The moment after Algard offered to make Aurelia the Empress of Riverra, a deep silence fell on the room. Lucian had an answer to this problem at once… and he hated it. He looked at Aurelia to find her looking at him, likely coming up with the same solution. She seemed to love it, which made him hate it all the more. Everyone else here was also in on the joke played against Lucian, save Algard himself.

  Dorothea, a shrewder operator than Lucian originally thought, had quite the poker face. “If you mean to threaten, I should caution you that the details are less clear than you presented them. After all, it was you, yourself, that allowed in the traitor that facilitated this attack.”

  “Do you know what it means to be empress?” Algard asked, grabbing a cup off the table. He stared at Aurelia as he spoke. “You could experience every luxury imaginable.”

  Lucian watched Aurelia’s face, gauging her reaction. If she agreed, could he even stop her?

  “Everyone would bow before you,” Algard continued.

  Oh no. That’s probably her favorite thing for people to do, Lucian despaired.

  “You would have a say in the fate of an entire nation.”

  Her ego is huge. He’s saying everything right, Lucian thought, grabbing his cup of wine and throwing it back.

  “Your name would be etched in history. You would be made immortal in the eyes of men,” Algard declared.

  Immortal? Good God, she’s going to start swooning soon…

  Aurelia smiled. “You must be rather ignorant of our people if you think that could sway me.”

  Meaning she’s not yet satisfied, Lucian thought, looking around for the wine bottle. She wants to be more than an empress. She’ll make him conquer Vantz and the Confederation.

  “If you were to become my empress, I would dedicate countless resources to this place’s protection,” Algard said. “Never again would an incident like this occur. I would protect this monastery as stalwartly as I protect the Imperial Palace—more, even. That is precisely how much I value you. And if all that I’ve listed so far is insufficient, then you need only name other requests. Whatever they are, I can and shall grant you your any desire.”

  Kill Lucian, pretty please? He predicted her request. That terrible man has bound me with a demonic ritual! He’s a monster!

  Aurelia looked at Lucian with the faintest smirk playing about her lips. Brutus and Denzel, too, watched Lucian. Dorothea was the only one to face the emperor in the silence that followed.

  “I’m afraid that we cannot give you what you want. It’s already been promised to another,” Aurelia said.

  Brutus, who looked ready to burst, said, “She’s his fiancée, you fool. I cannot stand to let another moment pass without that being said.”

  “What?!” Dorothea said sharply.

  Aurelia put her fingers to her forehead. “I… should have been clearer. Heavenwatch has been promised to Lucian. As for a betrothal…” She looked at Dorothea, then at Lucian. “Lucian?”

  Lucian stared back, unamused. “Aurelia?”

  “You’d prefer I answer?” she said, a stifled laugh hidden in her words.

  No, but the damn emperor is already staring daggers at me, Lucian thought.

  “I’d prefer not to be in this situation,” he answered honestly.

  “As would I,” Aurelia said. “Help me out?”

  Lucian raised a brow in surprise. For some reason, he felt an intense wave of relief. If she accepted Algard’s proposal… he wasn’t sure there was anything he could do. Sure, he had the Mentor’s Seal, but Algard was an emperor. The moment that Aurelia expressed interest, a lot of his leverage over Heavenwatch waned. Dorothea wouldn’t be so eager to take Lucian’s side if Aurelia herself was considering the proposal. Maybe he could persuade Dorothea to side with him… but at the very least, it would greatly muddle things.

  Yet… she wasn’t considering Algard’s offer. Why wasn’t she?

  “Do what you want,” Lucian conceded with a sigh.

  “A betrothal… it sort of simply happened,” Aurelia told Dorothea.

  I’ve reincarnated as Eva Braun as she enters the Führerbunker. Slightly want to share her fate.

  “What do you mean, ‘it happened?’ What does that mean? What did you two do?” Dorothea questioned feverishly, like a mother that’d just found out her precious daughter spent the night at a man’s place without her knowledge. He supposed that probably was her perspective.

  “Nothing happened, Dorry, just… at the moment, it felt right,” Aurelia said.

  “What, precisely, felt right?” Dorothea insisted worriedly, taking her daughter’s hand.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Nothing like that, mother, please!” She insisted, freeing her hand. “Lucian has simply treated me so well,” she said, looking at him with her sharp yellow eyes. “He’s never once been rude to me, despite the circumstances under which we met. Whenever I fall, he’s always there to pick me up and heal me. He certainly doesn’t like seeing me suffer. When we go into battle, I can tell how concerned he is for my safety. I’ve never once felt like a dog, kicked around from one battle to the next while I remain trapped in a cage.”

  They weren’t said with a sarcastic tone, but the words were quite pointedly directed toward Lucian. He briefly contemplated responding with equal sarcasm before he noticed that Algard was staring at him with hard eyes.

  “You mean to tell me that Lucian has both been named the Lord of Heavenwatch and secured a match with Aurelia?” Algard said, bloodred eyes not moving from Lucian even as he spoke to Dorothea. Considering he was ready to fight his own brother, Lucian couldn’t imagine how he’d react to this revelation. “And how exactly did that come to be?”

  “It’s precisely as I told you before. This monastery would not have survived without his genius. We repaid Lucian. Nothing more, nothing less,” Aurelia said. “This arrangement was kept secret to protect him from the attention of the demons, who might seek revenge against him. If you wish to bring the monastery into the empire, you need only wait. No doubt Lucian will reveal this fact when he feels comfortable, and will naturally swear fealty to you.”

  “I would,” Lucian confirmed.

  Algard turned his head, his coldness softened somewhat at the notion. “This matter has been kept entirely secret?”

  “And it needs to remain that way,” Lucian said. “Elsewise… well, there could be problems.”

  Algard tapped the table. “An agreement made in secret can be broken in the same fashion.” He leaned in. “I won’t let this matter rest. I believe in time you’ll see that my proposal is the better one, on both fronts.”

  She’s going to wave this in my face constantly, isn’t she? Lucian despaired.

  Brutus smiled. “Even an emperor cannot get in the way of true love. The stories teach that much. I believe that one day, they’ll compose this tale into song.” He raised his wine cup and pointed a pinkie at Algard. “Ask yourself whether or not you wish to be the antagonist of this ballad, Emperor Algard, pining fruitlessly for a woman who would choose her love over an empire.”

  ***

  The conversation for the remainder of the night was somewhat tenser, but still decently productive. Dorothea questioned if she should abandon Heavenwatch altogether, something Lucian advised against. This has been an exceptional circumstance wherein many external sentries were occupied presiding over the mediation, but now defenses could be increased in a major way. Algard, perhaps in his now-ongoing attempt to ‘steal’ Aurelia away from him, vowed to take measures to protect the monastery.

  Denzel and Algard, having fought together on the frontlines, were far more amenable toward the other. Denzel agreed to publicly celebrate Algard as emperor and cede his inheritance, while Algard agreed to see Duke Cyril abdicate. They agreed to hold a quick public discussion in the morning so that they could both return to Riverra as soon as possible. After, Lucian contemplated drinking enough wine he forgot about last night, but he ultimately simply slept things off and woke up the next morning with unfortunate memories.

  Lucian sat on a bench in one of many gardens with Cate. He combed her hair gently as she sat there, kicking her feet innocently.

  “Good morning, dearest,” Aurelia said as she walked into the area.

  Lucian looked at her with the purest contempt he could muster.

  Aurelia giggled gleefully. “Heavens, like a grumpy cat…” She walked up to him, all smiles. “I’m not so certain why you’re worked up about this. It’s only words. It’s not like speaking some words means it’s going to happen. I’m the one that had to spend all night explaining to Dorothea that we’ve never so much as held hands…” She yawned. “Didn’t sleep a wink.”

  Aurelia had some books in hand. He eyed them. “What’s that?”

  “Hmm?” Aurelia hefted the books. “Oh, just some books I wanted to grab. You permitted me that much, right?”

  They wouldn’t be dangerous if they were in the monastery, Lucian supposed. Something else was bothering him.

  “Why didn’t you take the offer?” Lucian asked.

  Aurelia studied him. “It’s because you’re such a catch, I simply had to sink my fangs in,” she said with dripping sarcasm. She leaned in and set the books down beside him. “Has it ever occurred to you that my change is genuine?”

  “…it’s probably because of the seal,” Lucian said. “You don’t want to deal with the complication of that. You’d be a prisoner to Algard without your powers. Better the devil you know.”

  “Finally, you admit you’re a devil,” Aurelia said, crossing her arms. “Shall we skip the whole, ‘I still don’t trust you, vile vixen,’ part of this conversation? They’re gathering in the square.”

  Lucian narrowed his eyes. “What for?”

  Aurelia shrugged.

  Lucian urged Cate to follow, and then walked with Aurelia to see what was going on. Cyril stood on the stage, speaking to the crowd. Lucian only caught the final words, but they told him all he needed to know.

  “…immediately, I will be abdicating from my position as Duke of Villamar in order to pass the title to my lawful heir, Denzel Riverra,” Cyril declared loudly.

  Lucian took a deep breath. They weren’t wasting any time.

  “I’ve already notarized that fact in this document,” Cyril continued, holding up a piece of paper neatly folded. “I present this document to you, Your Majesty.”

  Cyril walked down from the platform and handed the paper off to Algard. After that, he spared no more words even as the monastics and the nobility of the empire muttered in surprise. Some nobles tried to stop and plead to him, but he ignored them. Cyril walked to Lucian. He paused to look at Cate—she hid behind Lucian.

  “The trial isn’t over,” he said simply.

  Leaving that, Cyril brushed past Lucian, heading for the distant stone bridge. Lucian’s mind danced. Did he have something in mind for the trial against Lydia? If he did…

  “We have to leave, right away,” Lucian said.

  “Ugh… really?” Aurelia complained.

  “Aurelia,” a man called out. They both turned their head to see Algard approaching.

  “I’m suddenly in total agreement,” Aurelia said.

  Lucian looked at her. “Don’t you want to milk him for something else? He’s eager to win you over, clearly.”

  “Lucian! Are you pimping out your fiancée to the emperor?” she asked with gleeful incredulity. “Does our love mean nothing to you?”

  “…I need to find Cate’s people,” Lucian said, haggard.