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Chapter 25 – If You Two Are Going To Fight, Go Out
‘Gloria Blake…!’
Erun’s fierce anger turned towards Gloria. And she felt pleased under his bloody gaze.
Like Gloria, the Grand Chamberlain also felt pleased, because Erun had almost exclusively occupied the Emperor’s side until now and his presence was buried. He snatched the documents from Erun’s hands and offered them politely to Gloria.
She, observing the Grand Chamberlain’s expression of relief, grinned and asked while quickly scanning the report with her eyes.
“Looking at the current tax on the Palodan estate… 186? What about the taxes in the neighboring estates?”
“In the case of Git estate, it’s 120 based on Erant’s silver coins, and 135 in Lancer estate.” Erun tried to answer the Emperor’s question, but Kaien stood up and answered first. The Marquis glared at him as if to kill him, but Duke Ludenberg was indifferent.
Gloria frowned and asked as she turned a few pages of the report.
“In comparison, the tax on the Palodan area is too high for 186 Erant silver. What can Lord Palodan say to explain this situation?”
“Recently, due to a swarm of thieves, it has been temporarily increased to hire mercenaries and purchase weapons.”
“If you raise it, you raise it. What’s that about temporary?”
“Pardon?”
At Erun’s report and Lord Palodan’s shameless justification, Gloria scoffed sarcastically, covering her expression with the papers. The Chamberlain next to her heard her words and widened his eyes in disbelief, but Gloria tapped the report with her hand and asked the nobles.
“My Lord says that it’s because of thieves that he had temporarily raised taxes, but he knows that’s not a proper excuse, right? Why didn’t my Lord make a request in these past months?”
“It was a small matter to make a request, Your Majesty.”
“Because the estate residents who couldn’t stand the taxes became a gang of thieves, Lord Palodan with his sense of responsibility tried to solve the problem on his own.”
At Gloria’s question, the nobles rushed to answer as if competing with each other. Somehow they each wanted to catch her attention.
‘Now you’re rushing to catch the eyes of the weak Emperor!’ Ferocious glares bored into the faces of those who rushed to answer. Gloria jumped up from her seat as if angry at the carefree replies. She shouted at the nobles who looked at her as if they didn’t comprehend the situation.
“They became thieves because of taxes, but do you think it makes sense to raise taxes to subdue them?! How does Lord Palodan manage his own fief?! Marquis Lebossi. You must have called Lord Palodan to the Main Palace, didn’t you?”
“…!”
“Why no answer?”
At Gloria’s question, Erun flinched and opened his eyes wide. She asked fiercely, staring at him, who couldn’t answer. The Emperor’s eyes narrowed, knowing the reason.
‘Originally, you got more support after punishing Lord Palodan and solving the problem.’
Gloria sat down, crossed her legs, and looked at Erun. Feeling his fiancée’s icy glare, Erun’s heart thumped as if it had fallen to the ground.
‘What the hell is this feeling?’
Erun was startled by his heart beating wildly and pressed his chest without realizing it. Then, he moved his gaze to the young woman who was sitting in the highest place.
The sun shining through the huge stained glass behind the throne bestowed a ray of glory about Gloria. As if she had never been a puppet Emperor, Gloria, coldly staring before him, had changed into the figure of a monarch who ruled a country. Perhaps the other nobles felt the same as the meeting hall became quiet in an instant. In the quiet space, Kaien clenched his fists as soon as he observed Erun’s condition.
‘You thought you controlled the Emperor with your own hands, but now you’re making that kind of expression…’ An indescribable discomfort began to rage through Kaien’s heart like a storm. ‘How dare this man turn his eyes toward Gloria after planning to kill her?’ Kaien wanted to draw his sword and slit his throat right away. He wanted to gouge those eyes that looked at Gloria and pluck out that tongue that had tormented her.
Gasp! The bureaucrats who were seated behind Kaien hurriedly backed away at the sight of the Duke subtly pressing his sword. However, he hid his true intentions and spoke to Gloria instead of Erun, who did not respond.
“We have summoned Lord Palodan to the Main Palace. Would you like to punish him yourself, Your Majesty?”
“Alright, I will punish the Lord my–”
“What are you talking about?”
While Gloria nodded to Kaien’s suggestion, Erun spoke with an excessively excited tone. Just as she thought, Erun had summoned Lord Palodan, and she heard the news that he had arrived late last night. There was only one reason why he personally called him.
‘He’s going to give that stupid pig some money and hide his enlisted men there as an excuse to subdue the thieves.’
Lord Palodan was only interested in money and had no interest in whether the people in his fief died or not. He didn’t become a feudal Lord because of his contributions. Considering his financial and military power, he was no different from any other Lords, so over the years, Erun developed a close relationship with Lord Palodan.
‘The Emperor or that bastard mustn’t know the truth behind this.’ Erun thought, calmly accepting the deep blue and purple gazes fixed on him and spoke.
“No matter how big Palodan estate is compared to other lands, he is only a local lord after all. I don’t think Your Majesty needs to reprimand such a person. I will confront him and bring up a report, Your Majesty.”
Gloria showed her teeth at Erun’s honeyed words. As he said, Gloria was busy checking all of the estate affairs reports she had never seen properly on the basis of the coronation ceremony.
‘When will I cut off that beastly tongue that speaks as if it’s because of me?’ Gloria was about to get angry at Erun’s attitude to stop her from acting and block her again, but Kaien, who quickly noticed her anger, said as he tilted his head toward Erun
“Are you Her Majesty?”
“What did you say just now?”
“I asked if you were His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Please keep quiet, Lord Ludenberg!”
At Kaien’s question, Erun shouted with a pale face. When asking if he was the Emperor in front of everyone, Kaien was able to instill suspicion among the neutral nobles because Erun, who tried to remain confident in his heart, worked hard to minimize and subdue Gloria in an instant and sit on the throne.
‘Damn it! Are you trying to lure all the nobles who are neutral to your side?’ Creak~ The sound of grinding teeth came from Erun’s thin lips.
‘Who’s hand will Her Majesty the Emperor take?’ Glancing alternatively between the two men, the eyes of the nobles were fixated on Gloria, who sat on the throne and looked down at the situation. The scandal between Gloria and Kaien, which had been quiet until now, suddenly broke out. Of these two who are at odds from the beginning of the inquiry, who will Gloria…
“If you’re gonna keep it loud, why don’t you fellows go out and fight as you please?”
“… Pardon?”
At Gloria’s words, the nobles and Erun looked at her with astonished eyes.
‘What did the Emperor say just now?’
“Pfft!”
Soon after, as Erun looked at Gloria with a puzzled expression on her face, Kaien covered his mouth with his hand. He burst into laughter at his stupid expression.
It must have been a huge shock to see the fiancée whom he had trusted so much, kick him out. With amethyst eyes filled with joy, Kaien looked at Gloria. She bit her lip at his gaze that seemed to swallow her.
‘This… If Kaien had been my enemy more than Erun, it would have been a real headache.’
The moment Kaien asked Erun, ‘Are you, Emperor?’ Gloria swallowed dry as she noticed the stiff expressions of the neutral faction who were quietly seated in the meeting hall.
‘My heart pounded because of that handsome face, but now it fell for that head.’ At Kaien smiling like a flower in full bloom, Gloria had a hard time managing her expression.
‘And why are you smiling like that…?!’
He looked like a large puppy sitting and waving its tail and saying, ‘Did I do well? I did well, didn’t I? Right? Right?’ Gloria took the documents the Grand Chamberlain had handed to her and pretended to read through them.
‘Who can withstand the smile of a handsome man shining like a flower?!’
Not knowing her mind, Erun clenched his fists and glared at Kaien as he saw Gloria, angry at the situation, holding up the report as if she didn’t care to watch anymore. Kaien, who showed a smile only to Gloria, faced Erun with an expressionless face like a blade as if he had never smiled.
His eyes were fixed on Erun, but as if thinking that Gloria was cute as she noisily rummaged through the report, a faint smile spread once again on Kaien’s lips.
The eventful and noisy morning meeting ended without further ado.
Gloria had finished the morning meeting early in a bloody atmosphere and called the two men separately into the garden with her finger. She took a deep breath at the sight of Kaien following calmly and Erun glaring at him as they walked.
Gloria waited in a secluded garden in the palace to avoid the gaze of the nobles and dismissed all of her servants.
“It’s too much. Your Majesty.”
As soon as everyone left, Erun spoke in a sorrowful voice, as if waiting. It was so pitiful and sad that past Gloria would have held his hand and apologized immediately. However…
‘What is this crazy punk talking about now? What are you doing acting all pitiful right now as if you’re feeling relieved?’ Because Gloria had already discerned Erun’s gloomy intentions, she couldn’t see him properly. She glanced at Erun who was playing with a cold gaze, but that gaze was fleeting.
‘Should I fall for a shameless ploy?’
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Gloria, who had not yet established her faction, had no intention of giving up on Erun before taking the remaining neutral faction. She sighed inwardly and reached toward him but then,
Clasp!
“Sir Ludenberg?”
Kaien snatched her hand.
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