---------------
Brought to you by ‌‌‌‌Valir Scans! To support our team ‌‌‌‌and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on ‌‌‌‌our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 75

"It's quite the curious coincidence. A place ‌‌where no one ever visits, ‌‌‌yet the first location ‌‌Adeline chooses to ‌‌visit upon returning to the Imperial Palace after so long is here."
This was bad. His voice had already turned bitter.
"The ‌place has changed considerably, so you may not recognize it."
Yet The Emperor spoke as though I ‍‌had been here before. ‌‌‌‌
Even if it were true, how could The Emperor possibly know that?
"There was something I wished to ask Adeline."
"...Me?" ‌‌‌‌
He spoke without once looking at me, his ‌gaze fixed only upon the garden.
"Do you not wish to marry ‌me?"
"...!"
I hadn't anticipated such a direct question.
"Even if you find it disagreeable, one would think you could at least exchange pleasantries. Yet it seems you harbor little affection for me."
Cold sweat poured down my back.
What ‌‌‌was I supposed to say in this situation?
My opponent was The Emperor himself—the ruthless tyrant from the original story ‌‌‌‌who had systematically slaughtered my entire family.
"Your Majesty, who in this Empire would dare to dislike you?"
"Adeline. You may speak truthfully."
The Emperor's voice remained calm as he spoke.
"I wish only to hear your honest thoughts, not empty flattery."
No. I wasn't falling for that.
I had to choose my words carefully.
One misstep and The Emperor would have me executed. Others might be fooled by his honeyed words and spill their secrets, but I had the original story. I knew the truth.
A single ‌‌‌‌‌wrong word could trigger a massacre ‌of my entire family. He was a dangerous psychopath.
Even his silhouette looked menacing, like that of an assassin.
"Cough!"
Suddenly, a cough erupted from my throat.
"Cough! Cough! Hack! Cough!"
"...! Adeline?"
The Emperor seemed startled by the violent, unrelenting coughing fit.
"I apologize. I've always been rather frail... Cough!"
"Are you alright?"
"W-well, I do cough quite a lot, Your ‌‌Majesty. As you may not know, the Lockhart Family carries many hereditary illnesses."
"Hereditary illnesses in the Lockhart Family?"
I straightened my ‌‌‌hunched posture, putting every ounce of effort into appearing ill.
"The reason I cannot hasten into marriage with Your Majesty is precisely because of this. I suffer from severe allergies and weak lungs."
There's nothing like that.
"Besides, my eyesight isn't particularly good, my teeth are weak, and I have athlete's foot on my feet."
This wasn't true either.
"That's not even all of it. I ‌‌hate meeting people. Especially when foreigners start speaking foreign languages, I get goosebumps all over my body."
"My lady."
"And my sleeping habits are absolutely dreadful."
I desperately explained to The Emperor all the genetic disadvantages that would befall him if he married me.
"I can't stand the sight of someone sharing my blanket. When someone steals the blanket, I apparently throw punches without even realizing it. When I share ‌a bed with Your Majesty, ‌‌I ‌‌‌‌might do something terrible and give you a cold."
"My lady."
The Emperor, whose ears had turned red, let out a ‌sigh.
"You don't need to worry about that. I have ‌‌‌‌no intention of rushing to have children."
"...You don't? Why?"
Wait a moment.
How was it in the original story?
It seemed The Emperor didn't want children. He ‌‌‌was a madman who desired to monopolize the Empress for himself alone.
But that was after they consummated the marriage.
Royalty and nobility married to strengthen alliances through marriage and to produce heirs of good bloodline.
Shouldn't The Emperor naturally do the same?
"If that is the reason you're reconsidering the engagement, you ‌‌‌need not worry."
"Isn't this a serious disqualification as Empress?"
"It is not. Because."
The Emperor lowered his voice, then lifted his head again, gazing up at the ‌‌sky.
"I do not want children."
"...Pardon?"
The words coming from ‌‌The Emperor's mouth were extraordinary—the kind of statement that would shock his Aide if he were present.
"Then why...?"
The Emperor was curious too, but truthfully, I also had something I wanted to ask him.
"Then why have you waited for me ‌‌for nearly four years, Your Majesty?"
"..."
"Isn't Your ‌Majesty's reason for pursuing marriage with the Lockhart Family to strengthen the family bond and secure an heir?"
The Emperor said nothing.
"That is..."
"Your Majesty, are you here?"
Just then, The Emperor's Aide approached with a startled expression, as if he had been searching for him.
"I see you're with the lady." ‌‌
The Aide greeted me, then approached The Emperor's side and bowed.
"It would be best to begin today's meeting a bit earlier. The minister from the Yehban ‌‌‌‌Kingdom has arrived sooner than expected."
"Very well."
The Emperor rose at the Aide's words, put on the ‌‌‌mask he ‌was handed, and passed by my side.
Amid the fragrant scent of flowers in the garden, he carried no discernible scent at all—remarkably so. ‌‌‌
As he passed by, I kept my head bowed.
"...Next time."
I heard The Emperor's voice whisper past me.
"When we meet again, you'll understand the reason."
‌‌
* * *

I stared at the remaining memory candles.
"Only four left now."
Exactly four roots remained in my possession. That meant I had four more chances ‌‌‌left.
After parting with The Emperor, I'd visited several other locations, but no memories surfaced.
Had I chosen the wrong places? Not the Imperial Palace?
"Sigh."
Returning to the Mansion, I carried an armful of books on Mother's errand ‌‌and headed to the Study.
Duke Lockhart's Study was primarily Father's personal workspace.
"It's my ‌‌‌own house, yet I can't remember the layout."
After being away ‌‌‌for so long, I'd forgotten what the place even looked like.
The Mansion was simply too vast.
"Is it this way?"
Fortunately, I found it on ‌‌the first try. The empty Study was spacious and quiet.
Perhaps because I hadn't seen it in so long, the space felt unfamiliar—or maybe even unsettling.
"Ah."
My head throbbed.
Meeting The Emperor since morning seemed to have taken a toll on my body.
"I should rest soon."
I set down the books ‌‌‌‌and tried to leave the Study, but suddenly my vision darkened.
"Ugh, I'm dizzy."
My head spun, so I collapsed onto a sofa in the corner of the Study. That felt better.
"Right... I used to lie like this when I was young too."
The memory surfaced naturally.
The memory candle's effects still lingered.
"Father was just as busy then as he is now, and my brother was occupied with his studies, so I wandered around until I ended up here."
That time felt as vivid as yesterday.
"And in the Study...."
My vision darkened again, and something came to mind.
"There was someone in the ‌‌‌‌Study too. Not Father. My brother? No, it wasn't him either...."
Who had I been talking to?
I felt the scene of a conversation with someone around my age, ‌‌‌but when I squeezed my eyes shut to see who it was, nothing more surfaced in my mind.
"Who was it?"
The younger me in that memory seemed excited and chattering away.
Was there someone I was close to ‌‌when I was young? It ‌‌‌wasn't Emma's face.
"Memory Grass really does work."
When nothing came to mind at first, I thought I'd been deceived, but the memory surfaced vividly as if I were witnessing it before my eyes.
Precisely in this place. In this Study, on this sofa—an old memory from that exact moment.
I stood up from my seat and sat back down. The memory ‌‌‌ended there. Nothing more ‌‌came to me.
"Enya. You were here?"
The door opened and a man entered.
Samuel Lockhart, my older brother.
Commander of the 2nd Knight Order and an iron ‌‌‌‌wall of a man—even ‌‌‌if The Emperor himself asked what he looked like, Samuel would never tell after I grew older.
I glared at my brother.
"Don't tell me you were sprawled out sleeping again?" ‌‌‌
"My head was spinning, so I ‌‌‌was just lying down."
Right. That memory from earlier.
"Brother, when I was young, did I ever ‌‌‌‌‌talk with you here in this Study?"
"Many times."
"Was there perhaps someone else besides you and me? Someone around ‌‌‌my age—I think it was a boy."
My brother approached with a worried expression ‌‌and placed his hand on my forehead.
"You don't have a fever... Are you losing your mind...?"
"Never mind that. But why did you come? Were you looking for me?"
"Mother called for you to come eat. She summoned you."

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------