Chapter 73
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73.
The Imperial Palace from an era before my existence felt strangely familiar.
I knew its structure intimately, and there were scarcely any changes in its layout.
Recalling the scene I had witnessed moments before, Cassian Artez turned not toward the Sun Palace where the Emperor typically slept, but toward the Peony Palace.
In truth, I had only ever visited it once in secret, yet it was peculiar to be making a second visit across a timeframe that was not my own.
And to visit not the sealed Peony Palace that was maintained with perfect precision like a miniature garden, but a place where human warmth still lingered.
Judging by the moon's position in the sky, it was nearly dawn.
Everyone should have been in deep slumber, but I sensed it instinctively.
"—Useless fools, unable to catch even a single rat properly."
This man would not lower his guard.
Unlike when I had come with Roselita Salice, I had deliberately not suppressed my presence, so had he failed to notice, I would have been disappointed.
"Perhaps it is because there is no proper training officer, Your Majesty?"
"How dare you stand before me—you have quite the audacity."
Emperor Ernest Artez regarded me with an expression of disbelief.
Of course, he stood cunningly in a place where the moonlight did not reach.
"Since I am stronger than you, why would I flee?"
It was an indisputable fact.
Why else would the Emperor have driven an eleven-year-old Cassian Artez to the battlefield?
Though I had not yet fully grown and my strength was still clumsy, my natural lightness and elasticity alone surpassed the martial prowess of mediocre knights.
Among all the Emperors throughout history, Ernest ranked within the top ten in martial ability, yet Cassian Artez possessed far superior talent.
Thus my father had been wary of me.
Evidence of illegitimacy alone would be a thorn in his side, and if I were to gain renown and build influence, it would become far more troublesome.
Of course, the relationship with the Temple could not be entirely disregarded either.
'Until now, that is what I had assumed.'
I wanted to fill in that gap of uncertainty.
If it were a matter already past, and if I were merely perceived as some rogue who had passed through one night, it would not truly affect reality.
"What is your business?"
Yet I had not released even a shred of killing intent, and instead it was the Emperor who displayed a sinister aura.
A sign of weakness..., or so one might think.
Perhaps had I not met Roselita Salice a decade ago and had instead grown up recklessly, I would have thought the same.
"I have something I wish to ask you, Your Imperial Majesty."
Thunk—
With that, I hurled the dagger I had seized at dusk before my father, embedding it in the ground as I spoke.
The Emperor fell silent for a moment.
I could certainly feel that my father was young. Had it been now, he would have deliberately feigned weakness like a cunning fox, or intimidated me into submission.
'Or perhaps... that is not it?'
I caught the Emperor's wandering gaze and let out a hollow laugh.
Maribel was sleeping peacefully in the bedroom behind me, and I had no choice but to resort to cunning to protect her.
In that moment of realization, I felt an uncanny sense of familiarity in the way the Emperor looked at Maribel.
"If I were to take the Late Empress's life..."
That expression on the Emperor's face felt strangely familiar, which only deepened my confusion.
There was nothing for it but to ask directly and satisfy my curiosity.
Whoosh—!
The moment I opened my mouth, the Emperor's murderous hand shot toward my throat as if to snap my neck.
Dodging by the narrowest margin, I retreated further and tilted my lips into a slant smile.
Surely my experience on the battlefield and martial prowess far exceeded his.
Yet the movements he displayed now surpassed his true capabilities by a considerable margin.
"By any means necessary, I will end your life."
To feel such déjà vu was extraordinary.
When Roselita Salice vanished before my eyes during the Flare Dragon subjugation, that searing sensation now coursed through my entire body with painful clarity.
And so I found my answer.
'If Mother truly believed I was wicked and her affection had withered, she would have killed me. Otherwise, she would have stripped my imperial status and found me a suitable guardian instead.'
But because she did not think that way, the Emperor allowed me to live.
Unsettlingly, the way he gazed upon Mother resembled so closely how I looked at Roselita Salice that a single phrase from him dissolved all my doubts.
If I had been in the Emperor's position....
'Roselita Salice married me as if by miracle, and I would allow another man to steal her heart?'
Besides, Roselita Salice, who was sincere and beautiful by nature, would never do such a thing.
Even if she did, it would be my fault, never hers.
Terribly enough, I was the sort of person capable of self-objectification, and I knew all too well in which aspects I resembled my father.
Having resolved one mystery, I distanced myself further from the Emperor and showed proper respect to my father.
"I harbored no such intention. Truly."
I offered an apology-tinged explanation for what was my past and what would be the Emperor's future.
"What do you mean—"
Just as the young Emperor began to speak, I felt the air itself begin to distort.
Without looking back, I hurried toward the Winter Palace.
'I must return to Roselita Salice at once.'
And so I did not hear the voice Ernest muttered.
"Of all places, the Winter Palace...?"
*
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a carriage.
...What?
I had distinctly fallen asleep in the Winter Palace bedroom—and in one from quite some time ago, at that.
Yet when I opened my eyes, both the stationary carriage around me and the familiar figure before me were scenes I knew all too well.
"I'm truly worried about you, Roselita."
"Pardon?"
"That you might be so defenseless in front of others as well."
Cassian Artez was speaking as though he had never traveled to the past at all, uttering these strange words to me.
Could it be... I was merely dreaming?
Did I drink punch during the ball, grow tired, and let the alcohol cloud my senses?
As I stood there bewildered, rolling my eyes about, a light laugh escaped from Cassian Artez.
"Roselita, it's not a dream."
"...Pardon?"
"Unless you and I were fortunate enough to share the same dream."
With those words, Cassian Artez descended from the carriage as its door opened at precisely the right moment, extending his hand to me.
The sight visible immediately beyond the carriage was unmistakably the familiar appearance of my own sweet home.
"Might I trouble you for a cup of tea?"
While I stood there in confusion, he—who would normally only escort me to the door at this late hour before departing—deliberately asked for tea.
As though he had no intention of keeping to himself the answers to what I was curious about.
'Joan is on leave, so will I be able to prepare a proper cup?'
Such concerns crossed my mind, yet I possessed not the slightest inclination to refuse his offer.
*
Cassian Artez instructed the coachman to release only one horse before stepping into the drawing room.
As I fumbled awkwardly with the tea set, he draped a lap blanket over me with a gesture urging me to rest, then took over the task himself.
"You said you wanted tea prepared."
"The supplies are yours, so it's plenty prepared."
The logic was oddly sound.
Since my own tea-brewing skills were frankly abysmal, I made no attempt to dissuade him.
Besides, at this hour of the night, he would surely prefer tea suited to his taste over something astringent and bitter.
Before long, the filled teacup released a warm and comforting fragrance.
"It's nearly time for sleep."
Cassian Artez informed me that he had chosen a lighter variety.
Once I had warmed myself through with the tea, Cassian Artez slowly opened his mouth.
"After Roselita Salice fell asleep, I went to see Emperor Ernest Artez for a moment."
"...In person?"
"Yes, there was something I wanted to ask."
I asked in alarm, but his expression remained utterly unbothered.
Then Cassian Artez, in a manner as warm and gentle as the tea itself, explained what they had discussed.
Yet as I listened, I found myself astonished at every revelation.
"So Emperor Ernest Artez's claim about his first love was indeed true, and the scandal surrounding the Late Empress was also...."
"At least Emperor Ernest Artez did not believe it. If he had, then perhaps...."
Cassian Artez's eyes turned as cold as ice.
"No matter what achievements I might have accomplished, he would never have granted me a proper title. In fact, the position of Second Prince might never have existed at all."
Having heard the entire account, I believed Cassian Artez's conjecture came remarkably close to the truth.
Indeed, even during the serialization, there were frequent opinions that the Emperor seemed to reject Cassian Artez only in words, yet somehow protected him when he was in danger, despite claiming to cherish the First Empress above all.
'Though some argued it was simply how the narrative developed.'
But since it was Cassian Artez himself who had confirmed it, this must be the truth.
That said, it did not make Emperor Ernest Artez any less cunning, nor did it mean he was truly a good person—and Cassian Artez showed no inclination to think otherwise.
"So then, Roselita Salice."
"Yes?"
I assumed Cassian Artez was about to tell me that he wished to properly understand the past or buried truths through the scroll given to me.
He was an exceptionally rational and logical person, and my instincts, honed over two years as his aide, suggested as much—
"It would be rather embarrassing for me to see Emperor Ernest Artez directly. After all, witnessing one's parents' romantic moments is quite awkward, is it not?"
He said.
Did Cassian Artez actually possess the capacity for embarrassment?
That Cassian Artez, who would don a dress prepared for me without hesitation and execute his schedule with utter shamelessness?
As I stared at him in bewilderment, Cassian Artez wore an expression that could only be described as mischievous—truly, there was no other way to capture it—and spoke to me in a beguiling, almost wheedling voice.
"But now that I've seen both my parents, I thought perhaps you might wish to see yours as well."
"Pardon?"
"So, would you not accompany me to the Salice Barony?"
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