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Chapter 5
The first trial of Dravaltin Bakalar in the novel.
That was the event that would happen at this birthday celebration banquet.
Dravaltin was born as the Crown Prince, already chosen as the next emperor. But he had a secret—one that would make the emperor collapse if he ever found out.
A classic trope that never disappears in romance fantasy novels.
A secret of birth.
Dravaltin’s mother, Empress Hella, was actually the princess of a collapsing empire, Azteca.
Inside the empire, nobles were rebelling against an incompetent emperor. Outside, invasions happened almost every day. Wanting to protect Azteca at all costs, Hella went to the strongest neighboring empire, Yeshua, and asked for help.
That was her first mistake.
The emperor fell in love with Hella at first sight and offered a condition in exchange for helping Azteca.
That she become his empress.
It was not an easy condition for Hella to accept. The position of empress in Yeshua was officially empty, but the emperor was a womanizer who already had three children with other women.
Still, with no other choice, Hella accepted his offer and came to Yeshua as the empress.
But if she had known that a man’s heart could change like reeds in the wind, she would not have made that choice.
After obtaining the beautiful Hella, the emperor broke his promise and destroyed Azteca himself.
He personally led the attack.
He killed Hella’s father—the king—and slaughtered her family.
The only fortunate thing was that Hella managed to keep her position as empress. The women he had been with before became concubines, and their children only remained princes.
But that did not erase Hella’s hatred for the emperor.
Still, Hella had a hidden card.
Before she became the emperor’s wife, she had conceived a child with the man she loved.
That child was Dravaltin.
The emperor, who never imagined such a truth, named Dravaltin as Crown Prince. From that moment, Hella sharpened her blade of revenge.
A revenge where the blood of Azteca, killed by Yeshua, would take over and devour Yeshua.
“Everything depends on you, Dravaltin.”
This was the line Hella said most often in the novel.
“I have only come this far. If you fail, I will not hesitate to cut off your head myself.”
This was the second most common line.
“You are not my son, but the seed of my revenge. Never forget that. A seed that cannot sprout has no value in living.”
This was the third.
Yes.
The Yeshua imperial family was basically the source of child abuse.
Anyway, Dravaltin’s twentieth birthday.
The second prince—an extra character who discovered Dravaltin’s secret—planned to ruin him at the birthday banquet.
Honestly, the plan was simple and stupid.
He was just going to expose the truth in front of everyone.
But unfortunately for him, Hella was a seasoned political figure.
She quickly grasped the situation, intervened, silenced the second prince, and ordered Dravaltin to kill him.
Dravaltin killed a person for the first time that day and fell into deep shock.
Asha comforted him, as always, and the two grew closer.
‘And what am I supposed to do here…?’
If she stepped in carelessly, she wouldn’t be stabbed by Dravaltin—but by Hella instead.
And this was a gathering of the imperial family. If she caused trouble without a solid reason…
‘Ha… damn it…’
Unfortunately, Celestine had no choice.
She had already arrived in front of the Crown Prince’s palace, where preparations for the banquet were in full swing.
“I’m already dying from stress, so why did that bastard call me early?”
Greg had happily brought the invitation, and there was a small note attached:
“The banquet starts at 7 PM, but I have something to discuss. Arrive at the Crown Prince’s palace by 4 PM.”
“Ah, damn… nothing has happened yet… can’t I just run away…?”
Just as Celestine muttered nervously—
A comment window appeared in front of her.
—Oh, looks like Celestine will do something
—If she attends the banquet and does nothing, she’s not a villainess, just an extra
—She talks big in front of weaklings but stays quiet in front of royals? That’s pathetic
—This is boring. Just dragging the story
“Ha…”
—She better do something or I’m dropping this
《Warning: Readers are getting bored and worried about the story direction.》
“….”
《At this rate, readers will leave, and Celestine Winsel will—》
“Okay, okay! I said I’ll do something!”
Celestine shouted into the air.
“And when did I say I wouldn’t do anything? I was just worried! People are so impatient. Why even read novels if you can’t handle slow chapters!”
Only after yelling like a crazy person did she realize—
Dravaltin Bakalar was standing in front of her, staring as if she were insane.
…Wow.
She had planned to test him, since he was the one who called her.
But she had completely ruined the moment.
‘God…’
In her panic, she even called out to God.
In reality, Celestine was Catholic.
But honestly, if she could just open her eyes and see Asha and Dravaltin already together with the story finished, she felt like she could shave her head and become Buddhist.
She looked at Dravaltin with a hopeless face.
“It seems something is troubling you.”
Dravaltin frowned openly.
“I don’t know what nonsense you were shouting, but since you arrived on time, I won’t ask further.”
“…”
“Follow me. I have something important to discuss.”
Celestine gave up and followed him silently, ignoring the maids whispering about her.
Dravaltin brought her to a reception room.
Surprisingly, he even served her tea like a proper gentleman.
Of course, he was the one who called her, but the Dravaltin in the novel wasn’t even capable of such basic courtesy.
“…”
“….”
Even though he had called her, he said nothing.
He just stared at her with dangerous, almost sinister purple eyes.
Celestine avoided his gaze and started thinking.
‘I can’t cause a big incident here. That’s too dangerous. Hella will kill me.’
If she bullied Asha like in the original story, readers wouldn’t leave—but she would just get closer to dying by Dravaltin’s sword.
‘What if I give him information about the second prince?’
Then Dravaltin could stop the incident early, and readers would recognize her role.
But how should she tell him?
As she desperately thought—
“I have a proposal, Celestine Winsel.”
Dravaltin finally spoke.
“A… proposal?”
“There is a noble I know.”
He continued slowly.
“A foolish noble who doesn’t know his place. He greedily seeks power and dreams of becoming the emperor’s in-law, yet lacks the ability to do so.”
“Oh… I see.”
She nodded automatically.
“That’s a stupid noble. There’s a saying—if someone doesn’t know their place, they shorten their own life.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course. Wanting to become the emperor’s in-law means marrying his daughter to you, Your Highness, right?”
…Wait.
This sounds familiar.
But she didn’t have time to think deeply.
“That’s too greedy. And you said he’s incompetent? Then he’s foolish and shameless.”
“Celestine.”
“Yes?”
“I’m talking about your father.”
…Ah.
Her expression froze.
“…”
Dravaltin sighed slightly, looking at her as if she were hopeless.
Then he glanced around, as if checking whether anyone was listening.
‘What is he doing…?’
Celestine blinked in confusion.
Then Dravaltin looked back at her—
And said something completely unexpected.
Something that never appeared in the original story.
