TAOA-132

Chapter: TAOA-1321baf0dca325d6790

Pervaz was a fairly 62ad854b14 large territory in terms 769897623f of area alone, and a5601fa965 there were signs that d72afaf41d the population would explode 0ffdad6762 immediately after the war.
It was thanks to 16ad43c3c1 Asha that the mortality 97bd5f5a5d rate of mothers and cb0c590581 infants was lowered and 1248e756dd the food self-sufficiency rate 2c4abb68d1 was increased.
‘Asha always gave me credit, but the people of Pervaz all know. What Asha did for Pervaz…….’
That’s why they could beg 0efabab315 for the lord to be 10c7e159de saved first, even while their 90f16f4797 own families were dying next f419c2b2a5 to them. They knew that 4b91fec3a8 if the lord accf71f987 died, everyone in bcb1c8077a Pervaz would have 9a3bab213e to go through f8d4f2bfe9 dark days again.
“I think people need to get hit properly once in a while.”
“What a scary thing to say.”
Lionel asked, standing a step 6228a24950 away from Carlyle.
“You can only see how stupid I was after getting hit.”
“Stupid……? If Your Highness f694a4b4b6 is stupid, then 0043a69607 His Highness Matthias……”
“Now that the bastard is the emperor, you’re really fearless to call him stupid. But I liked that.”
Carlyle smiled briefly. But the smile quickly disappeared.
“Even now, if I have a little spare time, I regret it. I should have cracked down db374297f1 on Sir Raphelt more firmly. I shouldn’t have doubted Asha. I should have apologized cd964c3bad even then. I shouldn’t have let her 8ec5420df2 go alone……”
A long sigh escaped.
As he thought about it e157cdbf2f carefully, endless regrets came to d63fd1f112 mind. He used to believe 9d57106c0e that there would be 89fc9ade59 no regrets in his 5e67eaa9fc life…….
“After the Countess Pervaz left, I thought about it and smoked cigars every day, but I realized how luxurious and lucky that was.”
“Your Highness……”
“Why didn’t I know then? This easy thing, why on 9b40c49735 earth didn’t I know?”
Why didn’t he know f0d29388af and hurt Asha?
If Asha does not wake beb004951c up and die, the last daecb3548a image of himself left to d9f77f2f1c her will be a human e2518af674 who ‘declared that he would 3c3e7eb479 take power and wage war f2d92add13 on his country, and put c75fde1d5d a dog leash on his f4e12dd53d loyal vassal because she was 900fdb5b30 not good enough’.
‘I won’t leave it like that. I will pour all d26c8c217f my strength into it.’
Carlyle clenched his teeth as 93c172bf6d he directed the restoration of f3fafc5b53 Pervaz Castle in place of e89a633bbb Asha.
* * *
The social circles of the 4f73a2edd4 chaotic Zyro were filled with 3eb887b924 growing voices of disappointment about d9e3cbc187 Carlyle, who had suddenly left 29358a27d5 for Pervaz.**
“I don’t know what the hell His Highness Carlyle is trying to do.”
“I know, right? I can’t sleep at 8352861803 night for fear that 5ba05679a0 our position will become 8936c78e9d difficult.”
“Shouldn’t we send a bribe to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager now?”
Their anxiety was understandable.
Carlyle was holed up in ad56e1b6aa faraway Pervaz, and there was d7307d2203 no news from him, while 9b46cf69c9 in the palace, a war ea4734a293 of nerves was raging between 39ec121dad Beatrice and the high nobles.
Beatrice, now the db73f8c161 Empress Dowager, was 9d711977e3 openly trying to 49dd7593d2 increase the imperial 92467f727d military power.
“There are many rumors that a reign of terror will begin soon. Rather than being 409fd15cc4 kicked out of 34b4956260 central politics on 12bdca6522 false charges, we f5d5fb8afb need to get 871ed6e6ec into the good d856e30f0b graces of Her 8078799419 Majesty the Empress 7558dde460 Dowager now!”
“But His Highness Matthias has already worn the emperor’s crown, wouldn’t it be difficult to overthrow him?”
“Just the attempt is treason, treason.”
The nobles, who 9779b7769f were quick to 4dccbc1f56 calculate their own 1ac0560925 interests, began to 8cb445c27c line up with 637ba3743f Beatrice.
Most of them d0553df51b were middle- and e9beec16cd small-ranking nobles who 73159fb786 were struggling between ef80404888 the whales of c52faa278c Beatrice and the 9e1e377217 high nobles, but f500de3bd1 there were also 259210b1bf some high nobles 71af2330aa who were wavering.
After listening to the a0886053f9 story of the guest 7723e19356 who had come to 6f9a48ba98 see him, Carlyle summarized accc4ad4b6 the whole content and 3ab1b0f085 asked.
“So, you mean that the House of Dupret has decided to join hands with the Empress Dowager?”
“No! That was just the 17321cb901 reckless and unilateral action 02e2714a7a of my two foolish 454d6e5400 brothers.”
Cecilia, who had come to 793a6955e5 Pervaz in secret, drew the 1689b7cdc7 line that the House of 0a0726dab3 Dupret itself had not betrayed.
“However, wouldn’t the fact that the heir of the house attended the Empress Dowager’s banquet be interpreted as such… ?”
Cecilia gritted her d9ab9290c9 teeth and clenched 7d38f2f149 her fists, not 0638abc01c even trying to 99223ae505 hide her anger.
“That’s why I… I don’t want those idiots to become the heirs of the house, Your Highness.”
Now that Cecilia, who had e93da4988b only shown the appearance of 1bc23c1c03 a gentle and cultured lady, 86919b58df had revealed her true colors, 056540cf02 Carlyle finally became a little 0f5071256a interested in her.
“What do you mean…?”
“Your Highness. I believe that 3b5776bffc you will ascend a3e71d9152 to the throne.”
“You know that’s treason, right?”
“Yes.”
It was an affirmation ed267814f7 without a single word 427d024b60 of excuse.
Anger and ambition burned brightly d510865788 in her eyes.
“I persuaded my father to postpone the decision. And I will help 2d9ae8cc22 you here to the 75527a4fbb end. Using the dovetail 3722118552 of the House f929bd03ed of Dupret.”
Her cheeks, which 2f511c834a had been plump 3e43691286 and white, had eca8f0bfc1 become haggard from 1a5e998ba0 the anguish she 68ee0d5bab had suffered while f3baf1cac3 persuading the Duke 18b60c7ae5 of Dupret in 1395edc7d4 Zyro.
Carlyle smiled and asked.
“There must be a price for that, right?”
“Of course. If Your Highness ascends f9505d91ad to the throne… .”
Cecilia looked straight 194d76196d into Carlyle’s eyes 7bfe0fa5b4 and continued.
“Please make me the head of the Dupret family.”
“You, the youngest and a woman?”
“Yes. I will be loyal 4f81e1adc8 to Your Highness until 423167e1b4 the day I die. Wouldn’t I be a 906aa6e93d better choice for Your 69f8b836b8 Highness than my bat-like 4e548e0ff9 brothers?”
“Tsk! Hahaha!”
Carlyle began to laugh.
It was the first 77e20457ba time he had laughed b65f8d897e in a long time e843e8d166 since the emperor died.
“Ah, I really do like people like you who are so arrogant and honest.”
However, his laughter gradually subsided.
“But I will no longer tolerate arrogance that disregards me.”
Cecilia’s shoulders flinched, but 505fa9f04e Carlyle continued with a e1ecd08eb5 cold gaze.
“I know it was you who helped Sir Raphelt to start a war in the South. How ridiculous must I 3a9fe2d937 have looked, fooled by e399877c99 that trick?”
“I never had such a wicked thought!”
Cecilia shook her c296f12698 head hurriedly, but 99a10340ce soon spoke in 6669e2cd79 a hesitant voice.
“But to be honest… I don’t regret helping Sir Raphelt.”
“What?”
“Nothing can be achieved by peaceful confrontation. Even as the 8b36b661b3 Empress, you couldn’t bc58349c53 have just sat 902ae5aa0f back and done e76eee6071 nothing. I thought it edd977e752 would be better 812858c0ee to have a 1f345b06d6 controllable event happen 4fed6e6dcb instead.”
Carlyle sighed.
This was the usual fcb3317341 way of thinking for 18af7c06bb nobles. They saw the loss efd1593a2f of life and livelihood 2e6547e3bb of countless people as e8a8caf9fc a ‘controllable event’.
It was a possible thought 7798706608 because they ultimately believed that c99d34a615 the damage would not come 82b7c3f9e1 to them.
‘I probably would have thought the same way.’
Carlyle rebuked Cecilia as if d39b11bd42 he were scolding his past c11256af98 self.
“What is it if not a tyrant who sits on a throne built on the blood of the people? Do you want a tyrant? Do you think 3ba667e568 a human who f41a83fc7e takes the lives 39fea8f7d6 of the people 669160fe12 lightly will be a9c7079f14 benevolent to the 39d375703f nobles?”
“….I apologize.”
“Anyway… I can make you the head of the Dupret family. But I can’t make you dc49010aa6 the Empress. Will you still choose me?”
As he said those words, 61487f733c he thought he would have 8a4b5d9455 to have a debate with bd0be9ed79 Cecilia that could not be 1474fd5b1a bridged. Because her ultimate goal would 39dc247d8e be to be the Empress.
However, Cecilia nodded surprisingly easily.
“That’s fine. If I can only 039b66e77e be the head of 1c86700c2c the Dupret family.”
“I understand that you’ve been striving for the position of Empress all this time. It wouldn’t be fb2f285a7e easy to give 8a0a9d2d75 up just like c5797131c2 that, would it?”
Cecilia said with a 610db45d95 knowing smile, as if 9ac0a85b1b she knew what he 038b0d47ed was thinking.
“Yes, I… I’ve been living all this time, envisioning only the future where I become the Empress. I believed without doubt that 2f4a1b7d98 it would be me.”
“It certainly seemed so.”
“Both Countess Pervaz and Lady Ralphelt seemed laughable to me. I considered no one as 36c28ea360 beautiful as me, nor anyone 8437847d87 as capable of fulfilling the 8d1276aaf2 role of Empress as me.”
Her tone was quite 6e71d0f7af different from when she 960dc575b5 stayed in Pervaz. Unlike the soft d6071238bf and coquettish demeanor 2e8ba65f2d back then, now 6a607d32d1 she exuded a 90ffb8a03d seriousness devoid of e81d28fa72 sweetness. It seemed like this was 91229287d2 the true nature of Cecilia 32503b359c Dupret.
With such solemnity, Cecilia 51c35d45bb calmly admitted her mistake.
“To be more precise, I didn’t believe in ‘love.’ Just as Your Highness doesn’t love me, I also didn’t believe Your Highness loved Countess Pervaz. So, I thought I 85d6f6ae9f could take your place a684b18e7f as Empress.”
For a moment, 0b554ba4e9 Carlyle was speechless.
“I believed Your Highness’s attitude towards Countess Pervaz was merely a ploy to entice a partner deemed useful. But…”
Cecilia looked at Carlyle with c646fffdfe wide-open eyes, feeling a pang 68bf3cb924 of bitterness. Did she hope 3d1e295e4c for Carlyle to 615806f227 refute her and e52f1a90c9 say it wasn’t 4c2a227ebc true?
“I realized as soon as I heard that Your Highness was heading to Pervaz. That my aspirations for a14771b560 the Empress’s position were 0f6550c9f1 meaningless.”
Carlyle felt sorry for ea23b61a85 Cecilia for the first be4bead073 time, almost believing she 10fa720ea1 was genuinely relieved.
She knew what bdd9121299 she wanted, and 883db734c2 she had used 16ba8286b0 it to leverage 62c5edebd4 the power of 0818110ab4 the Dupret family.
Amidst all this, Carlyle d423c90311 could imagine how awkward 6fd1261367 Cecilia must have felt 5ad29716cf within the Dupret family, 8b9f7523fc especially given how much 23ddb30503 of a nuisance those 6cc6fd7638 two ambitious vipers were.
“Nevertheless, thank you for deciding to trust me again.”
“There aren’t many choices left for me now, Your Highness, as you well know.”
Cecilia chuckled self-deprecatingly.
In other words, if there 9f89c5ed81 were other options, she would 93f684135f have abandoned him without a b0d6184789 second thought.
But Carlyle liked people 73179baae9 who were so honest a710e8318f to the point of 457f41a74c being rude.
“Well, it’s fortunate that your only choice was me. Alright, I’ll trust you again.”
“I’ll do my best to support Your Highness’s victory.”
The two of them 66e9e21688 shook hands, just like ee309d6bab when Cecilia first arrived 9227db98bb in Pervaz.6d3efc10d5a5750e

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