The Ultimate Reborn Heiress (Scarlett) novel Chapter 364

Chapter 364 What the Emperor Would Never Give

Augustus had known since childhood that his father didn’t like him.

He’d seen the coldness of the world early, and he understood far too soon how fragile human feeling could be. So when Princess Mona, bright and ethereal as an elf, suddenly stepped into his life, she shook him to

the core.

He had never met anyone like her. She had no darkness in her at all–no hidden malice, no selfish schemes. She was pure and kind to the very end.

He fell for her quickly. He fell for a girl who was nothing like the palace, nothing like him.

And in the end, Princess Mona died.

She became the most fatal kind of first love, the one that could never be replaced.

After Mona’s death, the young Augustus, married the wife his mother had chosen for him.

And the scene being filmed now was set years later.

Inside the great hall, the middle–aged Augustus, stood in confrontation with the empress. The reason for their clash was simple. The crown prince had made a mistake.

After marrying Augustus, the empress had borne him two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son had been named crown prince from childhood, while the younger prince and princess were still young.

Perhaps because of the shadows that had marked his own upbringing, Augustus didn’t keep a large harem, though he still had several consorts. Those women had all borne children as well.

He treated all of his children equally. He loved them, but he was strict with every one of them. After naming his eldest son crown prince, he had personally taken charge of the boy’s education.

And yet now, the crown prince hadn’t even managed the political task Augustus had assigned him.

that he lacked ability. He had failed because he was too softhearted, and that softness had led to

It even greater losses.

Augustus was furious. To him, a future emperor who was too merciful was a grave danger. He wanted to send the crown prince to the army for training.

The empress was pained by the thought, though she supported his judgment. The crown prince truly was too soft.

The empire was still at war, and she hoped Augustus wouldn’t send their son into actual battle. She wanted him to remain at a general’s side as a civil officer, not ride into war killing enemies with his own hands.

She was afraid that the crown prince might be hurt. But Augustus didn’t agree.

He had trained the boy in martial arts since childhood. And because the crown prince was too softhearted, he needed to step onto the battlefield, kill, and understand the cruelty of war for himself. He needed to learn that sometimes mercy was itself a mistake.

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For a ruler, nothing was more dangerous than softness. So the crown prince had to fight.

This scene was also a turning point for the empress.

She had loved Augustus since he was still crown prince. When she later married him, she had been full of joy.

But over time, she came to see just how ambitious he was.

His heart held the realm, the people, the expansion of borders, the concentration of power. He wanted the world beneath his feet. But there was no room in him for love.

The two of them began to argue over whether the crown prince should go to war.

And in that argument, the empress thought of Princess Mona.

She had always known that Augustus had loved the hostage princess who had once come to court. She had always known that whatever love her emperor husband might once have had, he had given it all to Mona in his youth and never spared even a fraction of it for the women of the harem after that.

With tears in her eyes, she demanded, “So is Princess Mona the only one who’s ever made you soften? The crown prince is your eldest son, and yet you can coldly send him to the battlefield to kill. You’re not afraid that some stray blade might wound him. You’ve only ever cared about your empire. All you care about is whether your heir can become a qualified successor. I’m only worried about my son.”

It was one of the rare times Augustus lost control.

He swept the inkstone and brushes from the table. Ink splattered across the floor and spattered onto the empress’s robes.

He stared at her with bloodshot eyes and said, word by word, “I am speaking to you about the crown prince’s upbringing, and all you offer me is a woman’s softness. It is because you dote on him that he’s developed such softhearted thinking.”

He didn’t mention Princess Mona. But the way he had smashed the inkstone and brushes had already exposed too much.

The empress said nothing more. The redness in her eyes, the tears that fell, the rise and fall of her chest all revealed her resistance and her bitterness.

She knew she was softhearted. She knew she worried too much about the crown prince.

But the position of crown prince had never been an easy one to hold.

Even if Augustus treated the empress, the consorts, and all his children with equal fairness, did that mean those consorts had no ambition?

Who didn’t want their own child to become crown prince and one day ascend the throne?

The two incidents in the crown prince’s childhood had already proved enough.

The empress wiped away her tears, gave Augustus one last look, then turned and walked away.

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There was resolve in her gaze, and something like release. For the rest of her life, she would live only for her children.

“Cut!” Calvert called it sharply.

The moment he did, the actors on set finally let out their breath.

Watching the screen queen and screen king face off had left all of them tense, just like the kneeling servants in the great hall, all of them on edge and hardly daring to breathe.

They could feel the blade–sharp tension between emperor and empress.

Calvert was extremely pleased. Smiling, he said, “Very good, very good. Such a long take, and you got it in

one.”

As expected of the screen queen and screen king.

The actors around them couldn’t help murmuring in admiration.

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