I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

"You said you would name the second prince…?" Lisa asked in despair, because she didn’t want to believe what she had heard.

Raymond spoke, looking directly at Lisa, who was losing her composure.

"Yeah. I name Carlisle my successor."

Lisa was speechless, overwhelmed by his calm words.

Her son is the first prince, but not the heir.

‘No way…'

She barely suppressed what she wanted to cry out.

Now she won't be able to gain anything by fighting Raymond in the open.

"Your Majesty… The second prince hasn’t even appeared before the nobles. And there is still the first prince, Your Majesty's son. If you appoint an heir so quickly… There will be a lot of rumors."

Raymond replied as if he expected it:

"That's why I'll give you the title. It’s no good for Edmund if you’re involved in the Marquis’ conspiracy. And if the mother of the first prince is the first to express congratulations to the newly appointed crown prince, the useless rumor will quickly fade."

"…You mean, you give me a title in exchange for sending a congratulatory speech for the Second Crown Prince’s coronation and pushing the First Prince with my own hand?"

"This is how it is."

Raymond stared at Lisa's furious face and spat out emotionless words.

His firm words completely deprived her of all reason.

It seemed that she would rush at Raymond right now.

Push Edmund out of the prince's chair with her own hands?

Send congratulations to Ellie's child?

It couldn't be crazier.

Lisa was now looking straight into Raymond's black eyes.

"You are so bad, Your Majesty. For seven whole years! For seven years Edmund served the country from the place of the first prince! How can you be so heartless?!"

"And this, in your opinion, is heartless?"

"Yes! Heartless and cruel. Did Edmund ever do something wrong?"

Lisa trembled with anger.

Shouts rang out in the study.

She had never yelled in front of Raymond before.

But now she could no longer make rational judgments.

The throne was to remain with Edmund.

She made a gamble and put everything in Edmund's heart.

Even if she couldn’t become an Empress, she could still seize power through her son.

But suddenly, why to give the position of crown prince to the son of Ellie, who came out of nowhere?

Raymond kept looking at Lisa's face full of anger.

‘Is this how you really look?'

This was unfamiliar, but oddly enough, the usual discomfort between them suddenly disappeared.

"Your son is the grandson of Marquis Sios."

Raymond said coldly.

Even if it was heartless, there wasn’thing he could do about it. This is what imperial power is.

No matter how the boy puffed up, if his mother's family collapses and the forces that supported him collapse, he won’t see power.

If Marquis Sios hadn’t conceived a conspiracy, and Lisa hadn’t crossed the line, he wouldn’t have been able to replace Edmund with Carlisle so cleverly.

"Don’t make mistakes. It wasn’t I who barred Edmund's path to the throne, but Marquis Sios."

"If I refuse? If I don’t accept the title and play a part in naming the crown prince, will you kill me?"

"No way."

Raymond shrugged and continued leisurely.

"How many reproaches will go in my direction if I kill the mother of the first prince after naming the second? In addition, sympathy for the first prince will only increase from such a step. I wouldn't do such a stupid thing."

"If you know this is stupid, put aside the naming…"

"Then you will be left with nothing at all."

Raymond's cold voice cut her off.

Raymond's eyes, which until now had been insensitive, changed terribly, and Lisa shuddered and froze.

"The sins of the Marquis are so obvious that there will be a question about your involvement. You will be stripped of the title of noble, your father will be sent into exile, and then Edmund will have no one left at all."

"Your Majesty."

"I don’t need to retell you the fate of those princes, whose family collapsed? You know very well yourself."

Lisa trembled.

A prince with only a title left.

His end was either death or suffering when he was kept alive as the only prince. But barely alive.

"This is a threat?"

"You and Edmund. Let's say this is my last favor to keep both of you alive. Edmund is certainly innocent here."

Lisa gave strength to her trembling hands.

It seemed that her heart was about to burst with overwhelming anger, because now Raymond was more sincere than ever.

Those black eyes in front of her were the same as those of a wild beast aiming at her neck.

And she knows how cruel he can be if he wants to.

He was the one who killed his father and brother and took the throne. It can be assumed that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill his own son from an unloved woman.

"The choice is yours."

Lisa almost laughed like a madman at these words.

The answer was already clear. But ‘the choice is yours’.

It was like driving her into a corner and sentencing her to death.

Her hands were itching to throw something at his head.

Her whole body trembled with indignation and shame.

Lisa slowly bowed her head to the Emperor and gave an answer:

"I will follow Your Majesty's will."

"Then leave."

And Lisa left the office with a white face.

She was so out of her mind that she didn’t even notice how she walked out of the corridor.

"Milady!"

The moment she left the palace, Lisa staggered from the bright sunlight hitting her eyes.

She felt the surprised servant hastily grabbed her hand, but now Lisa could only laugh like a madman.

‘Carlisle will become the crown prince.’

It no longer mattered whether her father was on the verge of death, and her family was on the verge of collapse.

The fact that Ellie's child was to be the crown prince was driving her crazy.

"Ha-ha."

‘I should have killed you a long time ago.’

When she returned to the Empire, when she left the throne, she should have been killed then.

If everything had happened like this, the second prince wouldn’t have been born at all.

Lisa’s heart was filled with regret.

But then a ringing voice, which seemed to carry in itself a mockery, rang in her ears.

"Lady Sios."

Freeing the hand of the servant, Lisa elegantly turned to the approaching Ellie.

* * *

She stared at me dully and didn’t even move.

Are you saying you don't even care about your surroundings?

Looking at her pale face and dead green eyes, it seemed as if she had already heard Raymond's news.

Marquis Sios collapsed and the possibility of the Crown Prince's seat disappeared and she went crazy?

In front of the Imperial Palace, where an uncountable number of nobles were passing, Lisa stood directly in front of me, but didn’t greet me.

Helen screamed, unable to bear the rudeness.

"Lady Sios, show courtesy to Her Majesty the Empress!"

But Lisa didn’t even think about it.

She just tensely turned her head and studied me from top to bottom.

"Oh my God. How badly Lady Sios is in her heart right now. The family is on the verge of death, and it is a miracle that you are still standing here on your own two feet."

Spitting it to her, I came even closer.

Then, with an innocent smile on my lips, I took her hand.

Her cold hands told me how shocked she was.

One day, the family fall, and the title of crown prince was taken away, to which it was a stone's throw.

But that alone won’t ease my anger.

"I heard the news about the Marquis. I warned you. Don't touch Carlisle and me."

Lisa's face wrinkled.

"I… I was just trying to protect my son."

Lisa's offended voice trembled. I felt the strength in her grip, as if she was trying to break my hand.

"No. You put your son below yourself. And if you hadn't done anything, I wouldn't have had to reveal Carlisle's existence.”

“…”

“And I wouldn't have sailed to the Empire at all, if you hadn't been ridiculously greedy. But you and your family ruined everything. Honey, don't blame anyone, just blame your stupidity.”

“…!”

“If it were not for you, your son would have already been the crown prince.”

And I don't even see anything wrong with that.

If not for the deeds of the Sios family, Carlisle wouldn’t have been the crown prince, we would still live a simple life in the Lund Kingdom.

Bam-!

I caught her rolling her green eyes and let go of her hand.

Lisa staggered and fell to the ground.

"Milady! What are you…!"

I saw Lisa's empty eyes, but I didn't feel any sympathy, because she was the one who shouldn't have crossed the line.

It was just a little sad that I couldn't kill her right now.

"Lady Sios seems to be unwell, so hurry up and take her to the Marquisate."

The last time I looked at Lisa with cold eyes, stepped over her and headed inside the palace.