A journey to the north-east (4)

With an aura of elegance, dressed in a luxurious outfit similar to yesterday's color, Acre walked toward the massive door with two royal guards standing at each side. "State your business." The guard proclaimed.

"I've come to accept the invitation of Her Majesty the Empress, sir." Acre said, showing a letter with a royal seal.

He was permitted to enter and someone was already waiting for him inside. The attendant smiled and extended his arm, "Her Majesty is waiting for you."

Acre nodded and followed the attendant to the same room as yesterday. When he entered, the empress stood up and greeted him, initiating a handshake which was a sign that she was greatly anticipating his arrival. "Your Majesty." Acre showed her some courtesy as usual.

As they sat down, Empress Diana inquired, "Where is your assistance from yesterday?"

Acre: "He's not feeling well."

Empress Diana: "I see."

Before she could say anything else, Acre said, "In fact, we were attacked last night and he was injured."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Attacked? By who? Why haven't I heard of this?"

"I do not wish to hide any secrets from you, Your Majesty. I suppose you already know my identity, so forgive me for being direct. It was the emperor."

Hearing that, she froze, her breath hitched as if time had stopped for a second. She felt an uncomfortable twist in her stomach as her fist clenched. "The... emperor?" She tried to not stutter.

Acre began expounding, "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I don't intend to make false accusations so I'll tell you the full story. Last night, my assistant and I were dining at a restaurant when the crowd was suddenly attacked by a group of people in black. However, their intentions were towards us. Thank the universe that we managed to defeat them, but the moment we tried to gain information and managed to get some words out, the person suddenly choked on something and died horribly. Your Majesty is aware of my experience in this empire, and only some possess the poison."

In the last sentence with the mention of a certain poison, Empress Diana did not have to inquire more about it because she immediately knew what sort of poison he was talking about.

Looking at her face, Acre spoke again. "That's right. The person didn't tell the truth and he died because of a lie for life."

Empress Diana was thunderstruck. The idiom 'a lie for life' was enough as a confirmation of everything she had speculated. It was a common phrase that originated from the empire itself, derived from the infamous Potion of Eternal Verity. The poison was in fact a magical potion, but the infamous way of using it to determine if someone was telling the truth gained its name as a poison.

In the Machaera empire, only two people are allowed to gain access to the potion: The Emperor and the Chief Justice.

"Allow me to add one more justification. When I fought them, I noticed something peculiar in the way they're fighting. It wasn't the usual way of the people of Machaera. It was black magic." Acre explained once more when the empress looked like she was lost for words. "Would you allow me to clarify something very controversial and personal?"

"...Since you had experience dealing with this in the past, then I shall trust you." She said.

Acre nodded. "Thank you. I've thought about it for the whole night and managed to come up with this conclusion. Since the emperor doesn't have Gertrud's blood flowing inside of him, he's very limited compared to you, a true Gertrud descendant. Perhaps he felt inferior and insecure, he wanted to find a way to gain power, therefore resorting to black magic. I don't exactly understand why he attacked us, but maybe he attacked every visitor during the Gertrud Bouquet Day. I've taken this example from the case of Empress Irene. Emperor Euluc's lover also used black magic to deceive many people to make things her way. In the end, she died because she insisted on denying the truth after drinking the poison in court."

After saying everything he wanted to say, Acre could finally shut his mouth and wait for the empress to comment. He was not nervous but he was intrigued by her response whether good or bad. The way he viewed her now reminded him of the view of Empress Irene he once had a conversation. Thinking of the past made him miss the former Empress.

"I... see." Those were the only words she managed to utter before tears accumulated in her eyes. Acre took out a blue napkin and handed it to her.

While wiping away the tears, a sad smile lingered on her face. Acre did not say anything to allow her to express her emotions in whatever way she wanted. Again, this scenario was similar to the past.

"I stayed up late reading the Empress Irene's diary, now I understand why she cherished you. This napkin and your outfit are her favorite color." She chuckled.

The sound of silence accompanied them, not an awkward one but rather an understanding and comfortable silence. After a while, the empress said, "Actually, I've been getting too many complaints about him but chose to ignore it for his sake. But I realized that I was the one who couldn't accept reality. Performing poorly as an emperor, even going far as having a mistress, but this time he's gone too far in linking himself with black magic."

Without saying a word, Acre nodded in agreement.

"You may ask why I crowned him as the emperor. It's been his plan this whole time. At first, he was confused about why we didn't have a child. I'm sure you know that all emperors and empresses in the past chose to not have a child in the early years of their marriage to focus entirely on governing the empire. Then he proposed the idea that he wanted to become a temporary emperor to understand my feelings so I agreed because I thought this would strengthen our bonding. Things took quite a turn but I chose to ignore it because he looked very happy owning the title. Naturally, as his wife, I feel happy when he's happy. But now I have a solid reason to retract my decisions."

With a soft smile and gentle eyes, Acre gave her reassurance, "Whatever Your Majesty wishes to do, I will fully support it."

Empress Diana could finally draw a long and deep breath and she giggled, realizing that she had revealed everything contained in her for a long time. "I must say you're very unpredictable. I understand Empress Irene's feeling now."

With the mention of Empress Irene once again, Acre looked down at his fingers and played with the keychain. "In all honesty, I wish to turn back time and meet her again. This place was her office in the past," his eyes wandered around the room. Then he gazed ahead at the empress. "You really remind me of her." he beamed.

That radiant smile of his unexpectedly made her feel touched.

After that, they conversed about various topics as if they had known each other for a very long time. The empress took this opportunity to ask for some advice regarding certain issues that had been persisting in her mind without any proper solutions. Surprisingly but expectedly, Acre was able to offer her a few very fruitful suggestions. His way of providing multiple solutions encouraged flexibility to solve many other problems.

At the end of their conversation, Acre said, "I'll be leaving this city tomorrow. Maybe I'll find some souvenirs for that assistant of mine. Anyway, I'll make sure to visit you for the last time."

A hint of sadness could be sensed from her. "I see. Then I shall make my investigation regarding the emperor now. Let our talks continue tomorrow."