Chapter 43

Asla thoughtfully rubbed her clasped hands, organizing the overlapping events in her mind.  

Was it a coincidence? Or was she simply overreacting?

Across from her, Enoch watched her closely and continued speaking.

“The nobles, of course, resisted fiercely. But His Majesty never wavered. He hired well-educated commoners as administrators, and recently, he even appointed a commoner assemblyman as a minister.”

“He wants the support of the commoners.”

Asla recalled the enigmatic face of Emperor Rosenberg, whom she’d met only twice.

“What is he so afraid of, I wonder? I never imagined the Emperor of such a vast empire to be so fearful.”

“His Majesty is fearful,” Enoch admitted, but then added, “But he’s also prudent.”

“The Emperor’s ultimate goal is to preserve House Aurisk*. Not just for now—but for a very long time.”

[*T/N:Reminder that this is the royal house.]

“As in, forever?”

When Enoch didn’t answer, Asla let out a quiet sigh.

So that was it.

Her first impression of the Emperor, seated high upon his glittering throne, had not been favorable.  

Later, when he had forced her marriage to Enoch, she had concluded that he was simply a man driven by greed.

But for greed, his desire seemed too modest.  

A wish to last forever, it was all too obsessive.

‘The Emperor’s judgment was sound.’

Asla accepted it now.  

Just the few things she had seen and experienced since leaving the Ventus estate for the capital had been enough for her to understand his fears.

With the advance of industrialization, all things new and convenient were being hailed.  

The nobility could no longer monopolize knowledge and culture, while the commoners grew smarter and began to demand authority.

In a world where wealth mattered more than birthright, and commoners had opportunities, the lines between classes were blurring.  

Even the royal family couldn’t expect to remain unscathed.

“The Emperor purposely married us off so you’d be excluded from the cabinet, didn’t he? The current cabinet must be unstable.”

Enoch widened his eyes, clearly startled—then nodded slightly.

He confirmed it so easily that Asla was surprised by her own words.

Her thoughts grew tangled.

She’d believed the Emperor had arranged the contract marriage to keep Enoch, a man amassing immense wealth, far from politics.  

She hadn’t imagined there might be another reason.

Because she had never even considered that Enoch and the Emperor had been on the same side from the very beginning.

“The early cabinet is a mess,” Enoch continued. “The noble assemblymen and the commoner assemblymen are baring their teeth and clashing constantly.”

“Then you, as a businessman, was to entrench yourself deeply across the empire and only return to the cabinet once it stabilized—and support His Majesty later?”

“Exactly.”

Enoch was impressed by Asla’s precise insight, though he tried not to show it as he continued.

“Since then, I’ve vowed to do everything I can to preserve the royal family.  

Once the empire fully transitions to a constitutional monarchy, I’ll ensure the republicans can’t tear the Aurisk throne apart. Until then, I’m biding my time and gathering strength.”

Enoch shifted uncomfortably, crossing his arms.  

But Asla sat perfectly straight, unmoving, staring at him as she spoke clearly.

“All right. Then—what did you gain from our contract marriage?”

She had struck a chord.  

Hearing her refer to their marriage so definitively as a “contract” made something stir bitterly within Enoch.  

He spoke calmly, concealing his emotions.

“My goal is also to ensure the survival of my house. To endure this storm and come out the other side.”

But Asla narrowed her eyes and immediately shook her head.

“I don’t buy it.”

“Asla—”

“Don’t dodge the question, Enoch. What is His Majesty truly afraid of?”

Her small lips moved with crisp articulation as she pressed him.

“Even if the empire turns into a republic under a constitutional monarchy, the Aurisk royal family, which built and protected Tulia, wouldn’t be so easily cast aside by the people.”

The confidence in her tone left Enoch at a loss for words.

“The nobility and the commoners cannot threaten the imperial family.”

Asla had been brainwashed into dependency on Lisette, raised to be self-destructive, and had suffered two years of ostracization and bullying in the Ventus mansion, developing social anxiety. But she was originally of the royal Sherita bloodline—its heir, in fact.  

She had received an extensive education growing up—because, as the only successor of the Holy Kingdom, which had to remain neutral on the continent, she was required to understand world affairs thoroughly.

Enoch now saw his wife, Asla, in a new light.  

She wasn’t just a fragile rose that looked like it might wither at any moment.  

Come to think of it, even when he had pitied her at their very first meeting, he had also been deeply moved by the serene dignity she maintained despite her life of pain.

When he let out a faint smile, Asla looked at him curiously.

“I was wrong.”

“Enoch?”

“What I said earlier—I take it back. That you’re younger than me, that you lack experience. You’ve probably lived more earnestly than anyone.”

As Enoch apologized and shifted his tone, Asla felt her tightly wound nerves begin to ease, just a little.  

It even felt like she was floating on a cloud.

To think her emotions could change so easily because of just a few words or actions from him—she hated that about herself.  

But there was nothing she could do.

Asla didn’t answer. Enoch, a little embarrassed, lifted his teacup to his lips and frowned.

“The tea’s cold.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not. To speak the truth I buried to protect you, I need to wet my throat. Let me have a sip, will you?” He grumbled lightly.  

Asla looked at him without a word but inwardly panicked.  

They were in the middle of a serious conversation, and yet… she found him adorable.  

It might’ve been better when she used to admire and fear Enoch from afar.

Now that he felt so familiar, her possessiveness surged like a wave.  

The man sitting across from her, watching her quietly, had no idea what she was thinking.  

Feeling self-conscious, Enoch cleared his throat a few times.

“There’s only one thing he fears—the will of the people. He formed the cabinet to win public support, but there’s still one thing that threatens His Majesty.”

He fell silent and fixed his gaze on Asla.  

Asla met his eyes and, realizing what he meant, shook her head firmly, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

“Enoch. The Holy Kingdom has already fallen.”

“…Yes. But the power of the divine still remains. The Pope, the High Priest, the clergy—they still speak in the name of God.”

“Still…”

Repeating the word made a chilling premonition creep over her, as if an icy shiver ran down her spine.

“Tulia may be a great empire with a cabinet and commoner participation in politics, but people have only grown more afraid. Change makes people uneasy.”

“Uneasy…”

“When the future is uncertain, people cling to something they can believe in. Ironically, what they clung to was the collapsing Holy Kingdom.  

They believed even more devoutly. They saw you—its fallen heir—as their final salvation.”

Asla suddenly recalled May, who had once spoken of admiring her, and the merchant who had shown her such favor.  

Salvation—the word was suffocating. It made her feel like she was drowning.

“Enoch. No way… You don’t mean—”

When her face turned pale, Enoch quickly stood and leaned over the table between them.

“Asla.”

She looked into his black eyes, which were filled with concern.  

The small woman reflected in his eyes was trembling.

Asla braced herself, inhaled deeply, and asked clearly:

“Is His Holiness the Pope trying to exploit the people’s fear to build a new Holy Kingdom?”

“…”  Enoch said nothing.

“So His Majesty and you… you were wary of that. That’s why you’ve been watching His Holiness. And during that surveillance… you found Lisette. Ah!”

Asla abruptly stopped speaking, her eyes going wide.

Watching her expression turn to bewilderment, Enoch couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He quickly circled around and sat beside her.

She glanced at his face, tense with unease, and as she pieced together the ridiculous situation, a powerless smile spread across her lips.

“Lisette tried to get us divorced… and wanted me to marry His Holiness the Pope. Even if they were to build a new Holy Kingdom, they’d need legitimacy…”

Before Asla could finish, Enoch cut in, his eyes blazing.

“We’re not getting divorced.”

He seized her hand, lifted it, and pressed his lips fiercely against the back of it, muttering with a restless urgency: “Which means their plan was absurd from the start. No matter how close you were to Lisette Grosset, the High Priestess, you would never agree to remarry the Pope. Brittas is fifty-three this year. Aside from his age, he doesn’t have a single thing over me.”

Enoch sounded utterly certain, but Asla was slowly overcome with chills crawling up her spine.

He didn’t know.  

He didn’t know how deeply she had depended on her nursemaid, nor how much Lisette had damaged her life.  

If the divine had not opposed the divorce by showing her that dream, Asla would have closed off her heart to Enoch and gone through with it.

Had she done so, she would’ve rejoiced upon Lisette’s miraculous return, leaned on her completely—and might have accepted remarriage to the Pope as a matter of course.

“…Ha.”

Asla let out a hollow laugh and looked into Enoch’s eyes as he clutched her hand tightly and sat close beside her.  

She muttered without even realizing it:

“I… don’t want to remarry.”

“Of course not. You’re my wife. Duchess Ventus. That’s the new life you’re meant to live. Your lineage is important, yes—but your new life is even more important.”

“…And yet you kept something this important from me. This is my life we’re talking about.”

Asla sighed.

“You keep repeating that you needed to protect me without offering any explanation… and you surround me with guards. It only made me more anxious.”

“I just… didn’t want you to worry over nothing.”

“Enoch.”

“I know. I misjudged.”

Enoch muttered softly and bowed his head, pressing his forehead gently against the back of Asla’s hand.