The Solitude of an Emperor [TO BE UNPUBLISHED]

57 : Questions

That moment, Lorenzo had been doing something he does not usually do. Maybe it was because he had no hope of the future that he did everything he could to be on top of everybody else. He killed monsters during the war and inevitably became the Vice Captain of Captain Quira. He was so proud of himself to have accomplished such thing and now he can possibly go to his father and tell him about his achievements.

But just as soon as they came back to the Capital City after castrating all of the monsters in the Alvellor, he read the news about his mother being sentenced to lifetime imprisonment after attempting to murder the Crown Princess. He was devastated.

What even made him more devastated was upon hearing that it was his father who sentenced the punishment.

His body went cold as if he was poured with ice. For a second, he questioned himself whether his father really loved his mother. How could his father sentence such punishment to his lover?! 

He had become irrational at that time. He watched his mother’s family being sentenced to death. He heard all the negative comments about them and about his mother. That time, his world turned dark and he wanted to see his father so badly. He wanted to ask him what he had done.

That was the time his world completely diverted to another dimension. All he had in himself is to surpass his father and abandon him like what he did to him and what he did to his mother. He does not care about others anymore. All he wants now is to make himself a person who can tamper others with his shoes.

The Crown Princess had finally become the Emperor. Nothing happened within a month but many changes happened after that. 

He became prideful and short tempered. He does not like anyone to belittle him. He would only show a good side to the one who’s above him. He had mastered to show a mask on his face and no one was able to figure out what was going on with him. But what made him become irritated is the sight of that one person who always gets recognized before him. 

“Silla Alcatra.”

He still could not believe that he would meet such person in the Academy. She was just a beggar before. It was still fresh in his mind that she was still in the street when he was adopted by Count Marshall but why… how did she come to the Capital City? And how did she get into the Academy with her poor family background?

There he found out that Silla’s last name is from a prestigious knight, Sir Alluka Alcatra. He was the Crown Prince’s personal knight and later became the Emperor’s personal knight. He may not be a Captain but he holds authority to all other knights and he is specially assigned to protect the Imperial Palace. It was said that she was adopted by Sir Alluka.

He wanted to make fun of her for being adopted but he could only swallow it as he is also the same. If he could only make the people know that he is the son of the Duke, he would openly show the people that he is not someone to be looked down on. However, he had the same situation with Silla, he could not just brag about himself. 

Lorenzo was humble outside. He seemed to be a person who cared for his co-knights. That was Captain Quira’s opinion on him. On the inside, Lorenzo is extremely mad when he heard that Captain Billion was retiring to his position as a Captain and he could not grasp the fact that he knows that Captain Billion is going to pick Silla as the new Captain. 

He was bitter, so bitter that he could not show a good face when he watched Silla being knighted as the new Captain of the Gates by Emperor Darya. It was not only because someone succeeded before him but also… the sight of his father looking proudly at the Emperor. His father had a look in his face that he had never seen from him before. His father would not even look at his mother like that. He could still remember how he looked  not bothered when the Emperor danced with the General at the banquet. An ounce of jealousy was not even on his face. Just what is within the Emperor except for her great leadership and beautiful face? 

He is also specifically mad that his great father had become just a consort and the Emperor even took another consort from an enemy Kingdom. He does not know the real reason behind why the Emperor had to take the Corstan Crown Prince but what he did not like is that the next day, the Emperor took another consort which was the first General of the Knights. He was specifically not happy that the Emperor finally took her rumoured ‘favourite’ person. 

What will happen to his father, now that the Emperor took her lover as a consort? Would this mean that his father will no longer have a chance to become the Emperor right? And why does he not do anything to win the Emperor’s heart?

His dangerous thoughts again came to him. “If father had the same position as mine, does it mean that I can be as great as him?”

And there he began to plan on becoming someone his father can now look at. He will make sure that his father will surely become attentive of him if he starts getting close to ‘his Emperor’. If he becomes the Emperor’s fourth consort, that means he can become a man with more power than him. He can become an Emperor himself.

Emperor Darya nodded her head upon hearing the doctor’s report after checking Captain Marshall. When the doctor left her office, she stopped doing her work to lean her back to the seat.

“Would you like tea, Your Majesty?” Lavenorth asked after seeing her action.

Darya shook her head lightly, “I would just take it later. I have a question, Sir Lavenorth.”

“I will respond to the best I could, Your Majesty.” 

“It is not particularly a question. I would like to ask you if you have observed something different from Crown Prince Reginald, recently.”

Lavenorth nodded his head, “Yes, he has not visited you once in this office. It started when he came back from the Corstan Kingdom.”

Darya nodded and thought that it might have been because she was not in her room that night he came back. He might have been upset because she stood him up. Well, her plan was effective. She needed to provoke him even more so she could figure out more about his plans. As far as possible, she needs to keep a distance from him because he is so clingy to the point of saying it out loud that he wants a child.

Speaking about the child… she had not talked to Zale a week after the incident.

She sighed and put an end to her work.

“I am going to the town.”

Lavenorth immediately nodded as he is already used to this kind of work. The Emperor would usually go to the town when she feels like not doing any work. And he understands it and accepts it because the late Emperor wants her to not stress herself too much with work. 

Darya prepared her disguise to go to the town without any guards with her. This time, she just took the main gate and showed an Imperial emblem for identity. The guards quickly understood it as they knew that it was the Emperor. Because she had no guards with her, Captain Silla commanded some of her knights to follow her secretly so she would not be in danger.

On the other hand, a wide smile appeared on Zale’s lips when he felt the Emperor’s presence coming towards his house. He excitedly walked to the door to open it for her.

***
END OF CHAPTER 57
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