I Became the Master of the Empress

12 – Chapter 12

I let out a sigh as I look down at the stack of thick documents.

“Phew… I’m exhausted.”

“That’s for sure.”

I can’t leave the vacancies of the high-ranking officials of the empire who were killed or imprisoned by Valoran empty, so I’m gradually filling them one by one.

He… He has the ability, but… didn’t he die by Valoran’s hands? Unfortunately, he’s a pass.

Right now, I need to choose trustworthy people over abilities. I should employ them once the country stabilizes.

“Haah… Agripa. There’s one thing that I regret…”

“What is it?”

“It would be nice to have someone like you or Mary by my side…”

I mean it sincerely. I feel like I’ll drop dead from exhaustion right now.

But I can’t just entrust it to anyone. Most of the talents within Roman hesitate to follow the true emperor and might conspire against me.

It’s definitely work that I’ve been handling since morning, but…

My head throbs with the endless stream of resumes and recommendation letters.

“Will I ever have more people I can trust?”

I swallow the words I want to say as I see Agripa smiling slightly.

I feel like my head is about to explode and I might die right now… Will it not be after I’m already dead by the time I come out later?

When I have such pointless thoughts.

[“Wha… Empress Hwang Tae-nyeo?!”]

[Is the Duke inside?!]

[Uh… Yes, he is… P-please wait a moment.]

There is a commotion outside the door.

I feel puzzled by Theodora’s voice, which is filled with anger unlike her usual self.

-Knock, knock!

[Your Grace, Princess Hwangtae has arrived.]

In that moment, my eyes meet Agripa’s.

What could it be? Why is she coming in with such fury?

“Tell her to come in.”

-Creak!

The door opens, and Theodora enters, clearly upset…

-Thud! Thud!

As she enters with the sound of her heels hitting the floor…

I try to greet her warmly, but her cold face and blazing red eyes filled with anger make me awkwardly open my mouth.

“What seems to be the matter, Princess Hwangtae?”

When I sense something unusual in her demeanor.

Before I know it, she has come right in front of me…

-Thump!

She slams her hand on my desk.

“What… What is this?”

Her bewildering actions leave me stunned.

“Insolent child… daring to threaten the Supreme Court?”

Upon hearing those words, I could immediately understand why she had come here.

I signaled Agrifa to step forward with a nod of my chin…

As Agrifa stepped forward, exhaling a small sigh, I shifted my gaze from her to Theodora.

Certainly… she was beautiful.

Indeed, a worthy main heroine of this place.

However.

That doesn’t mean my thoughts and plans have changed.

“I have never threatened anyone.”

I say with a smile to the angered woman, disguising my voice in a friendly tone.

“Simply… I made private requests to those who have been closely associated with our family for a long time.”

Easily said, to avoid being caught, I bribed them.

A considerable… sum of money.

Theodora clenched her teeth as if irritated by something. Then she glared at me.

“When King Ioannes arrives here. I intended to command him to spare your life.”

Theodora still hasn’t grasped the situation.

If I were to be captured by King Ioannes, would he really heed her words?

Being captured means Rome has already fallen.

Right now, I am playing a game to seize Ioannes and the Empire.

The loser will lose everything and die. But will someone like that really follow Theodora’s words?

A powerless and empty-headed Hwangtae maiden?

If I lose, everyone, including me and the anti-Hwangje faction, will die.

Whether she asks or not, I must win.

For myself, and for everyone.

I shrug my shoulders at Theodora, who eyes me.

“There won’t be such a thing. I’ll win.”

“Hmph, is that even possible?”

Theodora forcefully taps her fingers on the window.

“There are 150,000 troops coming this way. Do you want to live isolated within the triple fortress walls as the king of the inner world?”

I look at her with an expressionless face.

“And your territory will burn too, won’t it? Your family… the families of those who follow you…”

Theodora laughs scornfully.

“If that happens, will the people following you protect you? The one who indifferently made their hometown go up in flames?”

Her words are quite sharp, but…

“Don’t worry? I’ve already thought of all the ways.”

Negotiations with the Hwangje faction will go smoothly.

As if dissatisfied with my relaxed words, Theodora turns her head roughly, intending to leave the room.

She puts her hand on the door handle, turns her head, and looks at me.

“Watch. I’ll be the one to witness your head falling from the guillotine.”

-Snap!

-Boom!

***

That afternoon, after Hwang Taenyeo’s anger had subsided.

“[Your Highness, Congressman Alexander is here to visit.]”

“Tell him to come in.”

-Creak.

The door opened, and Congressman Alexander stepped inside.

“How have you been all this time?”

I replied with a bright smile, “hahahaha, I saw you yesterday, of course I’ve been well. Please, have a seat.”

As I said that, I gestured towards the chair in front of my desk, and Alexander gracefully took a seat.

“Yesterday, I conveyed Your Highness’s intentions to His Majesty Johannes.”

Upon hearing that, I couldn’t help but smile inwardly.

“Is that so? And his response?”

In response to my question, Alexander smiled and shook his head.

“Unfortunately, His Majesty expressed that it would be difficult to negotiate with the rebels on behalf of Your Highness.”

An unexpected response.

So, is it all flowing towards the worst possible outcome?

As Alexander spoke, my mind became filled with complexity.

Should I then… give up on the Grand Duchy?

Our strength emanates from the Grand Empire.

No matter how formidable the triple-layered Roman walls and the authority of the emperor may be, it does not guarantee the flow of economic power and resources.

An emperor without any real power is nothing more than a facade of authority.

Fortunately, Roman has a massive river, through which supplies can be received from the Grand Empire.

Even if that river were to be blocked, Roman could sustain itself for over a year with the stored provisions and water. However, the supply of war materials is essential.

What should be done…

Should we leave only minimal forces in Roman and somehow defend against the Grand Empire?

This is an unrealistic approach.

While pondering over such concerns, Alexander cautiously opens his mouth.

“But even so, it’s not desirable for the imperial citizens to shed blood.”

I pause for a moment at his words.

“So, I suggested filing a complaint to His Majesty the King and proposing a negotiation,” he continues.

Oh, is he trying to gain an advantage in negotiations?

It sounds as if he intends to demand something immense.

Actually, we were also planning to offer something significant to them. That way, internal conflicts would arise among them.

But giving in easily is not an option. In that case, they would suspect us, and I also have things to receive from them.

“hahahaha… Mr. Alexander, you truly seem to care about the imperial citizens.”

He smiles wryly at my words.

“hahahaha, you’re exaggerating.”

For a moment, we exchanged smiles, and then I spoke.

“Well then, please let us know a satisfactory proposal from your side. Then we will…”

“No. Your Highness… I believe you are mistaken.”

I felt puzzled by the abrupt interruption from Minister Alexander.

“What do you mean?”

“We, as the victors, are making demands of Your Highness.”

I flinched.

Oh… really… is this going all the way? Fine, so be it.

It seems Minister Alexander wants to engage in a power struggle with me.

Well then, let him. The beginning of negotiation is about establishing dominance, so Alexander’s actions are not wrong.

“The war hasn’t even started yet. I don’t understand what you mean by victors and losers.”

“The tide has already turned. When Your Majesty arrives in Rome, your fate may not be so bright.”

Tch.

“Then let’s see about that.”

Saying so, he rang the small bell in front of me.

Clang, clatter.

Click.

“Did you call for me, Your Highness?”

I spoke to the guard who opened the study door.

Minister Alexander is leaving.

And he stared at Congressman Alexander with cold eyes.

Now… what should we do? Should we wrap everything up and leave? Or should we continue the negotiation?

If negotiations are to begin with your king, you should at least convey the conditions, right? If negotiations fall apart without even hearing the conditions, your abilities will be called into question.

So, are you anxious? Be anxious, and come at me.

He hides his impatience inwardly and tries his best to maintain a poker face.

At that moment, our eyes meet.

Eyes that are hard to read what he’s thinking.

A faint smile and a gaze that emanates from experience.

For a brief moment, we compete to read each other’s thoughts.

And then…

As if confirming my desperate wish or my thoughts, Alexander smiles and says.

“Your Highness, you are quite impatient.”

-Snicker.

“Isn’t my family the Lions?”

I won.

Inside, Alexander may be boiling. The opponent he thought was just a young rookie is not as easy to deal with as he expected.

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“Phew… I lost. I apologize for my rudeness earlier.”

I snicker and reply to his words.

“It seems that Congressman will stay a little longer. I’m sorry, but please attend to your business again.”

As I say that, the guards salute and leave the room.

“Alright, shall we begin the negotiation?”

I smile inwardly as I see Alexander nod his head, sighing.

***

“So, did the negotiation go well?”

I sigh and collapse onto the desk at Agrippa’s words.

“So-so. It hasn’t been long since the negotiation started, so I’m not sure yet…”

It’s not as smooth sailing as I expected.

Should I say that they’re demanding more than anticipated? That thought makes me sigh without even realizing it.

“We’re within the range we anticipated, but… sigh…”

Exhausted, I let out a sigh.

“But you don’t look happy.”

I try to alleviate my fatigue by enjoying the subtle scent of the wooden desk.

“But the progress is too slow… We’re both playing mind games, hiding our true intentions during the negotiation, so they can’t easily bring up what they really want…”

Agrippa laughs heartily in response to my words.

“hahahaha! Your Grace, then how about we bring up our essential conditions first?”

I ponder his words for a moment.

“No, the old man isn’t as easygoing as I thought. It’s not good to keep making excuses and delays. I should have known better.”

The saying that old ginger is spicy suits him so well.

“Well… what’s your plan then?”

“Well, we did make some progress, to some extent.”

Agrippa seems to find my words amusing.

“Oh… How did it go?”

“As expected, we decided to grant war authorization to Epirus, Epirus, and the Kingdom of Nikea, negotiate peace… and pass a bill in the assembly to limit the Emperor’s authority, expand mine, and arrange my marriage to Theodora.”

Agrippa responds with a slightly surprised expression to my words.

“So, the negotiations went well, didn’t they?”

At my words, a sense of relief seems to wash over him again.

“However… they also proposed that I marry Princess Joy to Johannes, the son of King Johannes.”

Agrippa’s face stiffens at my words.

“Isn’t that… a bit risky?”

If they marry and have a child, it would give them a pretext to rebel at any time.

There’s a law that only the Augustus family can become Emperor, but since I received a ruling that succession is possible for a united family…

“It’s risky… but what can I do? It was my ploy that was exposed…”

But there’s no proper reason to refuse.

In the future, as we build trust, if they argue for fairness on their side when I marry the Imperial Princess, I can’t really say anything about fairness.

Fairness…

When I think about Johannes demanding fairness from a traitor like me.

Even if I’m called the Emperor… I realize that everyone is just thinking about their own interests.

-Tsk.

A laugh escapes me.

“So, will you accept it then?”

With those words, I touch my chin and contemplate.

“How old is Princess Joy this year?”

“To the best of my knowledge, she is eighteen.”

“So she’s not an adult yet?”

Agrifah nods in response to my question.

“Then how about this method?”

I share the thought that crosses my mind with Agrifah…

After a moment, Agrifah, having heard all my thoughts, smiles wryly and says,

“Indeed, as long as we wrap it up within two years, it seems there won’t be a problem.”

Upon hearing this, I vigorously nod my head.

“But… after two years, I’ll have no choice but to give up the princess without any resistance.”

“It’s okay; it won’t take two years.”

Because… I will make sure of that.