Don't Concern Yourself With That Book

In the Empire, a High Templar could be a Head Templar of a temple or any of their equivalents. There were also other ways one could become a high-ranking official. The best example of this would be the aedile of the 4th Administration, Granius. Ashley quickly tried to recall Granius’ robes. A white tunic, a blue toga which only scholars and bureaucrats wore… And  a leather belt with a gold plate hanging from it. That was it. 

“The Empire’s… has arrived!”

Even at this moment, the footman was announcing the titles of those who just arrived. Perhaps he would only continue to announce arrivals until the emperor or the Crown Prince arrives. However, since the Crown Prince was already here, the banquet would only officially begin once the emperor arrived.

She noticed people crowding around people like the Crown Prince, Dane and Fleon. This might also be the first time she had ever seen the 5th Prince’s face. The 2nd Prince would probably arrive together with the emperor. It was widely known that the emperor’s body was not in good condition but she heard that he would be participating in the Founding Festival. Ashley looked away from the black hair in the distance. She raised her head to look for Granius. 

Suddenly, the hall became as silent as a grave. 

“It’s good to see you, my little songbird.”

Jingle.

The clear chime of bells could be heard with the woman’s every movement. The sounds were probably coming from the clinking of her head accessories. Ashley couldn’t seem to look away from the woman’s hair. 

Silver hair with a purple sheen. 

Ashley wondered if the gods had cut off pieces of the moon and mixed it with purple dye to create that colour. With her long straight hair cascading down behind her, she was a dazzling, mesmerising beauty. Was she in her early 30s? Her peach-coloured cheeks brightened her pale skin. When the corners of her eyes pointed upwards, a cold glint appeared in her orbs. But that feeling disappeared once she curled them. 

“Why aren’t you saying anything?’

The woman folded her fan before approaching Ashley and holding her hand. Ashley stared at her outstretched hand in bewilderment. 

‘This woman is…’

“Is it because this is your first time seeing your mother? Do I feel like a stranger?”

Auresia. 

Her birth mother, whom she had not seen once since she was born, flashed a crescent smile. 

The music which had paused for a while then continued playing calmly in the background. The sound of people kicking the floor, the clinking of goblets and the loud voices that stuffed the space. 

The eyes that were staring into Ashley’s were surprisingly the same vivid purple. 

“… I… greet the queen.”

“Hm? What’s with that awkward greeting?”

She had no time. It was true. She didn’t know when someone was going to die. She had to get out of here quickly and make a move. But why couldn’t she? Ashley slowly raised her head. 

Her biological mother was not as small as her but she was still smaller than average. Her small pointed chin and her small shoulders made her stand out against the tall women of this Empire. Her long straight hair and her thin eyebrows made her look smaller than she already was. Comparing Auresia with the empress she met a long time ago, Ashley thought they could be considered the complete opposites. 

“It looks like you’ve been well.”

A strange tone permeated her words and it felt off-putting. Her voice trivialised her words as if she had not been worried about Ashley at all. 

“I never worried about you after leaving you behind but that didn’t mean I never thought of you.”

Auresia. Even out of all the villainesses in the original novel, she had been the most heartless. Triumphing over the empress and the other 6 queens, she was also the woman who managed to become the emperor’s pet. Ultimately, she couldn’t avoid the villainess ending as she tried to keep Rusbella on the palm of her hand even while putting a look of innocence on her beautiful face. It felt strange to think that the blood of such a person flowed in Ashley.

“You… never worried about me?”

That was why she couldn’t help but to ask. It wasn’t too much for Ashley to hope that Aureisa felt affection or responsibility towards her as her birth mother. How could she only blame Auresia when neither the emperor nor Auresia had acted like her parents? She hadn’t meant to argue with her. She was merely astonished at the way the woman admitted to abandoning her. 

“Why would I worry? I prepared many things for you.”

She slowly raised her fan before resting it on her chin. 

“Prepared what?” Ashley muttered to herself. 

However, instead of answering her question, her mother smiled beautifully. But at the same time, it looked devastating. 

“I’m sure you must have heard people calling you brazen.”

Ashley was in a hurry. She had just been momentarily enraptured and distracted by the concept of a mother. It might have only been natural for her to do so. In fact, she had been the most beautiful woman Ashley had ever seen. To the point where it wouldn’t be wrong for her to think that a goddess had materialised before her. To the point where Ashley wondered how a beauty like her managed to give birth to her. 

But how did any of that matter now? 

She could hear the nobles whispering about her appearance again. She could feel the looks of contempt. She could see and hear their snickers. From the scar on her cheek, people were mocking and pointing fingers at her entire existence. She was already used to this. That was why she could remain calm even when her mother brushed her hand against the bandage covering the scar on her cheek. That was how she could keep her eye-contact with Auresia. 

“Is that all you have to say?”

Wanting to be heartless, Ashley avoided her hand. 

“Hmm. Your eyes look just like mine. But your face is exactly like his.”

“Please let go of me.”

Auresia paused for a moment. Her purple eyes had shifted to instead stare at a group of girls huddling together. As if knowing something Ashley didn’t, she hummed before smiling and exclaiming.

“Don’t worry. I, too, reached puberty pretty late. It was only after my Coming-Of-Age Ceremony did I start growing. Before I grew, everyone mocked me too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you’re really my daughter, there’s no way you wouldn’t be a templar.”

“… What?”

“Our family. That is, the power of the gods is passed on from mother to daughter.”

Ashley’s eyes widened. 

“It’d be easy for you to get wedded away, wouldn’t it? You’d be able to pick just anyone.”

Ashley couldn’t understand what this character from the original novel was talking about. Her supervisor from her previous life used to tell her to avoid clients whom she couldn’t communicate with. She soon bit her lips and tried to turn around. That was only if her venomous snake-like tongue hadn’t coiled around her. (1)

“How do you feel about the heir to Vulcanus?”

Ashley turned her head back around stiffly. Was she referring to Fleon?

“Or, Rome… ‘The Emperor’s Shadows’ would be fine too. Don’t you think his beauty is incomparable too?’

Ashley’s mind went blank. They were obviously speaking the same language but it felt like there was an overwhelming distance of 100 men between them. 

“Ah. Do you really not know anything?”

Her mother who was only one step away slowly retreated and the hand that had been resting on her cheek naturally fell off. As her blue dress fluttered so did her hair that was as silver as the moon. Under the dim lights, the dazzlingly gorgeous woman placed her hand on her own chest. 

“I may be your mother but there’s no need for you to consider the emperor your father.”

***

Ray had been searching for that one person for a while now. 

‘Where did she go?’

The banquet hall was so humongous that it made him uncomfortable to scour the whole area at once, Furthermore, not only would a couch stop him in his tracks every few steps but nobles of the Empire and of other countries were also black-out drunk and had thus thrown their dignity out of their window so navigating around them had been very inconvenient. Well, this was the Empire’s most luxurious and hedonistic festival after all . 

‘Is it better to not look for her?’

He didn’t know. The princes had ordered him to find her and he himself wanted to find her too. However, Ray recalled how the princess was like on the stage. In a space filled with cheers, he had been one of the many who couldn’t take their eyes of the exhilarating performance that was so intense he thought he was staring into light itself. While spectating, he recalled how he had bumped into a lady. It was as if the woman had bumped into him on purpose. When they locked eyes, she had curled her eyes as if deliberately seducing him. Her intentions were obvious. 

“Are you here alone?”

The Founding Festival commemorated old traditions and was about enjoying the reality where they lived with gods. It was a grand hedonistic festival unlike any other. It was common for men and women to disappear elsewhere once they locked gazes. 

Ray stepped away out of etiquette. At his subtle and polite refusal, the lady grinned before disappearing. As he stared at the disappearing silhouette of her traditional robes, Ray couldn’t help but to think about what the princess must be feeling at this moment. 

If she had already disappeared with someone else, it was natural for him to be unable to find her. 

But his gut was telling him that the princess was still somewhere here. And the mistress he knew was someone who could never enjoy herself because the weight of her burdens were too heavy. She would be the same even in such a hedonistic festival. 

‘Why does she only insist on taking the difficult route?’

What was right and what was wrong? 

Someone once told him that it was useless to have moral standards in the Imperial Palace. As someone who used to be an upright knight, he could never accept those words. 

“Ray, there is a path that that child can never take. I’ll be the one to take that path.”

The prince, who came to find him one day, confessed honestly. 

“Don’t you think she’s changed? It seems like it’s too late. We are both ‘sinners’ who couldn’t protect her.”

Then, he suggested something.

“So, help me. To protect our princess.”

Ray clenched the hilt of his sword tightly. Staring at his unknowingly tense hands, Ray slowly pursed his lips. The name he muttered under his breath was so soft even he himself couldn’1t hear it. Ray raised his head to continue his search for the princess.

A spacious banquet hall. And not long after, Ray found a pale girl standing in the corner of the banquet hall.

“Princess.”

Ashley suddenly raised her head. The low, quiet voice sounded familiar. Soon, the girl smiled brightly at the navy hair she spotted at once. 

“It’s you.”

She had no idea what her faint smile made him feel.

“Lord Ray.”

Ashley reached out to grab onto his arm. Ray glanced down at her hand. 

“… Are you feeling unwell?”

She seemed unaware of the fact that her hands felt cold and that her fingers were trembling. Ray grimaced. She was in pain. But he wondered how long she had been enduring this pain. Just then, she did something. The knight’s eyes widened in surprise which itself was shocking because the knight was seldom surprised. 

“Hold on…”

Tired, she leaned her head against his chest before taking a deep breath. 

“Let me borrow you for a moment.”

Her body was wrecked with exhaustion. But instead of pushing herself, she decided to relax. This was not the time to collapse. Ashley grabbed the hem of his clothes. As she stared at the ground, something she heard a while ago echoed in her head. It was what her mother said.

“The princes who didn’t manage to become the emperor can choose to be either exiled from the Empire or imprisoned in the Temple for the Lord of the Gods for the rest of their lives.”

Her languid voice. And along with her voice, a devastating smile spread in Auresia’s face. 

T/N:

(1): It was originally a saying which basically means that whatever Auresia was about to say was something she wouldn’t be able to take back and that Ashley was going to be very affected by it. So, I translated it to this.