Chapter 44
“Now, what should I do with this?”
I quietly stared at the fragment of Dimodi lying on the table.
Then the spirits gathered around it, each voicing their thoughts.
[Knock knock! Dimodi! Are you in there?! Can you hear me?!]
[Hmph~, stupid Modway~. Do you really think someone that deeply asleep can hear you~?]
[This is troublesome. Dragon magic, you say—such a thing is unfamiliar even to us.]
“So you don’t have a solution either.”
At my words, the spirits groaned in frustration.
I sighed as I gazed at the fragment resting on the greenhouse table.
Let’s think this through.
Why was Dimodi sealed in this form?
It’s certain the emperor had a hand in this.
Dimodi was the spirit contracted to my real father, and my father most likely died at the emperor’s hands.
Calmly, I recalled what was written in my mother’s diary.
Just before her marriage to the emperor, my mother fled the capital and, by chance, met my father.
He said he sensed divine power in her soul, helped her, and in doing so, they fell in love.
They wandered in hiding for a few months until my father left suddenly, saying he had urgent business with the Pope.
And that was when the emperor found my mother and dragged her away.
The emperor told her, “Cardinal Heather abandoned you and left.” But my mother didn’t believe him.
Then she realized too late that she was pregnant with me. To protect me, she became the empress and lived in silence.
She gave birth safely and waited for years, but my father never returned.
In the end, she wrote that she had no choice but to accept the emperor’s words as truth.
But no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.
How could the emperor be so certain my father abandoned her?
It’s not as if they sat down and had a friendly chat.
Could it have just been a lie to deceive her?
No, the timing was too precise for that.
Knowing the emperor’s nature, it could never have been a coincidence.
He must have seized the opportunity, waiting for the moment my father left for the Papacy, to capture my mother.
And the fact that Cardinal Heather never returned to find her…
According to Hist, Cardinal Heather went missing about twenty-five years ago.
The Papacy itself lost contact with him around the same time. And that could only mean one thing.
It wasn’t that he didn’t come. He couldn’t.
The dead can do nothing.
And now, even Cardinal Heather’s contracted spirit, Dimodi, is sealed by dragon magic.
All signs pointed straight to the emperor.
After all, dragon magic can only be wielded by the royal family.
And within the imperial family were “treasures” imbued with that very magic.
The protective array guarding the secret vault was one such example. Some of the artifacts stored inside were too.
They must have used those to seal Dimodi.
I slumped forward, tapping the table with my finger.
Cardinal Heather, a Child of God, and a spirit…
Hist had brushed it off lightly, but in truth, knowledge of the Child of God and spirits was privileged information.
Even I hadn’t known.
But if it were the emperor’s intelligence network, he may not have known the details, but surely he had some inkling of their existence.
So it wasn’t strange at all that he would seal the spirit.
As I thought this through, another idea crept in.
Was the reason the emperor killed my father not simply because of my mother?
If all he wanted was to take her, there’d be no need to seal Dimodi.
Killing my father would have been enough.
I glanced down at the spirits.
They were huddled together around the fragment, following Modway’s suggestion that warming Dimodi might undo the seal.
The fact that Dimodi was sealed means the emperor knew my father was a Child of God.
And spirits are the greatest blessing and strength bestowed upon the Child of God.
For the emperor to go out of his way to seal a spirit he couldn’t even see…
Could it be that he wasn’t wary of my father as a man, but of the Child of God itself?
But why?
While my tangled thoughts spun, Marin suddenly glided close to me.
[Someone is coming to the greenhouse, Master~]
And then—
Knock, knock, knock.
“Princess Neroli, it’s Hidia! His Majesty urgently requests your presence!”
It was my lady-in-waiting, Hidia.
I left the greenhouse, did a bit of quick dressing, and headed to the central palace where the emperor awaited.
Unusually, he summoned me to his office.
That alone unsettled me.
He usually calls me to a reception room, a garden, or a conservatory.
His purpose was always tea time.
But his office?
Though I’d once sent Modway to eavesdrop on conversations there, this was my first time entering it myself.
What could he be planning?
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty! I heard you called for me urgently!”
I concealed my unease and stepped inside.
The emperor, seated, greeted me.
“Come in, Neroli.”
His kindly smile masked something else.
But he made no move to offer me the guest sofa.
Seeing him remain in his seat, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
So he’s angry at me.
When displeased, the emperor always did this to princes or nobles—making them stand before him while he sat smugly.
A clear show of hierarchy.
Never thought I’d be on the receiving end.
But why would he be angry at me, the very flower of the palace, always so bright and innocent?
Of course, I had to pretend not to recognize his petty power play.
So, with a sunny smile, I trotted forward to his desk.
“Did you wish to speak with me~?”
As I tilted my head innocently, I froze mid-step.
My eyes had caught the cover of the book he was reading.
“The Flower that Blooms Beside Death.”
The moment I saw it, my feet rooted to the floor.
Ah…!
The worst outcome I had feared had now appeared before me.
How the emperor discovered the existence of the original work and was reading it, I couldn’t know.
But right now, my vision dimmed and my heart plummeted.
Is it already too late…?
The book was already halfway finished. I racked my brain desperately.
The emperor has read the original.
Which meant he must have realized that reality no longer matched its contents.
And since he found it among my mother’s belongings—
Then… then how will he act now?
As I struggled to hide my rising panic, the emperor finally spoke.
“Why the sudden reaction, Neroli?”
I snapped my gaze up, meeting his eyes.
They were like a serpent’s, coiling around its prey, waiting quietly, as if watching to see when I would faint.
In that instant, I sharply scanned the book cover again and noticed something.
What came next was half instinct.
“Your Majesty! That’s it! The book of Mother’s I wanted so dearly!”
I raised my voice, clasping my hands together.
“You remembered my request! I’m so happy, Your Majesty! Truly…!”
As if overcome with emotion, my lips trembled.
“Ah… forgive me. Seeing Mother’s book has overwhelmed me… I’m sorry.”
I covered my face with clasped hands and let out muffled sobs.
A heavy thud sounded—the emperor had risen. Soon, a chilling warmth settled on my shoulders.
“My dear Neroli. Every time you think of Tillia, it brings tears, doesn’t it? I understand. It hasn’t been long since you lost your mother. It’s only natural.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Come now, calm yourself and sit.”
The emperor finally guided me to the sofa.
Taking the seat of honor opposite, he ordered a servant by the door:
“Bring tea to help the princess settle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At last, he treated me as a guest.
Already, I could feel his anger toward me easing.
Hiding my unease behind my tears, I quickly thought it through.
That title I saw earlier…
If my guess was right, even if the emperor had the book, there was little he could actually do with it.
So, in that fleeting moment, I decided to use my tears to disarm him.
Though anxiety gnawed at me, I refused to rush.
The best course now was to continue playing the honest, innocent princess.
“I… I’m ashamed. As your daughter, as a Lornod, I should control my emotions better. Yet all I’ve shown you is weakness.”
“No, Neroli. Not every Lornod must live like emotionless dolls. You are perfect just as you are now.”
“Your Majesty…”
“If all my children were stiff and cold, how lonely would I be? Stay as my loving, sweet daughter, always.”
I smiled warmly, as if deeply moved by his words.
“Thank you for cherishing me so, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, yes.”
Just then, the servant returned with tea.
I sipped, feigning calm, and the heavy atmosphere of the office lightened.
Only then did the emperor continue.
“Still, I didn’t expect you to recognize it so quickly.”
From his place of honor, the emperor stretched out his hand.
The chief attendant stepped forward and placed the book in his palm.
The emperor stroked its cover gently.
“That this book was Tillia’s.”
“Well, of course…”
