Episode 2

The next day, Duke Duncan meets with the emperor and empress; he must speak with them about the Crown Prince, things must be made clear.

“Your Majesty, greetings to the emperor and empress, suns of the empire,” the Duke said with a bow.

“Greetings, Duke, do you tell me you have something important?” the man says while looking at him with annoyance. If he weren’t the most servile and manageable duke, he wouldn’t marry his son to that fool’s daughter; the other nobles are more distinguished but don’t have the money that idiot has.

“Your Majesty, I come to ask that the Crown Prince stop looking for my youngest daughter, his interest in her is notorious, she is the daughter of a concubine, he walks with her everywhere; it will look bad if he ends up married to her sister, not to mention if he places Alessa as a concubine, the empress would be affected by favoritism,” said the man, looking sideways at the empress; he knows that this woman is most haughty and has made life hell for the concubines.

“Duke, that’s not going to happen, the concubines will be chosen by the council, your second daughter should stay away from the prince,” she said annoyed. She knows that a favorite concubine can overthrow an empress if she has the emperor's love; she knows it firsthand. She had had such a problem; the emperor’s first son is eight years older than him. During that time, the emperor had not touched her or the other concubines. She was the favorite, the great love of the now emperor. That son was a threat throughout her life.

“Your Majesty, he is the one who looks for her and invites her, she cannot refuse the prince, I suggest… I suggest betrothing Alessa to the Archduke of the North, the further away she is from the prince, the better to secure the young imperial marriage,” said the man hesitantly, knowing that the empress hates that archduke more than anything.

Both were startled. They didn't understand how he had come up with that, but for the empress, it was the best idea, to make that damn man an enemy of her son was the best thing, that way that man would never return to the capital.

"I don't think it's a bad idea, you should consider it, if she's married and far away, our son will have to resign himself," he said while the man felt annoyed. He doesn't care; he knows that the archduke is not going to accept that young lady, but he couldn't do anything, just hope that she gets out alive, unlike others he had sent as his betrothed and never saw again.

*_*

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince finds out about his engagement and that the future crown princess is Magenta Duncan, the sister of his great love; he is terribly upset that his parents did not consult him about anything; they always treat him like a puppet.

The handsome young man went to his father's study. He wanted an explanation. Renan couldn’t accept this; he had chosen Alessa. This wouldn't allow it.

"Father, how is it that I already have a fiancee? I'm not going to accept anyone other than Lady Alessa Duncan," the young man said indignantly, wanting to die of anger.

"First, don't talk to me in that tone, and second, that girl is the daughter of a concubine. She cannot be the crown princess. I can try to make her your concubine, but your mother doesn't want her around, she knows that she will be a wedge between you and the future empress, I will try to make her your concubine, but I don't guarantee anything,” said the man with the same disgusted face as always. He was a man who had given up, he did not contradict that woman they said was his empress. His son present there was faithful proof of his misfortune; if he had been strong, if he had had the courage, he would not be so alone, his great love and his beloved son were not with him out of cowardice, out of obeying everyone but himself.

"Father, please, help me, I don't want that young Magenta, it's Alessa I love," said the young man almost pleadingly.

“Well, if you make your mother accept that, I will support you, and if she doesn’t authorize you, you will have to break the rules, even stop being the crown prince. If that happens, I will support you so that you can marry her, it is your decision from now on”, said the man almost without looking at him, only looking at his documents while the young man is in a dilemma, so he went to his mother's rooms, she must understand.

This is how Renan confronts his mother; he would not allow something like this to happen; he loved Alessa.

“Mother, I want to talk to you about my fiancee, I had chosen Lady Alessa, I’m not going to marry Lady Magenta, she is arrogant, absurd, clumsy, and stupid, I will not allow it,” Renan said annoyed while the empress just looks at him without any reaction.

“Renan, sit down, now you’re going to listen to me, about being crown prince is a great responsibility and having an empress who lives up to you is more than important,” said the Empress, testing her son’s patience.

"Mother, I love her, she…" But the empress was not finished with her lesson.

“Yes, yes, you love her and she is the love of your life, but… are you willing to sacrifice her for your love? Assuming I allow you to make her empress, well, the nobles will be terribly hostile towards her, they will not accept her and the worst thing will be when you have concubines, they will destroy her no matter how much you want to take care of her, even worse if you love her, they will not allow you to die dry, sooner or later you will get into their beds, will you give her the pain of sharing you with other women? I don’t think she’ll feel good about that.

"Let it be clear to you that your mandate will be weak and without important support, sooner or later you will have to remove her as empress to protect her, and that will be a dishonor to her.

“If you want to put her as a concubine it will be worse, your empress will harass her because she has your heart, she will be your weak point and you will be hers.