Chapter 23
“Don’t, don’t say that, unnie. At least try to stop the bleeding…. P-please, give up on me. I’m….”
Instead of answering, I pulled Bibi into a tighter embrace.
“What’s your name?”
“Bi, Bibi…. Bibi Lutein El Castline….”
This child had seen far too many things that shouldn’t be seen, even in her past life. She had suffered through so much. She had even been tortured. But things were different now.
Though she was currently a pitiful sight, soaked in blood and cold sweat, Bibi’s clothes were made of light, breezy, and beautiful fabric.
Her hair, though now a mess, had been meticulously styled to be both practical and pretty, and a cute cat-shaped pin still dangled from her locks.
Even the shoes she wore were made of blue lambskin, custom-fitted to be perfectly comfortable for her feet.
I could tell.
May our young lady be happy today as well. May she walk easy paths, eat delicious food, and see beautiful things.
There were people who cared for Bibi with those very prayers in their hearts.
Unlike me.
“You have to go back to the people who love you, Bibi.”
“…Pardon?”
Bibi’s eyes widened.
It didn’t take long for Bibi’s disappearance to become known.
The moment the subordinate tasked with guarding Bibi ran over, face pale as a ghost, to report that her whereabouts were unknown, Raymon didn’t look back.
He headed straight for the Emperor.
“You, you cannot do this! Young Duke Raymon! No matter who you are….”
“Move.”
“I cannot. This is the majestic Imperial Palace!”
The Chief Chamberlain shrieked.
“To dare demand a private audience with His Majesty the Emperor in such an insolent manner! Even the fact that Lord Lisianthus’s unruly behavior at the Rose Palace was left unpunished is already…!”
“The only one being insolent here is the Chief Chamberlain.”
Raymon’s golden eyes surged with an emotionless bloodlust.
“Do you really think a mere thing like you has any right to open your mouth regarding the Young Head of the Castline family seeking an audience with the Emperor?”
The Chief Chamberlain collapsed, paralyzed with fear. With a single gesture, Raymon shattered the doors.
Across the vast audience chamber, the Emperor sat in his chair with a profoundly displeased expression.
Without waiting for permission to enter or for a single word, Raymon strode forward, stopping exactly two steps away from the Emperor.
“Your Majesty.”
“…What on earth is the meaning of this, Young Duke Raymon!”
“A precious member of the Castline family has lost her way within the Imperial Palace.”
“No matter how freely you may enter and exit, do you take the Imperial Palace for your own front yard? You are truly as lawless as your father….”
“If it were my lawless father,” Raymon interrupted, a smile touching his lips. It was a chilling grin, blooming like a flower made of blades on his normally expressionless face. “He would have torn this palace apart to find his kin without waiting for Your Majesty’s response.”
“…….”
“Most regrettably, my own upbringing falls short of his, and thus I have caused Your Majesty this trouble.”
The moment the Emperor had heard that the person missing in the palace seemed to be someone quite precious to the Duchy of Castline, he had intended to use every trick to delay Raymon’s audience indefinitely.
He had wanted to humiliate the Young Duke, who appeared more docile than his father.
With a loved one somewhere in the palace, surely the boy wouldn’t dare bare his claws.
The Emperor had planned to withhold the search order, and even if he did eventually grant it, he intended to secure the girl first and force her to remain in the palace for the time being.
But Raymon ignored the scheme entirely.
“It wouldn’t reflect well on Your Majesty if word got out that your grace does not extend far enough to find a single lost guest within this palace.”
“How dare you… a mere brat who still smells of milk…!”
“No matter how much Your Majesty denies it, we are Castlines.”
Raymon smiled with a face that, at a glance, appeared perfectly polite.
“A Castline never, ever lets what belongs to them be taken away.”
“…Chamberlain! Chamberlain, immediately…!”
Leaving the furious Emperor behind as he barked for the Chief Chamberlain, Raymon walked out with a cold, hardened face.
Just as he was about to order the knights swarming out to search the palace, he narrowed his eyes at an unexpected figure.
“…Prince Adrian?”
Adrian looked strangely anxious.
The Castline Duchy was well aware that the Second Prince, Adrian, lived a quiet, breath-holding existence in the palace alongside the Empress.
Adrian knew better than anyone that it wouldn’t do him any favors to be seen contacting a member of the Castline family visiting the palace.
And yet, the Prince spoke with a strangely fretful expression.
“Uh…. I have a bad feeling about this. …My sister, Princess Titania, is nowhere to be found either. The staff at the Rose Palace have no idea where she went. Perhaps, while the Young Duke is searching the palace, could you look for her as well?”
Raymon’s face hardened terrifyingly.
Thump, thump. His heart hammered with an ominous rhythm.
This child is clever.
Clever enough to know about Titania’s current situation and treatment.
My head felt fuzzy. Strength drained from my body, and my limbs trembled uncontrollably.
Was this the symptom of excessive blood loss people talked about?
I hugged Bibi’s resisting body again and interlaced our fingers.
The demon beast, which had been attacking relentlessly because I refused to let go of Bibi, had stopped for now and was watching us from a distance.
Ah, right. I have to persuade her. I have to talk her into it. I can’t let this kind child slip out of my arms because she can’t handle the guilt. I have to tell her I’m really okay.
Because….
Even if I die….
There isn’t a single person in this world who would grieve for me.
But Bibi has so many.
“…If it’s okay, I’d like you to tell my mother this. That it’s okay for her to be at peace now.”
Because that’s what my mom told me in my past life.
Back when I reported a boss who made a habit of stiffing part-timers on their wages, and he filed for bankruptcy and ran away just to avoid paying. When I was cursed at in front of everyone, told it was my fault they lost their jobs, that it was a common thing and everything would have been fine if I had just kept my mouth shut.
When I was frustrated and angry, and a part of me wondered if I really was in the wrong. My mom had said:
「□□-ya. My proud daughter. No matter where you are or what you do in this world, Mom and Dad are on your side.」
While holding me tight. Telling me she loved me most in the world.
「Don’t regret it; walk the path you believe is right. No matter how much those subhuman people act out, no matter if life feels like nothing but despair. You know, □□-ya….」
So, I’m okay.
It’s fine if Imperial Consort Elaine and the Emperor don’t love me.
Even if they aren’t in this world, there were people who loved me unconditionally, and I am their proud daughter.
I just have to walk the path I believe is right, just as I was taught.
At least I lived happily in my past life, but Bibi has lived such a hard life and is only now meant to walk a flowery path.
Besides, without Bibi, the people of the Castline Duchy are all just idiots who don’t even know what happiness is.
That story had a happy ending.
「Still, a person has to live like a human being.」
Yes, if my death saves Bibi and secures the future of the world, it’s a profitable trade.
Think about how miserably Titania was originally destined to end.
Thinking of it that way, perhaps God intervened and made me remember my past life just so I could save Bibi here.
“My mother…. Actually, she doesn’t have a chronic illness. She’s been secretly taking poison. She probably thinks I don’t know, but because of me…. She’s endured the Imperial Family until now. I think she wanted to watch over me until I became an adult. Out of a sense of responsibility….”
So, I don’t resent Imperial Consort Elaine.
Her life in the palace must have been nothing but agony.
She married the Emperor for the man she loved, but her family killed that man.
The Emperor turned a blind eye to it.
She had to give birth to the child of the Emperor she detested and live in the palace for the rest of her life….
She simply stayed alive so I wouldn’t fall directly into the clutches of the Empress or the other consorts. Until I reached adulthood.
She did watch over me.
That was her final effort. That was her best.
To live a life worse than death amidst the pain.
It was just that Titania was unlucky.
Not every parent and child in the world can love each other. Not every child is born into a blessing.
It wasn’t Elaine’s sin that she couldn’t love Titania.
Even if the ‘Titania’ who grew up in the palace didn’t know, I, having regained my past memories, know now.
“……So, I wanted to tell her that it’s okay to be at peace. I only ask this one favor.”
Bibi’s face froze.
“So, it’ll be okay.”
My face, forcing a smile, was reflected in Bibi’s eyes. It was a face so pale it looked ready to collapse at any moment.
