The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 55

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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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Episode 55
The Emperor narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.
He weighed the gains and losses of marrying the 4th Prince to the Zephyros Kingdom princess.
‘There’s nothing to gain and nothing to lose, really.’
The Emperor remained suspicious—wondering if the 4th Prince had been plotting something with the Zephyros Kingdom.
If his goal had been a woman rather than some grand achievement, that suspicion would dissolve.
“Has any house of consequence offered the 4th Prince a marriage match?”
When the Emperor spoke of a “house,” he meant a family wielding genuine influence over the empire—whether through power or wealth.
He excluded the rabble who clung to the princes merely for their royal blood.
So the Chief Chamberlain answered in a way that matched the question’s true intent.
“Not to my knowledge, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue sharply.
He was confirming what he already knew.
None of the princes had married yet, nor even been betrothed.
The 1st Prince, Enoch, was twenty-eight years old.
Among the nobility, marriages typically took place in the mid-twenties.
It was past the usual age, but not from any lack on the 1st Prince’s part.
There was a cautionary precedent.
The Empress’s infertility had persisted for years, and the Emperor had declared he would never adopt an heir.
When the Emperor’s concubine bore his firstborn son, people believed a strong successor had arrived.
The nobility had waged a secret contest to secure him as a son-in-law.
The eldest prince married within weeks of turning twenty.
But now, at forty, he remained a bastard still.
The victorious house had suffered a terrible loss.
So even after the Emperor first recognized Enoch as a prince, the nobility had simply watched and waited.
The tug-of-war between the princes and families seeking to place daughters would soon reach its conclusion.
All the others were of similar age—save the 5th Prince—so they would marry within a few years, having been carefully chosen.
Only the 4th Prince lacked popularity in the marriage market.
It had become widely known that the 4th Prince maintained no private relations with Nortia, his mother’s king.
Without his maternal family’s backing, he should have been actively pursuing social connections on his own.
But the 4th Prince did neither, drifting only through the Northeast regions.
“I should examine the Zephyros Kingdom princess more closely.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor was curious—what scheme had the Zephyros princess employed to lure the stone-faced 4th Prince?
That afternoon, Rhea received a summons from the Emperor.
She could not bring Kasim with her, nor Peni.
The chamberlain left her standing before the towering doors and disappeared inside.
While she waited, she took a long breath to calm her nerves.
Carrion, who was supposed to arrive this morning, had not come by midday.
“Your Highness. Word is that the 4th Prince left the Imperial Palace. By order of His Imperial Majesty, he’s under House Confinement at his residence. It seems he’s gone to the 3rd District Residence.”
Peni relayed this, saying a chamberlain had quietly slipped her the information.
He was a messenger sent by Cedric.
Since his lord faced House Confinement and could not move freely, he had used connections to help from afar rather than come himself.
The chamberlain who had gone inside emerged and spoke.
“He requests your presence.”
Rhea stepped inside and immediately bent one knee, bowing her head deeply.
Fortunately, on the very first day of instruction, Veronica Velua had taught her the proper forms of address.
There were two types of formal address in the empire.
Only in the presence of royal blood did one bow with a single knee bent.
Yet even among those of royal blood, depending on who they were, one’s own age and station, and the circumstances, the knee-bending salutation could itself become a misstep.
Veronica Velua had offered advice suited to Rhea’s position.
“You are, after all, a princess. Save the knee-bending salutation for when you meet His Imperial Majesty and Her Imperial Majesty only. When meeting them for the first time, when summoned alone…”
Rhea mentally rehearsed Veronica’s teachings.
“Rise.”
“I am honored, Your Majesty.”
“Come closer.”
‘If he says to look at you from nearby, take just one step forward.’
Rhea walked one step.
“Closer still.”
‘If he says to come closer, take two steps.’
Rhea took two steps forward.
“Lift your head.”
⌜When lifting your head, keep your neck straight as though facing forward, but let your gaze drop slightly below the horizon. Clasp your hands together in front of you.⌟
The Emperor murmured a low “Hmm” and studied the Zephyros princess’s face with care.
‘The rumors don’t exaggerate.’
Even the 4th Prince, who had always been indifferent to women, would find her captivating.
The Emperor’s concubines were typically women of seductive bearing and brilliant beauty.
They were the sort who moved like a tongue inside the mouth, full of calculated charm.
The Zephyros princess stood in stark contrast to them.
Her beauty was not hidden by her modest dress; there flowed from her an innate nobility, a cool and distant gaze, a bearing that suggested she would bend but never break.
‘That boy has a discerning eye after all.’
So even the 4th Prince was still a man.
There was a certain pleasure in breaking a woman like this.
He found himself genuinely willing to offer the finest chambers in the Pavilion of Wisdom to the princess.
Hunger stirred in him, though he mastered it, merely licking his lips.
With rumors already spreading that the 1st Prince and 4th Prince were quarreling over a woman, he could not afford to meddle in a matter of imperial dignity.
“Your kingdom has two princesses, does it not?”
He was curious about the other one.
“I am the only princess, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor’s brow furrowed.
Though his intelligence on the Zephyros Kingdom was sparse, he was certain there were two princesses.
“According to what I know, there are certainly two.”
“There was a half-sister. She was discovered plotting to commit treason, and was executed for that crime six months ago.”
The silence that followed was sudden and absolute.
The Emperor, a man not easily shaken by most matters, found himself taken aback.
“……So your kingdom has weathered a rebellion.”
“On account of that incident, His Majesty the King came to sense the kingdom’s peril and resolved to entrust the kingdom’s future to Your Majesty’s hands. This is a fact that can be verified when the Empire’s foreign ministers visit the kingdom, and thus I feared to risk compromising objectivity. I humbly beg your pardon for not informing Your Majesty beforehand.”
“As a princess, you could hardly speak lightly of your nation’s shame. I understand.”
The Emperor’s interest shifted course.
A treason case within the kingdom itself—it was intriguing.
Like the fate of one who held absolute power, he could not shake off the faint dread that his own throne might one day be usurped.
And so he perpetually flaunted his power and tested the loyalty of the nobility.
‘I must instruct the foreign ministers to investigate this matter thoroughly.’
Since the incident had occurred recently, it would prove a valuable reference.
“The delegation from your kingdom deserves to be treated as honored guests. See that they are made comfortable.”
Rhea murmured inwardly, ‘This won’t do.’
She wanted to leave the Imperial Palace.
“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s kindness in calling us honored guests, yet I fear such status exceeds our station. I worry we might grow arrogant and forget our proper place, and so I would prefer to withdraw to quarters more befitting our rank.”
“If I call you honored guests, then honored guests you are. Who dares dispute my word? Is there some discomfort in your quarters?”
If Rhea answered yes, every attendant in the Pavilion of Honored Guests would forfeit their lives.
The thought that so many fates hung upon her single word made cold sweat bead on her skin.
“There could be no such thing. I am overwhelmed by such generous favor and know not where to place myself in gratitude.”
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the princess.
The more he looked, the more he desired her.
Her beauty was extraordinary, and her voice carried a quality that wound itself into the ear.
“Princess.”
“I await your command.”
“Should you find anything troublesome during your stay, come to me at any time. I would gladly receive my honored guest in my own Pavilion of Wisdom.”
“I am deeply honored.”
“You may withdraw.”
After Rhea departed, the Emperor spoke to the Chief Chamberlain.
“If the princess says she wishes to see me, bring her at once, whenever she calls.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor smiled wickedly to himself.
He could not lay hands on a woman his son desired—but if the woman came willingly into his embrace of her own accord, what reason was there to refuse?
If the princess of a small kingdom wished to become one of the imperial family by seducing the 4th Prince, she would surely abandon that aim when faced with a superior alternative.
The Emperor had no doubt that he was that superior alternative.
* * *
When Rhea returned to the Pavilion of Honored Guests, Peni and Kasim were waiting anxiously.
“It was nothing of consequence. His Majesty said he would treat us as honored guests and that we should make ourselves comfortable in the Pavilion of Honored Guests.”
She assured the two of them she would rest, then withdrew into her bedchamber.
The moment she was alone, she wrapped her arms around herself.
Nela’s words came rushing back, and a chill ran through her.
“When you go to the Imperial Palace, be careful not to enter the Pavilion of Wisdom.”
Nela had explained what the Pavilion of Wisdom was.
“Its true name is the Pavilion of Wisdom. Originally, it was a study where the imperial family learned and practiced their disciplines. But ever since the Emperor began using it for private purposes, it could no longer bear the name of ‘Wisdom.'”

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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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