Episode 170. The Secret of Princess Diana's Birth
"Ah... Father?"
Diana couldn't believe her ears.
What on earth did she hear...?
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Diana's voice was trembling.
Today was the last day she would be able to talk to her father like this.
After today... There would never be another chance to talk to him again.
The former Emperor had never loved her, but Diana had only her father.
Though she couldn't express it, she loved her father more than anyone else. She had always been sullen toward the former Emperor... but it wasn't just a struggle to be loved. The former Emperor never even glanced at Diana when she was being nice.
He only gave her attention when she was struggling and throwing tantrums. He told her to stop being so polite.
Even if the attention bordered on reprimand, Diana was delighted, as if it were a welcome rain in a drought.
There wasn't a single day that went by that she didn't love her father.
Even when he tried to sell her to an old Emperor of a foreign country, even when he mercilessly cut ties with her, she couldn't let go of her attachment to her father.
She believed blood was thicker than water, and so she believed that one day they would understand each other. She believed that if she persevered, one day... they would be able to live happily ever after again.
Memories of her childhood with the deposed Emperor flashed through Diana's mind.
Before her biological mother's death, her life had been quite happy. In her memory, her childhood was a happy family, no different from anyone else's.
Diana clung to those memories, clinging to hope.
However, the Emperor's sharp words were enough to pierce her heart.
When Diana remained silent, the deposed Emperor spoke again.
"Shall I say it again? I told you not to call me 'father' anymore because it disgusts me to hear it coming from your mouth."
"Why... why are you doing this?"
Diana muttered softly, her voice laced with resentment.
“Until the very end... why on earth... why are you doing this!!”
Even embracing each other and telling each other that they loved each other wasn’t enough time.
Diana couldn’t understand the deposed Emperor’s intentions at all.
The Emperor, like Diana, was still shedding tears. The tears that had been flowing now flowed endlessly.
“Why? Hahahahahaha!”
He looked at Diana with wide eyes.
“Because this is the truth.”
He suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Diana. Then he continued.
“You...”
He looked at Diana with wavering eyes and trailed off again.
“Because you’re... not my daughter.”
“!”
In that moment, Diana’s heart thumped.
“Diana, you... You resemble my brother, not me.”
Those were words she had heard countless times.
Words she had just heard in one ear and let out the other.
Every time, she had assumed her father was saying them out of anger at her.
But... Today, those words sounded different than usual.
Thump-thump-thump.
In contrast to her rapidly beating heart, her mind went cold. She couldn't say anything or do anything.
Her entire body felt numb, completely numb.
"You're not my daughter. I've never thought of you as a daughter, not even for a day. Because... you're my brother's daughter."
He spat out those cruel words so casually, as if he were sealing the deal.
"!"
My... father is my uncle?
She couldn't believe it.
This was unbelievable.
"That... a lie."
Diana denied the deposed Emperor's words.
"Don't lie... We were always happy. The three of us were happy before my father became Emperor!!"
Diana cried out, desperately, as if the prison was about to leave.
"Why are you suddenly telling such lies!"
"Don't misunderstand. I've never been kind to you."
"Are you really... really saying you're nothing to my father?"
Diana looked at the deposed Emperor with pleading eyes.
Still clinging to hope, he asked in a sorrowful voice,
"Are you serious about... what you're saying?"
"Yes."
"!"
Diana collapsed helplessly to the Emperor's continued harsh words.
Dropping to the ground, she sat there, her eyes blank and tears streaming down her face.
The Emperor simply turned his back quietly, seeing Diana sitting there, as if collapsing.
"Now, go. Don't bother me."
At the Emperor's words, Diana lifted her head, which had fallen.
Her eyes were filled with the coldness of her father's back.
Until the very end, she followed his gaze.
Diana's expression seemed to suggest resignation, as she watched her father maintain his cold demeanor until the very end.
Tears streamed from her empty eyes. Diana called out to the Emperor, muttering, "Father..."
The Emperor didn't turn to look at her.
Diana, as if she hadn't expected it, smiled dejectedly and spoke softly.
"To me, father... is only you."
Diana quietly confessed her true feelings.
“Even if what my father said was true... In my entire life... I only have you. Not my uncle...”
“...”
The Emperor had his head bowed so low that she couldn’t read his expression.
“Even if my father didn’t love me... I truly loved you.”
She didn’t know if the deposed Emperor’s words were true or not.
What mattered to her wasn’t who her biological father was.
Even if he wasn’t the one who gave birth to her, if the deposed Emperor raised her, then he was her father.
Diana struggled to keep her balance on her trembling legs and stood up.
“I’ll be going now...”
She hoped until the very end that the deposed Emperor would look back at her.
However, that didn’t happen.
Diana trudged weakly down the prison.
The one waiting for Diana outside was Julius.
“Diana!”
He ran straight to Diana, who had emerged with a pale expression.
“The deposed Emperor... has hurt you again.”
The moment he saw Diana’s expression as she walked out weakly, he could guess the general situation.
Diana leaned against Julius's embrace. Julius's shoulder was soaked with her tears.
"No... that's not it..."
Diana muttered softly in Julius's embrace.
"Father... actually loved me."
He thought Diana would leave prison without a second thought if she heard he wasn't her biological father. However, she didn't. Instead, she only told him she loved him.
"Looking back... I was such a bad father."
He had never once embraced her with love.
He had always ignored the child who reached out to him.
After killing the former Emperor, he had treated her even more coldly.
Every time he saw Diana, he was reminded of his dead brother.
He lowered his head and watched her sob.
"Forget a father like me."
Erase the thought of me as your father from your mind.
Then your sorrow will be halved.
Why did he always regret it so late?
Why had he pretended not to know such a beautiful child until now?
Whether Diana was his biological daughter or not... If he had embraced her with love, he wouldn't have regretted it now.
No, if he hadn't coveted his brother's place, he wouldn't have suffered this fate.
He realized it too late.
He knew his own twisted desires had ruined everything.
He had lost everyone precious to him, and no one was by his side.
Diana's biological mother, the woman he had first loved, his kind older brother... his daughter who had loved her insignificant father... and the deposed Empress who had silently embraced this difficult person.
The deposed Empress had been exiled to another region.
It was all his fault.
He humbly accepted his death.
Standing on the scaffold, he spoke dryly to Artaeum,
"I have no last words."
Until the very end, he had been unable to convey his true feelings to Diana.
'I am not your father. So... don't cry so sadly.'
Yesterday, he had turned his back on Diana.
He had told her to go, to stop bothering him, but in truth, he had turned away because he didn't want to be caught sobbing. He felt sorry and grateful that his daughter, whom he had done nothing for, loved him so much. And he felt regretful that he hadn't treated her well, and so he cried.
In truth, he wanted to see Diana as she bid him farewell.
However, he knew that if he did, Diana's pain would only intensify when he died.
So he ignored Diana's desperate pleas.
He only glanced at her back as she left, then watched her through the window.
The deposed Emperor quietly closed his eyes.
Poorly, he passed away without telling the truth until the very end.
Diana wasn't his brother's daughter.
He was Diana's biological father.
All the misunderstandings were nothing more than his victimization, his feeling of inferiority toward his brother.
While it's true that Diana's biological mother had cherished the former Emperor, it was merely a fleeting first love.
She loved the deposed Emperor, and she loved Diana, the child born from their union.
They could have lived happily as a normal family, but the deposed Emperor's twisted inferiority complex brought them to ruin.
The deposed Emperor, the source of all their misfortune, died, and peaceful days followed.
Rose was preparing for the department store opening ceremony.
"Jane, am I okay?"
"Yes. You're so cool!"
“Oh, what am I going to do? I’m so nervous. I wish I had some calming pills.”
“Calm, what?”
When Jane didn’t understand modern medicine, calming pills, Rose muttered something vague.
“Oh, there is. Something to take when you’re nervous. Let’s go. People will be waiting.”
“I heard people lined up from dawn to get into the department store? I guess even arrogant nobles can’t help it. No matter how I look at it, this business seems to be a success!”
Jane muttered, giving Rose some energy and making a fist.
Rose made the same fist and took a powerful step forward.
When they went outside, a large crowd had gathered.
Rose’s parents, Arteum, Neruan, the Julius siblings, and Diana were standing on the stage.
They held scissors in one hand and a piece of cloth in the other. They would all cut that cloth together as soon as the opening speech began.
Seeing them, who were there first, gave her a strange surge of courage.
Rose, who had climbed to the center of the stage, calmed her trembling heart and slowly opened her mouth.
"The opening ceremony of Byeol-ha Department Store will begin."
As Rose signaled to her group, the snapping sound of scissors could be heard. And at the same time, flower petals began to fall from the sky.
"Hey! Get out of the way! I'm going in first!"
Beliana, who arrived late, weaved her way through the crowd, causing all sorts of trouble.
Her expression changed as if she had a split personality, and she flashed a bright smile at Rose.
“Sister! It’s Beliana!”
Byeol-ha Department Store was a huge success from day one.
Isn’t the standard for great success none other than ‘money’?
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand...”
Oh my goodness.
How much is this...?
Rose, who checked the sales report at the end of the day, couldn’t close her gaping mouth.
"Ah... Father?"
Diana couldn't believe her ears.
What on earth did she hear...?
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Diana's voice was trembling.
Today was the last day she would be able to talk to her father like this.
After today... There would never be another chance to talk to him again.
The former Emperor had never loved her, but Diana had only her father.
Though she couldn't express it, she loved her father more than anyone else. She had always been sullen toward the former Emperor... but it wasn't just a struggle to be loved. The former Emperor never even glanced at Diana when she was being nice.
He only gave her attention when she was struggling and throwing tantrums. He told her to stop being so polite.
Even if the attention bordered on reprimand, Diana was delighted, as if it were a welcome rain in a drought.
There wasn't a single day that went by that she didn't love her father.
Even when he tried to sell her to an old Emperor of a foreign country, even when he mercilessly cut ties with her, she couldn't let go of her attachment to her father.
She believed blood was thicker than water, and so she believed that one day they would understand each other. She believed that if she persevered, one day... they would be able to live happily ever after again.
Memories of her childhood with the deposed Emperor flashed through Diana's mind.
Before her biological mother's death, her life had been quite happy. In her memory, her childhood was a happy family, no different from anyone else's.
Diana clung to those memories, clinging to hope.
However, the Emperor's sharp words were enough to pierce her heart.
When Diana remained silent, the deposed Emperor spoke again.
"Shall I say it again? I told you not to call me 'father' anymore because it disgusts me to hear it coming from your mouth."
"Why... why are you doing this?"
Diana muttered softly, her voice laced with resentment.
“Until the very end... why on earth... why are you doing this!!”
Even embracing each other and telling each other that they loved each other wasn’t enough time.
Diana couldn’t understand the deposed Emperor’s intentions at all.
The Emperor, like Diana, was still shedding tears. The tears that had been flowing now flowed endlessly.
“Why? Hahahahahaha!”
He looked at Diana with wide eyes.
“Because this is the truth.”
He suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Diana. Then he continued.
“You...”
He looked at Diana with wavering eyes and trailed off again.
“Because you’re... not my daughter.”
“!”
In that moment, Diana’s heart thumped.
“Diana, you... You resemble my brother, not me.”
Those were words she had heard countless times.
Words she had just heard in one ear and let out the other.
Every time, she had assumed her father was saying them out of anger at her.
But... Today, those words sounded different than usual.
Thump-thump-thump.
In contrast to her rapidly beating heart, her mind went cold. She couldn't say anything or do anything.
Her entire body felt numb, completely numb.
"You're not my daughter. I've never thought of you as a daughter, not even for a day. Because... you're my brother's daughter."
He spat out those cruel words so casually, as if he were sealing the deal.
"!"
My... father is my uncle?
She couldn't believe it.
This was unbelievable.
"That... a lie."
Diana denied the deposed Emperor's words.
"Don't lie... We were always happy. The three of us were happy before my father became Emperor!!"
Diana cried out, desperately, as if the prison was about to leave.
"Why are you suddenly telling such lies!"
"Don't misunderstand. I've never been kind to you."
"Are you really... really saying you're nothing to my father?"
Diana looked at the deposed Emperor with pleading eyes.
Still clinging to hope, he asked in a sorrowful voice,
"Are you serious about... what you're saying?"
"Yes."
"!"
Diana collapsed helplessly to the Emperor's continued harsh words.
Dropping to the ground, she sat there, her eyes blank and tears streaming down her face.
The Emperor simply turned his back quietly, seeing Diana sitting there, as if collapsing.
"Now, go. Don't bother me."
At the Emperor's words, Diana lifted her head, which had fallen.
Her eyes were filled with the coldness of her father's back.
Until the very end, she followed his gaze.
Diana's expression seemed to suggest resignation, as she watched her father maintain his cold demeanor until the very end.
Tears streamed from her empty eyes. Diana called out to the Emperor, muttering, "Father..."
The Emperor didn't turn to look at her.
Diana, as if she hadn't expected it, smiled dejectedly and spoke softly.
"To me, father... is only you."
Diana quietly confessed her true feelings.
“Even if what my father said was true... In my entire life... I only have you. Not my uncle...”
“...”
The Emperor had his head bowed so low that she couldn’t read his expression.
“Even if my father didn’t love me... I truly loved you.”
She didn’t know if the deposed Emperor’s words were true or not.
What mattered to her wasn’t who her biological father was.
Even if he wasn’t the one who gave birth to her, if the deposed Emperor raised her, then he was her father.
Diana struggled to keep her balance on her trembling legs and stood up.
“I’ll be going now...”
She hoped until the very end that the deposed Emperor would look back at her.
However, that didn’t happen.
Diana trudged weakly down the prison.
The one waiting for Diana outside was Julius.
“Diana!”
He ran straight to Diana, who had emerged with a pale expression.
“The deposed Emperor... has hurt you again.”
The moment he saw Diana’s expression as she walked out weakly, he could guess the general situation.
Diana leaned against Julius's embrace. Julius's shoulder was soaked with her tears.
"No... that's not it..."
Diana muttered softly in Julius's embrace.
"Father... actually loved me."
"... Yes."
Julius listened quietly to Diana.
"Father said I was the treasure of his life..."
"Yes."
"Father... regretted not being good to me all this time."
"I see."
Diana continued speaking with a hollow look in her eyes. She was saying what she wanted to hear, not what she had heard from the deposed Emperor.
The sun was already setting. The boisterous banquet celebrating the new Emperor's ascension had come to a close. Daybreak had arrived, and the deposed Emperor's execution day had arrived. Artaeum sat on a platform about three meters higher than the scaffold. Soon, the deposed Emperor was led out.
The man who had once exuded such a dignified air was nowhere to be found. He was dragged out, looking no different from a helpless old man. Artaeum looked at the deposed Emperor and asked softly,
"Do you have any final words?"
The deposed Emperor raised his head and looked at Artaeum. At that moment, his eyes met Diana's, who was seated far behind Artaeum. Diana looked at him with wavering eyes, then lowered her head.
"Diana..."
When he was imprisoned, no one came to visit him as he was about to be executed. Among those who wagged their tails like puppies, no one was truly on his side. Only Diana, she, came to him. He hurled harsh words at Diana, who came to see him on his last day. Seeing her mourn his death, he felt a surge of regret.
Was it the alcohol, or the affection he had nurtured? He didn't know what. He simply didn't want to see Diana shed tears over his death. So, he told her the truth. He's not your biological father. So... He told her not to cry like a fool. He thought that if he pushed her hard, Diana's sorrow would be lessened.
He thought Diana would leave prison without a second thought if she heard he wasn't her biological father. However, she didn't. Instead, she only told him she loved him.
"Looking back... I was such a bad father."
He had never once embraced her with love.
He had always ignored the child who reached out to him.
After killing the former Emperor, he had treated her even more coldly.
Every time he saw Diana, he was reminded of his dead brother.
He lowered his head and watched her sob.
"Forget a father like me."
Erase the thought of me as your father from your mind.
Then your sorrow will be halved.
Why did he always regret it so late?
Why had he pretended not to know such a beautiful child until now?
Whether Diana was his biological daughter or not... If he had embraced her with love, he wouldn't have regretted it now.
No, if he hadn't coveted his brother's place, he wouldn't have suffered this fate.
He realized it too late.
He knew his own twisted desires had ruined everything.
He had lost everyone precious to him, and no one was by his side.
Diana's biological mother, the woman he had first loved, his kind older brother... his daughter who had loved her insignificant father... and the deposed Empress who had silently embraced this difficult person.
The deposed Empress had been exiled to another region.
It was all his fault.
He humbly accepted his death.
Standing on the scaffold, he spoke dryly to Artaeum,
"I have no last words."
Until the very end, he had been unable to convey his true feelings to Diana.
'I am not your father. So... don't cry so sadly.'
Yesterday, he had turned his back on Diana.
He had told her to go, to stop bothering him, but in truth, he had turned away because he didn't want to be caught sobbing. He felt sorry and grateful that his daughter, whom he had done nothing for, loved him so much. And he felt regretful that he hadn't treated her well, and so he cried.
In truth, he wanted to see Diana as she bid him farewell.
However, he knew that if he did, Diana's pain would only intensify when he died.
So he ignored Diana's desperate pleas.
He only glanced at her back as she left, then watched her through the window.
The deposed Emperor quietly closed his eyes.
Poorly, he passed away without telling the truth until the very end.
Diana wasn't his brother's daughter.
He was Diana's biological father.
All the misunderstandings were nothing more than his victimization, his feeling of inferiority toward his brother.
While it's true that Diana's biological mother had cherished the former Emperor, it was merely a fleeting first love.
She loved the deposed Emperor, and she loved Diana, the child born from their union.
They could have lived happily as a normal family, but the deposed Emperor's twisted inferiority complex brought them to ruin.
***
The deposed Emperor, the source of all their misfortune, died, and peaceful days followed.
Rose was preparing for the department store opening ceremony.
"Jane, am I okay?"
"Yes. You're so cool!"
“Oh, what am I going to do? I’m so nervous. I wish I had some calming pills.”
“Calm, what?”
When Jane didn’t understand modern medicine, calming pills, Rose muttered something vague.
“Oh, there is. Something to take when you’re nervous. Let’s go. People will be waiting.”
“I heard people lined up from dawn to get into the department store? I guess even arrogant nobles can’t help it. No matter how I look at it, this business seems to be a success!”
Jane muttered, giving Rose some energy and making a fist.
Rose made the same fist and took a powerful step forward.
When they went outside, a large crowd had gathered.
Rose’s parents, Arteum, Neruan, the Julius siblings, and Diana were standing on the stage.
They held scissors in one hand and a piece of cloth in the other. They would all cut that cloth together as soon as the opening speech began.
Seeing them, who were there first, gave her a strange surge of courage.
Rose, who had climbed to the center of the stage, calmed her trembling heart and slowly opened her mouth.
"The opening ceremony of Byeol-ha Department Store will begin."
As Rose signaled to her group, the snapping sound of scissors could be heard. And at the same time, flower petals began to fall from the sky.
"Hey! Get out of the way! I'm going in first!"
Beliana, who arrived late, weaved her way through the crowd, causing all sorts of trouble.
Her expression changed as if she had a split personality, and she flashed a bright smile at Rose.
“Sister! It’s Beliana!”
Byeol-ha Department Store was a huge success from day one.
Isn’t the standard for great success none other than ‘money’?
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand...”
Oh my goodness.
How much is this...?
Rose, who checked the sales report at the end of the day, couldn’t close her gaping mouth.
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