family kept his mouth shut.

“Lord Eleanor.”

As he drank tea and quietly contemplated the situation, he looked up. The man’s eyes were saturated green.

“What do you think about this matter?”

“Yes. Your Grace Grand Duke, please say something!”

Count Irope, who was speaking enthusiastically, took a deep breath and looked at the seat next to him.

“… well.”

A gentle smile appeared on the man’s face.

“I really thought it was a bit of an exhausting debate.”

The emperor widened his eyes. The bewildered gazes gathered at the man one by one.

A voice without a high tone continued.

“What they demanded is that the illegitimate child be allowed to accompany the most noble and bright sun in Rezan. There is nowhere to say that the companion is to be His Majesty the Crown Prince.”

It was true. However, there was only one member of the royal family who had reached the age of marriage and deserved the adjective ‘the bright sun’.

The one that Genaire’s letter pointed to is undoubtedly the Crown Prince.

However,

Is it just the Crown Prince?

In an instant, the same thought flashed through the minds of everyone sitting around the round table.

The Crown Prince was not the only heir to the throne in this position.

The owner of the northern and vast western wilderness of Rezan.

King of the Principality of Eleanor.

Rezan’s war hero.

The imperial family who is second in line of succession to the throne.

The man with all those modifiers was here now. Silent realization swept over the round table. There is one reason why the diplomatic letter contains phrases with unclear intentions. It was intentionally left open.

Eleanor was the only place that Genaire did not invade among Rezan’s friendly countries. It was also Eleanor’s credit that Rezan was able to keep the capital from being taken over at the end. If anyone were to pick a country that was more threatening to Genaire, everyone would pick Eleanor.

So, if the Grand Duke is to mate that illegitimate child, they would be willing to accept it.

“I will welcome the royal family of Genaire as the Grand Duchess of Eleanor.”

A slow but powerful voice descended on the still table.

“… The illegitimate child must have been educated to give preference to the Crown Prince.”

The emperor raised the objection in a trembling voice. As if that wasn’t a problem, the Grand Duke’s answer fell immediately.

“All you have to do is make her choose me as her husband.”

“….”

“By any means.”

The Grand Duke’s voice was neither high nor loud, but had the power to overwhelm his audience.

The emperor’s face turned red. If Eleanor came out like this, he had no reason to refuse even as the emperor.

However, the Crown Prince did not readily accept the Grand Duke as the alternative.

“Lord. What method are you going to use?”

“It will not be difficult! He is the head of Eleanor!”

Marquis Lorches intervened in an excited voice.

“A splendid and cozy mansion like a palace, a hundred or so employees, a feast served every day, enormous wealth. Eleanor must be full of things she has never had in her life. If we try to coax her well….”

“If so… .”

The Marquis’ voice, which had continued with excitement, gradually subsided. It was because he realized the meaning of the words he had just uttered.

Material abundance is overflowing even in the Rezan Imperial Palace. It doesn’t really matter to the illegitimate which country is richer, Rezan or Eleanor.

“Then…Then how….”

Not only Marquis Lorches, but also the nobles who sat around the round table looked at the Grand Duke.

“As the Marquis said, there is nothing difficult.”

When the tip of his long index finger constantly tapped the table and stopped, the man smiled like a painting.

“You just have to tell her that I will treat her as a human being.”

Even though he was sitting idle in front of the emperor, no one pointed him out.

Everyone held their breath and listened to the Grand Duke’s voice.

“The illegitimate child of the nobility and the imperial family is nothing more than a waste. An existence that ruins the country and clutters the house, which must be trampled down before it sprouts. She would never have been a human in Genaire.”

Only the Crown Prince could see the light in his eyes as he pronounced the word illegitimate child.

The visible hostility flashed in the green eyes, and then disappeared without a trace.

“So a couple of words are enough. Eleanor will be different from Rezan and Genaire.”

“Me, and this country that I own, will see her as a person.”

“….”

“I will love her as a person.”

The smile that had appeared on the Grand Duke’s face suddenly disappeared. He spoke coldly.

“Then it will pass. Definitely.”

Half of them groaned at the harshness of those words, and half expressed doubt mixed with fear. Count Irope carefully began to talk.

“Well, but… Is that all right, Lord? There is also the prestige of the principality. What happened 10 years ago….”

There was no nobleman who was unaware of the great catastrophe that occurred in the principality 10 years ago. The incident in which the predecessor Grand Ducal couple were brutally slaughtered by Eleanor’s illegitimate child.

At one time, they could not turn away from the illegitimate child and accepted him as a member of the family, and many years later, they were brutally betrayed. It was then the present-day Grand Duke Eleanor, who was only a boy at the time, cut off the head of the revolting illegitimate child.

The Grand Duke nodded his head indifferently.

“It’s not something I personally like, but I don’t mix personal feelings with public matters.”

“Oh, then….”

“Of course, that goes with saying that Eleanor doesn’t do anything at a loss.”

At the coldly thrown words, the string of tension was pulled tight again.

It was then that the nobles realized that what the young Grand Duke wanted was a kind of deal.

He is not driven solely by patriotism toward Rezanne. He was just more generous and courteous than Genaire, but he was also an opponent at the negotiating table.

“In exchange for the prestige of the Principality, the Northeast Plains of Gelnoah would be good.”

Hesitation crossed the emperor’s face when he heard the condition.

Now that the large granary in the south had been taken over by Genaire, there were few fertile plains left in Rezan. Gelnoah was one of them.

After all, Eleanor is the last shield that Rezan has. Besides, they said they would take care of even the illegitimate child of Genaire, but the plains are not that big of a deal. After hesitating for a few seconds, the emperor raised his head as if he had made a decision.

“Good. I’ll give you Gelnoah.”

Soon, the attendant who received the order returned with the transfer document and the emperor’s seal. It took less than five minutes for Gelnoah’s possession to change.

A drowsy feeling of satisfaction spread throughout the Grand Duke’s face.

“I am glad that today’s meeting was not wasted.”

“… You must definitely turn the heart of the illegitimate child. Do you understand?”

The Grand Duke responded with silence.

He was the one who faced Genaire at the forefront, but he did not allow a single span of the Principality’s territory. Rayen Eleanor can do it.

Moreover, the opponent is a small, weak woman. The emperor breathed a long sigh of relief.

The meeting that day was a success.

* * *

The empty conference hall where the emperor and nobles had left. There were two people who remained. The Crown Prince opened his mouth, looking at the Grand Duke sitting opposite him.

“Are you serious about what you said earlier? Older Brother.”