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Chapter 5
Right!
Do they have any idea how much I suffered to bring Blake back to life?!
First the male lead dies, and now the female lead has gone missing?
Seeing the shock on my face, Lily gave me a wicked grin.
“Maybe it’s a good thing. At least I won’t have to watch that woman and His Highness the Crown Prince acting like some lovey-dovey couple.”
“…Lily, if someone overheard you, they’d think you were the Crown Princess.”
Lily merely shrugged.
She was definitely treating the relationship between Blake and me like it was some morning soap opera.
But the two of them really were destined to become a loving couple.
Of course, at this point in the original story, they only considered each other trustworthy companions…
But in the end, the one Blake would be with was Saint Seira.
“So, they don’t know why Saint Seira disappeared?”
“If they knew the reason, it wouldn’t be called a disappearance. That’s all the temple announced. They said Saint Seira has been missing for about a week.”
“Could she have been kidnapped? Or…”
“Hmm. I think she disappeared of her own accord.”
“Why?”
“They said there wasn’t a single sign of an outside intrusion.”
I let out a sigh at Lily’s answer.
First the male lead suddenly died, and now the female lead had disappeared for no known reason.
I desperately hoped she hadn’t died like Blake.
She was the person who would become his greatest supporter—and eventually, his lifelong partner.
“…Ah, come to think of it…”
Did he see it?
My divorce papers.
Blake had left first thing in the morning, so he had probably gone straight to his office to deal with work.
Maybe he had found the divorce papers I handed him right before he died…
Or while I was unconscious.
But judging from how he hadn’t said a single word about them, perhaps he still hadn’t noticed.
Wait…
If we get divorced, what will happen to Blake’s body?
He said he couldn’t sleep unless I was nearby.
His body was so unstable that there might be other problems too.
Should I ask him…
“Please postpone the divorce for a while?”
…As if he’d agree so nicely.
And even if he did, I couldn’t keep postponing it forever.
No.
I had to find a way to restore his body completely as soon as possible.
“Oh, Your Highness. By the way, I ran into His Highness the Crown Prince earlier.”
“Mm.”
“I forgot to mention it. He asked me to tell you he’d like to have dinner with you tonight.”
“…What?”
Why?
Why dinner?
Just imagining eating with the husband I’d never once shared a meal with made my eyes tremble.
“Do you think His Highness became a completely different person after dying and coming back to life? He’s finally taking care of you now.”
Completely oblivious to my panic, Lily chirped cheerfully.
If anyone else heard what she was saying, it would cause an enormous scandal.
“Silver, holy water, blades… What’s next?”
Blake spoke, making no effort to hide his irritation.
“Th-This is impossible! Dominic—I mean, the Crown Prince—he definitely died! We all saw it!”
Another prince, Alec, shouted with a deathly pale face.
Blake stood with his hands clasped behind his back, quietly staring at the frightened Alec before asking,
“I’m standing here alive. Do you still need more proof?”
His voice was even lower than before his death.
His complexion was deathly pale.
The Emperor looked at the son who had returned through “resurrection,” but he couldn’t bear Blake’s gaze and looked away.
He hated to admit it…
But the Crown Prince who had come back alive was somehow unsettling.
Only Empress Lucia remained unfazed as she clung to the Emperor beside her.
“Your Majesty! It’s not that I doubt the Crown Prince… but what if someone revived him through some forbidden method?”
“What are you so surprised about? He’s the hero of the prophecy, isn’t he? Something like this is only fitting.”
Blake answered leisurely, his voice utterly devoid of humor.
The Empress bit her lip hard and glared at him.
She had never liked Blake, who became Crown Prince solely because he was the child mentioned in the prophecy, pushing aside her own son, Alec.
Who could have imagined…
That the man would actually be resurrected?
The Empress couldn’t forget the calm voice Blake had used when he returned to the Imperial Palace with that corpse-like complexion and quietly announced that he had come back to life.
The Emperor hesitated as he looked at his resurrected son, as though facing an immortal being.
“Then… what exactly was your death back then?”
“I wonder…”
Blake answered lazily.
“A trial?”
Eventually, the Emperor decided that thinking about it any further would only give him a headache without producing any answers.
He simply frowned and waved his hand dismissively.
“Fine. Fine. Since the Crown Prince has returned alive, we’ll restore his position as Crown Prince… No, we’ll erase the records stating that he ever died.”
“Your Majesty! That makes no sense! Necromancers must have…”
“Empress, look at him. He’s perfectly conscious. His speech and memories are completely intact. Necromancers? Aren’t they only capable of controlling mindless monsters?”
“But surely there’s something suspicious…”
“Enough. Perhaps the missing Saint revived the Crown Prince. If we think of him as the hero who returned to life just as the prophecy foretold, everything fits.”
“…”
The old, aging Emperor no longer wished to stir up more conflict.
The hero spoken of in the prophecy wasn’t simply someone who would lead the Empire to victory…
Or become a great ruler who would repel invaders and usher in a golden age.
The prophecy spoke of the destruction of the world itself.
The Emperor couldn’t proudly call himself a perfect ruler.
But he genuinely loved his Empire and its people.
If this hero was destined to prevent not merely the Empire’s destruction, but the world’s…
And if that hero happened to be his own son, even one born to a maid and forgotten by the world…
There was no reason not to make him his heir.
“Very well. We’ll end this discussion here. Derek, hand the Crown Prince the Orion Territory report we discussed earlier.”
So this was the real purpose.
Ignoring the Empress’s glare and Alec’s lingering fear, Blake accepted the report from the Emperor’s aide, Derek, and glanced at the title.
[Distribution of the Orion Territory Annexed by the Imperial Family]
How tiresome.
Just as expected.
Everything was unbearably dull.
So while the Emperor continued speaking, Blake merely stared at the report and let his thoughts wander elsewhere.
For example…
To the dinner he would be having with his wife tonight.
Wife…
Just what exactly was inside that adorable little head of hers?
She was obviously afraid of him.
Yet she had fearlessly poked his neck over and over again out of sheer curiosity.
“Huh? I was just… checking whether your pulse was really gone.”
The moment their eyes met, she’d immediately widen her own like a startled rabbit before shrinking back.
But just because her face was cute didn’t mean her heart was soft.
Blake had already learned that lesson the hard way.
He’d been deceived so thoroughly that merely recalling it made his bones ache, enough to draw a crooked smile onto his lips.
“And regarding this matter, you and Alec will divide the assets of the territories annexed by the Imperial Family— Why do you suddenly look like that?”
The Emperor looked bewildered, unable to understand why Blake suddenly seemed to be in such a foul mood.
Only then did Blake touch the corner of his mouth before speaking.
His voice was firm and cold.
“Your Majesty, I understand everything you’ve said. Would it be possible to have all the relevant documents delivered to my office by the end of today? Since I’ve been absent for several days, my workload has piled up.”
“…”
His attitude remained perfectly respectful.
Yet the Emperor found himself unable to answer immediately.
For some reason…
He was afraid to face Blake.
For an instant, he had actually felt pressured by his own son, who was still the Crown Prince.
Unwilling to admit such a thing, the Emperor merely cleared his throat repeatedly before waving a hand toward Derek behind him, signaling him to handle everything.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Without sparing the Emperor another glance, Blake bowed properly and left the tiresome audience chamber.
Behind him, he could hear the Empress and Alec once again urging the Emperor to reconsider.
But Blake’s thoughts were already occupied by something entirely different.
“H-He really is His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“Quiet! Didn’t the prophecy clearly say he would return to life?”
“I can’t believe it was true…”
As Blake walked back to his office, he paid no attention to the astonished and fearful gazes of the palace officials who watched him.
Then, after returning to his office—
“Ah, Your Highness. You came back quickly after meeting His Majesty!”
Ignoring his chattering aide, Blake walked straight to his desk and opened the drawer.
Inside lay the pristine white envelope and sheet of paper that had occupied his thoughts all day.
“…”
He stared at them silently.
Then, with a faint, crooked smile…
He mercilessly tore them to pieces.
The words written across the page—
Divorce Agreement
—were ripped apart until they were no longer recognizable.
