Chapter 619: Chapter-619
"Well, Your Majesty, I am talking to my master, not insulting him," Heena retorted seamlessly. "I am simply stating a historical fact. The throne changes color fast, and promises tend to fade when the person who made them gets too comfortable."
The Emperor stared at her, then let out a sharp sigh. "Well... that is true. So, what do you want from me?"
"I want nothing more, Your Majesty," Heena said, her expression turning terrifyingly serene. "Just some promises."
The Emperor shrugged his broad shoulders. "As long as you do not ask for my throne, I can promise you anything."
Heena scoffed. "So you are actually worried I might want your throne?"
"Well," the Emperor smirked, "who wouldn’t?"
"I wouldn’t, Your Majesty," Heena replied flatly, as if the very idea of managing the empire sounded like an exhausting chore.
The Emperor looked at her, shaking his head with a deep, melancholic amusement. "I really regret that you are not my daughter. Is it possible that your father somehow switched you at birth, and you are actually mine?"
"I wish, Your Majesty," Heena deadpanned. "But I look a thousand percent like my grandmother, so I highly doubt it."
"But don’t you look more like your mother?" the Emperor pressed.
"Oh, come on, Your Majesty," Heena rolled her eyes, her dark humor bleeding through. "How could I look like a dead person? Look closely. I resemble my grandmother more."
The Emperor stared at her for a second before bursting into a deep, echoing laugh. He pushed the cracked clay teapot toward her.
Heena picked up her cup, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering lantern light. The banter was over.
"Your Majesty," Heena said, her voice dropping into a solemn, absolute vow. "I promise you that I will become your most ruthless, beloved sword. I will dismantle the corrupt factions, bring you the ledger, and clean your court. But in exchange... I have five requests."
The Emperor raised an eyebrow, his amusement replaced by sharp calculation. "And what may they be?"
Heena set the cup down. She looked the most powerful man in the world dead in the eye and laid out her terms:
Request 1: The Five Imperial Pardons
"My first request is that you give my family exactly five Imperial Pardons."
The entire room froze. Even the hidden Black Feathers seemed to stop breathing.
The Emperor glared at her. "Do you know what you are asking? Five Imperial Pardons means even if your family commits high treason five times, I am legally bound to forgive them."
Heena just shrugged. "I am asking for forgiveness for my family, Your Majesty, not necessarily the individual who commits the crime. And considering the last thing I will ask you, it will make complete sense."
The Emperor nodded slowly. "Let’s hear the rest."
Request 2: Absolute Marital Freedom
"Never, ever can any Vanguard son or daughter be forced to marry into the Imperial Family unless they explicitly wish to. No future Emperor or Imperial decree can force a political marriage on my bloodline. And I want this in writing."
"You Vanguards are really crazy, asking for such a thing to avoid the royal family," the Emperor scoffed. "Okay, I promise you. And I will give it in writing."
Request 3: The Shield of Neutrality
"My third wish is for absolute political immunity. I want written permission that my Vanguard family, my marquisate bloodline, and all future generations will never be pulled into the imperial bloodbaths or succession fights ever again. We will remain completely neutral, and the crown will fiercely protect that neutrality."
The Emperor frowned deeply. "You want to pull the most powerful military family out of court politics entirely? You know that in this capital, a faction that refuses to take a side is often destroyed by both. You dare to ask the crown to act as your shield?"
"Your Majesty," Heena smiled chillingly. "What I am about to do for you will not just put my life in danger. It is one hundred percent guaranteed that I will not come out of this political bloodbath alive. If I don’t ask for this now, aren’t you just going to point the finger at my family after I finish the dirty work, and let the surviving ministers tear them apart to quell their anger?"
The Emperor looked at her, recognizing the brutal, unavoidable truth of her words. "Quite a cautionary tale. What is your fourth?"
Request 4: The Vanguard’s Retirement
"After I die, no one from my family ever needs to join the army or go to war if they do not wish to. We will return full control of the Northern Army to you, Your Majesty, but the Vanguard family will retain three of their aristocratic titles without the burden of mandatory military service."
The Emperor’s voice turned dangerously serious. "You know that the Vanguard title was earned by your grandfather’s blood, sweat, and absolute loyalty. And you dare to just return his military power?"
"I am not returning the honor, Your Majesty," Heena shook her head. "I am ensuring that when I die, my future generations are not forced into the meat grinder just because of their last name."
Request 5: The Right to Live Again
"My fifth wish is this: Please allow Vanguard widows, widowers, or anyone whose partner dies in service, the absolute legal and societal right to marry again. And the children of..."
Heena paused, making sure the Emperor was listening to every single syllable.
"...and the children of those subsequent marriages shall retain full aristocratic legitimacy," Heena finished firmly. "They will be recognized as true Vanguards, immune to the capital’s gossip, exempt from the ’unclean’ stigma of the civil scholars, and fully protected by the crown. I want my family to have the right to survive, to move on, and to be happy, even after the worst has happened."
The Emperor sat in absolute silence.
He looked at the young woman sitting across from him. The sociopathic brilliance, the flawless manipulation, the fearless disrespect—all of it was just armor. She wasn’t negotiating for power, wealth, or political leverage for herself.
She was methodically, perfectly preparing for her own death. She was selling her life, her reputation, and her brilliant mind to the Emperor in exchange for buying her family eternal, unbreakable freedom.
The Emperor looked at Heena for a moment before asking calmly, "Why do you think you are going to die for sure, my lady?"
Hearing that, Heena looked at him without the slightest hesitation.
"Your Majesty, if this were such a simple task, you would have assigned it to one of your own princes or someone you already trusted deeply." She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But instead, you gave this task to me."
The Emperor remained silent.
"That means this is something your ordinary subjects cannot accomplish. And since you did not entrust it to any of the princes or other members of the royal family, there must be another reason." Heena folded her arms. "Which means the task is dangerous."
The Emperor regarded her calmly before saying, "It could also be that I trust you."
Heena blinked.
Then she gave him a perfectly polite smile.
"I am flattered by Your Majesty’s trust."
Her expression immediately turned serious.
"But what should I say?" she continued. "People do not simply hand over a task capable of shaking the entire empire to some foolish little girl."
The corner of the Emperor’s lips twitched.
Heena stared at him.
"And if Your Majesty truly trusts me that much," she added, "then I suppose I should be even more worried."
For the first time, the Emperor looked genuinely amused.
This girl had a remarkable talent for turning even a compliment into an accusation.
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