At that moment, everyone attending the investiture ceremony turned wide eyed and looked toward the source of the sound.
There stood Sylvia Felkins, the 11th Consort, with her hand raised.
In her other hand, a young child was clutching her hand.
Huh? Was there a prince like that? I have never seen him before.
Come to think of it, I believe I heard news that the youngest prince had been born to the Felkins family.
Amidst the murmuring nobles, Sylvia smiled shyly, while her son Isaac stood stiff with surprise at the overwhelming attention he had never received before, not even once since his birth.
The Emperor, unaware of anything, welcomed her warmly, saying things like, As expected of the resilient Sylvia. You are always in such good health.
The aristocrats had pooled their strength to keep the young imperial children who would read the declaration from attending, but their plan failed due to one prince they had not anticipated.
Thus, with just one prince reading the declaration, the investiture ceremony concluded without incident.
“Sylvia Felkins. Your body and mind must be wholly devoted to the Empire. Swear allegiance to the flag of Maschburg and the nation it represents. Our unity and nationalism are strengthened by our reverence for His Imperial Majesty and our love for this country. Vow steadfastly to serve the eternal glory of Maschburg, even in unseen places.”
These were the words Sylvia Felkins had heard from her father her entire life.
The Felkins family was a knightly house whose family creed was honesty and loyalty to the nation.
The Emperor’s Sword. The Felkins family lived solely on the taxes from their lands and the stipends received from the state, thinking only of the safety of the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince, without seeking any personal gain.
When Isaac arrived on Earth, he realized his maternal grandfather was roughly equivalent to a Chief of the General Staff. Had his grandfather possessed even a shred more ambition, he might well have attempted to crown Isaac emperor.
The late Earl Adel Felkins had served his entire life as commander of the Imperial Guard. Sylvia, visiting the palace to see her father, caught the Emperor’s eye and became the 11th Imperial Consort.
Having only seen the delicate, slender concubines, the Emperor was utterly entranced by Sylvia’s healthy, vibrant charm.
From this time onward, he became convinced of the importance of exercise, pouring all his energy into physical training and passionately preaching its benefits to those around him.
However, whenever the topic of exercise came up, the concubines could not hide their boredom. Amidst this daily accumulation of small wounds, this muscular, charming young lady he had just met listened attentively to his fitness training stories and even offered advice that was truly nourishing.
One day, straddling the line between friend and lover, the Emperor made a unilateral confession and declaration to Sylvia. Within two months of meeting him, Sylvia became a concubine.
“Sylvia, I will make you happy for the rest of your life. You belong to the Inspectorate, right? Just say the word. The next head of the Inspectorate is you.”
Yet Sylvia was not particularly pleased by this confession.
She accepted it wholeheartedly only because she could not refuse.
Did he not understand what marrying the daughter of the Imperial Guard Commander meant?
At that time, only the young Jeremy resided in the palace. Moreover, the Inspectorate had confirmed the Empress’s position was extremely weak.
It was as clear as day that a bloody battle for the Crown Prince’s position would erupt in the future.
And if she joined that fray? Even if she herself had no desire for power, the central nobles involved in politics certainly would not see it that way.
That day, for the first time, Sylvia harbored disloyal thoughts toward the Sun of the Empire. What a madman.
When a new concubine entered the palace, all the existing ones gathered at the Empress’s summons. And the daughter of Count Felkins, no less.
The loyal knightly house was precisely the family most crucial for the future succession to the imperial throne.
Moreover, the Count Felkins’ daughter was a woman who had entered the Inspectorate through her own strength, without any backing.
Though still a low ranking member of the Inspectorate, her father, Adel Felkins, was the Imperial Guard Commander.
With her becoming a concubine, her influence was bound to grow immense.
The other concubines had to determine whether she entered the palace with ambition or was merely a naive fish lured in by the Emperor.
The Felkins family, though lacking wealth, was the only noble house permitted to maintain tens of thousands of private soldiers at the state’s expense.
Yet Sylvia shattered everyone’s expectations.
She was simply a woman who revered chivalry and was filled only with loyalty to the Emperor and Empress.
At the initial welcoming ceremony, Sylvia openly paid her respects solely to Margherita.
“Greetings to the Moon of the Empire. I am Sylvia of the Felkins family.”
The Empress was taken aback but accepted the greeting without showing it.
“Welcome, Consort Felkins. You may rise.”
To the other consorts, it was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.
Was this woman intending to align herself with the Empress? Or was she using the Empress as a pretext to keep them in check?
Sylvia, seemingly without a care, made her way to her own seat.
The consorts, who had stood expecting Sylvia to pay them courtesy as well, could only stand awkwardly watching, clearing their throats before reluctantly returning to their seats.
At this point, the Empress was truly in a dire predicament. Her son, Jeremy, was still too young to be named Crown Prince, the number of concubines was growing daily, and she had not a single noble in the palace who would side with her. Her stress was immense.
To make matters worse, the concubines began subtly disregarding etiquette and court protocol in her presence. They made excuses like their dresses were too cumbersome or they were too busy drinking tea to hear her, and one by one, they started acting as if they did not care.
At the time, the Empress was only in her early thirties, and she was deeply intimidated by the concubines’ ostracism and power struggles.
Her only support during this period was her son, Jeremy.
The Empress was already too exhausted to get angry every time someone failed to observe proper etiquette.
She knew that pointing out a single breach of protocol or manners would only send dozens of arrows flying toward her son, Jeremy. It was better to just endure it.
“By the way, Sylvia, can not you see us? It is a bit awkward for us that you are only greeting Her Majesty the Empress.”
When the Saint Consort made this pointed remark, Sylvia replied calmly.
“Is not showing courtesy to others before the Sun and Moon of the Empire contrary to imperial law?”
“Still, we gathered to get to know each other. Is it necessary to be so stiff? You brought up the imperial law in response to my suggestion to lighten the mood…”
As they giggled among themselves, Sylvia stared intently at Saint.
With Sylvia silently glaring at Saint, the laughter gradually died down.
In the subdued atmosphere, as Sylvia scrutinized him sharply, as if sizing something up, Saint felt goosebumps rise on his skin.
“Oh my, why are you acting like this? Did I say something wrong? Staring at someone like that… Lady Felkins has a talent for making people feel strange.”
“While we are granted some autonomy in serving His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress closely, disregarding propriety in such a public setting is still unbecoming of an imperial subject. And I am no longer a young lady, but a consort. Please use the correct title.”
We are not subjects of the empire, but consorts. Though Sylvia could almost hear the silent cry of the consorts, she paid it no mind.
Agbard had courted her by emphasizing his strict adherence to imperial law, striving to find common ground with Sylvia, who came from the Inspectorate.
He also boasted that though he had three younger brothers, they all peacefully ceded the throne to him, their elder brother, implying that even if Sylvia entered the palace as a concubine, she would never be entangled in power struggles.
What does the Emperor even know? The Empress is being devoured by a pack of wolves, and he says she will not get caught up in power struggles.
A sneer escaped her. If she had to choose sides, it would naturally be the Empress’s.
She had grown up under her father, the Imperial Guard Commander, learning loyalty to the throne from childhood.
Empowering a mere concubine and stirring up trouble within the palace was not an option. It was time to steel her resolve.
“Concubine Sylvia, you really are… inflexible, are not you?”
Charlotte, who had been watching quietly, chuckled softly and defended Saint, prompting Sylvia to retort without hesitation.
“Yes. I have never once been flexible. Soon, the Inspectorate will conduct its New Year’s audit. By then, you will understand why we stand so confidently before the law, speaking of flexibility.”
At those words, the concubines fell silent. The nobles were not afraid of the tax office.
What they feared was the Inspectorate. No matter how cleanly one lived, once the Inspectorate’s audit began, things would inevitably surface.
For instance, if a young man from the domain, drunk, kicked a trash can while passing by, the Inspectorate could immediately charge the lord with three offenses: neglecting his duty to preserve the environment by allowing domain subjects to commit environmental destruction; aiding and abetting by permitting domain subjects to wander in a state of impaired mind and body due to alcohol; and dereliction of duty in managing and supervising social norms.
In short, because a resident of the domain kicked a trash can and dirtied the emperor’s land, they hold the lord civilly liable; since you never know what someone wandering around drunk might do, they judge that public order is poor and hold the lord criminally liable as well.
Finally, they ask, “What were you doing instead of looking after public sentiment until your subjects are wandering around drunk like this?” and accuse him on that point too. You can’t even claim this is unreasonable.
All of it was written in the imperial law.
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