Clashing with the Empress 6

After describing his ordeals to Elise and the Barca Elders, Enki stayed for the night. He was given a guest room in the mansion and slept like a log. The day and been draining and a long one.

When the morning arrived, Enki met with the Barca Elders and Elise once more. It was to talk about his original goal for the visit that got delayed. The talk went smoothly.

Since he had been kidnapped just yesterday, everyone knew that it was important for the crown prince to have some people he could truly rely on, since a similar situation could happen again. It was agreed upon that Enki would get 30 Warriors at Blue rank and four Elders, three of Cyan rank, and one Silver one. At first it the Barcas didn't plan on sending one of their core Elders, but after Elise insisted on it, they gave in. It was important to keep the future madam happy.

After talking with the Elders for a bit longer, Enki bid farewell to his sister, Violettina, and the Elders and returned to the Imperial Palace.

Upon returning, he went straight to the throne room and requested an audience with his father. His request was immediately granted, and he was quickly escorted to see his father.

When Enki entered the throne room, he saw that the Emperor and Empress were having a meeting with the Imperial Council.

"Welcome back, son. I was wondering where you had been holed up since you didn't show up at yesterday's meeting.", his father commented in an amused tone. Of course, he knew what had happened but wanted to see how his son planned to deal with this.

"I got slightly delayed on my way to the Barca mansion.", Enki simply replied.

"Oh ho, what sort of delay to keep you absent for the whole day?", the Emperor inquired, while resting his chin upon his palm and leaning back on the throne. His whole posture seemed to scream, "I have no interest in this at all". But his eyes had a different message. Boiling rage could be seen hidden within them. Kidnapping the crown prince was a direct insult to the Imperial family.

"Some people kidnapped me, but luckily they were dealt with.", Enki stated. This caused the Imperial Council members to perk up. They had heard of no such thing.

"Oh, and who would be brave enough to attempt to kidnap the heir to the throne?", the Emperor wondered with a quizzical look. Next to him, Empress Anastasia was clutching her dress so hard that her knuckles had turned white, but other than that her expression didn't betray how nervous she was.

"Sadly, we couldn't find any evidence against pointing who was behind this, but the strangest thing did happen. The Barca house received a letter demanding prince Darren's release in exchange for me. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, Your Imperial Majesty, Empress mother?", Enki said with a voice dripping with sarcasm while glaring at the Empress. He had tolerated the woman for long enough. Since she had decided to bare her fangs against him, he wouldn't bother keeping up appearances.

"My son is beloved by many, and it seems that some of his supporters are on the more radical side. It pains me to see them go to such lengths in order to free my son. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated.", the Empress responded with a calm and level voice.

Upon hearing her response, Enki wanted to snort and roll his eyes but held himself in check.

While the Empress kept her cool, Duke Lapius was glaring at her. He knew exactly who would be foolish enough to do this. Why couldn't his daughter keep it together? Why did she do one foolish thing after the other?

"Father, since there is the possibility that these people are supporters of the second prince, I would like to have full authority regarding the investigation.", Enki requested.

Hearing his son call him father, the Emperor secretly snickered.

'The brat must really want this since he normally calls me Imperial Majesty or Emperor' he thought.

However, before he could reply, an objection was made.

"With all due respect, Your Imperial Highness, you do not have the recourses required to do a thorough investigation. I think this matter should be left for the Imperial Council to handle.", Marquis Qaveron interjected. This was a golden opportunity for him to frame the Duke and Empress, and he wasn't willing to let it go. Sure, the crown prince might have similar thoughts, but he didn't trust that the brat would do a good enough job. If he even had the gall to do it at all.

"That would be true before this morning. The Barca's have granted me their full support regarding this matter since it was used to blackmail them.", Enki refuted.

Upon hearing this, many of the men present showed their surprise. While the crown prince might have been brought up in the Barca mansion, they had still kept their neutral stance, not interfering with the matters in the palace after he returned. Seems that the situation was going to change now, they thought.

Upon hearing this, the Empress' eyes narrowed. She slightly regretted that she had completely antagonized the Barcas. While they were never on the friendliest terms, they had been civil with each other and stayed out of each other's way.

'Damn it. Things keep getting more and more out of hand ever since the bastard returned from the Academy.' she brooded while feeling vexed.

"Well since you have the support of Barcas, I see no reason to not leave you in charge of this matter.", the Emperor replied. Even he was slightly surprised that the Barcas got involved.

"Oh, regarding the Barca family, they hope to make the engagement official as soon as possible.", Enki remarked. The engagement between Elise and Mago had been previously kept under wraps because the Barca family didn't wish to get involved in the internal strife within the Palace. But after this incident, they had used a communication orb to contact Darius and received his permission to make it public. They would officially announce the engagement between Elise and Mago and endorse Enki. Elise had been overjoyed. She was now officially recognized as the future daughter-in-law.

"What marriage?", Duke Lapius inquired. He and the others had heard of no such thing. Was Enki going to marry the young miss of the Barca family?

"My daughter, Elise, is to be married to the heir of house Barca, Mago Barca. I and Darius have discussed this for some time now and we had come to an agreement a few months ago but didn't want to make it public at that time since the announcement of the new crown prince was about to be made.", the Emperor answered.

For a minute, the entire room was completely silent. They were all trying to remember who this "Elise" was. Finally, someone recognized the name and yelled out with a shrill voice; "THAT BRAT'S SISTER IS GOING TO MARRY THE NEXT SUPREME COMMANDER!?"

It was the Empress. She could not fathom how these two lowly siblings got everything they needed so easily. It was like the whole world operates in order to make everything smooth sailing for them.

Upon finally realizing who the Imperial Princess Elise was, all the men within the throne room received another new shock.

'The crown prince will be in-laws with the mightiest family within the Empire.' they all thought with grim faces. Almost everyone on the Council supported a prince of their choice already. Enki wasn't one of them.

While most of them were in shock and had dark faces, there were two men that were looking at Enki with interest. One was Marquis Haden, who was representing house Barca in the Imperial Council since he was close with Darius, the one who actually held the position but could rarely be present. He had served as Darius's proxy ever since Darius had been appointed as a member of the Council.

This had been within Enki's expectations. House Haden and house Barca were close, so with Barcas supporting him, they would most likely start some talks of cooperation with Enki.

The second person on the other hand surprised him. It was a Cardinal of the Church and not just any Cardinal. He was the leader of the Conservative faction of the Church, directly opposing the Patriarch's Reformist faction. The Cardinal was the only Saint-rank mage within the Church beside the Patriarch. His name was Augustus Roscelli.

While feeling startled, Enki simply nodded to the Cardinal that was gazing at him with a friendly smile. The man looked like he was the definition of a saint. He had a friendly smile on his aged face, brown eyes that emanated warmth, and had short gray hair. He looked like a friendly neighborhood grandpa. And unlike the other Cardinals, his red robes had no extravagant golden trim. Only a small gold symbol of a five-pointed star, indicating his rank as Cardinal could be seen on his robes.

'While I appreciate the idea of additional support, I don't wish to get myself involved with the Church any more than absolutely necessary.' Enki thought to himself while excusing himself from the throne room. He had said his piece and no further reason to stay.

He made his way quickly to his office, ready to tackle the paperwork that was surely waiting for him there.

When he entered, Madelein's expressionless face greeted him once more.

"You are back.", she simply stated in her usual cold and emotionless voice while glancing at Enki and got back to work.

'Couldn't you at least express some sort of concern or happiness upon my return? I got kidnapped, for heaven's sake. Is a concerned look too much to ask? Or at least a change in your tone, huh??' Enki brooded. She never changed.