Gambit
"When the throne is threatened, even a father will sacrifice his daughter."
The throne room sprawled in ostentatious grandeur—high ceilings adorned with frescoes depicting the Katzen Empire's conquest of the continent, marble floors inlaid with veins of gold, walls hung with tapestries and statues that gleamed in the torchlight.
The Emperor's throne stood elevated on a dais, forcing all who entered to crane their necks upward in supplication. Opposite it, a gilded statue of Perdiccas himself—deified in bronze—radiated a light so brilliant it was almost grotesque.
It was a monument to power. To vanity. To the fragility masked by gold.
"What is this madness?!"
Perdiccas II crumpled the letter in his fist and hurled it across the room. It struck the base of a marble statue with a dull thud.
He wore robes of black velvet embroidered with thick threads of gold, his broad shoulders tense beneath the weight of silk and fury. Beneath the fine features of his youth—still visible if you looked closely—lay thick brows, sunken eyes, and a heavy black beard that lent him an air of menace.
His hair, slick with sweat, clung to his forehead. He looked like a man at war with invisible enemies.
"Angelique—has she lost her mind?! I sent her north to strangle Valdina, not to birth bastards with their filthy bloodline!"
Trembling with rage, Perdiccas seized the golden staff at his side and swung it violently. It struck a glass display case, shattering it into glittering fragments. A white marble statue toppled and broke into pieces.
The young servants gasped and shrank back.
"How long must I endure this incompetence?!"
"Your Majesty, please. Calm yourself. Such emotion will only harm your health."
The voice came from the old chief chamberlain—a man who had served Perdiccas since his days as a mere prince. His tone was measured, patient.
"Do I look calm to you?!"
"My wicked daughter has caused Your Majesty such distress. How can I ever atone for this sin?"
The Empress Dowager was also present. She wrung her hands, her face a portrait of maternal anguish.
'Angelique, you fool! Where did all my warnings go? What were you thinking?!'
But that could wait. For now, the most urgent task was appeasing the Emperor's wrath—and bringing her daughter home alive.
"Your Majesty, please spare Angelique. She has been deceived by wicked men. You know she lacks cunning despite her strength. Surely you can—"
"Lacking cunning is no excuse! Even a fool should know better than to bear an illegitimate child! I told you to discipline her when you first mentioned this madness!"
Seeing that the Emperor's anger had not subsided, the Empress Dowager changed tactics.
Tears streamed down her still-beautiful face like dewdrops on a petal.
"If even Your Majesty turns his back on us, what hope remains? Will you disgrace Angelique—your own daughter, born of your flesh and blood? Will you let rumors spread that she bore a bastard whose father's identity is a mystery?"
Her voice cracked with desperation.
"Your Majesty is heartless. I know you have never been satisfied with Angelique. But do you remember? She is the only child I bore after nearly dying in labor. The only bloodline I gave you."
Her eyes lifted, glistening with accusation and grief.
The Empress Dowager had clawed her way to her current position through countless palace intrigues. After the death of the previous Empress, she had shared power with another dowager—but there was no question that she was the most influential woman in the palace.
Perdiccas favored her warmth and grace far more than the cold arrogance of the other dowager, who reminded him too much of his late mother.
But that favor had cost her dearly.
Due to the machinations of the other dowager, she had lost the ability to bear more children. Angelique was all she had left.
"Your Majesty has countless other children. One daughter more or less means nothing to you. But I have only Angelique!"
Before anyone could react, the Empress Dowager rushed toward the window.
The chief chamberlain lunged forward and caught her just as she reached the sill.
"Let me go! If I am a mother who cannot even protect her own daughter, then I have no reason to remain in this palace!"
"When did I ever say I would abandon her?! Your Majesty, do not speak so recklessly!"
Even the cold-hearted Perdiccas could not remain unmoved by the sight of this beautiful woman—whose youth had not entirely faded despite having a grown daughter—beating her chest and weeping.
He exhaled deeply, descended from the throne, and walked to the window.
Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her.
"Your Majesty, please kill that man. If he and the child disappear, there will be no reason for Angelique to bear this shame."
The Empress Dowager, sensing the Emperor's momentary weakness, seized his sleeve.
"It's too late! Even the Holy Land has heard of it! Do you want Angelique branded an apostate?!"
The conservative doctrine of the Church forbade both adultery and abortion. Marriage and pregnancy out of wedlock were considered violations of the natural order—apostasy and heresy against God Himself.
"Your... Your Majesty?"
The Empress Dowager's face drained of color. She could feel the shift—the finality in his tone.
"For now, the best course is to marry the two and salvage what remains of Angelique's reputation. Claudio is still a member of Valdina's royal family, even if a fallen one. It's not an ideal match, but—"
"No! Oh, no—Your Majesty, you cannot mean this! How can you let that filthy Valdina blood taint our daughter?!"
The Empress Dowager shook her head violently.
Marriage to Claudio—a man stripped of his title, disgraced by treason—would mean Angelique's complete removal from the line of succession. She would never surpass the princes. Her future would be sealed.
Perdiccas noticed her calculations at once. His eyes turned cold.
"Empress, when the tide changes, those who refuse to turn with it are swept away. I intend to preserve at least Angelique's title as Princess."
The Empress Dowager's mind sharpened at the warning in his voice.
"I—I only worry for Angelique's future, Your Majesty. Forgive me."
"Enough. You may leave now. Attendants, escort the Empress Dowager back to her quarters."
"Your Majesty, but—!"
"I said go. Do not worry about Angelique. I will not allow your bloodline to be disgraced."
The Empress Dowager was half-led, half-dragged from the room, tears streaming down her face.
As the doors closed behind her, Perdiccas pressed his fingers to his temple.
His head throbbed.
"Valdina. Peleus. Claudio—they're all bastards!"
"Your Majesty, now is the time to think strategically."
The chamberlain's voice was calm, measured. His neatly trimmed white mustache stood out against his deeply lined face.
"The King of Valdina has finally reclaimed the plains. The regent's rebellion has failed..."
Worse still, that fool Samon Claudio had threatened to reveal evidence of Katzen's support for the rebellion unless the Emperor intervened to save his life.
And Perdiccas couldn't afford to kill him.
Not yet.
The power of a throne without rivals is immense.
Now that the plains had been restored to Valdina's control, the future implications were dangerously unclear.
'Peleus—if that bastard's temper is any indication, he'll come for Katzen next. Revenge will drive him.'
That was why Perdiccas had supported Claudio's claim in the first place—to install a weak, manipulable puppet on Valdina's throne while Peleus was away.
"You incompetent fool! I gave you every advantage, and you failed this spectacularly?!"
Perdiccas bit down on his fingernail, gnawing it until it bled.
"It won't do. Valdina's Philosopher's Stone must fall into my hands..."
He muttered to himself, oblivious to the blood seeping from his torn cuticles.
Thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, Valdina was known as the Land of Protection—untouched by demonic incursions.
But Katzen had no such blessing. The empire still suffered constant attacks from demons. Every quarter, hundreds of knights were dispatched solely to fend them off.
It had been the Emperor's deepest ambition: install Claudio as King, seize the Philosopher's Stone, and establish an eternal safe zone for the empire.
"Your Majesty."
"The demons will tear Katzen apart piece by piece! They'll storm the palace and destroy my throne!"
He shouted the words, though no one had contradicted him.
"All of them—every last one—flawed and useless! I have to clean up their messes myself. If anything goes wrong, they come crawling to me for help!"
He paused.
"If Cesare were here..."
"If the First Prince were still alive..."
The Emperor repeated the thought like a mantra, as though speaking it aloud could summon the ghost of his son's brilliance.
"There would be no need for this trouble! He would have already delivered me that young man's head! I wouldn't have to worry about the empire's future or scheme for Valdina!"
If it had been Cesare, everyone would have fallen to their knees in terror. The empire's glory would have endured forever.
The Emperor repeated the same lament over and over, as though trying to grasp an azalea petal already carried away by the wind.
"That's why we need leverage. The Philosopher's Stone. Only with it can we protect this country even after Cesare's death."
The chamberlain listened quietly, thinking to himself that the Emperor's words were contradictory.
'You miss His Highness the First Prince, yet you speak of him as though he's already dead.'
The First Prince was still alive, still breathing—though his time was running short.
But this wasn't the first time the Emperor had been duplicitous.
When the First Prince had been at the height of his power and declared successor, Perdiccas had grown wary—paranoid that his son might usurp the throne at any moment.
Despite Cesare's countless achievements, he had never been granted the official title of Crown Prince.
The First Prince's current influence—and even the fearsome reputation he had cultivated—had been built entirely by his own hand.
'It's fortunate that His Highness is so cold-hearted. If he had any feelings, this would have driven him mad long ago.'
But the chamberlain kept all these thoughts hidden behind his wrinkled, impassive face. He bowed politely.
"I understand Your Majesty's concerns. What are your orders?"
"Claudio's life must be saved."
"However, he has been stripped of his royal lineage. Won't it be difficult for him and his son to stand as legitimate claimants to the throne?"
"As long as they're alive, everything else can be rebuilt. Look at me—what have I not repaired since ascending this throne? What matters is the blood that flows through their veins! Their identity as descendants of Valdina's royal family!"
Perdiccas turned sharply.
*Whoosh—*
He tossed a hastily scribbled letter to the chamberlain.
"Send word to the King of Valdina. Inform him that Duke Claudio is the father of my grandson—and that he and his family must be spared."
"The King may ignore it and proceed with the execution."
"Then we need bait. Something he cannot afford to ignore."
The Emperor's eyes gleamed with a dangerous light as he stared at the continental map spread across the table.
His finger traced the borders of Valdina.
"Something that will make even a king hesitate..."
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