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He listened to everything.

From the moment Kyle said he had received Juliet’s Blood Moon Ring from an anonymous sender, and up to the moment the count deactivated the barrier in the palace to let the God of Recollection in.

He heard the traitor loud and clear, but he didn’t understand a thing.

“You did everything for Juliet?” Nikolai asked through gritted teeth, then he grabbed the cell bars separating him from the traitor. “You did everything to create the ‘perfect’ Royal Family? That’s it? That’s the only reason you betrayed me and sold my children out?!”

To say that he was angry would be an understatement.

For the first time in a while, his whole body was shaking in anger. His Mana was fluctuating and threatening to explode. But he was holding back because the underground prison where Mona threw Kyle in was below Yule Palace. It was the secret underground cell that the previous emperors would use if they wanted to punish someone personally.

.....

Nero was currently in his palace with Mona, so he was holding back from blowing up the entire underground basement.

“Your Majesty, I’m also doing this for you,” Kyle, who was standing emotionlessly in front of him, said in an eerily calm voice. “Your Majesty is the strongest and the most perfect de Moonasterion emperor in history. Your Majesty’s only flaw was falling in love with the wrong woman.”

He let go of the jail bars in fear of crushing them.

[This bastard... he’s not even a bit remorseful for what he did!]

He was in utter disbelief.

But perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“I’ve always known that you never liked Mona,” he said. “But I didn’t know that you hated her this much.”

“Your Majesty’s predecessors had said many times that the Roseheart Blood is the blood that would end the de Moonasterion bloodline someday.”

“Don’t give me that nonsense,” he snapped at the count. “My predecessors have just always been afraid of the Rosehearts because they’re one of the few people who could kill the de Moonasterios. They only wanted to get rid of the Rosehearts because of their own cowardice.”

Kyle fell silent for a moment. “That doesn’t mean that Lady Roseheart is the right woman for Your Majesty.”

He closed his eyes tight before his vision turned red. “And who gave you the right to decide whether or not Mona is the right woman for me?”

“How could Your Majesty choose Lady Roseheart when someone as perfect as Empress Juliet exists?” the count asked, his voice filled with resentment. “Empress Juliet is beautiful inside and out. She’s well-educated, she came from a prominent family, and most of all, she’s blessed with Mana that’s said to be similar to divine power. Until now, we don’t know what kind of Mana it is, but the former saint confirmed that her Mana is as pure as your divine power. Can’t you see it, Your Majesty? Empress Juliet is born to be the Mother of the Empire!”

“Is that what Juliet wanted?”

When Kyle remained silent, he opened his eyes.

As expected, the count looked confused as if he had never considered what Juliet wanted for herself because he was too blinded by his own greed.

“For someone who claims to be loyal to Juliet, you don’t even know what she truly wanted,” he said, mocking Kyle’s “loyalty.” “You don’t know anything, do you?”

“I know what Empress Juliet wanted to be in the past, but it doesn’t suit her,” Kyle insisted firmly. “Empress Juliet’s purpose was and will always be to become the Mother of the Empire.”

Hah!

This was truly futile.

“You only wanted to see the picture-perfect Royal Family in your head, Kyle,” he said coldly. “But even though you know what Juliet truly wanted to be in the past, you still think that you have the right to decide that the life that you pictured for her was the life that she had to live? Are you that blinded by your own greed?”

“Your Majesty is the one who can’t see the right path because you’re blinded by your obsession with Lady Roseheart,” Kyle said, visibly confused. “Your Majesty and Empress Juliet have the duty to rule the empire together. Your Majesty and Empress Juliet have the duty to produce a competent heir to the throne. Your Majesty and Empress Juliet were born for those reasons.”

Hah.

Why was he even trying?

Talking sense into a person as close-minded as Kyle was a waste of time. The count had already convinced himself into believing the picture-perfect lie that he had created in his head.

And the crows knew that.

“Kyle, you know what those crows did to Nichole,” he said, his voice filled with resentment. “And yet, you dared to join hands with them?! You saw how my twin sister suffered because of them!”

“What happened to Princess Nichole was truly unfortunate,” Kyle said, but his face and voice were both emotionless. “I consider it a blessing in disguise, though. If that didn’t happen to the Princess Royal, then she wouldn’t have given her life force to Your Majesty when you needed it to extend your life when you almost died-”

“Kyle Sprouse!”

The anger in his voice made the ground shake hard.

Kyle stumbled a bit, but he immediately regained his balance.

He wanted to believe that those damned crows had poisoned Kyle’s beliefs, and this was the result of it. But based on what the count had said regarding Nichole, he could tell that Kyle had a corrupted mind all this time.

[Kyle truly believes that I, along with Juliet and Calyx Dalton, will complete the perfect Royal Family in his head- and he’s already too blinded by that delusion to see anything else.]

He hated to admit this, but it was already too late for him to knock sense into his friend...

Friend.

That word made him smile bitterly.

He genuinely saw Kyle as a friend, but...

“Kyle Sprouse, have you never thought of me as your friend?” he asked bitterly. “Not even once?”

“How could I think of Your Majesty as my friend?” Kyle asked with as much bitterness. “I was raised to be Your Majesty’s aide. And as the empire’s chancellor, it’s my duty to keep Your Majesty in check, and lead you to the right path if you go astray.”

Ah, so that was all he was to Kyle.

A mere emperor that he needed to keep an eye on- someone who would lead the empire with the “perfect Royal Family.”

[All just to complete the image that he has created in his mind.]

He couldn’t understand Kyle’s obsession with creating the Royal Family. But even if he asked the count, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t understand his explanation anyway.

One thing was clear though: Kyle Sprouse had betrayed him.

“I guess I was the fool to think that we were friends all this time,” he said, clenching his hands, biting his lower lip until he tasted blood in his mouth. “Mona, Juliet, Glenn, Gavin, Rufus, and you. The seven of us practically grew up together. There were others who got close to our circle, but they left one by one. Only the six of you had stayed with me until I ascended the throne.”

But when he became the emperor, he had also lost most of them.

“Juliet passed away untimely, Gavin betrayed me, I lost Mona, and Rufus and I drifted apart after Gavin’s betrayal,” he said. “During that time, only you and Glenn stayed by my side.” He smiled bitterly at Kyle. “I was a fool to trust even though you’ve never hidden your hostility towards Mona and my children- especially towards Neoma. I shouldn’t have given you the benefit of doubt. I should have taken your opposition to my family more seriously.”

He thought everything was falling back into place these past few years.

After all, he and Rufus had patched up their almost broken relationship ever since he had asked his cousin to help him hide his children.

Even though Glenn left his side to become the king of Hazelden, he remained loyal to him.

Then, recently, Mona had finally returned.

So why was this happening now?

He should be happy that Juliet had returned alive, but how could that be possible if she had returned with the crows behind her?

And now, Kyle had betrayed him for Juliet.

“Your Majesty doesn’t need friends,” Kyle said in a voice void of emotions. “Your Majesty should only care about the Royal Family. Anyone other than the empress and your heir is nothing but a weakness.”

Ah, he couldn’t listen to Kyle and his nonsense anymore.

“That would be the last “advice” I’d hear from you as my aide and as the chancellor, Kyle Sprouse,” he said coldly. “From now on, you’re relieved from your position. Your entire family will be summoned and investigated, too.”

The count didn’t react as if he had already expected that.

“Since you’ve committed treason, you don’t need a trial- you’ll be headed for public execution right away,” Nikolai said, then he turned his back on the traitor. “I wish I could kill you myself, though.”

***

“YOUR MAJESTY, the news about Kyle Sprouse’s betrayal has already spread in the empire as you instructed.”

Nikolai, who was drinking vodka in his office, listened to Geoffrey Kinsley’s report.

“I’ve also informed Glenn- I mean King Glenn of Hazelden about the count’s betrayal,” Geoffrey continued with his report. “The Fletcher Twins are currently on an away mission given by Prince Nero, but I’ve sent them a message regarding that, too.”

Nikolai nodded, then he took a sip of his vodka because he spoke. “Very well.”

“Your Majesty, I believe the crows will come and save Kyle Sprouse,” the Paladin said nervously. “Should I take care of him before they get to him?”

“No, let them save Kyle,” he said, since he already expected that to happen. [Kyle wouldn’t be as calm as he is right now if the crows did not promise him to be rescued.]

“Your Majesty, do you still consider Kyle Sprouse as a friend?”

“I’m not letting him escape because I still see him as a friend,” he said firmly. “I’m letting him escape because he couldn’t be publicly executed. Although I told Kyle that he’d be sent to public execution, both him and I knew that it’s not possible.”

“How is not possible when Kyle Sprouse betrayed Your Majesty?”

“We can’t tell the public that he sold out Neoma and Nero’s information because the royal secret would be revealed,” he said, frustrated. “Moreover, most of the nobles would side with Kyle if he insisted that he betrayed me in order to help Juliet reclaim her place as the empress.”

But he knew it wouldn’t end there.

After all, the crows were involved.

“Worst of all, the crows are good at influencing the public,” he added, then he sighed. “If the people of the empire found out that I’ve punished Kyle Sprouse with public execution for helping Juliet and Calyx Dalton, I will only get criticized. Once that happens, the only thing I could do is to lock up Kyle Sprouse.”

.....

Geoffrey frowned. “I can’t believe Kyle would get away with betraying Your Majesty this easily.”

He smirked at that. “Geoffrey, do you know why I told Kyle that he’ll get publicly executed even though I know that it’s not possible?”

The Paladin knitted his eyebrows, then he shook his head.

“It’s because I want the crows to help him escape,” he said, smirking. “Kyle committed treason, and before the investigation begins, he escaped. That’s pretty much admitting that he was guilty.”

“Ah, I get it now,” Geoffrey said, his eyes went wide a little. “If Kyle Sprouse escaped after committing treason...” He gulped hard. “Then we gain the right to execute him on the spot once we get a hold of him.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Nikolai said, his eyes were now glowing red. “I’ll let Kyle Sprouse escape now so I could kill him with my own hands later.”

***

GLENN only realized that he was crying when the letter in his hands became unreadable after getting wet with his tears so much. The content of the letter was written lightly, but the weight that came with it crushed his heart.

[Kyle Sprouse has betrayed His Majesty, and sold out Princess Neoma and Prince Nero to the crows.]

He knew that Kyle wasn’t a fan of Lady Roseheart and the royal twins, but he didn’t expect the crow to betray His Majesty that way. Moreover, he couldn’t believe that he had joined hands with the crows, with all people.

[He knows what happened to Princess Nichole and how that affected His Majesty in the past, and yet, he dared to join hands with them?]

Glenn understood that Kyle had always been obsessed with Empress Juliet.

Even so...

“I can’t forgive you, Kyle Sprouse,” Glenn whispered to himself while crumpling the letter in his hands- his tears wouldn’t stop falling yet. Because even though he was mad, he was also hurt because of Kyle’s betrayal. He treated him as a friend despite their differences, but that would end now. “I’ll kill you myself when I see you, you traitor.”

***

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