#116
Even in my past life, the Emperor was someone I only saw from afar.
He wasn’t someone that a person in Ersen’s position could meet just by wanting to. However, I knew from the original work that the Emperor was a father who truly loved his son.
So even when he looked at me like I was an inanimate object, and when he sent assassins without saying a word to me, I think I unconsciously thought of the Emperor from the original work.
The Emperor was certainly a good person.
“The Marsien family has requested an engagement with their young lady.”
And Ersen was the villain that good people opposed.
This treatment was natural.
Though I felt a bit of disconnect at the cool gaze of the Emperor I was properly talking to for the first time because of the original work’s image, I soon understood.
So the shocking part wasn’t the Emperor’s coldness or anything like that.
“To whom are you referring?”
“You. After the proof ceremony ends, they said they want to prove their loyalty to the royal family and made the request. They said it doesn’t matter what the result of the proof ceremony is. Have you heard something?”
I was overwhelmed by a feeling of wanting to vomit and shook my head.
“Hmm. Then tell me what you want now. Will you accept? Or will you refuse?”
Only then did I come to my senses.
The Emperor was testing my reaction right now.
If I accepted, it would give reason to the Marsien family’s incomprehensible move that was completely different from when they had requested the Prince’s succession rights proof ceremony, claiming the royal family’s punishment of their young lady was excessive.
The reason being that I was dreaming of rebellion.
‘Ah. That’s what they’re aiming for? It’s a trap.’
If I accepted this, they could confine me to their territory while making me enemies with the royal family, including the four people.
In fact, just setting this trap probably gave Eris a reason why she needed to get her hands on me.
‘Then what if I don’t accept?’
They would know this was the more likely possibility.
Of course, Eris hadn’t noticed that I had spied on her, and she didn’t know that we knew she had been resurrected.
‘So doing this to her own child…… ah, I feel like throwing up.’
Anyway, because of that, she would only be thinking that there was a high possibility Ersen would refuse Lady Marsien.
Then what if I refused?
It would create justification for the Marsien family to touch me after the proof ceremony.
More precisely, justification to confine me under the pretense of taking me in.
‘……She really is an evil spirit. That was an accurate description.’
I suppressed the nausea and hollow laughter that wanted to come out and forced the corners of my mouth up.
I recalled the Archduke, who had rarely become expressionless before coming here.
Since the Emperor had never summoned me separately no matter what trouble I caused before my regression, I partially understood his seriousness too.
‘Because I’ve become entangled in politics.’
When I was simply a troublemaker causing harm, I was just a doll, but if I became a member of the nobility, I couldn’t be treated like a doll that stops when its spring runs down.
‘Right. He summoned me because I’m not a doll.’
My mind seemed to clear.
“I will refuse.”
Of course, there was naturally only one answer.
“However.”
This was also the only opportunity to personally gain the Emperor’s help.
The Emperor, who had been gesturing for me to leave, looked at me again.
The gaze looking at an object that showed not a trace of emotion was spine-chilling. But there was no need to shrink back.
“Your Majesty, would you not make a deal with me?”
These were words with a completely different weight from what I had proposed to the four people.
I knew that making a deal with the Emperor basically required risking one’s life. So the weight I spoke of wasn’t the weight of my life.
“Come to think of it, there are such rumors going around. The rumor that the Emperor doesn’t kill the 2nd Prince immediately because the 2nd Prince is also of the Emperor’s bloodline. Ersen Mayer. Do you think so too?”
It was a dry voice that sounded more frightening than a voice filled with killing intent.
Because it sounded like he could dispose of me like sweeping away dust at any time.
However, he had been calling me by the name Ersen Mayer rather than calling me the 2nd Prince since earlier.
Seeing that small gap, I decided to take a gamble.
Anyway, since he knew about the contract I made with Theodore hyung, he wouldn’t kill me right away for hyung’s sake.
“Your Majesty’s blood is noble, but more precious than that is Your Majesty’s will, so I know that if you wish to do so, you can do it at any time.”
“……”
“I dare not guess the reason you have not done so, but I only cautiously think that perhaps my body still has some useful aspects.”
Before my regression, the Emperor hadn’t killed me despite all the trouble I had caused.
By now, reports about Eris’s survival would have come up too. Also, this proposal from the Marsien family was not only nonsensical but also touched on the Emperor’s old shame. He could have killed me before releasing that person to the noble Marsien family.
But what he did was not kill me, who was an unstable element, but summon me to ask my opinion and handle it.
I wasn’t being naive enough to think he considered Ersen as his child. However, there definitely seemed to be a reason why Ersen needed to stay alive.
Whether for the Empire or for Crown Prince hyung.
‘Most likely for hyung.’
Then a question arose here.
Just how much did he know?
Did he even know that Ersen was the medium for the curse affecting the four people?
‘If he knew that.’
I became curious why he didn’t do anything before my regression.
For now, if I had to guess, if the medium died before lifting the curse, when Eris was dead there would be no way to lift the curse at all, so he couldn’t kill me.
Even now that Eris has been resurrected, only Eris’s soul has returned while her body is Lady Marsien’s, so there’s no guarantee that killing Eris would lift the curse.
In the end, it meant there was a need for Ersen to stay alive.
So if, according to this speculation, the Emperor had been watching over me for his son’s sake.
I bet on that and opened my mouth.
“How much do you know about the curse?”
“How dare you ask me questions?”
You know quite a lot, properly.
“I’m asking because what I’m about to say should only be known by Your Majesty.”
The Emperor cannot kill half-demons.
Not because he doesn’t intend to kill them, but because he’s someone with abilities who can’t kill them even if he wants to.
‘At least for the next few months.’
I don’t know why he didn’t stop that disastrous flow before my regression. I only knew that he had fallen into a coma for about 3 months, and that the trigger was some favored retainer.
‘The situation reached its worst during those 3 months.’
Because I had once overheard what Theodore hyung had said to the Archduke in anger.
“Who would have thought Marquis Zafar had connections with the elders.”
“……He was someone who enjoyed dealing with half-demons.”
That day, hyung had said that. That Marquis Zafar would bring tea while playing chess with the Emperor, and the Emperor enjoyed drinking it.
Something that looked like a precious nutritional supplement that increased mana purity rather than poison before it accumulated, but if it exceeded the proper amount, parasites that gnawed at mana would grow inside the body.
The Emperor would overcome those parasites himself and wake up, but the consequences of his absence were painful.
A strong person helps just by existing.
“Speak.”
Though his expression was indifferent, his eyes became a bit clearer.
After confirming there were no people around, I bowed my head once then lifted it, looking straight at him as I spoke.
If I stayed too long, whether nobles or half-demons, I didn’t know what they might think, so I had to finish everything within about the time it would take to refuse the Marsien proposal and come out.
“First, the tea the marquis is bringing now is not medicine but poison. If you continue drinking it, parasites that gnaw at mana will grow in your body within a few months, making it difficult for you to move.”
“……”
Though I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, the Emperor didn’t interrupt and stared at me intently.
“Second, only when all four people’s curses are lifted will that curse finally disappear. So please help me until I lift all four people’s curses.”
“Hmm.”
“Following that, third, I will deal with the hardline half-demons, so please let the moderate half-demons live in their territory. I will eliminate the half-demons’ chronic problem with the gray treasure.”
The Emperor didn’t ask what the gray treasure was.
Instead, a gleam just briefly crossed his eyes.
“However, if the gray treasure falls into the hands of the one who was Concubine Eris.”
What if I couldn’t sufficiently build the foundation for the four people’s happy ending and died leaving the hardline half-demons behind?
No, what if I died without being able to kill Eris?
I had to prepare for such a case.
“Then you must kill both that person and me simultaneously.”
After encountering Eris’s resurrection, I thought about what would be the complete way to deal with her.
The main point was that Eris had probably been resurrected through a curse.
Then what had been the medium for that powerful curse?
I found that answer after hearing the Marsien family’s proposal.
That Ersen had become the medium for Eris’s resurrection.
Perhaps Eris had been so angry after finding out this fact while looking for a resurrection medium.
That was probably what the record of “sacrifice constitution” meant.
“It seems that person has now realized I need to stay alive, but Your Majesty is the only one who can deal with her.”
I had thought about entrusting it to the Archduke.
From the Emperor’s position, killing Lady Marsien for becoming a resurrection vessel for the dead without clear evidence would cause chaos, so it was something that shouldn’t be done.
Even if it involved his son.
But I was opening up the possibility of doing that through a deal with me.
The Emperor looked at me like I was some strange monster, then opened his mouth.
“You’ll die? Gladly, for my son’s sake.”
“Is there any other meaning to my life?”
When I asked with a grin, the Emperor immediately answered.
“You understand your place well. I’ll praise you for that one thing.”
“I’m at a loss for what to do with myself, Your Majesty.”
“Tsk, I’ll accept that proposal for now.”
Instead of granting my demands, the Emperor told me to make a binding oath that things must happen exactly as I said.
Quick decision-making.
Another mana contract was completed in an instant.
The guarantor was the Emperor’s attendant.
“First, please stop drinking that tea. Well, I know you’re someone who would overcome any problems quickly, but if you collapse, Crown Prince hyung will have a very hard time.”
With a lighter heart, I threw out those words and came out.
Just before turning my head, the Emperor seemed to make a strange expression, but I quickly forgot about it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
I love this story so much