The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 81

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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 81
“Halfway, at least.”
Luciel answered with a slight smile.
“I can’t block everything, but—”
“Halfway?”
“How to put it.”
She continued.
“I’ve prepared a very minimal safety measure, you might say.”
She spoke while gazing toward the reception room, where that safety mechanism was already in motion.
* * *
“Your Majesties, please partake.”
After Arnen disappeared following Luciel, the Butler ushered them into the reception room.
Gulp.
The Emperor swallowed hard once more.
One slip, and he might have to accept something peculiar.
He needed to keep his wits sharp.
“Ahem. As I mentioned before, I know I haven’t done well by you.”
“Not done well, that’s all?”
“That… forgive me, a misunderstanding. Instead.”
He drew a deep breath, affecting great magnanimity.
The art of plugging a large hole with something small was a supremely important skill for an Emperor.
“Let’s just settle this quickly. I have a proposal.”
He spoke.
“I hear you wish to reclaim your third son and send your second son to the Noble Council.”
The Emperor continued.
“Replacing a proxy requires terribly tedious approval procedures. The Duke himself might even be bothered into attending the council. What if I finish it very quickly—in just one day? You hate inconvenience, after all, don’t you?”
“…….”
The Duke said nothing in response.
He sat rigid, arms folded across his chest, looking down at the Emperor.
“……Honestly, there’s nothing else you particularly want, is there?”
“…….”
“And you must be careful too. Cerion seems fine now, but I don’t believe nothing happened in this mansion.”
The Emperor spoke with emphasis.
“The reports may have been imprecise, but if we investigate, there will be circumstances showing the Crown Prince was in danger. Let us save face and wrap this up here—that’s all I’m saying.”
‘……Twenty years rolling in the political trenches, and the old fool thinks he’s grown cunning.’
The Duke mentally cursed the Imperial House.
The Emperor’s words were not wrong.
Cerion’s threat—poisoning himself, coughing blood—had truly been mad enough to shake all of Bellaon.
More than ten people had witnessed him streaming blood, and it was more than enough for the Emperor to seize upon later as grounds for accusation.
He couldn’t fathom why Cerion had changed his mind, but agreeing to bury everything with the Emperor now was objectively not an unfavorable proposal.
Only the taste left in his mouth was bitter.
“Speak, then.”
The Duke heard the Emperor’s urging and wondered if there was truly nothing more to extract.
Taxes. Business. Policy.
Nothing came to mind at once. Then…….
“Duke, Cain and Devron, and Loren request a brief audience with you.”
As he was still considering various possibilities, the Butler reported from outside the reception room.
“Tell them to wait a moment—”
“They wish to see Your Majesty and the Duke together, they say.”
The Duke’s eyebrows rose.
The very fact of the three together was strange; why would they suddenly want both the Emperor and himself?
“Let them in.”
He glanced toward the Emperor for his consent, then admitted the three.
“We pay our respects to the Empire’s Sun.”
“If you have something to say, be quick about it.”
The Duke commanded the three bowing figures.
“This is not the time for pleasantries—”
“We come to make a request of Your Majesty.”
The Duke’s head tilted in confusion.
It was not Devron or Cain who knelt on one knee to make the petition, but Loren.
“I, Loren, daughter of the Payton and Riamond Families, heir to the Riamond Earldom, humbly petition.”
“For what?”
Even the Emperor wore a bewildered expression at this unexpected turn of events.
“I wish to restore the Riamond name to the Noble Council’s seat, which we have forsaken for twenty years.”
She opened her mouth.
“And I wish to designate Cain Bellaon as its proxy.”
A long, heavy silence fell over the reception room.
The Emperor blinked, doubting his own ears.
“Your…… the Earldom’s seat…… to Baron Bellaon?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Loren opened her mouth again, unconcerned by his bewildered response.
“As all know, the Payton Family possesses two Noble Titles: a Marquessate and an Earldom.”
She spoke fluently.
“The Bellaon Dukedom was granted a Barony and lands in recognition of long service, raising the family’s honor within their own house, but the Payton Family is not so.”
“I know. It originally belonged to your mother’s house, the Riamond Family. I’m aware you inherited it, but…….”
“I am honored.”
Loren bowed her head.
“Under Imperial law, though a family may hold multiple Noble Titles, it may occupy only one seat in the Noble Council. However, the Riamond Family possesses its own distinct seat, and I wish to resume attendance to it.”
“……You mean the seat that hasn’t been used for twenty years?”
The Emperor asked, as if struggling to understand.
“I believed you had no interest in politics.”
“Your Majesty saw correctly. However, those without interest in politics customarily seek someone to serve as their proxy.”
“Even so.”
The Emperor spoke.
“You have a husband and a grown son—”
“Neither possesses the ability to serve as my proxy.”
She answered with a gentle smile.
“So I petition once more: grant me permission for Cain Bellaon to represent the Riamond Family in this chamber. And further.”
Her gaze turned toward the Duke.
“I ask of you, Father: will you lend me Cain?”
“…….”
The Duke slowly tilted his head, regarding his daughter-in-law before him.
What was she thinking?
This daughter-in-law who had never asked him for anything, who had always been gentle—she now fixed him with a stern gaze, demanding his decision.
‘……It isn’t about the Riamond Family.’
He understood this instinctively.
The heart of the matter was Cain.
Loren’s true purpose was to push Cain into the Noble Council.
“……Ha.”
The Duke let out a short laugh.
“How simple.”
He said.
An alliance between Devron, Loren, and Cain.
He was curious about their reasons, but he had no intention of stopping them.
Rather, he was pleased.
That brilliant nephew of his, who seemed to instinctively reject mingling with the Bellaon household, had finally reached out and taken someone’s hand.
He had grown. That fact delighted the Duke.
Moreover, a seat in the Noble Council symbolized tremendous power.
With only one seat, he could not overlook balance among his children, but with two—the matter was different.
If Loren wished to push Cain into that seat, the Duke had absolutely no reason to object.
“I grant that Cain Bellaon may sit in the Riamond seat as Loren’s proxy.”
He glanced at the Emperor.
“Surely that would be only fair.”
He murmured.
It was pressure—consent immediately, now.
Hadn’t he said there was nothing else he wanted?
For the Duke, there was no reward more precious than granting his nephew a seat in the Noble Council.
“Your Majesty?”
“Ah, er, ahem.”
The Emperor, still tilting his head in confusion, let out a forced cough.
“Cunning as an old fox…….”
He drew a deep breath.
Two seats controlled by a great family, was it.
It did not sit well with him, yet he could find no grounds to refuse.
Not now, with the Imperial dignity lying at his feet.
“Fine, fine. I grant it too.”
At last he spoke.
“Cain Bellaon, I shall see you often in the council from now on.”
“I shall fulfill my duty, Your Majesty.”
Cain answered as if he had been waiting, kneeling on one knee.
Joy was not visible on his unreadable face.
He merely looked forward with quiet resolve, as if having reached a decision.
“For the Empire’s peace, for the Riamond Family’s peace.”
Cain recited the prescribed oath.
The words of the oath mattered little. Neither truth nor falsehood held weight.
Something else held greater importance.
“I shall devote all my strength so that I may protect what must be protected.”
In this moment, in his mind, the one who must be protected was Luciel.

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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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