Chapter 119
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Chapter 119
"Why? What's outside? Did some monster appear?"
"Not exactly. But from your perspective, Enya, it might be worse than that."
"Worse than what?"
Could there be a situation worse than me running here on my own two feet to find The Emperor?
This is already the worst for me.
But The Emperor's expression didn't seem like he was joking.
"There's nothing out there."
I gazed out the window. I saw nothing.
"That's the problem."
"Why?"
"Snow has covered everything in all directions."
"...Covered with what?"
The Emperor approached the window and peered outside, then attempted to open the front door.
The door budged slightly before slamming shut with a loud bang!
His serious expression made cold sweat break out on my skin.
"You're joking, right?"
I pushed the door myself.
"?"
I thought the door was broken.
Rather than moving even slightly, it wouldn't budge at all—as immovable as a wall.
Surely not. I looked at The Emperor.
But The Emperor let out a deep sigh much like my own.
"We cannot leave the mountain lodge."
* * *
Why did I suggest coming to this place of all locations?
That was my second thought.
Gurgle, gurgle.
"Cough!"
I tried to redirect attention with a cough at the embarrassingly audible sound of hunger emanating from my stomach.
But it didn't seem to work.
The Emperor was looking at me with a pitying expression.
"...."
"...."
I sat on the bed.
The Emperor sat on the sofa.
We sat far apart from each other, staring only at the walls. At least we had enough firewood to last four days, which was fortunate.
We wouldn't freeze to death, at minimum.
"How thick do you think the snow has accumulated?"
Unable to endure the silence that had stretched on for hours, I spoke first.
"Based on the circumstances when you entered, I would say it's more accurate to call it buried rather than accumulated."
"So you're saying it's practically a tomb?"
"Yes."
It was a clear answer that required no further deliberation.
"Your Majesty, you mean we've been buried alive...?"
"Not quite to that extent...."
His voice also lacked conviction.
"It seems we won't be able to leave easily."
"...."
I suddenly looked at him and had a thought I hoped wasn't true.
"Wait, you didn't deliberately trigger an avalanche, did you?"
"...?"
"Well, it doesn't seem like something Your Majesty would be incapable of doing."
"...I hadn't considered that possibility."
The Emperor's expression wasn't merely bewildered—upon closer inspection, his eyes had widened as if he'd just gained enlightenment.
A glimmer of something akin to madness flickered across his clear golden eyes.
"Such a method...."
"What method are you talking about?"
"My apologies."
He smiled slightly.
"I'm pleased that you made a joke to me first."
He must have thought it was a joke.
But I had said it because I genuinely believed he was capable of such a thing.
Gurgle.
Now my stomach growled so loudly that even the Emperor could no longer pretend not to hear it.
'Stop it.'
I pressed my fist against my stomach.
If the snow melted quickly, that would be ideal, but there was no sun at night.
The current time was midnight.
That meant I had to wait here for at least six more hours. Alone with The Emperor.
"Sigh...."
As I exhaled, The Emperor flinched.
He quietly turned his head, trying not to be noticed by me.
'How did I end up entangled with such a man?'
The original story's overwhelming coercive power?
It was absurd that four years of running had circled back to The Emperor, but what surprised me more was how relentlessly the original story clung to its course.
Or was it human will?
The Emperor's will?
"By the way, Your Majesty. May I ask you something?"
The Emperor, his shoulders drooping dejectedly, nodded.
"Why did you meet with Emma?"
"If she is a servant of the Lockhart Family, I summoned her to receive your letter."
"Emma isn't the type to go willingly."
"...We have been in collusion for a long time."
"Ah, collusion."
I should have known. Emma wouldn't get off easy.
Now I understood how The Emperor had managed his double life. It would be impossible without an accomplice.
"Since when? How did you manipulate her? Emma was a maid I trusted."
"You must be cautious of those you trust."
"Are you really offering me life advice in this situation?"
"...I merely meant to say that. I apologize."
Dale kept overlapping with The Emperor in my mind.
Which was The Emperor's true face?
Dale? The Emperor?
"The reason I recruited the servant Emma was that I believed you would not reveal your whereabouts to anyone else."
"That was clever."
"Since she was a servant who stayed by your side like a sister, it was only natural. Besides, without an accomplice, Duke Lockhart would have discovered my hiding place quickly."
His reasoning was not only sound but brilliant.
"However, your maid was not recruited from the beginning. I had to put in considerable effort. Money alone could not persuade her."
"...Really?"
"Even when I offered the significant proposal of lifting her physical restrictions, she did not readily agree."
The anger I had harbored toward Emma diminished somewhat.
"Then how did you manage it?"
"I told her that I loved you. I convinced her that no one could love you as much as I do."
"Did that work?"
"You certainly know how to change someone's mind."
That meant I had earned Emma's approval.
Emma's?
"Our young lady is the finest in the world! I'll only send her to a man who truly loves her! I'd fiercely oppose any riffraff—Emma would never allow it!"
When I was younger, Emma used to say things like that whenever we played together.
Emma apparently saw The Emperor as a suitable husband for me. Emma and I had rarely disagreed on anything before.
This was unexpected.
"You didn't coerce Emma, did you?"
"No."
"Then that's settled. Can I ask the next question now?"
The Emperor nodded quietly.
"Now you can tell me, can't you? Why you proposed to me. Why you sent the Empress's edict."
"...."
"You didn't explain it properly during the hunting festival."
"Sending the edict allows me to protect you from danger."
"Danger? ...You mean Hexagon?"
The Emperor nodded as if that were correct, but his face had turned red, which seemed suspicious.
"It's not that once I receive the edict, I can't marry any other nobleman, is it?"
"That's correct."
The Emperor, who had been deliberating, let out an honest sigh.
He was truly holding nothing back from me.
"I also hoped that you wouldn't marry another man. If there were no reason for that, it would be a lie."
"...Now you're really telling me everything?"
"There's nothing left to hide."
He smiled awkwardly and glanced back at me slightly.
"Wait, hold on."
I had just thought of the most fundamental question about all this.
"But how did you pretend to be a territory resident? When I arrived, you had been living in Grunvalt for six months already."
"...."
"Did you manipulate everyone's memories as a group? With the help of Magic Tower Master Cassion, perhaps?"
"No."
"Then how were you able to deceive everyone?"
"Because I actually lived as a territory resident."
"?"
My eyes widened as I stared at him.
"From the Capital to Grunvalt...not every day, but I visited every other day to become acquainted with the residents."
"???"
"I had to make all the necessary preparations before you arrived."
"So my going to the Southern Region wasn't mere chance, or at least it didn't feel like it was. Since we met there. But you really lived as a Grunvalt person all this time?"
Dale nodded, his face flushed like someone who had just heard an embarrassing remark.
"Yes."
...He might be far more consumed by madness than I initially thought.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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