He harshly criticized Giles for doing such a thing without informing him, but Lionel and the other aides who heard the whole story secretly sided with Giles.
He couldn't blame them for their hardships.
'Yes, I would have wanted to take the faster path, too. It wouldn't be easy to stand by my side.'
Lionel and the others had been by his side since childhood. They had faced threats to their lives more than once, and there had been many times when they had been on the brink of temptation and entrapment.
So it was understandable that they wanted to end this fight as quickly and effectively as possible.
He understood. But that was not the right way.
Every time he imagined how he must have appeared to Asha after choosing the easy way out, his heart ached.
She was a lord who, while being able to fill her hungry stomach with a feast and staying in the luxurious Carlyle mansion, still wanted to return to Pervaz as soon as possible.
[Then why do you want to go back to Pervaz so quickly?]
[Well, because the people of Pervaz are waiting for me to come back.]
She had said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
At the time, he didn't understand it at all, but now, after two years in Pervaz, he could understand.
'She is the one who knows the responsibility of ruling.'
Although Carlyle himself thought of Asha as a rigid and inflexible person, it was clear that only the 1% of the nobles who were the imperial citizens would think that way. The remaining 99% of the people would think of Asha as a sane ruler.
"Haaah..."
As he thought about it, he sighed involuntarily.
Carlyle opened the wooden box and took out a cigar.
'I've been smoking more cigarettes and cigars lately.'
He knew it, but he couldn't reduce it.
Even though he had won the war and was about to restore the crown prince, his head was complicated and it seemed like annoying things kept happening.
The most annoying thing was that as soon as Asha returned to Pervaz, the talk of his remarriage started to spread.
[Your Highness is already twenty-seven. You should hurry up and get a 'proper' marriage!]
[That's right. Your Highness needs someone to share your work with. In that sense, I would dare to recommend....]
The Duke of Dupret and Giles, of course, as well as the families of the nobles with marriageable daughters, all seemed to be eager.
It was a discussion that excluded the wishes of those women, as well as Carlyle's wishes.
'I'm not even divorced yet!'
Carlyle clenched the tip of his cigar tightly.
As expected, as soon as the restoration was decided, he felt disgusted seeing those who flocked to me like a pack of wild cats.**
"Hoo..."
The smoke exhaled by Carlyle clouded his surroundings like fog.
'When I was in Pervaz, everything was clear and refreshing....'
After meeting Asha, things that had been blocked seemed to flow smoothly. He thought it was just a coincidence, but as soon as she left, the old feeling came back.
To this extent, Asha deserved to be called his 'lucky bluebird'. However, it seemed that only Carlyle knew that fact.
[It is truly fortunate that Countess Pervaz returned without any trouble.]
Although Giles used neutral expressions as if he was hiding his body, he could not hide the expression that he was refreshed.
In the past, he would have judged that Giles was being polite in his own way.
However, now, every word he said that was no different from chasing Asha away only irritated him.
'I told him several times to be polite to Countess Pervaz, but he didn't listen. It meant that he was already taking my orders lightly at that time, but I didn't notice...!'
Of course, Giles was his teacher, a strategist who had brought him many victories, and his closest aide who had helped him with all his might until now. Because he was a genius from birth, he had the disadvantage of ignoring others, but without him, he would have died several times.
But maybe it was because they were so close. He had been showing signs of crossing the line more and more over time.
'Does he think he can become the Regent if you marry your daughter to me...?'
After all, it was said that he also had an ambition for the highest power in the Empire.
The same was true of the Dupret family.
[I believe Your Highness will remember the loyalty of the Dupret family. I believe you also know the heart of Cecilia, who went to Pervaz herself with a weak woman's body to help Your Highness.]
Those who brought up Cecilia's 'love' were rather romantic.
'Countess Pervaz pretended to be vicious to get money from me, but he was the most humble person after all.'
He knew.
Throughout all those days with Asha, he was amazed to realize that there were such people in the world.
At first he thought she was foolish, and over time he thought she was pitiful, but in the end he couldn't help but admit that she was amazing.
"Damn...."
Carlyle nervously brushed his hair up.
These days, whatever he thinks of, his thoughts flow to Pervaz and Asha.
[It is unfortunate, but you must be calm. Now you need to focus on what will happen in Zyro and the Imperial Palace, rather than Pervaz.]
Lionel's words stabbed his heart.
That's right. It's not like he didn't know.
But Carlyle couldn't figure out why he felt so uneasy.
Before he knew it, he had finished smoking a long cigar out of habit.
Carlyle closed the lid of the cigar box and clicked his tongue, taking out another one. His throat felt tight from smoking one after another, but it was better than just leaving his mind alone.
***
"I will get revenge. I will get revenge no matter what."
Viviana, who had been living on the second floor of an ordinary house on the outskirts of the city, was sitting on her bed and muttering to herself.
Although she was abandoned by the emperor and lost everything she had, she was able to avoid falling into hell thanks to the money she had hidden.
However, due to extreme stress, she miscarried her baby shortly after being kicked out of the palace, and she almost died because of the blood loss.
She had lost everything, but what hurt her the most was the 'child'.
"I'm sorry, my poor baby, I'm sorry…"
It was a baby she had with a man she didn't even know, for an ulterior motive.
However, from the day she learned that there was another life growing inside her, Viviana felt a small sense of happiness on her own.
[When you are born, you will live a life that no one in the world will envy. I will love you very much, baby.]
Born with a striking beauty in a poor baronial family, Viviana was used here and there as the only means to raise the family.
She thought she could heal her own childhood through the baby in her womb. By giving the baby a life completely different from hers.
So that baby was a symbol of a new beginning for her life.
And today was the day she would have gone to the temple to receive a 'blessing for a safe childbirth' if nothing had happened.
Viviana, who was reminded of the baby she had lost again, was in pain from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning. She missed the baby who would have still been growing well if it wasn't for Beatrice…
"Beatrice Evaristo, I will never forgive you."
Viviana's golden eyes, filled with tears, were filled with venom.
She had nothing more to lose.
Not only did she lose the emperor's favor and the wealth and honor that came with it, but she also fought a big fight with Baron Peyton, blaming him for what happened, and broke off their father-daughter relationship.
Rumors spread throughout the social circles, and she was disgraced and her body was damaged by the miscarriage.
All she had left was revenge.
"I have to find Beatrice's weakness no matter what."
Viviana hugged her knees and gnawed her nails as she thought.
It might be a stupid thing to do against the empress with such great power, but she felt like she would go crazy if she didn't do something. No, maybe she's already crazy.
Maybe it was because she was driven to the brink, but her head, which usually didn't work well, was spinning surprisingly fast.
'It's strange that I'm the only one who knows that His Majesty the Emperor is infertile.'
Why did Beatrice suddenly feel something strange about the emperor?
And why did she keep the fact that the emperor was infertile to herself?
'You kept your mouth shut for His Majesty's pride? The qualifications of an empress? You're kidding me.'
Viviana gritted her teeth.
If she had really taken that fact seriously, shouldn't she have told him as soon as possible and had the emperor treated? That is, if she really thought that 'the birth of an imperial heir is a blessing to the imperial family.'
'There must be some connection between His Majesty's infertility and the empress!'
Viviana felt it instinctively.
However, it would not be easy to find evidence of that. It was a long time ago, and it was all over.
Moreover, it takes money to investigate something, and her financial situation was not very good at the moment.
'A weapon I can use....'
There was something she had been using very effectively for a long time.