Chapter 04
The male lead of I’ll Stop Being the Tyrant’s Mistress was the tyrant Parmes Aslet.
When he was seventeen, his older wife gave birth to a son before passing away.
That son’s name was Britain Aslet.
Britain was described as the Crown Prince who inherited his father’s breathtaking beauty and frighteningly cold intellect.
And now…
Britain Aslet was my fiancé?
I was supposed to become the daughter-in-law of the tyrant from the original story?
I couldn’t make any sense of this situation.
Wasn’t I just an insignificant extra—not even an extra, just Citizen No. 1 of the Empire?
“Uncle… I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”
The unbelievable events were making me feel like I might faint, but I forced myself to stay calm and looked up at him.
I also pulled my hand out of Britain’s grip. My hand had become wrinkled from nervousness.
“So… Uncle Zimmer. No… Your Majesty. I don’t know how you became the Emperor, but… congratulations, really. The silver hair suits you very well. You look very handsome.”
Honestly…
I didn’t even know what I was saying.
My mind was spinning, and I was just blurting out whatever came to mind.
As he listened to my rambling, a smile slowly appeared on his lips.
Whether the position had changed him, or he’d always been like this, I couldn’t tell.
But the image of the innocent, slightly slow Uncle Zimmer had completely disappeared.
“But there’s something I need to tell you. Your Majesty may no longer be Uncle Zimmer… but I’m still Arinel Myla.”
My thoughts were a complete mess.
Can I even get out of here alive?
Why did Parmes pretend to be Uncle Zimmer?
Why did he bring me here?
Surely he wasn’t serious about making me his daughter-in-law…
There’s no way he actually thinks that scrap of paper is a real marriage contract… right?
Questions flooded my mind.
First, I need to make it clear that I’m harmless and have no ambitions.
“There’s no way I can become Your Majesty’s daughter-in-law. So… I’ll just head home now. Haha… You don’t even have to lend me a carriage. I’ll find my own way—”
“Arinel.”
Parmes interrupted me.
His low voice was followed by a heavy silence.
Awkwardly, I glanced around.
Beside me, Britain’s blue eyes wavered as he looked at me.
“My lady…”
What’s with those hurt eyes when we’ve only just met?!
“I see.”
Parmes lowered the hand that had been rubbing between his brows and looked at me.
“It seems I haven’t explained things well enough.”
“Arinel… you’re not going back to Galnem anymore.”
“…Huh?”
“There was a great fire in Galnem. It’s truly unfortunate… but it’s nothing more than an empty ruin now.”
It felt like lightning struck me.
Galnem burned down?
The village where I’d spent all eleven years of my life?
“Adam.”
As Parmes called a name, one of the men standing behind him placed a hand over his chest.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
That familiar voice…
It was the kidnapper who had brought me here.
“Do everything you can to help Arinel adapt to the Empire. Explain everything carefully so she can understand.”
His voice had become so cold and commanding that it was hard to believe he was the same Uncle Zimmer who used to talk to me.
“I obey.”
The man called Adam answered with a trembling voice.
Caught in the oppressive atmosphere between the terrifying Emperor and the knight, I couldn’t say a word.
My head felt numb.
Britain…
For some reason, he stared at me for a long moment with unreadable eyes before smiling faintly.
“…I’ll be waiting, my lady.”
His calm, gentle voice reached my ears.
He looked like a boy with light shining behind him just by smiling.
But I had no idea why someone I’d just met was treating me with such kindness.
“Don’t worry, Arinel. Everything will work out.”
As if he hadn’t just been issuing icy commands moments ago, Parmes smiled warmly at me.
Waaah! Just what exactly is supposed to work out?!
My heart pounded anxiously.
Several hours later.
I stood blankly before an enormous, magnificent mansion.
It looked somewhat old, as though it had stood for many years.
But it was large enough to hold everyone from Galnem Village several times over.
“So… this is my house?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Yes, Miss.”
I had always believed my father had been a low-ranking government official and my mother a former knight.
But Adam’s words completely shocked me.
“Your father was Marquis Heizen Machern Myla, the second son of the Grand Duke of Myla in the North, and the Empire’s one and only Grand Spirit Master. Your mother came from another country and became one of His Majesty’s most promising knights through her skill alone.”
Still unable to believe what I was hearing, I hurried after Adam with my short legs.
Noticing my pace, Adam slowed down to match me.
I’d always known my mother had no relatives.
But my father’s identity…
It was beyond shocking.
“And before the Marquis departed, I served as one of his knights. I followed him even back when he lived with the Grand Duke’s family.”
“Huh…”
The kidnapper had been my father’s knight?
My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at him.
Adam was a handsome man in what looked like his late twenties, with wavy brown hair and light green eyes.
With an effortless motion, he pushed open a heavy door.
Dust floated into the air as it opened.
Beyond it lay a grand hall that looked like something straight out of a movie.
Between the two arched staircases hung the portrait of a man.
Even without Adam explaining it, I knew who it was.
“A Grand Spirit Master is a title held only by the strongest spirit master in the Empire. Miss, you have inherited the bloodline of such a noble person.”
The man in the portrait resembled the face my mother had described when I was little.
A slender jaw.
Bright green eyes.
Gentle eyebrows.
Somehow…
He looked a lot like me.
But there was something I couldn’t understand.
“Then… why was I raised in Galnem? Why did Father die so early? Why didn’t Mother tell me the truth? And why… have I come back here now?”
I tilted my head as I asked.
Adam looked at me for a long time.
His expression suggested there was much he wanted to say.
Was it a difficult question?
As I waited nervously for his answer, I was startled.
He knelt on one knee so our eyes were level.
“You’ll gradually learn why His Majesty and you were in Galnem.”
“But even if you don’t learn everything… there is one thing you must always remember.”
“Your father, Marquis Myla…”
His eyes shimmered with emotions that looked both sorrowful and proud.
“He was the benefactor of both the Empire… and His Majesty the Emperor.”
His confident words left me speechless.
My father…
was Parmes’ benefactor?
There must be things I don’t know.
“As the Marquis’s daughter, you are precious to everyone who once served him.”
“To me as well.”
Adam continued speaking.
The eyes I’d thought belonged to nothing more than a terrifying kidnapper now looked at me with genuine warmth.
…
After finishing, Adam turned away from the portrait and walked back to the entrance.
When he opened the doors again, about ten people stood outside in neat rows.
Half were maids.
The other half were male servants.
Adam spoke.
“After Marquis Myla passed away, contact with the Grand Duke’s family was lost. However, I’ve informed them that you’ve returned. They will likely send someone before long.”
“Ah…”
“In addition, His Majesty has sent staff to help rebuild the House of Myla. They will now serve both you and this estate.”
The servants all bowed respectfully toward me.
I was still just a little girl wearing a dirty dress.
The adults were much older than me.
Embarrassed, I instinctively started bowing back.
Adam smiled and gently shook his head.
Seeing me freeze, he spoke with an amused expression.
“You are the rightful heir and master of House Myla.”
“You do not need to bow to your servants.”
Seeing how unfamiliar everything felt to me, Adam reassured me.
“I know you’re very confused.”
“But every step you take from now on… I will remain by your side and help you.”
I looked up at him, my eyes trembling.
“I’ve been waiting all this time… for you to return.”
Adam looked overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke of the hope that had returned to House Myla.
Everything that had happened today felt like a dream.
Night fell.
I still couldn’t get used to my new room in the Marquis’s mansion.
It was several times larger than my entire house back in Galnem.
The bed alone was big enough for three adults to lie on comfortably.
Yet compared to the room itself, it looked tiny.
For someone as small as me, it felt like an entire playground.
Sitting diagonally on the enormous bed, I stared out the distant window.
“…There’s no way I could fall asleep after everything that’s happened.”
Uncle Zimmer had turned out to be the terrifying tyrant from the novel I’d read.
And my late father had been Marquis Myla, the Empire’s Grand Spirit Master.
My life had completely changed in a single day.
I had gone from a country girl…
to the heir of a marquis’s house.
It was overwhelming.
But no matter what, I had to find a new direction.
If I could never return to Galnem…
then this place was now my new home.
I did my best to calm my confused heart and relied on the survival skills I’d developed over the years.
Just then—
Tap.
Something struck the window.
Startled, my body froze.
My room was on the third floor.
Unlike the countryside, where everyone knew each other, I’d heard cities were full of thieves.
Panicking, I hurriedly searched for something I could use as a club.
Then…
The window slowly slid open.
I raised my eyes toward the shadow that appeared outside.
“…!”
I froze where I stood, unable to move for a long time.
