***
Suddenly, the irritated feeling welled up inside him, and he undone the button of his neat uniform. The collar of his shirt was also loosened, and the cuff hung on his sleeve was removed as if he tore them apart.
The ministers, who were looking at the Emperor who gradually lost grip of himself, were intimidated as they observed his expression.
Feeling of uncomfort was visible on the Emperor’s face.
The ministers quickly averted his gaze due to his slightly exposed neck and collarbone.
“Huh….”
It was difficult to continue the meeting due to his bizarre temper.
Instead of immediately worrying about negotiations with Direxion, he was thinking about his night self who broke the barrier until the morning came.
He didn’t like all of them.
Especially the disrespectful gaze of the ministers. His unchanging gaze, acting as an emperor for 10 years, was very angry. Their gaze remained unchanged during ten years of his reign which pissed him very much.
“Let’s stop the meeting today….”
“Your Majesty.”
Carmun’s voice coincided with one particular minister.
Carmun wanted to end the meeting right away, but he suppressed his annoyance and let him talk because he thought it was rude to ignore his words, and there would be rumors about him being rude, frank, terrible, and so on.
“Speak.”
It was his consideration toward them.
He never saw this person before. There was one empty seat, but it seemed to have been filled just recently.
“Are you dissatisfied with your current concubines?”
Carmun was taken aback at the sudden question.
Weren’t they talking about the Direxion Empire until a moment ago?
When Carmun raised his eyebrow questioningly, his subordinate continued his speech cluelessly.
“Your Majesty must work hard to get the heir who will inherit the country in the future. Since the seat of the heir is empty, the country is in a whirl and the public sentiment is in chaos….”
“Stop.”
He actually wanted to say something, but it was hidden under the excuse of the heir.
Even after the Emperor gave him an order to stop talking, he opened his mouth cautiously again.
“Marquess Hesty’s daughter had come of age recently. If it’s Marquess Hesty who made a huge contribution to the war, he deserves it, doesn’t he? His daughter had a remarkably pretty face, so His Majesty will surely like her.”
It wasn’t even his daughter who abruptly came out from his subordinate’s mouth, but the daughter of Marquis Hesty.
Carmun narrowed his eyes while looking at Marquis Hesty.
Then, Duke Hesty audaciously gave a calm smile, as if he had seen it coming.
“Thank you very much for noticing my daughter. According to the rumor, I heard that the third daughter of Baron is also pretty like a spring flower.”
Spring flowers? Weren’t all the flowers frozen to death?
Looking at the Baron’s face, he seemed to think that their daughters were all pretty.
Starting with a praise toward Marquess Hesty, soon after they started praising both of their daughters as if the candlesticks had been caught on fire.
Carmun, who had been acting sarcastic like it was his habit, only recognized his ministers’ intention after that. The Baron, who thought he was oblivious, in fact wasn’t oblivious.
He just pretended to be tactless to speak out what he intended to say.
“Haha…..”
Carmun’s ridiculous laugh spread quietly through the room.
Then all of the ministers immediately shut their mouths. It was time to lash out again.
It was good to get scolded once. If it meant their daughters could enter the palace as the Emperor’s concubine.
“It sounds like you’re offering your daughters to become my concubines… Am I wrong?”
“…T-that’s true.”
“You have a lot of concubines, but it seems like they are not in your favor….”
“This is the expostulation that I was concerned about.”
At the words of the ministers, the corner of Carmun’s mouth curved upward slightly.
“Expostulation?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is it an expostulation for me so that I will receive your daughters as my concubine?”
“Correct.”
Expostulation? B**ls*it.
When he ascended the Imperial Throne by dethroning the previous Emperor, either they hid their daughters as much as they could or sent them to marriage quickly, while hoping for the replacement of the Emperor.
Then, when the throne was settled, they offered their daughters to be his concubines?
It sounded no different than the sound of a grazing dog.
Obviously, it was their intention to let their daughters enter the Imperial Castle and have a chance to give birth to the heir who would succeed the country.
Their hidden intention was so obvious that it was hard to pretend not to see anything.
Viester spoke in a low voice while looking back and forth at the Emperor and the ministers who kept confronting each other.
“Your Majesty….”
He was telling the man to restrain himself.
How could this guy tell him to restrain himself even after hearing this?
Carmun slightly wrinkled his eyebrows and met the gaze of Viester.
‘Please hold yourself back.’
Viester looked at the Emperor pleadingly, but Carmun snorted and pretended to not hear it.
“It’s not even possible, even if you bring the beauty of the century, she would still resemble you. Even now, the rumor that I’m impotent is still circulating around, so aren’t you going to strengthen that rumor?”
The ministers looked at each other’s faces.
The minister who understood what the Emperor meant, raised his flushed face.
The daughters would have resembled their fathers’ faces. He wouldn’t want to have liaison with their daughters, who shared the resemblances with them.
The Emperor spoke in a calm manner, but the Emperor sounded strange because his characteristic way of talking still remained sarcastic as it was.
“But the heir….”
Among them was the Baron, who brought up the topic about the heir, muttering quietly.
He was such a persistent man.
He seemed not to have any other hidden agenda while saying so, but his words were concerning from another perspective.
In fact, for Emperor Carmoon, the topic about heirs was taboo to be discussed openly like this.
He had been urged by them several times until now, but he pretended not to hear them all, so the person who brought up the topic about ‘the heir’ had to be punished at some point in order to warn them.
Whether they were assigned with a really difficult job, or given a mission to go to the Empire across the sea as envoys.
All of those ministers who did the same in the past had suffered that kind of petty payback once.
Therefore, all the ministers were taken aback and looked at the subordinate with eyes that almost popped out of their heads.
“Why…. Why … so?”
When the minister also got surprised, a hoarse voice was heard from somewhere.
“Did you just talk about heirs?”
“Yes….”
The minister hurriedly nodded his head.
This minister, who seemed a little overwhelmed, was a newcomer among the nobles who had only attended the regular meeting today.
So it was because he hadn’t heard the rumor yet.
The rumor regarding the Emperor who was extremely sensitive about his family and didn’t like anyone to meddle in it.
“It’s very surprising to hear you talking about heirs. Are you married?”
The minister raised his eyebrows slightly at the Emperor’s question.
Were there any nobles who hadn’t gotten married at this age?
“Yes. I’m married. I have two children who look just like bunnies.”
He knew that the ministers’ expressions surrounding him were shaking like a leaf, but this ignorant minister couldn’t even figure out why they all were shaking and only looked at the Emperor in wonder.
Just like bunnies.
The Emperor whispered quietly.
“Are you blaming me because I don’t have children right now?”
“That… That’s not….”
“So if I don’t have an heir, you mean I’m a useless emperor?”
“…I didn’t mean that….”
“Then why do you keep talking about heirs? How old do you think I am? The Empress is not that old either. I didn’t even think that concubines were my wives from the beginning, but you want to force me to sleep with them for the sake of heirs?”
“…………..”
Only then did the tactless minister realize something was wrong.
With the Emperor, whose eyes were filled with rage even though he still remained calm, the ministers who sat around him urged him to shut his mouth.
The minister, who sat right beside him, shook his head in disapproval and pulled his sleeve slightly as if telling him to shut up already.
What? Isn’t it the Emperor’s duty to have an heir who would succeed the throne?
The Previous Emperor alone had so many children, he had more than thirty children.
How much the people in the Empire praised that kind of emperor.
The ministers looked at the Baron, whose eyes were wide open, with helpless gazes.
Of all things, one of the matters on the agenda that had been prepared for today was discussing the negotiations with Cordelia, the faraway empire.
“That’s good. How can I do that to my country? You can make a choice without worrying about me.”
At the Emperor’s words, the baron had a look of confusion on his face.
“What….?”
The man’s question made the laughter flow among the ministers.
That matter was put off due to the lack of people who wanted to go forward to say that, but it turned out well.
The ministers hurriedly applauded and praised the baron’s allegiance.
“You’re really incredible. How great you are that you even want to serve your country.”
“Your Majesty will be really proud of you.”
It was when the baron secretly showed a pleasant smile on his face among the ministers who praised him.
“I think you are qualified as an envoy to Cordelia.”
“E-Envoy?”
Cordelia is also the farthest country from Idelberg, so it required about a month to cross the mountain and the sea in order to arrive there.
And he even had to go there by himself.
The baron, whose body was usually weak, was said to hate it so much.
Right before he could let out any words of refusal, Carmun quickly beat him to talk.
“I really want you to go. I ask you a favour.”
The baron had no choice but to nod helplessly.
After that, Carmun finally showed a satisfied smile. Viester thought that Carmun had gone way too much, but it was a sin to be tactless among the ministers.
They probably used him as soon as they noticed his tactless nature… so he felt sorry for the baron.
He seemed weak, so he might have to rest at home for a long time after arriving back from Cordelia.
Viester sighed briefly.
However, the Emperor didn’t stop there. He immediately looked at Duke Torre who sat on the right, as he was going to make the ministers never bring up such topics as the heir and concubines again.
“What do you think? Do you want me to receive your daughter as a concubine?”
The corner of Carmun’s mouth was tilted slightly while he talked.
Duke Torre was not pleased with the Emperor’s question toward him. The way he asked that while pretending not knowing that her daughter was the Empress didn’t sit right with him.
The faces of other ministers turned deadly pale when the Emperor frankly asked Duke Torre.
Because Duke Torre’s power was scary.
Among the nobles, Duke Torre’s daughter was the only one who managed to become an empress. There wasn’t anyone who entered without becoming a concubine.
It was because of the influence of Duke Torre. At that time, the Emperor had just recently ascended the throne, and it was when Duke Torre was more terrifying than the Emperor himself.
No less than ten years have passed since then. The Emperor had grown tremendously, and could no longer be controlled by the duke’s power.
And same with the Empress. Ten years have passed, but she still couldn’t give birth to an heir, there were even ugly rumors in the society that the Empress was still a virgin.
“What do you mean by a concubine? Even now, they are still hard to manage because there are a lot of them. Your Majesty, take care of your body, moreover you are still young, so you can think carefully about your heir. There are many problems within the country other than the heirs of Your Majesty, but when I only listen to the discussion of these noblemen, I think they are supposed to be blamed for it.”
Duke Torre spat out his words and threw a sharp glance at the ministers with his unique eyes.
He swept his gaze to every single minister who talked about his daughter’s position as the Empress without missing one person.
Those who knew his daughter obtained the position of Empress were obviously the ones whose daughters just became concubines, and they still had the audacity to talk about heirs and didn’t care at all about the fuss they caused.
The duke had seen with both of his eyes, so he wasn’t going to let it slide.
“Ehem… I see. After hearing the duke’s opinion, it seems likely to be the case. What do you all think?”
“Yes….”
“I think it’s a reasonable opinion.”
“I agree.”
The ministers cowered and only nodded their heads.
Carmun incited the fight between the ministers and then smiled secretly, as if he was satisfied at the sight.
Even if he didn’t step up, Duke Torre would come out sooner or later and catch his ministers one by one.
Ha. How simple.
Carmun stood up from his seat with a much more relieved look.
“This is the end of today’s meeting.”