"But this person has rather unique tastes, you see. She enjoys the atmosphere of being forced into something. So, even if she seems to be resisting, you can just proceed."
"Did you bring a pervert?"
"Ahahaha! Well, rather than a pervert, isn't it like, there's something like that? Falling into pleasure while being forcibly held in the arms of a strong man, getting drunk on your own weakness."
Carlyle snorted.
"So she wants to enjoy the pleasure, but she doesn't want to look like she's starving for a man, is that it?"
"Something like that. Hehe!"
"She's definitely a pervert."
Carlyle clicked his tongue with a frown, but he didn't refuse. He strode into the door that Max opened, and the door closed behind him immediately.
However, the beautiful woman that Max had bragged about liking was nowhere to be seen.
"What is this?"
The room was certainly dark, as if it had been decorated for a secret meeting.
On one side was a large couch that could be used as a bed, and there were also sweet drinks and simple snacks prepared that lovers would share at night.
The room, which was filled with the fragrance of ylang-ylang, which is said to have aphrodisiac effects, looked like the luxurious bedroom of a high-class courtesan.
"There's definitely a lot of money spent on this, but…"
When Carlyle tilted his head and carefully surveyed the room, thinking that the blanket on the couch stirred, he reflexively drew his self-defense dagger and guarded that direction.
"Hmm…."
A faint moan emanated from the pile of blankets.
'Could it be the woman?'
It was a situation entirely different from what he had expected. Without lowering his guard, Carlyle approached the couch.
The woman slumped on the couch slowly raised her upper body.
He had thought it was a blanket embroidered with golden threads, but instead, amidst the shimmering silk dress, there was the woman's dazzling golden hair spread out. It was a lush mane of hair, flowing and shimmering like strands of gold.
As he heard a faint sound amidst the beautiful golden strands, Carlyle couldn't help but acknowledge it inwardly.
'That little fox earlier might have some reason to be confident.
Despite his lack of interest in her, contrary to rumors, she is quite beautiful.
It wasn't just her face; her delicate neck and shoulders stimulated protective instincts, while her ample chest has a corner that provokes men's base desires.
"Ah…!"
The woman, who had been asleep, woke up and was startled to find Carlyle. She huddled her body in fear.
'Just as he said.'
Carlyle smiled and approached her, bending down. In his hand, he still held the dagger, its blade gleaming sharply.
"Hmm… Are you a noblewoman?"
"Ah, I… Yes…"
The woman's large eyes followed the dagger as it moved closer to her nose.
She clearly looked terrified. Or, if what Max said was true, she was more likely pretending to be terrified.
"So, are you here for money, or did they promise you something else?"
"What? W-what do you mean…?
The woman's voice trembled slightly as she panicked.
If the man standing in front of her was not Carlyle, she might have been excited and rushed to him just by seeing this appearance.
However, Carlyle still approached the woman with an indifferent expression and asked her in a low, dry voice.
"What were you trying to seduce me to find out? Who is the real mastermind?"
I, I, I…!"
"Shhh… Don't even think about trying to use your little brain. It's better to just be honest. I have no sympathy for someone like you, a noblewoman who sells her body like a prostitute."
The woman's face turned pale at his words.
"Where am I? Why did you bring me here?!"
"Kidnapped act? Didn't know that was part of the script." He twisted her wrist behind her back with a snap.
"Seems you learned your lines well. Enjoying it?"
No gentlemanly treatment for this fragile woman. He never trusted Max's woman from the start. Anyone approaching him after the war, especially connected to Max, had ulterior motives, a hidden puppeteer.
'More importantly, why send a woman, anyway?'
"Speak now, before something you cherish breaks. Who…" He was cut off by the deafening crash of a shattered door.
Startled, both turned to see the Emperor, fury contorting his face.
"You insolent dog! What do you think you're doing?"
Carlyle couldn't tell who the Emperor's words were directed at.
"Are you really… talking to me?"
But the woman who had been lying almost on the couch, overwhelmed by Carlyle's power, escaped his loosened grip and ran to the Emperor.
"Sob, Your Majesty!"
Carlyle looked in surprise at the woman he had planned to spend the night with, who suddenly threw herself into the arms of his father, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"What's going on…?'
But before he could figure out the situation, the Emperor thundered.
"You claimed you were suffering on the battlefield, but now you're trying to humiliate me?"
"Me?"
"Don't feign innocence! You dare to prey on my woman? What is this if not trying to usurp me!"
"Huh?"
Carlyle asked back, incredulous.
He couldn't understand a single word his father was saying.
The claim that this woman was his father's woman, and that he intended to violate her, sounded absurd. It was true that he looked down on his father, but he had never openly shown it before. Perhaps…
But the woman who had been sobbing in the emperor's arms cried out as if she were about to die of sorrow.
"I, I'm a prostitute, Your Majesty! Is this what it means to be your lover? To be pointed at and called a prostitute? To be kidnapped and almost violated, and still not receive any sympathy? Am I that kind of dirty woman?"
The emperor's face turned red with anger at the voice stained with tears.
"Carlyle, you've lost your mind! How dare you speak such nonsense to Viviana…!"
"Ah… This woman's name is Viviana?"
"Silence! This is something I cannot simply overlook. You are confined to your quarters for the time being!"
When Carlisle simply stood there with a dumbfounded expression on his face even after the order to be confined to his quarters, the emperor, who had been grinding his teeth, shouted at the guards standing behind him.
"What are you doing?! Drag Carlyle to his room!"
And so, Carlyle was dragged to his room and placed under house arrest without even having the chance to defend himself.
Left alone in his locked room, Carlyle only then began to understand the situation bit by bit.
"So… there was definitely someone's trickery involved."
'There's no way Max Erez could have done this alone.'
He wouldn't have done it if he valued his life.
'The fact that he dared to turn me into his enemy means that someone with more power than me persuaded or threatened him.'
And there were few people in this empire who had more power than Crown Prince Carlyle.
The emperor, or the empress.
"Ha…! Our mother has played a clever scheme."
The woman who was the emperor's mistress earlier, and she seemed to be favored by the emperor, so it wouldn't have been the Emperor's doing.
This leaves only one option: the Empress.
'That mistress seemed formidable as well, so the Empress probably regarded her as a threat.'
She wasn't around before Carlyle set off for the Canatak War, so she must have risen to power during that time. Therefore, Carlyle had no choice but to remain ignorant of her true identity
Now, I understand what Max was saying.
Even if the woman resisted, it was her preference, so he wanted me to violate her.
'I suppose she hoped Father would catch us in the act.'
If that had been the case, Carlyle's place of confinement wouldn't have been his room, but something like an underground dungeon.
"Trying to get rid of the undesirable mistress while getting rid of me too…What a cunning woman!"
Carlyle smiled faintly.
His stepmother, Beatrice, was a person who was wrapped up in greed and jealousy, contrary to her appearance. She had constantly emphasized that she was the "only" "empress", and she always brought Matthias with her to official occasions.
Thanks to her efforts, there were many people who supported Matthias. Of course, Carlyle had such a large presence that the forces supporting Matthias could not openly come out, but that was beside the point.
I went into that room to find out the background and the conspiracy… but did the Empress expect me to do that too?
He smiled, but his mouth was bitter.
In this battlefield, he was completely defeated by the Empress.
He had avoided the poisonous fangs of that venomous woman so well until now, and perhaps that was why he had let his guard down for a moment.
But Carlyle clicked his tongue lightly and shook off his heavy heart.
'What is my father going to do if he doesn't let me out?'
The Empire of Chad is protected by four.
To the east are the rugged Spishara Mountains, to the west is the vast Moria Sea, to the north is the buffer zone of the 'Abandoned Land' Pervaz.
And to the south, it was guarded by Carlyle Evaristo.
So even though he was arrogant and acted like he was already an emperor, the emperor could not abandon him.
'If not me, then my father or Matthias would have to go to war, but do they have the guts to do that?'
Carlyle snorted and sprawled out on the bed. He had wanted to leave the banquet hall anyway, so he decided to consider this a good thing.
However, he did not have the luxury of sleeping or lazing around.
'No one will be looking for me for a while now, but I can't afford to waste this opportunity.'
Carlyle jumped up again and grabbed his hood and cloak.