Chapter 8: A Consort Without Favor, A Family Still Waiting

The letter from Grand Duke Joachim of Alphenia arrived in mid-July, just as the Empire was finally emerging from its long rainy season and entering a brief summer.

A treasury official from the duchy, visiting the capital to deliver tribute goods, requested an audience at the harem palace early in the morning. Still heavy with sleep and barely awake, Fria sat in the reception room, greeting the envoy from his long-missed homeland.

“It’s been a while, Lord Fria.”

Fria glanced up with mild curiosity at the secretary’s hat, whose once splendid ornament now fluttered pitifully after the long journey, and gestured for him to sit.

“‘Lord,’ really… that’s embarrassing. Are my brothers all doing well?”

The man visiting the Empire as a treasury official was none other than Fria’s third older brother, Rohan.

“Now that you are His Majesty’s consort, I cannot speak casually. Thanks to you, our eldest, second, and even the fourth brother are all doing well.”

Rohan lowered his head, unsure how to face his half-younger sibling who had suddenly become a royal consort. His gaze dropped to the worn carpet beneath him.

Even from the furnishings in the reception room where he had been waiting, he had already noticed, Fria did not seem to be living a particularly luxurious life.

His unspoken thoughts were bluntly voiced by the tactless eldest nephew who had accompanied him as a secretary.

“What is this shabby place? Are you really some kind of imperial consort?”

A man becoming a concubine, disgusting, honestly. Duncan, the 19-year-old eldest son of Grand Duke Joachim, didn’t bother hiding his irritation. He was still in a foul mood after being coldly treated by the Emperor the previous day.

They say if a wife is beautiful, even her family’s gatepost gets respect, but that arrogant Emperor hadn’t even offered that. Instead, he made them wait half a day in a cold reception room until the afternoon council ended.

Fria might be a bit prickly, but at least his looks were decent. If the Emperor had taken him willingly, why pretend otherwise now?

“You look healthy as ever, Duncan. Is your mother well?”

Unlike Rohan, who bowed awkwardly, Duncan treated his youngest uncle just as irreverently as ever, which oddly reassured Fria. He was used to that bratty attitude, “Ten years younger is all the same,” Duncan used to say.

Maybe that was why Fria had adapted so quickly to the Emperor’s arrogance.

“Stepmother’s fine. You should worry about yourself. Isn’t it embarrassing, becoming some palace consort?”

As Duncan glanced around, his gaze landed on Judith, who had just entered carrying a tray of refreshments. Feeling his stare, Judith snorted and set the tray down haughtily.

‘Hmph, what a frivolous guy, noticing pretty things.’

Duncan, momentarily captivated by the cold imperial beauty Judith, snapped back to his senses at his uncle’s subtle signal. It meant: take out the items your aunts prepared.

Because their attendant couldn’t enter the harem, Duncan had been forced to carry all the bundles himself, which had already dented his pride. With an indifferent attitude, he placed them on the table. Judith’s eyes flicked toward the ornate wrapping.

Inside were all sorts of gifts, trendy hair ornaments, necklaces, rings, as well as Alphenia’s specialty perfumes, oils, cosmetics, and musk sachets. Not knowing what their much younger brother liked, his sisters-in-law had simply sent what they believed a consort would need.

After the Grand Duchess died giving birth to her fourth son, the Duke mourned alone for years before remarrying a young noblewoman.

Though beautiful, she was frail and died of puerperal fever after giving birth to Fria. Unable to endure another loss, the Duke also fell ill and soon passed away.

Joachim inherited the title at a young age, while the second and third sons were busy managing the duchy. Meanwhile, the youngest, Evan, went astray during adolescence. Just when things settled, Joachim’s wife fell gravely ill and eventually died.

At her funeral, Joachim suddenly remembered he had another younger brother. A boy who looked exactly like their late stepmother was standing there, looking up at them.

“How old are you now?” they asked, as if it were nothing.

The boy smiled brightly. “I just turned thirteen.”

Only then did Joachim recall that until a few years ago, he had been paying for another nanny besides Duncan’s. The expense had disappeared from the books at some point. When he asked where the nanny had gone, the boy replied casually, “She passed away.”

The brothers were horrified. How long had this child been left alone? How could they forget their own sibling? Not an animal, but a human child, how had he survived alone?

When Joachim offered to find him a new nanny, the boy waved it off. “I’m grown now. I don’t need one.”

Ironically, only Evan, the troublemaker, knew the boy’s name, Fria. He lived in the eastern tower, their stepmother’s former residence, and was often seen with a suspicious alchemist.

Joachim then remembered a foreign alchemist who had once asked for lodging to study herbs, he had assigned him that very tower.

While the brothers struggled with guilt, the boy simply bowed and left, saying, “See you next time.” He didn’t return until three months later.

When they scolded him, he replied that he had merely gone on his usual herb-gathering trip. The rumored alchemist had been taking their precious youngest brother into the mountains all along.

Before they could figure out how to make up for lost time, the boy had already grown into adulthood. Joachim deeply regretted not opposing Fria’s entry into the harem more strongly. Hearing that Fria had gained the Emperor’s favor brought him mixed feelings, relief and sorrow.

All that turmoil was contained in the letter Fria now held.

****

Fria, are you well? I heard from the envoy that you have been elevated to a consort of the imperial harem. Overjoyed, I write you this letter.

To receive the Emperor’s favor, what greater honor could there be? Your sisters-in-law wept with joy upon hearing the news. Sending you to the palace as a man has weighed heavily on my heart…

As your eldest brother, I regret not spending more time with you. Please, be obedient to His Majesty and maintain harmony within the palace.

The duchy remains at peace, so do not worry. I have enclosed a letter from Mattia as well. We all miss you dearly.

****

It read less like a letter to a younger brother and more like one to a daughter married off. In truth, Joachim had written it while imagining the day his own daughter Mattia would marry, shedding tears the entire time.

Unfolding the smaller note enclosed, Fria saw clumsy handwriting:

Hello Princess Fria. This is Mattia.

“Princess…”

Fria burst out laughing. The image of his brother struggling to explain his situation to a six-year-old was too vivid. To Mattia, only a princess could marry a king, or Emperor.

As Fria laughed until tears formed, Duncan clicked his tongue.

“Are you even eating properly? What’s with your face?”

Judith’s eyes narrowed sharply. What was that supposed to mean? As if they were starving him!

Trying to hide his awkwardness, Duncan spoke more gruffly. Seeing Fria again after half a year made him strangely nervous. Fria had changed, cutting his long hair, his whole atmosphere different.

“Are you really being loved? That bastard yesterday looked like you could split him with an axe and not get a drop of blood.”

‘Love? What a joke.’

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