Your Majesty, I’m Not that Man - Chapter 9: Plea (5)

Maxim staggered out of the reception room and collapsed into a seat. Just as the emperor had said, there were people waiting for him outside.

“Your Grace.”

At least they’re still calling me that, Maxim thought bitterly as he glanced up at the imperial attendants who had come to escort him. Their steady hands supported him, but there was no warmth in their touch.

He stared at them with hollow eyes, fully aware that his life as he knew it was over. With his title stripped and his vast wealth gone, there would be no returning to the life he once enjoyed. No more lavish parties, elegant balls, exclusive clubs, or afternoons spent playing sports with young men. All of it was gone forever.

“Aahhh…” Maxim let out a choked sob as tears streamed down his face. His body sagged in despair.

This wasn’t the first time the Wendell Duke had made a fool of himself, and the attendants handled him with practiced efficiency. They lifted his limp body like a piece of cargo, their movements precise and unceremonious.

Due to Maxim’s tall stature and broad build, it took four attendants to carry him. The sight was comical, almost pathetic, but Maxim lacked the presence of mind to care about his appearance.

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Zelenka’s situation was no different from Maxim’s. She, too, found herself recounting, one by one, the details of how she had abused Levinia in her younger years—whether it was taking out her anger over Maxim’s neglect or hurling cruel insults at her daughter. Each time Cassion prodded her, more details spilled out.

Zelenka, trembling and casting nervous glances at him, wondered how the emperor could know so much. She assumed it had to be the servants that Levinia had dismissed from the duke’s household—they must have spilled everything to him.

“Of course… This emperor is mad enough to use truth serum on the duchess. Would he even treat commoners as human? He probably tortured them into talking.”

The thought was inappropriate. Cassion did not judge based on status but rather on actions. If anything, he was harsher toward those born into privilege when they committed wrongs.

“So, you sought out Levinia to secure an investment for that man’s business?”

“If his business succeeded… I could divorce the duke, and I thought I could finally escape this misery. Isn’t a mother’s happiness also her child’s happiness?”

“Utter nonsense.”

Cassion’s eyes narrowed with irritation as he shot a piercing glare at Zelenka.

“The duchess has never cared about anything beyond her own happiness. Why involve Levinia in that excuse? Shouldn’t your happiness be something you pursue on your own terms and with your own strength?”

Zelenka, now indignant, lifted her head and replied, “If I had the strength, I would have! But Levinia had the strength to—”

“Your abuse of her began long before she gained any ‘strength.’ Are you suggesting your daughter had power even back then?”

Zelenka’s mouth clamped shut, her face flushing with shame.

“T-That was a long time ago… I was young and immature back then…”

“Even then, the duchess had a substantial budget at her disposal. Your lack of affection for your daughter is clear. So it wasn’t because of Levinia that you couldn’t divorce the duke. Why didn’t you leave the duke and the Wendell household if you were so unhappy?”

“I… I needed alimony.”

“Divorcing Duke Wendell wouldn’t have been easy, true. But even just saving a single year’s budget would have provided you with enough to file a case and still have funds left over. There’s more than enough evidence to make divorce feasible.”

Zelenka paled and lowered her head in silence. She had thought herself entitled to a hefty alimony, given that she had been married to a man who had hidden his preference for men. But she also knew that the law often served those with power.

If she divorced without securing her position, she would be left with nothing. And even if she managed to scrape together some savings, she couldn’t imagine being satisfied with such meager funds. By now, Zelenka was far too accustomed to the opulence of the Wendell household to give it up.

“I… I lived my whole life as a poor lower noble! When someone like me becomes a duchess, isn’t it only natural that I wouldn’t want to give it all up?”

“So that’s why you stayed on as the duchess?”

“Yes!”

Zelenka’s voice carried a note of defiance, but she found herself unable to maintain eye contact under Cassion’s icy gaze. Slowly, her head sank lower.

“I see. You couldn’t leave the Wendell household because of your own greed. That’s understandable, to some degree. But isn’t it cowardly to shift the resulting unhappiness onto someone else? It seems to me that you blame Levinia because she’s weaker than the duke.”

Had Levinia been colder and more ruthless, Zelenka wouldn’t have dared to act the way she had. In fact, if Levinia had posed a threat to Zelenka’s personal finances, Zelenka might have gone out of her way to curry favor with her.

“A mother complaining to her daughter is natural…” Zelenka mumbled, her voice barely audible.

“So, because the emperor cares for his subjects, does that mean it’s fine to vent your frustrations on them as well?” Cassion mocked, his smirk cutting deep. Zelenka lowered her gaze in shame.

“People who rely only on others can never truly find satisfaction. When they don’t earn anything for themselves, they view others’ achievements as mere luck or convenience,” he continued.

Zelenka clenched her jaw in silent resentment. What did Levinia even work for? She was simply born a noble, raised with a good education, and was lucky to catch the emperor’s eye. It’s all thanks to me for birthing her, so she ought to repay me.

“You’ve spent your entire life forcing your daughter to live for your happiness. Now, as emperor, I wonder if I should force you to live for mine,” Cassion said with a sharp edge in his voice.

“Pardon?”

“How about this: you dedicate your life to the gods in a warm, scenic southern temple? There, you won’t have access to drugs. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

Zelenka’s jaw dropped. How does he know I’m using drugs? I haven’t even confessed yet!

“I… I…” she stammered, wanting to deny it, but the truth serum she’d been given robbed her of the ability to lie.

“I can recognize addicts immediately,” Cassion said, his tone icy. “The way their eyes shift, their reactions… And you’re a high-ranking noble. It’s unlikely you’d dabble in something hard to detox. Is it lamas?”

Unlike other drugs, lamas was a new type of narcotic that could be countered quickly with divine power. However, detoxing this way caused excruciating pain, as if one’s body were being torn apart. Most users chose to detox gradually over several months to avoid the agony.

“I’ll arrange a one-day detox session for you. Summoning the high priest is no trouble at all. It’ll be a delightful experience.”

“No, please, Your Majesty! Anything but that…!”

Zelenka’s face turned ghostly pale as she fell to her knees, begging. She’d started taking the drug on the recommendation of Levinia’s lover after Levinia entered the imperial palace. Having taken it regularly for some time, a one-day detox would bring unimaginable, unbearable pain.

“This way, you’ll never dare touch it again. A mother who rots her own body to help her lover, then comes to the palace to exploit her daughter… disgraceful,” Cassion remarked, disgust evident in his voice.

To him, both Maxim and Zelenka were nothing more than leeches clinging to Levinia.

“You’ve spent your life eating away at Levinia’s spirit. You should be grateful this is all you’re getting. Guards!”

Four sturdy attendants entered the emperor’s reception room. Zelenka, panic-stricken, tried to crawl toward Cassion, but the attendants swiftly grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Let go of me! I am the Duchess of Wendell! You can’t do this to me! Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, have mercy! If I undergo that treatment, I’ll surely die…!”

“The pain you’ll feel is nothing more than the divine punishment you’ve brought upon yourself. Accept it as such. And I’ll send someone for you to vent your frustrations on—feel free to direct your anger at him.”

Cassion’s gaze shifted to Hans as he spoke. Realizing what this meant, Hans’s face went ashen with fear.

Zelenka let out a piercing scream as she was dragged out, her cries echoing down the hallway until the reception room grew silent once more.

The remaining two attendants and Hans were trembling, their faces pale. Cassion, however, couldn’t understand why. In his mind, he’d shown remarkable restraint—no one had even bled today.

“Your name is… Hans, correct?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty…”

Believing his very life was on the line, Hans forced a flirtatious smile, attempting to ingratiate himself with Cassion. But Cassion’s expression darkened the moment he saw it.

“I’ve considered several punishments for you,” Cassion said coldly, “but none of them seemed satisfying enough—they all ended far too quickly.”

The thought of what Levinia must have endured—the humiliation and pain—when Albert was adopted into the Wendell household made even looking at Hans intolerable. According to the maids who had served in the Wendell household, young Levinia had believed her father’s decision to adopt Albert was due to her own inadequacy.

“So, I’ve decided to leave your punishment in someone else’s hands.”

“S-Someone else? Who would that be…?”

“You must have overheard earlier,” Cassion said, his voice laced with mockery. “You’ll be sent to the temple where the Duchess of Wendell will reside. There, you’ll take care of all the menial tasks and serve the duchess. Your skills at charming women won’t be of much use in a temple full of priestesses, will they?”

Hans was horrified. From the way Cassion spoke, it was clear he intended to send him to a temple staffed exclusively by women. While Hans had managed to secure Albert through a past connection, his relationships with women had always been rocky at best.

“Y-Your Majesty! No! Please… Let me follow the duke instead!”

“If the duchess requests it, I’ll grant your wish. Take him away!”

The reception room door, which had remained open since the duchess had been dragged out, was soon filled with the presence of several burly attendants. Before Hans could even stand, they seized him and dragged him out of the room.

Now, only the duchess’s maids remained. They clung to each other, trembling in fear.

“You are not to speak of anything you’ve heard here to anyone outside this room,” Cassion warned them sharply. “After you’ve given a full statement about the duchess’s lover and the acquaintances she’s recently been associating with, a mage will cast a vow of silence on you. Once that’s done, you may return to your lives.”

The maids, who had been dreading the possibility of punishment, let out a sigh of relief. Imperial attendants soon arrived to escort them from the room. The maids bowed deeply to the emperor before hastily following the attendants out of the reception hall.

“…Did you write everything down?” Cassion asked, his voice calm once the room was empty.

From behind a curtain, an aide emerged holding a pen and paper. He had been taking notes on everything that transpired.

“Enforce the punishments exactly as I’ve commanded,” Cassion instructed. “As for Wendell Duke Maxim, officially record that he violated the will of the late Duke Wendell and relinquished all his titles and positions within the household. Especially regarding Levinia…”

Cassion hesitated, unsure how Levinia would feel about all this. He knew she was perceptive and would soon realize his involvement. Though she had been constantly undermined by her parents, she wasn’t someone who lacked ability.

“…Do not inform her for now. At least not until I’ve formally stripped Maxim of the ducal title and transferred it to Levinia.”

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Returning to the Sun Chamber, Cassion let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Levinia soundly asleep. According to the maid, Levinia had fallen asleep after listening to someone read to her, claiming she was too tired to stay awake.

Cassion had already decided to conduct his imperial affairs from the Rose Palace until Levinia fully recovered. His ministers and aides had been informed of the arrangement.

“…Once again, you’ve chosen to remain for the princess’s sake. Your Majesty, what are your intentions regarding her?”

The cautious tone of his ministers came as no surprise. In the past, Cassion had publicly announced his intention to marry Levinia, making them tread carefully whenever discussing her. Without hesitation, Cassion had responded to their inquiries.

“I plan to make Lady Wendell my empress.”

The ministers had exchanged subtle glances at his words. While Levinia’s position as one of the emperor’s consorts was already established, her status as the daughter of a ducal household made her a worthy match. Moreover, Wendell Duke Maxim, even as the emperor’s father-in-law, was powerless and posed no threat to the ministers’ influence, which suited their preferences.

“However, considering past events… I suppose it’s best to begin with an engagement.”

With that decision, Levinia would officially remain in the palace under the pretext of being the emperor’s fiancée. There would undoubtedly be gossip in high society about Levinia already being one of the emperor’s consorts, but Cassion doubted it would cause any significant issues.

If anything, taking decisive action against those who had dared to attempt Levinia’s assassination would serve as a clear warning. After that, anyone foolish enough to spread malicious rumors would think twice about risking their necks.

When Cassion had shared these thoughts with his ministers, they had bowed their heads in unison.

“We leave everything to Your Majesty’s judgment.”

It was remarkable that, even after so many noble heads had rolled, there were still officials left who could be trusted to serve. Though they often cowered in fear of Cassion, they still raised their voices when necessary. If they hadn’t, he might have removed all of them by now.

Recalling the obedient words of his ministers, Cassion leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Levinia’s forehead as she slept. For a moment, he hoped she might stir, but her breathing remained steady and peaceful.

With a trace of disappointment, he brushed his lips against the ends of her hair before reluctantly stepping away from the bed. To ensure he could be by her side when she awoke, he needed to finish his work in advance.

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