Flower Dream Chapter 16

“Lately, not only Her Majesty the Empress but even His Majesty the Emperor has been showing enthusiasm for Your Majesty’s marriage… It seems those on the First Imperial Prince’s side believe that if they cannot force a conclusion within this year, there is no hope. His father-in-law, Chancellor Yeon, is going around stirring up various minor factions, including the neutral faction.”

“Hm, is he planning to gather people and pressure Father?”

“It appears so. Isn’t rallying the nobles and pushing through by sheer numbers what Chancellor Yeon does best?”

Thinking of the existence that had been pestering Shin Ryuwon for the past few years, Hyeok Ryeoa frowned. The Empire’s Chancellor and father-in-law of the First Imperial Prince Shin Sangwon, ‘Yeon Ihun,’ had for several years been consistently arguing that his son-in-law should become Crown Prince in accordance with the principle of primogeniture.

The principle of primogeniture—that ‘the eldest son or eldest daughter inherits the position of family head and continues the family line’—was a custom followed by all nations on the continent, including the Empire.

Long ago, before the practice of bequeathing everything to the firstborn arose, fierce succession struggles broke out each time a family head passed away. This directly led to the weakening of national power.

If even a single noble family was like that, the strife within the imperial and royal families who ruled over a country went without saying. The tragedy of fratricidal bloodshed occurred everywhere over the one and only seat.

The era of prolonged chaos ended with the collapse of countless nations and families. As countries fell and families were wiped out not from external invasion but internal division, the ruling class, sensing a crisis, sought a solution.

Thus arose the custom that the firstborn would become the head of the family, regardless of gender. Some countries even promulgated the principle of primogeniture as national law. In this way, it became common that the position of family head would be inherited by the first child, while the family’s other assets—land, jewels, artworks—would be divided fairly among all the children.

Over the next several hundred years, primogeniture took root as a continental tradition. Of course, there were always exceptions. Cases where another child overwhelmingly surpassed the firstborn and was made successor occurred now and again.

The current Emperor himself was an example of this. Having ascended the throne over his elder brother and sister, he had felt no aversion from the start to making his youngest son Crown Prince.

But the nobles were different. They sought to solidify the principle of primogeniture, even to prevent family strife and establish social order.

This was only natural, as succession disputes within the Empire had skyrocketed since the current Emperor’s enthronement. Those harboring discontent with the system where the eldest took everything had rebelled upon seeing the Emperor, who had pushed aside his older siblings to ascend the throne.

With such a precedent already set, if the Emperor passed the seat to Shin Ryuwon, another bout of chaos would undoubtedly erupt. This was precisely what the nobles were concerned about.

Even aside from that reason, the Imperial Prince each supported varied depending on political inclination or power dynamics. The imperial faction loyal to the Emperor supported Shin Ryuwon in accordance with their lord’s will, while the noble faction, wishing for the imperial house’s power to grow no further, primarily backed Shin Sangwon.

In truth, the First Imperial Prince’s abilities were not greatly inferior to Shin Ryuwon’s. Befitting a direct imperial descendant, Shin Sangwon also boasted extraordinary divine power and had early thrown himself into state affairs, achieving results in multiple areas. The Second Imperial Prince, Shin Chiwon, was similar.

It was simply that Shin Ryuwon was overwhelmingly superior to the two of them. Both in his capability as an Imperial Prince, and in his divine power as a Divine One. Above all, he possessed the Dragon Eyes, which they did not.

“Chancellor Yeon isn’t just meeting with nobles. It’s said he has already made contact several times with the Second Imperial Prince’s side through Prince Uichin. It looks like he’s using even Chancellor Yeon to set the board.”

“Hm, does eldest brother think he can’t beat me alone, so the two of them are trying to join forces? Knowing second brother’s personality, he wouldn’t accept it easily…”

“It appears the Baekhwa Tribe has actively stepped in to mediate. For them, it would be beneficial no matter which of the two Imperial Princes becomes Crown Prince.”

Hyeok Ryeoa voiced her speculation. The mates of both the First and Second Imperial Princes were Flower Ones of Baekhwa Tribe origin. Perhaps because of this, the princess consorts were on good terms and interacted frequently.

“Have the brothers met in person?”

“Not yet. However, both are famous for being devoted husbands… so if the consorts were to arrange a meeting, they wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

“The Baekhwa Tribe had seemed to take a passive stance on the issue of imperial succession until now. There must be a reason their attitude suddenly changed.”

“From what I see, it’s likely because Her Majesty the Empress excluded the Baekhwa Tribe when selecting the candidates for Your Majesty’s princess consort this time. The Eastern Depot also offered a view similar to mine.”

“Hm?”

“Because Her Majesty the Empress’s action is practically tantamount to declaring that there will be no welcoming of a Baekhwa Tribe Flower One as Your Majesty the Imperial Prince’s mate. In truth, it is somewhat factual as well.”

“Mother has indeed been displeased with the Baekhwa Tribe’s movements lately…”

“That’s correct. She has been quite worried, saying that power is excessively concentrated in a particular tribe. All the more so since both Imperial Princes’ fathers-in-law happen to belong to the noble faction…”

Hyeok Ryeoa’s expression darkened. Having produced two mates for direct imperial descendants, the Baekhwa Tribe had rapidly expanded its influence over the past few years. Coincidentally, both of the families connected to them belonged to the noble faction.

Flower Ones and Tree Ones lived in tribal communal societies. While some had taken root in the secular world by becoming officials, artists, merchants, and the like, most Fragrant Ones lived within the sacred cities, keeping a certain distance from the world.

Because of this, the status of Fragrant Ones was slightly ambiguous. They were difficult to treat carelessly as beings who could become the mates of noble Divine Ones, yet they lacked the power to be treated equally with nobles. Thus, people called Fragrant Ones “Jung-in”—those of the middle—since they stood between commoners and nobles.

Though not a legally recognized class, they were generally treated as having a status lower than nobles. Perhaps because of this, when a Fragrant One married into a Divine One’s family, they were often formally adopted into a noble house closely tied to their tribe of origin, in order to match their partner’s status.

Especially when becoming the mate of an imperial family member, they would enter the register of a prestigious house of the Empire, like the Twelve Families, to maintain balance. Even the most arrogant powerful families would, at this time alone, compete fiercely to bring the Fragrant One chosen as the imperial partner into their own house.

Their covetousness was only natural. Done well, it was an opportunity to become the father-in-law of the next Emperor and the adoptive father of the future Empress.

Even if not, becoming in-laws with the imperial family brought all sorts of privileges. Right away, one could see that the political standing of the two Imperial Princes’ fathers-in-law, the Chancellor and the Minister of Rites, had been strengthened, emerging as central figures of the noble faction. Just looking at the Baekhwa Tribe’s Unyeongha Trading Company securing supply contracts with various government offices and participating in national projects showed this.

“From the Baekhwa Tribe’s perspective, having judged that there is almost no possibility of forming a marital tie with Your Majesty the Imperial Prince, they seem to simply be turning toward the opposing side.”

“Because if it’s not me, one of my brothers will be the next Emperor?”

“Yes. They likely feel that as long as it’s not Your Majesty, it’s fine.”

“That makes sense.”

“Furthermore… a few days ago, it’s said that Prince Uichin made a statement supporting the First Imperial Prince at a gathering of the imperial clan.”

Having hesitated a moment, Hyeok Ryeoa carefully continued. Prince Uichin, Shin Haeryeong, was the current Emperor’s older brother and Shin Ryuwon’s uncle.

“Well, Uncle has been fond of eldest brother since long ago.”

Shin Ryuwon replied as if unsurprised. Shin Haeryeong had openly displayed his dislike for him for a long time now. Conversely, he doted on the other two nephews as if they were his own children.

People viewed this behavior as the petty lingering grudge of the firstborn, who considered the Crown Prince seat—once his own—to have been stolen from him. Ryuwon also somewhat agreed with the world’s assessment.

This was natural, for Shin Haeryeong’s eyes, looking at him, were always mingled with an inferiority complex and resentment. It seemed Shin Ryuwon’s existence reminded him of his own miserable failure, having been pushed aside by a younger sibling superior to his elder brother and failing to become Emperor.

Whether he did so or not, Shin Ryuwon did not care in the slightest. To him, Shin Haeryeong wasn’t a particularly important person. He felt he had no business with the filthy jealousy of an old loser who, unable to act his age, vented his anger on his young nephew.

However, he hadn’t known that a man he’d regarded as insignificant would so clearly reveal his ambition and lunge to tighten a noose around his neck like this.

“Tch, how bothersome.”

Having roughly grasped the unfolding situation, Shin Ryuwon furrowed his brow. In truth, the reason for his irritation lay elsewhere.

“I’ve told him again and again that I don’t want the Crown Prince’s seat or anything of the sort, and yet Father, too… Just why does everyone ignore my will? They keep beating their own drums and playing their own gongs among themselves, and now they’re inevitably dragging me in.”

Shin Ryuwon’s intent had always been clear. He had absolutely no greed for the imperial throne. Thus, he could not stand the sight of the Imperial Couple wanting to make him Crown Prince, or his brothers arbitrarily treating him as a rival, or the nobles busily clicking their abacuses over him.

“The person who’s supposed to hand out the rice cakes isn’t even dreaming, so why is everyone already drinking the kimchi soup? I simply cannot understand it.”

Shin Ryuwon grumbled with a face full of disgust. He was tired of even counting how many times he had stood at the center of an unwanted political battle like this.