In fact, even before going to the palace to fetch the Grand Duchess, Kishian had been feeling restless.
Bianca thought he was only doing this because of bad memories of the palace.
'If you think about it, you became particularly sensitive whenever you heard news related to the Grand Duchess.'
Now that she thinks about it, it seems like it wasn't the palace, but the Grand Duchess that was causing his emotions to waver.
Kishian snapped at Madame Bianca, not even realizing that he was losing his temper for the first time in a long time.
"I don't want to hear the details of my wife's meals. When she gets hungry, she'll call you and ask you to prepare a meal for her. I have a headache about other things."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I've acted rashly again. I'll just finish the meal and leave quickly."
Blanca immediately lowered her head.
Not knowing the circumstances, she wondered if Kishian was being too cold-hearted toward his wife, but even so, there was no way to help the Grand Duchess.
How could she dare preach to the Grand Duke, who was practically the King who ruled the North?
Poor Grand Duchess. He has a deep resentment against her because of her engagement to the Duke of Herssen... It wasn't an engagement she liked...
In that way, Bianca could only feel pity for the poor Grand Duchess who had to go north alone at an age similar to her own daughter.
***
When the palace was enveloped in pitch darkness, a carriage quietly passed through the palace gate.
Originally, all the palace maids should have come out and made a fuss to welcome it, but the imperial treasure was on board.
That treasure, Letie, went straight to the Emperor, despite the late hour.
The Emperor, who had not been able to sleep until that hour anyway, did not refuse his daughter's visit, and Letie immediately asked the question that had been on her mind.
"Father, my sister..."
"She left."
The Emperor's short answer contained everything.
Letie's older sister, Elona, eventually left to become the Grand Duke's prey in her younger sister's stead.
Letie lowered her head and held the hem of my dress tightly.
"Are Elona okay? I'm so worried about her. She has to marry such a savage northern man..."
"She's a smart kid, so she'll be fine. You should worry about yourself instead."
Letie stood there dumbfounded, not understanding what she had to worry about when she was safely left in the palace.
The Emperor affectionately patted his daughter's shoulder and gave her advice.
"From now on, you must live thoroughly as Elona."
"..."
"When you talk about your older sister, who was originally Elona, and now Letie, you must always call her 'younger sister'. Make it a habit so that you don't make a mistake when you go somewhere else."
"...Yes, Father."
The request just now was also a request to the Emperor and to herself.
He kept repeating to himself that from the beginning, his only daughter was this child in front of him, 'Elona'.
The existence of the daughter who had to be thrown into the monster's mouth had to be forgotten.
'I couldn't help it. It was inevitable, so as not to lose something more Important..."
Of course, as a father, it was regrettable to send Elona away like that, but he had no other choice but to protect Letie.
According to the prophecy, Letie was an important child who would one day lift the curse on the royal family.
He tried to find something else to talk about, trying to ignore the frustration that kept creeping in.
"Anyway, now that you are the only Princess left in the palace, you should take responsibility for it. From now on, you will have to take charge of all the royal duties that the two of you used to share."
"What is my job...?"
"Yes, the duties that you and Elona, noz Letie were sharing."
The fake Elona also smiled awkwardly at the Emperor who awkwardly called Elona Letie...
It was that cute smile she would give every time she did something wrong.
The Emperor felt ominous and asked.
"What was that kid doing?"
"..."
"Tell me. You probably know something about it since you worked together and divided up the work."
"..."
You don't know anything?
"No way... Are you really just passing it all on to that kid?"
Letie, who had been maintaining her usual awkward smile, finally slowly revealed the truth.
"I'm sorry. But it was just too difficult for me. I kept making mistakes without realizing it. So at some point, my older sister started taking care of everything."
"..."
While making that confession, the Emperor felt a sense of relief when he saw Letie calling Elona 'sister' again.
It hadn't even been 3 minutes since he asked her to call Elona little sister from now on...
If she's this sloppy, she's sure to make a slip of the tongue when she goes to an important place.
'Come to think of it, that kid was always busy. Was she just taking care of the work by herself?'
The imperial administration had always run smoothly without a hitch.
So there was no need to worry about it, and he didn't even know that Elona was burdened with excessive work.
It may be that the cogwheel called Elona played a big role in the royal family's smooth operation so far.
The Grand Duke drew his sword and came all the way to the palace, so he sent her away in a hurry, but he was still dizzy when he was left with Leti.
How will the imperial family, with such an important part missing, return to normal tomorrow?
At that time...
"It's a monster!! Catch it!!"
The guards' sudden shouts echoed from the hallway to the Emperor's bedroom.
Thanks to that, his thoughts were cut off, but he didn't feel angry. The content of that shout was so shocking.
"A monster?'
Unlike the North, monsters rarely appeared in the islands. Except for the monster rampage three years ago, monsters rarely entered the palace.
But now that the demon rampage is over, why is there suddenly a demon..?
"What's the fuss?"
"Your Majesty!"
As the Emperor opened the bedroom door and appeared, the knights lined up with stern faces.
Among them, the captain of the guard showed the Emperor a strange ball of hair.
"I'm sorry. A small monster suddenly entered the palace, so I quickly captured it."
"A monster...?"
"Yes, it seems the servants came in through the side door that was forgotten and left unlocked, but you don't need to worry too much. The low-level monster we just captured is said to be non-toxic and a safe species."
"Hmm..."
"I feel ashamed for making a fuss over nothing."
The Emperor became thoughtful as he watched the furry 'lower-level monster' thrashing around while being held by the captain of the guards' arms.
Four times before Elona and Letie were born, and once during the monster rampage three years ago...
During his reign, monsters were only discovered in the palace a total of five times.
That monster was right before his eyes.
'What a surprise.'
Since the twins were born, the number of monster encounters has decreased significantly, and he is so grateful to Letie.
As expected, she was raised as a savior of the future, and she brought good luck.
But, in the palace where Letie was standing guard, there was suddenly a monster.
"..."
The Emperor stroked his chin uneasily.
Something was sending a chill down his spine, a feeling that he was missing something very important.
***
"You don't have to be so nervous, Your Highness. His Highness the Grand Duke is so popular in the Grand Duchy of Lennon. There's no way the people of the territory wouldn't welcome someone the Grand Duke brought."
Even after hearing Madame Bianca's words, my stiff shoulders did not loosen.
No, it actually became more solid.
That would be the case, after all, I am the daughter of the man who tried to kill that popular young Grand Duke.
But, to pass by the people of Lennon, who love Kishian so much, smiling happily with Kishian...
I also asked if it would be okay to just ride in the carriage like before, but they said no.
The Grand Duke is returning with the Grand Duke's consort, so it is only natural that I should show my face to the people of the territory?
'I should stop worrying so much. There's no way anyone would know that it was my father's fault that Kishian almost died...'
People don't know about the royal family's sins. I'm the only one who's being needlessly stabbed and scared.
I tried to relax by reminding myself of that fact over and over again.
Meanwhile, Anne, who was putting makeup on my face, chattered away like a sparrow.
"But are you sure you don't need to eat anything before the procession? You just had a few sips of stew."
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