Men of the Harem - Chapter 9-1

Chapter 9: This Time, It’s Your Turn To Be Hurt

The moment after Latil spoke those words, the expression on Duke Atraxil froze as it was like it would shatter with a ‘crack’ if she touched it with a finger.

Latil turned her gaze away from him arduously. She didn’t know about anyone else, but when it came to Duke Atraxil, she did feel really sorry.

But the others were also wearing a similar expression to Duke Atraxil. Everyone was looking at Latil with a reluctant expression. It was clear that no one seemed to have understood Latil’s words.

Out of kindness, Latil did them a favor and made herself clear.

“For starters… five seems like a good number.”

The hall as silent as death once again became loud with commotion. Amid the chattering, the words ‘five’ and ‘harem’ could be heard occasionally.

Duke Atraxil belatedly came to his senses and shouted in astonishment.

“This is nonsense, Your Majesty! All the previous empress regnants have only had a single husband before. While many men have been rumored to be their lovers, no one has officially taken in consorts before so for what reason—.”

‘Wow. So you can spew bullshit without barking. Amazing.’

“The fifth emperor Tracichou of Tarium, who was well-known to be a noble and pure romantic, had five concubines and the eleventh emperor Aintra had six concubines, Duke Atraxil. The others had around fifteen on average. The emperors that were known to be more fickle kept over twenty concubines.”

“However…”

“Why is it that I cannot have the number of concubines that everyone else has had. I shall have a minimum of at least five consorts as well.”

As Latil added ‘I’m a bit of a romanticist, you see’ before winking, the mouth of the ministers fell wide open. They fell into a state of panic.

Latil swept her gaze over the nobility whose expressions were smeared with stupefaction and lifted a corner of her lips in mockery.

“As the influence of the empress’ side may grow excessively, was it not you all who insisted that the emperor take in concubines to prevent the disproportion of power?”

There was not a single bit of exaggeration present in Latil’s words. True to this, they were the exact ones who had thrust all sorts of women next to her father’s side, back in his reign. The ministers fell quiet instantly, having remembered this fact.

Latil playfully curved her eyes into crescent shapes and spoke again.

“It would be better for you all if I had multiple consorts, no? That way, wouldn’t you have a chance to take me, the emperor, as your daughter-in-law?”

Within the sea of expressions of nobility, all in an identical state of consternation, appeared a difference for the first time.

Duke Atraxil deepened his scowl. On the other hand, all the others, including those on Duke Atraxil’s side showed tempted expressions.

It was quite a serious situation in its own way, but Latil almost had burst into laughter. How can they wear their thoughts so clearly on their face?

“For those unmarried, you all may volunteer yourself.”

Latil was joking to a certain extent but purposely spoke with a grave face, although those who were taking in those words looked very serious, contrary to her intention.

‘Are they all really going to volunteer?’

The ministers could say nothing and just continued to steal glances amongst themselves. Latil clenched her jaw tightly to hold back her laughter and designated a few to proceed with the task.

As such, the chaotic imperial conference was now over.

As Latil was about to head out through the door located behind the throne of the conference room, she spotted a secretary seated on a near desk. Perhaps today’s conference was quite entertaining — the eyes of the secretary were glimmering while they wrote down today’s conference on a record.

When Latil approached, they stopped recording and shot up from their seat, surprised. They looked frightened, afraid that she had caught them cracking a smile.

‘There’s no need to be so afraid, though.’

“Ah, secretary?”

“Y, yes, Your Majesty!”

“I’ll tell you this in advance. If I happen to only have five consorts, make sure to take this down on the records.”

“Pardon?”

“Emperor Latrasil had ‘no more than’ five consorts. Well, if I look like I have quite the pleasant relationship with the prince consort, you may also record that I was a romanticist.”

“Pardon?”

After winking at the secretary, Latil turned her body around and headed out of the conference room.

As soon as she returned to her room, Latil collapsed on the floor while clutching her stomach. She could no longer hold back her laughter as she remembered the utterly bewildered expressions of the ministers.

* * *

“How can Her Majesty do this to me!”

Duke Atraxil violently threw off his court suit with a bellow, as soon as he returned to his mansion. The maids quickly picked up the strewn about garments with frightened faces.

The duchess who had participated in the coronation ceremony, but wasn’t able to in the imperial conference quickly approached the duke and asked.

“How was the imperial conference? Did Her Majesty conduct the conference well?”

“Very. In fact, too well.”

“If she’s good at conducting, then she’s good at conducting. What do you mean, ‘too well’?”

“She had the ministers in the palm of her hand and messed around with them from the very first day.”

“That much?”

The duchess opened her eyes wide, while Duke Atraxil guzzled down the strong liquor placed on the console.

“Blimey, this man! Don’t just drink, you have to tell me what happened! Did Her Majesty treat you ungenerously? Like she treated you as if she’d forgotten the deeds of how much you’ve helped her…”

“She had recognized the matter and made a definite promise of a reward about that.”

“Then what’s the problem? Spit it out, instead of drinking away.”

The duchess questioned gently, but promptly snatched away the liquor bottle held in the duke’s hands at the same time. Duke Atraxil looked at the duchess with dumbfounded eyes but awkwardly lowered his hand as he spotted the corner of her eyes rising sharply.

“Her Majesty doesn’t seem to want a prince consort, yet.”

“That’s what you were so mad about?”

The duchess tutted.

“Whether it be this year or the next, that issue can be sorted out slowly. The ministers will just continue to bug Her Majesty about it all the time anyway. In the end, she’ll concede and accept someone in a few years.”

“If only that’s all it is.”

“Was there anything else?”

“She said she’ll take in consorts. Consorts!”

“…”

This time, even the duchess didn’t seem to be able to respond immediately. She stood like a wooden doll while blinking her eyes. Consort… Consort…?

“A consort?!”

As the duchess shouted belatedly in astonishment, Duke Atraxil became sullen and nodded his head.

“Seeing that she even mentioned something about an emperor and such about a daughter-in-law, it seems that she wants to pick the prince consort among the consorts.”

“Oh, my. The number of female emperors who said they’ll take in consorts was…”

“Zero.”

The duchess covered her mouth with one hand and made a mixed expression.

“Thinking about our Ranamoon, it is a bit disappointing, but personally, I find this quite amusing.”

“This is amusing?”

“Of course. There’s going to be male consorts for the very first time.”

Like her words, the duchess wore an expression that made it hard to tell whether she was crying or smiling, as if she didn’t know what to feel.

“Anyway, now that things are like this, it’s going to be difficult for Ranamoon to become the prince consort.”

“You’re right.”

The duke sighed after recalling his son’s aloof and haughty nature.

“He won’t try to enter the harem with his prideful personality, after all.”

* * *

It was her first morning after becoming an emperor.

Latil opened the windows wide as soon as she woke up, and bathed in the morning sun. As the slightly moist but fresh air filled her lungs, a laugh escaped out of her all on its own.

She had a dream. It was the day when Hyacinth left while asking her to wait five years. The dream that often tormented Latil couldn’t be defeated even with the status of an emperor.

‘My first dream as an emperor just had to be about Hyacinth, of all things…”

Latil muttered internally, but the aftereffect of the dream wasn’t as severe as other days due to yesterday’s coronation. The remnants of the aftermath remained and still made her heart flutter. Her declaration of a harem made a strange emotion rise belatedly in her chest, as well.

Although she had announced one for emotional and political purposes, it did mean that at least five would be her men.

‘It might be awkward…’

Latil scratched her forehead in embarrassment, before stopping suddenly.

Hyacinth.

Right… Hyacinth.

The corner of Latil’s lips distorted coldly. Maybe the dream I had of Hyacinth today is a sign that an opportunity for revenge has come.

Quite fittingly, a shitty incident that she had forgotten for a while resurfaced to her memory.

Back when Latil was the crown princess, a delegation from Karisen visited again, requesting a consort.

They went on about exchanges between countries, amity amongst the two, such and such for each other and whatnot, but the important thing was that Hyacinth had dared to send such a delegation to her country.

A smile of content lit up Latil’s lips. Back then, I could only grind my teeth and watch.

“Well, Hyacinth, it looks like I can finally ask you that question again.”

* * *

“The tax system will need some sort of a reorganization. Although the duration lasted only half a year, not only were the commodities near the capital properly distributed during that period, but small-scale battles have been continuously occurring in the vicinity, so the price level in the capital has risen to abnormal levels compared to other regions.”

“If we were to only lower the taxes in the capital, there will be a lot of opposition from other districts. If we lower the taxes everywhere, the tax revenue coming in from unaffected regions will decrease. But if we were to adjust the rates according to the other regions, it will place a burden on those living in the capital.”

“Yes. I believe we’ll have to find a reasonable balance in between.”

“How long will it take for price levels to settle in?”

“Before and after Your Majesty’s coronation, the volume of trade between visitors and foreign businesses has increased. The circulation of goods and supplies is already active, so I believe that it won’t take long.”

“What do you all think about this matter?”

“If we lower tax rates, we can gain the support of the common people in the short run, but there will be complaints during the process of returning taxes to its initial rate afterward. The economy can recover quickly, so I believe it will be better to maintain current levels.”

“However, Your Majesty, maintaining current levels will place a burden on the common people. Even if the economy were to recover quickly, it’ll be hard on them for at least the first month or two. If we continue asking for the unreasonable, this will give rise to complaints right now.”

The time Latil spent in conflict with Prince Tralla was quite short compared to the time that was usually spent in a fight for the throne.

But since their dispute was concentrated in the capital, the only area that was affected by their fight was the capital. Because of this reason, it was difficult to implement an equal policy.

Latil suffered through a headache from the very first day, amongst those from the Ministry of Finance whose opinions clashed.

‘Administrative duty really is different from practice.’

There were more variables to consider than what she had studied from books. The fact that there were no right and wrong answers also added to her heavy responsibility.

Back when she was the crown princess, her father, the Chancellor, and her tutors would correct her if she pointed to the wrong answer, but this was no longer the case. If Latil pointed to the wrong answer now, that would soon be the future of her people.

Latil had discussed the matter at hand for nearly five consecutive hours. As she spread herself over the desk completely exhausted, the Chamberlain who had been just watching silently let out a chuckle.

“You must be tired.”

“It’s more troublesome than what I’d thought it’d be.”

Latil mumbled weakly.

“Your Majesty will do well.”

The next thing Latil had to decide on was the matter regarding the harem she announced yesterday, but luckily, it wasn’t too difficult. Rather, she was looking forward to it, as she had already thought of what to do.

Because of this, when an official exclusively in charge of matters regarding the harem came in and began explaining things with various documents, Latil was just smiling comfortably.

“We usually make people sign on this document before they are accepted as a consort. This is the standard format, but Your Majesty may include certain conditions that you wish for.”

As the official placed down the document, Latil didn’t feel a need to hide her mischievous smile and spoke the words she had been preparing.

“Oh. There’s nothing else to add. But rather… for diversity, and for a diplomatic relationship, I’d like to take in a consort from another country as well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. If you say so, I’ll prepare a delegation. Which country should we send them to?”

The official who had no idea of what Latil’s intention was, folded his two hands together and waited for Latil’s orders. Latil rested her arm on the table, before cheerfully instructing.

“Send them to Karisen. To Emperor Hyacinth.”

[CHAPTER 9 Illustration: https://novel.naver.com/webnovel/illust.nhn?novelId=853016&order=Oldest&seq=77625 ]