He’d known the imperial family was wealthy, but he’d assud it was from taxes and tribute. He hadn’t realized they were essentially running a massive agricultural operation.
"This is..." he said slowly, "this is incredible. Your mother built all of this?"
Heena nodded. "My mother believed in practical wealth. She said flowers were beautiful, but they don’t feed people. Fruits and vegetables do. So she convinced my father to convert half of the ornantal gardens into productive farmland."
She smiled fondly at the mory.
"The nobles thought she was crazy at first. ’An Empress doing farming? How undignified!’ But when they tasted the fruits and vegetables from here, when they saw the profits from selling the surplus, they changed their tune pretty quickly."
Larus laughed. "Your mother sounds like she was an amazing woman."
"She was," Heena said quietly. "She was brilliant. Strong. Practical. I wish I’d had more ti with her."
They walked in comfortable silence for a mont, just enjoying the gardens.
Then Larus said, "Thank you for showing this. I feel like I understand you better now."
Heena looked at him curiously. "How so?"
"You’re practical like your mother," he said. "You don’t care about appearances or what people think is ’proper.’ You care about what actually works. What’s actually useful."
He gestured at the gardens around them.
"This place is beautiful, but it’s also ’productive’. Just like how you rule. You’re not just sitting on a throne looking imperial—you’re actually ’doing’ things. Making changes. Improving the empire."
Heena felt warmth spread through her chest at his words.
"I..." she started, then stopped.
Larus looked at her with gentle eyes. "You’re an incredible ruler, your majesty. And an incredible person. I’m very lucky to have married you."
Heena felt her face grow warm. "Stop being so sweet. You’ll give cavities worse than those pastries you were complaining about."
He laughed—a genuine, warm sound.
They continued walking through the gardens, hand in hand, just enjoying each other’s company.
.
.
.
After that morning in the gardens, Larus could not et Heena for literally three consecutive days.
She was so busy that he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her for more than a few seconds. He also had his own consort duties and administrative work, but he finished everything so quickly that even the old palace butlers were shocked and surprised by his efficiency.
But whenever he tried to et Heena properly, he was always stopped by urgent matters pulling her away.
He passed by her many tis in corridors—she was always surrounded by officials, always reading docunts, always in motion. She would give him a quick nod of acknowledgnt before disappearing into another eting.
The divorce proceedings between the duchesses and the dukes had caused absolute chaos throughout the entire empire.
Everyone’s eyes were on the consorts—whose side would they take? Their fathers’ or their mothers’?
Not only that, Heena faced enormous pressure from nobles and conservative factions. Many didn’t want these divorces to happen, and they’d already submitted massive petitions against the proceedings—thousands of signatures protesting the dissolution of such ancient, noble marriages.
On the other side, Heena was drowning in administrative docunts. She’d promised her aunt she would finish everything within three days, and she intended to keep that promise.
Heena didn’t even return to her office most of the ti. She spent nearly all her hours in the throne room, sitting on that imperial seat, hearing one argunt after another, listening to rebuttals, examining evidence, making judgnts.
After one full day of legal proceedings, Heena had successfully granted divorces between:
- Kieran’s mother and Kieran’s father
- Lucian’s mother and Lucian’s father
- Damien’s stepmother and Damien’s father
The property divisions were brutal. Each duchess walked away with significant portions of the family wealth, leaving the dukes financially weakened but legally unable to contest the clear evidence of infidelity.
But the problem—the massive, complicated problem—was Adrian’s mother’s case.
It was dragging on endlessly.
Adrian’s father was vehently against the divorce. Adrian’s mother desperately wanted one. But unlike the other cases with clear evidence of affairs, Adrian’s case was more complicated.
Adrian’s father could prove he had never physically struck his wife. There was no concrete evidence of the emotional abuse and neglect she’d described—no witnesses willing to testify, no docunted incidents.
And worse—Adrian’s maternal grandparents, her own parents, were supporting Adrian’s father instead of their daughter.
The whole Adrian family—from the in-laws to her own blood relatives—stood against Adrian’s mother.
She was completely alone.
And Adrian himself? That bastard stayed completely silent. Didn’t lean toward either side. Didn’t defend his mother, didn’t support his father. Just sat there like a coward, causing even more chaos by his refusal to take any position.
And Heena was the one who had to handle this ss.
During a brief five-minute recess, Heena turned to Adrian’s mother privately and said quietly:
"There is one way to force him to sign the divorce papers himself. But you’ll have to do sothing, and it’s quite harsh."
Adrian’s mother looked at her with desperate, exhausted eyes. "What is it, Your Majesty?"
Heena told her the plan.
Adrian’s mother paused for a long mont, her face going through several emotions—shock, disgust, pain, and finally... cold determination.
She agreed.
She didn’t want to do it. But she had no choice left. If her own family wanted to drag her down, then she would drag them all down with her.
---
When the court session resud, Adrian’s father spoke again with false sincerity:
"Your Majesty, I do not want a divorce. This is not even an appropriate ti to file for such proceedings. My wife is confused, emotional—"
Adrian’s mother looked at him and ’scoffed’ loudly.
The sound echoed through the throne room.
Then she spoke clearly: "Your Majesty, I would like to file a petition. Against my sister."
Complete silence fell.
Everyone was stunned.
Adrian’s father’s face turned deathly pale, then flushed with rage. He looked at Adrian’s mother with fury burning in his eyes.
She looked back at him without flinching and said, "Your Majesty, if I’m not mistaken, according to imperial law, if any person commits adultery or inappropriate relations within a marriage, they must be punished. Even posthumously."
Adrian’s father sputtered, "I have NOT cheated! How dare you accuse—"
Adrian’s mother nodded calmly. "Fine. You haven’t cheated during our marriage. I accept that."
She paused.
"Then I will not divorce you."
Everyone went silent. A small smile was beginning to form on Adrian’s father’s face—
When Adrian’s mother continued: "Your Majesty, if he has not cheated, fine. I am ready to stay by his side. But I have one condition."
Heena looked at her carefully. "State your condition."
Adrian’s mother turned to look directly at her husband and said, "First, he has to accept my condition. Whatever it is."
Adrian’s father, confident she couldn’t possibly ask for anything too terrible, nodded arrogantly. "Of course I will accept. I am a reasonable man."
Adrian’s mother smiled—a cold, bitter smile.
"I want my sister’s grave dug up from the Adrian family cetery and sent back to my maternal family’s grounds."
Complete, absolute silence.
Then chaos erupted.
"WHAT?!"
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Adrian’s father literally ’lost his composure completely’. His face turned purple with rage as he shouted:
"YOU VICIOUS WOMAN! HOW ’DARE’ YOU?! Your sister is DEAD! She’s been dead for over twenty years! And you—you would desecrate her grave?! Disturb her rest?!"
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