Chapter 8
Wow, what kind of situation is this? My back was damp with sweat seeping through my skin. So here I am, sitting cozily face-to-face with that bastard Claude in a closed room, having tea time? And with this bad guy whoās fated to kill me in the distant future?
Gasp. Our eyes met. Afraid that the person sitting across from me might kill me right now, not thirteen years later, I quickly dropped my gaze. Hmph. Donāt call me cowardly. This is survival instinct.
In this current situation, the only one at ease was that bastard Claude. Even the knight brother standing in the corner seemed terribly uncomfortable and awkward with this atmosphere. And me, needless to sayāI was completely frozen, rolling my eyes and sneaking glances at the person across from me.
“I hadn’t heard you were mute.”
At Claude’s murmur as he lifted his teacup from the table, I let out a small hiccup.
“It’s too quiet. Not very fun, is it?”
Hah. Is this because ofĀ The Lovely PrincessĀ I read in my past life? At his bored-sounding whisper, a chill ran down my spine. Did he mean something like: “I thought it would be fun, but it’s not, so I’ll have to kill you”?
Not that I had expected him to be happy to see his long-forgotten daughter again, but his eyes were as cold as if he were looking at an inanimate object.
Right. Even though we happen to be sitting together like this, spending time, if he changes his mind, I could die right here, right now.
“Can’t you speak normally?”
“Arti can talk.”
Heheh.
The moment I realized that fact anew, I forced a smile on my stiff face. Ugh, what can I do? When he says jump, I say how high. I donāt want to die yet. Of course, thereās been no sign of him wanting to kill me so far, but putting aside the novel I read, the stories I heard from the maids about his history are so spectacular that I naturally shrink in fear.
“So I finally hear your voice. Why haven’t you opened your mouth until now?”
Does this bastard even realize he’s talking to a five-year-old? Another question like that. What, what am I supposed to say? That I was too scared to speak? As I gaped speechlessly, the knight brother standing by the wall came to my rescue.
“Your Majesty, forgive my impertinence, but it is said that young children of the Princess’s age tend to be shy around strangers.”
“Is that so?”
Claude shot back in a dismissive tone, as if to say, “Were you watching me that closely?” Yes, you bastard! A child doesn’t need a reason to be shy! And in front of you, anyone would become a mute who’s swallowed honey! Not just childrenāadults too!
But the moment our eyes met, I just gave an embarrassed heheh smile as if I knew nothing. Sob sob. You’re right about everything, so please just let me go.
Without taking his eyes off my face, Claude lounged lazily against the sofa. Unlike my hair, Claude had the deep red-gold of sunlight, and in that posture, he looked like a lion, the king of beasts, resting.
Of course, I was the prey trembling before him. Maybe a rabbit or a mouse tied up. A powerless creature that would die with a single swipe of the lion’s paw without even a squeak.
“Felix.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Leave.”
“ā¦ā¦”
The knight brother was immediately kicked out of the room. It seemed he didn’t like Felix answering on my behalf.
Wait, just a minute. Brother, you’re not really going to leave me all alone, are you? Ugh, you bad Claude, what are you going to do to me after sending the knight brother away?!
But what power did the knight brother have? Despite my desperate eyes, he quietly prostrated himself and then left the room without a sound. I think he looked back at me with pity right before he left, but that doesn’t comfort me, damn it.
“Arti must be a nickname.”
I was so flustered I didn’t even know what I had babbled earlier, but it seems I spoke in the way I usually acted cute with the maids.
“Athanasia. It’s Athanasia.”
As he began to murmur my name as if savoring it, I couldn’t help but tense up again.
“Do you know the meaning of that name?”
Ah, this is bad. Claude taking an interest in my name was not a good sign. This was a double-edged sword that could be used to cut me down at any moment. I tilted my head with the most innocent, guileless expression I could muster.
But in reality, I was extremely nervous. In fact, the name of this emperor I possess was something that even the current emperor, Claude himself, did not have.
“To dare give my child that name. How utterly insolent.”
The reason was that Claude was the illegitimate son of the emperor, without any succession rights. As I’ve mentioned before, Claude killed his older brother, the emperor, and took the crown.
Claude’s older brother, the late emperor, was named ‘Anastasius,’ and their father’s name was ‘Aebum.’ Both of them, as legitimate heirs, had names meaning eternity and immortality. The same went for ‘Ambrose,’ said to be Obelia’s first queen.
To put it more bluntly, among all the emperors of Obelia, Claude was the only one who did not possess an imperial name. So what if that bastard Claude felt offended by my name and, on a whim, decided to kill me?
I desperately put on a harmless expression toward Claude.
I am not a threat to you. I have no interest in the throne whatsoever. My life goal is to live quietly and die quietly. I have no desire to live large; my future hope is to live thin, as invisible as possible, just like now. My name might be grand, but as you said, I’m just a five-year-old bug. No, wait, don’t kill me by stomping on me saying, ‘Die, you bug!’
“Why are you just sitting there? Eat.”
Whether it was torture or hope, Claude didn’t seem inclined to kill me right now. But he also didn’t seem willing to just send me back to the Ruby Palace, so I couldn’t tell if this was misfortune or luck. However, with his next words, I became certain that my current situation was definitely unfortunate.
“I specifically ordered them to bring things children like. If you don’t eat, I’ll have no choice but to punish the one who brought them.”
“I’ll eat well.”
What a rotten bastard. You just threatened me, right? Didn’t you?
I raised my trembling hand and picked up the fork neatly placed before me. There were several delicious-looking cakes on the table, but my appetite had already vanished. Ah, geez. I think I’m going to have indigestion. To have to eat refreshments while sitting on pins and needles like this. But I couldn’t not eat, because if I left any, Claude would probably have the courtiers killed again.
Even though Claude had been quiet lately, who knew if he might get upset again and commit a massacre like the one four years ago? And this time, my name would surely be on the death list. Ugh.
“It’s delicious.”
I couldn’t see a mirror, but my face must have been ashen. Still, I smiled.
Because I wanted to live a little longer. Sob sob. I miss Lily. But was this bastard always this talkative? Hah, no. Just sitting there silently staring would also be scary. Yes, talk. Keep talking. And please let me go now. Sob sob.
I no longer had any idea how I ended up sitting here. All because of that damn gold, I crawled into this devil’s lair. At this rate, I felt like I would die of a heart attack before Claude could kill me.
“Who taught you etiquette?”
“Lily taught me.”
But my survival instinct was stronger than I thought, as I faithfully answered Claude’s questions even while weeping internally. After a moment of seeming to think about something, Claude finally murmured, and I was shocked.
“I see. You mean Lilian York.”
I only said ‘Lily,’ so how does he know her full name?
“She came before me four years ago, pleading to go to the Ruby Palace to take care of you.”
Gasp! Lily, you had that kind of past? Sob sob. As expected, best girl Lily! Sister was my favorite character in this damn novel! Truly touching.
“Dared to, before me. How impudent.”
Oh dear. Even in the midst of that, this bastard is faithfully terrifying. I feel like I’m really going to die. He’s just speaking in a calm voice the whole time, so why does the back of my neck feel so cold?
Just as I thought Claude was silently watching me eat cake, he slowly opened his mouth again.
“You. Do you know who I am?”
Clatter.
Right at that moment, I dropped the fork I was holding onto the plate. If I hadn’t been sitting, my legs might have given out and I would have collapsed to the floor. My parched lips trembled faintly.
Our jewel-like eyes met in midair. I wanted to look away immediately because I was so scared, but I knew I shouldn’t avoid his gaze right now.
This is a test. Having been born an orphan in my past life and living a harsh existence, the only thing that had grown was my perceptiveness. So the moment I saw his eyes, I instinctively realized. He hadn’t brought me here out of favor from the beginning.
I thought it was strange. He originally didn’t have an ounce of interest in Athanasia. Probably, this too was a meaningless whim. An opportunity given as a reward to someone who briefly caught his interest. He intended to decide today whether to let me live a little longer or not. Was it that the book didn’t show it, but in fact, nine-year-old Athanasia had also been tested like this by Claude?
He just silently stared at me with abyss-like eyes. In those eyes, there was a deeper boredom than before.
I started to feel anxious. If I didn’t satisfy him now, it seemed this place would become my deathbed.
What do I do? How should I act? His silent gesture of tapping the armrest proved that time was passing. After a moment, his hand stopped abruptly.
“F-Father…?”
Damn madman. I reflexively said it and then screamed internally. Tell them this is my grave. Even if I had nothing to say, calling this mad emperor ‘Father’? ‘Father’? Just because you babble something doesn’t mean it’s a proper answer.
Why not just ask me to kill you instead! Just because the maids in the Ruby Palace call me Princess, do you think I’ve really become Athanasia? I should have just played it safe and flattered him with something like ‘His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Obelian Empire, the Dignified and Magnificent…’
“ā¦ā¦.”
But unbelievably, Claude didn’t kill me. With a slow gesture, he stroked his chin, gazing at me with languid eyes as if telling me to continue.
What, what? I didn’t fail
