Chapter Text
“Nonsense! Nothing good will ever come out from a female emperor!”
“Oh? Then why is it that there's nothing good coming out from you even though you're a male and not even close to being an emperor?”
“How rude, Geto! I'm just voicing out my opinion on this matter!”
"Keep your opinions to yourself, then. What's so wrong about the princess taking over the throne?”
You sat there in silence, trusting every ounce of your decisions to Suguru. You are currently sitting on one of the big chairs located at the study hall in one of your well made dresses.
All of this chaos was caused by the slaughter of the royal family that took place a week ago. Being the only survivor, you are bound to take over the throne, which the elders of the palace seem to take offense from.
“She could be the cause of her family's massacre. Don't you find it suspicious that she's the only one who survived?”, the old man who was bickering with Suguru for awhile now continued. You made a face that displayed your distaste of the certain comment.
Before Suguru could answer that accusation, you raised your hand to signal him that you'll be the one talking. “Killing your family members to gain power is something that you do, not mine”, you lowered your hand and firmly placed it on top of your lap. You glanced at the tea served infront of you. You couldn't believe that the elders underestimated you this much to think that you would drink a poisoned tea.
“All of you are under arrest for trying to harm the Princess, which is a big crime against the Kingdom. I sentence you to death by decapitation”, with those words, you stood up with the help of Suguru's hand.
The table was silent and everyone seems to be stunned by the sudden and unexpected orders. It was only when royal guards entered the big room that the elders start to protest.
“What is this nonsense! Where is your proof that we poisoned the tea?!”
This dumb maggot—
“Who said anything about poisoned tea?”, you look ahead and raised your eyebrow at the elder who might as well just committed suicide by blurting out his schemes. “That was enough evidence, right? Now off you go”
You turned down their voices and followed Suguru's steps as you head towards the King's study. Your father's study.
It was spacious. The whole study could be considered as a library itself with the amount of books that are stored here. Not that it could compare to the castle's library.
A coffee table is placed in the center of the room and 2 large sofas are alongside it with the purpose of receiving guests. The big window allows the soft hues of sunset to enter the room, creating a warm and comfortable mood inside the study.
You sat on the large chair placed behind your father's desk and slumped, ghosting your fingers mindlessly through the wooden desk that used to be your father's sleeping place when he has to work his ass off due to political issues.
“Would you like tea, my princess? The one without poison ofcourse”, Suguru, who stood infront of you offered you a humorous smile and you can't help but roll your eyes at him.
“I would never reach your sense of humor, Suguru. But I would accept the tea. The one without poison ofcourse”, you smiled and thanked him as he left to get you your tea.
Now that you're left alone, you started to think more serious about the situation. It is to your knowledge that the elders planned your family's slaughter. They must have planned this for a long time because they had another kingdom involved. That's exactly the reason why you couldn't just point fingers at the elders for the massacre because they weren't the one who actually stabbed the royal family in their sleep.
Why were you the only survivor? You don't know either. That night, you were in deep slumber and the only thing that woke you up was not a stab through your guts but a frantic Suguru telling you to wake up and hide.
The elders' plan was to end the bloodline and appoint a new ruler that would bend with their every whims and it made you sick thinking that these power hungry bastards almost succeeded. Now that you've gotten rid of them, the only thing left to do is to hold a coronation and take over the throne. Not as an empress but an emperor.
You were brought out of your thoughts when Suguru entered the study with a tray that contains two tea and a cake. You thank him for being generous and started sipping on the tea to help calm your nerves.
“Be careful with the cake, my Princess. I did say the tea would be poison-free but I didn't say the cake would be”, he stated and sipped on his cup. You rolled your eyes at him for the second time this afternoon and took a bite from the cake.
“You know that if you poison my food, I'll still eat it”, you said as you happily let the sweetness take over your taste buds.
He chuckled lowly and stayed quiet, not finding the right words to reply with your bluff of how much you devote to him.
“When do you wish to hold your coronation, my Princess?”, he started after a while of silence.
“Next week. I want it as soon as possible”, you replied.
“Then that means we should find you concubines within a week”
Your hand froze midair and you had to stare at your cup for a good 5 seconds before you lift your gaze to look at him.
“What?”
He chuckled again and raised a brow. “The kingdom is pretty much falling right now. You would need allies. Powerful allies to help you rise”, he explained and sipped his tea normally like he did not just tell you that you're going to get married at the same day as your coronation.
“I can have allies without marrying them, Suguru”, you argued.
“I knew you would refuse and try to argue with this matter”, he started and sighed to himself. “But marrying a powerful person would make you as powerful as them. Taking 3 or more concubines would be better than taking a first husband”
“Why is that?”, you asked, genuinely confused. A first husband has higher authority than a concubine.
“A concubine will benefit you more since they have no authority over politics concerning the kingdom. They would give you more than what benefits you are giving them. While, taking a first husband would give and take equally. The benefits you'll receive will be the same as you give. If this is business, there's no profit”, he explained. I nodded, processing his point.
“But why do I need more than one?”, you asked the obvious question.
“The royal family is what defines a kingdom's worth. The late emperor and empress died. Your sisters, your brothers, your cousins, and all of your relatives were all murdered, even the ones that doesn't hold any power included. Dukes, Duchesses, merchants and even maids that holds an ounce of royal blood was sent to the afterlife. Therefore, you, my princess, is the only gem that we currently have. What I'm saying here is, we're basically broke”, he waved his hand to dismiss more of your questions and stared at the scenery displayed by your large window.
“Then I trust everything to you, Suguru”, you said, silently agreeing that you should dismiss the topic.
“You always do, my princess”, he smiled smugly to himself. One thing to describe Suguru is the word cocky. He has an ego as big as the whole palace and take note that this palace is damn huge. “Any personal preference?”
“Just don't marry me off to someone who looks like the heavens have been cursing them with all it's might”, you laughed.
“You could've just said you want to marry a handsome man“, he joined your soft giggles.
When you stopped laughing, you sighed to yourself and placed the empty cup of tea on the table.
Getting married, huh?
Not only were you worried about that. You were also worried by the fact that you're the only one left with the royal bloodline in your kingdom.
Which means, you're responsible for reviving the bloodline.