Chapter 29
Until the day her holy power awakened, Amelia’s greatest ambition had been to become Empress.
Luxurious silk gowns and precious jewels that other children could never hope to see even once in their lives.
Books and toys treasured like priceless artifacts within a magnificent castle.
Countless servants waiting at her beck and call, and knights who stood guard to ensure that not even the tip of her finger would ever be harmed.
In winter, she spent carefree days warming herself before roaring fireplaces. In summer, she escaped the heat by splashing in the waters of the family’s vacation villa.
As the daughter of House Somel, she had accepted all of these privileges as only natural.
And naturally, such blessings came with a price.
Amelia had planned to repay that debt by becoming Empress and bringing immeasurable glory to her family.
No matter how happy she was to see her father after a long absence, she could never run into his arms.
An Empress must always maintain her dignity.
Even if she was terrified that the monster beneath her bed might devour her, she had to endure it in silence.
An Empress could not be swayed by childish fairy tales.
She could not chatter freely to the servants about the cat she had happened to meet in the garden that day.
An Empress had to know how to keep secrets.
From the tender age of five, she had been taught every courtesy and refinement necessary to enter the Imperial Palace at any time without bringing shame upon herself.
Because an Empress had to be perfect.
Acquiring the poise, awareness, and eloquence of noble ladies twice her age had required relentless effort, but she had endured it well enough.
Fortunately, Amelia had always been far more intelligent and perceptive than children her age.
She could easily grasp the subtle manners and delicate ways of speaking that even many adults struggled to understand.
True, just before falling asleep, she sometimes suffered faint headaches that made her ears ring.
But maintaining a lofty position was never easy.
Especially for someone destined to become the Crown Princess, and one day the Empress of the Empire.
Whenever she saw the satisfied expression on her father’s face as he watched her grow into a flawless young lady—
Whenever she saw him smile as though he could not have been happier to be the father of such a brilliant and beautiful daughter—
Only then did she truly feel that she had become a worthy daughter of House Somel.
If I’ve done this much… haven’t I made up for Mother, who died giving birth to me?
Then, one day…
Her holy power awakened.
After enduring a fever so severe that she hovered between life and death for three days and nights, Amelia suddenly manifested extraordinarily pure divine power.
Holding her father’s hand, she entered the temple and witnessed the astonishing measurement of her holy power with her own eyes.
A dazzling potential that ordinary children could never attain, no matter how hard they struggled throughout their entire lives.
From that moment on, Duke Somel completely changed Amelia’s goal.
She would no longer become Empress.
She would become an Imperial Princess.
An Imperial Princess!
A position beyond comparison with that of an Empress, who could be imprisoned or divorced if she lost a political struggle.
A being noble and sacred by birth itself, deserving of the respect of all.
The princes who had barely spared Amelia a glance—Prince Dimitrius and Prince Evan—would now become her older brothers.
She vaguely remembered the proud, lofty gazes they had worn when she met them in the Imperial Palace.
She swallowed nervously.
If I stand as their equal… surely they’ll look at me differently.
The confusion she’d felt over abandoning her dream of becoming Empress quickly faded, replaced by excitement over her new goal.
How wonderful it will be.
How glorious.
There were drawbacks, of course.
She could no longer call her father “Daddy.”
She would have to treat him with the same measured distance she used with nannies and butlers.
She would no longer truly be his daughter.
…But that was acceptable.
Ever since she could remember, Amelia had wanted to repay her father.
Because you lost Mother—the woman you loved so dearly—because of me… because I wasn’t careful when I was born…
I’ve always been sorry.
If I can repay even a little of that pain this way… if this can make up for it… then I can endure anything.
Life in the Imperial Palace had been like an endless, tedious play.
Still, she had persevered alone.
Every now and then, whenever her father came to see her, she would catch fleeting glimpses of pride and satisfaction on his face.
Those rare expressions, like rain after a long drought, told Amelia that she was doing well enough.
Now, all that remained was to be officially proclaimed the Holy Maiden by the Pope and firmly establish her position as an Imperial Princess.
Unexpectedly, Prince Evan’s intervention seemed likely to make that much easier.
He had promised to find her a dependable fiancé who would support her.
Amelia took that as an extremely encouraging sign.
The Duke of Somel had already been searching carefully for a suitable match, but for Evan—a leading candidate for Crown Prince—to personally introduce her to a fiancé could only mean one thing.
It was an unspoken declaration that he supported her.
How happy Father will be… when he sees that I’ve secured both a trustworthy fiancé and an alliance with the Second Prince all by myself.
Everything seemed as though it would finally come true.
At least…
It had, until this very morning.
“But now it’s all ruined! I worked so hard…! This was my dream from the day I was born…! It’s all because of you! What am I supposed to do now?! How are you going to make up for this?!”
Kitty and Cindy quietly exchanged glances as they listened to Amelia’s frantic, incoherent rambling.
“So… if you’re disowned here… you can’t go back to the Duke of Somel’s house?”
After struggling to find the right words, Kitty finally asked carefully.
Amelia immediately shrieked.
“How could I possibly go back?! After I’ve ruined everything?! How could I have the nerve?!”
“…Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t.”
Even so…
Wasn’t it far too cruel to abandon a child a second time after she’d already been cast aside by the Imperial Palace?
“I don’t want to! I’d be too ashamed and miserable! I’m not shameless like you! Even if Father forgave me, I wouldn’t go back!”
Then… how are you going to live from now on?
The question naturally rose to Kitty’s lips, but she barely managed to swallow it.
Amelia’s words were so disjointed that it was difficult to piece together exactly what had happened.
Still, it sounded as though an astonishing announcement had been made during her birthday banquet.
Before everyone present, the Pope had publicly declared that Amelia was not the prophesied Holy Maiden.
And because of that, even Evan had reluctantly indicated that he could no longer continue acknowledging her as his younger sister.
He had, however, kept his promise to introduce her to a fiancé.
Apparently, he had presented her with a thirteen-year-old boy from a respectable family in a neighboring country.
In other words…
They intended to quietly dispose of a now-useless adopted child by marrying her off overseas.
What happened after that was unclear.
From what Kitty could guess, Amelia had lost everything in a single instant.
The shock had driven her to abandon every shred of etiquette and social grace she had spent years perfecting before wandering all the way to the Second Princess’s Palace by herself.
And apparently…
No one had tried to stop her.
No one had even followed.
As though they couldn’t care less what became of a little girl who had suddenly lost her mind.
“It’s all because of that carrot cake! Ever since that stupid carrot cake, everything’s been wrong! You evil liar! You wanted to steal my place as the Holy Maiden…! What exactly did you do?!”
To be honest…
Amelia herself no longer seemed interested in her own future.
She had simply searched for someone to blame and trudged all the way to this shabby, isolated palace on her tiny legs.
After silently imagining just how lonely and miserable that journey must have been, Kitty suddenly asked,
“By the way, big sister… have you eaten anything?”
“Don’t change the subject! I know exactly what you’re doing because you don’t have anything to say! I see right through you! I’ll expose how awful you really are! I’ll tell everyone! I’ll reveal everything!”
Amelia screamed at the top of her lungs.
But immediately afterward…
A much quieter sound echoed from her stomach.
Grrrrr…
