Chapter 70
After I Died, the Little Groom
“Dragon’s Heart? The Red Diamond, you say?”
Of everyone present, the Emperor was the most astonished.
For years, he had scoured the empire in search of the Red Diamond—partly for his mistress, partly for his own pride.
But as if repaying him for all the trouble he’d caused the Marquis of Desmond’s diamond trade, fate had never once allowed him to find it.
The moment he realized why it was called the Dragon’s Heart, a dazzling red gem appeared before his eyes.
“Hahaha!”
The Emperor threw his head back and laughed heartily as he looked at the Red Diamond in the box.
“It seems I have a good eye for people! I like this very much!”
The Emperor’s eyes and ears reached everywhere. He knew exactly how Nadia had strangled the Desmond family’s influence, and even about the commotion that had taken place at tonight’s banquet.
He admired her patience for waiting until the hunting tournament had passed—and even more, the precision with which she’d brought only the Desmonds to ruin.
But what impressed him most of all… was the nerve it took to pull out the Red Diamond right now.
The Emperor opened the box wider, showing the gem off to the entire hall, and said to Nadia,
“Will you sell this to me?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. After all, no one in the world could buy it at a higher price than you.”
Her somewhat mercenary answer delighted the Emperor.
He laughed again and said loud enough for everyone to hear,
“Baron Hess has raised an exceptionally clever daughter!”
Baron Hess.
An elevation in title was an exceedingly rare honor—one often reserved for nobles who risked their lives in wartime.
But the Emperor, overjoyed as if he had just won a great battle, expressed that joy by raising the Hess family’s rank.
Nadia had expected a reward, but not this. She stood there, a little dazed, realizing she had just become the daughter of a Viscount.
The Emperor, amused by her surprise, handed the jewel box to his beloved mistress.
Tasha shook her head repeatedly, as if refusing such a gift was the only logical reaction, but eventually accepted it with trembling hands.
What Tasha just gained wasn’t a jewel—it was certainty.
Every noble watching understood it now: the Emperor’s affection for Tasha ran far deeper than anyone had thought.
And such affection inevitably translated into power.
Feeling she had stepped into a complicated web, Nadia slowly withdrew. She could hardly wait to rush to the prison and tell her father everything. Never in her life had she wanted to chatter so much.
She lifted her dress and hurried out—
—and just then, among the crowd, Epion set down his wine glass and began following her.
He’d seen how much the Emperor favored Nadia. This time, he would make her his. Whether as his strategist or—like his mother—as his mistress, it didn’t matter.
Among the many eyes following Epion’s movements was that of Princess Charlotte.
Her maid, anxious, whispered, “Your Highness, should you not also follow that young lady?”
“Why should I?” Charlotte replied coolly.
When Charlotte was born, people had joked the Emperor must have birthed her himself. Her emerald eyes and honey-colored hair were identical to his, and her features left no doubt of their blood relation.
But the atmosphere around her was utterly unlike her father’s.
Her gaze, for one so young, was sharp and haughty. Unlike the impulsive, fiery Emperor, Charlotte remained calm even amid the noise of the banquet.
She tucked her pale hair behind her shoulders, carefully selecting desserts. Even so, no one would dare laugh—her very presence commanded silence.
“Well… His Majesty did seem rather taken with that young lady,” her maid murmured. “He even raised her family’s title. Surely she made quite the impression. And since Prince Epion also—”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Charlotte cut in with a smirk, slipping a chocolate orange into her mouth.
“If you don’t want to follow her yourself, shall I bring her to you?”
“Don’t. His Majesty already dislikes me enough. If I go chasing after that girl, the day may come when I have to bow to Epion himself.”
At that, the maid gasped and covered her mouth. Charlotte’s comment implied a future where Epion might become Emperor—a dangerous topic indeed.
Charlotte ignored her maid’s panic and picked another dessert with careful grace.
“Epion may as well have shouted it to the whole world—he wants the throne. And I’m sure His Majesty heard him loud and clear.”
Claiming a noble favored by the Emperor was the act of a fool. To snatch what belonged to the Emperor himself was unthinkable.
Charlotte curled her lip and murmured,
“My one and only brother is a beautiful idiot. A—ba-bo.”
After a moment, she tilted her head thoughtfully. “Although… does he have a beautiful voice, too?”
Then she dismissed all interest in both Nadia and Epion entirely.
Nadia went straight to the prison where her father, now Viscount Hess, was held.
“Excuse me! Baron—no, Viscount Hess’s name has been cleared! Where is he?” she asked the guard, voice bubbling with excitement.
The guard, however, looked unimpressed.
“He’s still inside.”
“Ah, right, of course. I came here the moment I heard the news. I’ll just wait here, then.”
She sat on a visitor’s bench, catching her breath.
But no one came from the palace.
At first, she waited patiently. Then she began pacing back and forth, over and over again.
Finally, she approached the guard again.
“Listen. The Emperor himself just raised my father to Viscount! That means he’s been rewarded, cleared of all suspicion! Hasn’t anyone come to deliver that message yet?”
“I don’t know, miss.”
“But—”
“Receiving a reward and being released from prison are two different matters. Whatever you believe, I can’t free a man without official orders confirming his release.”
The guard’s tone was firm. And truly, he couldn’t free a prisoner based on her word alone.
Realizing she was only making things difficult for the man, Nadia decided to return to the palace herself.
But as she stepped outside, a lavish carriage pulled up before the prison gates.
Nadia felt an uneasy chill. Before anyone could emerge, she turned to hurry to her own carriage.
“Lady Hess.”
A voice stopped her.
Too late—the door opened, and out stepped a man she found handsome, insufferable, and utterly repulsive all at once.
“Your Highness, Prince Epion,” Nadia greeted with a stiff bow.
Epion crossed his arms, his lips curling smugly. Confidence radiated from him like heat.
“Still haven’t seen your father?”
Nadia started to answer honestly, then hesitated.
Epion wasn’t the type to come simply to inquire about someone’s health. He was here because there was something in it for him.
No… could it be—
“Your Highness… Did you stop the messenger from the palace?”
“I may be a prince, but that would be treason, wouldn’t it?” he replied lazily.
“Then—”
“I merely gave His Majesty… something else to think about. Luckily, His Majesty dotes on my mother.”
Of course. Epion was the son of the Emperor’s favorite mistress, Tasha. If he wished, she could easily keep the Emperor distracted.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Nadia demanded.
“Be mine,” he said simply. “You can choose how. Be my advisor, if you like. Or live in luxury, as my mother does. You’re clever—and beautiful—so being my bedroom advisor would suit you best.”
The golden glow of Nadia’s eyes went cold. She no longer felt the need to hide her contempt. Men like this only understood possession—if they wanted something, they had to have it.
“I refuse.”
“So firm. Your newly made Viscount father will weep when he hears of this.”
“No, Your Highness. My father will respect my choice—and praise me for it.”
Viscount Hess was not the kind of man who would sell his daughter for power.
Epion reached out, as he had once before, to grab her arm—
—but Nadia was no longer the girl who would let him touch her.
With a sharp motion, she struck his hand away.
“I’ll rescue my father in my own way, as I always have,” she said icily. “So please, Your Highness… stay out of it.”
