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If he really wanted power, he would have been with Raymond and not Dorothea in the first place.
Raymond doesn’t discriminate, and if he could lure him with his sweet tongue, he’d have a decent seat.
He may not be able to ascend to the Prime Minister, but it must have been a safer and more convenient way than carrying a sword of rebellion.
But Dorothea was blind to even that obvious truth, interpreting Ethan’s words as the word of a loyal vassal.
‘So funny. No vassal would shed tears at the collapse of the emperor.’
Before they bring out the tyrant, who is a vassal who informs the nobles’ plan in advance to her and begs for her to live until the end?
But Dorothea covered her eyes to the end.
Ethan couldn’t confess his love to Dorothea like that. Ethan knew her well too.
He knew that as long as Theon was there, he would never get a place in Dorothea’s heart.
He knew that the moment he made her realize his true feelings, he would not be able to be by her side.
“I wish she hadn’t remembered…”
But Ethan saw her eyes remembering everything.
“I warn you one last time. This is against time.”
He belatedly understood the warning of the Spirit King Lux.
They could not completely erase the time that had already been made.
Thus, Ethan and Dorothea were born with the scars of their previous lives, as a curse as if they had put the brand of sin in their heads.
‘It would have been nice if this life had been a completely new life for her.’
He would have been able to draw only beautiful things in her life as white as a sheet of paper.
And he would have carved his name in Theon Fried’s place.
He could have hugged her as much as he could, said he loved her, kissed her, and smiled at her.
He quietly took her hand.
As his hand touched, the Spirit Stone in Dorothea’s hand shone brighter and brighter.
This is the second time he has given Dorothea the Spirit Stone.
Ethan hoped Dorothea would accept his devotion this time.
“My only emperor, your Majesty. Climb up again.”
May it be hope, not greed, that blooms.
* * *
“Dorothea!”
She was immediately called by Karnan.
The debutante is not over yet, but everyone’s attention is already on Dorothea.
Carnan looked confused and angry.
“Are you able to handle spirits?”
he asked, raising his voice.
Dorothea didn’t answer and grabbed the spirit stone in her pocket.
She couldn’t organize her thoughts either.
“Dorothea Milanaire!”
Carnan called her again as she remained lost in thought.
Dorothea opened her eyes at the loud noise.
“Why did you hide it?” Carnan asked Dorothea.
“I didn’t hide it.”
“Then you mean that your power suddenly appeared today?”
Dorothea’s mouth closed again at Carnan’s question.
‘What should I say?’
“Use me, Princess.”
Ethan’s voice still lingered in her mind.
“If you have this spirit stone, you can borrow my power.”
The contractor is Ethan, but the spirit stone serves as a medium for its power.
As long as she was close to Ethan, at least in the same lampas, she could summon any number of spirits by borrowing his power through the Spirit Stone.
“Forgive me for not giving sooner.”
Ethan apologized to her.
He thought early on that young Dorothea would pretend to awaken her power.
He wanted to give her some justification sooner rather than later.
He had considered staging her awakening power in front of Nereus or at Countess Duncan’s salon.
However, when it is known that Dorothea has awakened her power, Carnan will summon her to Lampas, and Ethan will no longer be able to support the spirits by her side.
Even if she has a spirit stone, Ethan can’t help her if Dorothea was in Lampas and he was in Ceritian.
Then, in the end, Carnan would suspect Dorothea, who couldn’t manifest her power again, and Dorothea would have suffered even more.
‘I didn’t want to make a single mistake.’
He waited patiently for the perfect time. A place where Emperor Carnan and nobles can see with their own eyes and believe in the power of Dorothea. Where no one will doubt her power.
That was the debutante.
Dorothea pondered the meaning of this power he had given her.
‘Ethan wants to make me emperor again.’
Ethan whispered that if she had this power, she could become a legitimate emperor.
‘Maybe it is.’
The biggest reason Dorothea had been pushed aside by Raymond was because she couldn’t summon the spirit.
She didn’t have the qualifications of a Milanaire.
‘But is it right to aim for the throne again?’
‘Deceive the world by claiming the power of a spirit that doesn’t belong to me?’
To become emperor, She has to defeat Raymond. She must dethrone him, dethrone him from the throne and rise.
‘I can’t…’
Even with the spirit of light, she did not have the courage to walk that path again. He didn’t want to hold the sword against Raymond.
“Tell me, Dorothea.”
“I don’t even know what happened.”
Dorothea placed the Spirit Stone and stood upright.
“You don’t know?”
Carnan’s brow furrowed deeply.
“It happened all of a sudden without me noticing.”
Dorothea decided to feign ignorance.
Although she had never used the power of a spirit, she knew that the power Ethan showed was much stronger than the power of Carnan and Ray.
It was too dangerous to say that she had that power.
“Don’t worry, just show me.”
“What?”
“Call the spirit again.”
Carnan looked at her with keen eyes, as if trying to test her.
It was a very deep, deep interest, unfamiliar to Dorothea.
Dorothea laughed inwardly.
‘Since there is a spirit, your eyes change.’
“I can’t, Your Majesty.”
‘Could it be a sign?’
She shook her head proudly, abandoning her greed for the throne
And political greed.
Then, Carnan’s brow wrinkled again.
“Just do what you did in your debut circle earlier.”
“I can’t, Your Majesty.”
Dorothea lowered her hand and looked at Carnan.
Carnan then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his anger.
“Focus all your attention.”
Carnan himself summoned the spirit and demonstrated.
Dorothea pressed her lips together to hold back her laugh.
‘His Majesty the Great Emperor himself summons spirits for me. It was something I couldn’t have imagined.’
“Your Majesty, is it important that I have the power of a spirit?” Dorothea asked.
“After all, the crown prince is Raymond, I don’t need to use the power of my spirit.”
Occasionally, Dorothea might be able to show it off as a member of the royal family at an annual event or attend a ceremony for the Light Spirit King.
But in the end, there is no place where the Spirit of Light is actually used.
Then Carnan looked at her with a cold expression.
“At least we won’t hear that Milanaire is over.”
“Milanaire is over…?”
“In other words, we don’t have to hear that the spirit’s power is being cut off and the imperial family’s power is declining.”
Milanaire’s inability to summon the spirits was the breaking point of a great imperial family, the beginning of its demise, and the origin of its decline.
So Carnan was relieved. It’s not him who caused the end of Milanaire. The child Alice gave birth to as she died is not the end of Milanaire.
“You don’t want that either.”
Carnan stared at her with cold eyes.
As he said, Dorothea didn’t want that.
But that’s just the wind. Tragically, she came to the end of Milanaire. After her death, the Spirit found a new contractor named Ethan Bronte.
Milanaire was momentarily set aside by her.
Dorothea smirked involuntarily.
Carnan looked at Dorothea and wrinkled her eyebrows.
“Does this seem light to you?”
“Not at all.”
She carries this problem more heavily than anyone else in the world.
“If you know its weight, then you know how important the power of the spirits is.”
“….”
“From now on, learn how to deal with the power of the Spirit through Raymond. As soon as possible, don’t take Raymond’s time too much.”
Carnan glanced at Dorothea, who had no answer. It was Dorothea, who looked like Alice, but he couldn’t read what she was thinking.
“And I will move your palace to Renascor Palace.”
Carnan had decided to move Dorothea from Converta Palace, which was the most remote, to the newer and larger Renascor Palace.
The number of servants would increase, and the knights and carriages would be upgraded.
“From now on, you will have to do your part as a good Milanaire.”
‘good Milanaire.’
“All this time, I have been a bad Milanaire.”
Carnan hardened her expression as if he had noticed his mistake at that moment.
‘No, not a mistake. It must be true.’
“what I mean is—”
“I understand your Majesty.”
Dorothea stopped talking and bowed her head, pretending she didn’t know Carnan had opened his mouth.
* * *
“Dorothea!”
As soon as she left after meeting Carnan, Raymond ran to her.
“What a surprise!”
He smiled broadly and hugged Dorothea tightly.
“I believed! You must have the power of a spirit too! Dorothea, congratulations!”
He congratulated Dorothea again and again in an excited voice. He felt like he was choking up with excitement.
‘My power could be a threat to him, so how could he like it so much?’
Dorothea couldn’t laugh at his infinitely pure joy.
“Let go of me, Ray…”
“What does His Majesty say?”
“He’s going to move me to Renascor Palace.”
“What! That’s great!”
Raymond was more excited than she was.
Renascor Palace is one of several palaces used by Empress Alice, and it is much larger, wider, and more splendid than the palace where Dorothea is staying.
After Alice’s death, Carnan left her palaces empty for a long time, and Dorothea came to fill it up.
“Dorothea, did you see the faces of the people when you summoned the spirits earlier? Especially Nereus’ expression. It was really cool.”
Raymond said it was hilarious to see Nereus’ gaping mouth.
“After you left, everyone was talking about you. Besides, you were so strong. so much stronger than me”
“Raymond. Let me tell you, I didn’t do it because I wanted to.”
Dorothea stopped walking and said to him.
Obviously, Ethan deliberately created the scene of Spirit of Light, brilliantly and dramatically to be seen by people.
Dorothea was worried that the power might provoke Raymond and Carnan’s suspicions.
‘If they misinterpret it as a political move to elevate my position by displaying overwhelming power…’
“I know, Dorothea.”
“What?”
“You looked very surprised too.”
Raymond smiled and patted Dorothea’s head lightly.
“No need to worry.”
‘Because I believe in you’ His clear eyes said so.