/
***
That night.
Lelia called her friends and said, “So… I have to go back to the Imperial City.”
The four of them had mixed reactions to Lelia’s words.
Romeo frowned and asked, “Are you going to the Imperial Castle again?” while Griffith sighed.
Kalix only rubbed the area where he was hit earlier, perhaps because he had no thoughts.
And Oscar…
“Oscar?”
“……”
He was so quiet that Lelia felt anxious.
Oscar has been expressionless and silent like a doll for days.
He was closing his lips like a person who was holding back something, and she was scared of it.
“Let’s go together.”
Oscar, who had been silent all along, muttered in a low voice. Romeo nodded at the words.
“Okay, let’s go together.”
“We all have nothing to do and we have a lot of time.”
At those humble remarks, Lelia smiled quietly and looked at her friends.
To be honest, Lelia had no reason to refuse if her friends wanted to go with her.
Rather, it would be reassuring. Maybe that is what she wanted.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? Can you really go with me?”
When asked by Lelia, Romeo laughed as if he had heard a joke.
“The captain is going. Can the pawns not go?”
“……”
When Lelia looked a little touched by the words, Romeo continued.
“Instead, there’s a condition. You’ll call us brother while we are there.”
“What?”
Romeo looked firm in his sideways glance.
At that time, Romeo’s head suddenly fell forward.
Kalix pushed the back of his head down.
“Hey, you idiot. You’re always talking about me as an older brother. Even if he dresses like this, he still has male self-esteem. Go easy. Huh?
“……”
Romeo looked at Kalix with pathetic eyes.
“You, stop it.”
If he could, he (Kalix) would like to punch Romeo in the back of his head the same way he experienced, but he had already been beaten by Lelia once and his conscience wouldn’t let him hit Romeo again.
And even though he is in such a situation, he still believes that Lellia is a man.
And he felt a little sorry for him…
“……”
Lelia didn’t even care anymore.
Earlier, she scolded Kalix and said several times that she was a woman, but it didn’t work.
What Kalix saw with his own eyes was an illusion that he couldn’t doubt.
So… she decided to let it go.
She couldn’t take off her clothes and show him in person.
“When are you leaving?” Griffith asked.
“I’m going to be back as soon as possible. I’ll see my grandmother tomorrow and leave the day after tomorrow. Will that be okay?
“We could go even now.”
Lelia smiled at Romeo’s futile answer.
[So this is how I decided to go to the capital with my four friends…]
***
The group leaving for the capital included uncle Carius.
The reason was that he felt too uncomfortable to let Lelia go alone.
Lelia would also feel relieved if her uncle came with her.
Carius swallowed a bitter smile as he saw Lelia with a more comfortable expression than before.
A few days ago, Lelia confessed to uncle Carius.
When she was young, she went to the neutral zone as a crown prince under the spell of the golden words.
She met her friends there, and the other day she confessed to them after the magic of the golden saying was solved…
She didn’t tell her grandfather because she thought it would be better to not tell him as his health might get affected. It would have been hard if he got sick.
Upon hearing that, Carrius pretended to be calm and comforted Lelia by saying that she had suffered a lot.
However, he wanted to take out the dead body of the former emperor and kill him again right away.
He couldn’t show it on the outside, so he had to swallow his rage inwardly.
It was clear that Lelia would be heartbroken if he was sad.
“Grandma, I’ll be right back.”
Lelia kissed her grandmother’s hand and promised.
“Have a safe trip, my granddaughter.”
The grandmother, whose health improved a lot, proudly saw Lelia off.
Aunt Atias also gently kissed Lelia’s forehead as before.
“My princess, take care of yourself. Don’t worry about this place…”
Fortunately, Aunt Atias seemed to have recovered quickly. Lelia smiled at her and nodded.
Uncle Zenon decided to stay here while Lelia was gone.
This is because Leria asked him to do so since she still felt uneasy.
“See you later.”
At uncle Zenon’s blunt words, Lelia replied bravely, “Yes!”
Lelia knew that he was more affectionate than anyone else.
And lastly…
“Grandpa.”
“……”
“Don’t worry about anything.”
Grandfather hugged Lelia without saying a word and patted her on the back.
No other words were needed.
***
The Imperial Castle, Auraria
By the time Lelia was leaving, the Imperial city was also moving very busily.
Emperor Perseus, who stood in front of the mirror after a long shave, could not hide his tension.
He wasn’t this nervous even when he went to war a long time ago…
He couldn’t get his grip on things because of anxiety and nervousness.
As he expected, Duke Superion knew all the facts.
“You’re an old man like a sneaky snake.”
How could you hide my daughter and raise her all this time? He wanted to ask about this crime right away, but he couldn’t.
After his wife’s death, Perseus had a huge debt to the Duke of Spherion.
To the point where he couldn’t show his face to the duke for a very long time.
It was all the worse because he knew they were blaming him.
He was even thinking about whether to send a wizard army, but the return of the reply was unexpected.
Duke Superion said it was all true and he was sorry for hiding Lelia’s existence so far.
All the emotions that stayed with the words were firm.
And at the end of the letter… he said that Lelia would come to the Imperial Castle herself, and that she would leave soon to make the trip.
“You will come to meet me…”
The child said she would come to see him. Emperor Perseus planned to send his knights directly to the suburbs of the capital to greet Lelia’s carriage.
“……”
His lips were dry from nervousness.
“What should I say first?”
‘I’m your father? I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize you? You’re happy to see me again?’
He clenched his fist.
‘I’ll give you everything. I will restore your status as a Princess and give you everything you have not enjoyed so far.’
‘I will bring all kinds of precious things to you and take care of you for the rest of my life.’
‘Even now, I will protect the child for the rest of my life, keeping my promise with my deceased wife.’
He was in deep thought for a long time.
Knock, knock
The emperor turned his head immediately at the sound of knocking on the door.
‘Is it the empress again?’
Perseus’ forehead was wrinkled.
Not long ago, he called his family to notify them of the fact.
The child, who they thought was the son of Princess Iris and had recently stayed in the Imperial Castle, Lord Raymond, is the same person as his own daughter who he thought was dead.
The repercussions were enormous, but Emperor Perseus did not care about that.
His family had to understand him. They knew well that Perseus had been carrying great pain.
Yet, that wasn’t the case with the empress. She seemed to have no intention of understanding him at all.
‘I didn’t expect it from the beginning.’
It was a marriage to regain the position of emperor, but he didn’t expect her to be such a greedy woman for power.
No, it couldn’t be helped at that time.
Still, he had no regrets. With that marriage, he gained a precious daughter, Julianna.
Emperor Perseus nodded at the servant.
The servant, who went to look at who was outside the door, said carefully.
“Princess Julianna is here.”
Emperor Perseus’ expression became more comfortable when he said it was not the empress.
“Open it for me.”
The servant gently opened the door.
Princess Julianna quietly came inside.
“Father…”
“Julianna.”
Julianna carefully approached him. Perseus tried to smile affectionately.
It was the first time that Julianna had visited him after the emperor informed them.
For some reason, Julianna looked at his face with a sulky face.
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s…”
Julianna couldn’t bring up the subject easily.
She had to gather a lot of courage to even come here.
In fact, one of the most shocked by the news in recent days was her.
‘Sir Raymond,’ who she thought was a swindler, was actually a woman.
And more than that, a princess who she thought was dead, was alive…
The news spread quickly, and became known to all the nobles in the capital. Emperor Perseus deliberately spread the facts.
He was going to establish her now, so that no one would ignore Lelia when she returned.
Then strange gossips began to spread.
Julianna remembered the whispers of the aristocrats she heard at the party the other day.
“Princess Julianna is a kite that has fallen down.”
“Her highness is here, what are you talking about?”
“But Princess Julianna is not the Emperor’s real blood.”
“Certainly… yes.”
“So, when the real Princess returns, it will be difficult to get along with her higherness as friendly as before, right?”
“Well… I’m sure there’s something more to worry about because his real daughter, who he finally got back, must have been heartbroken. I would be.”
The moment she heard that, she felt like she fell into the abyss.
Perhaps that’s why the court ladies and servants’ attitudes were not the same as before.
She felt like they were neglecting her more than before, and she thought, ‘You’re laughing at me inwardly, aren’t you?’
This made her feel more and more vulnerable, and today she became even more nervous about her standing.
She cried and looked for her brothers.
The two consoled her by saying, “There would be no change at all,” adding, “Who are the aristocrats who said that?”
Nevertheless, she still felt uneasy and visited the emperor.
Juliana didn’t speak for a while. Perseus waited patiently, as usual
Julianna, who was gradually relieved by his attitude, said cautiously.
“Father, what if she hates me?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if she thinks I have stolen her place? I don’t want to be hated…”
The words distorted Perseus’ expression.
Julianna looked genuinely anxious.
It was true.
Julianna thought she knew the truth from the beginning.
‘Maybe that’s why she came to the Imperial Castle dressed as a man. To avenge herself for thinking I had taken her seat! That’s why she must have bullied me on purpose…’
Even if she hid her identity, how would she feel when she regained her status?
‘From now on, she will try to torment me with her authority.’
The thought of it kept her awake all night.
Her hair stood on end.
Julianna began to weep like a child.
(PR/N: So petty *rolls eye*)