Seliya stared blankly at Viscount Brillion, who was locked in the tower.
As she watched the Viscount, who had passed out and was unable to come to his senses, past memories came back vividly.
As a Princess, she had fallen to the ground in an instant and rolled in the mud.
Even when she came to Abelon, she had wandered the streets covered in mud, fearing that someone might recognize her. The one who took her in was the Viscount.
The Viscount gave her a thorough bath and gave her new clothes.
At first, Seliya felt a little grateful to the Viscount for taking her in. However, she soon realized that she was mistaken.
There is no such thing as unmerited favor in the world.
Seliya saw the unseen desire in the face of the Viscount who adopted her.
Her sons were the same. They kept licking their lips as they looked at her with faces dripping with desire.
The Count's wife, Hariel, cursed at her for not having her period and saying that it was her fault for playing with her body, and her daughter, Gabriel, went even further and suggested that instead of being a debutante, she should open a public courtship and sell herself to men without hesitation.
Seliya had never had anything of her own while living in the Count's mansion.
To them, Seliya was nothing more or less than an object to be exploited.
Fortunately, that was why no one knew her true intentions.
'If I think about it, there might have been a better way to get revenge. But I didn't have time.'
It was ironic that she ended up with a limited lifespan because of her strong supernatural power. In fact, if she had just let people covet her as they pleased, she might not have even been limited to a limited lifespan.
If she hadn't used her supernatural power, her lifespan wouldn't have been shortened.
However, if she hadn't done that, she wouldn't have met Dietrich.
She would have lived forever thinking that the man who destroyed her kingdom was an old and ugly Emperor.
"...Thank you.”
Seliya smiled with her eyes wide open at the Viscount who was lying on the tower.
“Thanks to you, I found out who my true enemy is.”
Not only that, but she also gained a partner to destroy Abelon with.
The person who would heal her terminally ill body, and the only person she loved enough to entrust everything to.
Seliya turned her head to Dietrich who was next to her.
When their eyes met, Dietrich, who had been silently watching over her, smiled faintly.
“I’ll put the rest of your family in the same room as they are found.”
Seliya smiled and left the tower with those words.
The wind that blew as soon as she left the tower tickled Seliya’s cheek.
Seliya looked up at the sky covered with dark clouds and opened her mouth.
“...What happened to Illeon?”
“It seems like things have completely fallen apart with the Duke of Portman.”
The situation was turning unfavorable for Illeon.
“Good.”
It was only a little bit from now on. Until the destruction of Abelon.
“I wouldn’t have been able to come here alone.”
Dietrich answered, pushing Seliya’s hair stuck to her cheek behind her ear.
“No, if it were you, who I know, it would have been possible.”
“I don’t even have a newspaper like you. All I have is my body.”
“What I have is yours, Seliya.”
Seliya stared at Dietrich. When they first met, it was unimaginable that he would say something like that.
Things in this world don’t always go as planned.
Who would have thought that yesterday’s enemy would become the eternal ally?
Seliya dreamed of a future with Dietrich.
It would have been nice to travel here and there as originally planned, but Dietrich was too big for that.
After the country was destroyed, he had spent ten long years preparing a plan to infiltrate the imperial palace, the center of the enemy camp, and destroy Abelon.
“...After Abelon is destroyed, I think it would be a good idea for you to establish a new country.”
“A country?”
“Yes. You establish a new country so that people like us will never appear again. With you as the King, we won’t have to worry about being invaded, right?”
“A country...”
Dietrich seemed to be pondering Seliya’s words.
Seliya carefully observed Dietrich’s profile, lost in thought. The red eyes beneath his black eyelashes looked like the glow of the setting sun, or like a flame burning its body.
The reason she couldn’t take her eyes off of them at first was because of those eyes.
Dietrich noticed Seliya’s gaze and turned his head toward her.
“If that’s what you want, then let’s do that.”
Seliya narrowed her eyes at Dietrich’s answer.
“...What do you want?”
“To be with you.”
Dietrich answered without thinking. She hadn’t expected that answer, but Seliya somehow found herself laughing.
Even though nothing had ended properly yet. As Seliya spent time with Dietrich, she had begun to envision a future with him.
Just like Dietrich had.
“Since the newspapers spread the news of Illeon’s misdeeds, he’ll try to act sooner than expected.”
Dietrich continued, holding Seliya’s hand.
“We covered up the false rumors that you were a witch with bigger rumors. Now, it’s just a matter of time before Illeon is caught and Abelon is ruined.”
Seliya really wishes that were true. She wished the day would come when she could put down all the burdens she'd been carrying and rest in peace.
“But, will people really believe what’s written in the newspaper? Even before Illeon ascended to the throne, he was like a symbol of Abelon.”
“Even if they didn’t believe it, they would try to verify its authenticity. The more expectations they had for the new Emperor, the greater the sense of betrayal.”
Dietrich’s thoughts were right on the mark.
At first, no one wanted to believe the articles about Illeon.
However, given the current situation, with the Great Temple burned down and the overall political situation of the country in turmoil, Illeon, the symbol of Abelon, couldn’t completely avoid people’s suspicions. People thought that Illeon’s life would become more prosperous if he became Emperor, but didn’t it only make things more chaotic?
Suspicion soon led to distrust, and distrust led to hatred.
The rumors that Seliya was a witch still persisted.
However, people now talked more about how God was angry and punishing Illeon for breaking the oath of the three Dukes not to ascend to the throne, rather than talking about getting rid of Seliya, the witch.
It was only after their situation became precarious that they began to question the deaths of the royal family.
The deaths of the royal family one after another could not be explained by the mere fact that Seliya was a witch.
Those who were about to storm the palace were confused.
They looked for the other two Dukes who could calm their anxiety.
“Portman, where is His Excellency the Duke of Portman, and what is he doing now? His Excellency the Duke of Cervantes!”
“How can the two Dukes, the pillars of Abelon, do nothing in this critical situation?”
Arthur Cervantes.
Arthur may have been an eccentric, but he was a peerless genius when it came to magic.
Unlike the previous Duke Cervantes, the problem was that he did not distribute the items he created but used them to adorn himself.
Very few people knew that Arthur had died at the hands of Dietrich. There was no way that Balt and Illeon, who were not even their closest associates, would have known about Arthur’s death.
“Even His Excellency the Duke of Calypso.”
Dietrich was mentioned by the people. Those who were called the Duke acted as if they had forgotten that he had been stripped of his title.
“The person who protected Abelon more than anyone else now has complete control of the palace. I can’t say anything with confidence when he’s arrested for even mentioning the word witch.”
“...Not only that. He even issued a control order. How did things end up like this?”
“Is His Majesty the Emperor really locked up in prison?”
As a Princess, she had fallen to the ground in an instant and rolled in the mud.
Even when she came to Abelon, she had wandered the streets covered in mud, fearing that someone might recognize her. The one who took her in was the Viscount.
The Viscount gave her a thorough bath and gave her new clothes.
At first, Seliya felt a little grateful to the Viscount for taking her in. However, she soon realized that she was mistaken.
There is no such thing as unmerited favor in the world.
Seliya saw the unseen desire in the face of the Viscount who adopted her.
Her sons were the same. They kept licking their lips as they looked at her with faces dripping with desire.
The Count's wife, Hariel, cursed at her for not having her period and saying that it was her fault for playing with her body, and her daughter, Gabriel, went even further and suggested that instead of being a debutante, she should open a public courtship and sell herself to men without hesitation.
Seliya had never had anything of her own while living in the Count's mansion.
To them, Seliya was nothing more or less than an object to be exploited.
Fortunately, that was why no one knew her true intentions.
'If I think about it, there might have been a better way to get revenge. But I didn't have time.'
It was ironic that she ended up with a limited lifespan because of her strong supernatural power. In fact, if she had just let people covet her as they pleased, she might not have even been limited to a limited lifespan.
If she hadn't used her supernatural power, her lifespan wouldn't have been shortened.
However, if she hadn't done that, she wouldn't have met Dietrich.
She would have lived forever thinking that the man who destroyed her kingdom was an old and ugly Emperor.
"...Thank you.”
Seliya smiled with her eyes wide open at the Viscount who was lying on the tower.
“Thanks to you, I found out who my true enemy is.”
Not only that, but she also gained a partner to destroy Abelon with.
The person who would heal her terminally ill body, and the only person she loved enough to entrust everything to.
Seliya turned her head to Dietrich who was next to her.
When their eyes met, Dietrich, who had been silently watching over her, smiled faintly.
“I’ll put the rest of your family in the same room as they are found.”
Seliya smiled and left the tower with those words.
The wind that blew as soon as she left the tower tickled Seliya’s cheek.
Seliya looked up at the sky covered with dark clouds and opened her mouth.
“...What happened to Illeon?”
“It seems like things have completely fallen apart with the Duke of Portman.”
The situation was turning unfavorable for Illeon.
“Good.”
It was only a little bit from now on. Until the destruction of Abelon.
“I wouldn’t have been able to come here alone.”
Dietrich answered, pushing Seliya’s hair stuck to her cheek behind her ear.
“No, if it were you, who I know, it would have been possible.”
“I don’t even have a newspaper like you. All I have is my body.”
“What I have is yours, Seliya.”
Seliya stared at Dietrich. When they first met, it was unimaginable that he would say something like that.
Things in this world don’t always go as planned.
Who would have thought that yesterday’s enemy would become the eternal ally?
Seliya dreamed of a future with Dietrich.
It would have been nice to travel here and there as originally planned, but Dietrich was too big for that.
After the country was destroyed, he had spent ten long years preparing a plan to infiltrate the imperial palace, the center of the enemy camp, and destroy Abelon.
“...After Abelon is destroyed, I think it would be a good idea for you to establish a new country.”
“A country?”
“Yes. You establish a new country so that people like us will never appear again. With you as the King, we won’t have to worry about being invaded, right?”
“A country...”
Dietrich seemed to be pondering Seliya’s words.
Seliya carefully observed Dietrich’s profile, lost in thought. The red eyes beneath his black eyelashes looked like the glow of the setting sun, or like a flame burning its body.
The reason she couldn’t take her eyes off of them at first was because of those eyes.
Dietrich noticed Seliya’s gaze and turned his head toward her.
“If that’s what you want, then let’s do that.”
Seliya narrowed her eyes at Dietrich’s answer.
“...What do you want?”
“To be with you.”
Dietrich answered without thinking. She hadn’t expected that answer, but Seliya somehow found herself laughing.
Even though nothing had ended properly yet. As Seliya spent time with Dietrich, she had begun to envision a future with him.
Just like Dietrich had.
“Since the newspapers spread the news of Illeon’s misdeeds, he’ll try to act sooner than expected.”
Dietrich continued, holding Seliya’s hand.
“We covered up the false rumors that you were a witch with bigger rumors. Now, it’s just a matter of time before Illeon is caught and Abelon is ruined.”
Seliya really wishes that were true. She wished the day would come when she could put down all the burdens she'd been carrying and rest in peace.
“But, will people really believe what’s written in the newspaper? Even before Illeon ascended to the throne, he was like a symbol of Abelon.”
“Even if they didn’t believe it, they would try to verify its authenticity. The more expectations they had for the new Emperor, the greater the sense of betrayal.”
***
Dietrich’s thoughts were right on the mark.
At first, no one wanted to believe the articles about Illeon.
However, given the current situation, with the Great Temple burned down and the overall political situation of the country in turmoil, Illeon, the symbol of Abelon, couldn’t completely avoid people’s suspicions. People thought that Illeon’s life would become more prosperous if he became Emperor, but didn’t it only make things more chaotic?
Suspicion soon led to distrust, and distrust led to hatred.
The rumors that Seliya was a witch still persisted.
However, people now talked more about how God was angry and punishing Illeon for breaking the oath of the three Dukes not to ascend to the throne, rather than talking about getting rid of Seliya, the witch.
It was only after their situation became precarious that they began to question the deaths of the royal family.
The deaths of the royal family one after another could not be explained by the mere fact that Seliya was a witch.
Those who were about to storm the palace were confused.
They looked for the other two Dukes who could calm their anxiety.
“Portman, where is His Excellency the Duke of Portman, and what is he doing now? His Excellency the Duke of Cervantes!”
“How can the two Dukes, the pillars of Abelon, do nothing in this critical situation?”
Arthur Cervantes.
Arthur may have been an eccentric, but he was a peerless genius when it came to magic.
Unlike the previous Duke Cervantes, the problem was that he did not distribute the items he created but used them to adorn himself.
Very few people knew that Arthur had died at the hands of Dietrich. There was no way that Balt and Illeon, who were not even their closest associates, would have known about Arthur’s death.
“Even His Excellency the Duke of Calypso.”
Dietrich was mentioned by the people. Those who were called the Duke acted as if they had forgotten that he had been stripped of his title.
“The person who protected Abelon more than anyone else now has complete control of the palace. I can’t say anything with confidence when he’s arrested for even mentioning the word witch.”
“...Not only that. He even issued a control order. How did things end up like this?”
“Is His Majesty the Emperor really locked up in prison?”
No matter how much the ignorant racked their brains, there was no way they could come up with a proper answer.
Abelon, which had lost its leader to rely on, was quickly heading toward destruction.
“I..., I apologize for eavesdropping on the conversation, but I happened to see Your Majesty the Emperor on the street a while ago.”
The attention of those who were talking while avoiding the guards’ eyes turned to the person who had suddenly interrupted.
They couldn’t see his face properly because he was wearing a robe, but the calm and deep voice made the people wait for his next words.
“Is that true? You saw His Majesty on the street?”
“Yes, His Majesty the Emperor. But I don’t know if I can tell you what I saw... It was so shocking.”
Abelon, which had lost its leader to rely on, was quickly heading toward destruction.
“I..., I apologize for eavesdropping on the conversation, but I happened to see Your Majesty the Emperor on the street a while ago.”
The attention of those who were talking while avoiding the guards’ eyes turned to the person who had suddenly interrupted.
They couldn’t see his face properly because he was wearing a robe, but the calm and deep voice made the people wait for his next words.
“Is that true? You saw His Majesty on the street?”
“Yes, His Majesty the Emperor. But I don’t know if I can tell you what I saw... It was so shocking.”
The man hesitated as if he had difficulty speaking.
One of the people who couldn’t stand it any longer urged him.
“Please tell me what you saw.”
Unable to resist the urging, the man told what he had seen.
The people present were shocked by what he said.
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