I Became the Master of the Empress

316

“Pardon? Mother asked you to persuade Joy?”

I nodded at Terra, whose eyes were trembling in disbelief.

“How can one go to remove a tumor and end up bringing one back instead?”

“Well… you know I’m weak in front of my mother-in-law, right?”

“Even so, don’t you think? Alexander, who negotiated fiercely with you, would be surprised to hear this?”

I could only manage an awkward smile at her skeptical gaze.

“Haha.”

“Sigh… I feel like you’ve changed a lot.”

I’ve been feeling it too lately.

She rested her chin on her fingers and said,

“Now, you’re much warmer and more pleasant to look at. But you seem to have become a bit foolish as well.”

“Is… is that so? But what should I do? Should I tell Joy to look for another man besides Lucius?”

She shook her head.

“I tried to talk to her since I understand how mother feels, but it didn’t get through.”

From Joy’s perspective, it would be hard to accept.

Human emotions don’t always align with intentions.

So should I just come up with a mediation plan between them?

“So, what will you do?”

“Well…”

The situation is more complicated than I thought.

As a member of the Empire, I can’t act recklessly without the council’s approval.

According to the Empire’s constitution, capturing or detaining a member of the Empire requires the consent of the Imperial Council.

Unless we have a complete disaster of an emperor, maintaining a good relationship with the members of the Empire is fundamental to imperial politics, at least on the surface.

Should I rather just push them to a suitable low-ranking position?

If I send Joy and Lucius away from Roman, the concerns my mother-in-law has are less likely to arise.

But…

It’s probably hard for Joy and my mother-in-law to meet, right?

Besides, Lucius might oppose it as well.

Should I try my luck then?

“Tera, how about sending Joy and Lucius far away from Roman?”

Before I could finish my sentence, she replied with a look of shock in her eyes.

“Are you saying to send my only sister and brother-in-law into exile? Absolutely not! Mother would be completely against it too!”

I figured she would oppose.

“But this is the simplest option…”

It’s a matter of forcing sacrifice upon the Lucius and Joy couple, so it’s no wonder Joy’s family would oppose.

Or should I grant them noble titles from the Grand Duchy?

But that’s not something I can decide on my own.

I also need Mary’s consent.

Right now, all the direct territories within the Grand Duchy belong to me, but in the future, it will be land ruled by Mary and Agrippa’s son.

Changing the political landscape of the Grand Duchy by distributing my territories as I please isn’t as easy as it sounds.

“What should we do?”

Tera makes a face that says she can’t believe it.

“What if you ask me that?”

“Since she’s your mother, isn’t there a good way? Honestly, I don’t think Lucius would kill you and me for power. Even though he’s become a member of the Empire Council, he’s not the chairperson, and there are limits to what a mere council member can do.”

If analyzed coldly, the Emperor’s secretary wields more real power than a council member.

Thus, to Terra and me, it seemed that Lucius had, in fact, relinquished power.

Currently, we, as a couple, hold hands behind our backs to dominate the council, but we are merely acting out a facade of opposition.

Considering the public sentiment of the Empire, the side effects that would arise from our unity, and the corruption of the massive faction formed by that unity…

The council has already become nothing more than a rubber stamp for Terra and me.

She is aware of this situation as well, letting out a sigh and nodding her head.

“I know too. But since my mother is so stubborn, I have no choice but to comply.”

A lie…

The head of the Augustus family is currently Terra.

In other words, she holds the final decision-making power regarding Joy’s marriage.

However, not wanting to act against my mother-in-law’s will, she is, like me, caught in a bind.

“Ha… I don’t know either.”

From now on, I shouldn’t get involved in this family.

“By the way, a petition has come up this time. It seems more serious than expected.”

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

She nodded with a serious expression.

“Recently, medical costs have risen so much that many citizens of the Empire are dying because they can’t receive treatment in time.”

“What?”

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind, and I spoke.

“Wait a minute….”

-Click!

“Let’s see….”

I rummaged through the hundreds of files stuffed in my drawer, searching for the price file.

“It should be here….”

I pulled out and unfolded the price file for items traded in Roman as of last month.

-Swish….

Pointing to one item among the hundreds, I said, “Is this the reason?”

Troll’s Blood.

Recently, the development of magical technology and engineering has led to a boom in mining operations.

While mining had been done before, the current demand for mining products is on a completely different level.

As a result, mining accidents have caused numerous problems, and the demand for potions has skyrocketed, leading to a steady increase in the price of the main ingredient, troll’s blood. However, I remember delegating this matter to the Ministry of Finance while focusing on the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Technology.

“Oh? Has the price of troll’s blood risen this much?”

“Yeah, they say it’s being used a lot in the mining sector due to the recent development.”

Even though potions are inherently expensive, if they are selling like hotcakes, it will be hard for troll’s blood to remain in stock.

For general injuries, priests can provide healing, but for internal injuries that require surgery, potions are practically essential.

“Hmmm… what to do.”

This is not a problem that can be solved in the short term.

The number of trolls hunted in the northern regions of the Empire is limited.

I know there are trolls in the New World, but there aren’t many territories that can be developed enough for hunting.

“And… this is a report from the Intelligence Department. They say that recently, the main faction has taken power in Babylon.”

The Babylonian Empire suffered irreparable damage from the Locusts in the original story, but I have eliminated the Locusts, and the Babylonian Empire remains intact.

“Since we’ve obtained a lot of drinking water, we should develop it. It’s a mountain beyond a mountain.”

The Babylonian Empire is eyeing Nicaea with great interest.

The enmity between Nicaea and the Babylonian Empire has a long history, dating back even before the formation of the Empire.

We must avoid war.

Right now, war would not benefit us at all.

We need to solidify our internal affairs.

The Empire is developing at an unprecedented rate.

In a few decades, we might create a gap that the Babylonian Empire will find hard to bridge, but if war breaks out, it’s only natural that our current progress will stagnate.

“During the next Cabinet meeting, provide a detailed report. No… why aren’t you reporting such important matters to me?”

There are two groups that do not follow my orders.

One is the Golden Knights, and the other is the Intelligence Department.

Karl, the head of the Intelligence Department, has been uncooperative with me.

Previously, he only provided daily reports to Terra.

“What? Karl didn’t give you the report?”

But when Terra said this with a look of surprise, I found myself puzzled instead.

“Wait, you didn’t know?”

“Of course, I thought you would report to me too, right?”

She slightly furrowed her brow.

“I’ll give a separate order. You’ll report to me as well.”

I nodded.

“While we’re at it… I’d like the Golden Knights to follow my orders a bit too. Just like during the Maximilian incident…”

She frowned.

“Are you really bringing that up?”

“Haha… But you were going to save him anyway, right?”

She crossed her arms and replied.

“It’s because I value Maximilian’s talent. If it were someone else, I would have had their head on a platter.”

“So, please talk to them nicely.”

At my complaint, she let out a deep sigh.

“Ha… Actually, I’ve told the Golden Knights to follow your orders as much as possible.”

“And yet, this is what I get?”

She raised her eyes in disbelief.

“That wasn’t just any incident, you know?!”

Thinking that if I said one more word, I might be tormented all night, I subtly turned my head away.

Ever since giving birth to Ian, my libido has been surging, and I’ve been whining every night.

Using the milking machine recently, I feel like I’ve been drinking wine more often, which seems to make it worse.

Sometimes I wonder if creating the milking machine was a mistake, but seeing her whine in my arms after drinking makes it somewhat adorable, so I’m not sure.

“Still, thanks to that, I can drink wine again, right? Isn’t that so?”

She hesitated, her lips moving uncertainly.

“That’s true, but the very idea is vulgar. Even the name of that device is ridiculous.”

“Huh? What’s wrong with the milking machine?”

At my words, her face flushed lightly as she shouted.

“It’s vulgar, isn’t it? How can you think of extracting milk from a woman’s breast…?”

I cut her off and said, “Then, hand over the milking machine.”

“No way!”

Her reaction was quite cute, and I said it playfully.

“Why? You’re being cheap?”

“Heh! But it’s for our son, so I’m doing it anyway.”

“Honestly, isn’t it convenient?”

She turned her head and replied in a small voice.

“Yes, a little… no, very convenient.”

Although I couldn’t see her face, her ears turned slightly red, indicating she was quite embarrassed.

***

Lucius caught Jo’s eye and she ran towards him.

“Lucius, oppa!”

“Jo-ya!”

—Thud!

As the two of them tightly hugged, the reactions of the people around them were divided.

Some were like parents who had brought their daughter’s boyfriend home, or like mothers and sisters who were cheering on love.

“What did you do today, oppa?”

Jo asked, and Lucius brightly replied.

“The legislative activities were easier than I thought? When I was a secretary to the emperor, I didn’t think the sun could be this warm.”

As a former slave, Lucius had been trained for years in harsh labor, so his activities as a legislator felt very easy.

In the empire, even the emperor had to respect the imperial legislators, and Lucius, who was dating the imperial princess, could be called the true winner of life.

“Hehe, I’m glad. Oppa.”

Jo was happy, despite having fought with Eurydice, and was truly happy at this moment.

They were in the midst of a passionate love that could kill or not live without each other.

However, there were many people who didn’t like these two…

They were the Golden Knights, the emperor’s personal guard.

To them, Jo, who had been raised like gold or jade since childhood, was being led astray by the worthless Lucius.

Fundamentally, the Golden Knights selected and trained people with exceptional talents.

However, in this place, most people didn’t have the ability to learn agriculture, martial arts, or war, and only those from wealthy families or nobles could receive the education to become knights.

To them, Lucius, a commoner who had forged documents, was extremely displeasing.

They would have liked to kill him without anyone noticing, but killing an imperial citizen without the emperor’s orders was a grave crime, so they endured it. However, if the emperor gave the order to kill Lucius, most of the Golden Knights would laugh and rush to his house to behead him.

So they gazed at Lucius with ominous eyes, but to the two of them, who didn’t know their true intentions, this moment was just too happy.