Chapter 120
“I’m truly ashamed for having shown you such an embarrassing sight, Aunt.”
“No, no. Children don’t always turn out the way their parents want them to.”
“You are the rightful elder of the imperial family — and family, above all. I recall you once stayed in the Saffron Palace when you lived in the imperial court. I’ll order the attendants to prepare it, so please make yourself comfortable.”
“I’m deeply grateful for His Majesty’s generosity. However, my visit to the palace isn’t simply to pay a social call.”
“Then…?”
“I said I came carrying a letter from my grandniece, who holds deep affection for her mother. Yes, didn’t I, Empress Elaine?”
Valentina’s gaze turned to Empress Elaine. Elaine kept her eyes lowered, answering softly.
“…Did you call for me?”
“Yes. I heard your health has been quite poor. So much so that you couldn’t even leave your chambers?”
“Yes, it’s my own inadequacy…”
“I see. You’ve suffered another ordeal today, yet it seems you’ve recovered enough to endure it. That is a relief indeed. I too was gravely ill once, so I know the heart of an invalid quite well.”
“……”
Valentina’s eyes subtly swept over Elaine.
“If your health has returned, you should be thinking of serving His Majesty again, shouldn’t you?”
“…I will focus on regaining my strength so that I may serve His Majesty without difficulty.”
“No, no. Child, let me see your hand.”
Valentina removed her hand from the Emperor’s and placed it before Elaine. Cautiously, Elaine laid her own hand upon it. Valentina clucked her tongue as she examined the thin wrist and pale fingers with the faint traces of darkness under her nails.
“You’ll collapse if you overwork yourself trying to attend to His Majesty!”
“……”
Elaine stayed silent, green eyes deep in thought.
“You’ve just barely been able to leave your chambers, and you even pushed yourself to attend this banquet… I understand why you would overexert yourself. But if you collapse again from overwork, who could guarantee your recovery then?”
“…It is all because of my shortcomings.”
“The imperial palace can be a harsh place indeed. You finally left your quarters, only to nearly die again today. Even I, an old woman, was shaken — how could a convalescent like you possibly endure such strain?”
Elaine’s delicate brows trembled faintly. Then Valentina turned to the Emperor with a grandmotherly tone.
“After today’s events, I’m certain of it. Your Majesty, if you truly think of me as family, please allow me to take Empress Elaine to Armerine for rest and recovery.”
“What?”
The Emperor blinked in surprise.
“Aunt… you wish to take the Empress with you?”
“I am old enough, and it’s only to my private villa for convalescence — there will be no talk of scandal. The climate there is what allowed this frail old woman to live so long. If I take her, she will surely recover.”
Elaine’s eyes widened.
“That… would be far too great a burden because of me…”
“Failing to regain your health and worrying His Majesty is the true burden, my dear.”
Valentina’s warm but decisive tone left no room for objection.
“I was never blessed with children, but if His Majesty permits, I’d like to think of my niece-in-law as my own daughter-in-law. A strong woman who can stand on her own feet needs no further fuss from me.”
The Emperor hesitated, clearly torn. Then Elaine spoke, quietly.
“I’m deeply grateful for your consideration, truly… but I have only just been able to see my daughter again. It has been so long since I last looked upon her face…”
The fragile beauty, who looked as if she might shatter with a touch, gazed longingly at her young daughter as she spoke. The sight melted the hearts of the nobles present, who began to murmur softly.
The Emperor faltered — and that was when I stepped in first.
Yes, that means I started crying.
“Huuu… sniff… M-mother…! Wretched daughter that I am, I’ve harmed my mother’s health since the day I was born… And now I’m a burden once again, an unfilial child!”
There was exactly one thing I was thankful to Empress Elaine for:
She gave birth to me looking this beautiful.
Though I couldn’t quite outshine her — she was a complete beauty, delicate and ethereal — I had my own secret weapon.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, glittering.
— Wow! (゜ρ゜)ノ The light and wind are perfectly emphasizing the contract holder’s face, tears, and hair!
‘Good thing I practiced this all night — it’d be embarrassing if it didn’t look natural!’
I had learned to manipulate the power of wind freely. After mastering noise cancellation, I could now use the air itself to carry my voice farther and more clearly.
Thanks to that, my trembling voice carried beautifully to every corner of the hall.
…Sure, this probably isn’t what divine power was meant for, but who cares! The end justifies the means!
“Please don’t worry about me, Mother! I’ve been doing my best not to trouble you. I was so weak when I was little… You must have worried so much, didn’t you? But now I’m healthy — so please, just focus on taking care of yourself…”
Now that people could breathe again after the earlier tension, murmurs filled the hall —
“Oh, poor thing.”
“What a devoted daughter…”
Elaine and I both wore expressions of aching tenderness — as if we couldn’t bear to see the other suffer. But behind that façade, sparks flew in our eyes.
Perhaps part of me — the remnants of the “old” Titania who’d once been broken — had been shaken by Elaine’s manipulative show of motherly affection. But one day of anguish was enough.
When Adrian took it upon himself to investigate Empress Cleo and report back, I had been surprised, but only for a moment — before understanding completely.
“I just… felt that, for this matter at least, it shouldn’t be kept secret.”
“No, you were right to tell me. I think I know what she’s planning.”
Several carriages.
Lodgings near a city with an accessible warp tunnel.
Low-quality hired hands…
That alone was enough for me to piece together Cleo’s plan.
There was no way she’d use maids like Sarra, Mary, or the head attendant Natalie — all stationed in the Rose Palace — to poison me directly.
And although Elaine was my birth mother, she’d been living separately from me since my infancy; she wouldn’t suddenly demand we “live together” for discipline’s sake.
No — attacking me inside the imperial palace would have been idiotic.
Therefore, the most efficient way was to target me outside the palace — like during the Offering Ceremony.
But since I’d already completed that ceremony and returned safely, I rarely had any reason to leave the palace now.
So, naturally, they’d try to use Empress Elaine to lure me out.
Any excuse would do — a trip to see my maternal family’s estate, perhaps, or a visit to my late mother’s grave to pay respects and “show my daughter’s face.”
“Which means… I have to strike first.”
“Just look at that touching filial devotion,” Valentina said, clucking her tongue. “It’s no wonder she found the courage to write to me, a stranger.”
The Emperor, clearly moved, couldn’t hide his curiosity.
“Do you truly believe… sending the Empress to Armerine will restore her health?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. It will take a bit of time, but you may trust this old woman’s word.”
“Hm… In that case, I will entrust her to you, Aunt.”
Elaine stayed silent for a moment, then finally bowed her head.
Once the Emperor had agreed, the conclusion was inevitable.
“…I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s compassion.”
* * *
“…I never imagined you’d use that fabric in such a way.”
Raymond looked grim, but I only laughed.
The gifts I had sent to Empress Cleo and Prince Brian had been traps — subtle ones.
It was no accident that I gave them fabrics identical in color and texture to those woven from demonic beast materials.
Cleo, of course, would recognize it immediately.
She would suspect that I had tampered with the fabric somehow, have it thoroughly inspected, and still be unable to shake her doubts.
Had I noticed something?
Was that why I had chosen that particular fabric?
Or perhaps… was the merchant guild I dealt with secretly selling the same goods elsewhere?
