Chapter 99
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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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Chapter 99
"...From the very beginning, there was nothing?"
I thought I'd misheard, so I asked again.
Nothing? At all? What did that even mean?
The Emperor didn't repeat himself. My head was spinning.
"This makes no sense...!"
I gripped my head as a headache washed over me and leaned against the Balcony railing. The Emperor tried to steady me, but I refused.
The Emperor had drawn close without my noticing.
I could see his hand frozen mid-reach toward me.
The same hand that had danced with me so joyfully just moments ago now felt repulsive, as though I shouldn't let it touch me.
The Emperor had lied to me? Why?
"Then why didn't you say so back then?"
"...."
"You didn't say such things in that Cave where we were together. Your Majesty said you had someone you were interested in."
The Emperor remained silent. His lips began to move slowly.
"I knew that you disliked me."
"...."
"If the reason was that I didn't wish to be despised, would you despise me even more?"
"But Your Majesty, you said silver hair...."
You said you liked silver hair and blue eyes. I remembered that moment.
"Yet I'm curious why I cannot be you."
"If I desired you not as Enya of House Lockhart, but as a person in your own right, would that be such a grave matter?"
"I too have someone I care for. So you need not fear or despise me so."
The Emperor had said he had someone he liked, but he hadn't specified who that person was.
I'd thought it was private business I didn't need to know about, but he had clearly described my features—silver hair and blue eyes.
It wasn't just a coincidence. Could it really be... me?
"Your Majesty, the woman you said you liked... could it possibly be me?"
He didn't answer and simply gazed at me.
His silence seemed to suggest affirmation, but The Emperor and I had never had any reason for our feelings to develop. Could someone really like a stranger without reason?
Or perhaps he'd heard much about me through my father.
Or perhaps we actually...
had met before?
"Is it true?"
"..."
"Your Majesty. Please answer me."
I didn't retreat from him and remained standing where I was.
Then, before him, I lowered my head and gathered my courage to look up.
His breathing was so close I could feel it, and my heart raced and trembled, but I needed confirmation.
"Did this proposal have an intention behind it?"
The Emperor's head moved slowly.
"Who do I appear to be to you?"
"...I beg your pardon?"
"I am The Emperor of The Empire."
The Emperor moved his lips slowly, left those words hanging, and gazed at me in silence.
His golden hair was obscured by the black night, making it appear dark as raven's feathers for a moment.
With heavy air settling beneath, he lifted my chin. The temperature of his touch was scorching.
"That means I need not marry someone I don't wish to. I..."
His voice carried an almost coercive quality. The Emperor, his index finger bent to support my chin, whispered.
"My intentions are overflowing."
"...!"
Enya Lockhart. I proposed to you because I've been watching you, and the reason I waited four years—shall I correct it now?
With each word, my head grew slightly dizzy.
"I was curious about you."
"..."
"I didn't understand why you rejected my proposal. I was curious whether you hated it enough to flee, and my heart ached."
"..."
"My proposal was not a mistake, and meeting you was not a coincidence."
"..."
"That's why I'm sorry."
My eyes widened at those final words. Yet The Emperor still held my chin.
As if I must hear all the sincerity in what he was saying.
If it sounded like a plea for me to understand, perhaps it was just my imagination.
"I know I could erase the relationship we've barely built with this, but I don't want to be misunderstood by you any further."
His forceful words seemed to stamp a strong resolve upon me. The Emperor released my chin, yet I found myself unable to look away from him.
For reasons I couldn't explain, I couldn't turn my head. It felt as though I had to face him properly.
"Why are you telling me everything truthfully?"
"...."
"You could have hidden it all to the end."
My spinning mind gradually returned, clarity wrapping around my thoughts.
I barely understood what The Emperor had said.
Yet part of me wondered why he would tell me the truth about something he could have concealed forever.
According to his own words, The Emperor possessed abundant freedom to refuse any marriage he didn't desire.
Conversely, he could force through any marriage he wanted.
He could have hidden his interest in me until the very end, grown naturally closer, and with enough effort, could have married me without my ever knowing.
"...Please tell me the reason, Your Majesty."
"I was afraid I'd be deeply hated if I hid it any longer."
He laughed, running his hand through his hair, as though deflated.
"That's what I fear most."
His brief smile vanished quickly. The Emperor stood gazing at me quietly, as though awaiting my judgment.
I exhaled deeply and composed myself.
"Then you didn't propose because of House Lockhart?"
"...."
"If you hate being despised by me, then your reason for proposing wasn't about my family but about me alone, wasn't it?"
I asked because I truly needed to know.
"What reason made you develop such favorable feelings toward me?"
The Emperor and I had no common ground.
My heart trembled, uncertain what answer would come.
"We have met before."
"We have?"
I couldn't remember at all. Had we?
"When and where?"
"It could be near or far. I both hope and don't hope that you remember."
His ambiguous answer only frustrated me further. As I tried to step back from him, The Emperor caught me.
I nearly struck my lower back against the railing.
"...Thank you."
The Emperor's smile appeared bitter.
He released the hand he'd placed around me and stepped back several paces, his back against the Balcony door.
From the way his cloak billowed, I felt a powerful presence. Even the moonlight that hung in the sky and the very air seemed concentrated upon him—The Emperor shone brilliantly, even standing alone.
"Enya, you purchased a memory candle."
How did The Emperor know that?
"I hope you don't burn it."
"...Why?"
"Some memories are better left forgotten."
"...."
"If you have questions, I will answer them. So I hope you won't eat any more of that."
The Emperor spoke as though he meant every word. But I shook my head firmly.
"How could I possibly trust Your Majesty?"
"...."
"And what I want is my memories. How would Your Majesty even know to answer that?"
The problem was that I'd let my guard down because The Emperor seemed like a good person.
Now that I thought about it, even after his lie had been exposed, he maintained a courteous demeanor of sorts. That was precisely why I found him so unsettling.
Because even this moment felt like it could be false.
What kind of person was The Emperor, really?
'I thought he was different from the original story. But now I'm wondering if the original might have been right.'
It felt as though I'd taken ten steps closer to the confinement route.
'No. The annihilation of my entire family is absolutely not happening.'
That was when I caught sight of Samuel Lockhart—my brother—passing beyond the balcony doors.
"Brother!"
I rushed past The Emperor toward him.
"...? Enya? What's the occasion for such enthusiasm?"
"Don't ask why. Just walk with me."
"What??? Well... alright, I suppose."
As I walked with my brother, I tensed, half-expecting The Emperor to call me back. Fortunately, he didn't.
There was no interference whatsoever until we left the Imperial Palace.
'But I can't afford to be careless now.'
I gazed out at the Imperial Palace through the window, my fingers fidgeting anxiously.
This felt different from all the times I'd simply fled from The Emperor. It was more frightening, more tense, more troubling.
'...What do I do about Dale?'
The Temple was a domain The Emperor could not touch.
But if The Emperor is truly that sincere toward me, that becomes a problem.
'He already knows I purchased the memory candle.'
That was something only Emma, myself, and the Young Lady who sold it to me knew about.
If The Emperor's intelligence network is that extensive...
...he might discover Dale's existence.
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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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