I Became the Master of the Empress

312

After having the baby, Terra and I discussed many aspects of child-rearing…

But there’s one major disagreement.

“Why not? We can leave him with the nanny at night, right?”

“No? It’s only natural for the mother to raise the child!”

That’s why we’re shouting at each other after such a long time.

—

It’s because of Ian, who wakes up crying at every opportunity.

Every time Ian wakes up, Terra and I realize we have to wake up every two or three hours to feed him breast milk.

At first, we boldly decided to keep the crib in our room, but after two days, we found ourselves in a heated debate about the issue.

“We need to sleep too!”

Of course, I know that raising a child is difficult, but I think it’s something that should be expected of a person.

However, I’ve heard that during this period, children are entirely entrusted to a nanny here.

To be honest, my mother held Mary in her arms all day long as soon as she was born, and that’s considered unusual by local standards.

“Then why have a child if you’re just going to leave them with a nanny? Don’t you have any maternal instinct?”

“Ugh… I do have maternal instinct! But not being able to sleep all night while taking care of the empire is torture, isn’t it?”

Her point is valid.

Ruling the empire consumes more mental energy than one might think.

If I’m buried in paperwork and national discussions during the day and can’t sleep at night because of Ian, it would be incredibly tough.

“Then how about this? I’ll take care of Ian, and you can…”

“Is that even a suggestion? The head of the empire wants to take a break? Goodness, do you want me to be remembered as the empress who ruined the empire?”

I protested in a small voice to Terra, who was glaring at me and adamantly refusing.

“No… then what should we do?”

“At night, we’ll have a nanny, and we can sleep soundly.”

How should I put it? This situation feels quite different from the parenting I had in mind.

Shouldn’t Theodora be taking more care of the child?

It’s not an incorrect statement, but…

I know that breast milk is important for the baby.

I had arranged for a nanny who could breastfeed just in case, but I thought it would be better to give the baby the mother’s milk whenever possible.

“How about this instead? I’ll sleep with Ian. Every time Ian wakes up, I can just let him latch onto you.”

“Wha… what?”

How should I say it? Theodora’s expression changed to one of shock.

“You want me to breastfeed the baby while I’m sleeping? It’s like… I’d be a cow or something!”

“Ah? That’s not what I meant.”

She shot me a glare.

I scratched the back of my head and said,

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I just want Ian to grow up healthy.”

—

But she had already turned away, avoiding my gaze.

“Anyway… I can’t stay like this for long. Right now, I can take a break, but it doesn’t make sense to be unable to sleep at night while managing state affairs.”

I also thought that part of Terra’s words was right.

Wait, how did modern Korea handle this?

They usually have dual-income households, so it must be similar to us, right?

Then the image of baby bottles and a milking machine suddenly came to mind.

“Ah? What if we make a milking machine and milk during the day?!”

“What?!”

She looked at me with a shocked expression, then quickly turned to me with a mix of disgust in her eyes.

– Bang bang!

“I’m not a cow!”

“No, that’s not what I meant?”

She started grabbing anything within reach and throwing it at me.

“Get out! Get out and die! What do you think of women?!”

“Whoa!”

First, I fled from Terra’s room and headed to the grand study.

In the grand study, I ran into Müller.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Your Highness, why are you dressed like that?”

“Haha… well, I was running away from Terra.”

He looked at me with a suspicious gaze.

“Did you do something strange again, Your Majesty?”

“Strange? Not at all? Oh, that’s not important right now. Can you call Maximilian for me?”

“Yes?”

I said to the bewildered Müller.

“Even if he’s off duty, tell him to come. It’s a matter of the empire’s fate.”

“Suddenly?”

If my son Ian can’t drink his mother’s milk and isn’t healthy, it’s no different from the empire being in danger.

I said with a serious face, trying hard to maintain my composure.

“Yes. It’s urgent now.”

—

Let me know if you need anything else!

“Sure!”

I find myself lost in thought as I watch Müller rush away.

If I handle this well… it might be okay?

There’s natural rubber here too.

But what about the baby bottles?

Baby products need to be strictly regulated.

There might be heavy metals or environmental hormones.

I considered a few metals that are harmless to the human body, but producing stainless steel or titanium is nearly impossible.

At least I can obtain high-purity gold.

I could use it for baby bottles, and when Ian grows up, I could resell them.

“Should I make a solid gold baby bottle?”

I pick up a fountain pen and ruler, starting to sketch for the first time in a while.

Inserting gold into wood of this length…

Just as I finish the simple sketch of the baby bottle.

– Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

The door opens, and I sense a presence.

“Your Highness! The Empire is in danger?!”

Müller and Maximilian, both sweating, enter.

I speak to them with a serious expression.

“Yeah. The Empire is in danger. Come here and take a look at this.”

As I hand over the sketch I drew, Maximilian examines it with a puzzled look.

“What is this?”

“It’s a baby bottle. I’ve noted the materials too. Can you make it?”

“Hmmm. I think I could make it, but what exactly is a baby bottle?”

As I explain what happened today to the confused duo, a vein pops up on Müller’s forehead.

“So… the danger to the Empire means… that His Majesty is trying to assign a nurse to the prince, and that’s the danger?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ll kill that damn duke!”

“Whoa! What’s going on?! Why are you saying that?!”

“Do you have any idea how far we’ve come?!”

“Brother?! Calm down! What are you doing?!”

Müller, gripping my collar and shaking me, while Maximilian tried to intervene.

As the brief commotion settled, Maximilian nodded his head.

“I think it’s possible. But isn’t using gold a bit of a waste of money? Wouldn’t it be better to just use iron or lead…?”

I shook my head firmly at Maximilian’s suggestion.

“No, that won’t do! It has to be gold, no exceptions.”

Here, we can’t produce high-purity iron.

Scrap metal mixed with breast milk might release some impurities we can’t predict.

Lead is a toxic heavy metal.

In contrast, gold is renowned for its stability and being harmless to the human body.

However… its softness is a drawback, but if it becomes too soft, we can just reprocess it.

“And remember that prototype freezer Eia made?”

At my words, Maximilian nodded.

“Yes, there was a prototype produced, but…”

“How’s that going?”

“All tests are completed, and we’re about to go into mass production.”

“No problems with the prototype?”

He nodded again.

“No, there were no issues at all. It should run smoothly for about five years.”

“Good. Sell it to me.”

Maximilian looked at me in disbelief.

“What do you plan to do with that?”

“I’m thinking of storing breast milk in the freezer.”

He made a horrified expression.

“How… how do you plan to extract Her Majesty the Empress’s breast milk?”

Hearing that, I glanced around and said quietly.

“You know those milking machines used for dairy cows?”

“Yes?”

“Can you make one just for humans?”

Maximilian, pale as a ghost, finally shouted.

“If the Emperor finds out, I’m done for! No way!”

I firmly grasped his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility.”

“B-but…”

The milking machine is a tool that was created here quite some time ago.

Milk is an important ingredient in this place.

During the early days of magical engineering, the milking machine was developed, allowing for mass production of milk.

If it’s made for humans, it shouldn’t be that difficult.

“Your skills hold the future of the Empire. Think it over. If Ian can’t drink his mother’s milk and gets sick…”

“Then we can just ask the wet nurse to take care of him, right?”

I frowned at Maximilian’s words.

“A child needs to drink its mother’s milk. Drinking from another woman? Terra can produce milk, so why bother?”

It’s common sense that a mother’s milk is the healthiest for a child.

“Ugh… I don’t know. If we get caught, the Duke will say I coerced him.”

“Yeah! Just say that. So when can those be made?”

After a moment of thought, he replied.

“Um… First, the refrigerator can be moved by tomorrow morning, and the bottles will take about a week. The milking machine should be ready around the same time?”

I nodded at his words.

“That’s enough. Thanks, Maximilian.”

He reluctantly nodded.

“Oh right. Duke, when is Lucius getting married?”

“Huh?”

Now that I think about it, Lucius was overwhelmingly elected as a member of parliament.

If I analyze it coldly…

Zoi’s reputation played a huge role.

She won over the citizens with tears.

Plus, she boldly sold my name and Terra’s… but well…

I hadn’t directly helped, so my mother-in-law didn’t say anything.

Anyway…

“Maybe it will happen soon?”

Until recently, I couldn’t bring up Joy’s engagement due to Terra’s childbirth, but I think discussions will become more serious in a month or two.

“Phew… That’s a relief. Recently, Lucius hasn’t been looking good at all.”

“Why?”

At my question, Maximilian glanced around and replied.

“Well… It’s because the Empress Dowager hasn’t given any hints.”

“Oh? Really?”

Now that I think about it, I also realized that my mother-in-law hadn’t mentioned anything about Lucius.

I had only assumed they would marry since they won the election.

“I’ll ask my mother-in-law later.”

“Yes! Please do. Your Grace.”

“Okay. Anyway, I’m counting on you for this.”

“Just leave it to me.”