The Empror's Trap-Chapter 68: Ch - Siblings

When Yunis arrived to see Pluvia, she was playing with her cats in the study. As her pets, the cats were meticulously cared for by the palace staff, making them quite comfortable around people. Though they typically avoided most visitors, they would stare intently at those they knew well.

Meeting the cats’ gazes, Yunis bowed to the elegant figure before him. "Your Majesty, I have come as summoned."

"Ah, Yunis," Pluvia’s tone was calm as she gestured to a nearby chair. "Sit down."

"No no, Your Majesty, I’ll stand..."

"When I tell you to sit, sit."

"...Yes."

Yunis nodded helplessly and took the seat.

After feeding the last bit of meat to the black cat before her, Pluvia turned around. Attendants immediately brought a basin of water for her to wash her hands before she turned to examine Yunis.

In truth, it had been a long time since the siblings had met privately like this.

"Hmm, you’ve kept to a regular schedule lately. Your figure hasn’t changed," Pluvia said with a slight smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My life has been relatively peaceful, giving me time to take care of my health," he responded respectfully.

Though Pluvia hadn’t said anything yet, Yunis didn’t believe she had sent Kenji to bring him here just for idle chat.

"Yes, your life... ah right, I gave you quite a bit of money before," Pluvia said as if just remembering. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"I truly don’t know," he said quietly.

"There is a reason," Pluvia wiped her hands and sat beside Yunis, asking softly: "Yunis, tell me, what have you been up to lately?"

"I..."

"We are siblings after all."

"Yes. I’ve been... managing affairs in my territory. This year Hexi suffered disaster, but my lands had a good harvest, so I sent much of it there." He glanced up at Pluvia. "Sister, is there something specific you want to know?"

"I already know what I want to know, brother. There’s no need to hide things from me - it’s just the two of us here. Tell me, what are you really doing?"

Pluvia furrowed her brow as she asked.

For most people, being asked by the emperor to tell the truth was a difficult situation. Sometimes honesty was good, sometimes not. The royal mind was hard to gauge - sometimes the emperor genuinely wanted truth to discuss matters; other times, speaking truthfully meant death wasn’t far away.

"I’ve been..." he looked at Pluvia, then continued, "I’ve been busy handling military personnel matters."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Pluvia showed interest. "Why are you handling military personnel? Military matters should be coordinated by the Grand Marshal."

"Exactly. In the recent northern battle, though our casualties were light, we still had losses. Grand Marshal Kenji needs to replenish troops, so he ordered various regions to provide soldiers. To help complete his plan, I took the initiative to help recruit and train troops..."

"I wasn’t aware of this."

Pluvia shook her head helplessly.

Yunis was lying. However unreliable Kenji might be, Pluvia wouldn’t believe her brother’s story. Not only were Camelot’s losses in the northern campaign minimal, not requiring reinforcements, but even if troops were needed, someone like Kenji would never entrust recruitment to a prince.

That man only trusted himself and his few reliable subordinates - he would absolutely never let Yunis handle it.

"Whether you did this or not doesn’t matter anymore, since Kenji is responsible for these matters," Pluvia said, taking out several memorials. "I invited you here today to ask about something else."

"Please ask. I won’t hide anything I know."

"Why did you try to assassinate me? And the Grand Marshal?"

Pluvia whispered in his ear.

Her soft question made him break out in cold sweat instantly.

He had expected questioning from Her Majesty, but never imagined this. Compared to earlier, Pluvia had done a complete 180.

This direct?

Forcefully suppressing his internal pressure, he calmly replied: "Your Majesty, I never attempted to assassinate you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pluvia tossed him a stack of papers.

Inside were numerous letters between him and his conspirators, almost all concerning plans to overthrow Pluvia and Kenji. Some letters even detailed how to carry out these plans.

He was completely exposed - every letter in familiar handwriting.

"Yunis, have I really been so harsh with you?" Pluvia sighed deeply. "In mother’s eyes, we were among the closest in the royal family. From childhood to now, when have I ever made you unhappy? Or what have I done poorly? Even when you insisted on competing with me for the throne, I didn’t blame you."

"In my heart, you’re my brother. No matter what, I could understand any mistake you made. When your educational reforms created such huge deficits, I used my own money to cover them. When you wanted to recruit talent, I helped by having my people post notices. How did all this come to mean nothing to you? Is hatred all I get in return for everything?"

Yunis remained silent.

Or rather, he had no reason to speak.

Had his sister not treated him well enough? That was nonsense - Pluvia had shown him every kindness. Back when she wasn’t yet confirmed as heir, Yunis had emerged to compete for the throne, nearly costing her the position. Even then, Pluvia had only made him a prince and kept him close to watch him.

Why did he resent her?

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Was it really due to any particular grievance?

Yunis had pondered this question but found no answer.

Finally, he understood.

He wasn’t opposed to his sister herself. What he despised was the entire Camelot Empire.

And as Camelot’s emperor, Pluvia naturally received his hatred.

This wasn’t hatred for his sister, but hatred for imperial power itself.

"Sister, I’m sorry," Yunis said, head bowed, speaking like a child.

Looking at Yunis before her, Pluvia’s anger seemed to fade somewhat. She held his shoulders - her brother had grown taller than her now.

"Tell me why you did this."

After a moment’s hesitation, Yunis suddenly found the courage to ask.

"Sister, don’t you think there’s something wrong with our Camelot?"

When she heard this, Pluvia was stunned. She seemed to be processing his words, or perhaps was shocked by them. Either way, she remained silent for a while before looking at him: "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

Now that he could finally express everything, Yunis found himself speaking more smoothly even in this situation.

"Sister, our Camelot takes pride in its thousand-year history, the Camelot family has ruled this land for a millennium. But sister, why? Why have we never declined in a thousand years?"

"Sister, I’ve read many books. I know Camelot has endured because we’ve never had an incompetent ruler. Even our worst emperors were decent maintainers of the status quo. Yes, I acknowledge that our ancestors’ diligent governance has allowed Camelot to continue. But sister, why are we alone so fortunate? Why are we the only ones among humanity to be the oldest, still-continuing nation?"

Yunis poured out all his doubts at once.

He truly didn’t understand.

Camelot had persisted throughout history while countless surrounding empires and kingdoms rose and fell, yet this place alone remained firmly in the emperor’s grasp, never showing any abnormality. It seemed unbelievable.

No incompetent rulers in a thousand years - other countries wouldn’t believe such a claim.

"Sister, don’t you think Camelot today is like stagnant water?" his voice grew louder. "Yes, it’s peaceful and calm, but unnaturally so! There’s no vitality! Or rather, too much vitality! We’ve been expanding territory for a thousand years, but have we fundamentally changed anything? No!"

"When our ancestors expanded territory, the common people couldn’t eat, and now, in bad years, they still can’t eat! Why is this the case after a thousand years of rule? What have we done in these thousand years? Our history books show we’ve been constantly at war, expanding our territory to ten times what the first emperor had. But this tenfold increase in territory hasn’t brought prosperity to the people."

"Sister, I don’t understand. Tell me, in a thousand years, we’ve only progressed to where people can barely feed themselves in good years - then what next? How long until we achieve our wish of great unity and universal prosperity? Should we continue this dead-like ’development’?"

After speaking, Yunis breathed heavily.

He had held these words in his heart for a long time, always wanting to ask, but knowing how treasonous they would sound.

Although Camelot was much better than others, Yunis still couldn’t understand.

A thousand years of accumulation had brought only negligible progress - he couldn’t see what surprises Camelot’s future might hold. People wore essentially the same clothes as a thousand years ago; if not for open foreign exchange, everything would be nearly identical to the ancient texts!

Was this a country, or a thousand-year-old monster that refused to move?

Just then, he saw Pluvia stand up.

Her expression showed shock, but also quickly flashed with determination.

"Yunis, this isn’t something you need to consider. I - the emperor - will consider it. I have my own thoughts."

However, these words only angered him more:

"What thoughts?! I watched you ascend the throne, originally believing you could break this deadlock. But what have you done since? Nothing but the same old tactics - suppressing opposition, balancing factions, encouraging production, appointing so-called talents..."

"Everything you’ve done, our ancestors did hundreds of years ago! The northern war was fought a thousand years ago! Tell me, what future can I see in such a Camelot?!"

Deadlock.

Yes, this was the situation.

Camelot was still strong, even stronger than before, but this was also an undeniable fact.

This was Camelot’s deadlock - from the ancestors until now, in a thousand years, no emperor had been willing to break it.

Would they just wait for Camelot to die in stagnation?

Yunis expressed all his thoughts, knowing he was already doomed. Since he was going to die, he might as well say everything before death - otherwise, once in the grave, no one would care what he had wanted to say.

However, what he received wasn’t Pluvia’s rebuttal, but a hard slap.

The slap wasn’t actually very strong - Pluvia wasn’t physically strong to begin with. Though the slap was loud, it didn’t hurt much, only making his head turn slightly.

Yunis was stunned.

Pluvia looked at him with disappointment.

From when he had initially competed with his sister for the throne until now, he had seen many emotions from her, but never this one.

That disappointment of not being understood even by those closest to you.

He could barely tell if she was angry or sad. That slap had instantly deflated his built-up momentum. He touched his stinging face, feeling as if in a dream.

"Come in."

Pluvia took a deep breath and withdrew her hand.

Two imperial guards entered.

"Prince Yunis is upset and speaking nonsense. Call my imperial physician to examine him properly, then send him home," she ordered, no longer looking at her brother. "Also, I hope you all remember - nothing happened today."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The imperial guards naturally wouldn’t spread such news. Even if they weren’t loyal to Her Majesty, they wouldn’t risk their lives for loose talk.

Yunis was thus led away. This time, the siblings had failed to reach any understanding, and his life would soon come to an end.