Chapter 169 – Shocked Together With Heinley

“Your Majesty. Even if you confine Navier, King Heinley must be released soon.”

Marquis Karl looked worriedly at Sovieshu as he offered his best counsel. It had already been four days since the former empress and King Heinley were prevented from leaving the mansion. Since the residence was relatively visible, the people of the Western Kingdom would find out that their king was trapped in the Eastern Empire capital. If this risky situation continued, it would certainly escalate into an international problem.

“The Western Kingdom’s power is not to be taken lightly, Your Majesty.”

Sovieshu knew that. He had been suffering a headache for four full days because of it. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against his temple. Marquis Karl’s nagging, which repeated everything he knew, only added to his fatigue.

“You cannot let the relationship go wrong.”

“…”

Sovieshu waited for Marquis Karl’s nagging to continue, but it strangely ended there. He expected at least five more paragraphs detailing his mistakes.

Sovieshu half-opened his eyes and glanced towards his secretary. Marquis Karl was looking at him with a hesitant expression. Sovieshu sighed.

“What is it you want to say?”

At the Emperor’s permission, Marquis Karl drew himself up and spoke.

“Your Majesty. Because this is a marriage between two countries, why don’t you send a congratulatory gift to show your generosity?”

“Congratulatory gift?”

“Yes, for the wedding anniversary of King Heinley and—”

“Gift?”

Sovieshu’s eyes darkened. His face seemed to say “Are you crazy?”

Marquis Karl lowered his gaze as if the words he had spoken weren’t quite right. In truth, he thought conciliation was best for the country. It would be better if Navier were treated as “esteemed noble daughter of the Eastern Empire” rather than “the divorced empress”. The future relationship between the Eastern Empire and Western Kingdom may be strained, but maintaining it was the best course of action.

However…

Marquis Karl awkwardly put his hands together. The problem of embarrassment between the countries was tremendous. If Sovieshu gave his ex-wife a congratulatory gift, some may view him as a generous person, but others may think he was crazy.

Sovieshu thought the notion ridiculous, regardless of his unpleasant feelings. He didn’t want to speak harshly to his favorite secretary, but he gritted his teeth.

“Then you send a gift when your wife remarries another man. Like a better man would.”

Afterwards, Marquis Karl left. Sovieshu slammed his desk with his fist. Despite his anger, he knew he could not keep King Heinley any longer, nor Navier, whom the High Priest directly approved for remarriage. Although there was no wedding, the High Priest already left the capital, and he would instruct that all official documents would record Heinley and Navier as a married couple. As such, that also made Navier the queen of the Western Kingdom.

That only made Sovieshu angrier.

Navier remarried. She and Sovieshu had been together since childhood. He thought they would part for only a time, and then see each other again. But that damn Heinley…

“Shit, Heinley Heinley Heinley!”

He roared and pounded the desk with each word. The blue bird in his office woke up in surprise and stared at him through the cage. It must be thinking he was crazy.

Sovieshu finally raised his arm to his forehead, took a deep breath, then rang the bell on the desk. A servant walked in the room, and Sovieshu barked an order at him.

“Get me Duke Elgy!”

When Duke Elgy was finally brought into the room, Sovieshu immediately went straight to the point.

“I hear you’re a friend of King Heinley, Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ve known each other since we were children.”

“You’ve heard of everything that happened between me and King Heinley.”

“Well…”

Duke Elgy smiled vaguely as if he were embarrassed to answer. Sovieshu stared at him coldly.

“I can’t hold the Western King for long, so I’m considering sending him back.”

“Thank God.”

“Can you take King Heinley from the Troby mansion?”

“Take”? Duke Elgy thought the word choice was strange. Why not “bring”?

“What do you mean?”

“I want you to go to the Troby residence and take only King Heinley.”

Duke Elgy then realized Sovieshu’s intentions. Because Heinley and Sovieshu were in a bitter feud, it would look as if Sovieshu were backing down if he released Heinley. On the other hand, if Duke Elgy—a friend of King Heinley—rescued the king, Sovieshu would preserve his pride. Duke Elgy inwardly admired the Emperor’s cleverness.

“Very well. What about Navier?”

“It’s King Heinley that’s urgently needed in the Western Kingdom now, not Navier.”

Duke Elgy hesitated for a moment, but then smiled and made a noise of agreement. He stood up and left the room.

Afterwards, Sovieshu summoned all of his secretaries.

“Find a law that prohibits an empress from remarrying. Whether it’s history, code, etiquette—scour every scrap of paper you can. Do it as soon as possible.”

***

A few hours later, after Duke Elgy deemed it enough time for Sovieshu’s order to be delivered to the guards, he climbed into a carriage and travelled to his destination.

His thoughts were troubled. He could not yet confront Sovieshu head on, but this was an opportunity to gain his favor. If Duke Elgy handled this personal request well, he could gain the Emperor’s trust.

However, his friendship with Heinley had to be considered. Heinley was deeply infatuated with Navier. Wouldn’t he be frustrated to leave Navier behind? Heinley and Duke Elgy had similar short-term goals, but their end purposes were different. Because of this, they maintained a cooperative relationship and exchanged power and information as needed, and did not interfere with each other’s plans.

In this case, however, gaining Sovieshu’s trust would mean hurting Heinley. Heinley may become angry at Duke Elgy, but their partnership wouldn’t break as long as they shared common goals.

On the other hand, “rescuing” both Heinley and the former empress would cause Sovieshu to distrust him. Heinley would certainly be grateful to Duke Elgy, but it wasn’t a useful move. They were already allies.

“Hmmm.”

Duke Elgy hummed and tapped his cheek.

“There’s an answer. I wonder what will come out.”