Chapter 22

Chapter 22 : Good Medicine is Bitter to the Mouth (1)

Theore’s birthday banquet ended abruptly with the assassin’s attack and Legina’s declaration of annulment. There wasn’t much left anyway, as the last musical piece was already coming to an end. However, thanks to the consecutive major incidents, the nobles who attended the banquet were half-dazed as they got into their respective carriages to return home. It was quiet now, but it was clear that the capital would be quite noisy by tomorrow morning.

And Legina was now in the Emperor’s study, having been led there by him. Complaining that he was doing something he never did, as if there was some urgent matter, she looked at the pale-faced Emperor, wondering if he hadn’t been poisoned after all, or if she should prepare the medicinal tea one more time.

Was the assassin’s appearance a shock? Or my annulment declaration? If the annulment is the problem, I hope he just scolds me lightly and sends me back.

Having maintained a state of tension since early morning, Legina was utterly exhausted now that the events were over. She maintained her imperial dignity by keeping her back straight, but she wanted nothing more than to return to her room and collapse onto her bed.

As if knowing or not knowing her inner turmoil, the Emperor, who had been silently gazing at Legina’s face for a long time, finally spoke.

“Why on earth did you do such a thing?”

His voice was low and terribly shaky. Legina, thinking it was due to his shock from seeing the assassin, replied without much thought.

“If you’re referring to the annulment…”

“Not that!”

Legina flinched at the Emperor’s roar. She thought he was angry, so she assumed it was about the annulment, but it seemed not.

…Then what is it? He wouldn’t be trying to say that the assassin’s attack was my fault, would he?

No matter how much the Emperor disliked her, she hadn’t summoned the assassin, and it didn’t seem like he would get angry over that.

“I don’t know why you’re angry. If you tell me the reason, I will apologize. And I’ll reflect, if you wish.”

“Legina!”

“Yes, Imperial Princess Legina is here.”

If it were her from before the regression, she would have prostrated herself on the floor, begging for forgiveness without even knowing what she had done wrong. But Legina, who had traveled back in time, was different. Having already abandoned all expectations of Larousse, Legina simply gazed at the irrationally angry Larousse with calm, settled eyes.

“Why did you act yourself?”

“What?”

“Why did you personally step forward and stop the assassin?!”

“…Is there a problem with that?”

What? He’s angry because she stopped the assassin? Even if she had no expectations of him, this made her a bit angry. Now, after saving his life, she was getting scolded. Legina sighed, wondering why she hadn’t become a troublemaker sooner, and spoke.

“I don’t know if my stopping the assassin is something Your Majesty should be angry about.”

“Legina!”

“Your Majesty was behind me. If I hadn’t stopped him, a sharp blade would have reached Your Majesty. In such a situation, should I have dodged?”

“What father in the world would prioritize his own safety over his child’s?!”

Legina was speechless for a moment at the Emperor’s outcry. So, the reason the Emperor was angry was because she had done something dangerous, was it? It was truly dumbfounding.

“Hmm… So, the reason Your Majesty is angry is because you’re worried about me…?”

Larousse, too, was speechless at Legina’s genuinely curious question. It was a moment when he even forgot to be angry, seeing Legina look at him as if his concern for his daughter’s safety was absurd.

“What father would not worry about his daughter?”

“Yes, that’s right. Usually, but… Your Majesty isn’t, are you?”

“What?”

“Your Majesty has no daughter.”

Was this when one should use the expression “my jaw dropped in surprise”? Legina thought, looking at the Emperor who was staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. She knew his violet eyes, which resembled hers, were shaking violently, but only the impression of them shaking remained, with no other emotional turmoil.

“No matter how much I tried, you didn’t treat me as your daughter, so I decided that Your Majesty had no daughter. Am I wrong?”

“…You are my daughter.”

“Well. Someone who never once answered when called ‘Father’ probably isn’t in a position to say that now.”

At her calm, indifferent voice, devoid of even anger or contempt, the Emperor could not look Legina directly in the eye. He had merely thought she had changed a little. And because he had noticed that change, he believed that even if it was a little late, there would be a way to make amends. But no. The gate was firmly shut, and Legina, the mistress of the castle, would never look back at him. The Emperor realized that.

“Then why…?”

“Ah, why did I stop the assassin, you ask? Isn’t it obvious? You are His Majesty. You are the owner of this Empire. As the Imperial Princess, how could I pretend not to see an assassin trying to harm Your Majesty?”

“…”

It was a perfectly logical reason.

“If you have nothing further to say, I shall withdraw. I am tired.”

Legina left the study without waiting for Larousse’s reply. And the Emperor, looking at his daughter’s retreating back, could not utter a single word.

After leaving the study, she met Aaron again in the corridor leading back to her room. Legina stopped in her tracks, looking at his beautiful face, where the moonlight cast a long shadow, and somehow thought his beautiful face looked a little complicated.

“My lord, you haven’t left?”

“Why did you do that?”

“Huh? Are you talking about that too?”

She hadn’t anticipated the Emperor’s reaction, nor had she expected this from Aaron, so she scratched her cheek slightly, unable to hide her embarrassment. She had acted because she felt she could, but with both the Emperor and now Aaron scolding her, it somehow felt like she had done something she shouldn’t have.

“Well, it’s because the person behind me was His Majesty, wasn’t it? If I had backed away, His Majesty would have been in danger.”

“You should have kept me close.”

Ouch. Legina, who had intentionally sent Aaron to a different spot, subtly averted his gaze, wondering if he had noticed that fact.

“…I didn’t think something like that would happen.”

“The banquet’s security is lax. Do not send me away again.”

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t noticed that much. Legina, her smile returning, nodded at his words.

“I will do so. From now on, even if you try to push me away, I will be clinging to you, so don’t worry too much, my lord.”

Since she had declared the annulment today, she now had to officially begin acting as a troublemaker madly in love. Legina jokingly said that he might find her annoying in the future, then began to walk again. Aaron naturally began to walk by her side. It seemed he intended to escort her to her room, perhaps troubled by the events in the banquet hall earlier.

“There won’t be any other incidents, so don’t worry and return, my lord.”

“I will escort you.”

“If you do that, it won’t look like I’m the only one clinging. No, no. Let’s say I clung to you. I was terrified after meeting the assassin and clung to you. How does that sound?”

“You don’t need to go that far.”

Aaron sighed softly, looking down at her sparkling violet eyes. The Imperial Princess, who had agreed to a contract relationship with him, seemed to have forgotten that she had almost died just moments ago. Of course, she was a brave princess who had defeated an assassin in one go—a perfect chair shot, even upon reconsideration—and then calmly declared the annulment of her engagement with a cheerful smile.

I have a feeling things are going to get exhausting.

He had a feeling he would be caught up in even bigger incidents in the future. Aaron, with a premonition that was almost certainty, hoped that it would be a big incident he could handle.

After the banquet, Hermann and Annetta returned to the Ducal House of Slyveig and stood in the unlit garden, looking up at the sky. More precisely, Annetta was looking at the sky, and Hermann was watching Annetta.

“I didn’t expect to fail.”

“The Imperial Princess’s response was swift.”

“Indeed. And the annulment… The Imperial Princess seems to have changed a little.”

Annetta spoke politely, and Hermann calmly accepted, but the atmosphere between them was somehow different.

“Why do you think the Imperial Princess changed?” the one known as Slyveig’s sorceress asked indifferently.

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Give me a little more time, Annetta.” The one who replied politely was the young Duke of Slyveig.

If Legina had witnessed this scene, she would have been greatly confused. However, this was the garden of the Slyveig mansion, and the only ones watching the two were the moon, sinking towards the west, and the stars, twinkling and holding their places.

“Do I just need to give you time?”

“No, that is, that’s not it…”

“Hmm?”

“Ugh, Annetta… No, Evaldina…”

“Oh, has it come to that already?”

Annetta, who had been looking up at the sky, turned her gaze to Hermann, who was suddenly shaking his head in confusion. His murky sky-blue eyes, which were looking at her, wavered, then rapidly began to regain their original clear color.

“It’s strange, you’ve been so demanding lately. Unlike the others in the ducal house.”

Annetta’s pale, slender fingers touched Hermann’s forehead. Black smoke flowed from her fingertips, enveloping Hermann. His sky-blue eyes, which had been shaking in confusion, rapidly regained their stability and returned to their cloudy, misty light. The confusion was gone now. Annetta calmly looked down at Hermann, then stroked his midnight-blue hair with her fingers and looked up at the sky again.

“Lord Hermann.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll give you time. Find out why the Imperial Princess has changed. Don’t disappoint me. Understood?”

“I won’t disappoint you.”

“Good. Don’t disappoint me.”

Because if you disappoint me like that man, I might truly get angry.

Annetta, whispering in a voice too small for Hermann to hear, turned and left the garden. Hermann, left alone, watched Annetta’s retreating back, then turned his gaze to the moon she had been looking at. His eyes, watching the moon completely tilted to the west, soon to disappear behind the mountains, had lost their former murky light and now shone with a clear, beautiful sky-blue.

– Mochinuna.