TOPWL 217

“You! How can you say something so horrible! Your brother is such a good boy. If he’s family, then he’s a sweet child. Even when he was sick, if he saw his mother crying, he would come running to comfort her, so how could you say that?”

“That happened when he was six years old. And strictly speaking, he didn’t come to comfort you. He came to tell you that the attendant spilled water.”

“Hiore!”

“I’ve had enough of being blamed for things I didn’t do. I can’t do it anymore. No, I won’t do it anymore!”

The empress stumbled as she heard Hiore’s shout. Her face turned pale from shock. It seemed she never imagined she would hear such words from her son.

“How can you treat me like this?”

“How can you treat me like this, Mother? Do you even see me… as your son?”

The empress, her face white, reached out with trembling hands and grabbed his collar.

“How can you say something like that? Of course you’re my son, the one I carried in pain and gave birth to…”

Her dignity disappeared, and the expression that she always made when she grew desperate appeared on her face. Hiore was always weak to that expression because in that moment, she didn’t look like the empress of the empire but just an ordinary mother.

“Then why are you so cruel only to me…”

Hiore spoke with a bitter look. The empress pulled him into her arms. He looked as if he might push her away any second, but he didn’t reject the embrace. Seeing her second son hesitate, the empress felt a bit of relief.

“That’s not it, my son. You’re all equally precious to me. You’re my children whom I brought into this world while tearing my own flesh, so how could you be different? As you know, Reginald’s success is the path to all of our prosperity, that’s why, you understand?”

As the empress kept persuading him, Hiore’s face started to look like he might cry.

“I’ve conquered three territories so far. During that time, Reginald has conquered only two.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying it would be better if I took the throne instead. I’m too afraid of you to ever lock Reginald in prison or harm him.”

The empress’s sorrowful expression vanished as soon as she heard those words. She gripped her son’s shoulders tightly, he had grown too big to fit easily in her arms, and she spoke firmly.

“My son, I’ve told you many times. All of that is His Majesty’s scheme. By giving Reginald poor results and giving you high ones, he makes you start to think this way. His Majesty always does this. What will you do if you fall for it too? Get a hold of yourself.”

She knew her words would not reach him, but she never thought he would be this unreachable. She felt like she had sunk into a pit.

“……”

When Hiore gave no response, the empress felt irritation rise in her. Her second son, who always obeyed her every word, was now defying her, and she thought, “how dare he?” She realized that if she didn’t rein him in right now, it would grow into a huge problem later.

“If you really don’t want to give up that thought… then go ahead.”

The empress slowly removed her hands from Hiore’s shoulders as she spoke. Hiore blinked as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yes. How could I stop such a pathetic act that even abandons family. Instead, on the day you ascend the throne, I’ll kill you and throw myself from the tower.”

The small hope that lit up Hiore’s chest died. It was miserable. It was so miserable that it made him laugh.

“Why must everyone support Reginald becoming emperor, and why is it that when I say I want to become emperor, it’s considered an act of abandoning the family…”

He didn’t say it expecting an answer. The empress had said the same thing to Hiore so often that his ears had grown calloused from hearing it. His strength drained from his body. What had he fought enemies for? What had he worked so hard for in the competitions until now? When Hiore could not continue speaking from shock, the empress, thinking he had finally come to his senses, tried once more to soothe him.

“I’m tired of saying it again, but your brother’s success is the path to all of our success. So please, pull yourself together.”

“…Yes.”

The empress smiled widely as she looked at Hiore, who finally looked like the son she remembered.

“So, what I mean is, Reginald should also have some prestige. About the territory you conquered this time, can you give the credit to your brother?”

“My territory too?”

“I’m asking you for your mother’s sake, who came all the way down here. I told you already…”

“That Reginald’s success is the path to all of our success. I understand. I’ll give you everything you want.”

“I’ll give Reginald even the land I gained by killing spies, killing Yudit, and cutting down countless enemies.”Hiore spoke harshly. The empress looked at him coldly, then gathered her things.

“Good. Then I’ll take that as settled and I’ll leave now.”

“…Yes.”

Before, he might have told her to stay a bit longer, but now he didn’t want to.

“The surroundings are dangerous. I’ll escort you.”

“All right, then shall I have my son escort me for once?”

The empress, who seemed in high spirits after getting everything she wanted, hummed cheerfully. Hiore lifted his head as they reached her carriage. But instead of the empress’s carriage, another one caught his eye. It was the kind used by high-ranking nobles, sturdy but plain and lacking decoration since it was made for war. It looked far too shabby for the empress of the empire.

“Why are you riding in something like this?”

“Reginald said mine was too old, so he gave me this one.”

“You met Reginald?”

“Yes. I’ve been staying in Reginald’s camp for some time now.”

“How could Mother stay on a battlefield?”

“You never sat even once in this place because you said it was filthy.” Hiore’s words made the empress look momentarily flustered, but she answered smoothly.

“Yes, but I couldn’t sleep from worry. As a mother, it’s the least I can do.”

“Since when have you been staying there?”

“Two months… no, maybe about one month.”

Hiore let out a small laugh at her words. The place where Reginald stayed and the place where Hiore stayed were quite close. Hiore looked at the empress’s face through the carriage window. Though she covered it with heavy makeup, he could see she had grown thin. He could see the affection that he would never receive in his entire life, and it suffocated him.

“So even then… you never came to see me.”

“Don’t twist my words. That’s why I came this time.”

“…”

When Hiore gave no answer, the empress forced down her irritation and reached through the carriage curtain to pat her son’s shoulder.

“I’m so glad I have you. You make me feel safe. I’d be so happy if you could support Reginald in the same way after he becomes emperor.”

Then take care of yourself, she said, words that sounded empty, and she left. Hiore quietly watched the shabby back of the departing carriage. When the carriage turned into a dot and disappeared, Hiore laughed.

“Ha, haha. Hahahahaha!”

It was the first time he realized he could laugh even through hollow laughter. Even if Reginald became emperor, Hiore would not be able to serve him. Because of this, he would either spend his life imprisoned or be cast out for some reason.

Hiore had already nearly died several times at Reginald’s hands. The reason was that Reginald disliked seeing him rush around to win the competitions. Even then, the empress didn’t bat an eye and said only that Reginald must have been very upset. The empress would never oppose Reginald’s will. No, she might even forget her second son existed, overcome with joy that Reginald had become emperor. Hiore twisted his lips. How could his life be nothing more than a side piece to someone else’s?

He suddenly thought of his older sister who had passed away early. When the young empress entered the imperial palace, it was already full of concubines. They were beautiful, sensual women who obeyed the emperor’s every word, and in that place, the empress managed to bear the emperor’s child, a daughter. But in the end, she was still a daughter, and the emperor never even looked at her. The empress, unable to control her temper, often took out her anger on the child, and the girl didn’t speak until she was three years old. No one if she was mute because of abuse or something congenital, but having a disabled first child between the empress and emperor was a serious problem. Especially when the emperor’s other children from his concubines were all healthy.

The empress chose to have another child rather than cure her daughter’s illness. Using her family’s influence, she pressured the emperor into sleeping with her regularly. Perhaps heaven pitied the daughter, for the empress suffered miscarriage after miscarriage. After four miscarriages, the child who finally survived was Reginald.