“Taboo?”

Duke Delmen echoed with a puzzled expression. As far as he knew, there was only one thing in this world that truly deserved to be called a “taboo.”

The Duke sincerely hoped that what he was thinking wasn’t the answer. He had no choice but to feel this way. How could he possibly be entangled in such a matter?

He repeatedly took long breaths in and out. Duke Delmen glanced once at the letter placed on the desk, then once at his daughter standing before him.

During the rather long silence that followed, Iris simply stood quietly, watching her father. Eventually, Duke Delmen was the one who broke the silence first.

After briefly closing his eyes in thought and then opening them again, he looked directly at Iris and spoke. “Did His Majesty tell you this as well?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“And you believe his words?”

“If I didn’t believe them, I wouldn’t have come to see you.”

“Why on earth?”

“…”

“What reason do you have to trust him so much?”

“Rigan told me that it would be best to believe what His Majesty says.”

“That boy has already become His Majesty’s man! He’s turned his back on the family and would do anything His Majesty commands…”

“Even if I didn’t believe it, the stakes are too high to gamble.”

Duke Delmen gritted his teeth at Iris’s words. Yes, Iris was right.

If he truly was involved with the “taboo,” then House Delmen would suffer a blow incomparably greater than the attempted poisoning of Duke Elvierts. No, would it merely be a blow? House Delmen would vanish forever into the shadows of history.

‘But I can’t simply believe the Emperor’s words. This could be an attempt to drive a wedge between us…’

“D*mn it.”

Duke Delmen finally muttered a curse under his breath. The two paths before him now were nothing short of extreme.

‘Whichever I choose, one wrong step is like walking off a cliff. The moment I fall, I’ll disappear without even leaving bones behind. Why on earth would that person touch such a taboo… Wait. Could all those recent strange behaviors be because of this?’

Having organized his thoughts, Duke Delmen took a deep breath, seemingly having found some calm. His gaze fell upon his daughter, and he spoke. “Let me ask you one thing. How much do you trust your judgment?”

“At least in this matter, I believe it’s accurate.”

Duke Delmen’s face hardened at Iris’s words. Then, a few minutes later: “Bring me the family codex.”

“Why the family codex…”

“You cannot defeat me. Not yet.”

Duke Delmen spoke in a voice that had sunk infinitely low.

* * *

“I heard Iris Delmen has formally proposed the removal of her father’s position as family head to the family’s council of elders.”

“Oh, why bother with a formal council proposal just to replace the family head?”

“The larger the family and the more numerous its members, the more systematically things must proceed. Now that Duke Delmen’s standing in the Senate has fallen due to this incident, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m glad things are flowing as expected. Your mother will be very pleased.”

On a sunny afternoon, I was “captured” while visiting Duke Elvierts’ mansion under the pretext of an order from my mother. With a disinterested expression, I repeatedly stabbed at the cake in front of me.

‘Why is this so sweet? I was just going to pretend to eat it, but I don’t even want to put this in my mouth.’

Originally, my plan was simply to deliver some supposedly beneficial medicines and return immediately to the Imperial Palace. However, Duke Elvierts suggested we have a light tea time, saying he regretted not being able to offer me anything to eat during my previous visit.

Though not particularly enticed, I had no legitimate reason to refuse, so I ended up eating cake and drinking juice in the garden of the Duke’s mansion. However, it was much sweeter than expected, forcing me to put down my fork quickly.

I picked up a napkin to wipe my hands. Then, looking at Duke Elvierts leisurely drinking his tea across from me, I continued speaking. “Mother was quite pleased when she heard the news yesterday. She said things are proceeding as expected.”

“Estria, you’re indeed clever. If you had received an imperial education in your childhood, you would have become the finest Emperor material.”

I inwardly smirked at Duke Elvierts’ words. This wasn’t the first time he had said such things.

He had spoken similarly when we joined hands to usurp the throne in the past.

– Why did the late Emperor reject you so? No matter how wary he was of House Elvierts, there was no need to hate his legitimate daughter to such an extent.

Of course, neither he nor I could provide an answer to that question, except for the late Emperor himself. Those who could have answered were already dead beneath the barrel of a gun, and I grew up without ever receiving proper warmth from my father.

There was no way to find answers by wondering about the reasons now. After briefly reminiscing about the past, I simply shrugged and smiled innocently.

“But Mother accomplished everything on her own. Isn’t that more impressive? Mother said she succeeded precisely because she was an unsupported princess.”

“That’s right, it turned out to be a good thing for your mother. Just…”

“…”

“Just, Rebecca became the unfortunate one because of it. If only I had been a little stronger, Rebecca wouldn’t have died like that.”

Rebecca. The late Emperor’s wife and my mother.

I silently sipped my juice, inwardly turning that name over in my mind. The tartness sliding down my throat improved my mood slightly.

I smiled brightly and got down from my chair. “Oh, are you leaving already?”

“Yes. It’s almost time for my lessons. Thank you for the meal.”

Having fabricated a nonexistent lesson, I tried to leave my seat. Duke Elvierts narrowed his brow and spoke in a mock-scolding tone. “What lessons are they giving to such a young child? Children should play a lot when they’re young.”

“Still, I’m Mother’s only daughter.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Please take care of your health, Duke Elvierts. Mother is very worried about you. Make sure to take the medicine I brought you.”

“Why don’t you just call me grandfather?”

“Well then, I’ll be going now. See you again!”

After a cheerful farewell, I boarded the carriage and returned to the Imperial Palace. Since I was running later than planned, I headed straight to my office after getting out of the carriage. Upon reaching the door, I saw Rigan who had arrived early and was waiting.

Since he had been behaving quietly without unnecessary talk for the past few days, I climbed onto my chair with inward relief, just like usual. Rigan placed a file of documents in front of me.

“These are the documents my sister submitted to the family’s council of elders. They detail all the accusations regarding Father’s failures and reasons for his disqualification as family head.”

“Oh. This is much stronger than I expected. If I were a member of the Delmen family, I would push Duke Delmen out by any means.”

I smiled pleasantly while skimming through the documents. Though I had ordered Iris to pull Duke Delmen down from his position, I hadn’t expected her to act so forcefully.

After all, Iris wasn’t just any child—she was Duke Delmen’s most beloved daughter. If I were in Iris’s position, I could never have sharpened my knife to this extent.

“Duke Delmen made a wise decision.”

I muttered quietly to myself, then closed the file and handed it back to Rigan.

“You don’t need to report every detail of House Delmen’s internal affairs to me anymore. What I want is for Iris Delmen to become the master of Delmen. Just let me know when the results come in, understand?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, so what should we do next? It seems like your sister becoming the family head is just a matter of time… So then.”

“It’s time for you to accept my resignation.”

“D*mn it. Why do you keep spouting such nonsense whenever I start to forget about it?”

I had thought he’d been suspiciously quiet for a while. I gritted my teeth.

Rigan looked down at me indifferently, as though he had expected this reaction.

Unable to contain myself any longer, I turned to him with the most menacing expression I could muster and spoke. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you’re really rebelling against me because you’re upset that I didn’t trust you and proceeded with things on my own? Such a sentimental reason?”

“Well, I can’t say that’s not part of it.”

“Then there must be other reasons. Tell me! What exactly are they?”

Rigan pushed up his glasses and glanced at me in response to my words. His peculiar gaze, seemingly looking at me with disdain, made me feel inexplicably irritated.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your Majesty, you’re sensitive about things you believe you fully possess.”

It was an unexpected statement. I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand his intentions. Rigan looked at me and smirked.

This instantly soured my mood, and I clicked my tongue in disapproval.

“Monarchs are naturally sensitive about what belongs to them. Disliking having things taken away is a basic human instinct.”

“If you don’t want to lose something, then protect it.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. Even this time, what I did was to protect you. Yet now you’re treating me like this…”

“What would you have done if I had truly been angry with Your Majesty?”

“…!”

“What would have happened if I truly couldn’t understand Your Majesty’s decision?”

“That would be…”

I paused briefly to choose my words. But then I replied calmly again, or more precisely, pretending to be calm. “Unavoidable, I suppose.”

“Even if it meant losing me?”

“If that’s the price, I would have to accept…”

“Yes, that’s the problem.”

“What?”

“Why do you keep trying to gain something by paying a price? Is there no option for you to have what you want without paying a price?”