IWAP - Chapter 5

The Marquis usually handled matters with a precision bordering on obsessive-compulsive disorder. He did not tolerate even the slightest room for error in the work entrusted to him. The only instance in which he allowed room for controversy was a matter involving the Marchioness and me. Instead of a decisive resolution, he chose decisive silence.

Of course, the matter was never once mentioned officially. However, indeed, it was secretly at the center of a scandal. Why did he remain silent, knowing that his family would become the subject of such controversy?

In fact, even if the Marquis had revealed the truth, the rumors that had already formed would not have completely disappeared. However, there was certainly room to minimize them. I wondered what the Marquis was thinking by keeping his mouth shut.

"Am I the legitimate daughter of the Marquis Elliott?"

"That's a question not even worth answering."

His eyes, meeting mine, were resolute. His deep blue eyes, holding me completely, showed not the slightest wavering. Looking into those eyes, I realized one thing. The Marquis's actions, which I had previously been unable to understand, were finally beginning to make sense.

'It is not worth answering.'

The Marquis was not silent. When it came to this matter, he spoke only the truth. Since he had never once doubted that I was not his daughter, he simply did not feel the need to answer, whether affirmatively or negatively.

He is a person who rarely expresses his emotions, to the point where he is nicknamed 'Ice Heart.' He seldom showed his feelings outwardly, to the point where one might doubt if he is even human. Just as stingy with his emotions, he was also a man of few words. To say it all is that today is the day father and daughter have had the most conversations as far as I can remember.

People, including myself, doubted his intentions and interpreted them arbitrarily. He simply chose not to make excuses for the baseless rumors fabricated by others. The truth behind the matter that had constantly tormented me was merely an illusion created by an inferiority complex.

"If you intend to just talk nonsense, get out."

A smile naturally formed on my face without me even realizing it. At this very moment, I was certain. I was undoubtedly his daughter.

His eyebrows curved slightly upward. It seemed I looked strange for laughing in such an unexpected situation. For the first time, I saw the Marquis's various expressions. I realized for the first time today that the Marquis was a person capable of displaying such a wide range of emotions. Feeling slightly amused, I spoke.

"You asked if I wanted to become Empress, didn't you? How many unmarried women in the Empire do you think wouldn't dream of becoming Empress?"

The position of Empress is the highest one a woman can attain. Becoming Empress was something every woman dreamed of at least once. Just as one dreams of meeting a prince on a white horse, falling in love passionately, and having a happy marriage, most noble ladies of the Empire dreamed of becoming Empress.

Like most noble ladies, Bjornne also dreamed of sweet happiness. She hoped to become Empress and stand proudly by his side, and she thought that if she just became Empress, she could be happy with him forever, like a princess in a fairy tale.

It was thrilling just to imagine it.

Her misfortune was simply that the dream everyone imagines at least once did not end as just a dream. Her greed for him was too great to let it end with mere happy fantasies, and the fact that it could turn the dream into reality was that she had a position and background.

Bjornne Rossa Elliott longed to become Empress, and finally, she became Empress. However, reality is not a fairy tale filled with only happiness. She had to feel that fact acutely through death.

I had the memories of Bjornne, who was the Empress. It was a position I had so desperately longed for and craved, but 'I,' who sat in that seat, was never happy.

Do I, who hold the memories of being the Empress, still wish to become the Empress? Do I wish to live the same life as the future I remember?

What do I want now?

"Do you mean that you are the same?"

I certainly wanted to become the Empress. However, the position of Empress is not one that I can sit in simply because I want it alone. The interests of many people are intricately intertwined in that position. In other words, it is not a position I can avoid just because I do not want it.

Despite the many rumors, the reason I was able to become Empress at the time was partly that I wanted it, but also because the interests of the Emperor and the nobles aligned. Those interests remain valid even today.

"Was my opinion important?"

"You…"

Bang!

The moment he opened his mouth, the office door burst open roughly. It was an action as rough as when I had kicked the Marquise's door. The Marquis's brow furrowed in displeasure. I pressed myself against the door to get a look at the intruder.

Who exactly would be bold enough to barge into the Marquis's office in this house? There were a few people who could be expected.

First off. The first candidate is the Marchioness. Although knights are standing guard at the gate, if the Marchioness were to come out forcefully, they would be unable to stop her with their own strength. This is not because they are weak, but because of the difference in status. In terms of physical strength alone, the knights, who train their stamina every day, were far superior to the frail noblewoman. However, the knights faced an absolute disadvantage: they could not dare to lay a hand on a noblewoman.

Even though she may be insane, she is the Marchioness of the Empire and the mistress of this household. If she were to barge in recklessly, the knights would effectively have no way to stop her. How could they stop her when they couldn't even lay a finger on her, let alone thrust a sword at her?

The second candidate is none other than me. In fact, I was the very person who had just trespassed in without the Marquis's permission.

'But I am here now, so I am excluded.'

Except for the Marchioness and me, no one could have trespassed into the office and gotten away unscathed.

In the end, the conclusion is that the culprit must be the Marchioness. I looked at the intruder with certainty. However, standing in front of the door was a figure I had never even suspected.

Unlike his usual neat appearance, he looked completely disheveled. True to the saying 'like master, like butler,' his face, which had always maintained a blank expression like the Marquis, was deeply contorted, and his trademark slicked-back hair, which never let a single strand out of place, was also a mess.

The disheveled appearance of the butler, who seemed so strict and rigid that not a single drop of blood would come out even if you pricked him, came as a slight shock to me.

It seemed that the Marquis had also never seen the butler act this way before. Instead of scolding him for entering without his master's permission, he asked for the reason.

“What’s going on?”

“I... I apologize.”

His voice was trembling heavily as he begged for forgiveness. It seemed as though speaking was extremely difficult for him. After gaping a couple of times, he barely managed to speak out loud.

"Your...Your Grace..."

Seeing him like that, I recalled a forgotten memory. Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time I had seen him in such a disheveled state.

Even then, the butler found it extremely difficult to speak, just as he does now. His once-sharply neat attire was disheveled, and his usually calm movements looked very hurried.

That day was just like this morning. When I woke up, the nanny was not by my side. As soon as I got up, I heard that the nanny had been urgently summoned to the Marchioness's quarters. I couldn't possibly be in a good mood. It seems I was particularly angry that day.

I suddenly slapped the maid across the face as she stammered and fumbled to explain the whole situation. Come to think of it now, that maid was none other than Marie.

It was likely her best effort, given her unaccustomed to dealing with nobles, but to me, who was already furious, there was no way I could see her efforts. Her clumsy behavior only further provoked my anger, and being impatient to begin with, I quickly exploded. I threw whatever I could get my hands on and eventually even resorted to violence against her.

Marie, a mere maid, could not stop me, a noble lady, or run away to escape the violence. She had no choice but to silently endure it. The ladies-in-waiting rushed over belatedly, but they could not stop me. They just circled around Marie and me, pacing back and forth anxiously.

Normally, a nanny or a butler might have come to stop me, but on that day, not a single person who could have stopped me came.

I did not stop the violence until I had vented my anger to some extent. As I threw whatever I could get my hands on, scratched, kicked, and pulled out her hair, the sight of Marie, who had to endure my violence in its entirety, was indescribably wretched.

I was still fuming with anger, and Marie remained unconscious, motionless. The ladies-in-waiting, who had been pacing anxiously around me, also dared not take Marie away, wary of my mood.

I was huffing and puffing for quite a while, trying to catch my breath when the butler approached me with hurried steps. It was not the butler's usual calm demeanor, so I was surprised enough to forget my anger, even though I was in the middle of it.

He looked just as disheveled then as he does now. With the exact same expression and appearance as before, he took a deep breath to catch his breath before continuing to speak. His mouth slowly opened.

I already knew what he was going to say.

“Madam has passed away!”

As if watching a play, I became a third party and viewed my life. It was my past lived as Bjornne, my present life, and my future that was yet to come.

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