I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

“From this moment on, you are the prime minister of the Agrita Empire. Please do your best to help the Empire's situation stabilize quickly."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After the trial of Sios was over, Marquis Paren visited the Emperor with a report.

And Raymond put Marquis Paren in the place of prime minister.

Nobody was surprised at this turn.

"Marquis, the Prince Carlisle's preparation for appointment won't be a problem, right?"

"The official statement has been drawn up. Everything will be in accordance with the schedule. We will declare the second prince the heir to the throne tomorrow.

"The nobles will buzz about it for a while. It would be nice if everything went smoothly."

"We will do our best."

"…"

"Yeah. There must be a lot of work, so I'll leave now."

When Marquis Paren first left the office, a servant appeared.

"Sire. Duke Drua urgently asked an audience."

"Duke Drua?" Raymond's straight forehead narrowed.

The last audience with Drua didn’t go well.

In addition, Raymond knew that Jeremy had sent Ellie the dirt that buried Sios.

This kind of evidence could only have been collected by the former Duke Drua, who was mated to Marquis Sios.

Although he knew it, he just closed his eyes, pretending to be in front of Ellie.

But Jeremy came here.

Raymond thought he would sit quiet for a while.

And of course, the Duke knew that the Emperor would guess the evidence coming from Ellie.

"What I have to do?"

"Bring him here."

"Yes, sire."

Shortly afterDuke Drua entered the office.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor, Sun of the Empire."

"Get up."

Raymond asked, looking at Jeremy as he stood up:

"What happened to you that you are so suddenly?

"I want to report to you something. Before that, I ask you to clear the surroundings, Your Majesty."

Raymond's eyebrows rose at Jeremy's unusual face, but he soon winked at the servant, and the head of the palace brought out all the courtiers, and Raymond's lips parted.

"So what's the matter?"

"I found something in my father's secret safe."

"Is it some evidence?"

"…No. The matter is different, but that is why it is no less important. That is why I brought it to Your Majesty."

"Something else?"

Instead of answering, Jeremy laid the paper out on the table.

"This is…"

Raymond recoiled from the paper when he saw the image on the one.

After all, Edmund was there.

In the picture, he was younger than he is now, but it was definitely Edmund.

‘Why the portrait of the First Prince?'

Will the first prince rise and sit on the throne in the future? Will he avenge Marquis Sios?

That was his fleeting thought. He looked at Jeremy, finding what was happening is absurd.

"What else does this mean?"

"Look at the back, Your Majesty."

"Back?"

Raymond turned the paper over when he heard Jeremy's words, and was furious when he saw the name written.

Tywin Agrita.

A familiar name that he wouldn’t forget until he died.

It was his stepbrother who he slit his throat.

"Why is this name here?"

"I don’t know, but… A portrait with the name was found in my father’s safe."

Jeremy spoke very carefully.

"And I… I don't think the name would have been engraved on the back of His Highness the First Prince's portrait without a meaning."

‘The first prince and the name of the dead prince.’

No one could guess how angry Raymond would be at that moment if he saw them tied together.

He could, after all, simply grab the sword and kill Edmund on the spot.

Everyone knew how much Raymond hated and despised the late prince.

Raymond stared at Jeremy in silence. The sparkling eyes and the emotionless expression on his face were like an ambush beast.

A gloomy silence reigned in the office.

At a time when only his breathing was heard in the room, Raymond put the portrait on the table.

He tapped the table with his fingertips and said slowly:

"So… your find takes us to a prince who died before Edmund was born. What does this mean?"

If there is a connection between his murdered half-brother and the first prince, born later, there will be only one such connection.

‘The birth of the first prince.’

It was a relaxed voice, but Jeremy sensed the danger contained in it, yet he responded without hesitation because he was prepared.

"That is why I delivered the paper straight to Your Majesty."

When Jeremy answered with a hard face, energy immediately surged around Raymond.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? The person you now suspect is the first prince of the Empire. For just one random word, I can slit your throat."

"I know, but even if this is promised, I will not hide anything. But Your Majesty. My father wouldn't have kept that in a safe for no reason. If there is a mystery in this, shouldn't we shed some light on it?"

Raymond's life has been painfully busy lately.

And Jeremy was one of the first to fill his life with drama. Now he was gasping for breath, trying to squeeze out the last words, suppressed by the energy of the Emperor.

“…”

Raymond looked at the picture again. More precisely, in the name of the deceased prince.

Raymond knew it himself.

That the dead Duke Drua wouldn’t have locked anything like that for nothing.

Perhaps this picture was associated with the sins of Marquis Sios. It was a vulnerability in case he betrayed Drua. And if so, then this portrait was of great importance.

Lisa gave birth to a child in distant lands, and the priest from the temple only confirmed that the boy was from the imperial family. He couldn’t tell whose child it was.

‘If he really is… If he is a relative of the First Prince…'

From one thought, the fire inside asked outward, as if his head was about to explode.

Raymond took a deep breath and looked at Jeremy, who was bowing his head now, as if awaiting punishment.

"Is there anyone else who knows this?"

"Nobody ."

"You never delivered this portrait to me. Erase everything from your dear head. I must be the only one who knows this secret."

It was so terrible, and could be the greatest shame in the history of the Empire if it leaked out.

Jeremy had only one thing to say.

"I'll keep that in mind, Your Majesty."

At first, his role was only to convey the paper, but now everything will become more interesting.

"Go back."

Jeremy left the office, and Raymond jumped up from his seat with an upset stomach.

The forgotten dead prince.

He was the one who killed Raymond's mother and recklessly trampled on his whole life.

Even when Raymond cut off his limbs and slit his throat, the anger didn’t go away.

However, since he took the place of the Emperor he longed for and forbade the prince from burial in the tomb of the imperial family, at least Raymond felt that those humiliations were avenged.

‘But I can't believe it's related to the First Prince.'

‘Isn't that a tough, evil relationship that annoys you to death?'

Raymond's gaze rested on the First Prince's palace outside the window, where only the distant roof was visible.

When Lisa brought Edmund to him as his child, he had no doubts, because she spent the night with him before leaving for the Western Kingdom.

Although he had been with Lisa for over two years, until that moment they had never shared a bed.

But when it was decided to send her to the Western Kingdom, Lisa cried and rubbed at him.

She allegedly wanted to spend the first time with a loved one.

He didn’t want to, but he didn’t resist either, because then he went overboard with alcohol, and pity for Lisa outweighed him. And when he opened his eyes, it was already morning.

He didn't remember exactly what happened that night, but of course it would be his son… He didn't hesitate.

‘And how would she dare to fool the Emperor himself?’

But now that this portrait was in front of him, everything was too suspicious.

That night, Lisa, the first prince.

It has been 7 years since the first prince became his son.

However, he had no affection for the First Prince. He only looked at the boy as a small responsibility, but he had never felt the strange feelings he feels every time he sees Carlisle. To the point where he has nothing to say.

“…Is it because he wasn't my son?”

He didn't believe in the unknown attraction to blood ties, but he was sensitive to everything around him.

"What the hell am I thinking?"

Looking back at his own unfounded judgments, he turned to the window.

And he rang the bell on the table.

Hearing the sound, the butler arrived at the office.

"Bill, call Carter here."

"Yes, sire."

There was only one way to fight off doubts.

This is to find out the truth.

Raymond folded the portrait and put it in a drawer.

* * *

Days passed by in turmoil after the fall of the Sios family and the naming of the second prince, and finally the day of the banquet at the Imperial Palace arrived.

This is the largest banquet held at the palace in several years, and today's banquet was held in honor of the return of the Empress and the crown prince.

In the square of the capital, there was a buzz from conversations about the nobility and about the reception at the Imperial Palace. The palace itself was in full swing with work from early morning.

"Has Carlisle finished preparing yet?"

I looked around the banquet room and asked Helen.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has just finished his clothes.”

"So early?"

"The maids were able to finish their work quickly because he was very calm."

It was his first time wearing a coronation ceremonial uniform, so I was worried what would happen if he complained too much, but it was surprising that he did well. And for one thing, I thought he'd be looking pretty grumpy now, so I laughed.

"I'll have to look at Carlisle first."

I went upstairs to check on Carlisle before starting to get ready.