Episode 89
“Elonia, you know this isn’t something you can achieve through stubbornness.”
“It’s not stubbornness. This is the nation I’ll have to rule one day. I need to know what’s going on.”
Artius wavered at her words, but he couldn’t give in.
He had lost his father at thirteen.
He had worked tirelessly, juggling his duties at the Imperial Palace and his studies at the academy, determined to prove himself worthy of the throne.
It hadn’t been easy.
He had felt a sense of relief, not a heavier burden, after graduating from the academy and officially ascending the throne.
He didn’t want his daughter to follow the same path.
He wanted her to enjoy her childhood, her time as a student.
He wanted to postpone her ascension to the throne for as long as possible.
What good would it do for her to become Empress at such a young age?
“Elonia, it’s a blessing to have at least one parent alive, to be spared from such burdens at a young age. You should cherish that.”
And he had said those words.
He realized his mistake too late, Elonia’s face already contorted in pain.
“…Are you telling me to be grateful that you’re alive, after I’ve already lost my mother?”
Elonia had lost her mother twice.
And neither experience had been pleasant.
Just as Artius didn’t know about Elonia’s past life, Elonia didn’t know about his childhood.
But Artius remembered how he had lashed out at his daughter after Philemon’s death, how he had hurt her.
Elonia’s expression, as if asking how he could say such a thing, made him realize his mistake, and he quickly tried to retract his words.
“Elonia, that’s not what I meant—”
“Get out, you idiot.”
Slam!
He was kicked out of her room.
Artius stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, then slapped himself on the forehead and trudged back to his office.
But Elonia wasn’t feeling any better.
He was right.
Everything he had said was true.
It was a blessing to have at least one parent alive.
And what kind of crazy parent would involve their nine-year-old child in political matters, especially with the potential threat of Heilan looming over them?
She understood, and yet, she had lashed out at him.
“Why am I becoming more and more childish…?”
She had been too pampered in this life.
Elonia flopped onto her bed, her mood gloomy despite returning home after a long semester at the academy.
“Your Majesty, Aaron Archer reporting for duty…”
The next day, Aaron, returning from his vacation, was startled by the dark circles under Artius’s eyes.
“…What happened, Your Majesty?”
Artius glanced at him, then returned his attention to the documents on his desk.
He asked,
“…What do you think happened?”
“…It seems like you made another mistake with Her Highness.”
“…You’re right.”
Artius buried his face in his hands.
This man was truly troublesome.
He was clearly asking for sympathy, so Aaron reluctantly asked,
“Her Highness wouldn’t be upset just because you kept something from her. What did you do?”
Artius, after a long silence, replied,
“…I told her it was a blessing to have at least one parent alive, to be spared from such burdens at a young age, and that she should cherish that.”
“You’re insane— I mean, that was a slip of the tongue. Are you out of your mind?”
He had corrected himself, but his words were still insensitive.
Artius, however, was too dejected to be offended.
Aaron lamented the lack of competent parents in his life.
He was already exhausted from dealing with his own sister’s antics, and now his boss was giving him more trouble.
As far as Aaron knew, Artius was the only one who couldn’t apply Lady Asta’s parenting lessons, despite having received them.
Aaron, glancing at the daily reports, offered some advice.
“Did you apologize to Her Highness?”
“…I was kicked out before I could.”
“Well done, Your Majesty.”
“…You’re making a lot of slips of the tongue today, Aaron Archer.”
“That wasn’t a slip of the tongue. Honestly, who else would dare to offer such candid advice to Your Majesty?”
“Are you done?”
“No, I’m not. You should be making Her Highness happy after a difficult semester, not upsetting her. What did you even do while I was gone?”
Aaron continued his lecture, and Artius, speechless, remained silent.
After Aaron finished reviewing the reports, Artius finally spoke,
“Elonia wants to abolish the hostage system.”
“That’s not surprising, is it?”
“I expected it, but not so soon. She seems to value her friendship with the princess more than I thought.”
Artius murmured, his voice filled with a mixture of pride and concern.
Aaron cautiously suggested,
“Shouldn’t we get rid of Lucius Allen?”
He had been present when Caroline reported to Artius.
According to her report, Lucius was the one who had given the strange prayer altar to Natalie, the Theology Department supervisor.
Most problems could be solved by eliminating the root cause.
But,
“On what grounds?”
“Attempting to harm the princess would be sufficient.”
“Do you want to cause another commotion?”
Aaron fell silent.
The last time Dolce had caused trouble at the academy, it had caused a huge uproar among the nobles, who questioned the wisdom of keeping the Heilan hostages at the imperial academy, the heart of Ravanta.
Aaron understood their concerns, but Lucid Academy was the most secure location, the only place where they could effectively monitor and control the hostages.
And they couldn’t abolish the hostage system yet.
It wasn’t just about keeping them as hostages.
They had to keep the promising young Heilan nobles, those who might pose a threat to Ravanta in the future, confined until Heilan lost all hope of regaining their power.
“Has there been any activity from House Rossi?”
“No, Your Majesty. Noah Anglores is still insane, and the other members of House Rossi haven’t made any suspicious moves.”
The Artius of the past, the ruthless and paranoid Artius who had been so afraid of losing everything, would have resolved this situation swiftly and decisively.
He would have eliminated anyone who posed a threat.
He would have executed the entire Heilan royal family.
He would have eradicated any possibility of revenge, leaving no survivors.
But Elonia wanted to protect them.
And protecting others was a burden.
He couldn’t eliminate those who stood in his way, he couldn’t make selfish choices.
He might lose what he wanted to protect the most while trying to protect everything else. And if he abandoned everything else to protect what he cherished the most, he would be met with scorn and contempt.
The number of things he wanted to protect was equal to the number of obstacles in his path, but the weight of each burden was the weight of his humanity.
And Elonia had restored his humanity, the humanity he had lost.
“…Nothing is going as planned.”
So even if protecting his humanity meant facing setbacks and obstacles, he wouldn’t break the chains his daughter had placed upon him.
“Expel Lucius?”
“It doesn’t seem like they’re considering that yet.”
Elonia was eavesdropping on the conversation in the Emperor’s office from the Imperial Princess’s Palace.
It was all thanks to Ricardo, Artius’s versatile and resourceful knight.
He had bugged the office to determine the perfect time for Elonia to intervene and reconcile with Artius after Aaron’s scolding, but he had ended up overhearing a lot more than he had bargained for.
“I can’t believe Aaron suggested that…”
She didn’t like Lucius, but she didn’t hate him either.
She had almost resented him for giving her that creepy “good luck charm,” but if it weren’t for Caroline, he would have been killed, so she had decided to call it even.
Ricardo, seeing her troubled expression, asked,
“But honestly, he’s not related to you, unlike Princess Olivia. Wouldn’t it be better to just let him get expelled?”
“You idiot.”
Elonia flicked him on the forehead.
It didn’t hurt as much as it used to, but Ricardo still clutched his forehead dramatically.
“Ow! Why did you do that? I wasn’t wrong.”
“Don’t say such things about a child.”
“How old are you now? Ow!”
Elonia flicked him again.
Ricardo glared at her, but Elonia simply stared back, her expression challenging.
“Hmph.”
“What’s with the ‘hmph’?”
“It’s ‘hmph,’ Your Highness.”
Whatever.
Ricardo had been Chelon’s closest confidant, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.
But she couldn’t keep this from him.
Elonia sighed and said,
“Rica, do you remember that time when Lucius was a baby, when he was taken hostage by the Connet Kingdom?”
“Ah, that time. I was surprised that they took a baby hostage, instead of another royal.”
It had happened fourteen years ago, right before Chelon turned fifteen.
The prophet of the Connet Kingdom had foretold Lucius’s future greatness, and the King of Connet had immediately taken him hostage.
King Vermon hadn’t cared about the baby’s life or death. He had only been interested in winning the war, so Lucius’s fate had rested solely on Chelon’s shoulders.
And Chelon, of course, couldn’t abandon him.
She hadn’t brought her army with her.
She had been tired of dragging around disobedient soldiers, and she had already conquered countless nations. Rescuing a single baby should have been easy.
The Connet Kingdom had anticipated Chelon’s arrogance and set a trap. Chelon, exhausted from the long war, had almost died while rescuing Lucius.
“Huh? Really?”
“…Yes. I was careless. The place was filled with mana suppression devices, so I couldn’t move properly. …Well, I could have escaped, but I was tired… and I didn’t really care if I died.”
“Then how did you escape? You returned unharmed, with the baby in your arms.”
Ricardo still remembered that day vividly.
A bright light had flashed several times after Chelon entered the enemy camp, and she had returned unharmed, as always.
“…The mana suppression devices suddenly stopped working, and my injuries healed. I think Lucius could already use Holy Power back then. He saved me, even though he was just a baby who couldn’t even talk. He knew I was the only one who could save him.”
“Whoa.”
It was the first time Ricardo, Chelon’s only disciple, had heard this story.
Lucius had saved Elonia when she had been ready to give up on life.
Elonia never forgot a kindness, so she couldn’t abandon him.
“What is Felix thinking?”
“Well, now that you’re gone, he has nothing to lose. He’s probably relying on Young Master Allen.”
“I doubt it. He wouldn’t entrust such an important task to Lucius.”
“Why not? He has strong Holy Power.”
“That’s true, but Felix never lets go of his valuable pawns. And Lucius is currently in Ravanta.”
Besides, it didn’t seem like Lucius was helping willingly.
He had seemed troubled when he had first seen the good luck charm, and he had taken it back without hesitation.
Ricardo, his expression puzzled, asked,
“But he can’t hide him forever. He’s from a defeated nation.”
“No, that’s not the only reason. Lucius is strong, but there’s no guarantee he’ll reach my level. And priests, no matter how talented, are non-combatants. And Felix hates gambling. He’s ambitious, but he avoids risky ventures.”
“Then who do you think it is?”
“…I don’t know. There was no one as powerful as me in Heilan when I was there.”
Ricardo couldn’t think of anyone either.
The room was filled with their sighs.
Ricardo, bracing himself, cautiously suggested,
“…Should we ask Princess Olivia?”