Chapter 56: Dark Side

He did not really understand why his father had agreed to this marriage, and even if he set aside his own wishes, he could not even grasp the political rationale behind it or what might be gained from this marriage. Quite simply, the Nordkaiser family had no power to do anything for the Korvekar; even the argument put forward by Roxana—whilst he did not deny its merit—still did not justify breaking a rule that had lasted six centuries!

Perhaps Roxana was unaware, as she had no involvement in Korvekar’s foreign affairs, but he, of course, knew—as heir to the Korvekar crown and his father as Lord of Korvekar— that Korvekar would not permit the mixing of blood and lineage with Nordkaiser at any cost, to the extent that this obsession went so far as to monitor even the collateral branches and illegitimate children of both families to prevent the intermingling of lineages.

Although he did not understand the reason, if it were insignificant or without cause, his ancestors would not have clung to this matter with such madness,

"Lord Ivar... I am not begging you here; in fact, I am threatening you, because this marriage will not take place. For if I find myself with no way out, I shall simply take my own life and tarnish your reputation as well. Hmph!... If you think suicide is difficult because I am a princess, you are dreaming—for believe me, death is closer to us than tomorrow’s dawn. All I need to do is leave the door open for any assassin or villain targeting my imperial family—or even you yourself. I don’t even need to bother trying it myself."

He placed the glass of juice calmly on the table, in stark contrast to her outburst and rambling, which lacked any clear train of thought as she went from attacking him to laying down her conditions, then, before she could finish, returned to the attack and changed the subject three times in the space of a few seconds.

He replied coldly and calmly, trying to be the rational one here and to endure her outburst like a gentleman.

"... Princess, if you have any objections, please go to the Emperor and tell him and complain to him. Besides, it’s not as though I or my family, the Korvekars, are desperate for your sake. you, Princess, are twenty-four years old and a widow; and besides you, there is the fourth princess, aged twenty, who is unmarried, and the fifth princess, aged nineteen, who is also unmarried. Therefore, if you are not satisfied, or even if you were dead, we would have no objection to replacing the bride. As you yourself have said, this is indeed a political manoeuvre in which there is no room for our desires or emotions."

"Y-You ... Are you threatening me? Threatening me with my sisters?... Dravarius sent to propose to my second sister, her husband and both her children were assassinated last night, and she returned to the palace this morning in a pitiful state. Stop this damned madness, you bastards!"

she screamed, her whole body trembling with the intensity of her emotion at his direct threat and his reminder of her insignificance or death; she looked truly wretched in her rage.

"...."

Huh... it seems things have escalated, but a hint of confusion flashed across his eyes for a moment, as he did not understand why those madmen from Dravarius were targeting the second princess when there were two unmarried princesses in the imperial palace!

"As I said... if the princess has any grievances, please take them to the Emperor, for I have no intention of disobeying my father’s orders, the Lord of Korvekar."

She looked at him in frustration, her eyes welling up with tears of despair and frustration for a moment, but she forced herself to swallow them back. She then composed herself; within seconds, her breathing returned to normal and her gaze became calm and dignified. She then gestured to her maid, who stepped forward holding some papers and placed them before him.

From the look on his face, she knew it was the marriage contract. It seemed the Emperor had clearly sent her to him for this very reason, for she certainly did not usually have the authority to spout any nonsense in the presence of powers that not even her own father could afford to anger.

"I won’t back down on a single clause. If you don’t like it, that’s your problem. Sign it now," she ordered coldly and insolently.

But he ignored her completely as he looked over the papers.

In fact, he had to admit that she really did know how to cause trouble, and it seemed the Emperor had not intervened so as to see what his response would be, to gauge the extent of Korvekar’s desperation regarding this marriage.

As for the dowry, she requested

a knight from the Knights of Requiem as her escort, completely disregarding Korvekar’s culture, customs and traditions regarding relations between men and women, as well as the codes of chivalry and nobility

a palace in the imperial capital in her name

a thousand horses from the spoils of the Western Plains beyond the sea

one million gold

the ’Breath of Ice’ flower, considered one of the rarest plant species and growing in the depths of the frozen sea in the north-west of Korvekar’s lands

To the best of his knowledge, there are only about twenty to thirty of these flowers in the Korvekar treasury itself, and Korvekar has never sold any—except that the First Grand Duke of Korvekar presented one to Emperor Nordkaiser II on the occasion of his accession to the throne; after that, no matter how much the Nordkaiser begged, they never obtained another. Nor has anyone else

Although this flower is not really a precious item for Korvekar, Yevfrosiniya used to play with it during her childhood, and even now she and Roxana occasionally use it for make-up: they have the petals ground up and mixed with colours and other ingredients, then apply the mixture to their hair and faces, which gives them a unique sheen

Given the size of each flower—which is about the size of a child’s head—a single one is enough for the sisters to last for years. As far as he knows, they have so far requested only one flower from the treasury...

As for her demands, she has insisted on the right to choose her own residence after marriage, and that all her servants and knights of her from Korvekar would remain by her side; she would not be forced to adopt the traditions, culture or religion of Korvekar; and she would be the future Grand Duchess, with the heirs to Korvekar for the next generation being her own children—even if Ivar were to father a legitimate child with another woman later on, under any circumstances.

Look at this... Is this a deliberate loophole or a provocation? In her demands, she has defined her children in general terms and has not limited them to her children by him.

Although it is not known whether she has hidden children from her former husband, it would not be difficult for the Emperor to pick up any child from the street, raise him and attribute him to her in order to steal the Korvekar inheritance.

It doesn’t matter; others may not know this, but in fact he had already noticed it ten years ago. His father did not seem to intend to die without putting an end to this farce that had lasted for six centuries, and even if his father did nothing, he would do so himself.

So he took the pen and signed in the designated place.

Although he could see from the way his father and Lord Dravarius actions that the Nordkaisers were important for some reason, they were not indispensable, and their will did not really matter.

And if they were truly that important, once he became Lord of Korvekar, he would not mind preserving their wretched lives and placing them in some underground cage in the western section of Snezhin Castle, utilising them for whatever reason they were important.

He also made a mental note that it seemed what Korvekar and Dravarius were interested in were the leading ladies of Nordkaiser; just as his father had targeted the First Princess, Dravarius had immediately set his sights on the Second Princess—to the extent that they had killed her husband and children whilst ignoring the younger princesses

which meant that the women were more important than the men of Nordkaiser, and that birth order played a significant role.

So he looked calmly at this rebellious she-wolf; perhaps it would suffice to place her alone in the cage whilst exterminating the others... Well, it is still too early to decide what to do; perhaps his father will have already dealt with this problem by the time he is due to take the crown.

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