Chapter 89
Leponia froze at the Emperor’s words. As she turned her head, her face cooling, the Emperor continued.
“Do not misunderstand—this is not meant as criticism simply because you were adopted. However, just as adoption requires my permission, so too does annulment of adoption.”
Because he was the ruler—and father—of this empire.
“Wouldn’t you want certainty? If you wished it, I could refuse to accept the annulment papers. Naturally, it would be kept secret from the Duke of Craytan, and I would fabricate an appropriate reason.”
“……”
“Then there would never be an annulment, nor would you ever have to leave the House of Craytan. …Does that please you?”
The Emperor asked.
Leponia lowered her gaze. Then she shook her head.
“I do not want that either, Your Majesty.”
“What?”
The Emperor asked again in surprise, clearly expecting her to say yes.
“Why not? Even when I can give you certainty?”
“Certainty…?”
“If you and I make a promise, there would never be an annulment. Wouldn’t that ease your anxiety?”
“How could that possibly be ‘certainty,’ Your Majesty?”
Leponia asked sincerely, as if she truly could not understand.
“The moment Your Majesty makes that promise to me, I would begin to doubt endlessly and feel anxious.”
“You would doubt? About what?”
“I would doubt whether the Duke of Craytan truly wants to annul my adoption. I would be anxious about whether everything happening now was being forced. At every moment, I would be uneasy, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor looked as though he had been struck unexpectedly—clearly something he had never considered.
“Then I would constantly watch the Duke of Craytan’s expressions. It wouldn’t feel like annulment was impossible—it would feel as though I were being annulled every single moment.”
“…….”
“That is why I do not want that either. If the Duke of Craytan submits the annulment papers to Your Majesty…”
She suddenly wondered what expression the Duke of Craytan would wear when presenting them.
Would he be smiling? Or would he look as calm and unreadable as ever?
“…If he submits them, then please accept them—just as you have for other nobles, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor could not respond.
“Living with a family that wishes to annul you is no different from already being annulled for adopted children. They have already been discarded in their hearts.”
She did not bring up the phrase ‘nobles’ adoption games’.
Right now, she was speaking as the daughter of the Duke of Craytan, an old friend—not as an adopted child. And he was the Emperor of the empire.
If his mood soured, there was no telling how he might treat Leponia.
There was no need to risk her life by pointing it out.
“…I was shortsighted.”
The Emperor murmured in a hoarse voice.
“I truly apologize, young lady. I never intended to treat the daughter of my old friend in this way. I merely wished to be a dependable uncle to you.”
“Even your consideration alone is an honor, Your Majesty.”
“It’s true. Until Havelian and Pellens were nearly ten, they used to run up to me in private and call me uncle, clinging to me. I only hoped to have that kind of relationship with you as well.”
“Thank you for your generous kindness, Your Majesty.”
Watching Leponia respond with flawless etiquette no matter what was said, the Emperor smiled bitterly.
“I only wished to give you perfect reassurance, having heard that adopted children often fear being annulled.”
“……”
“I never meant to make you feel anxious or doubtful in that way. I apologize, young lady.”
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Somehow, she felt she understood why the Duke of Craytan had retreated into his estate and refused to leave after taking in a daughter.
“But there is one misunderstanding I must correct,” the Emperor said.
“Yes?”
“The Duke of Craytan will never present annulment papers to me. Never.”
With gentle eyes, the Emperor looked at Leponia as though caressing her with his gaze. She could not bring herself to reply.
Reading her faint distrust in the silence, the Emperor merely smiled kindly.
“Try trusting the Duke of Craytan, young lady. He will never betray the trust you place in him.”
Perhaps. Or perhaps not.
Leponia simply returned a polite smile.
“It seems I’m the only one receiving lessons from you today.”
“Compared to the secret garden you’ve shown me, they are nothing at all.”
The Emperor laughed loudly.
“I look forward to your future.”
A future to look forward to.
I know my future better than anyone.
A life bound to being the Pope’s spy until the age of twenty. Even now, all she wished for was simply to live.
Expectation…
There was no such thing waiting for her.
“Then I should prepare the gift for the Empress, just as you suggested.”
The Emperor gestured to a servant standing at a distance, ordering garden shears to be brought.
It seemed he truly intended to cut flowers from the private garden as a gift.
Leponia bowed properly.
“I cannot see the surprise gift meant for Her Majesty before she does, so I shall take my leave.”
“I enjoyed myself thanks to you, young lady.”
“The honor is mine, Your Majesty.”
“Haha. If time permits, I’ll invite you separately to meet the Empress later. She adores cute things and has taken a great interest in you.”
A gentle smile filled the Emperor’s face as he spoke of the Empress.
Leponia bowed once more and turned to leave the garden.
The Emperor offered to assign a knight to escort her back to the hall, but Leponia declined, saying she wished to stroll through the garden for a bit.
She had already memorized the path on the way in, so there was no risk of getting lost.
The Emperor respected her choice.
He said the annulment papers would never be submitted.
Walking alone through the garden, Leponia recalled her conversation with the Emperor.
Perhaps the Duke of Craytan did not intend this as mere adoption play, but truly considered her family.
Among the nobility, there were those who genuinely raised adopted children with love.
But—
Would that still be true once he knows who I really am?
Leponia was not just an ordinary six-year-old.
Just last winter, she had been a spy of the Pope—chased by the Craytan knights and nearly captured by the Duke himself.
Would the House of Craytan, known as the empire’s guardian family, still call her family after learning her true identity?
Leponia shook her head.
There was no point worrying over something that had never begun as becoming a family in the first place.
Let’s go back.
She quickened her pace.
Then—
“Miss?”
A voice called out from behind her. Leponia stopped abruptly.
It was a familiar voice. One she had heard all her life—and even moments ago.
Why is he here…
Leponia turned her head stiffly, like a creaking doll.
Pope Pretes stood there, smiling artificially—eyes curved into crescents, lips pulled into a wide grin, like a benevolent man.
She knew that expression.
It was the look he wore when forcibly swallowing and concealing the cruelty that not even divine grace could hide.
The face the children—including Leponia—had feared most.
After wearing that kindly expression, he would always vent his rage upon them.
“I happened to see you on my way back and wished to greet you, so I dared to call out. Please forgive my rudeness, young lady.”
“…I greet His Holiness the Pope.”
Leponia swallowed her trembling breath and greeted him calmly.
His gaze bore down on her like sharp iron thorns—so pointed it felt as though she would be pierced if she so much as moved.
He saw me.
Swallowing all her turbulent emotions, Leponia lifted her eyes to meet his calmly.
He knew six-year-old Leponia. It was the age when he had first taken her in.
So there was no way Pope Pretes should fail to recognize her current six-year-old self.
The name alone might be common—but once he saw her face, surely—
“You are quite brave, young lady. Have you lost your way? Shall I assist you?”
…Huh?
Something was off.
Blinking, Leponia quickly assessed the situation and shook her head.
“No. I’m on my way back. I’m fine.”
“I see. I wondered if I might be of help—how fortunate that I am not needed.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“When I heard the Duke of Craytan had adopted a child, I worried greatly. Children are said to be messengers of the divine will. I feared you might be hurt, but seeing you now, I realize my worries were unnecessary.”
…Huh? Wait.
“…Thank you for your concern. The Duke of Craytan treats me well.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Should you ever need my help, feel free to seek me out. Or if you have words you wish to deliver to the gods, come to the Grand Temple and find me. My doors will always be open to you.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Pope Pretes turned away first, still wearing his artificial smile.
“…….”
Even after all traces of him had vanished, Leponia remained rooted in place.
For a long time.
“Ponia? Ponia!”
Even when a familiar voice called from afar.
“Phew, I finally found you, our youngest. Pellens and Father have been searching everywhere for you too, Ponia. His Majesty said he sent you back a while ago, but when you didn’t return no matter how long we waited, we got worried. It’s cold—what are you doing out here alone?”
Havelian’s voice reached her from behind.
Only then did Leponia blink, snapping back to herself.
“Po—huh? What’s wrong, Ponia? Why do you look like that?”
“…Huh?”
“Who did this? Who was it?”
“No one. I just got lost for a bit. …Havelian, let’s go.”
Leponia lifted her head and walked past him.
The Pope doesn’t recognize me.
That hadn’t been acting.
He doesn’t recognize my name—or my face.
First daughter. He had called her that over and over again.
He doesn’t know who I am.
He had seen this face. He had spent over ten years with her.
I never even considered this—he doesn’t recognize me.
She had been terrified of being discovered, of being recognized.
But it had all been needless worry.
To him, she had always been disposable—someone not even worth remembering by name or face.
It was almost laughable that she had trembled in fear of being recognized.
It’s fine. It’s a good thing he doesn’t recognize me. I can hide without dying. It’s an advantage. Yes. This is a good thing.
It felt as though she had swallowed pitch-black ashes.
Her insides turned completely dark.
