The Emperor's Daughter

Chapter 420: The Emperor’s Daughter 420

 

That was when I started to live separately in a palace.

By the time I turned eight, there was quite a lot of talk about how I would stay in Solay Palace.

Still, at that time, no princess stayed with an Emperor beyond a specific time in the palace.

However, as the years passed, the princess began to grow older, and once she turned ten, various people spoke about how the Imperial palace would soon collapse.

Of course, my dad treated all of it as bullshit and consistently ignored their words, but these words began to catch up to Caitel; he couldn’t neglect it all his life.

Most of all, what irritated my dad the most was the nobles who mocked his regime due to the lack of freedom in his country, talking about how the Emperor made countless blunders since he was getting older. Of course, Caitel ensured that the nobles paid the price for their words, but I didn’t feel like he did the wrong thing.

The truth was the truth.

However, since such a situation continued, my dad ended up giving me a separate palace. It wasn’t just the usual order a father would give to his child; no, it was a royal decree, a command that would go down in the history of Agregiant.

The Emperor said, ‘Since there is no palace worthy of the princess’s prestige, or in short, since there is no palace suitable for my taste, I will demolish some of my palaces and create a new one. I will have the princess stay in Solay until the construction of her palace ends.’ That was the order.

Unless one was an idiot, the real intention behind the words was clear as day.

I still laughed when that time came across my memories. The ministers and nobles were shocked about the order.

I remembered that time fondly.

It was great, but sometimes, I couldn’t help but miss those days.

It took two years for that palace to be constructed.

A significant number of workers were mobilized; it could have been done quicker, but man, my dad just kept demanding for more color! A little more elegance! And it was completed after moving the deadline three times.

The expression of the handler was full of regret.

Still, the palace was so beautiful after its construction; it was unlike anything I had ever seen. I had never been so impressed; I wanted to move in quickly.

My palace was named Fulgor, the Dazzling Light, and it was built in Agregiant.

A cool breeze gently entered the palace through the open terrace doors. The wind scattered around my hair as I sat in the distance, leaning my head on the bedpost. The thin curtains on the bed danced with the wind. The starlight, pouring into the room, was brighter than I imagined.

When I moved into the palace, I was given a new bed, which made it impossible for me to sleep. But one time, I laid down and tried to calm myself to sleep, but I felt someone’s presence while doing that. It wasn’t Assisi. There was no way Assisi would enter my room, especially past bedtime.

I knew who it was without even seeing them.

The cold hand, which sometimes touched my forehead, swept past my cheeks, and returned to stroking my head.

The one who wouldn’t even bother to look at me during the day was casually patting me in the night, hoping I wouldn’t wake up from sleep. If I let him do that, I would surely fall asleep.

“Very much like a thieving cat… maybe not my dad.”

I know about my father’s way of showing consideration, but I couldn’t help but feel touched by it. Well, this was why I liked him.

I had lived here since my birth, but my position in this place wasn’t definite. Born as a daughter to the tyrant Emperor, I was just a princess whose status and future wasn’t certain.

It wasn’t a fairy tale life. I spent 12 years in Solay Palace, which was referred to as the Imperial Palace.

That event had got to be a special case in Agregiant’s history.

It looked easy, but I lived in the Imperial Palace. No matter how close one was to the Emperor, no one could stay in the Solay Palace after three years.

The pendant that shone in that hand was small, but it would catch one’s eye at a single glance. A transparent diamond-like-jewel with unknown red energy flowing through it. A mysterious color.

“Pretty.”

A memento from my mother, it was one that I received for the first time.

That must have been why I couldn’t fall asleep.

I raised my arm and tried to look at the pendant I received—the jewel reflected the starlight’s glow.

Serira said that she only met my mother once and that before I was born, she requested her to give this pendant to me.

“Ah, all this!”

Life was so surreal. What was the meaning of all this?

With my hand on my forehead, I closed my eyes—the forgotten existence of a mother whom I had never seen before.

My mom’s story was unknown as she disappeared, and I simply dropped my head. I should remember her, even if the others forgot her.

Although I was only a princess of Agregiant now, as Ferdel said, I would be a bubble who would disappear without Caitel. I could see that by looking at how everyone forgot my mom.

Mentioning my mom, Princess Jereina, was taboo.

My dad did so simply because he didn’t like it when people spoke about her.

Caitel still thought that I was his daughter. Of course, that wasn’t wrong. We were connected through our blood.

However, Caitel wasn’t the one who raised me. Serira, Silvia Ferdel, Assisi. All of them put effort for me; without them, I would be nothing. Right, it was because they all looked after me so well that I never missed my mom or thought about her.

I had enough love from the people in my life, even without her. It didn’t matter.

I brainwashed myself and whispered.

“… mom.”

Who would want to remember the fact that I was never loved?

Serira said my mother loved me, but I honestly didn’t think a mother who never saw my face could love me.

Since I lived in the Imperial Palace, and since my mother was brought here against her wishes, she could hate me or resent me. I closed my thoughts to erase the pain.

I was a real fool. Stupid.

The pendant in my hand confused me even more.

Something must have happened to my mom; there had to be a reason she gave birth to me.

Why didn’t I ever think about learning more about her? I was so stupid.

The life of a princess dragged away to carry the child of her enemy, the Emperor of Agregiant and died because of the said child. The life of that princess was a tragic one.

Wiping the tears forming in my eyes, I held onto my emotions.

That was it.

I suddenly felt someone’s presence.

“Who are you?”

I got up. The sensation of being watched spread all over my body.

It wasn’t my dad. What should I do? I couldn’t even guess who it was, but my senses told me that I didn’t know this person.

It wasn’t my dad, that’s for sure.

“You aren’t asleep yet?”

“Uh?”

Somehow, I felt fine. I relaxed like a fool after hearing those words. At that moment, the curtain on the terrace lifted, and the person’s face came into view.

“What? Havel…”

“Right answer.”

The Emperor of Pretzia, dressed in simple clothes, stood right before me. Havel looked around my room and met my eyes.

What was the meaning of this? I frowned after seeing him here.

“Why are you here? No, how did you get here?”

“That’s simple.”

Havel smiled. I suddenly got so tired and fell onto the bed.

Maybe he didn’t come here to harm me or anything?

I doubted his sanity. He entered a princess’s room in the middle of the night. Without realizing it, the words came out.

“Do you want my dad to kill you?”

“You’re talking informally now?”

Havel leaned close to me. It was nothing special, but I felt like I had to move back.

Ugh.

“If you’re done, can you leave?”

“Well.”

Why was it that my words were always ignored? He was talking to me as if we were close.

Havel’s body came closer. Suddenly, his arms outstretched and were placed on my sides, trapping me, making it hard for me to move.

My breath turned rugged. My body stiffened with the unfamiliar feeling in my gut. Only then had I realized that I was a woman. A stupid woman.

Cursing myself, I chewed my lip.

Havel smiled after seeing me change.

“You can talk informally. It turns me on.”

My body froze.

Was he some kind of pervert? Why would someone be okay with being spoken informally to? Was he a masochist?

I wanted to push him away, but that wasn’t possible because I was stuck under him with his crimson eyes gazing into mine.

Since I didn’t respond, the silence grew between us.

Our surroundings were silent enough to hear a string getting cut down.

I realized then that this guy was definitely hitting on me.

While Havel continued looking at me, I looked at him with anxiousness.

“Where are you looking!?”

As his gaze reached over my chest, I yelled at him.

Thanks to that, the strangely built tension between us broke, yet I was highly irritated. It had been a long time since I felt embarrassed since pajamas never made my body look good.

Havel just shrugged at my reaction.

“There’s nothing to see.”

T-this guy!

I would like to sue him for sexual harassment, but I felt like kicking Havel’s leg was enough to make me feel good. He did whine after getting hit, hehe.

How dare he harass such a great divine woman? Just die!

It must have been my imagination, but I might have hit him a bit too hard. After groaning a long time in pain, he got up. Right, it had been a long time since my princess image crumbled.

“I was told that you were trapped because of me. Did you know that the talks between our countries are over?”

“Uh, really?”

I tried to be respectful, but I wasn’t aware of it.

Errr, it was just informal words, well that didn’t have to matter. I did know that it would end so soon, but I didn’t know for sure since no one said anything about it.

“How did it go?”

“It was a bit complicated, but to put it simply…”

Once he saw my curious gaze, Havel smiled.

“We got the approval for independence. We have peace for the time being.”

Thank god.

I was worried, but I was glad that things worked out and that the talks ended peacefully. The expression he used, ‘peace for the time being,’ annoyed me, but it was a good thing, so I decided to let him get away with it.

“So, are you here for that reason? To let me know?”

“No.”

What ‘no?’

As I stared at him, Havel reached out to me. He did it so naturally; I was still trapped between his arms.

I was late in my attempt to move. Before I could say anything, Havel, who seemed at ease, sighed and placed his head on my shoulder.

“I felt bad that I would leave without seeing you. I did come over to see you, but you avoided me so that I couldn’t get a good look at you.”

“That’s it?”

“Because I couldn’t see you, I wanted to take a good look at you this time. It’s alright. I won’t do anything to you.”

I turned around, trying to get away, but Havel’s hand grabbed my arms, not having any intention of letting me go. His hands weren’t hurting me, and I quit trying to get away from him, which just appeased him, but it wasn’t like he had given up.

As I stopped moving, Havel raised his head.

When our eyes met, I felt shy—shortness in my breath, cheeks burning up, I couldn’t help but force myself to relax.

Ah, what was all this!?

A cool breeze blew my hair through the open window. After some time, I spoke.

“Is Layla coming with you?”

“She is.”

A short answer. I felt strange.

“I see.”

She was the only living Princess of Pretzia. I hoped Layla got the life she hoped to find, a comfortable life.

I probably wouldn’t witness her leaving the palace. Although my dad didn’t cause everything, I, too, had a conscious mind and played an equal part in her suffering.

As I sighed a bit, Havel took a closer look at me. His fine hair shook. Just seeing that made me want to touch it. The man had a murderous appearance.

“Aren’t you upset with being confined like this forever?”

His soft, low-pitched voice was pleasant to my ears. The unfamiliar feeling of listening to him talk for ages took over me. Havel’s bold voice was like music to my ears.

“Shall I help you?”

“Don’t need it.”

It would be a lie if I said his offer didn’t tempt.

However, more than that, his voice messed with my head. I was aware that I was confined, but it made me feel like I was trapped when someone said it out loud.

As I kept my mouth shut, Havel’s face reached closer to me.

“Why? Don’t you believe me?”

It was true, but he couldn’t blame me when he was being all mysterious and asking me like this. In the end, I just sighed.

My head hurt. Ah, I just didn’t want to think anymore.

“Will you really help me out?”

“Yes.”

Havel smiled with a confident expression.

“It’s a prince’s job to rescue a princess trapped in a tower, right?”

Ha, what?

The number of outrageous things he said with that confident face was laughable! Men didn’t know what they were getting themselves into; it just didn’t suit some people. I wanted to laugh, but contradictorily, I felt engulfed in his looks instead.

Was it because I didn’t feel tense?

Usually, I wouldn’t ask for help unless I asked someone close to me. I didn’t like being indebted to someone, but the biggest reason was that I hated showing weakness.

However, I couldn’t do much in my current situation.

“Don’t say such shit.”

Suddenly, I felt terrible for my dad. He locked me up so that I wouldn’t meet Havel, but now, here I was, taking his help to escape the palace.

Haa, what a life.

No, I couldn’t let my mind waver.

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It’s difficult to escape with just my strength alone.

Right, this was a gamble.

For my life and future.

“Then, help me out.”