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72.

'He looks like a completely different person.'
Of course, his face hadn't changed drastically over the past twenty years.
But his demeanor was utterly transformed. No ‌longer the ‌‌‌‌‌cunning, petty schemer who orchestrated every move with calculated precision—the man who seemed to exist solely as Emperor—but rather....
'Like an ordinary knight who's built a home and family.'
That he could appear so utterly besotted in front of ‌‌‌others was astonishing.
This was the same man who had bullied us, tested us, and manipulated us with every calculated move.
Even Cassian, his own son, seemed unable to adjust to this transformation.
"...No ‌‌‍matter how I look at it, the Late Empress appears to be deceived."
He delivered his assessment ‌‌‌laden with suspicion toward his father.
Yet regardless of our shock, the newlywed couple radiated nothing but sweetness.
In the meantime, the Emperor had taken a punch from the cat, leaving paw-print marks across his cheek, and Maribel laughed like a young girl delighted ‌‌‌by the sight.
"There's nothing to be done—since our Coco delivered the punishment on my behalf, I suppose ‌‌I must tend to it."
When Maribel extended her hand, Coco, who had been displaying displeasure toward the Emperor, immediately nestled into her arms.
And the Emperor....
'...Is it really all right to keep watching this?'
His eyes gazed upon Maribel with such unmistakable affection that anyone would blush at the sight.
Thinking this, I glanced sideways at Cassian, and his expression was decidedly complex.
Sensing my gaze, he spoke ‌‌in a tone that made it unclear whether he was hiding his emotions or simply behaving as usual.
"The Emperor is playing games, Roselita Salice."
There's no way he couldn't have dodged that cat's punch.
He whispered to me that Cassian mustn't be fooled by such an act.
The Emperor was speaking to Maribel with an innocent smile.
"I've been looking forward to this evening so much, Bel. It's been so long since we could spend time together."
They really are sickeningly sweet....
In the moment I let my guard down with that thought, the young Emperor casually followed behind Maribel and, without the slightest hesitation,
Whoosh—! ‌‌‌
drew ‌a dagger from within his robes and hurled it toward us.
'My heart nearly stopped.'
My eyes widened at the sudden turn of events, but Cassian, who had caught the dagger with ease, was already regarding the Emperor with an ‌‌‌expression of complete expectation.
The young Emperor's blue eyes, ‌‌which had been so affable moments before, now ‌‌‌‌gleamed ‌‌with ‌‌the sharpness we knew all too well. ‌‌‌
Thanks to Cassian's positioning, it was a blind spot that would be nearly invisible ‌‌‌to most.
And since I had been concealed by a cloaking device—a magical tool that wouldn't be in common use in this era—I had let my ‌‌‌‌vigilance slip, and now I could barely catch my breath.
"See, Roselita ‌‌Salice? A cheap trick, isn't it?"
Yet Cassian, facing off ‌‌against ‌‌‌the Emperor, laughed with ease as he disparaged his father.

*

Of course, unlike the facade I maintained before Maribel, he had not forgotten his duties as Emperor, and he swiftly mobilized the Imperial Knight Order into action.
Yet ‌he revealed not the slightest hint to Maribel that intruders had arrived.
Having never experienced such a chase through the Imperial Palace before, I gripped Cassian Artez's arm tightly, and he responded with an ‌‌inexplicably delighted laugh, whispering to me.
"It's alright. ‌‌Breathe, Roselita Salice."
What if we end up trapped by the past and subjected to some misfortune like a prison experience...?
But contrary to my anxieties, Cassian Artez remained utterly composed.
"They only barely recognized me because I'm the Emperor. Undertrained knights couldn't possibly capture me."
His confidence was so remarkable that I wanted to tease him ‌about it.
Of course, I couldn't.
Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered and even carrying me in his arms, Cassian Artez was effortlessly evading the knights' pursuit.
The place where we finally hid, away from everyone, was located in the most remote corner of the Imperial Palace—the Winter Palace, a ‌‌‌place far too familiar ‌‌to us both.
"...It's more orderly than I expected."
I had thought the Winter Palace, which had been nearly empty before Cassian Artez took it over, would be desolate and dreary.
"Indeed, there are even signs that the garden has ‌‌‌been ‌‌maintained."
For some reason, Cassian Artez fell into quiet contemplation as he surveyed the ‌‌surroundings of the Winter Palace.
It differed considerably from the Winter Palace that existed in his earliest memories.
And it also diverged quite a bit from the information I knew through the original work.

[The nursemaid who entered the Winter Palace, assigned to care for ‌‌‌Cassian Artez not yet a month ‌old, had to suppress her sorrow at the ‌‌sight of untrimmed, unmanaged gardens.] ‌‌

There had been such a brief description in the past recollection scene.
'Is there something about the Winter Palace itself that we don't ‌‌know?'
I had simply assumed the Emperor, enraged by Maribel's infidelity and unwilling to see Cassian Artez, had sent him to the most remote palace—but what if there was more to it than that?
'I wish the link in the scroll had worked properly.'
Sadly, it was merely a hyperlink in appearance; clicking it only brought up a blank page.
Without much hope, I pulled up the scroll page again and clicked on the ongoing "Roselita ‌‌‌Salice's Parents' Generation Gossip," and surprisingly, some of the content had been filled in.

"Your Majesty, look at this."
Though it appeared to be ‌‌‌merely the beginning of a brief explanation spanning only a line or two, the information proved invaluable to us in that moment.
After all, we were in a situation ‌‌‌where we'd ‌‌‌‌need to grab someone and ask what year it currently was.
"So that means it's now 1732."
The period we had come from was the final day of 1758.
In other words, this was approximately five years before Cassian Artez was even born.
'But why on earth were we sent to this particular time?'
If this "trial" were ‌‌at least some major event that befell the protagonist Roselita Salice in the original work, ‌‌it would make sense.
But why five years before Cassian Artez's birth, and moreover, to a time when neither the First Empress nor any of the other imperial consorts existed?
The confusion only deepened because I had only recently learned from His Majesty the Emperor that "the Late Empress Maribel was my first love."
It would answer my questions?
This unhelpful, utterly unreasonable ‌original work...?
Or was it because the culprit wasn't the original work itself, but rather the Magicians who caused this mess (presumably)?
While my mind spun with countless speculations, Cassian Artez suddenly embraced me again. ‌‌‌‌
"Um, Your Majesty?"
Was there another pursuit to worry about, or something else I needed to be cautious of?
The moment my body tensed, Cassian Artez exhaled a low sigh and spoke.
"Do you know what, Roselita? You have a bad habit."
"A bad habit...?"
Since there were more than one or ‌‌‌two, I couldn't quite guess which one he meant.
There were plenty of instances where Joan scolded me for trying to down six shots of espresso on an empty stomach in the morning to wake up, or coming home from work, reading the latest releases out of frustration, and getting ‌‌‌less than three hours of sleep before heading back to work.
I ate vegetables only in the bare minimum for survival, and though I told myself to drink only once or twice a week, there were times when stress made me drink more than four times in a week.
On a smaller scale, I had a ‌‌habit of biting my lips when anxious, something the Countess Attendants had scolded me for more than once.
Still, using my past life's experience as a foundation, I made sure to exercise regularly, no matter how ‌‌busy—
"Like right now."
"Right now?"
Cassian ‌‌‌Artez squinted his eyes, then strode purposefully to open a bedroom door within the Winter Palace ‌‌‌with practiced ease.
The interior was similarly well-organized ‌‌‌‌to some degree.
The bedding felt comfortably warm, ‌‌‌as ‌‌‌if it had been sun-dried and changed not long ago.
"When you get tired, you unnecessarily lose yourself in thought for too long."
"Ah."
"Get some rest. It seems ‌‌‌‌we won't be able to leave immediately."
Cassian Artez took the scroll I had been clutching from my hand and lowered me onto the bed.
"And you, Your Majesty?"
I meant it as a reminder that he had worked late nights for several days and been summoned to the Ball as well.
He leaned in close to me with darkened eyes and whispered.
"Are you lonely sleeping alone?"
"...That's not it!"
"Don't worry. I'll be by your side. If you wish, I can even sing you a lullaby or hold your hand?"
At his teasing tone, I pushed his shoulder and pulled the blanket ‌‌‌‌over myself.
"I can sleep just fine on my own!"
I'd worried for nothing.

*

I pulled the blanket over myself, and before even five minutes had passed, I heard breathing beside me.
'Lately, she's been busier than I am.'
This was precisely why I disliked how many people had taken an interest in Roselita Salice.
Miss Roselita Salice played the strong one while harboring a tender heart, often prioritizing others over herself.
Cassian Artez gently caressed the sleeping Roselita Salice's cheek with his knuckles, murmuring softly.
"It's all right, Roselita. You needn't feel indebted."
I had sensed long ago—more than a decade past—that she harbored secrets, watching the young lady chide me endlessly.
Since bringing her to the Capital City and keeping her close, I'd come to understand even more ‌‌‌‌that she carried something within her.
She seemed cautious, as though opening her heart to me felt like burdening me with responsibility.
'Why don't you understand it's all for my sake?'
That was what puzzled me most.
My own parents had abandoned and neglected me—so why had an unrelated young lady pitied me and cared for me with such devotion?
Even as she fortified her own ‌‌heart defensively.
'That's why I won't be greedy, not for your sake.'
Only ‌then could she live the happiness she dreamed of.
Though I already knew it was becoming difficult, in these brief moments beside her, I could only repeat vows I didn't even trust myself to keep—that I should be content.
Cassian Artez gazed at the sleeping Roselita Salice's face for a moment, then unrolled the scroll she had entrusted to him.
Though the task had been given to Roselita Salice, somehow I felt it was my responsibility to resolve.
It concerned my parents' past, after all.
Then wasn't this truly my own duty as the one standing beside her?
Honestly, I was curious too.
My father's contradictory behavior that surfaced occasionally.
And the First Empress, who grasped the position of Chief Consort and elevated the family ‌‌above the Duke, yet could not shed her inferiority complex.
Cassian Artez withdrew a barrier-inscribed magical tool from his breast, installed it, and pressed ‌‌‌a light kiss to Roselita Salice's hand.
"I'll be back soon, Roselita."
It was a whispered vow he ‌would never break.

---------------
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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