Chapter 145: Side Story 1 

The people who had been hiding in silence, trying to escape the pounding of hooves and the stomping of boots across the capital, began to cautiously peek out. There was no longer a trace of uproar. Peace had returned.

Those who flooded into the streets turned their gazes toward the imperial palace.

The imperial stronghold stood firm. As if nothing had ever happened.

A swell of emotion rose in their chests for reasons they couldn’t quite explain, and silence fell. No matter what might come, the Imperial Family would protect them from harm. And today, the Imperial Family had proven that trust.

A child wormed his way between the crowd and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Extra, extra! First report of the day! Get your papers!”

His face flushed red from yelling so hard.

“I’ll take one.”

A man dropped some coins into the boy’s tin bucket.

“Here you go!”

The boy beamed as he handed over a newspaper. The man, who had been reading another paper on a nearby bench, set it down with a worried expression and stood up. The headline was printed in bold, heavy letters. 

‘Divine Punishment: The Tragic End of Emperor Depier – Who Will Take the Throne Next?’

[The civil war that has shaken the capital for the past several days has come to an end. The precise cause of the conflict remains unclear, but it appears certain that tensions flared between the Temperchi Imperial Family and House Thersion.

It seems that clashes erupted in both the Thersion territory and the capital around the same time. The rift between Temperchi and Thersion stretches far into the past. So far, in fact, that no written records exist of its origin. But the buried conflict has finally surfaced.

The upper hand in this power struggle appears to have gone to House Thersion.

Even the Temple intervened in the matter, declaring that Emperor Depier had been struck down by divine retribution, thus naming the incident ‘God’s Punishment.’ … (continued)]

At the bottom of the article, it concluded:

[Now, everything lies in Thersion’s hands. Will they place another Temperchi on the throne? Or will they seize the crown for themselves and take hold of the Empire?]

A stray copy of the newspaper fluttered to the ground and rustled in the breeze.

* * *

Cleaning up the now-empty imperial palace had fallen squarely on Violeta’s shoulders. She clenched her jaw after seeing off Ysildus and Dephensores, who had left without a trace of hesitation.

“Heartless b*st*rds.”

Crack.

A sharp grinding sound came from between her clenched teeth, making the palace staff flinch. Violeta’s instincts were never wrong. Ysildus was the spitting image of his father. Uncannily self-serving to the very end.

Violeta, too, had someone she longed to see again, her sweetheart, her darling, her love. She had a son, too, big as a bear, gentle as a bunny. And yet, simply because she wasn’t as ‘strong’ as those others, she had been left behind.

All she could do now was wait for the little brat, the Ninth Prince, to show up. Contrary to what the newspaper claimed, the next person to sit on the throne had already been chosen. Jeremiah, the fox wagging his tail beside Alexa.

Would that brat arrive anytime soon?

‘Yeah, right!!!’

The kid who trailed after Alexa like a puppy would no doubt drag his feet until Ysildus arrived, only to be kicked out and sent packing.

At this rate, Violeta would have to take the throne herself and call back the ones she loved. If only Thersion hadn’t inherited the blood of the wolf god, making them longer-lived, physically superior, and ageless…

Snap.

The fountain pen in her hand split clean in two.

“Ghk!”

A nearby aide choked on his own breath, unable to withstand the tension. 

These were the ones who had chosen to remain in the palace after Depier’s death. Either they had failed to resist Thersion’s forceful display of power, or they had never had much loyalty to Depier to begin with.

Not that he had been a particularly virtuous Emperor. Who knew how many loyalists he even had?

Still, it was thanks to these few aides that Violeta could begin putting the palace back in order. Grinding her teeth, she flipped roughly through the documents.

“What are you all so jumpy about?”

She snapped, then pulled out a new pen. No point stewing in frustration, there was work to be done.

“N-no, ma’am!”

The aides quickly shook their heads. They had seen one too many fountain pens reduced to shards in her hands. She had broken more pens than the number of swords shattered on the battlefield.

They exchanged glances and swallowed hard. Better to jump ship than to sink with it, they thought… but doubt crept in.

One of the aides cautiously raised a hand.

“Um, Lady Violeta, may I ask a question?”

“Speak.”

Violeta barely lifted her gaze.

“Ahem. In the past, Emperor Depier implemented rather… coercive policies to restrict House Thersion.”

Even that, he had phrased as gently as possible.

“And?”

Her eyebrow arched. The disapproving angle of it made the aide’s heart plummet.

“Ahem. I just wanted to clarify that such actions were never our will. It was entirely the Emperor’s doing. We strongly opposed his methods. House Thersion has done so much for the Empire, and treating them that way was unconscionable.”

“Oh, really?”

Violeta set her things down and crossed her arms. Rising from her seat, she walked past the aides, who bowed their heads in unison.

“Is that so?” Her voice turned biting. 

Now that she thought about it, though they were breathing the same air in the same room now, they had once been mortal enemies. These were the very people who had once plotted to kill her and her husband.

“So you’re saying you tried to stop Depier, but that b*st*rd just wouldn’t listen?”

She was already seething. Why bring up the past now? If they hadn’t spoken, she might not have remembered at all.

“Y-yes! That’s right! I mean, really, what power did we have? We just followed orders. Even if they were unfair…”

“I understand perfectly Then you’ll have no problem obeying me without question from now on, right?”

She stopped in front of the chatty aide.

The wolves of Thersion were tall. Violeta, blessed with the same blood, towered above them. She was clearly taller than everyone in the room.

‘Did they grow up without a proper meal?’

Violeta narrowed her eyes. They say not to bully the weak, but these weren’t just anyone, they were enemies. And enemies deserved payback, a hundredfold.

The aide trembled.

“Y-yes?”

“You’re not still more afraid of the late Emperor than you are of me, are you?”

The man shrank even smaller.

“I asked if you’ll do everything I tell you to.”

“O-of course, absolutely.”

He grinned sheepishly, and the others nodded as if their lives depended on it. Violeta chuckled.

“Oh? Then I guess I’ve been doing all this work for nothing.”

She extended her long, elegant finger and pointed at the mountain of documents on her desk.

“From here to there, take care of all of it.”

Violeta cheerfully gave her order and strode out of the room.

“L-Lady Violeta!!”

She ignored their plaintive calls. Spending too much time in a stuffy room like that made even the most reasonable person start to lose their humanity. Violeta walked briskly.

The palace was still in chaos.

Now that the war was over, nobles were scrambling to promote their own favored princes to the throne. Let them yammer on, a bite from one of Thersion’s wolves would shut them up real quick. Violeta had locked the doors herself and posted the wolf knights to guard them. No one dared open those doors without her say-so.

At least that was something.

Still, the rest of the palace was in no better shape. Even as Violeta walked past, no one paid her much mind as they were too busy.

She made her way to a secluded part of the grounds. Now that she’d secured herself a few worker ants, it was time to put them to proper use. They were already terrified of her so no doubt they’d get the job done, even if it nearly killed them.

She wandered aimlessly, until a lone spire appeared in the distance. It stood in an isolated part of the palace, where no one passed through.

Violeta sniffed the air instinctively, her nose twitching. Then she tilted her head.

‘That smell… it’s familiar.’

……

T/N: From here on, I would add the beautiful third cover of this novel. Golden-haired was obviously Jeremiah, the one wearing white is Ysildus, and the one kneeling on the ground is Terrun, not really difficult to guess hahahaha they actually look the same if not for their clothes lels