Nellusion is dead.
Neris, who was eating grapes with Diane, paused for a moment at Dora's report.
It was a gathering of women. The former Duchess's greenhouse was enchanted, so it was suitable for a tea party even in the cold weather, and Neris had decided to invite all the important women in the castle to have a good time.
The party, with pretty glass candle holders hanging from the trees and elegant tea tables placed everywhere, was not an appropriate setting to receive a report of the death of a prisoner in the dungeon. In fact, Dora didn't really intend to tell Neris about the death of a prisoner during the party.
Neris was the one who brought it up first. She suddenly remembered seeing several bodies being carried out of the castle the night before.
Diane casually said something. It was because she had become accustomed to hearing about people dying after experiencing the war.
Well, he was going to be executed anyway, wasn't he?
"That's right. The Duke Jr. was a supporter of the Crown Prince, and the Duke had committed many crimes."
As far as Neris knew, Cledwin was planning to execute the Elandria family before winter really set in. He said there were too many prisoners in the dungeon and he couldn't waste food and firewood.
It was clear that something had happened for the whole family to die on the same day before they were even executed. But Neris didn't really want to be interested in such things. So she decided to focus on the grapes.
"I want more."
"Wow, this is the first time I've seen Liz say she wants more!"
Diane laughed, amused by something so trivial. Then Ellen approached and started nagging.
Your Highness, you should only eat a few grapes. Morie's mother only ate ten grapes a day during her pregnancy.
"Then you don't know what happens when you eat more?"
"But what if Your Highness's health deteriorates?"
Diane was intrigued, thinking, "Maybe?" Those who had seen Neris collapse before still overprotected her.
Neris, the one being protected, finally made an annoyed expression. Her patience seemed to be decreasing as her belly grew larger.
A noblewoman from Meindlandt, who was sitting at the same table as Neris, chuckled. She had also given birth to three healthy children.
"It's just a saying that varies from region to region. It's true that eating too much sweets is not good, but I ate a whole bunch of grapes like this, Your Highness."
"See."
Neris finally said that to Ellen in a haughty tone and reached for the grapes again. Ellen, who knew that she could nag as much as she wanted thanks to her lord's generosity, but that anything more would be rude, was disappointed.
Diane, amused, fed Neris grapes herself. Neris, acting like a spoiled child, accepted them and suddenly glanced at a corner of the greenhouse.
Princess Izet, or rather, Lady Izet, was sitting there with Lady Mariah.
Neris didn't hate Izet. Izet was also one of the people who had stood by and watched Neris being abused in her previous life, so she didn't like her either. A few years ago, she would have definitely still had some feelings of hatred, but…
"There's no life to waste on such things."
Neris now knew. Revenge wasn't the end.
To affirm herself, to believe in her own judgment, like everyone else in this world, to finally see hope in her future life.
She had to let go of them.
It didn't mean she had to understand what they had done. What they had done was a memory that still made her shudder, even after she had taken revenge. But she couldn't keep thinking about it all the time.
What she had to think about was:
"I have to be happy for it to truly end."
Neris's hand briefly caressed her belly. She had started to feel the baby move quite a bit lately, and those close to her liked to put their hands on her belly.
"My baby."
She whispered to herself.
"You'll have hard times too. You'll have terrible memories. You might even reach a point where you think it's okay for you to lose yourself and hurt others, no matter what happens to you."
But don't forget that you are precious.
You'll know someday. That this hardship will end, that there are people who will love you, and that happiness will come to you.
That even if you think you're completely broken, those wounds will eventually become trivial in front of those who love you.
Izet will live a life where she can't easily meet people. There will definitely be some crazy people out there somewhere in this vast empire who want to rebuild the Bisto family. For the same reason, Izet decided to drop out of the academy.
Neris planned to pretend not to know if the Lady occasionally gave the young princess a chance to breathe.
"I'm glad I can attend your wedding."
Diane said, as if the wedding talk had reminded her. Neris replied with a smile.
Yes, I'm glad you can come too. The wedding itself was held in the temple, so technically it's a reception…
That's that, and this is this. Are you getting a new dress?
Yes. The one I wore before was beautiful, but this time it's also the coronation ceremony for the Empress.
At the coronation ceremony for Cledwin and Neris as Emperor and Empress, they decided to hold the new wedding they had talked about before. The dress Neris would wear at this ceremony was a magnificent purple robe with an incredibly long train, adorned with embroidery and diamonds.
The Bisto family used a golden dress that revealed the shoulders to show the majesty of the direct line of the royal family. But Neris had no intention of wearing a dress that shone brightly in gold.
It wasn't because Valentine had stolen the Crown Princess's dress in her previous life. That incident was no longer relevant. It was simply that such a dress didn't suit Neris.
However, the date of the ceremony was decided to be after the baby was born and Neris had recovered somewhat. Thinking of her husband, who was taking care of countless state affairs while his pregnant wife was nearing the end of her pregnancy, Neris suddenly chuckled. Even though he was so busy, he was still making sure her dress was being made well.
A moment later, her eyes gleamed slightly dangerously.
"He's not working hard just because he's worried I'll be tired."
Neris should have been told about the death of the Elandria family. Even though the family was ruined, they were still important prisoners, weren't they? But the fact that she had to ask Dora separately meant that someone had silenced them.
Neris also knew that Cledwin was meeting with her enemies from her previous life without her knowledge. She even knew exactly when he was meeting them. Except when he was meeting his enemies, Cledwin never left her side, just like now.
"I should check on what he's doing."
It would be troublesome if a massacre was happening somewhere she didn't know about.
***
Cledwin wasn't carrying out a massacre. He could be sure of that.
But he was definitely deciding the future of many people.
"There are three people from our Empress's former classmates who died in the war, as you can see in the report. There are four people listed below who died or went missing for reasons other than the war. And two of them are still alive but their families are destroyed, so they are wandering around relatives' houses or inns. The rest have all returned to their families."
"Most of them got away without punishment. In my opinion, except for the two who are wandering around relatives' houses, they shouldn't have gotten away with it. Didn't they serve as officers in the enemy army?"
It was a statement that would make anyone think they had joined the army out of enthusiasm, but it wasn't a wrong statement either. Talprin, who had finished his report in the private office, where only the two of them remained, as per Cledwin's orders, had a strange expression on his face.
"Did they do something wrong to our Empress?"
"Well, not this time."
"I don't understand at all. Are you saying that it wasn't this time, but it was last time?"
"Anyway, those who served in the Imperial Army are all being investigated for their crimes, except for the lower-ranking commanders. They are families who provided money and troops to the enemy, so we are trying to punish them appropriately as the victors. Why is that something to question?"
"That's true, but you specifically ordered an investigation into 'the Empress's former classmates'… Well, I understand. The families who supported the deceased Crown Prince should be punished. So, should the punishment level be such that the main family can't support their children?"
"It's not ideal, but for now, yes. If it's clear that they were forced to support the enemy because they were taken hostage."
Cledwin grumbled and tapped the report.
"Look at this, the Count Islaini family didn't suffer much. The Baron Nine and the Count Berta families are in such a mess from the war that they're going to have to sell their titles. Do the same to the Count Islaini family. They were subjugated after being defeated by our army, but they still managed to pull out at the last minute, so it's good to show them the new rules of the royal family. Keep a close eye on those three families so they don't get help from any noble relatives."
Why do you hate those insignificant things so much? Talprin didn't understand at all. It wasn't entirely wrong in principle…
"Then I'll take care of it myself. Noble society will be empty."
The grand nobles who had been called together as nine families had become meaningless.
The Duke's family was soon to officially become the royal family, and of the two ducal families, one had all died except for Ganiello, and the other had its head imprisoned during the war. Cledwin, for some reason, disliked the heir of that family very much and decided to strip him of his title on the grounds of treason.
The Viscount Tipian and Viscount Ricanthros families had disappeared. The Viscount Odroy family had its head as an ardent supporter of Camille, so they were also stripped of their title and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Viscount Wells family had mostly been beaten to death by creditors before the war ended, and the few who survived had recently died in prison.
The Viscount Kendall family was the only one that was relatively intact, but considering that a meeting with Cledwin was scheduled for today, it didn't seem like a bright future awaited them either.
"We can fill it with people who have merit. Those old families were acting too arrogant for nothing special."
Just as the news arrived that Viscount Kendall had arrived, the door to the office opened.
"Your Majesty."
The Viscount looked extremely haggard. His clothes were a plain black, and his hair was barely clean, with no trace of being styled.
Cledwin stared at the Viscount for a moment with an impassive expression before speaking.
"So that's why you didn't exercise your right to elect the Emperor."
"Ha, ha."
The Viscount let out a dry laugh. His eyes glistened with pain.
Yes, I received word shortly after the execution of the former Emperor. Daliga, my daughter, is no longer absorbing divine power.
Idalia, who had been poisoned by the former Pope Omnitus, had been lying there like a corpse, unable to eat or drink, and just cold. If Neris, who had told Viscount Kendall not to ask about her because she had been poisoned, hadn't been there, she would have already been buried.
The only way to know that Idalia was still alive was for a priest to use divine power on her. A dead person cannot absorb divine power. Viscount Kendall had regularly called priests to confirm his daughter's survival and to hope that her body wouldn't be too damaged if she ever woke up.
But how can a person live on divine power alone? Idalia, who had been unable to "eat or drink" for so long, finally died for real.
Cledwin wasn't sad about Idalia's death. Why should he sympathize when she had received the same thing she had intended to do to others?
The Viscount, with a face that showed he couldn't control himself, continued to speak.
After I buried her and tried to execute her maid, she suddenly confessed everything, as if she had finally come to her senses. What my daughter had been trying to do, and how the Empress had treated her.
"Yes. So you know that you shouldn't blame the Empress."
"Yes. But please allow me to give up my title and leave."
I had no intention of keeping the Viscount in society anyway. This would be better for him than being chased away in a mess. Cledwin nodded.
"Do as you please."
The Viscount bowed and left the office. Talprin shook his head slightly as he watched him leave.
He didn't feel any sympathy either.