Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 689: Althea’s Past, Caring Emperor

Althea smiled, and the two of them continued searching through the place. As they moved from one section to another, they found several interesting architectural designs and building plans.

They were not system blueprints, so Isaac could not use them in create buildings with System’s help, but they could still be used to build buildings the normal way. Moreover, they were still valuable as pieces of history and knowledge.

In a world where people were constantly struggling to survive, antiques did not hold nearly as much value as they had in Isaac’s previous world unless they possessed some kind of power or practical use. Still, that also meant that if someone happened to have enough wealth and did not care much about survival, they could spend an absurd amount of money collecting old things simply because they were rare.

So, these things were worth keeping. However, despite finding several things that would have made good additions to his collection, he could not focus on them for long. His mind kept returning to what Althea had said earlier, and the more he thought about it, the more questions appeared in his mind.

The Emperor was not her biological father. Why was that the case, and what exactly did it mean for Althea? More importantly, was it connected to the way she had been treated in the Florathi Kingdom?

Isaac knew this was a sensitive matter, so he probably should not pry too deeply into it. However, there was also a good chance that he would eventually learn the truth after reaching the Florathi Kingdom, since people there must have had their own reasons for disliking Althea, and he could probably find out the reason by talking to them.

Moreover, Althea herself had brought up the subject. That probably meant she wanted to talk about it with him, perhaps because she was slowly opening up to him and beginning to see him as a friend. Yes, that was definitely the reason, and Isaac was certainly not asking because he was too curious.

With that completely reasonable conclusion in mind, Isaac glanced at her and asked, "So, who is your father?"

"An Ascender from our kingdom. My mother had a falling out with him after she discovered that he was cheating on her, just as she had been cheating on the Emperor. She was furious and leaked the information to the Emperor, and he then killed that Ascender and took away most of her political power, leaving her as little more than the puppet ruler of her own sub-kingdom," Althea replied.

Isaac’s smile stiffened for a moment before he quickly recovered his expression. Even though he had expected something complicated, the bluntness of the answer still left him both disgusted and amazed.

The disgust was obvious because Isaac hated cheating more than almost anything else. If someone didn’t love their partner, they could simply end the relationship and go their separate ways, so he could never understand why someone would stay with another person while secretly betraying them and causing unnecessary pain.

His dislike of cheating had only become stronger because, for some godforsaken reason, the God Domain of NTR seemed to follow him like he was destined for it.

The amazement came from another matter entirely. Althea’s mother had been engaged to someone who was most likely the strongest man in the Florathi Kingdom, yet she had still dared to cheat on him with another Ascender.

Was she simply tired of living? Isaac could not help but wonder what kind of confidence someone needed to betray a person with that level of power.

"I’m sorry to hear that. But was the relationship between the Emperor and the Queen not good?" Isaac asked.

As soon as the question left his mouth, Isaac mentally cursed himself. It was not necessarily wrong to ask, especially since Althea had already brought up the subject, but he had asked about something deeply personal that was connected to how she had been treated throughout her childhood.

His regret must have been obvious because Althea waved her hand and said, "Please don’t worry about asking questions. I’ve stopped caring about it a long time ago. You don’t have to be so careful when talking about it with me."

Isaac frowned slightly after hearing that. For some reason, those words did not sound like someone who had truly overcome the past, but rather like something a person said after spending years trying not to think about painful memories.

Before Isaac could say anything, however, Althea continued speaking. "I don’t know what the relationship between the Emperor and the Queen was really like, but I do know that the Emperor is a good person. I’ve met him several times, and he always treated me well. In fact, many nobles wanted to execute me after the truth about my lineage came to light. It was, after all, a direct slap in the Emperor and kingdom’s face, but he never did anything like that. He protected me from those nobles and even stopped several assassination attempts."

Isaac nodded quietly. A few words rose to his throat, but he swallowed them.

Instead, he decided to change the subject and said, "I knew the political situation in the Florathi Kingdom was complicated, but this is much worse than I expected."

"Right?" Althea replied with a small chuckle, seemingly accepting his attempt to move the conversation elsewhere. The two of them continued walking while talking about other matters, and the atmosphere gradually became less serious.

As they walked, Isaac finally understood something that had confused him for a long time. Althea was the Third Princess of the Florathi Kingdom, yet her species rank was not Apex, and he had never been able to understand why the kingdom had seemingly done nothing about it.

She had been born with an A-rank Talent, which was certainly not weak, but it was not outstanding enough for the Florathi Kingdom either. Even so, she was still a princess of the kingdom, and Isaac had always found it strange that the Florathi Kingdom could not spare even a single evolution potion for her.

Strength was one thing, but allowing their own Third Princess to remain below Apex rank should have been a serious blow to the kingdom’s image. It made even less sense when Isaac considered how powerful the Florathi Kingdom was supposed to be.

Now, however, everything finally made sense. It was not that the Florathi Kingdom could not afford to help Althea, but that her lineage had made her position far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.

Her bloodline had turned her status as the Third Princess from an advantage into a burden. It explained why the kingdom had been unwilling to invest in her despite having the resources to do so, and it also gave Isaac a better understanding of why so many people in the Florathi Kingdom seemed to dislike her.

Thinking about Althea, the words rose to Isaac’s throat again, but he hesitated to say them. He was not Althea’s family, nor was he close enough to her that he could casually speak about something so personal, and he did not want to cross a line simply because he had become curious about her past.

However, when he looked at her expression, Isaac felt that she was clearly trying to appear calm while hiding what she was actually feeling. That expression suddenly reminded him of the day of his Talent Awakening, and the memory came back with surprising clarity.

Back then, Alice had failed her awakening. Isaac had not said much because he believed it would feel hypocritical for someone who had awakened a powerful Talent to try to comfort her after her own failure, especially when he could not understand what she was feeling.

It was only after he saw her crying that he realized how wrong he had been. He had thought that staying silent would prevent him from making things worse, but all he had really done was leave her alone when she needed someone to say something.

The situation felt strangely similar now. Althea was not crying, and she was doing a much better job of hiding her emotions, but Isaac could still tell that her calm expression was not completely genuine.

So, after thinking about it for a moment, Isaac decided to speak his mind. He was not sure whether his words would help, but remaining silent simply because he was afraid of saying the wrong thing did not feel right anymore.

"The First Queen was really an asshole, wasn’t she?" Isaac asked.

Althea froze and slowly turned her head toward him. Even Charlotta, who had been walking nearby as her bodyguard, looked completely shocked, and Isaac could not tell whether they were more surprised that he had actually cursed or that he had just insulted such an important political figure in front of them.

Isaac simply shrugged and continued before either of them could respond. "Don’t get me wrong. I don’t know what happened between that woman and the Emperor, and I don’t know if the Emperor treated her badly enough to make her resent him or eventually cheat on him. That part isn’t something I can judge because I wasn’t there."

He added, "But I do know that she treated you harshly, and that’s what I have a problem with. First, she cheats on the person she was supposed to be with, and then, instead of taking care of the child she brought into the world, she treats you as if you were the problem."

Isaac clicked his tongue, his expression showing clear displeasure.

Althea opened and closed her mouth several times without saying anything, looking as if she had suddenly forgotten how to respond. Isaac could understand her reaction because there was probably no one who had ever spoken to her about her mother in such a direct manner.

Even if her mother had cheated on the Emperor and had eventually been reduced to little more than a political figurehead, she still possessed immense political influence within her territory. Most awakeners and Lords would naturally be careful around someone like her, especially when that person had the power to make their lives considerably more difficult.