Chapter 9

“Lotte is dead.”

The moment the Emperor’s words fell, the secret meeting room froze.

It was unbelievable. The shock was so profound that not even the sound of swallowing could be heard, let alone the rustle of breath.

The four individuals shifted their gazes, meeting each other’s eyes. After a moment of searching, their focus returned to their sovereign, Albert. It was clear they were waiting to gauge his reaction first.

Albert heavily took a seat at the round table.

“I have ordered the body to be preserved and sent to the capital. You will likely have the opportunity to see her one last time.”

“Are you planning her funeral in the capital?”

Irene asked abruptly, her expensive hair ornaments shaking with her agitation.

“Isn’t that an indication that you’re retracting the charges and restoring her honor? Is it okay to handle it like that?”

Her tone was sharp. Ordinarily, speaking so casually to the Emperor would be unthinkable, but within this secret meeting room, it was the rule.

Dietrich adjusted his glasses, aligning himself with Irene’s concerns.

“Albert, I too am against restoring her honor. The Empress’s family is far too likely to protest. As the Minister of the Imperial Household, I officially cast my vote against it.”

“The sovereign merely delivered the sentence, but we were the ones who carried out the execution. Do you not understand that if the prestige of the Four Heroes falters, the imperial authority will follow suit?”

Even Pascalina, usually reserved with her opinions, spoke out strongly in opposition.

Jonathan, usually the one to mediate the atmosphere, interjected with a joking tone, “Seriously. I used to say in my sermons that you shouldn’t end up like Charlotte if you had nothing to say. If we change that now, how am I supposed to pass the time?”

“You’re all getting carried away. Did I say anything about restoring her honor?” Albert retorted, his voice suddenly sharp.

The four fell silent.

Albert lowered his golden-brown eyes. The angry outburst in his voice had subsided.

“…The outcome was unfortunate, but she was a friend, someone we were with from Moden. She has become the first amongst us to leave. So, let us offer our condolences.”

The faces of the four grew somber. Memories they had forgotten amidst their success and busy lives resurfaced.

The once-tense atmosphere began to dissolve as sentimental words emerged one by one.

“Come to think of it, it’s already been five years. Time flies too fast as you get older. Pasha, have you ever been in contact with her?”

“No. I never had time to send letters all the way to the north. But I often thought of her when doing army training. How great would it be if even those slackers were at least as good as Lotte.”

“She was indeed the most diligent of us all. She was probably incredibly diligent in prison too, waking up in the morning and sleeping at night.”

“Jonathan, most people who aren’t as dissolute as the military live like that. I agree with the assumption that she was a model prisoner. If she had held on a little longer, she might have been transferred elsewhere under a long-term reduction in sentence.”

“I know. She wouldn’t have lived as lavishly as she could have in the capital, but Lotte was from Moden anyway, wasn’t she? Country life must have suited her.”

“So how did she actually die? Did a measles outbreak break out in the north?”

When Jonathan suddenly asked the question, Albert, who had been silent for a while, barely managed to answer, “She froze to death.”

Once again, the meeting room fell silent. Irene covered her mouth with both hands.

“With guards on duty?”

“…They say she killed the guards and escaped. She managed to get out of the prison, but she didn’t last long, and was found collapsed in the snow.”

Albert raised a hand to his forehead. At some point, he had stopped looking at his friends altogether. He muttered softly, as if to himself,

“There’s a single survivor. He’s being summoned, but don’t expect a proper testimony from him. He was a new guard, unfamiliar with the prison conditions, and the shock has erased his memory.”

The four hesitated to speak.

They weren’t shocked by the massacre. They didn’t really care about what had happened to the guards. A few dozen lives could be easily replaced anywhere within the empire.

What was astonishing was that Charlotte had managed to escape.

Five years ago, they had thoroughly broken her out of fear of her revenge. She shouldn’t have been able to walk for the rest of her life, or use her aura.

And yet, Charlotte had managed to escape with that body. They didn’t know how she had done it, but it sent shivers down their spines.

Among the Four Heroes, only Pascalina was involved in martial arts as the current army commander, but the rest had also weathered their own share of battles. They had the ability to defend themselves.

Yet, Charlotte had always easily overwhelmed them all with her strength.

And that powerful figure had succumbed to the cold of the northern mountains and died in such a pathetic way.

That fact greatly disturbed the four of them. A sense of melancholy hung over the round table.

“…I can’t believe it.”

“Lotte wasn’t someone who would die so easily.”

“I don’t know, but she was amazing until the end, that’s for sure.”

The dead are no longer threatening. The fear had lifted all at once, and it was replaced by a feeling of emptiness and regret.

What they had done was a bit excessive, in hindsight. They felt guilty for leaving her in prison and neglecting her. If they had at least left her some hope, she wouldn’t have attempted such a dangerous escape, and wouldn’t have disappeared so suddenly.

“We should have written her letters. We never actually intended to imprison her for life, did we?”

“I avoided the prison when visiting the northern diocese for fear of creating unnecessary resentment. Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“We’ve all been so busy leading the empire, it’s not easy to find time to think about a friend we sent so far away.”

“That’s right! The head of the merchant guild is such a tiring job!”

“The unrest of the remnants of the fallen kingdoms is already severe. We can’t lower our guard.”

“My goodness, I wish I could beg the gods for help. How am I supposed to look after these people?”

“Everyone is busy with affairs outside, and I’m the only one taking care of the domestic affairs. But that household is the imperial palace.”

As they talked, they realized the truth. Leading an empire that occupied most of the continent was not easy. There was no need to mention the emperor, Albert, and the Four Heroes were all carrying out their duties in important positions.

The four of them shared their situations and then quietly remembered their dead friend. Several incidents from the time they wandered the lands together before they knew the world were mentioned. Most of them were the instigators and Lotte had always followed along. But old stories are always enjoyable to talk about.

Finally, the stories they could share were exhausted. After feeling like they were a group of troublemakers from the countryside again for a while, they became somber again.

“Lotte. If only she hadn’t committed the crime from the beginning. Why did she do such a terrible thing…”

“Empress Bathilde came from a prestigious family that has produced royal consorts for generations. Having offended her, we had no choice but to punish her harshly in political terms as well.”

“I was also disappointed that Lotte wasn’t there when we eliminated Archduke Licht. If it had been her, she could’ve taken care of the Archduke’s household and come back on her own.”

While they babbled about various things, Albert did not say a word.

His hand on his forehead cast a dark shadow over his face. His dull blonde hair was increasingly dishevelled as his fingers dug into it. He didn’t lift his head, and remained hunched over no matter what anyone said.

The four slowly stopped talking as they realized what was going on.

All eight eyes turned towards the Emperor. Unable to even guess what their sovereign was thinking, they each swallowed dryly.

Dietrich always took the lead in situations like this.

“…Albert. So, what are you going to do?”

The Emperor answered without changing his posture.

“There will be no restoration of her honor. This is a measure that takes into consideration the Empress. When the body arrives, we will examine it. We will hold a private funeral for ourselves. We’ll cremate her and scatter her ashes in Moden.”

Everyone accepted his decision.

“Well, she doesn’t have any surviving family to claim her body. There’s nobody left in the baronial house.”

“In the end, our friends are Lotte’s only remaining relatives. I’m suddenly worried about what might happen if I die. The Archbishop should say something.”

“If I knew that, I’d close the temple. So Albert, when Lotte arrives, let us know. Let’s empty the main hall and do it just us.”

The fact that they were the ones who had destroyed the Moden baronial house was already a distant memory.

Political eliminations had been a part of their lives even before their coronation. The Moden baronial family was just one of them. There was no particular reason to make it an exception.

The secret meeting was gradually coming to an end. Albert slowly rose from the round table. Dietrich quickly followed suit.

“Albert. Is that all for today?”

“…Yes. You are dismissed. I’m going to go rest.”

“Wait. There’s also a matter for the Imperial Household. About the source of the poison used to eliminate Archduke Licht-.”

“Minister. I said I’m going to rest!”

Dietrich flinched. The others also cowered at his outburst.

Albert glared at them, who didn’t dare to say anything. He scanned them one last time, then turned away abruptly. The cloak that adorned the Emperor’s uniform fluttered with his fast pace.

The meeting room door flew open and then slammed shut with a resounding thud. Irene’s complaints could be vaguely heard from behind.

“Albie, ever since he became the Emperor, his personality’s been ruined…”

He didn’t want to hear any more. He shook his head.

They were his friends who had helped put him in this position. They were the leaders of the empire. He knew in his mind that they deserved his respect.

But all that was happening now was bubbling anger. He loathed their shallow agreement with his feelings.

Lotte was dead.

She had died.

He had forgotten about her after locking her in the ice prison, but he had been at ease because she was still alive. With her sudden disappearance, it felt as if emptiness was piercing through his chest like a draft.

He loathed the guilt the most, of knowing he was the one who had killed her.

‘Then I should have left her alone back then? And let that look in her eyes, obsessed with the role of the Empress, slip by?’

Rationalizations muddled his mind. He found it difficult to walk, and he had to stop, leaning against a pillar.

‘She has killed too many people! Am I supposed to live with the stigma of the immoral emperor my whole reign! If I wanted to solidify my position I had no choice but to marry a daughter of a noble family!’

At that time, Albert was no longer the youngest prince exiled in the countryside. He had to build a foundation as the Emperor who led the empire.

Ah, but whatever the reason, Charlotte was dead.

Her body was on its way to the capital. Around the time it arrived and the funeral took place, a report would come from the north. He had heard that it was the man who succeeded Archduke Licht.

‘The Archduke’s adopted son, the illegitimate son of the previous Count Kaitel, or something like that.’

He had heard a rumor that the northern Archducal household was failing. Some nobody who could only be adopted had taken over power from the Archduchess.

It was the result he wanted. Let them keep fighting amongst themselves. If the new authority of the Archducal family is an evil man who is blinded by greed, he’ll be easy to manipulate.

Even in that moment, Albert finished his calculations as the Emperor, and then fell into his emotions. He was absorbed in the thoughts of his lost first love.

‘When Count Kaitel comes to report… I should ask him about the weather on the day she died.’

He wished that it hadn’t been too cold when she died.

Albert was submerged in the regret he had only realized after he lost her. Before he knew it, his eyes were wet. Every time he blinked, he could feel the tears welling up.

He wished that she would come back to life. If she did, then he would transfer her to a different prison. Since he could not bring her to the capital, he would prepare a small castle in the suburbs. If he let her live there with a kind of house arrest, he would be able to visit her every now and then and share his feelings.

Like the beautiful times they had in Moden in the past.

A wave of regret swept over Albert.

However, it wasn’t that he was repenting for the past where he had framed Charlotte, ruined her life, and caused the destruction of her family.

It had really been inevitable.