The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 68
A noblewoman without an established betrothal possessed no right to refuse the Emperor’s marriage decree. She could either wage war by staking her entire house’s title, or declare her intention to remain unmarried for life and enter a monastery.
“And so my mother chose the path of becoming the Empire’s Empress.”
Everyone deemed her decision wise. True to the Emperor’s promise, she gained power, and the prestige of House Staufen grew stronger as well.
Yet overcoming the Empress’s opposition proved an entirely different matter.
“I cannot fathom what feelings the Empress harbored during those times.”
The Emperor and Theodora had their marriage arranged before they were even old enough to speak each other’s names.
Though affection and loyalty rather than passionate love may have formed the foundation of their union, the Empress’s devotion was nonetheless extraordinary.
She staked her entire house to make her betrothed into an Emperor. She poured her personal wealth into building his intelligence network, and despite resistance from within her family, she generously provided her domain’s military forces.
Everyone knew it. That this nation’s Empress loved her husband more than anyone else.
Theodora, once the most beautiful woman in the Empire, never regretted giving everything to the man she loved.
Not until the Emperor took Otilia Staufen as his Imperial Consort.
“The only thing I know for certain is that my mother and the Empress were never on good terms.”
The following year, a child was born to the Emperor and Otilia. The Consort wished for a name meaning “renowned warrior,” and the Emperor accepted her request.
Thus was born the Second Prince, Rotar Eisenrit.
“And several years later, my mother became pregnant with a second child.”
“…What?”
“Whether it was a girl or boy, I cannot say. It was never born.”
It was clear that Theodora had not wished for Otilia’s pregnancy. More half-siblings would only poison the prospects of Maximilian, the First Prince.
Yet the Empress made no overt moves. She merely sent letters of congratulation and gifts to the Imperial Consort’s Palace.
“And days later, my mother attempted to pierce the Emperor’s heart with a blade—and failed.”
“…!”
“She was seized by the guards, coughing blood and wailing the name of the man she had loved.”
Though the attempt failed, an assassination plot against the Emperor constituted high treason.
The Empress demanded the Consort’s execution, but the Emperor refused. He also dismissed calls for her deposition.
His decision was to confine her to the Imperial Consort’s Palace until she gave birth, since she carried his child.
Yet Otilia miscarried. The physician declared she would bear no third child.
“Despite all this, the merciful Emperor did not execute my mother. Nor did he depose her.”
Instead, Otilia remained confined to the Imperial Consort’s Palace for the rest of her life.
She was forbidden even from meeting her son, the Second Prince. Only a handful of loyal maidservants were permitted to attend to her.
The Emperor began spending many nights in the Imperial Consort’s Palace. The Consort’s pleas for him to kill her occasionally leaked beyond the palace walls, yet no one dared acknowledge them.
“My mother passed away when I was around three years old. I was told it was a disease of unknown origin, but…”
Tap, tap. The sound of fingernails drumming against the table echoed through the deathly silent Visitation Room.
“She took her own life. That is my belief.”
When Rotar finished his tale, his expression remained unchanged—like one who had merely recounted an old, worn folktale.
Yet his eyes, fixed upon me, held a chilling, alien gleam.
“Now tell me, Elise. Do you believe I should follow the Emperor’s wishes and take a concubine?”
“…”
I could not answer hastily.
The Consort who had learned that the Emperor killed the man she loved in order to possess her.
The Emperor, rather than killing the Consort who had attempted to take her own life, locked her away in a cage of his own making.
And Theodora, watching it all from a distance, observed in silence.
‘Is one sorrowful woman not enough—the late Empress and my own mother?’
Rotar Eisenrit had struck precisely at the Emperor’s weakness before his very eyes.
‘Has Maximilian’s twisted nature inherited from his father?’
An obsessive possessiveness that would seize anything desired by any means necessary.
A cruel disposition. Deficient morality. A toxic sense of superiority that treated all humans save himself as insects…. Ah, I could curse Maximilian all day long.
In any case, what mattered was not the past that had already transpired.
A boy who had grown up in that hellish Imperial Palace with no one to protect him.
The problem lay in Rotar Eisenrit’s choice—one he would only learn about his mother’s death after all these years had passed.
Looking at the hourglass the Guard had placed by the door, it seemed our visitation time was running short.
I parted my lips, then spoke.
“Who are you concerned about right now, Your Majesty? Me? Or yourself?”
Rotar Eisenrit answered without hesitation.
“Both. It would be unbecoming to you and to my future consort alike. Would it not be painful for us both?”
I immediately lowered my voice and whispered.
“You could just lie about it.”
Rotar Eisenrit regarded me intently. For some reason, a chill ran down my spine.
Then he spoke without a trace of humor.
“It seems Elise is quite accustomed to falsehoods.”
“….”
Damn it, that’s not what I meant.
Before I could even protest, Rotar Eisenrit’s lips curved upward. Like the affectionate husband he always was, as if nothing had happened.
And with his large hand, he brushed my chin as he continued.
“I understand. That such methods exist. But I am, unfortunately, bound by Staufen blood as well.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I lack finesse. In this regard, I take after my mother greatly.”
“….”
This was some sort of jest I couldn’t even tell if I should laugh at or not.
Right, he’d never learned to bend. He was a man who would choose to break rather than yield.
That’s why whenever the Empire called him to its countless wars, he never once refused—he simply drew his sword and marched forth.
I know.
I know, but.
‘…Sigh.’
I kept my mouth firmly shut, glancing once at Rotar Eisenrit, then once at the Guard beyond him.
There were eyes watching. So I had to endure.
I really did try to endure.
“So what!”
I simply couldn’t.
At the sound of my fist striking the table with a bang, the Guard’s shoulders flinched visibly. In contrast, Rotar Eisenrit before me remained utterly unmoved.
“I’m telling you to die because I’m worried about my husband, what else!”
“….”
“…yes!”
I know that adding a single syllable won’t restore the tarnished image I’ve created.
The Guard will tell his colleagues the moment he clocks out.
Hey. That Crown Prince’s Consort from the Saint lineage? Her temper is absolutely insane.
I had no choice. I couldn’t strike my husband, who insisted he’d rather rot in prison than hear one unkind word from me.
If I’d had my way, I would have aimed a gun at Rotar Eisenrit’s forehead and threatened him.
It was immediately after that I heard the sound of laughter bursting forth.
“Ha, Elise.”
“….”
No wonder it had been so quiet. Rotar Eisenrit was covering his eyes with his hand, shaking with suppressed laughter.
What was so funny about this? As I glared at him with irritation, Rotar Eisenrit barely managed to contain his laughter, wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“All the stress I’ve accumulated has vanished in one blow. I feel compelled to offer prayers of gratitude to Pelmira.”
“….”
“Don’t look at me like that. And don’t worry so much. I’m not just saying this… I’ll be released soon.”
“Why?”
“Because the Empire needs me for the Southern War.”
…Ah!
Only then did I recall the point I had overlooked.
Rotar Eisenrit was right. The Empire needed the “Sword of the Empire” to lead the charge in the increasingly dire Southern War.
Unless Rotar Eisenrit committed treason, the Emperor would not keep him imprisoned indefinitely.
…No, even if he did.
“I can’t wait until then.”
The light in Rotar Eisenrit’s eyes shifted slightly at my words.
“The moment I entered the Imperial Palace, the news I heard was of my husband’s imprisonment. The Emperor… His Majesty, and the moment I went to the Princess Consort’s Palace after my audience, there was an assassination attempt.”
These were not hardships I couldn’t endure alone. I hadn’t come here ignorant of the fact that the Imperial Palace was like an Asura adorned with gold.
My threshold for enduring suffering had grown higher with each successive life I lived.
Yet there was one thing I had not trained for in my previous lives.
“I need you, Rotar Eisenrit.”
His absence.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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