The chamberlain entered the office and bowed his head deeply as he delivered Siegmar's letter.
Letie immediately showed interest.
"Who is Sir Siegmar?"
"He is not someone you care about. He's just the one who has been entrusted with some kind of mission..."
Having said that, the Emperor checked the contents of the letter and kept his mouth shut.
The letter contained a truly strange story
'The Grand Duchess... Did Elona cure a child who was contaminated with Magic?'
The letter said,
He had witnessed the Grand Duchess using some special power to heal a child who was contaminated by Magic.
The Emperor also knew that if it was contaminated, it could never be restored.
But did he treat it?
It really didn't make sense.
Elona, who was nothing but Letie, exerted such power.
'Did Siegmar see it wrong? But he's not that weak.'
He felt like he was missing something very important.
As if he had made a big mistake that he couldn't redo, he began to feel anxious.
The Emperor read the letter over and over again without letting go of the letter in his hand.
The name of the being who was described as having performed miracles in the letter was undoubtedly 'Elona'.
Not Letie.
"..."
While he was confused, Letie, who was tired of waiting, asked with a little annoyance.
"Father, what about my banquet?"
"..."
"Please allow me. It's not that difficult. How long will we have to wait..."
"Stop."
Letie, who continued to complain, stopped talking.
The Emperor's resolute words had a chill that she had never felt before.
Letie's father's cold words, which had always been gentle to her, somehow felt ominous.
The Emperor flinched and turned to his stiff daughter.
"Stop talking about the banquet and go back today.
"What? But..."
"Come on."
The father who issued the congratulatory order even seemed to be a nuisance.
He's never shown that kind of attitude when dealing with Letie.
Feeling like she couldn't do anything more, Letie snuck up from her seat.
"...Then let's go. If you think you will allow me later, please let me know."
The Emperor didn't even reply.
He was just staring at the letter in his hand.
When Letie left the office and finally became quiet, he continued his thoughts.
'The prophet said that one of the twins would grow up to be a savior. But...'
He muttered as he squeezed his hand until the letter wrinkled.
"They didn't tell me which of them was the savior."
The Emperor's own judgment was that the savior would be Letie.
The prophet did not say definitively that Letie was the savior.
It's just that Latie's token was pure and clean white, and Elona's mark was a wicked, sinister black, and that's why he arbitrarily considered Letie as a savior.
Come to think of it, Latie has never shown any ability to be a savior.
He thought that the rarity of monsters in the islands was due to Letie's presence in the Imperial Palace, the center of the islands, but in fact, Elona was also in the Imperial Palace at that time.
And as soon as Elona left for the Grand Prince, the monsters began to swarm as if they had been waiting for it.
"..."
The hand that gripped the letter was shaking.
Maybe he was wrong from the beginning.
The savior is not Letie...
"Holy.!"
Finally thinking of a possibility he had never thought of in his life, he cursed harshly.
After that, he gave an urgent order to the chief chamberlain, who was still waiting beside him.
"I sent a letter to the Grand Duke... No, I have to send someone. There is something that needs to be checked urgently."
If he had really made a ridiculous mistake and sent the real savior to the Grand Duke in vain, he shouldn't have stayed like this.
He had to hurry to get it back before the Grand Duke destroyed the precious seed of salvation.
***
After Kishian showed me the greenhouse, we would occasionally spend time drinking tea together.
The suspicious hint I had felt had disappeared.
Perhaps because he showed me the greenhouse that he had been secretly cultivating, he had returned to his usual self.
It was before Letie's visit.
I was able to let go of the worries I had been harboring all the time and go about my daily life with a relaxed mood again.
I got out of bed, ate, worked, and went to bed with him.
What kind of trees to plant in the greenhouse, sometimes I think about such a pleasant thing.
I have never felt so relaxed and happy in my life.
That is probably why. I didn't have much experience with being happy, so I didn't know how to enjoy that happiness fully.
I wonder if I am holding on to happiness that does not fit the fountain, and if I am missing it in vain...
That fear was hidden deep in my heart.
And that fear eventually manifested itself in the form of nightmares.
In that nightmare, no one else appeared anymore.
The maids who were comparing me didn't show up, my father, or Letie.
The only character in the dream was a Kishian.
Still, it was worse than any nightmare I've ever had.
"Why did you hide the truth from me?"
He glared at me with a cold look that I had never seen before.
I wanted to tell him that I wasn't cheating, but my body didn't move as I wanted, like most nightmares.
I shook my head in suffocation with my stiff mouth and tongue.
"I told you everything. I generously revealed even my biggest secret. But why are you?
My chest was tight and I couldn't breathe.
He struggled helplessly like a drowning man and slowly suffocated.
"If I had known you were fake, I wouldn't have married you in the first place. I didn't fight to get fakes."
I didn't know if I should cover my ears or hold my throat so I couldn't breathe.
I didn't move in the first place.
I was just gasping helplessly and dying of despair.
It was the Kishian who saved me. Not a Kishian in a nightmare, but a Kishian in real life.
"Madam! Wife!!"
He shook me awake from my pain.
As soon as my eyes opened, I looked around.
I let out a long sigh when I realized that it was all a dream.
"You woke up feeling like you were having a nightmare. What kind of dream was it that made you sweat like this..."
He wiped my wet forehead and showed signs of concern.
I couldn't honestly tell the details of my nightmares.
It was the sin of deceiving him, and it was a pain that I would have to bear for the rest of my life.
"...It's nothing. I just dreamed of being chased by a gangster..."
"Why do you have such a dream? Do you feel anxious because the number of escorts is small?"
"No, not at all. You can't always have a good dream."
As I said that, he grabbed me by the waist and put me back on the bed.
I leaned against his chest and held my breath quietly.
Then I suddenly became curious. If Kishian found out the truth, would he really be disappointed like in my dreams?
It's obvious, but I can't give up a glimmer of hope...
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
He showed interest as he gently stroked the back of my head as if to soothe me.
Feeling the touch, I continued the story.
"Let's say the Grand Duke paid a great price to buy the gem."
"Gems?"
"Yes, a one-of-a-kind precious gem."
As if to continue, Kishian was silent.
I hesitated, but I couldn't stop and continued to ask questions with obvious answers.
"You paid a very high price for it, but what if it was a counterfeit?"
"That's a strange question. I don't like jewelry that much. I'd rather use that money to buy a horse or a weapon with a good pedigree."
"It's just a what-if. It doesn't have to be a gemstone. Imagine being scammed anyway."
"Mmm..."
He thought about it for a while, and then he spat it out. The answer was not at all different from what I expected.
"First of all, I'm going to go to the man who cheated me and beat him up."
"...I see. What are you going to do with counterfeit products?"
"You don't have to have it. You can just throw it away, give it to someone else, or throw it in the face of a scammer..."
What the hell did I expect?
I felt sorry for myself for having such stupid hopes, and I burst out laughing.
"Yes. Because it's a counterfeit. I don't think it's something to worry about. Even if you just break it..."
No one cares if you break it.
A piece of glass that mimics the real thing.
"Still, please keep it if you can. You can just put it in the warehouse and forget about it..."
"Counterfeit? What... Wife. Do you dream worse than that? Do you want me to bring you some hot milk?"
I shook my head and refused, but he gently patted me on the back as if he was trying to put me to sleep.
He didn't even know that what was in his arms was fake, and he was so sincere.
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