At this point, the Emperor is starting to suspect my true identity.
Even if what I said is ‘really’ true, meaning I’m truly the child of the Emperor and a fallen noblewoman, I still have a lot of information I shouldn’t know.
Of course, the Emperor doesn’t know all my information yet. Putting aside the fact that I can turn back time, the knowledge I have about the ship’s inner workings and having thoroughly explored the Imperial Palace are things he could never know.
But still…
The Emperor wouldn’t have been chatting about national secrets with a woman he’s merely letting sleep for now.
Moreover, while the Grace family has traditionally been aligned with the Emperor, they aren’t one to actively meddle in politics. They’re a family that can provide strength when it comes to defending the Imperial Capital, but they’re not a family that could be of any help in the Emperor’s political battles.
Here I am, just a lady raised in the Grace Baron’s estate, knowing not only the Emperor’s ultimate goal but also claiming to help resolve it—
“…I’m curious about your true identity.”
—So, it wouldn’t be weird for him to say something like that.
Count Crowfield and Duke Lindbergh could brush it off. They know how to gather information in aristocratic circles, living life understanding that they might not know what I know or vice versa. Being a baron’s daughter close to the royal family, it’s reasonable to think I’d have at least that much information.
And they’d probably cross-reference that information in their own way. It wouldn’t be easy, but they’re not the kind to throw their lives away simply based on my words… Right? Looking at Count Crowfield’s face back then, he did look like someone who’d ruin his life for one woman.
Well, anyway.
I wasn’t particularly worried about those two. In fact, I wouldn’t care if their operation failed. They wouldn’t bat an eye even if a couple of their subordinates died because of their orders.
The ship explodes in the sky. It doesn’t matter who succeeded or how that happened inside. Regardless, seeing that spectacle, they’ll each think they succeeded in their own way.
What’s important is that the ship actually falls.
The position of the Dreadnought is extremely symbolic in the Empire. Even the Emperor himself might forget for just a moment how insignificant the ship’s location is to his plans.
“Your Majesty, you wouldn’t remember my mother.”
“……”
I spoke carefully, trying my best to avoid any trace of resentment in my voice. Honestly, I wasn’t really feeling resentful, so it wasn’t too hard.
“I remember my mother. My mother…”
I chose my words carefully.
“She was not an ordinary person. While she craved your love, she sometimes showed hatred towards you. And, for just a fleeting moment—”
And then I brought up that word.
“She said that the order of the world was in utter chaos.”
I lifted my gaze and met the Emperor’s eyes.
He was silently watching me.
Lucas and Bella, who were in the room, looked bewildered. Some sort of signal had passed between the Emperor and me, but they probably didn’t know what exactly it was. After all, it was information only one who possessed all knowledge could understand.
“If that’s the case, why are you helping me?”
“I don’t want to live just according to my mother’s will. Your Majesty, do you know what kind of life I’ve lived until now?”
“I only know what is generally known.”
“But no one can look into my mind.”
“In your mind, huh.”
“That’s right. I’m bound by some curse. A curse inherited from my ‘mother.’ An obsession with something I must do. I feel more and more that it eats away at my freedom as time passes.”
“……”
“Because of my words, you might distrust me. Since half of my blood is from that mother. However, at the same time, half of my blood is Fanggriffon blood.”
At my words, the Emperor gazed at me as if trying to gauge me.
I quietly looked up at the Emperor from the floor.
“My half of freedom has led me here.”
I pushed the document in front of me back toward the Emperor.
“Please free me from this curse at the last moment. That is my genuine desire.”
“……”
Those who understood my story and those who didn’t all looked down at me in silence.
“At the last moment, when Your Majesty gains all power, it would be convenient for you to distinguish between those who oppose you and those who don’t. That’s what I meant regarding the ship. There’s already a part I’ve set in motion. If you could create that ‘symbolic scene,’ it would help the new order you create, I thought with my humble mind.”
I ended my speech with my head lowered again.
After I finished speaking, the Emperor remained silent for a while.
I noticed his foot slightly moving as he sat down, looking down at me.
Thud, thud. I heard the Emperor’s footsteps. As he slowly approached me, bending slightly, his hand appeared above my view.
The Emperor picked up the document placed in front of me.
“I understand that wind.”
And another hand rested on my shoulder.
“You are truly my daughter, aren’t you?”
No, I’m not.
Of course, I couldn’t say such a thing out loud.
…Thank goodness the Emperor doesn’t resemble Alice.
If Alice had seen my current expression, she would have asked, “Are you happy?”
*
What I heard was a deafening roar.
Or should I say an explosion?
It was a massive explosion visible enough to see the shockwave spreading in all directions from the sky.
How many people died inside there—I decided not to think about such things.
From the moment I rejected the goddess’s proposal, I lost any right to speak about the deaths of those who are unhappily dying in this land.
How many would agree with what the goddess said? I don’t know, but surely many more than I’d ever imagined would have consented.
But let me emphasize, I wanted a happy ending in which all the heroines survived, and I too, was alive in the full meaning of it.
And among those survivors, I did not include people I don’t even know.
“What the… how…?”
Alice beside me mumbled in shock. Claire couldn’t continue her sentence either.
It wasn’t just the two of them.
Even Charlotte, who stood opposed to us, looked the same.
Opposed or not.
The war had broken out. The Empire invaded the autonomous regions and Velbur. The imperial navy was carving through the sea, advancing towards the Iberia Kingdom, while countless other nations were suffering blows both large and small.
It wasn’t a war to win but rather a war for just one small goal within it.
The symbol of the imperial military’s power caused a tremendous explosion in the sky, enough to draw the attention of all the armies on the battlefield.
Even the armies of the Papal State, which likely lay below Lutetia.
By now, the Emperor and the children must be sifting through that underground. In a world without the mask girl, there’s nothing other than the treasures they’ve hoarded.
“At least that means the Lutetia Palace will be safe, right?”
I spoke in a calm voice.
The ship was still in the process of crashing. Even after all the helium inside had leaked out, the remains of that enormous mass, thanks to the plentiful use of Marmaros and magical stones, were bizarrely falling slowly from the sky.
The biplanes guarding beside me were the same. With the canvas wings catching fire and the wooden bodies ablaze, those countless aircraft that were gliding down looked almost artistic.
…Once this world has been successfully destroyed, those sacrifices will simply become non-existent.
I looked down from the sky at Charlotte.
“What does this mean…?”
In a situation where she still couldn’t understand anything, I stepped forward a little.
“I didn’t want to see a friend’s house get destroyed and their family die, even in this situation.”
It’s contradictory. Saying I’d rather see people I don’t even know die and this world disappear is entirely different.
But that’s just who I am. I’ve been changing my words diligently online, lying hard to make others on my side.
From the beginning, I wasn’t someone who would save the world or anything.
The goddess picked the wrong person, that’s for sure.
As I walked towards Charlotte, I held my empty arms wide open.
“If you want to stab me, go ahead. I will never harm you.”
“……”
I could see the venom in Charlotte’s eyes fading away with my words.
Yeah, that’s all I needed.
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