Chapter 44
“What should I do with this now?”
I quietly stared at the fragment of Dimodi placed on the table.
The spirits gathered around it and began speaking one by one.
[Knock knock! Dimodi! Are you in there?! Can you hear me?!]
[Hmph~, silly Modway~. Do you think someone in a deep sleep would hear you like that~?]
[This is troublesome indeed. Dragon magic… Even to us, it is something unfamiliar.]
“So even you don’t have a clear solution.”
At my words, the spirits groaned as if they had a headache.
I let out a sigh while looking at the fragment resting on the greenhouse table.
Let’s think.
Why was Dimodi sealed in this form?
It’s definitely the Emperor’s doing.
Dimodi was the spirit contracted to my biological father, and there was a high probability that my father had been killed by the Emperor.
I calmly recalled the past written in Mother’s diary.
Right before her marriage to the Emperor, Mother had fled the capital. By chance, she met my biological father.
He said he could sense the power of God in her soul. While helping her, they fell in love.
The two of them wandered from place to place, hiding for several months. Then one day, Father said he urgently needed to meet the Pope and left her side.
That was when the Emperor found Mother and dragged her back.
Mother did not believe the Emperor’s words:
“Cardinal Heder abandoned you and left.”
Later, she realized she was pregnant with me. To protect me, she became Empress and stayed quiet.
She safely gave birth to me and waited for years, but Father never appeared.
In the end, she wrote that she had no choice but to believe the Emperor’s words.
But no matter how I think about it, it makes no sense.
How could the Emperor be so certain that my father had abandoned her?
It wasn’t as if the two of them had sat down and had a friendly conversation.
Was it simply a lie the Emperor fabricated to deceive her?
No… the timing was too perfect.
With the Emperor’s personality, it could never have been coincidence.
He must have deliberately targeted the moment my father left for the Holy See to take Mother away.
And the fact that Cardinal Heder never came to find her…
According to Hyst, Cardinal Heder disappeared around twenty-five years ago.
The Papacy also lost contact with him around the same time.
What did that imply?
It wasn’t that he didn’t come. He couldn’t.
The dead cannot do anything.
And then there was Dimodi—the spirit of Cardinal Heder—sealed by dragon magic.
Every clue pointed toward the Emperor.
Dragon magic can only be used by the imperial family.
And within the imperial palace, there were “treasures” imbued with that very dragon magic.
The protective barrier guarding the secret warehouse was a prime example. Some of the items inside were as well.
He must have used one of those to seal Dimodi.
I leaned over the table and tapped it lightly with my finger.
Cardinal Heder. A Child of God. And a spirit.
Hyst had explained it lightly, as if it were nothing, but information about a Child of God or spirits was not something just anyone could know.
Even I hadn’t known.
However, with the Emperor’s information network, he would at least have had a vague understanding of their existence.
So it wasn’t entirely surprising that he sealed a spirit.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
What if the Emperor killed my father not simply because of Mother?
If it had been only to possess her, there would be no need to seal Dimodi.
Eliminating my father alone would have been enough.
I lowered my gaze toward the spirits.
Following Modway’s suggestion that warming Dimodi might break the seal, they had huddled together and were surrounding the fragment.
If he sealed Dimodi, that means he knew my father was a Child of God.
And a spirit was the greatest blessing and power granted to a Child of God.
In that case—
Was he not wary of my father, but of the Child of God itself?
But why?
As my thoughts tangled in confusion, Marin slowly approached me.
[Someone is coming to the greenhouse, Master~]
And soon—
Knock, knock, knock.
“Princess Neroli, it’s Hidia! His Majesty urgently requests your presence!”
It was my maid, Hidia.
After leaving the greenhouse, I put on a light touch of makeup and headed toward the central palace, where the Emperor was.
Unlike usual, he had summoned me to his office.
That alone made me uneasy.
He normally calls me to the reception room, the garden, or the flower hall.
Because his main purpose in summoning me was tea time.
But his office?
I had sent Modway there before to eavesdrop on conversations, but this was my first time entering it myself.
What is he planning?
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty! I heard you were looking for me urgently!”
I hid my suspicion and entered the office brightly.
The Emperor, seated at his desk, welcomed me.
“Come in, Neroli.”
He smiled kindly.
However, he made no move to have me sit on the guest sofa.
Watching him remain seated in his work chair, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
He must be angry with me.
Whenever the Emperor was displeased, he treated princes or nobles this way.
He would remain seated arrogantly while making the other person stand before him.
Likely to assert superiority.
I never thought I would become that target.
What could have angered him toward me—the bright flower of this palace, so innocent and cheerful?
Of course, I was supposed to be unaware of such petty power plays.
So I smiled sweetly and walked lightly toward his desk.
“Did you have something to tell me~?”
Tilting my head innocently as I approached, I suddenly widened my eyes.
My gaze had fallen on the cover of the book he was reading.
The moment I saw it, my steps stopped.
Ah…!
The worst possibility I had anticipated was now right in front of me.
I didn’t know how the Emperor had learned of the original novel’s existence or obtained it.
But in that moment, my vision dimmed and my heart sank.
Is it already too late…?
The book was already halfway read.
The Emperor has read the original.
Then he must have realized that the story and reality differed.
And he had found it among Mother’s belongings.
What… what will he do now?
While I struggled to hide my agitation, the Emperor slowly opened his mouth.
“Why do you suddenly look like that, Neroli?”
I immediately lifted my gaze to meet his.
His eyes were like a snake coiling around its prey, quietly observing when it might collapse.
In that instant, I swiftly scanned the book’s title again—and noticed something unexpected.
My next action was half instinct.
“Your Majesty! That’s it! The book of Mother’s that I wanted!”
I raised my voice a little and clasped my hands tightly.
“You remembered my request! I’m so happy, Your Majesty! Truly…!”
As I spoke, my lips trembled as if overwhelmed with emotion.
“Ah… I’m sorry. Seeing Mother’s book makes it hard to control my feelings… I apologize.”
I covered my face with both hands and sobbed.
Click.
Soon, a chilling warmth wrapped around my shoulders.
“Oh, Neroli. It seems you cannot help but cry whenever you think of Tilia. I understand. It hasn’t been long since you lost your mother.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Now then, calm yourself and sit here.”
The Emperor finally rose and guided me to the sofa.
He took the seat of honor and instructed the attendant near the entrance.
“Bring tea so the princess may calm herself.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Only now was I being treated as a guest.
Just from that, I could tell his anger toward me had eased somewhat.
I hid my unease behind tears and hurriedly organized my thoughts.
That title from earlier…
If my guess was correct, then even if the Emperor possessed the original novel, he could do nothing.
I made my decision in an instant and continued shedding tears to lower his guard.
Of course, anxiety gnawed at me, but I did not act rashly.
For now, maintaining the act of the honest and pure princess was the correct answer.
“I, too, am Your Majesty’s child and a Lornod. I should be better at controlling my emotions… I’m ashamed to show such inadequacy.”
“No, Neroli. Not every Lornod needs to live like an emotionless doll. You are perfect just as you are.”
“Your Majesty…”
“If all my children were stiff and cold, how bored would I be? Remain my lovely daughter like this.”
I smiled softly, as if deeply moved.
“Thank you for thinking of me so fondly, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, yes.”
The attendant returned with tea.
I took a sip, pretending to regain composure, and the tense atmosphere in the office settled.
Only then did the Emperor speak again.
“I did not expect you to recognize it so quickly.”
Seated on the main sofa, he extended his hand.
The chief attendant placed the novel into it.
He slowly stroked the cover.
“That this book belonged to Tilia.”
“Well…”
