The Incompetent Emperor Who Changes the World from the Shadows: Iron, Gunpowder, and the Young Maidens of Favor - Chapter 23: Political Marriage and a Wedding Amid War

Chapter 23: Political Marriage and a Wedding Amid War

The wedding ceremony is held quietly.

The attendees are a few upper house senators, royal relatives, and Iris’s half-brother, the First Prince of Novaria.

The ongoing war likely plays a role in the subdued affair.

A reception party is scheduled for later, where I’ll have to perform a dance—already a headache.

I practiced with a dance instructor beforehand, not my fiancée, and my body moved instinctively, as if the original emperor’s muscle memory carried over to me.

In that sense, it’s an easy task, but the problem is my partner—an unknown variable.

The ceremony takes place in a church within the palace, sparing me the hassle of travel.

Sopina previously explained this world’s religion to me.

There’s no Christianity here.

Instead, there’s Daroisia, a monotheistic faith, though the core concept is similar.

As I enter the church, I finally meet my bride.

She’s not in a wedding dress but a white, nun-like garment, her hair hidden under a veil.

Even so, she exudes a striking beauty.

Despite her status as a princess, her slightly uncertain eyes catch my attention, though they only add to her charm.

When I stand beside her, she links her arm with mine, her face tense.

As rehearsed, we walk to the priest and stop before him.

“Lichtel Galateus Alberto von Garava, do you swear to take Iris Elysia Lyuxiana-Novaria as your empress and support the Empire together?”

“I swear.”

No need to object here.

“Iris Maigryokhyen-Novaria, do you swear to become the empress of Lichtel Galateus Alberto von Garava and support the Empire together?”

“…”

A brief silence stirs the room.

Then, in a flustered rush, her voice spills out.

“I-I swear.”

It’s just nerves, as expected.

Her hand has been trembling the whole time.

She’s 13.

In my world, she’d be a middle schooler.

A girl that young, bearing her country’s future, married off to the emperor of a vast empire—no wonder she’s nervous.

“Relax.

You don’t have to say anything more.”

I offer her some comforting words.

She seems to ease up, her trembling subsiding.

The ceremony concludes with brief blessings from the chancellor and Novaria’s First Prince.

With wartime constraints, there’s no time for a leisurely event.

That said, a reception party awaits—a pretext for nobles to probe each other’s intentions.

And some will bring their daughters, hoping to catch my eye as potential concubines, turning the wedding reception into something far removed from its original purpose.

Forcing me to choose my next woman at the reception—what a brutal custom.

I understand the logic: a multi-wife system ensures heirs.

An emperor doesn’t need conventional ethics.

Holding onto such morals would likely get me ousted from the throne.

A royal who can’t be used has no value.

※

And so, without much conversation with my new wife, Iris, we face our wedding night.

I’m used to a wild lifestyle, so I’m not particularly nervous.

But for her, this is a life-defining first night.

Her greatest duty is to bear the emperor’s child.

An empress who fails to produce an heir has no place in the palace.

The original emperor would’ve just taken her without a thought.

But I carry my old self’s personality.

Even as I adapt to this lustful body, I consider the woman’s feelings.

“She was so nervous.”

Waiting alone in the bedroom, I think it over.

Consensual intimacy is non-negotiable.

If she refuses, I won’t touch her.

I can satisfy my libido with the maids, after all.

You’re so kind.

A voice at my ear startles me.

“Sopina?!

I thought you’d vanished since Iris arrived and you didn’t show up.”

I was digging into the nobles at the ceremony, and it got late.

“Fair enough, as long as you’re gathering intel.”

That’s why I sent her, after all.

I found some juicy stuff.

But that’s for later.

“Tell me about Iris.

I haven’t had a chance to talk to her.”

Got it.

She’ll probably be here soon, right?

“Until she arrives, then.

We can talk more after… you know.”

You’re gonna sleep with her?

“Well, yeah.

She’s my wife, after all.

Making an heir is practically my job.

But she’s young, so I won’t force her.”

Alright, fair enough.

I’ll give you the rundown on her.

“Great.”

You know Novaria’s the neighboring kingdom, right?

“Yeah, it’s northwest, a relatively small country on the map.”

The Empire’s just too big.

The Bresian Empire is larger than your world’s Imperial Germany, closer to the old Soviet Union—Russia’s size.

And hardly any frozen wastelands.

“It’s that big?”

I’ve seen maps, but they lacked scale bars.

Even Novaria’s about the size of Ukraine in your world.

Rich in mines, resources, wealth, and a strong military.

“Come to think of it, the Empire’s a federation of smaller states, so it makes sense it’s huge.”

That’s what makes it an empire.

This war pretty much started because of Novaria.

It kicked off when their crown prince—Iris’s father—was assassinated.

“Crown prince assassinated?

That sounds eerily like the start of World War I in my world.”

This world really does feel like early 20th-century Europe.

Royal assassinations are common across worlds.

But it’s a bit different from your world’s trigger.

The Daroisia faith is tied up in this one.

I learned that while poking around Novaria.

“Daroisia?

What’s their gain?”