Chapter 42
I abruptly stood up from my seat and knelt in front of the Count.
“Wh-Why all of a sudden? What did I even do?”
“You revived the plum tree and helped Lady Vanessa recover her health, did you not?”
“T-That was just… I think it was just good timing…”
“That timing is what’s important. Problems that no one could solve for 25 years have been resolved one after another ever since the future Duchess entered the mansion, haven’t they?”
The eyes of Count Volani, who looked at me, were resolute. They weren’t the kind of eyes I could change through persuasion.
“I believe people are born with different kinds of luck. This time, I became convinced that the luck the future Duchess was born with is now acting as a favorable wind for the Rudian family.”
“Isn’t it a bit too early to be convinced of that…?”
“Who knows? Perhaps even the divine beast will return to this house soon.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
Inside the case where my gaze inadvertently drifted, Plum was shaking his head and performing a dazzling dance, as if shouting, “I’m right here!”
‘When Plum becomes an adult, I should go find a red butterfly and bring it for him…’
Should I just return Plum to the Duke now?
As I was considering that, the Count spoke again with a soft “And…”
“I saw my son smile so brightly for the first time. Do you know what he told me? That every day is joyful.”
“Oh…”
“I had thought that my son’s feelings for Lady Vanessa were just a fleeting affection or a sense of duty as her knight. That’s why I spent my life cursing myself for blocking his path with a political engagement…”
According to the Duke, ever since Sir Adrian came of age, he had always carried a ring embedded with a red ruby.
So that he could slip it onto the second young lady’s finger, whenever she permitted it.
“Now I can see my son live happily, just like everyone else. How could this old man possibly withhold his knees from the person who made that possible?”
“……”
“Once my son is married, I plan to relinquish my title and retire. From then on, I wish to serve as the bodyguard of the future Duchess. So please, I ask that you accept this old body of mine generously.”
“Bodyguard? That’s too… too… That seems a little much…”
But no one understood how flustered I was inside.
Alicia jabbed my side with a look that seemed to say, “Well, what are you waiting for?” And I couldn’t very well leave the Count kneeling forever, so I swallowed my tears and nodded.
“Okay… I’ll count on you…”
It didn’t even take a full day for the news that Count Volani had sworn his loyalty to me to spread throughout the Duke’s residence.
When the Grand Madam heard that Count Volani had pledged loyalty to Airy, she was with Vanessa.
“W-What?! Who did what?! Oh, my poor head…”
The Grand Madam pressed her hand to her forehead and collapsed into the sofa.
Unbothered, Vanessa burst out laughing as if she had just heard delightful news.
“I did hear that he was considering retirement, but it seems he already had plans in mind for after.”
“This isn’t something to laugh about! After Marquess Penian, now even Count Volani is swearing loyalty? And to a girl who hasn’t even held a proper ceremony yet! This is absurd!”
“What’s the problem? It’s not like she’s just a casual partner. El said he’s going to make her his wife. Becoming Duchess is just a matter of time, isn’t it?”
“Vanessa! Are you really okay with some common girl of unknown origin becoming a Duchess?!”
To the Grand Madam who finally said the words out loud, Vanessa nodded calmly, as if she didn’t see the issue.
“El loves her. Airy seems to love him too. It’s a world where even commoners become empresses—being a Duchess is hardly impossible.”
“Do you think reality is some kind of fairy tale? Marriage isn’t the end of hardship—it’s the beginning of new trials.”
Suddenly, the Grand Madam looked as if something had dawned on her.
“Come to think of it… Vanessa, you probably don’t know the full story. About what happened to the current Empress.”
“Was there… something that happened?”
“Yes. You were still young and sick in bed at the time…”
Taking the opportunity, the Grand Madam began to share old memories.
“Just 30 years ago, there was a heretical cult called Restora that was running rampant in the empire.”
“A heretical cult?”
“Yes. They were lunatics trying to resurrect the three evil dragons slain by the first emperor.”
They believed the World Tree rooted in the continent was actually a parasitic being eating away at this world—and that the three dragons were its true saviors.
Based on that logic, they performed insane rituals, offering innocent lives as sacrifices in an attempt to bring the dragons back.
Calling them “sacrifices” is misleading. Since the resurrection failed, it was effectively mass murder. And if the dragons had been revived, it would have been a different kind of disaster altogether.
As the emperor and empress investigated numerous disappearance cases across the land, they discovered the truth behind the Restora cult and set out to eradicate it completely.
But the cult had spread its influence in the shadows for decades, and they didn’t go down easily.
The emperor and empress succeeded in capturing the cult’s leader and key lieutenants, and they managed to prevent the grand ritual—the dragon resurrection. But unfortunately, they failed to completely uproot the cult.
“I think I heard something about that. Was that the Empress’s great achievement?”
“Yes. Many of the intended victims for that grand ritual were children of high-ranking nobles. Thanks to that, Her Majesty the Empress was recognized for her great service and safely held her wedding with the Emperor.”
The first to acknowledge the Empress’s merit was none other than the spirit of the World Tree.
Blessed by the spirit, the Empress, despite her commoner origins, became someone no one could ignore.
Her sons—the First and Second Princes—were also blessed by the spirit, just like any other royal offspring.
Up until then, no one dared mock the Empress for being a commoner.
Until then.
“But then the third child… Her Highness the Princess passed away before even turning two. That’s when the trouble began.”
Time had passed, but the Grand Madam still couldn’t forget what had happened.
Because the tragedy that had unfolded in the royal family also involved the Rudian family.
“Twenty-six years ago… Do you know how your father’s divine beast died?”
“I don’t know the details… But I heard it happened while guarding the Empress.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The Grand Madam let out a deep sigh, recalling the events.
“Twenty-six years ago, the Empress’s father passed away. The death came very suddenly. Later, we learned it was a trap set by the remnants of the Restora cult, meant to lure her out of the palace.”
But at the time, unaware of the scheme, the Empress left the palace to attend her father’s funeral—despite being pregnant with her third child.
Her hometown was a small village called Cotton, located northwest of Pennington. Naturally, she passed through Pennington.
As the Emperor was too busy to accompany her, he sent a letter to the Duke of Rudian, requesting him to escort the Empress.
The Duke readily accepted and took on the task himself.
But just before they reached Cotton, they were ambushed by the remnants of the Restora cult.
“That’s when the divine beast was killed… and Her Majesty the Empress went missing.”
“Missing?”
“Yes. And since the divine beast was killed, your father also suffered great damage. The scene of the attack was complete chaos… so no one knew what had happened to the Empress.”
Later, they discovered the truth. The Empress, determined to protect her unborn child, somehow managed to escape the scene.
Despite the difficulty of moving while pregnant, she was a swordmaster. She evaded pursuit and hid in a small rural village nearby, erasing all traces of herself.
Concealing her name and identity, she posed as an unwed runaway mother and blended in with the locals.
Fearing that any contact might expose her location to the cult, she never sent for help.
She lived as if dead, in complete hiding—until the child was born.
