“You have too many questions. Unlike the Princess.”
“...Yes? Princess?”
Gabriel, who could not understand Illeon’s words, made a dumbfounded expression.
“Would you understand if I said Seliya Brillion?”
Gabriel’s face instantly distorted as Seliya came out of Illeon’s mouth.
“Seliya? What kind of trouble did she get into again?”
Illeon smiled faintly.
“She’s been in a lot of trouble.”
“What kind of trouble... is it?”
“She's planning to completely destroy this Abelon with her lover Dietrich, right? And you’re part of Seliya’s family.”
Gabriel’s face turned pale.
Unlike the puppet Emperor, the current Emperor was Illeon before her eyes.
What kind of person was Illeon?
Unlike Arthur, who used magic, Illeon was a genius in a different sense.
He could make his own poison, and he was smart enough to see right through people's minds.
Gabriel racked his brain to find a way out of this situation, but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a good solution.
'In fact, why don't I just say that I hated Seliya? Since he probably doesn't know what I did to her at the mansion anyway.'
Gabriel decided to completely cut off Seliya as if cutting off her tail.
"I've never thought of Seliya as family. Your Majesty, I love this Abelon where I was born and raised. Why would I do something like that with Seliya?"
"Tell me more. If your excuses sound plausible, I'll spare you."
Illeon tilted his head.
Gabriel realized that her life depended entirely on Illeon's words.
Gabriel quickly continued to speak to survive.
"If Your Majesty has any questions, I can answer them. For example, about Seliya's secret..."
Illeon's eyes narrowed.
"...A secret?"
Gabriel nodded repeatedly as Illeon showed interest.
"Yes. It's a really big secret."
"What kind of secret is it?"
"In return, guarantee the safety of me and my family. Then I'll tell you."
Illeon lifted one corner of his mouth as he watched Gabriel trying to bargain her worthless life for Seliya's secret.
"Doesn't that 'family' include Seliya?"
"As I said earlier, Seliya is a fake with no blood in her."
Illeon smiled meaningfully.
"...Let's find out what the secret is."
"Actually, Seliya can't have children."
Illeon narrowed his eyebrows.
"I think it's because her body is weak to begin with."
Gabriel left out the fact that Hariel, who disliked Seliya, had given her a drug that prevented her from having children.
“She must be so weak that I even saw her vomit blood right before entering the palace. Oh, I had no choice but to send her to the palace because His Majesty the late Emperor had ordered us to send Seliya.”
“Vomiting blood?”
Illeon frowned at the first time he heard that.
“Yes, it wasn’t the first time I’ve experienced it, so much so that I felt used to it. Even when I was surprised and tried to call a doctor, she kept saying it was okay and instead tried to stop me. Like a real witch using black magic.”
In fact, Gabriel, who hated Seliya more than anyone else, would never call a doctor for Seliya.
Gabriel laughed as if her heart was relieved to see Seliya coughing up blood.
Gabriel had never told anyone about this until now because she was afraid that the timid Hariel would cancel her plan to send Seliya to the old Emperor if she found out.
Illeon was silent for a while.
Gabriel kept glancing at Illeon, who was lost in his own thoughts as if thinking about something.
If things were as they were, it would have been nearly impossible to even have a conversation like this.
Illeon, who had risen from the young master of the border and the ruler of the southern territory to the throne of the Emperor.
Even Gabriel thought that they were on different levels.
‘Seliya became the lover of Dietrich, whom I coveted, so why can’t I do the same?’
Even in a situation where her own life was in danger, Gabriel was obsessed with a deep inferiority complex toward Seliya.
Feeling Gabriel’s gaze, Illeon smiled and lowered his head.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“...If you don’t mind, I have something to ask you.”
“What?”
Gabriel gulped and lifted her chin at the kind voice.
“What did you mean by Princess?”
“...Princess? Ah.”
Illeon let out a faint laugh. He asked Gabriel a question.
“Let me ask you too. Do you hate Seliya?”
Gabriel nodded vigorously and answered.
“Yes, I really, really hate her. When my father said he was going to adopt a girl who rummaged through trash cans on the street...”
“Do you think Seliya is of humble origins?”
It was a strange question. Gabriel thought that Seliya was of humble origins since she rummaged through trash cans on the street.
Gabriel could not forget the first time she saw Seliya.
She was skinny and ugly, and she had no parents, and her face was covered in mud and looked dirty. Gabriel had been terrified when her father brought her home and bathed her clean.
However, when she came out of the bath, Seliya showed off her dazzling appearance like a freshly bloomed flower, as if she had never been dirty. She didn’t even remember her own name, so the Viscount gave her a name that came to mind randomly: Seliya
Gabriel slowly opened his mouth.
“Yes, I think she’s lowly.”
Illeon let out a refreshing laugh at Gabriel’s answer.
“How much?”
“I think she’s the lowest of all the people I know.”
“You’ve been with the Princess for so long, and you don’t know anything.”
Illeon shook his head as if he felt sorry.
Gabriel stared at Illeon with a blank expression and blinked her eyes like an idiot.
“...The Princess? Are you talking about Seliya?”
“Then who else could there be? You’re not the Princess, are you?”
Gabriel’s eyes shook violently.
“Oh, no. Seliya can’t be of such noble birth...”
Gabriel laughed as if her heart was relieved to see Seliya coughing up blood.
Gabriel had never told anyone about this until now because she was afraid that the timid Hariel would cancel her plan to send Seliya to the old Emperor if she found out.
Illeon was silent for a while.
Gabriel kept glancing at Illeon, who was lost in his own thoughts as if thinking about something.
If things were as they were, it would have been nearly impossible to even have a conversation like this.
Illeon, who had risen from the young master of the border and the ruler of the southern territory to the throne of the Emperor.
Even Gabriel thought that they were on different levels.
‘Seliya became the lover of Dietrich, whom I coveted, so why can’t I do the same?’
Even in a situation where her own life was in danger, Gabriel was obsessed with a deep inferiority complex toward Seliya.
Feeling Gabriel’s gaze, Illeon smiled and lowered his head.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“...If you don’t mind, I have something to ask you.”
“What?”
Gabriel gulped and lifted her chin at the kind voice.
“What did you mean by Princess?”
“...Princess? Ah.”
Illeon let out a faint laugh. He asked Gabriel a question.
“Let me ask you too. Do you hate Seliya?”
Gabriel nodded vigorously and answered.
“Yes, I really, really hate her. When my father said he was going to adopt a girl who rummaged through trash cans on the street...”
“Do you think Seliya is of humble origins?”
It was a strange question. Gabriel thought that Seliya was of humble origins since she rummaged through trash cans on the street.
Gabriel could not forget the first time she saw Seliya.
She was skinny and ugly, and she had no parents, and her face was covered in mud and looked dirty. Gabriel had been terrified when her father brought her home and bathed her clean.
However, when she came out of the bath, Seliya showed off her dazzling appearance like a freshly bloomed flower, as if she had never been dirty. She didn’t even remember her own name, so the Viscount gave her a name that came to mind randomly: Seliya
Gabriel slowly opened his mouth.
“Yes, I think she’s lowly.”
Illeon let out a refreshing laugh at Gabriel’s answer.
“How much?”
“I think she’s the lowest of all the people I know.”
“You’ve been with the Princess for so long, and you don’t know anything.”
Illeon shook his head as if he felt sorry.
Gabriel stared at Illeon with a blank expression and blinked her eyes like an idiot.
“...The Princess? Are you talking about Seliya?”
“Then who else could there be? You’re not the Princess, are you?”
Gabriel’s eyes shook violently.
“Oh, no. Seliya can’t be of such noble birth...”
That can’t be true.
Seliya had never revealed that she was a Princess by birth.
“Your Majesty, you are mistaken,”
Gabriel said with an awkward laugh.
“Seliya is of humble origins. If Seliya was truly of noble origins as Your Majesty said, there’s no way she would have been wandering around like a rascal..."
“You don’t even know Seliya’s real name.”
Illeon bent down and met Gabriel’s eyes.
Gabriel’s whole body got goosebumps when she saw Illeon’s sharp eyes flashing.
“Her real name is Anastasia Drian. The last Princess of the Shan Kingdom that was destroyed by my hands. The real origin of the woman you thought was Seliya.”
Gabriel’s face turned pale at Illeon’s words.
“I didn’t know that she vomited blood, but thank you for telling me. Is that why she staggered after using her power on me?”
Gabriel was extremely confused by this situation.
Gabriel thought Illeon hated Seliya just from what she said.
But now she saw that it wasn’t true.
Illeon looked at her as if she was trash.
Gabriel realized her mistake belatedly.
‘Instead of cutting off my tail, shouldn’t I have appealed to him that I was close with Seliya?’
No.
Illeon had already researched Seliya and knew everything about her, so he asked her.
‘Just curious about my reaction? Or, to find out something he didn’t know?’
Gabriel’s mind was tangled like a thread.
‘No. Neither. I couldn’t even kill time with this person.’
Goosebumps appeared on Gabriel’s arms.
Illeon, who had gotten all the information he could from Gabriel, slowly stood up. Their eye levels widened and the distance between them gradually grew further.
“Your Majesty. Please spare me. I was wrong! If you spare me, I’ll do anything you tell me to do.”
At Gabriel's words, Illeon tilted his head to one side.
"Really? What can you do?"
"I can do anything Your Majesty tells me to do."
"...Everything?"
Gabriel nodded her head up and down several times.
"Then I will give you one last chance."
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