# 91
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“…….”
“Grace, I hear it’s at the Duke of Richmond’s castle? But just wait and see. I hear Lady Richmond has risen. She is a former imperial princess. She is probably the most conservative person in Decan.”
“…….”
“With someone like that still alive, do you think a woman who walked into the wedding hall with another man could marry the Duke? Bearing the name of a direct descendant of Taylor, she will ultimately end her life as a lowly mistress. On the other hand, you will end up holding the capital in your hands.”
Rosette slowly caught her breath. Perhaps because she had been in a confined space for so long, she felt suffocated and couldn't breathe.
I'll open the door for a moment.
I opened the shutters that had been closed to keep the cold air out and peeked my head slightly outside. The well-paved road and the sporadically arranged, magnificent, and splendid buildings caught my eye. However, what stood out the most was the Imperial Palace, soaring higher than all of them.
Her gaze, which had rested on the imperial palace appearing reddish in the sunlight, drifted to the yellow flag fluttering vigorously beneath it.
Yellow… Just as I thought there must be something joyous happening, the wind spread the flag wide open.
“……?”
“Rosie! Close the door now!”
Despite Duke Taylor's rebuke, Rosette stared blankly outside.
“Rosie!!”
“If it’s an eagle coat of arms… isn’t that the Duke of Richmond?”
“I’m freezing to death. Right, that’s correct! If it’s an eagle, it’s Richmond.”
Richmond raised the yellow flag.
"…huh?"
Rosette turned her head with a creaking sound and looked at her parents.
Richmond raised the yellow flag.
Duke Taylor hurriedly opened the window on the side where he was sitting and looked outside. Just as Rosette had said, a yellow eagle flag was fluttering at the top of Richmond Manor.
“…Right. I see. Well, I guess that’s just how it is.”
Yellow flag, what's the big deal?
However, cold sweat ran down the spines of all three people at the same time.
“It’s not a flag that can be flown just anytime! It is only raised when the Duke gets married or an heir is born.......”
Rosette trembled her lips with a bewildered expression, as if she could not believe it. A chilling shiver ran down her entire body.
“Surely, surely… Grace didn’t marry the Duke of Richmond, did she?!!”
Rosette's voice, filled with resentment, sharply scraped against her parents' eardrums.
* * *
Jake Decan slowly turned around the golden throne. Tapping the roaring tiger heads carved on either side of the backrest with his index finger, he looked at the black tiger skin spread out across the throne. It was truly bizarre that the hide of a tiger dead for hundreds of years had remained to this day.
“When I sit down, the hair pierces through my clothes. It hurts as if I’m sitting in a thorny bush, but only I know that pain.”
Jake, who had been muttering to himself, turned his gaze toward the black brazier beside the throne. It was called a brazier, but it was the skull of a black tiger. They said the blue flame had never gone out for a single moment since the founding of Decan, but that was already more than a dozen years ago.
“Disgusting fellow. To think that drinking the Emperor’s blood makes you breathe blue fire. And for hundreds of years at that.”
He poked around the tiger's empty eye sockets with his finger, then raised his head to look up at the overwhelmingly large curtain.
“How long are they going to worship a dead tiger like a god? I’m sick and tired of it.”
Just as the attendant pretended not to hear the Crown Prince's taunts, a sharp scream was heard.
“How could this happen?!”
Jake turned his body toward the direction of the sound.
The Countess of Saxony was staring at the paper with a flushed face. She looked at it over and over again, as if she could not believe what was written on it, and then cried out with a look on her face as if she were about to faint.
It seems it was true that Lady Richmond had lost her mind!
At that, Ivanka Tyrien, who was standing beside the Empress, shivered and muttered as if she had goosebumps.
Eliza Richmond is not senile.
“She is not senile, so how can you take in a woman as a Duchess who, on top of being on the verge of marrying another man, was expelled from the family?!”
"Well, it seems there is something to be gained."
As the Countess, enraged by Ivanka's words, spun around toward the window, the Count of Saxony spoke to the Empress.
“How can this marriage be finalized? Your Majesty the Empress, summon the High Priest. Please summon the Archbishop of the Northwest who approved this marriage and have him point out that there are problems with it!”
Hetbiga retorted sharply with a look of utter sickness.
Say something that makes sense!
“But Your Majesty the Empress…”
Do you think everything will be resolved just by whining to me?! You should have taken care of it in advance!!
“The Duke of Richmond’s castle is just so…….”
Stop making excuses.
After catching his breath, Hetbiga called out to his nephew, who was standing idly to one side, trying to suppress his anger.
"jack."
Hetby grabbed his nephew's shoulders with both hands and looked up at him intently. Then he warned him in a low voice.
"Welcome Rosette Taylor like a gentleman. Act as if you liked Rosette, not Grace, from the very beginning. You must not go around acting like a commoner, complaining about whether or not you like the woman who will become your wife."
As the drunken words came out of the Empress's mouth, Jack clenched his teeth tightly. The Empress, her violet eyes shining, gave an order as if spitting it out.
“I have to get married properly this time.”
“…….”
As Jack remained silent with a distorted face, Hetby laughed artificially and gripped his shoulders tightly.
You have to answer.
“…I understand, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Only then did Hetbiga let go of his arm and pat his shoulder affectionately.
“A winner is someone who knows how to enjoy delayed gratification, not immediate satisfaction. You understand what I mean, right? It means you need to be patient and hang in there a little while.”
It was then. The firmly closed door of the Tiger Hall opened, and a Royal Guard shouted in a loud voice.
Duke Taylor has arrived, master of the Lil and Terril Rivers and the Golden Wheat Fields, the Rock of Decan, and guardian of the Southwest!
Hetby habitually straightened his clothes and straightened his posture. Then, he turned elegantly toward the throne. His son Jake was seated on it. He felt his chest swell to the point of tightness.
Right, no matter what anyone does, that spot belongs to Jake, so there is no need to be afraid.
Hetbiga ascended the steps of the platform where the throne stood. She took a seat to the right of the throne and looked down from the platform. As the family of the Counts of Saxony lined up on the right side of the platform and Ivanka stood on the opposite side, the guards opened the doors.
A massive door, easily five times the height of an average person, opened smoothly and silently. Then, the well-built Duke Taylor, with his distinctively white bangs, and the slender Duchess with brown hair entered side by side. Princess Rosette, who bore the striking resemblance to the Duchess, followed behind them.
Hedby smiled languidly as he looked at the Duke and Duchess Taylor, whose faces clearly showed signs of nervousness. They had been sitting on the throne for over a decade, yet they were still so tense. Was it innocence, or something else?
“Welcome, Duke Taylor. Duchess Taylor. Thank you for your long journey.”
Your Majesty the Empress.
As Hetbiga greeted him warmly, a look of delight spread across Duke Taylor's face. As he nodded with a bright smile, the Duchess and Rosette knelt down at the same time. Hetbiga nodded lightly and deliberately stared intently at Rosette.
As Duchess Taylor quickly led her daughter to her side, Hettega slowly descended from the platform.
"Oh my goodness. So you are Princess Rosette."
Rosette, who had been holding her hands together, cautiously raised her eyes at the Empress's affectionate voice. Hedbiga, who had approached swaying seductively, took her hand as if she were meeting a niece after a long time.
Thank you for coming such a long way.
“Not at all, Your Majesty. I am simply grateful for your hospitality.”
Hetbiga looked back at the family of the Count of Saxony while holding Rosette's hand.
“I simply couldn’t understand why he would go out of his way to re-establish ties with the Duchy of Taylor after going through such a thing.”
While the Duke and Duchess Taylor paused at the stinging remark, Hedbiga turned to Rosette and spoke kindly.
Now that I have met the princess like this, I understand why.
Rosette's face flushed slightly at the blatant praise. It was just as Hedbiga smiled even more broadly at her.
The attendant guarding Jake's side suddenly stepped down from the platform and ran toward the door. The eyes of everyone, including the Empress, followed the attendant. The attendant approached the knight who had announced Duke Taylor's position and led him back to the platform. The knight hurriedly followed behind the attendant with a stiff, rigid expression.
The knight who arrived below the platform bowed his head toward Jake.
“Did you call, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Then Jake remained silent for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, before speaking.
“The master of two seas, twelve mountain ranges, and five rivers, and the master of the blue flame. What is this?”
This is an introduction from His Imperial Majesty.
“Right, that’s right. Hmm… recite the introduction you just said again.”
"…yes?"
You know the introduction when Duke Taylor entered?
Duke Taylor also flinched at the sudden call. Unable to hide his bewilderment, the knight stammered and cautiously opened his mouth.
Duke Taylor, master of the Lil and Terril Rivers and the Golden Wheat Fields, the Rock of Decan, and guardian of the Southwest, has arrived……,”
That's all.
“…….”
As the Crown Prince stopped speaking, the Empress, filled with anxiety, turned completely toward him.
The Crown Prince.
“Mother. Lil, Teril, Oben, Orutu, Xantipia. Aren't these five rivers five streams?”
That's right.
The Crown Prince turned his eyes back to the knight.
“The Emperor is the master of the Five Streams, yet Duke Taylor is the master of the Lille and Terril Rivers. Is this even possible?”