Chapter 308

Hans and Joseph see their scheme crumble, while Tara says her piece to Kyle.

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Episode 308. About One Month (8)

Empress’s Palace / Afternoon.

Just as Hans had predicted, the Duke of Toulouse and the Third Prince were facing off against enemy troops in front of the rear gate of the Empress’s Palace, escorted by Commander Taylor of the Toulouse Knights.

Taylor and Chris, the Second Prince’s closest knight, were locked in a fierce battle; three of the knights guarding the Third Prince had already fallen, and the remaining two guards were now facing off against a single Phoenix Knight.

While the battle raged on, Joseph threw open the back gate and was about to step inside when Hans clutched his left shoulder and hurried next to him.

“Your Highness… Hah. Let me accompany you.”

“Ugh, disgusting… You filthy bastard!”

The sewers were overflowing due to yesterday's rainfall, and Hans had been soaked up to his waist in filthy sludge when he tried to escape through them earlier.

Joseph and the Duke of Toulouse turned around and quickly covered their noses at the sight of him. Joseph was still wearing the imperial crown. 

"Please... ugh... come inside." The Duke sniffed.

"You... you bastard...!”

Just as the prince was about to explode at Hans and blame him for their current situation, the Duke of Toulouse urged him to hurry. "Let's get ourselves to safety first. Staying by Her Majesty the Empress’s side is the safest option right now.” 

He had noticed that Taylor was losing ground in the ongoing skirmish.

“Indeed, Your Highness. Hehe. We've mobilized the entirety of our military forces and they will be breaching the palace shortly. You need only leave everything to me. I have a plan for what comes next as well, Your Highness.”

“Fuck... It’d better turn out exactly as you say!”*

Joseph hurried to the Empress's Palace, cursing under his breath, while Hans trailed behind the Duke of Toulouse, slamming the door to the Empress's quarters behind them and locking it.

His left shoulder was on the verge of giving out, but Hans gathered his wits and struggled to keep pace with the two men in front of him.

"We had at least four times as many elite knights inside the ceremonial hall as he did, but still lost! It’s fine, though. They won’t be able to stop the hundreds of thousands of troops waiting outside the Capital and Palace grounds. All we have to do is kill the Emperor now that Joseph has the imperial crown.’

“Get out of the way! Move! Get lost! You useless fools!” Joseph shouted as he roughly shoved aside the maids who were blocking his path. 

"Aah!" Startled, they screamed and scrambled backwards.

Upon reaching the parlor in front of the Empress’s chambers, Joseph roughly flung open the door and stormed inside.

“Damn it! She’s not here!”

Only two maids remained in the parlor, and the Empress was nowhere to be seen.

"Has Her Majesty the Empress returned?"

Since the maids who had been with her in the Grand Ceremonial Hall were here, the Empress should be with them. Trembling, the maids answered the Duke’s question.

“We only found out a little while ago. She left for His Majesty's chambers...”

"Hehe. It seems she's gone... hehe... to the safest possible location."

“...!”

At Hans's words, Joseph and the Duke immediately entered the bedroom and headed toward one of the walls.

“Yes. The Emperor’s quarters are the safest place right now.”

There were several secret passages within the Imperial Palace. The most famous among them was the one that directly connected the Emperor's quarters to the Empress's.

"That's actually... heh... for the best. We should take a moment to devise our strategy."

“Strategy?” Joseph asked, his face twisted in a scowl. 

He waved his hand, signaling Hans to step back.

Hans took a few respectful steps back and spoke.

"After we enter the Emperor's quarters through the secret passage, you must prostrate yourself and beg for the Emperor's mercy."

“What?”

"I don't mean it literally. Hehe. Here—take this."

Hans pulled a sword from his robe and handed it to Joseph. The blade spanned the length of his forearm.

"You mean for me to... kill him myself?"

“This will be the only opportunity to catch the Emperor completely off guard. If we kill him, the Empire will be yours, Your Highness. The imperial crown rests upon your head. After the military enters the Palace, everything will fall into place, and we'll have a chance to regroup afterwards. Quickly, Your Highness, you must make your move!”

“Uncle.”

The Duke pondered the matter gravely. It was the only option. The moment the people of the Empire and the military learned that the Emperor was alive and unharmed, Joseph's claim to the Crown would evaporate.

The Duke nodded and pushed the door to the secret passage open.

***

The secret passage opened into the Emperor’s chambers.

As soon as he stepped into the room, Joseph sank to his knees and wept bitterly, begging for forgiveness.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Father. I have committed a grave sin. I have been blinded by my desire for the Imperial Crown and committed an unforgivable sin. Please! I am a shameful son, unworthy of your forgiveness, Father! Sniff. Sniff.”

"..."

Joseph's words met nothing but heavy silence, the words hanging in an empty bedchamber.

The Duke of Toulouse, who had not yet fully emerged from the secret passage, kept his head bowed, while Hans stood behind him, quietly observing the scene.

"Damn it... He’s already gone."

When Joseph quickly raised his head, he saw only the Empress seated in her chair; the Emperor was nowhere to be seen.

“Do you really think coming here now will make what you’ve done disappear?”

“...Where is he?”

Joseph pushed himself up from the floor and asked the Empress through gritted teeth.

“He left the Palace. He's personally attending the battlefield where the fighting is the fiercest.”

“Damn it!”

“How long ago did he leave, Your Majesty?” The Duke asked urgently. 

The Empress looked at him and flashed a faint, knowing smile.

“He's probably already outside the Palace by now, Brother. It's over. You must stop. I feel nothing but sorrow over your decision to abandon Franz and hasten your own doom in the process.”

The Duke of Toulouse staggered for a moment before collapsing heavily into a nearby chair. 

If the Emperor—in full possession of his faculties—made an appearance in the midst of the battle and personally declared the illegitimacy of the coronation, the military would immediately obey his order to disperse the troops. Even if the Head of the Military was a vassal of House Toulouse, he could not refuse a direct order from the Emperor himself.

Furthermore, the troops would refuse the orders of their general if he chose to openly defy the Emperor's commands. 

“What?! It’s over? No. It can’t end like this! There must be a way. Tell me! What’s the next plan? Hans Button! Speak! What must I do?”

As Joseph shouted, Hans emerged fully from the secret passage and bowed respectfully to the Empress, who scowled and covered her nose.

“How dare you! Who do you think you are to dare appear before me in such a filthy state!”

"...Hehe. Heh. I apologize for unintentionally subjecting you to such a sight, Your Majesty. I have a plan. First, Your Majesty, you must cross the border to Skandoa. Once there, you can apply for asylum on the condition that you will hand over your knowledge of Imperial secrets."

"Good heavens... What blasphemy is this!"

The Empress sprang to her feet and took a step backward.

“After that, all you need to do is win over the King of Skandoa and secure an army that will allow you to declare war on the Empire to reclaim the throne.”

“Have you been listening to this scoundrel this whole time, Joseph?”

Joseph's face twisted in anger at the Empress's words, and he glared at Hans as he continued to outline his plan.

“I have every weakness of the Imperial military right here in my head, Your Highness. Hehe. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time before the Empire collapses, Your Majesty.”

"How on earth do you expect us to reach the Kingdom of Skandoa? We’ll be caught before a single day has passed. Your plans always sound so plausible! Yet, they always end in disaster. Why didn't I realize this sooner? Why did I let myself be fooled by your poison tongue time and again? Why...?"

Joseph took a step toward Hans, who was still rambling with manic excitement.

"You will restore the Amure bloodline to this crumbling Empire. Prince Joseph Amure will return triumphant after escaping a rebellion from the traitorous Second Prince on the day of his coronation! There is no finer plan than this-- hehe. Such a feat will never be repeated, Your Majesty!"

Hans laughed, raising both hands high toward the sky as if delivering a monumental speech. His voice rose higher and higher as if each word was more intoxicating than the last.

“That's… enough.”

Joseph ordered, grinding his teeth. 

But Hans didn't stop, his eyes gleaming with feverish light. "In that case, heh... There is another option. Since this happens to be the Emperor's bedchamber... heh... we could simply wait here and launch a surprise attack on the Emperor, Your Highness."

“Stop it!” Joseph roared at him.

"Heh... or if that won't do, how about we set the Palace ablaze? Ah! That will work excellently. Once the flames devour everything, everyone will be preoccupied with the flames, and— guh!"

Joseph suddenly moved, and in an instant, the bedchamber was plunged into shock and horror.

***

At the same time, in the Grand Ceremonial Hall / Afternoon.

"Then why did you tell me you loved me?"

“…What?”

When he turned back to face her, tears were streaming down her face, her fists clenched tightly by her sides. She glared at him with shocking intensity.

“Why are you so incapable of trusting me, even for a moment? Even Bernard gave me the benefit of the doubt. So why are you—the man who claimed to love me the most—choosing to judge me without making the slightest attempt to exonerate me?”

“Don’t disappoint me any further. I have no desire to watch you fake a tantrum.”

“Me? Faking a tantrum? Ha! I don't care about your petty judgments. Fine! I don't care what you think, or whether you believe I'm acting—I don’t care about any of this anymore! I’m done proving myself to you!”

The knights, who had been otherwise occupied forming their ranks, glanced towards them. Their expressions reflected a mix of surprise and displeasure at her attitude towards their Prince.

“....”

She didn't hold back, as if completely unaware of their audience.

“What? Are you going to punish me for disrespecting you?”

“Stop.”

“No. I will not stop. Since this is the last time I plan on inflicting my presence on you, I’m going to say everything that's on my mind. I don't care whether you’re a Prince or the damned Emperor, Kyle Amure. None of that matters! I never wanted anything to do with you in the first place! You were the one who fell for me first while I was living my own peaceful life! You were the one who pursued me and insisted you could be the kind of man I wanted! Yet, at the end of the day, this is how you choose to treat me.... Forget it. Forget all of it! None of it matters anymore. Go ahead and think whatever you want. Go ahead and live your life believing that I betrayed you, that I pursued you for my own selfish means! Believe whatever helps you sleep at night, because I’m sick of this damn story—fuck the Chronicles of Oceria and everything to do with it—I no longer want any part of it! ”

With those final echoing words, she spun around sharply and picked her axe up off the floor.

Then, she calmly walked away without sparing him or his knights a second glance—leaving the bloody Ceremonial Hall—and him—behind.

__________

Editor’s Notes -

*The curse used here is 씨발 ssi-bal, basically the Korean version of 'Fuck' which describes this entire chapter quite eloquently

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