Ch#22

Episode 22

The blessing of the dragon?

There's no way such a thing exists.

Of course, it was a fabrication to persuade the Emperor and create a justification.

But I wasn't particularly worried.

Because among the words I spoke before the Emperor, there was an important truth mixed in.

'I can save Arpad from Madness. That's a fact.'

So I'm confident!

The gazes of the Emperor and Arpad looking at me were so hot they almost felt like they were burning me.

For a long time, the audience hall was as quiet as a mouse.

"......"

"......"

Breaking the prolonged silence this time was again the Emperor.

He asked me in a low voice.

"...Are you telling me to believe that?"

"I did not speak falsely, Your Majesty."

Of course, I didn't forget to smooth over my words.

The Emperor clicked his tongue.

"Can you take a Divine Oath with holy relics or priests present, swearing it's the truth? Staking your life?"

Of course not. Because it's a blatant lie.

But I answered without wavering in the slightest.

"There's no need for that. Because Lord Artanus has made a promise to me."

"A promise?"

"Yes. He said He would show me direct evidence."

The Emperor's face, which had looked at me as if I were a liar, was colored with confusion.

It seems he's confused about whether it's true or not because I spoke so confidently.

"...What evidence?"

Good. Now that this word has come from the Emperor's mouth, it's more than half a success.

Calmly and boldly, I made one more request.

"Exactly one month and seven days from now, please lend us the Artanoos Hall for the wedding banquet of His Highness the Crown Prince and myself."

"...What?"

The Emperor, dumbfounded, asked again.

"The Artanoos Hall? Do you know what that place is?"

"How could any imperial citizen not know? It's the hall where Your Majesty's coronation was held."

To be more precise, the Artanoos Hall is a hall used only for the Emperor's coronation.

Given that it's named after the founding dragon, it's also the most important and beautiful hall.

To lend that place out for a wedding banquet, even for the Crown Prince?

It's an absurd request.

'But is regressing three times any more reasonable?'

And without that level, it would be difficult to publicly announce that this marriage had been permitted by the Emperor.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason; the hall was also the best place for the performance I planned to show at the banquet.

'It's possible in other places too, but in terms of symbolism and meaning, that hall is the best.'

Cold sweat damply soaked my clenched palms.

But I couldn't let my tension show in my expression or attitude.

Pretending not to bat an eyelid, I acted as if everything I said was true.

The Emperor, who had been silently looking down at me for a long time, twitched his hand.

"Come closer."

This was unexpected, and I almost staggered.

Fortunately, maintaining my composure, I slowly climbed the steps to the throne and stood right in front of the Emperor.

Then, I felt a powerful magic enveloping the Emperor and me.

"This is......?"

"A simple Barrier. It only prevents sound inside from leaking out."

Ah, it seems he wants to have a conversation that Arpad cannot hear.

As if noticing this, I saw Arpad cross his arms discontentedly below.

Then, the Emperor's troubled voice rang in my ear.

"What on earth are you thinking?"

"I have no ulterior motives. It's simply as I said, following the will of the great dragon."

"......"

The Emperor's red eyes, as expected of people sharing blood, closely resembled his son's.

Which means they were filled with suspicion and distrust.

"Do you think I would believe such words?"

"Whether you believe them or not, the result won't change."

That is, the most important point: that I can prevent Arpad's Madness.

Thanks to that, my voice overflowed with confidence.

Perhaps sensing that, the Emperor's expression grew even more confused.

In the Emperor's red eyes, wavering with fatigue, anxiety, and suspicion, I discerned one incongruous emotion.

'...Hope.'

I knew the Emperor wanted to grasp hope.

Because I knew his true feelings.

"I have never once been able to properly play the role of a father to that child."

I remembered the Emperor's expression when he spoke those regretful words.

Because of that, I could say this. I pointed out the Emperor's true feelings, which no one else knew.

"Your Majesty. You cherish and love His Highness Arpad more than anyone as your only son, don't you?"

The Emperor's eyes widened in shock.

"...What are you suddenly saying?"

The Emperor's voice pretended calm, but couldn't hide its tremor.

The reaction of someone caught off guard and hit in a vital spot.

I smiled softly and asked.

"I know well that, in truth, you want to save your son more than anyone."

Because I remembered his outcry, as if he were vomiting blood.

"What father in the world would want to kill his only son!"

I dared to reach out my hand.

Gently holding the Emperor's rough, scarred hand, I looked up at him and smiled.

"Please give me just one chance. I will prove that I can save Your Majesty's precious son."

* * *

Emperor Walter Estrid felt his words stuck in his throat.

His most secret inner thoughts, never revealed since his wife's death, were being laid bare.

And by a young woman he was having a proper conversation with for the first time.

While holding the Emperor's wrinkled hand with her slender, delicate hand.

Hilia smiled brightly.

It was a smile reminiscent of sunlight breaking through storm clouds.

It was a smile that reminded him of his deceased wife. And for the first time in a long while, he returned not as an Emperor, but simply as a human.

As a single human named Walter Estrid.

For the first time since his wife died 13 years ago, he wanted to dare to hope.

His wife's dying wish vividly replayed in his mind once more.

"...Walter. Please, that child, our son... don't let him meet the same fate as me......"

Walter Estrid knew. He was the Emperor. He must think and act as the Emperor anytime, anywhere.

But he had already lived for 13 years only as the Emperor. Having killed the father within himself. It was an unbearably difficult and cruel thing.

The painful years of suspecting and checking his only son, yet also fearing he might lose even his son.

He knew this was irrational and impulsive. Yet, he couldn't help but surrender to this impulse.

"Please save him......"

Perhaps he had been waiting for someone to give him a push.

Maybe he needed an excuse.

In the end, not the Emperor, but the human Walter Estrid had no choice but to admit it.

"Please give me just one chance. I will prove that I can save Your Majesty's precious son."

'That statement is touching upon the desire I have yearned for so desperately.'

It was a statement too hopelessly hopeful to refuse.

The very words he had so desperately wished for.

After a long silence, the Emperor had no choice but to release the Barrier and give his answer.

"Very well. I will open the Artanoos Hall for you in about a month. If you prove your words there, I will recognize this marriage."

It was surrender.

Hilia smiled a victorious smile.

* * *

'I did it!'

If the first step of the most difficult part of my plan was executing the marriage by abduction.

The second was undoubtedly persuading the Emperor.

'Frankly, I thought the second might be harder......'

Fortunately, I succeeded.

In fact, the Emperor lending us the Artanoos Hall alone would be seen as him permitting our marriage.

And once I 'prove' it there, no one will be able to raise any objections.

The proof about a month later was the third step.

'I will definitely succeed!'

As the tension started to ease, my legs trembled even more.

I leaned even more on Arpad. Arpad naturally supported me and asked in a low voice.

"What conversation did you have with the Emperor?"

His voice was thick with displeasure and suspicion.

It seemed he didn't like that a secret conversation was held right in front of him, behind a Barrier.

'And he himself uses Barriers so our conversations aren't heard.'

In fact, Arpad had been doing this ever since we entered the audience hall.

Every time he whispered something to me.

Every time he listened to my answer.

'They really are a father and son who resemble each other in this way too.'

Of course, the Emperor loved and cherished his son even without showing it, while the son freely called him 'the Emperor' when talking to others.

I grinned and replied.

"It's a secret."

"......"

Arpad's smooth brow twitched discontentedly.

"I'll interrogate you in detail when we return to the Crown Prince's palace."

I wonder if it's my misunderstanding that this sounds like a declaration to prepare myself?

Anyway, it was just as we were about to withdraw.

The Emperor unexpectedly gave an order.

"...Arpad, stay behind for a moment."

"Are you talking to me?"

Arpad made a rather flustered expression.

"Yes. Have your wife wait outside for a while."

"...!"

Until just now, the Emperor had been calling me 'Duchess Delphine'.

This was the first time he used the expression 'Arpad's wife'.

'Excellent!'

Without missing a beat, I pushed Arpad's back.

"I'll wait quietly outside, so go have your conversation."

Forgetting that my legs had been trembling, I was able to walk out briskly.

Thud!

The door to the audience hall closed behind me.

* * *

After being left alone in the audience hall, an awkward silence descended for a while.

It was always like this. Though they were father and son, they had almost never been alone together.

It had been over ten years since the Emperor last called him and kept him like this.

In childhood, they had been a harmonious family......

But that was now a memory too distant.

'Does he want to play father and son now, of all times.'

Arpad waited for the matter at hand with a crooked smile.

And finally, the Emperor asked his son.

"Do you believe that girl's words? Is that why you committed that insane act of marriage by abduction?"

It seems the Emperor doesn't quite believe the preposterous words Hilia spoke earlier.

Then how did Hilia manage to get the Artanoos Hall?

Perhaps there was some secret deal in the conversation he couldn't hear.

Feeling a renewed sense of displeasure, Arpad answered without thinking.

"I don't know that either."

"...You committed such an absurd act without believing it?"

Arpad recalled the night he met Hilia.

The woman who came to find him in the underground mausoleum with a determined expression.

The threat, or rather request, she threw at him, which he absolutely couldn't refuse.

"I can help Your Highness ascend to the throne safely without going mad."

Remembering those words, Arpad chuckled and answered.

"The moment I first met her, I had this thought."

He paused briefly to emphasize the next words.

"That if I stay by this woman's side, maybe I won't go mad."

"......"

"That's why I took a desperate gamble."

The Emperor said nothing more to his son, asked no further questions, and simply sent him back.

Arpad opened the door to the audience hall with a slightly elated mood.

Thinking of the woman who would be waiting quietly outside.

However, when the door actually opened, the scene waiting for him was completely unexpected.

"Arpad!"

There was Ludwig, holding Hilia's wrist.

Translator: Nox