In This Life, I Will Raise You Well, Your Majesty!

Chapter 69

The Moon on Water (2)

Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook

[T/N: Excuse my incompetence, in Chapter 68 it is stated that Chieftain Laoman will not miss the conference. As per Feb 19th, I’ve changed it into that he will not attend the conference]

The place where the emperor spent the longest time in recent years was the office.

He sat down at his desk and read the thickly stacked papers one by one.

And among the documents that had been read, those that passed were on the left, and those that did not were sorted on the right. He straightened his back only after he had completely finished sorting them out.

“Zile.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Zile stood silently.

“Did Prince Raymond admit it?”

“He insisted that it was absolutely not him.”

“If the word no comes out of his mouth one more time, tell him that the next person I will talk to will not be him, but Duke Cherkah.”

Prince Raymond was very afraid of his father.

And he was very dissatisfied with him because he thought his father discriminated against him and his sister Isabelle.

“If that happens, I might side with my wife Isabelle rather than Prince Raymond. Even if I don’t, Duke Cherkah will probably punish him severely, seeing he is still the grand prince of the duchy and the elder brother of an empress.”

“Prince Raymond will understand enough, Your Majesty.”

“I didn’t know it would be possible to move the Eastern nobles so easily. The usefulness of what the 2nd Empress had told me exceeded my expectations. Zile, do you still not know how the 2nd Empress knows about the Shadow Knights of Duke Cherkah?”

“My apologies.”

He had already been asked the same question before, so he apologized for giving a fruitless answer once more.

Did she really have a force behind to help her?

No matter how much Zile searched, the dark current was nowhere to be seen, and the more he looked around the 2nd Empress, the more he was amazed.

Especially the fact that everything she had now was built from the ground up.

“That’s too bad.”

The emperor lightly tapped the table with his fingertips.

It made a steady knocking sound before suddenly stopping.

“She’s useful. I don’t think I’ve used even half of her yet, but now she’s already missing. Is that why I’m feeling sad?”

Knowing that the muttering was talking to himself, Zile was silent instead of answering.

“What about the desert tribe?”

“The traces have continued to the place where the tribes belonging to the pro-Kran Kingdom factions are gathered. However, it cannot be concluded that they were the ones who did it, so it is necessary to check the other side as well.”

Kaiden’s blue eyes stared at him indifferently.

Zile was confused about what he did wrong, but he did not mean to ask. Zile hurriedly corrected it.

“Recently, there is a rumor about a nobleman who has moved towards the desert. I’m not sure yet, so I’ll have to find out more, but I think he’s one of the Western nobles.”

“Which one of the Western nobles wants to harm the 2nd Empress at such a great price and risk?”

“That’s…”

Zile paused for a moment.

“Say it.”

“There are too many. Starting with Duke Verdin and his first son, then Count Guillaume, who is faithful to the duke’s family, who must be heartbroken over the fact that the duke’s prestige had been greatly diminished by the 2nd Empress. It is said that he hasn’t come out of his castle yet. Then there’s Marquis Rwanda who hated the 2nd Empress from the beginning…”

As a few more names appeared after that, the emperor rested his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on his palms.

“She made a lot of enemies in that short time. That is also an unexpected ability.”

One of them moved the desert tribe. As long as Kaiden found out who it was, the Western nobles would be unable to spread their flags in front of him more than now, as they could be suppressed with the word ‘treason’.

Kaidle would tear them apart piece by piece.

One piece already tasted very good in his mouth.

“No matter how unattractive the Syuphl Barony is, it is mine now. It is very meaningful to make the land of the Western nobles under the direct control of the emperor.”

So even though Kaiden found out that the 2nd Empress had been kidnapped, he didn’t immediately organize a party to pursue her. There was no evidence that the Shadow Knights were related to Duke Cherkah, and the fact that they existed was already one piece of important information, so it was better to make a deal with the parties in the dark rather than reveal it to the outside.

The siblings of the duchy seemed to have worked without their father’s knowledge, so they would have to pay more.

By comparison, the desert tribes were too clear in existence. As immigrants who were not aristocrats of the same empire, they were targets that were easy for anyone to attack.

If all the nobles became the targets of surveillance under the bridle of treason without the enemy being identified as it was, everyone would be nervous and would try to save themselves, however… If he revealed that the culprit was the desert tribes, everyone would unite and complain about the enemy and try to reverse the atmosphere so far.

The emperor’s justification for suppressing them was bound to fade.

Even those who were truly guilty would mix in the confusion and try to hide their mistake.

That was not what the emperor wanted.

Even if there were many problems, the price of giving up one of the two empresses was a full advantage for him. Moreover, if this changes the game of the empire, wouldn’t it be possible to see what was not seen now?

“Thanks to the 2nd Empress, prayers for Barossa are pouring out throughout the empire. There are many people begging me to search for her, so that even if her body is all that is left, it can be laid in the empress’ coffin. I’ve never received this many gifts before and probably will never again.”

“…Will she be able to return?”

Such a possibility must be taken into account, in order to gauge what His Majesty’s intentions were.

“Didn’t Rohan say she was almost out of power? Mana is not consumed, but keeps circulating. But I don’t think her enemies would have waited for her to replenish mana.”

However.

“Well, I don’t know what she’s been through, but she could still be alive. If they took her to the desert without killing her, they must be planning to make an oasis.”

The Western nobles might not think so, but to Kaiden, the entire empire was his land. The desert, which bordered the western part of the empire, was something he should know about.

So, if what Kaiden had seen before was correct, it would never be easy to get out of there.

It was a desert, and for desert tribes, the desert was not just a familiar land.

Zile woke up Kaiden, who had been silent for a while.

“Your Majesty, someone is coming.”

“Who is it? Ah, since they come without a guide, it is obvious who it is.”

“Shall I stay by your side?

“No need.”

As soon as Kaiden finished speaking, Zile disappeared. A knock was heard on the office door.

“May I come in, Your Majesty?

“Marquis Blemir, in the past, you never came to the Emperor Palace unless I looked for you. Now you visit too often.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Come in.”

The door opened and Marquis Blemir with his red hair stepped inside.

As he approached the desk and bowed, Kaiden beckoned for him to straighten his back.

Blemir, who raised his body, looked at the emperor.

“What? Are you going to ask me the whereabouts of the 2nd Empress again? You want me to make a big deal out of it?”

It had already been a few visits, so Kaiden indifferently recited what he was trying to say instead.

Blemir’s fingertips trembled. Obviously, the emperor, and Rohan, seemed to know the whereabouts of the 2nd Empress, but they did not share the information.

“Since they disappeared from the West and there was no trace inside the border, isn’t it highly likely that they crossed the Miyon Desert or went to the Santiano Empire? If you leave it to me, I will move with my knights without any other help.”

“Thank you for being so devoted to the 2nd Empress. Does the Crown Prince harass you so much? As far as I know, the relationship between you and the 2nd Empress was not very good.”

“…”

Since the woman of Barossa had disappeared, it should be said that it is the duty of the subjects to give up their private feelings and step up, but no such words have been said.

Blemir’s chin tightened. The emperor, who was staring at him silently, said.

“Leave. Expect my reply soon.”

Blemir raised his face at a different answer than he had returned a few times before.

“Please, as soon as possible, Your Majesty.”

Blemir bowed his head and left the office. Last time he ran into Rohan in front of the Emperor Palace, the atmosphere between the two was no joke. Blemir unilaterally despised Rohan and spat out rude words, but Rohan merely listened to them silently.

The deputy commander of the 1st Knights had stopped him from dueling on the spot, and Blemir didn’t seem to know that Rohan sought answers from the emperor as often as he did.

“By the way, did you say that Viscount Cain and Rozenin of Gotham County are also looking for the whereabouts of the 2nd Empress?”

Kaiden got up from his chair.

Each and every one of his movements was smooth, and the light pouring from the window seemed to flow down from his head and drenched his entire body.

“It seems that my empress not only has many enemies, but also many friends.”

‘The more I know, the more interesting she is.’

‘Perhaps it’s fine to send someone when things are already running as I want them to.’

‘We can’t help it if she’s dead, but if she’s alive, I hope there will be a lot of flaws.’ Kaiden reached out to a box containing cigarettes, which he rarely burnt.

***

“Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Your Ma—”

At the sound of him shoveling his nose through the bars and calling, Elisha approached and slapped him on the forehead.

Astonished Shamir blinked his golden eyes, then gently bent them.

Yesterday, Elisha thought he might not come anymore because of the bad atmosphere, but Shamir was Shamir.

He was a weird guy.

The next day, he came casually and brought her food. This time he even brought his own meal and they ate together with the grate in between.

Even after a few days had passed, there was no end to Shamir’s chatter.

He asked Elisha something from time to time, and Elisha usually gave him simple answers.

Before long, the conference of the desert tribes was about to begin.

Shamir also had a lot to do, so the time he visited was drastically reduced.

“There was talk about changing the hair color and hacking the face.”

“No, if there are no votes for the 2nd Empress, other tribal chiefs may decide to do something else. If we say she’s the incarnation of Sionil and treat her carelessly, we may face opposition from the tribesmen, so we can’t use such a method.”

Instead of Shamir, the men who brought Elisha food talked.

They seemed to want Elisha to be frightened, but Elisha would not let herself suffer by imagining it.

Elisha was now thinking about what should be done, instead of what was happening.

In that case, how to get out?

A few more days passed and they said that tomorrow was the day of the convention. Shamir never came until late at night today.

One should not care about anything that had never happened before.

Rather, it was more important to think about what to do tomorrow. Elisha would be leaving this prison tomorrow.

Blood-drenched pants and cloak.

They couldn’t present the incarnation of Sionil in this outfit, so they were going to adorn her.

‘How many accessories will they give me? They’re saying I’m the incarnation of a god.’

‘Or should I take the clothes of the women who will serve me later? I think it’s better to disguise or take hostages in the midst of a lot of people…’

“Your Majesty!”

Shamir’s voice was heard.

He seemed to be very angry about something, and as Elisha approached, puzzled, there were two hideous golden eyes flashing out of the window.

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty, let’s get out of here.”

Elisha blinked at the sudden words, and Shamir bit his molars tightly and bent his eyes.

“All the water bowls are broken. I will just be a trash on the ground now. I’ve worked hard until I’m worn out, so even if I’m abandoned, I will try to live as I am now.”

Elisha stared at him.

Maybe the empress was suspicious of him, Shamir thought. Perhaps she did not believe in men’s hearts and hated them.

“If you don’t go out now, you will regret it to death tomorrow, Your Majesty. Let’s not do that.”

Then, instead of the key, he lifted the crescent-shaped sword and lowered it diagonally.

Chae-gang!

With a clear sound, some of the bars in the prison were cut.

Shamir said to Elisha, who was a little surprised that he had such an operational ability.

“I’ve replaced some of these with poor quality iron because I needed them for something back then. It’s perfect, right?”

Elisha escaped through the created space and looked at Shamir.

“Your Majesty, you didn’t even answer me. I’m getting sulky now, but let’s do that later. If we’re caught here, your Majesty will be sacrificed and I’ll be cut off and become a real trash.”

Shamir revealed his white teeth and led Elisha to hide under the shadow of the rock wall.

An unexpected escape began.