-After investigating, there are no traces of black magic.
-It must have been the work of Labella.
The council meeting of the Empire had begun.
However, those voices did not reach Sena.
“……It seems some investigation is necessary.”
Sena could feel Astria’s gaze, but he kept his mouth shut and looked down.
“Excuse me, may I ask something?”
“I am permitted to speak. Lord Gyro.”
“……Who is that person?”
The elderly nobles in the meeting hall all turned to look at the white-haired furball.
It was a long-standing curiosity. The meeting hall’s table was rectangular. Astria sat in the very center, and the closer one was to her, the higher their rank.
Sena was seated in the closest row. In front of him was Duke Granz Kairos.
From the nobles’ perspective, Sena seemed like someone who had just fallen from the sky. They had only heard vague rumors about him.
“Didn’t the lords say it was time for me to produce an heir? I simply chose an appropriate candidate.”
Murmurs.
The meeting hall seemed to shake greatly for a moment. What did they just hear? Did that noble empress choose someone to be her consort?
“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“Blessings to you.”
“This eliminates the Empire’s sole concern.”
“May we ask your name?”
A nearby noble kindly addressed Sena.
Sena gave a small smile.
“Ahaha. Her Majesty was just joking. There’s no way that could be true. I am merely the new attending physician.”
Astria’s expression slightly stiffened. Sena continued speaking.
“My name is Sena Birkender. As for titles you might recognize, I am the disciple and son of Cruyff, and the head of the Birkender Marquisate.”
“Oh.”
The nobles quietly admired him upon hearing the name. While the central nobles focused on the name Sena, the elderly ones noted the Birkender Marquis.
The Birkender Marquis. Once a prestigious family that flourished in the Empire, second only to the Kairos Dukedom.
Though they had declined recently, to those who valued tradition, the status of the Birkender family remained significant.
They considered the Birkender family a hundred times more honorable and dignified than the newly rising noble families. Look at him now.
The current head of the family, even with just a few words, exuded nobility. That was the air a noble should have.
Even before knowing his status, the elderly nobles found Sena surprisingly likable. They looked at him almost like they were gazing at a grandchild.
Though to some, he might have been seen as a granddaughter.
“Haha, though I’ve heard you’ve been quiet lately, it’s nice to meet Marquis Birkender. How is Frederick doing?”
Frederick Birkender. Sena’s grandfather, the previous head of the Birkender Marquisate before Cruyff.
Currently, he managed his territory leisurely in his later years. Hearing the nostalgic name brought a soft smile to Sena’s face. It was one of the places he must visit before returning home.
“He is doing well. Would you like me to convey your regards? I plan to visit him soon.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful. Then please tell my old friend Isaac that he still wishes to see the result of their chess game. They were the only ones who tied with Frederick, you know.”
A baron sitting at the end of the table widened his eyes.
“Are you saying that Lord Isaac, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, lost in chess?”
“Haha, indeed. The young ones may not know, but Frederick was an excellent strategist and knight. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
“…Even I don’t remember much from when I was ten years old.”
“To be humble after having excelled on the battlefield at such a young age.”
What did they just hear?
Ten years old?
‘…This world is truly unbelievable.’
No matter how medieval or fantastical it might be.
The thought of a ten-year-old emperor standing on the battlefield was unimaginable.
Sena’s eyes were filled with sadness.
Was it inevitable? Astria’s world was drenched in blood. To ascend the throne, she had purged around 1,500 people with her own hands.
For someone like her, killing a maid might not be any different from picking up a piece of trash.
However, Sena still couldn’t understand it in his heart. This was probably a personality difference that would never be reconciled in his lifetime.
A fundamental difference that could never coexist unless someone yielded.
It wouldn’t be him. And it couldn’t be Empress Astria either.
“Of course. I will pass it on. Isaac.”
“Hmm, Marquis Birkender might not know this, but Frederick and I are blood-sworn comrades. Therefore, his grandson Sena is also like a grandson to me. Could you call me grandfather in that sense?”
Hahaha, Isaac smiled gently as he stroked his beard.
Although he was a veteran in his 80s, he had a fierce presence that rivaled that of the young. Among the empire’s nobles, he was known as the “Iron-Blooded Minister”.
To think that such a person wanted to be called grandfather? The nobles’ faces showed their astonishment.
“Is he senile?”
Astria glared sharply. Her possessiveness didn’t discriminate between women and the elderly.
“…Well then, could you approve my resignation?”
“Denied.”
“You’ve been holding it off for five years now.”
“Die in that position.”
“You’re as firm as ever.”
“Indeed, I am.”
Astria crossed her arms with a stern face.
Sena now realized how foolish it was to submit a resignation to Astria.
Shouldn’t you grant it at 80 years old?
I’ll have to say something when I get back…
‘Forget it.’
Sena pouted slightly.
He wouldn’t let this go easily.
Not until she truly repented and asked for forgiveness.
“Anyway, it’s a joyous occasion. To meet Frederick’s grandchild like this. Hahaha.”
“The honor is mine, Sir Isaac…. No, grandfather.”
Isaac was a bit surprised that he was called grandfather right away. But he soon smiled warmly.
“How beautifully you’ve grown.”
“I thought Frederick had failed in raising his children, but I was wrong.”
Sena was a hit among the elders. His appearance was cute, and he was well-mannered. There was no reason to dislike him.
Sena didn’t dislike the elders either. They felt like kind grandparents, and he found them endearing.
“Have you forgotten we’re in the middle of a meeting?”
Astria felt sick to her stomach. She had explicitly told them to focus only on her.
“Proceed.”
Annoyed, Astria bit her lip.
Sena’s warm smile, he had never shown that to her.
“The first item on the agenda is related to the Church.”
The meeting, briefly halted by Astria’s irritation, resumed.
“So they’re at it again, despite seeming quiet.”
“Before we proceed, may we summon the concerned party?”
“Bring them in.”
“We have come to officially lodge an official complaint.”
The atmosphere in the meeting hall turned cold. Sena opened his eyes wide and lifted his head.
‘…Cardinal Raymond?’
It was a familiar face. Raymond Burke. He was known as the right-hand man of the current Pope. Ranked first among cardinals, he was the second most powerful person in the Church after Cruyff.
“A complaint?”
“Because of the operational orders His Majesty gave to the Teutonic Knights.”
‘Operational order?’
Sena tilted his head in confusion.
“What order?”
“Are you pretending not to know? The operation named ‘Massacre’. The order to completely exterminate every person in the slums.”
‘…?’
Sena looked at Astria in disbelief.
What did he just hear? Exterminate the slums?
No way. It couldn’t be.
“What does that have to do with the Church?”
But Sena’s hope was shattered.
Astria did not deny it. Raymond wasn’t lying.
“It’s related. Undertaking such an inhumane act without consulting the Church? This is a statement signed by 40 clergy members.”
Raymond handed a thick document to Astria.
Astria received it with a displeased expression.
Whoosh.
She burned it with her magic.
“Go report to your master.”
The ashes of the document crumbled from Astria’s hand.
This was clearly crossing a line.
It was an unspoken rule that the Church and the Imperial Family should not interfere with each other.
Pressing with such an unreasonable pretext suggested highly suspicious ulterior motives.
‘Are they up to some nonsensical actions again because of the upcoming papal election?’
This was a political issue.
“If he has complaints, come in person.”
Sena couldn’t shake off the shock for a while.
The cruelty of attempting to obliterate the slums.
And the autocratic action of burning the Church’s statement without even listening to it.
These were all things Sena detested.
“Sena.”
“The Church is always open to you.”
Normally, Sena would have rejected this offer outright.
But this time, he gave a slightly bitter smile and responded positively.
He hoped someone would hear and feel something.
“…Would Justitia accept me?”
Raymond responded as if pleased.
“Of course. If you entrust yourself to the Church, it would be the day the youngest archbishop is born…”
“Enough.”
“Do not make me angrier.”
At Astria’s icy voice, Raymond bowed his head with a faint smile.
“The words I wanted to convey have been burned, so I have nothing more to say. It was a regretful meeting.”
Astria felt her neck stiffen for the first time in a long while.
Today had started off as one of the best days in recent times, yet paradoxically, two of the most infuriating events occurred.
‘They keep provoking me.’
Astria glared coldly at Sena.
Despite numerous warnings, his attitude remained the same.
It seemed she had been too lenient.
Astria recalled the letters from the ladies.
Chloe Ashmont.
A lady from a family she personally trusted had given her advice.
-As Sena’s academy classmate, I dare to offer this advice. He must be handled firmly. If treated too gently, he will only run away.
‘Could that be true?’
It seemed it was time to show him.
**
Sena was dragged by his wrist by Astria.
“Your Majesty, you’re going too fast.”
“Shut up.”
Did she just tell him to shut up?
Sena had a surprisingly fragile mentality. Perhaps the reason he never spoke harshly to others was because he hated hearing such words himself.
Hearing “shut up” was both frightening and hurtful.
‘Please treat me with more respect.’
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he kept his mouth shut.
Sena, panting, was pushed into Astria’s bedroom.
As soon as they entered, Astria pinned his hands against the wall and tried to kiss him.
Sena didn’t want to do it with this version of Astria. He kept his mouth tightly shut and turned his head away.
Astria’s eyebrow twitched.
“Are you defying me? How insolent.”
“Your Majesty is always like this. Only your feelings matter.”
“What?”
“Do you not realize what you did today?”
Sena asked with a sorrowful face, and Astria’s shoulders momentarily flinched.
She then spoke with a haughty face.
“I am the Empress. Such things are beneath my concern.”
Sena gave a self-deprecating smile.
‘This is too much.’
He had hoped she would at least reflect on her actions.
He thought she would admit it was done in anger and promise not to do it again.
But instead, she was coming at him with sheer force?
Sena was furious.
He had rarely been this angry in his life.
Slap.
“We.”
Sena slapped away Astria’s hand and spoke firmly.
“Will sleep in separate rooms.”
