TVGS 104

Chapter 104

Piyo—

“What about the gifts from the western nobles?”

“Tell them I only accept their sentiment.”

“And the matchmaking proposal from Gran Orden? The imperial family there asked if you would marry their crown prince.”

“Where was that again? Send back a firm refusal.”

Agnes, who was asking me these questions while I sat at the tea table enjoying refreshments, bowed her head at my reply.

From her pocket, Piyo poked his head out, having decided that was his playground for the day.

“And… we’ve been getting daily letters from Philios Regalo in prison…”

“Burn them.”

“Yes, my lady. And from Count Padelmon, also in prison—”

“Burn.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

No need to say more.

Lately, apologies, gifts, matchmaking proposals—these annoying things were flooding in.

The House of Elemore had already become the number one meritorious family of the revolution, and like during the Rebel Emperor’s time, I was once again at the center of wealth and power, so it made sense.

Even foreign royal families were trying to connect themselves to me somehow.

But I had no interest in such things.

“Mmm.”

I stretched my arms above my head.

“Feeling stiff, my lady? Shall I give you a massage?”

“Yes, please.”

Piyoo—

Agnes came up behind me and kneaded my shoulders, loosening the muscles hardened by fatigue.

“Ahh.”

“Oh my, your shoulders are hard as stone. It must be stress. Has something been bothering you lately?”

“Ow, that hurts.”

“But we have to loosen it now. If not, it’ll get worse later.”

Something bothering me…

I hadn’t slept well last night.

It’s only natural I couldn’t sleep with my legs stretched out in comfort—

Because my favorite person had confessed to me.

Etias likes me.

Just thinking about those eyes and that voice made my heart pound again as if I had returned to last night.

“Guess it’s not stress. You’re suddenly smiling,” Agnes observed, seeing my wide grin.

Well, the long-dead romance cells inside me were starting to stir again—how could I not be happy?

It was such an overwhelming thing, the kind you wonder if it’s a dream or reality.

A hundred times over, I wanted to say, I like you too.

“Agnes, do you have a boyfriend? Or a fiancé?”

“Ah, well… there is someone I like.”

Agnes stopped massaging for a moment, her face flushing slightly.

“Who is it?”

“Um… Lord Caron Fernar.”

I blinked at her.

“When he came to the ducal house last time, we thought he was there to arrest you. But he told us not to worry and reassured us. The way he spoke—calm, intelligent—it made me think he was a good man…”

“Yes, and he’s handsome too.”

“That’s it.”

“Handsome is the best.”

“I think so too.”

I knew I had a lot in common with Agnes.

“Wait and see. If I get the chance, I’ll introduce you. Of course, winning his heart is up to you, you know that?”

“My lady, I’m so nervous!”

I smiled, watching her fuss.

Now that I thought about it, Caron had asked about Agnes’s well-being before… maybe the two of them could actually work out.

“But my lady… you…”

Agnes shifted the topic back to me.

“It’s His Majesty the Emperor, right? The one you like.”

“Is it obvious?”

“Yes. Very.”

“Then why doesn’t he know?”

“Probably because you have no dating experience.”

True… Etias was a lifelong single.

“If His Majesty came all the way to Quaidon to get you, he must have deep feelings.”

I smiled bitterly at her words.

Yes, I had received Etias’s confession.

But Etias had misunderstood, thinking there was no way I could like him back.

Before I could clear up that misunderstanding, there was something I had to think about.

I have to go back in three years.

My return condition was surviving for three years after Etias’s revolution.

I didn’t know how I would return, but I would get the chance to go back to reality.

But if I became his lover… or something more… could I still leave?

Maybe that warning not to let the recipient know about the sponsorship was… because of this kind of dilemma.

I stared at the garden with complicated eyes.

“Do your best, my lady. I’ll cheer you on. They say two people who like each other having their hearts connect is like a miracle.”

A miracle… maybe it was.

My real life, and the life I was living now.

I might have to choose one.

“There, much better now. Your shoulders are soft again.”

“Thanks, Agnes.”

“Anytime you need me, just say so.”

Piyo!

After sending off Agnes and Piyo, I picked up my teacup for a sip when I heard Heros’s footsteps.

The morning sunlight made his brown hair look a bit lighter than usual, and the same with his eyes under slightly stiff brows.

“My lady, I found something in the study.”

At his words, I looked at what he was holding.

It looked like a thick book with a cover burnt black, but oddly, the pages didn’t open.

He walked up to me and handed it over.

“I think it’s Duke Luciano Elemore’s document safe.”

Sure enough, at the corner of the “book” was a four-digit number dial. It was a safe disguised as a book.

I tried Luciano’s birthday.

Nope.

Next, Etias’s birthday—not that either.

Then I thought of my mother’s birthday… but suddenly something else occurred to me, and I turned the dial.

Click.

The book opened, and I just stared blankly at it for a long while.

The password was my birthday.

From Katrin’s memories, he never seemed like someone affectionate toward his daughter.

Caught in strange emotions, I paused for a moment, then pulled out the documents inside.

It must have been used to store personal confidential documents.

But after his death—and after I burned the study to destroy evidence of Etias’s revolution—it must have just sat here all this time.

If the top-secret document meant for the Rebel Emperor wasn’t about Etias’s revolutionary army…

Then maybe it was in here.

I pulled the papers from the neatly folded envelope.

I opened the first page of the top document.

This is…!

Shock made my heart pound, and the hand holding the paper trembled.

It was a medical certificate stating that both Duke Luciano Elemore and my mother were incapable of having children.

“….”

Slowly, I touched my pink hair.

Was this suddenly a hidden-birth plot?

The only daughter of House Elemore—not Luciano’s child?

But for someone who supposedly wasn’t their child, Katrin had the same hair, eye color, and exceptional looks people said came from her parents.

Hurriedly, I turned to the next page—a contract for bringing in a Kiria Plant.

On it was Luciano’s note:

Not long after we brought in the Kiria Plant, my wife became pregnant.
Even though both of us were unable to have children.
Based on the dates, the child is certainly ours.
The effects of the Kiria Plant are extraordinary.

Phew… so I am their real daughter.

I pressed a hand to my chest and let out a relieved sigh.

It seemed the mysterious effects of the Kiria Plant had allowed a child to be conceived between an infertile couple.

Next came my own medical record:

Katrin Elemore, age 3.
When exposed to external stimulation or stress, an abnormal personality appears.
Has been heard cursing someone called “Manager Kim” and shouting that all drunk drivers(?) must die.
Has also been heard crying out for someone named “Eti(?)”.
After the episode, she soon regains her senses and returns to typical behavior for a three-year-old.
Guardian advised to avoid provoking or disciplining the child until her condition stabilizes.