I wonder if Dad will believe me?
I showed him the sword with the Pura in it that I had in the basement, hoping he would believe me, but I didn't think he would believe me right away.
Ten years ago, I was only 11 years old.
How could he believe the absurd fact that his daughter suddenly appeared before his eyes as a 21-year-old adult?
“So that’s how it ended up like that?”
...It shouldn’t be like that, so why do you believe me?
As I took a step back in embarrassment, my father looked at me with a faint smile.
“You said it, so why are you so surprised, Adele?”
“...Do you believe me?”
“I have to believe it.”
Dad, who had narrowed the gap between us, pointed his sword.
“The fact that you are holding this sword is proof of that.”
“...What on earth is this black thing?”
If I didn't get the chance now, I wouldn't be able to find out what this sword was, so I asked in rapid succession.
“Wasn’t it just a sword that Dad used? Why is this sword sealed in the innermost room of the basement? And there’s a rumor that the Pura embedded in this sword is a dragon heart...!”
"Stop."
My father cut me off, gently wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“I know you have a lot to ask, and I would like to explain everything to you one by one, but there’s not enough time left.”
“How much time is left?”
“If my guess is correct, you will be holding an hourglass.”
At those words, I took out the hourglass I had received from the Duke of Lucien.
Then I saw grains of sand falling down.
Even when turned over again, the sand grains continued to fall in the same direction, against the laws of nature.
What on earth is going on?
“You were able to come here thanks to the time magic I placed on this hourglass and key.”
My father explained as if he had read my mind.
“If all the sand grains here move to the opposite side, you will return to your original time.”
So that's why I said there isn't much time left.
Roughly calculated, it was about 10 minutes.
A time that is never long.
It was also an absurdly short amount of time to ask my dad anything I was curious about.
I feel like I should only ask questions that I absolutely need to know or that are important, but where should I start?
I was getting anxious because I didn't have much time.
I didn't even want to waste time thinking about it, but I couldn't ask anything because I thought I wouldn't be able to ask what was really important.
No, no. At a time like this, I have to ask something.
I quickly changed my mind and decided to go into the details in order.
“I heard that the bloodline of Duke Leopold’s family was not actually blessed by the Red Dragon, but inherited it by blood. Is that true?”
My father looked a little surprised at my question.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I guess that’s right.”
That means that all the myths about the Leopold family that I knew were false.
“The Pura stuck here isn’t actually a Pura, but a Dragon Heart, right?”
“...Yeah. That’s right.”
Dad's expression darkened.
“It is the spoils of war that the first head of the Leopold family forcibly took after committing a great offense to the dragon due to his damned greed.”
“And the Emperor is after this spoil.”
Instead of answering, Dad closed his eyes tightly, then sighed deeply, and opened them again.
“You said I was dead ten years later.”
"Yes."
“Did the Emperor kill me?”
“...So you knew.”
Even long before the Emperor killed my father, my father knew he would be killed.
I thought it might be true, but when I actually confirmed it was true, I was filled with anger.
If it had been someone else, I would have grabbed him by the collar and asked him why he did that, but because he was my dad, I couldn't do that and instead just glared at him fiercely.
“If you knew everything, why did you just take it? Why didn’t you say anything to me!”
“...It’s not that I didn’t say anything, it’s that I couldn’t say anything.”
Dad smiled bitterly.
“How can I tell my precious and only daughter that her father will soon be assassinated by the Emperor? She will definitely be shocked.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
“Even if Dad dies, it’s still shocking! And it’s okay if you don’t die!”
Feeling frustrated, I grabbed my father's arm instead of the collar and shouted.
“A father like you could easily defeat the Emperor! If you couldn’t defeat him, you could have asked for help from others, or run away. There must have been many ways, so why did you just take it? Why!”
“...I thought everything would be over when I died.”
My father muttered in a low voice and took the sword.
“I thought it would all be over when I died and the Emperor took this, so I accepted it obediently... I guess that wasn’t the case.”
“What does that mean? Please explain it to me so I can understand.”
I was already anxious because there wasn't much time left, so I absolutely refused to change the subject like this.
“To use the power of the Dragon Heart, two conditions must be met.”
Fortunately, my father understood my feelings and continued speaking while stroking Pura, no, Dragon Heart.
“One will be the head of the Leopold family. The other will have the blood of the Leopold family flowing through his veins.”
So, did the Emperor want a child with mixed blood between the House of Leopold and the Imperial family?
Are you going to take this dragon's heart and use it?
But that's what the child uses, not what the Emperor uses.
By the time the child grew up and was able to fully use the power of the Dragon Heart, the Emperor would likely have grown old and feeble.
Maybe he's dead.
“There is something the Emperor is misunderstanding here.”
My father's voice dug into my head, which was full of questions.
“You misunderstand that having Leopold's blood in his veins is enough and that having blood on hia body is enough.”
“No way... So the Emperor is trying to kill my father?”
“Yes. The Emperor intends to kill me, stain his body with my blood, and use the Dragon Heart.”
Oh my god. What kind of nonsense is this?
I couldn't believe it, but considering the Emperor's actions so far, it seemed entirely possible, so I couldn't help but believe it.
“But that was a mistake. I thought that if the Emperor used my blood to make this dragon heart, he would suffer a strong magical backlash and die.”
If it were me before, I would have asked what magic recoil was, but after hearing Perdes' explanation, I now know.
“I thought everything would be sorted out so neatly... but you became a Duke? That’s unexpected.”
Hearing the deep sigh in his voice, I remembered the diary my father had written.
“Dad... why do you hate me becoming a Duke so much?”
The sadness that had been buried deep in my chest welled up, but I tried to suppress it and asked.
“Why, why do you dislike me becoming a Duke? I am also a blood relative of the Leopold family, and I am my father’s daughter. Why...!”
"This."
When tears finally flowed down my cheeks, my father felt sorry for me and wiped them away.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding. It’s not that I don’t like you being a Duke, it’s that I don’t like you being a non-human being.”
“A being that is... not human?”
"Yes."
Dad looked down at Dragon Heart.
“This dragon heart has great power, but in exchange for that power, its owner’s time stops and they live in a different time than other people. They live a life close to immortality, never aging or dying on their own.”
Eternal life. It sounded good, but I didn't think so.
What's the point of sending people away and living alone for a long time?
I knew very well how sad it was to send away a loved one over and over again, so I did not want to live forever.
“So... you wrote in the note that the blessing passed down to the family was actually a curse, not a blessing.”
My father scratched his head as if embarrassed after hearing me mumbling to myself.
“You saw that.”
“I saw it all. I also know that my father is the same person as my grandfather.”
“Haha, you know a lot more than I thought.”
Contrary to his words of distress, my father had a relieved expression on his face.
It must be because he has someone to share the secrets he has kept to himself for a long time.
“Then what the Emperor seeks is eternal life.”
“Yes. The Emperor will do anything to achieve eternal life. He even gave up being human.”
As expected, the Emperor was not human.
“Then how can we stop the Emperor? If I give this Dragon Heart to the Emperor, will he automatically destroy himself?”
“No. That’s impossible now that you’ve become a Duke.”
Dad handed me the sword again and grabbed my shoulders.
“Listen carefully, Adele. This is how it is, you have to defeat the Emperor. If you don’t defeat him, you will die.”
I guess I shouldn't say that I've already died three times.
“How can I defeat the Emperor? Please tell me how.”
“That’s you...!”
Before my father could even finish speaking, my vision went blank like when I first entered this room.
Could it be that time is up?
No. I still want to ask and hear many things from Dad, but I can't do it yet.
“I said it won’t work!”
I stretched out my hands and cried out desperately, but it was no use.
When the pure white light disappeared, I stood blankly in my original basement room.
At my feet, fragments of the hourglass I had received from the Duke of Lucien were scattered around in a mess.
I showed him the sword with the Pura in it that I had in the basement, hoping he would believe me, but I didn't think he would believe me right away.
Ten years ago, I was only 11 years old.
How could he believe the absurd fact that his daughter suddenly appeared before his eyes as a 21-year-old adult?
“So that’s how it ended up like that?”
...It shouldn’t be like that, so why do you believe me?
As I took a step back in embarrassment, my father looked at me with a faint smile.
“You said it, so why are you so surprised, Adele?”
“...Do you believe me?”
“I have to believe it.”
Dad, who had narrowed the gap between us, pointed his sword.
“The fact that you are holding this sword is proof of that.”
“...What on earth is this black thing?”
If I didn't get the chance now, I wouldn't be able to find out what this sword was, so I asked in rapid succession.
“Wasn’t it just a sword that Dad used? Why is this sword sealed in the innermost room of the basement? And there’s a rumor that the Pura embedded in this sword is a dragon heart...!”
"Stop."
My father cut me off, gently wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“I know you have a lot to ask, and I would like to explain everything to you one by one, but there’s not enough time left.”
“How much time is left?”
“If my guess is correct, you will be holding an hourglass.”
At those words, I took out the hourglass I had received from the Duke of Lucien.
Then I saw grains of sand falling down.
Even when turned over again, the sand grains continued to fall in the same direction, against the laws of nature.
What on earth is going on?
“You were able to come here thanks to the time magic I placed on this hourglass and key.”
My father explained as if he had read my mind.
“If all the sand grains here move to the opposite side, you will return to your original time.”
So that's why I said there isn't much time left.
Roughly calculated, it was about 10 minutes.
A time that is never long.
It was also an absurdly short amount of time to ask my dad anything I was curious about.
I feel like I should only ask questions that I absolutely need to know or that are important, but where should I start?
I was getting anxious because I didn't have much time.
I didn't even want to waste time thinking about it, but I couldn't ask anything because I thought I wouldn't be able to ask what was really important.
No, no. At a time like this, I have to ask something.
I quickly changed my mind and decided to go into the details in order.
“I heard that the bloodline of Duke Leopold’s family was not actually blessed by the Red Dragon, but inherited it by blood. Is that true?”
My father looked a little surprised at my question.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I guess that’s right.”
That means that all the myths about the Leopold family that I knew were false.
“The Pura stuck here isn’t actually a Pura, but a Dragon Heart, right?”
“...Yeah. That’s right.”
Dad's expression darkened.
“It is the spoils of war that the first head of the Leopold family forcibly took after committing a great offense to the dragon due to his damned greed.”
“And the Emperor is after this spoil.”
Instead of answering, Dad closed his eyes tightly, then sighed deeply, and opened them again.
“You said I was dead ten years later.”
"Yes."
“Did the Emperor kill me?”
“...So you knew.”
Even long before the Emperor killed my father, my father knew he would be killed.
I thought it might be true, but when I actually confirmed it was true, I was filled with anger.
If it had been someone else, I would have grabbed him by the collar and asked him why he did that, but because he was my dad, I couldn't do that and instead just glared at him fiercely.
“If you knew everything, why did you just take it? Why didn’t you say anything to me!”
“...It’s not that I didn’t say anything, it’s that I couldn’t say anything.”
Dad smiled bitterly.
“How can I tell my precious and only daughter that her father will soon be assassinated by the Emperor? She will definitely be shocked.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
“Even if Dad dies, it’s still shocking! And it’s okay if you don’t die!”
Feeling frustrated, I grabbed my father's arm instead of the collar and shouted.
“A father like you could easily defeat the Emperor! If you couldn’t defeat him, you could have asked for help from others, or run away. There must have been many ways, so why did you just take it? Why!”
“...I thought everything would be over when I died.”
My father muttered in a low voice and took the sword.
“I thought it would all be over when I died and the Emperor took this, so I accepted it obediently... I guess that wasn’t the case.”
“What does that mean? Please explain it to me so I can understand.”
I was already anxious because there wasn't much time left, so I absolutely refused to change the subject like this.
“To use the power of the Dragon Heart, two conditions must be met.”
Fortunately, my father understood my feelings and continued speaking while stroking Pura, no, Dragon Heart.
“One will be the head of the Leopold family. The other will have the blood of the Leopold family flowing through his veins.”
So, did the Emperor want a child with mixed blood between the House of Leopold and the Imperial family?
Are you going to take this dragon's heart and use it?
But that's what the child uses, not what the Emperor uses.
By the time the child grew up and was able to fully use the power of the Dragon Heart, the Emperor would likely have grown old and feeble.
Maybe he's dead.
“There is something the Emperor is misunderstanding here.”
My father's voice dug into my head, which was full of questions.
“You misunderstand that having Leopold's blood in his veins is enough and that having blood on hia body is enough.”
“No way... So the Emperor is trying to kill my father?”
“Yes. The Emperor intends to kill me, stain his body with my blood, and use the Dragon Heart.”
Oh my god. What kind of nonsense is this?
I couldn't believe it, but considering the Emperor's actions so far, it seemed entirely possible, so I couldn't help but believe it.
“But that was a mistake. I thought that if the Emperor used my blood to make this dragon heart, he would suffer a strong magical backlash and die.”
If it were me before, I would have asked what magic recoil was, but after hearing Perdes' explanation, I now know.
“I thought everything would be sorted out so neatly... but you became a Duke? That’s unexpected.”
Hearing the deep sigh in his voice, I remembered the diary my father had written.
“Dad... why do you hate me becoming a Duke so much?”
The sadness that had been buried deep in my chest welled up, but I tried to suppress it and asked.
“Why, why do you dislike me becoming a Duke? I am also a blood relative of the Leopold family, and I am my father’s daughter. Why...!”
"This."
When tears finally flowed down my cheeks, my father felt sorry for me and wiped them away.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding. It’s not that I don’t like you being a Duke, it’s that I don’t like you being a non-human being.”
“A being that is... not human?”
"Yes."
Dad looked down at Dragon Heart.
“This dragon heart has great power, but in exchange for that power, its owner’s time stops and they live in a different time than other people. They live a life close to immortality, never aging or dying on their own.”
Eternal life. It sounded good, but I didn't think so.
What's the point of sending people away and living alone for a long time?
I knew very well how sad it was to send away a loved one over and over again, so I did not want to live forever.
“So... you wrote in the note that the blessing passed down to the family was actually a curse, not a blessing.”
My father scratched his head as if embarrassed after hearing me mumbling to myself.
“You saw that.”
“I saw it all. I also know that my father is the same person as my grandfather.”
“Haha, you know a lot more than I thought.”
Contrary to his words of distress, my father had a relieved expression on his face.
It must be because he has someone to share the secrets he has kept to himself for a long time.
“Then what the Emperor seeks is eternal life.”
“Yes. The Emperor will do anything to achieve eternal life. He even gave up being human.”
As expected, the Emperor was not human.
“Then how can we stop the Emperor? If I give this Dragon Heart to the Emperor, will he automatically destroy himself?”
“No. That’s impossible now that you’ve become a Duke.”
Dad handed me the sword again and grabbed my shoulders.
“Listen carefully, Adele. This is how it is, you have to defeat the Emperor. If you don’t defeat him, you will die.”
I guess I shouldn't say that I've already died three times.
“How can I defeat the Emperor? Please tell me how.”
“That’s you...!”
Before my father could even finish speaking, my vision went blank like when I first entered this room.
Could it be that time is up?
No. I still want to ask and hear many things from Dad, but I can't do it yet.
“I said it won’t work!”
I stretched out my hands and cried out desperately, but it was no use.
When the pure white light disappeared, I stood blankly in my original basement room.
At my feet, fragments of the hourglass I had received from the Duke of Lucien were scattered around in a mess.
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