Chapter 57
“Ah! You startled me.”
“It’s rude to be surprised at someone’s face, Sir Rail….”
“My apologies. But there was a reason to be startled.”
“I think I know the reason.”
The problem was that I had been crying while writing a letter to my mother, wallowing alone. My eyes had puffed up.
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing you need to worry about, Sir.”
“That’s a relief then. Are you headed to the Administrative Department today as well?”
“Yes. But first, I’ll stop by the greenhouse.”
Having seen the medicine’s effects firsthand, the next step was to prepare extra supplies.
I borrowed purification stones from the Divine Power Stone Management Office and arrived at the greenhouse—only to find someone there ahead of me. His beauty still outshone the blazing morning sun.
“Busy from the morning of the festival, Your Highness.”
Helion, the Imperial Crown Prince, dressed casually in a shirt, was watering the herb garden.
“Lynne.”
When he noticed me, he strode over quickly—then stopped.
“Does our promise hold in the greenhouse as well?”
“What promise… ah.”
“You mustn’t even greet me! Remember? You promised.”
I recalled the promise we made, worried that others might find out we were acquainted.
“Well, if Sir Rail pretends not to notice, then maybe.”
I glanced at Rail beside me, and Helion playfully looked around as if searching.
“Oh? Is someone else here with us in the greenhouse?”
“So I’ve heard! Good morning, Herry.”
I waved warmly, and Helion’s expression relaxed. So he’d been tense over something so trivial.
“You disappeared so suddenly yesterday that I didn’t get to say goodbye. A pity.”
“Ah, something urgent came up, so I had to leave.”
“During the festival? Aren’t you supposed to be off duty?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
I was treating the monster in your lake, you see.
“I’ve been working on a new medicine.”
“A new medicine?”
Helion’s eyes lit up.
“What kind of medicine this time? Its effects? What ingredients did you use?”
“Could you ask one question at a time? It’s nothing grand. Honestly, it’s more like… poison than medicine.”
“Poison?”
I nodded. Helion’s face grew steadily more serious.
“…Lynne. I say this as a friend: murder is a grave crime, punished harshly by Imperial law.”
“It’s not like that! I just made it as a precaution, in case of emergency!”
“…I’m joking.”
“Wow….”
So he does make jokes.
I stared blankly at Helion’s mischievous smile—when I noticed a mark I hadn’t seen before. Poking my own cheek, I asked:
“Herry. What’s that on your face?”
“I’ve often been told my dimples are charming.”
“Not the dimple! The wound!”
“Oh, this—”
“Hold still!”
I grabbed his cheek, ignoring the way his blue eyes widened, and focused healing energy into my fingertips. The wound closed instantly, leaving no trace.
Helion touched his cheek, then gave a self-mocking laugh.
“Women’s ornaments are sharper than you’d think.”
“Who dared to lay a hand on your face?! What lunat—”
“It was the first time Rowena ever showed her emotions in front of me.”
“…Lunatic.”
No—lunatic me. I should’ve listened a little longer before exploding.
“I hope your sibling quarrel is resolved peacefully.”
“You don’t even ask for the reason?”
“It’s my principle not to involve myself in power struggles.”
“His Majesty entrusted me with diplomatic authority.”
Helion began confiding a matter I hadn’t wanted to know.
Diplomatic authority meant the Emperor had given him power to form treaties with other nations. It was the very core of imperial duties—now handed to the Crown Prince.
In other words, the Emperor had named Helion his successor.
“So that means…”
…Did I back the right horse?
Gasp! What was I thinking?! Here Helion was, troubled and serious, and I was calculating my own survival. I felt like garbage.
“It must mean His Majesty trusts you that deeply.”
“…Yes. I suppose so.”
Yet Helion didn’t look pleased. With him so downcast, even offering congratulations felt awkward.
“I… Rowena, she—”
“Yes?”
“…No, it’s nothing. I shouldn’t keep you. I’ll take my leave—rest well.”
Helion rose to go, but paused at the door. Turning back, he poked his cheek with a straight finger—where the wound had been.
“Thanks… for the healing.”
It was so endearing I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
I stayed awake all night. When did the sun rise? Rowena squinted against the light, staring blankly at the sky.
The letters in her book blurred into nonsense.
“…Everything feels pointless.”
What use was any of it now?
It was over. Yesterday, the Emperor had delegated diplomatic power to Helion—naming him the next Emperor.
That was the moment all of Rowena’s lifelong efforts crumbled to dust.
[Helion. You’re someone I can entrust the future to.]
When the Emperor clapped her half-brother on the shoulder and spoke those words, Rowena heard something shatter. Everything she had built came crashing down.
“‘Trust’…”
She had never once heard that word addressed to her.
Rowena had always strived to be Emperor. Studying through nights to catch up with Helion, collapsing from overwork—it was routine. For eighteen years, she had never slacked once.
Always running, always looking up. To be the best. To be Emperor. To surpass Helion.
“…All pointless.”
She had struggled to be loved. When she realized that was impossible, she strove instead to be a worthy successor. One who could rival Helion.
She’d rejected their offer out of pride.
Out of arrogance—that she could ascend the throne on her own, without their help.
She had worked tirelessly, though she knew the Emperor’s eyes always lingered on Helion.
Rowena crumpled the copy of The Prince she had read endlessly since childhood. Dissatisfied, she hurled it with all her strength.
“Aaagh!”
A scream echoed in the room where she sat alone. Since she had dismissed all servants, the voice could belong to only one person.
“…Kella.”
Rowena, catching her breath, called her maid’s name.
“Your Highness…”
Blood streamed from Kella’s forehead—struck by the book Rowena had thrown.
Rowena looked indifferently at the red trickle.
“…You fled like a frightened dog, yet now you shamelessly show your face.”
“Your Highness… Ah, you’re still angry. You’re angry at Kella, aren’t you…”
Kella knelt at Rowena’s feet, not even wiping the blood away.
“I came back, Your Highness. I returned to this palace of monsters, because I was worried about you…”
“So your father already whispered in your ear, didn’t he? That the rope you clung to has rotted, so it’s time to change allegiances?”
Kella fell silent. It was true—her father had told her to leave Rowena’s service and marry instead.
“But I don’t want that… The only one I wish to serve is you, Your Highness…”
“How shameless of you to say that while holding such a vile thing.”
Rowena’s icy gaze fell to the magic stone Kella clutched. Kella hastily hid it behind her back, but too late.
“You serve the Demon, not me.”
“No! This is, this is just—”
“I know you’ve been colluding with them all along, Kella. Was it you who tried to kill Hinasys as well?”
“N-no! I swear I know nothing about that!”
True. The only foolish act Kella had committed was spreading plague in the palace through rats and fleas.
When Rowena had confronted her about slipping out every dawn, she had answered:
[I did it for you, Your Highness! They promised if I obeyed, they’d make you Emperor!]
[So you spread disease through the palace at their bidding? Fool. I can take the throne without them.]
“…I should’ve cast you off then.”
Rowena turned coldly, but Kella clutched at her.
“F-forgive me, Your Highness!”
“For what?”
“For presumptuously acting in hopes of granting you the throne! But now… now you need their help, don’t you?”
Smack! Rowena flung her hand aside. Her eyes sank colder than ever.
“So you think me a fool as well.”
“No, never! I only did it for you, Your Highness! With their power, you could—”
“So you believe I cannot reach the throne without them. Is that it?”
“I-I only meant…”
“Hah… hahaha!”
Rowena burst out laughing—something she never did. Clutching her stomach, she laughed while Kella stared, dumbfounded.
“I see… So you think so too. Even you.”
Tears formed as Rowena laughed, then she pulled a white handkerchief from her pocket.
“Well done, Kella. You came at the right time.”
She pressed the cloth to Kella’s bleeding forehead, staining it red.
“I have no more burdens left.”
Smiling beautifully, Rowena looked as radiant as ever—the smile Kella always praised as divine.
“Dark magic or whatever else—it doesn’t matter, Kella.”
The pride of being descended from the hero who sealed the Demon? Worthless now. A throne gained by pride alone was a throne handed for free.
“Tell them this.”
She couldn’t fathom the price they would demand. But the throne mattered more than anything. She craved it desperately.
Rowena’s slender fingers traced Kella’s jaw, chilling her to the bone.
“Make me Emperor.”
Kella’s hands folded before her chest, as though in prayer to a god. For her, Rowena was that god.
“…Of course. My Emperor.”
Satisfied with her devout follower, Rowena added:
“There is one task first.”
[The young lady of House Feahil will become Helion’s good friend.]
“I want nothing left at his side. Kella, you can atone for your past mistake.”
“Yes… Please trust me once more.”
“Erase the Feahil line.”
Kella bowed her head and solemnly accepted her sovereign’s command.
A breeze tousled his jet-black hair. Violet eyes closed slowly.
He sighed with genuine regret for the little lamb who had walked willingly into the wolf’s den.
“Still as foolish as ever.”
Perhaps I should have killed her.
“No… it’s for me. For me to sleep soundly again tonight, with both legs stretched out.”
That face came to mind—trembling, yet stubbornly speaking her mind. Like a rabbit before a predator, shaking but speaking firmly.
“…Sleep is important.”
Perhaps he would let her live a little longer. For someone’s peaceful rest.
The feral twist of his lips eased. His mood lightened, if only slightly.
