Ardea Bosgruni arrived at the Voreoti estate the very next afternoon.

“Master! Have you been well?”

“Oh my, Varia!”

The master and disciple, reunited after a long time, grasped each other’s hands tightly and exchanged greetings they hadn’t had the chance to share for years.

It had been nearly ten years since they last met.

“If not for you, I would’ve died long ago.”

Ardea finally expressed his overdue gratitude to Varia, who had helped him flee to the North.

“I’m just glad you’re healthy.”

Varia shook her head, saying he wasn’t. Seeing her kind-hearted master’s face so much older now made her feel both sorry and heartbroken.

“But you almost got killed by Count Bosgruni, didn’t you?”

Leonia, who had been blankly watching from the side, scratched the edge of her nostril as she spoke.

Even from what she remembered as a child, there were at least four moments where she thought, he’s really going to die like that.

Back then, Count Bosgruni had flown about with a teacup in hand, and it had been surprisingly elegant.

“So, where have you been all this time?”

Still, Leonia had been a bit worried about Ardea. That’s why she asked what he had been doing during that time.

“I went on a ruin exploration trip with the money His Grace gave me.”

“I knew you kept in contact with Count Bosgruni...”

“Well then, since His Grace is looking for me, I’ll be heading to the office.”

Ardea darted up to the office. For a man who claimed his knees were bad, he sure was hopping like a rabbit—it was absurd.

“Leo, shall we go to the Glass Garden?”

“Yes! I want tea and cake too!”

“We’ll have dinner soon, so let’s just have tea.”

“But I have a separate stomach for cake...”

The mother and daughter headed to the Glass Garden together.

Built while the family was living in the North, the large glass building was so cute and brightly decorated that it hardly seemed like something that belonged to House Voreoti.

“When I first came to the capital estate...”

Leonia said while chewing on the cake she’d insisted on getting.

“I was surprised that the estate was so cheerful-looking.”

“I thought the same thing.”

Varia had also been quite shocked the first time she arrived, since it looked very different from what she had imagined.

Especially the lemon-colored column sculptures in the garden—those had truly been shocking.

“But now that I see it, it feels like the ancestors did it to make a good impression on our family.”

Even the Glass Garden itself didn’t really suit the Voreotis.

But the building had been a gift from Ferio—made so that his wife and daughter could rest and play whenever they pleased.

It was even connected to the main building by a corridor, so they could reach it easily, rain or snow.

“Our home is so peaceful now.”

Leonia spoke with her fork still in her mouth.

“Not long ago, I thought our family had the most dysfunctional lineage of all.”

“It’s not that bad...”

Varia gave a wry smile at the blunt comment from her daughter. She pulled the fork out of Leonia’s mouth and placed it back on the plate.

“But I think we’re pretty decent now.”

There was a time when she thought their family line had been completely wrecked because of Remus Olor.

But now that they knew Consort Usia’s enormous secret, Leonia felt that the secret of her own birth was practically harmonious and wholesome.

Honestly, a secret of this level might even be worth telling her descendants someday.

“I was shocked too.”

Varia took a sip of tea, calming her startled heart.

The night she heard that shocking secret from Leonia, she had discussed it with Ferio until they fell asleep.

“They’re a truly impressive family.”

Leonia sneered.

“They’ve got three kids, but only the Second Prince is actually of their blood.”

“They brought it on themselves.”

If they didn’t know the backstory, one might feel a little sorry for Emperor Subiteo. But Varia had come to realize that he was just as irredeemable as Remus.

“Why would anyone do something like that...”

Varia couldn’t understand. The emperor had pushed a perfectly decent man off a cliff and taken his wife as a mistress. That kind of mindset was simply not within the realm of sanity.

And Remus, who had helped him—was no better.

There were even times Varia had thought the emperor might be slightly less terrible than Remus.

But remembering that the two had run around together in their younger days made this whole situation a bit less surprising.

What was truly surprising was that there hadn’t been more scandals until now.

“How did the former emperor leave behind such trash?”

Leonia slouched against her chair and grumbled.

“Though he was trash too.”

“At least the former emperor ran the country well.”

“Well, yeah.”

In that regard, the former emperor had been far better. If she had to deal with someone, Leonia would’ve preferred someone like him.

At least he could distinguish between personal greed and national duties.

But looking at how he raised his children, he had plenty of his own problems.

Did I misunderstand the original story?

By this point, Leonia was beginning to doubt the genre of the original plot she remembered.

It was supposed to be all about Ferio and Varia’s sweet romance, but what she was experiencing was just one shocking twist after another.

It was no less intense than a suspense novel.

Everyone’s my family at this point.

Someday, they might all end up holding hands in a circle singing songs together.

The baby beast absentmindedly rubbed the back of her head. It still tingled from all the metaphorical beatings.

“I underestimated the South.”

Leonia realized that was her biggest mistake.

“All of this was part of Aust’s scheme.”

Duke Aust, who had committed such monstrous deeds and still greeted them with a kind face as if he knew nothing—was terrifying.

And Consort Usia, who had carried out all of it inside enemy territory—was chillingly frightening.

“Things were simpler when I was little.”

Leonia pouted. She missed the days when she lived purely for muscle training.

“Aust...”

Varia gently patted her daughter’s head and asked the essential question.

“What do they want?”

“Revenge for their son, obviously.”

Leonia said, thinking she would’ve done the same.

But Varia disagreed.

“That might’ve been how it started.”

But the situation had grown far beyond that.

“If it were just about revenge for the duke’s son, they would’ve gone after the Olor family directly.”

“Since the Imperial family’s involved, they cooked up something this elaborate. They’re worse than us Voreotis.”

“No... there’s something more.”

Varia was sure there was another layer. Leonia simply vowed to wipe everything clean with the Fangs of the Beast if anything else came up.

“Come to think of it.”

Then the baby beast remembered something.

“Normally, people think the Marquis of Meridio is the true master of the South, right?”

Varia nodded at her question.

“But House Aust never showed their influence. Meridio handled everything on their behalf.”

“But in reality, Aust is the real master. Meridio is just their vassal, their knight...”

And suddenly, an image came to Leonia’s mind—a knight with orange hair.

That man was Salus’s escort knight, and she had heard he was originally from House Meridio.

“...Rebellion?”

* * *

Emperor Subiteo couldn’t breathe.

“How the hell did it come to this?!”

To forget the throbbing headache, he grabbed the bottle of alcohol on his desk and drank it straight from the neck.

Because he was already somewhat tipsy, half of it spilled down the side of his mouth.

That was how far gone the Emperor was. Even if he wanted to stay sane, everything happening now was crushing in on him.

The marriage plans for Princess Scandia had to be reconsidered because of Remus Olor.

His entire plan to marry off his daughter to a foreign country and expand the empire’s influence was now on the verge of collapse.

The real problem was Remus Olor’s public outburst during the Rite of Honor.

“You betray me like that?”

He had tolerated Remus strutting around without knowing his place, and now he had the gall to betray him like this?

“If I had ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) my way, I’d—”

The Emperor bit down hard on his lip.

He wanted to strip Remus of his title and kill him. No—he wanted to personally sever their heads and toss them in the field for wild beasts to feast on.

But he couldn’t.

Olor had risen as a new power alongside the Emperor’s authority. In other words, the House of Olor had become an extension of the Emperor’s own rule.

Their downfall would mean the collapse of his support base. The Emperor realized it was far too late to abandon them.

That was why Remus hadn’t been imprisoned yet.

Even though Voreoti and Urmariti had filed lawsuits against Remus, the only reason he remained untouched was due to the Emperor’s quiet influence.

To make matters worse, Voreoti had formally requested an investigation into Remus’s infiltration of the North.

And as if daily petitions weren’t enough, they had even launched an independent reinvestigation into the assault on Professor Ardea Bosgruni’s lab.

Everything was tightening around the Emperor’s throat.

At this point, the state affairs that had always been a nuisance now felt as trivial as a child’s antics.

At least those could be handed over to the Empress and the Second Prince. That had become his standard practice lately.

“Your Majesty.”

At that moment, an attendant silently stepped inside.

He froze when he saw the Emperor gripping a liquor bottle, his eyes bloodshot.

Just days ago, another servant had been struck and knocked out by a similar bottle in that very hand.

“Her Highness the Consort is here.”

The moment the attendant finished speaking, Consort Usia entered the room.

“Your Majesty...!”

Her innocent voice called to the Emperor with such pitiful sweetness.

“Why are you here...?”

The Emperor was about to shout for her to leave—he didn’t even want to see anyone connected to Olor.

“I deeply beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”

But Consort Usia knelt before him.

The servant hurriedly turned and exited the room.

Only once the door closed did the Consort lift her head slightly.

“Please do not forgive my brother.”

The Emperor narrowed one eye. Even in his drunken state, her plea made no sense.

“Remus is your brother, is he not?”

“But he is also a criminal who has committed a grave offense against Your Majesty.”

Consort Usia dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.

But there wasn’t a single drop of moisture on the fabric. Still, her stammering voice and quiet sobs could make even a listener feel sorrow.

“I am poorly educated... so I don’t know why my brother would do such a thing.”

“......”

“But what I do know for certain... is that he deceived and betrayed Your Majesty.”

“Get up.”

The Emperor approached her and helped her stand.

“Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Consort Usia cupped the Emperor’s face with both her hands.

“Let’s go to our bed.”

And with those words, the golden glow in the Emperor’s eyes slowly faded.