Who Could Have Loved the Monster Princess? - Chapter 48
The banquet was suspended, and the Imperial Family called an emergency meeting. The Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince, Princess, and all the ministers were gathered.
I greeted Mir as he took the seat beside me.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Yen.”
Mir narrowed his eyes at Dahliana Bittern, who was seated next to me.
“This is going to be a pain, isn’t it?”
“If it’s about the guardianship issue, I don’t have to worry too much about it for now.”
Sean wasn’t allowed inside the chamber and waited outside for Dahliana to finish her business. As usual, imperial meetings never ended quickly, so I figured it would be best to send her away once some time had passed.
Mir spoke to me in a calm tone.
“Think again, Yen.”
“Huh?”
“Where did the incident that’s on the agenda of this meeting happen?”
I scanned the Emperor, the Marquis Quinton, Jeffrey Buser’s biological father, and Dahliana. From my perspective, it seemed most likely that the Imperial Family would shift the blame onto Bittern. I corrected myself.
“It’s becoming a bigger concern.”
When I said that calmly, Mir shrugged. It seemed like she thought I had some way to handle it.
‘I do have a way.’
Just not one I want to use.
As the group exchanged pleasantries and shared the situation, the meeting began. Marquis Quinton, who had to explain how Jeffrey was the son of Duchess Felix, wore a sour expression.
“When Archduchess Felix was still the Princess Anaxiar, the late emperor’s daughter, the Emperor did not allow us to marry.”
So, in order to get permission for the marriage, they had a child. However, the late emperor opposed the marriage and sent the princess to the Felix family. The child born from that union grew up as the illegitimate son of Marquis Quinton, and that was Geoffrey Buser.
The reason the Duchess Felix was in the Empire was also because of Geoffrey. Geoffrey had insulted a royal event at his coming-of-age ceremony, which resulted in his permanent banishment from the Imperial Palace.
“The Duchess must have requested a meeting to ask for Geoffrey’s sentence to be reduced.”
The Emperor, who either had not heard of this or had forgotten it, frowned as he received a report from the chamberlain, seemingly irritated by the matter.
The Emperor rarely appeared at such meetings because he was often indulging in pleasures. He only attended meetings when an agenda that seemed entertaining came up. Although the Felix Duchy was an important trading partner for mana stones, the Duchess’s personal requests were bothersome, so he had likely delayed meeting her multiple times.
After briefly scanning the report, the Emperor tossed it aside and said:
“The punishment for Geoffrey Buser insulting a royal event was justified. Furthermore, since he insulted the royal event, his permanent ban from future events was necessary. The Imperial Family holds no responsibility for this incident.”
The nobles murmured, their faces filled with confusion.
“What about our relationship with the Duchy of Felix?”
“Looking at the Duchess earlier, it seems she won’t let this matter pass easily.”
“It’s hard to understand why you’re so concerned about a bastard child…”
“Then, isn’t it all the more reason why we shouldn’t conclude this matter so hastily?”
However, no one dared to directly oppose the Emperor. As the atmosphere grew tense, a diplomat, being directly involved in the matter, cautiously raised their hand for the floor.
“Duchess Felix has expressed her fury and declared that all future diplomatic ties will be severed. Since 80% of our mana stone supply comes from the Duchy of Felix, we need to come up with a solution.”
“Are we going to start a war over a bastard?” the Emperor said, sounding incredulous.
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, the Palace’s magic resource officer requested to speak.
“The number of magical beasts has drastically decreased, so the Duchy of Felix is the only land where mana stones are still being mined. The demand is steadily increasing, and there’s no stock left. If trade is cut off immediately, 90% of the Imperial Palace’s magical tools will stop functioning within a week.”
The Emperor spoke with irritation, “If mana stones are only mined in the Duchy of Felix, then where does the other 20% come from?”
Mír clicked his tongue beside me. It seemed she was embarrassed that the Emperor didn’t even know where the mana stones came from.
At the Emperor’s words, the eyes of the nobles turned toward me. The Emperor also looked at me. I opened my mouth.
“Staedt provides them.”
“The Staedt family? Where does your family… get them?”
Where, indeed? How many magical beasts did my parents slay during the war? And if not from the mines, where else could you get mana stones from?
Luckily, the Emperor seemed to realize the implications and stopped talking. He sank into thought, briefly glancing at Dahliana.
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
The Emperor subtly raised his hand to cover his mouth, but I could already see a smirk forming on his face.
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
No, surely not. I kept my hopes up and continued watching him.
