Chapter 13
The Princess Returned for Revenge (2)
Chief ChamberlainĀ LouisĀ froze the moment he stepped into the office.
TheĀ Holy EmperorĀ was sprawled across the sofa with one hand over his foreheadāa sight that was rarely seen from the young ruler.
Louis noticed the chessboard sitting on the table and smiled knowingly.
“Come to think of it, today was the audience with the twin Princess and Prince, wasn’t it? Did you play chess with them again?”
Nate let out a weary sigh.
“It’s becoming harder and harder to keep up with those two. Can’t they play like normal children for once?”
“Why not just let them win?”
“That’s the problem. If I don’t play seriously, they notice immediately.”
The twins truly were extraordinarily intelligent.
The chamberlain nodded in agreement.
“By the way, how is Amelia doing?”
Louis knew that the Holy Emperor had been paying unusually close attention to everything happening in the Silver Rose Palace recently.
It had started two mornings ago, after the First Princess suddenly suffered a fit and the imperial physician had been summoned. Although the report said there was nothing seriously wrong with her…
“I’ve heard she’s been eating less and seems rather depressed.”
“I see.”
“And I’ve also heard she’s visited the Pearl Palace twice.”
“…That’s unexpected.”
The two children who had once seemed destined never to get along had suddenly begun visiting each other.
It should have been welcome news.
Yet somehow, it only proved that whatever had happened to Amelia was far more than a simple change of heart.
Nate rose from the sofa with a sigh.
“I wish she’d finally tell me what’s bothering her during tomorrow’s audience.”
At that moment, the Holy Emperor had no idea what kind of headache his beloved daughter was about to bring him.
Meanwhile, without realizing it,Ā Lee SeongjinĀ had completely changed the direction of one innocent girl’s life.
As a result, her father would soon be clutching the back of his neck in despair.
The culprit behind all of it, however, knew absolutely nothing.
Instead, Seongjin walked toward the training grounds with excitement.
Today was finally the day his swordsmanship lessons withĀ Sir MasainĀ would begin.
Now that Masain had officially handed over all of his duties, he could devote himself entirely to teaching the prince.
Seongjin felt a little guilty toward the deputy commander who had inherited all of the Knight Commander’s work.
Still, having a passionate master teach him one-on-one all day was a privilege only a prince could enjoy.
More than anything, he wanted to experience the mysterious power calledĀ AuraĀ as soon as possible.
After jogging around the unusually empty training grounds a few times, Seongjin finished warming up with the familiar calisthenics he always did.
Masain, who had been quietly watching him, frowned.
“Your Highness, are you certain you’re fit enough to begin today’s lesson? Is your body still uncomfortable anywhere?”
“Hm? I feel perfectly fine. Why?”
His strength had finally begun returning.
Wondering what the problem was, Seongjin tilted his head.
Masain asked again.
“Are you certain you’ve fully recovered from your fever?”
“The physician said exercising is fine. Is something wrong?”
“It’s just… your Aura…”
Masain carefully studied Seongjin’s complexion before speaking in a serious tone.
“I assumed it was because you had only recently left your sickbed. But even now that you’ve recovered… I don’t understand why your Aura activity is still as weak as that of someone gravely ill.”
Aura was the fundamental life force spread evenly throughout the world.
Even ordinary people who didn’t cultivate Aura naturally possessed a certain level of Aura activity as long as their bodies were healthy.
Only those who were naturally frail or suffering from illness usually showed weakened Aura activity.
Yet Mores’ body…
Displayed Aura activity as faint as someone suffering from a deadly disease.
“You can actually tell something like that? Aura isn’t visible.”
“It isn’t visible, no. But once you’ve become accustomed to sensing Aura, you can detect its flow around you and estimate how active it is within another person’s body.”
Aura naturally sought balance, like air or water.
If someone continuously absorbed Aura without releasing it, Aura would begin flowing faster to compensate for the difference.
The more Aura someone used…
The more they cultivated…
The more active the Aura surrounding them became.
“It can also be used to roughly judge another person’s level of cultivation,” Masain added.
“…Ah, right!”
Something suddenly came back to Seongjin.
During his final medical examination,Ā Physician NinniasĀ had casually mentioned something.
“Your internal Aura activity seems slightly weaker than that of an average person. If you begin Aura cultivation, I believe your recovery will become much faster.”
After hearing this, Masain tilted his head.
“The physician said that? There aren’t many doctors capable of sensing Aura accurately. He must be quite experienced.”
“Yeah. Ninnias didn’t seem particularly worried. He said I’d always had a weak affinity for Aura, so maybe that’s why.”
The moment Seongjin finished speaking…
Masain’s expression completely changed.
He inhaled sharply and stared at him with wide eyes.
What?
Did I say something strange?
For a moment Seongjin seriously wondered if he needed to smash another expensive plate just to act like the old Mores.
Finally, Masain spoke with a pale face.
“The former Your Highness…”
Even then, he struggled to continue.
After swallowing nervously, he forced himself to speak.
“As far as I know… before your illness, your Aura activity was perfectly normal.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Your Highness. So if it isn’t a lingering aftereffect of your fever… then what could possibly be causing it?”
Come to think of it…
When Seongjin had first awakened inside Mores’ body, it had felt unusually heavy.
Perhaps it wasn’t simply because he was overweight.
Still, he felt perfectly fine now.
His movements weren’t especially difficult.
Rolling his shoulders casually, Seongjin shrugged.
“I’ve been losing weight pretty quickly. Maybe my body’s still adjusting. It’ll probably be fine soon.”
Masain still looked unconvinced.
But after a moment, he nodded.
“That may be true. The physician’s explanation does make sense. Once we begin cultivating Aura, your Aura activity should naturally increase. Even if there are lingering effects from your illness, your recovery should become much faster.”
Then he began carefully explaining the proper method of meditation.
It was the very first step toward genuine Aura cultivation.
At that very same moment…
Inside the Holy Emperor’s office…
The enormous bomb Seongjin had unknowingly created the previous day was now resting in Amelia’s hands.
Its countdown had begun.
“Hmm…”
Heavy silence filled the room.
The Holy Emperor, Nate, quietly let out a thoughtful hum.
It was the private audience he held with his daughter.
Normally, Amelia would happily chatter for hours about the flowers she’d received, beautiful jewelry, or the prince from a neighboring kingdom whom she admired.
Today…
She sat with her head lowered, saying nothing.
Looking down at her silky rose-colored hair, Nate frowned slightly.
Just what kind of worries could be filling that tiny head?
He decided to ease into the conversation.
Perhaps giving her some happy news would lighten the mood.
“Amelia.”
“It’s about the Second Prince of Rohan that you’re always talking about.”
Amelia visibly flinched.
Nate continued.
“He recently sent word that he’ll be visiting soon. It seems his sickly older brother will be passing over the succession, so he’ll officially become Crown Prince.”
Leonard of Rohan.
The handsome scoundrel his daughter had adored since last year.
Nate hated having to deliver news about that irritating young man.
Still…
Parents couldn’t always oppose their children’s feelings.
If his daughter liked him, what more could he say?
Yet Amelia’s reaction was nothing like he expected.
She suddenly raised her head.
Large, jewel-like tears began streaming down her gray eyes.
“Father… Your Majesty… I don’t want to meet Leonard!”
“That cruel man will eventually become the source of all evil that destroys me… Mores… and Delcross itself!”
Nate was completely stunned.
Before he could even process those wordsā
The bomb exploded.
“Father… Your Majesty…”
“I… returned from death.”
It was like a bolt from the blue.
After that…
Everything Amelia had kept buried came pouring out like a broken dam.
She explained everything.
Leonard had deceived her.
Married her.
Openly kept mistresses.
Humiliated and abused her.
Eventually imprisoned her inside a cold tower for years.
And finally…
Killed her before his own eyes.
Then…
She had returned to the past.
It was impossible to believe.
“Father opposed it from the very beginning…”
“But this foolish daughter ruined everything…”
Nate simply stared blankly at his sobbing daughter.
There were countless questions he wanted to ask.
Yet none of them would come out.
Every word Amelia spoke was filled with unbearable pain.
“I struggled all night.”
“I wondered whether I should keep this secret forever.”
“I wondered how much I could change by myself.”
“Even after coming here… I kept hesitating.”
“But…”
“This conspiracy begins within the royal family of a neighboring kingdom.”
“It will eventually plunge the continent into a great war.”
“If I can’t seek help from the greatest ruler on the continent…”
“Then who else could I possibly trust?”
Dark circles had formed beneath Amelia’s eyes.
She truly had spent the entire night agonizing over this decision.
“…I know everything I’ve said must sound absurd.”
“But every single day I lived through was hell.”
“I cannot dismiss those memories as nothing more than a nightmare.”
“…Was it really that terrible?”
“Yes.”
“Your Majesty… Father…”
“It took me far too long to return.”
She swallowed her tears before lifting her head once more.
“So…”
“I will take revenge.”
“I’ll chase Leonard to the ends of hell.”
“I’ll destroy every hope he has.”
“I’ll utterly ruin him.”
“And I will never forgive anyone who stands in my way.”
“…”
“I’ll satisfy my hunger with his flesh…”
“And quench my thirst with his blood.”
“Heh… heh… heh…”
The daughter who had always resembled a delicate rose…
Was now smiling eerily while saying terrifying things.
Nate blinked in bewilderment.
Had he misunderstood this child all along?
Even if everything Amelia said were true…
Could this gentle girl truly harbor such murderous hatred?
She had never even hated the frontier count who had mistreated her during childhood.
How could her personality change so completely in a single day?
As he stared into his daughter’s unfamiliar, burning eyes…
Chief Chamberlain Louis quietly leaned over and whispered,
“It seems spending time with Prince Mores recently has had… some influence.”
“…”
Right.
Mores.
Nate let out a quiet sigh.
Lately…
Every strange twist of fate somehow seemed to involve that child.
“…Amelia.”
The Holy Emperor did not immediately say that he believed her.
Nor did he dismiss everything as merely a nightmare.
Instead, he asked only one question.
“You endured a very long and painful life.”
“Shouldn’t you be compensated now?”
“…”
“If I intervene…”
“Leonard will never become king.”
“You’ll never go to Rohan.”
“You can find happiness here in Delcross.”
“So why throw away your second chance for the sake of revenge?”
But Amelia firmly shook her head.
“I’ve realized…”
“My happiness can never exist apart from revenge, Your Majesty.”
The blue light burning within her eyes was unmistakable.
The Holy Emperor understood.
There was no stopping her.
Finally, in a quiet voice, he asked,
“…Do you have a concrete plan?”
If this was unavoidable…
Then as her father, all he could do was offer every bit of advice he had.
“If you’re going to take revenge after Leonard becomes king, you’ll first need to understand why he imprisoned you instead of killing you immediately.”
“You’ll have to investigate Rohan’s current political situation to understand the balance of power.”
“I also don’t understand how you became completely isolated from Delcross.”
“We have many capable spies inside Rohan.”
“Do you remember anything about the tower where you were imprisoned?”
“And doesn’t it seem strange that it became a Holy War?”
“Why wasn’t it simply a war against Rohan?”
“If someone gathered a coalition army under the name of a Holy War, there must have been a reason…”
“My daughter.”
“Leonard isn’t especially skilled in combat.”
“It reflects poorly on you that you were cut down so easily.”
“Starting tomorrow…”
“You’ll begin swordsmanship lessons.”
Thus…
The peaceful tea time between father and daughter gradually transformed into a sinister strategy meeting about the complete destruction of a neighboring kingdom’s royal family.
After safely seeing Princess Amelia off, Louis returned to the office.
Then he stopped in shock.
The Holy Emperor was collapsed over the tea table, one hand clutching the back of his neck.
In all his years serving him…
Louis had never seen such a sight.
The Holy Emperor let out a weary groan.
“…I’d rather spend seven days and seven nights playing chess than go through that again.”
