"LADY NYSTROM is a blessed one, isn't she?"

"The duchess succeeded in waking up His Holiness– a task that Her Royal Highness failed to do despite being given several chances to do so."

"But we shouldn't be surprised anymore. After all, Lady Nystrom was chosen to be the mother of Duke Nystrom's child."

"Yes, we can't forget about the prophecy that said that Duke Nystrom's son is going to be a special existence in the whole empire."

"Lady Nystrom has always been powerful since she was the only daughter of House Prescott– an old family and arguably the richest one in the empire. But now that she has become a duchess, she has become more influential."

"Now that His Holiness showed everyone that he favors Lady Nystrom, the duchess will certainly become the highest-ranking noblewoman in the empire."

"Personally, I don't see Duke Nystrom's worth yet. But he definitely lucked out by having Lady Nystrom as his wife. Once their son is born, the duke's background will be completely forgotten. I'm certain that the high society will embrace him fully now."

"I want to be close to Lady Nystrom but she has changed. She stopped organizing tea parties. And she also seems distant lately."

"Oh? Your goal has changed. I thought you wanted to be close to Her Royal Highness?"

"Lady Nystrom is also a part of the Royal Faction so she technically belongs to the princess's clique. And we don't even know if Her Royal Highness is still going to wake up."

"Shh! His Majesty is still in the area. He'd kill you if he heard you."

Aku stopped walking, then he took a deep breath to calm himself.

Right now, he was near the exit of the secret passage of the church. That was reserved for very important people like him.

He purposely expanded the scope of his sensitive hearing to listen to the conversation of his subjects. After what happened a while ago, he knew that people would talk. He kind of expected to hear the things he just heard.

Still, that pissed him off.

"Your Majesty?" Sir Gregory, who stood behind him, asked with a hint of worry in his voice. "Is everything okay?"

"No. Lady Nystrom is getting a little too powerful," Aku said. "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that right now, the duchess has the high society in the palm of her hand."

"Should we smear Duchess Nystrom's reputation?"

He shook his head. "As much as I want to bring the duchess down as soon as possible, I don't want Kiho to go down with her. Our original plan doesn't change: we'll start moving once she gives birth to her son."

"That's still a few months from now, Your Majesty," the old knight reminded him carefully. "By the time she gives birth to the child of the prophecy, she'd probably be the highest-ranking noblewoman in the empire. Especially now that Duchess Nystrom gained the saint's blessing."

"We can work that to our advantage," he said casually, then he started to walk again. "Lady Nystrom is a part of the Royal Faction on the surface. To be precise, she belongs to Nia's clique. If the other higher nobles and the commoners get fond of the duchess now that she has the saint's favor, then they will also think that the royal family has His Holiness by our side. Thus, Lady Nystrom's good reputation will strengthen the monarchy's power over the empire."

"Is that worth the risk, Your Majesty?"

"Of course," he answered with a chuckle, then he turned to his knight. "Sir Gregory, do you only see the benefit that Lady Nystrom gained by having the saint's favor? Did you not see the drawback that she also received from that?"

The knight looked confused. "I apologize, Your Majesty. But I can't see how gaining the saint's favor could be a disadvantage to the duchess."

He just smiled before he faced ahead while walking. "Aside from me, there's one group that wouldn't like Duchess Nystrom to gain too much power– and it's the Noble Faction. I'm certain that they will come up with a plan to kill the duchess before she becomes a problem."

"Oh, that's correct," Sir Gregory said. "Your Majesty, your ability to foresee all of this is incredible."

"I wouldn't be the emperor if I couldn't do that much," he said with a laugh. "Anyway, House Ainsworth is the acting leader of the Noble Faction. Once Captain Ainsworth comes to our side, I can finally control that stupid faction without them knowing."

"Do you already have a plan, Your Majesty?"

"Uh-huh," he said cheerfully while several ideas were flooding his mind. "I won't let the Noble Faction hurt or kill Lady Nystrom until she gives birth to Kiho's son. I'll make sure that Captain Ainsworth will limit the movement of the Noble Faction."

"And after Duchess Nystrom gave birth to her son…?"

"I'll let the Noble Faction do the dirty job for me," he said with a big smile. "Maybe Kiho wouldn't hate me that much if the Noble Faction killed his wife and not me."

"Ah, I see."

"So while waiting for the birth of her son, we must help Lady Nystrom reach the peak of the high society," he said. "Let her become richer, more powerful, and more influential. Her success will benefit the royal family. And at the same time, it will ire the Noble Faction so much that they will see Lady Nystrom as a threat that they need to eliminate no matter what."

"You've already thought that far, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, and that's just one of the scenarios I see," he said. "Lady Nystrom is a smart and a sassy woman. A good opponent like her warrants the best of me. It would be an insult to her intelligence if I don't go all out."

"You seem to be having fun, Your Majesty," Sir Gregory commented with a hint of amusement in his voice. "If only Duchess Nystrom didn't have the heart, I'm certain she'd be a good ally to you."

"Uh-huh," Aku agreed, feeling a bit regretful that Lady Nystrom had become an enemy instead of an ally. "I guess we were never meant to be good in-laws to each other."

***

"DUKE NYSTROM!"

Kiho frowned as soon as he saw the energetic Captain Sherwood coming his way.

Lu-something just left but now, another sasaeng fan has come to pester me.

He needed a break, dammit.

"Your face tells me that you're not very happy to see me," Captain Sherwood said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'm here to deliver good news to you. His Majesty asked me to tell you to fetch Duchess Nystrom and His Holiness from the parlor room. You'll be the head of their temporary security team. That means you'll be allowed to ride with them in the grand carriage."

That was indeed good news.

I already miss my Tilly.

"Thank you, Captain Sherwood," Kiho said formally, then he bowed to him before he started to walk away.

"How are you related to the woman you were talking to a while ago, Your Grace?"

He stopped and turned to the captain. "I'm not related to her in any way. She just got lost," he lied. He had no intention of explaining the real situation to Captain Sherwood. "Do you know her?"

"Count Huxley went around a while ago introducing his adoptive sister to everyone," Captain Sherwood told him. "I'm pretty sure that the woman that he introduced as "Lady Lucina Huxley" was the one you just talked to."

Kiho's eyes widened a bit in shock. "House Huxley adopted sasaeng fan #1?"

***

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