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Michen was shocked at the request. “Wouldn’t that delay the ceremony even longer? Even now, you keep pushing back the coronation with the excuse that you are still mourning your mother. It’s not good to keep the throne empty for too long. It might prove to be a problem with your allies.”

“Even so, I want to make Alexcent in charge.” Belice was adamant in her decision.

Michen spoke up, seeing that she wouldn’t back down. “If this is what you command, we will follow.”

Michen, her beloved teacher, used to have been someone Belice could talk to easily if she had a problem but, since becoming nobility, he kept his distance from her. She wanted very much to have a discussion with him, as she had when she was younger, but now he only saw an Empress and one to be obeyed.

A servant entered silently and whispered some words to Michen who conveyed them to Belice. “Your Highness, Marquis Mevelyn is requesting to meet with you.”

The others, realizing the meeting had come to an end, took their leave and exited the meeting chamber, bowing as they left.

“Shall I bring in Marquis Mevelyn?” Michen asked.

“No.”

“Pardon?” Michen thought he had misheard her answer.

“It’s fine. Send him back home. He’ll most likely just waste my time talking nonsense. So, what’s next on the schedule?”

“You have a meeting with the diplomats from Kestenia kingdom,” Michen said, checking his notes. “They are waiting for you in the throne room.”

“Right, let us go then.” Belice rose and Michen stepped dutifully behind her. She had been the student and now she was the master. Her heart ached once more that she was no longer able to talk to him as a friend. There was a realization that what she felt might be a bit more than friendship, but once the coronation occurred those feelings would need to be quelled. Perhaps that was why she kept looking for excuses to delay the process.

* * *

Michen came out of the meeting room sighing. It was a struggle to look at Belice as the Empress, when all he saw was a woman. He knew that she was beyond his station, but his brain didn’t seem to care. He had to look at her as his master but all he saw was a woman. He knew that he shouldn’t think such thoughts, but his heart wouldn’t listen.

He needed to send Marquis Mevelyn away. It was apparent that the Marquis was attempting to court Belice to become her husband. For now, Belice was unaware, but eventually the man might win over her heart. He observed Belice, walking in front of him, and fought the pangs of jealousy. The girl he once taught had blossomed into a beautiful woman. But she was also losing her innocence, the thing he had admired the most. Michen longed for the woman from the past.

***

Michen was given a message from a servant when he returned to his home. It detailed the arrival of Loyalterre, who had come of the age to return to the capital.

Loyalterre hadn’t been acknowledged by the previous Duke. She was Michen’s father’s bastard child, so had to live her life in exile without a name.

Sir Gason, their father, impregnated a prostitute in a small town in the outskirts of the capital. Sir Gason ignored the woman, as if she didn’t exist, until she was forced to appear at the Duke’s mansion with her child and asked to be taken care of. The Duke refused to accept her claims. The woman ran off, abandoning the child at the palace. She had only intended to use the baby as blackmail to receive some compensation.

The child was sent away to some secret location and raised as an orphan, not knowing who her family was.

When the previous Duke died and became a God’s guardian, Michen inherited the household. As he toured the Duke’s territory, he found his half-sister. Michen felt compassion for her and told her to come to the Duke’s mansion when she turned eighteen. That day had finally arrived.

“I wonder of there something in particular we should do? Some sort of ceremony. She has no reason to hide anymore. Take good care of her when she’s arrives, as she is part of the Roden family. She won’t be familiar with life in the capital.”

“Yes, my Lord. We’ll take great care of her.” The servant left to make preparations as Michen went into his office.

In truth, Michen could have just ignored her, the same as the previous Duke, but he had taken a liking to her. Michen was resentful that his father had given up his name for one lustful night with a prostitute. And then the shame of a bastard child came as well. The disrespect to his family made Michen angry.

But it wasn’t Loyalterre’s fault. She looked nothing like their father, was extremely mature for her age, and incredibly intelligent. There was no way that Michen could not acknowledge her. He decided then that he would present her to the nobles as an official member of the Roden family. With Duke Skad returning to the capital, and a coronation about to be held, this was the best time to introduce her to society.