Chapter 16
The Duchess was worried that Elonia might have already become an adult.
Hiding her bitter smile, she gently curved her golden eyes, the same as Llewellyn’s.
“Then that’s fortunate. If my son ever shows disrespect to you, Princess, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“What rudeness could there be between family?”
Each word Elonia spoke for propriety’s sake stabbed the Duchess of Asta’s heart like a dagger.
Even between family, rudeness naturally exists.
But it seemed this princess, though mature, was still a child who did not know that.
‘Artius…!’
The Duchess of Asta gritted her teeth.
How could he treat the child her sickly little sister had somehow managed to save before passing away like this?
Before being Artius’s wife, that child was her one and only sister.
Her beloved sister had died giving birth to Artius’s child.
Then shouldn’t he have taken good care of the child Philemia had left behind?
But as soon as the child was born, he started a war, and when he returned after half a year, he neglected his daughter, and furthermore, after “that incident,” he began suspecting her and forbade her from setting foot in the Princess Palace.
And now, after 4 years, what did he seek her out to say?
To hand over her youngest son to be used as the princess’s playmate?
‘All that parenting education was completely wasted on that bastard.’
Before Elonia was born, he had kept asking her about parenting methods on the battlefield.
He was someone for whom even teaching was of no use.
Her fists trembled.
‘I was really polite. Right.’
Regardless, Elonia was indifferent.
Unfortunately, Elonia had not grown up receiving love since her time as Cheron.
Naturally, she did not know that a child who had grown up loved would not act this way.
If Elonia had been able to read the duchess’s thoughts, she would have slapped her own mouth right now.
The duchess suggested to the princess with eyes a little more moist than before, “Come to think of it, there was something I really wanted to show you, Princess. I’m a bit late due to unavoidable circumstances, but…”
“What is it?”
“I would like to show you your mother’s room.”
So the duchess wanted to let her know.
How much Elonia’s mother, Philemia, had loved Elonia before she was even born, and how much she herself had also anticipated Elonia.
Even if that Artius bastard didn’t cherish Elonia, she wanted to let Elonia know that she had already been born receiving the love of the highest woman in the world and was loved by the noblest aristocrat in the empire.
* * *
Elonia stood alone in the room Philemia had used before marriage.
Her eyes met those of the woman in the large portrait hanging in the room.
‘That person is Empress Philemia…’
If Elonia grew up exactly the same, except for her hairstyle and eye color, she would probably look just like that. That’s how identical they looked.
‘I really am that person’s daughter.’
Earlier, she had called Philemia her late mother to gain the Duchess of Asta’s favor, but that person was truly her mother now.
It was a subtle feeling.
However, she didn’t feel an emotion so poignant it would bring tears to her eyes.
It was only natural, as she didn’t have a touching story with Philemia in the first place.
When Elonia thought of a mother, the one who came to mind was not Philemia, but her mother from when she was Cheron.
After arriving at Philemia’s room, the duchess had suddenly left for an urgent matter, and Sarah looked unwell, as if she might burst into tears upon entering Philemia’s room, so Elonia had sent her to rest.
So Elonia was alone now.
‘…Since she told me to look around comfortably, should I look around?’
The dresses and accessories Philemia often wore before marriage.
The books Philemia enjoyed reading.
The quill pen Philemia liked.
The family portrait hanging on the wall.
As she looked at Philemia’s traces one by one, something deep in her heart stirred.
Elonia suddenly became curious.
‘…What would have been different if Philemia had been alive?’
If Philemia had been alive, the day Elonia was born would have been filled with only blessings.
Born as Elonia, receiving everyone’s blessings, Philemia would have proudly held her long-awaited daughter tightly in her arms and smiled.
Artius, returning victorious from the war, would have shown the mother and daughter a bright smile and eventually been unable to hold back his tears and cried.
‘Obviously, since he’s a crybaby.’
Perhaps if Philemia had been alive, Artius would not have become a tyrant, and he would not have betrayed the will she had left behind.
And she herself might have forgotten all her sins and memories as Cheron.
She would have grown up loved by her mother and father in a peaceful world, without a single flaw, knowing nothing.
‘Then why was I reborn?’
And as the daughter of such an excellent person at that.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out.
But there was one thing she learned.
‘They say good people die early.’
She had thought it was a superstition because she herself had died young in her previous life.
But seeing how Philemia had passed away from childbirth like that, it wasn’t wrong.
Elonia suddenly discovered a certain box.
It was a small box that could fit a book, designed to be opened with a four-digit number password.
“Hmm?”
“Are you curious about that box?”
Just as Elonia picked up the box and examined it from various angles, the Duchess of Asta returned.
“Auntie. Are you done with your urgent business?”
“Yes. It seems His Majesty the Emperor has finally realized that you’ve disappeared, Princess.”
“He told us not to report private matters, so we didn’t report it.”
“You did well. If His Majesty scolds you, please let me know.”
But still, please don’t follow anyone other than me if another aristocrat calls for you.
The Duchess of Asta added playfully.
Elonia also smiled slightly and asked about the box, “By the way, Auntie. What is this box?”
“It’s a box where Philemia kept her treasures when she was alive.”
“May I open it?”
The duchess made a slightly troubled expression and answered, “Of course, I’d like to open it for you, but unfortunately, only Philemia knew the password to open that box.”
“Oh…”
Elonia was slightly disappointed.
Indeed, it wasn’t right to freely open someone else’s treasure box.
When Elonia put down the box cleanly without being stubborn, it was the duchess who was rather flustered.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“I am curious, but I can’t open it.”
Ordinary children would have tried their best to open it.
At least the duchess’s children had done so.
The duchess handed the treasure box back to Elonia.
“Oh, Auntie…?”
“I would like you to take it with you, Princess. Perhaps you might be able to open it, being Philemia’s daughter.”
“But… I don’t know my late mother. And this is a memento…”
“As her daughter, you have the right to take your mother’s memento. If not knowing Empress Philemia is the problem, shall I tell you about her? Perhaps as you listen to the stories, you might be able to solve the password, Princess.”
“Hmm… If that’s the case, yes!”
With no more reason to refuse, Elonia nodded.
She was also a little curious about what might be inside the treasure box.
The Duchess of Asta sat Elonia on the bed Philemia had used when she was alive, sat next to her, and began her story.
The memories the Duke of Asta shared were stories that seemed to make the fluffy, warm sunshine and the color of fresh sprouts flicker before one’s eyes.
* * *
Elonia returned to the Princess Palace only when it was almost evening.
As expected, Artius was waiting inside the Princess Palace.
‘Ugh.’
“Princess.”
She couldn’t help but put on a serious face.
As soon as Artius spotted Elonia, he began lecturing her with a cold face.
“Princess. Never forget your duty. Not only did you go out on your own, but you trusted an outside carriage and outside escorts. Do you have any awareness that you are of the imperial family?”
“But I was only invited by my aunt, who is family. And I have never forgotten my duty, Your Majesty.”
“…Family? Aunt?”
“Yes, my aunt, who is family. Is there a problem with that, Your Majesty?”
“…”
When Elonia asked as if there was nothing wrong, Artius again did not answer.
Elonia was simply annoyed at why that bastard was acting so suffocatingly here again.
‘Could it be because of how I address them?’
I called the Duchess of Asta auntie while only calling my biological dad ‘idiot,’ ‘this bastard,’ ‘that bastard,’ ‘son of a bitch’ in my mind… Anyway, I only called him Your Majesty?
‘Nah, no way. There’s no way that bastard would care about that now.’
Besides, even if he did care, wasn’t it just cause and effect?
Why should I have to be considerate?
Elonia had no intention of treating Artius as a father.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave as I am tired.”
Artius, stay here. Elonia, I’m going.
Elonia finally put into practice this action she had been gritting her teeth over since she was a baby.
Leaving behind a dazed Artius, Elonia entered her bedroom with light footsteps.
After having a warm meal and finishing her preparations for bed, night had already fallen.
Elonia sat on the bed with Sarah and tried to figure out the password for Philemia’s treasure box.
“Argh, this isn’t it either.”
“I know, right…? It’s strange. What could the password be?”
Since it was a four-digit number password, they naturally thought it was someone’s birthday.
So they tried Philemia’s birthday, Artius’s birthday, the birthdays of the Duke and Duchess of Asta, and even all sorts of Philemia’s anniversaries, asking Sarah, but they were all wrong.
‘The most likely one seems to be my birthday too.’
Elonia’s birthday, not Cheron’s.
But Philemia had made this box before Elonia was born.
How could she have known the birthday of a baby who would be born in the future and set it as the password?
‘Still, should I try it just in case?’
Elonia entered the date of Cheron and Philemia’s death and birth.
November 11th.
Naturally, the box did not open.
Elonia put down the box and surrendered.
“I give up, I’m going to sleep.”
I can’t do it.
She was curious about the contents, but it wasn’t something she was curious enough about to die if she didn’t know, and she didn’t think she deserved to open it.
Sarah watched to see if Elonia was disappointed that the password wasn’t her birthday.
But the sight of her lying down on the bed without any emotion at all was far from Sarah’s worry, so she tucked Elonia in tightly, said goodnight, and felt a little relieved.
“Our lovely princess. Sleep well. Sweet dreams.”
“You too, Sarah. Have good dreams.”
Smooch.
Sarah’s lips touched Elonia’s forehead and parted.
Even after Sarah gave her a goodnight kiss and left the room, Elonia couldn’t fall asleep easily.
Because when she thought about it again, it was strange.
‘What kind of box is this that doesn’t break?’
She had tried to break the lock secretly from Sarah, pretending to enter any password correctly, but it didn’t budge at all.
No matter how much younger she had become, not being able to break a measly lock like this…
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like the name of the former Great Sword Mage was shedding tears of blood.
‘Ugh, I’ll try again.’
She hadn’t wanted to use the classic and crude method, but now that it had come to this, she would enter all possible combinations that could be made with 4 digits and solve it.
Elonia lit a small light with magic and began matching the passwords one by one.
How long had she been doing that?
She heard footsteps.
“…!”
Elonia quickly extinguished the light and covered herself with the blanket, lest she be caught awake.
Sarah and the maids of the Princess Palace nagged a lot when Elonia didn’t sleep at night, even if it meant giving up their own livers and gallbladders.
As soon as the door opened silently, Elonia closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
But somehow, it felt different.
‘It’s not Sarah.’
In the first place, it wasn’t a presence that someone from the Princess Palace could give off.
There was a scent of danger.
Yet it was somehow familiar.
Elonia was sure she had felt this presence somewhere before.
‘An assassin.’
Someone approached Elonia step by step.