Night, Empress Audrey's chambers.
Intending to slip out of the imperial capital in secret, I had come to inform only Audrey.
Having sent word ahead through a eunuch, I was greeted by the sight of Audrey in formal attire as I entered the room.
"I have been awaiting you, Your Majesty."
"Mm."
Guided by Audrey, I took a seat on the plush sofa in the room.
Sitting down first, I gave Audrey a subtle glance.
With just that, Audrey caught on immediately, dismissing the two remaining servants from the room.
Thus, it became just the two of us.
"Has something occurred?"
"At the earliest, I will be leaving the capital for a little while starting tomorrow. Cover for me smoothly while I am away."
"Understood. Shall I proceed as usual?"
"Yeah."
Audrey accepted it without the slightest trace of surprise.
I often left the capital in secret, and each time, I had relied on Audrey's cooperation as Empress, so she was likely quite accustomed to it by now.
And what was so wonderful about her was this:
She never pried, no matter what I did.
Audrey was the Empress.
Under Imperial Law, particularly the internal house law, members of the inner palace, starting with the Empress, were forbidden from meddling in state politics.
And my secret departures were almost always related to matters of internal administration.
That was why Audrey never said a word about me frequently "leaving home."
In exchange, I left all internal affairs—which meant matters of the inner palace—entirely to Audrey without ever interfering.
By maintaining this strict division of roles, our relationship remained harmonious.
That said, it was not a purely businesslike relationship either.
"It will be rather lonely for a little while again."
Audrey could also speak charming, affectionate words like an ordinary wife.
"My apologies. Once this matter is settled, I will make sure to set aside that much time for you."
"I am grateful for your consideration. As long as Your Majesty remains a wise ruler, that alone is more than enough for me."
"Is that so? Then I shall strive not to disappoint your expectations."
I let out a soft chuckle, and Audrey offered a graceful, lovely smile in return.
"Oh, that reminds me, there was something I wished to ask of Your Majesty."
"A favor to ask of me? That is rare, coming from you."
I was a little surprised.
Just as my words conveyed, Audrey had rarely ever asked anything of me before.
At most, it had been when she asked me to take her younger sister, Anya, as a concubine.
"Yes. As the Empress... well, you may consider it a formal request."
"Let's hear it."
My spine straightened reflexively.
I entrusted all internal affairs to the Empress, and Audrey strictly adhered to her proper station.
Therefore, when she framed it as "as the Empress," I had no choice but to take it seriously.
"Please either increase the number of women in the inner palace, or increase the frequency with which you attend to them."
"...Hm. The reason?"
"There are not enough imperial princesses."
"Imperial princesses?"
"At present, the only unmarried imperial princess is Your Majesty's youngest sister, Lady Claire."
"...Hm."
"Whom an imperial princess marries is a matter of state politics, but the education they receive prior to marriage falls under my jurisdiction. As things stand, two problems will arise."
"Two..."
I gave it a moment's thought.
One was immediately obvious: as "pawns" for political marriages.
It was an Emperor's duty to sire children.
And unlike nobles such as imperial princes, it was his duty to father not just boys, but girls—in other words, many imperial princesses.
The daughter of an imperial prince held modest value in political marriages, but the daughter of an Emperor was a different matter entirely.
Following the incident with Angus and the Fourteenth Princess Arlene, I had reformed the law so that when an imperial princess married down, her husband would be granted roughly equal status, but that only applied within the empire.
There would certainly be instances of marrying them off to foreign nations in the future.
Hence, I could instantly see how a lack of imperial princesses would cause diplomatic issues.
However—I looked straight at Audrey.
She was the Empress, and she always strove to act as an Empress should.
Since she had just declared that she would not interfere with political marriages, the true reason for her concern had to lie elsewhere.
And it pertained to the inner palace, over which the Empress presided.
Thinking that far—I realized.
"I see. A disruption in the transmission of knowledge and techniques?"
"Precisely so."
Nodding in agreement, I understood.
"You're right. I had lacked foresight in that regard. If the knowledge and techniques required to educate them into proper imperial princesses are not put into practice, it is only natural they will eventually be lost."
"Yes. As the mistress of the inner palace, I cannot overlook the prospect of those techniques dying out in my generation."
"That makes sense."
"Therefore, I ask that you devote yourself more to siring children."
"Understood. I will increase the number of imperial princesses. I promise you."
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!"
Audrey smiled with genuine delight.
"It is a request from you, after all, and no one else."
"Because it is me...?"
Audrey wore a somewhat surprised expression.
"You are a good wife; I believe no one else could maintain order over the inner palace. If someone like you says it is for the sake of your role as mistress of the inner palace, I cannot refuse. And if it allows you to go down in history as a wise empress, there is very little I wouldn't do."
"You are unfair, Your Majesty."
"Hmm?"
"When you say such things to me, it makes me want to surrender my body, my heart... even my very soul to you."
"Even more than you already have? Keep it in moderation."
"Yes..."
Audrey gazed at me with moist, glistening eyes.
Taking her hand, I pulled her close and embraced her.
For a brief while, I simply held Audrey in my arms.
"Come to think of it."
Suddenly recalling something, I asked Audrey.
"What is it?"
Audrey lifted her head, looking back at me with curious eyes.
"Has Thunder Imperial Prince reached out to you about anything?"
"No, nothing at all."
"Nothing?"
"Yes."
"I see. Have you not even heard rumors?"
"Yes, nothing."
Audrey stated it quite nonchalantly.
"After all, I am merely 'just Audrey.'"
"...Ah."
I see, so that's how she views it, I thought.
Royalty, and particularly those who married into the imperial family as the Emperor's consort, underwent a ceremony known as the Rite of Name Removal.
By stripping away the surname from before marriage—in other words, the house name—it established the logic that she had no home to return to, declaring that body and soul, she had become a member of the family she married into.
In her case, she had originally been "Audrey Ararat," but upon becoming my wife, she had become simply Audrey, without a surname.
Throughout history, instances of a maternal family using an empress or consort to interfere in politics or reap benefits were too numerous to count.
The Rite of Name Removal was created precisely to prevent that.
Naturally, that alone was not enough to prevent it entirely—and yet.
Audrey seemed determined to uphold it faithfully.
"I shall confide in Your Majesty without concealing anything."
"Hmm?"
"I can deduce it. Considering the circumstances before I married into the family."
"Hm."
"That is precisely why I make an extra effort not to know, and to keep it from reaching my ears."
"Is that so?"
"I cannot allow myself to become a hindrance to Your Majesty, so I strive to act as the ideal Empress as much as I possibly can."
"You truly are impressive."
"Fufu."
Audrey covered her mouth, letting out a mischievous laugh.
At first, I thought she was pleased by the praise, but it was not the kind of laughter that came from being complimented.
It was a laugh that seemed to stem from finding something genuinely amusing.
"What is it?"
"I felt that Your Majesty was complimenting yourself, and found it rather amusing."
"I was complimenting myself?"
What did she mean by that? I furrowed my brows in bewilderment.
"Everything I do is merely an imitation of Your Majesty, after all."
"An imitation of me?"
When I asked back, Audrey raised a finger, her expression blending the look of an adult instructing a pupil with the mischievous smile of a young girl.
"Strict with rules, even stricter with the law. Strict with others, and far stricter with oneself."
Reciting them as if counting them off, she deepened her mischievous smile for the finishing touch.
"All of it is what I learned from watching Your Majesty up close."
"Setting aside the first three, isn't that last one a bit of an exaggeration?"
"Not at all. You are indeed strict with yourself, Your Majesty. Were it not so, you could never say, let alone practice, the notion that stoic endurance is the privilege of nobility."
"Ngh..."
"Therefore, the truly impressive one is Your Majesty, and you were simply complimenting yourself."
Audrey laughed merrily, just like an innocent young girl.