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Chapter 25
Camin looked at Lady Aurelian with a regretful expression.
Lady Aurelian spoke to Camin in a firm tone.
“Even so, you must tell the truth. A relationship built on lies—no matter how beautiful it may appear—is nothing more than a hollow illusion.”
After saying that, Lady Aurelian hesitated for a moment. Through long years of experience, she knew that human affairs were not something one could judge so decisively.
She added in a much gentler voice,
“This may sound impertinent, but I truly regard Your Majesty as an adorable grandson. And Riena is also a dear friend of mine. So all I wish is for the two of you to find genuine happiness.”
“Impertinent? Not at all. I will take your words to heart, Grandmother.”
Knowing that Lady Aurelian was sincere, Camin nodded. Then, wearing a strangely cool smile, he said,
“And I truly will tell her soon. Once everything has been settled.”
“Once everything has been settled?”
At Camin’s meaningful words, Lady Aurelian furrowed her brow.
There were two issues at hand: the Duke of Pond suddenly coming to take his daughter back, and Riena’s refusal to leave Faustine.
‘But how exactly does he plan to “settle” all this?’
The best solution Lady Aurelian could come up with was begging Riena to go to the Empire with them.
The only guess she could make that even vaguely aligned with Camin’s intentions was—
‘Surely he isn’t planning to go on a rampage and kill the Duke of Pond himself.’
That was as far as her imagination went.
But Camin was thinking one step beyond that.
‘Riena doesn’t need to give up what she wants just because of me.’
He loved Riena—but not just Riena herself. He loved the work she did, the life she lived, and the scenery that surrounded her.
Riena not waking early every morning to work diligently on the farm.
Riena dressed in elegant gowns instead of wearing a straw hat with a handkerchief tied tightly around her head.
‘That wouldn’t be happiness—for her or for me.’
Yet as things stood, he could not protect Riena properly.
That was why Camin had arrived at a solution: incorporating Faustine into imperial territory.
Faustine was a city close to the border, so it did not seem especially difficult.
‘If there’s a legal problem, I’ll just take it by force.’
Then he could simply teleport back and forth. Once Faustine became imperial land, no one would be able to object. And with a teleport zone in place, even remote administration would be possible.
Despite these dangerous thoughts, his expression remained calm. Camin fidgeted with his fingers as he continued thinking.
‘Wouldn’t this much be enough for Riena to finally nod yes when I reveal who I am and propose?’
In truth, he was afraid—afraid that the moment she learned he was the Emperor, she would reject him and run away.
Having ascended the throne at a young age, Camin had faced many kinds of crises. There were times he wanted to flee because standing before so many people felt overwhelming, and times when the workload was so heavy he wanted to throw everything away.
But fearing that someone might not accept him—this was a kind of fear he had never experienced before.
Meanwhile, far from Faustine, in the Empire’s capital, the Imperial Palace.
Camin had two younger sisters. Liz, intelligent and composed, and Susan, cheerful, energetic, and full of drive.
While Camin had been away from the palace for an extended period, it was these two princesses who handled his outward-facing duties.
Liz, who had been sorting through Camin’s workload—leaving aside only documents that required his personal approval—tilted her head when she saw her younger sister burst into the room.
“Susan, what’s with that expression? You were in a good mood just this morning.”
“Why wouldn’t I be in a bad mood? It’s because of that damned brother of mine!!”
Susan complained loudly, as if she had been waiting for someone to ask.
Liz gestured with her eyes. The maids, already used to this, quietly filed out of the office.
Perching herself on the desk in front of Liz, Susan puffed out her cheeks and said,
“Just when is my brother coming back? I want to go somewhere—anywhere, even the southern provinces—but I can’t leave the capital!”
Susan loved traveling. Keeping someone like her cooped up in the capital for so long was bound to make her restless.
Liz wanted to let her go free as well. But she removed her glasses, placed them on the desk, and replied with a sigh,
“I think you should give up. It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to return for a while.”
“What? Why?!”
“He’s getting married.”
At Liz’s words, Susan froze blankly for a moment. Then, belatedly, her lips parted as she asked,
“…Married? To a human woman?”
Even their reactions were identical—proof they really were twins. Liz nodded.
“Yes. To a human woman.”
“Not a cat?”
“Nope. Surprising, right?”
“Hah…”
After all these years without even a single rumor, he jumped straight to marriage. Susan’s blank stare quickly sharpened.
“Wait! Then he can’t come back because he’s busy dating? What about the Ego Sword?”
“Exactly,” Liz replied.
She let out a deep sigh. Susan bounced around, complaining about why no one had scolded him, but Liz saw things differently.
‘What if it’s not dating, but unrequited love? That would explain why he can’t bring her back.’
When Camin had cautiously confessed that there was someone he liked, his face had been filled with anxiety and worry—so much so that Liz had nearly asked whether it was really mutual.
If it was unrequited love, it was even more frustrating. With a face like that—what could possibly be lacking in an emperor of a nation?
‘He’s too rigid. He could make better use of what he has. Surely he doesn’t think using his status would be cowardly… does he?’
As she was thinking this, Susan hopped down from the desk.
“I think I’ll just go to Faustine myself and bring them back. My brother—and that woman who might become my sister-in-law.”
“Don’t. Don’t ruin someone else’s romance for no reason.”
Liz worried that Susan’s fiery temperament would cast a dark cloud over Camin’s careful, cautious courtship.
“But it’s unfair that he gets a vacation all to himself!”
Susan declared boldly that she wanted time off too. Without waiting for Liz’s response, she turned on her heel.
“So I’m going to bring him back! Just wait a bit.”
“Susan—”
Don’t go.
But before she could stop her, Susan had already dashed out.
Liz stared blankly at the spot where Susan had been, then slapped the documents on her desk with her palm.
“Damn it.”
I want a break too, you know. Is it only you two who get to rest?
“….”
Exactly one minute later, Liz quietly gathered the scattered documents. Instead of wasting time getting irritated, she resolved to finish her work quickly and rest.
And so, I ended up staying at the lord’s castle unexpectedly. Since I had already planned to leave home for a while, staying here posed no problem at all. I just needed to bring the bag I had packed in advance.
‘I didn’t expect Camin to suddenly be so reliable.’
Saying he’d handle the Duke of Pond and everything else himself, and that all I needed to do was answer his confession.
Where did that confidence come from?
‘He must hold a very high position. Even Father seemed afraid of him.’
Just who exactly is Camin?
‘He’s not from Faustine, is he? He said he came to retrieve Louis-Louis.’
As I thought about Camin, a realization I hadn’t considered before struck me, and my eyes widened.
‘Ah—so one day, Camin will have to return to his homeland.’
He didn’t seem interested in becoming the lord of Faustine, after all. I tilted my head.
‘But the more I think about it, the stranger it seems. His grandmother is the lady lord here—so why isn’t Camin inheriting the territory?’
There were no other family members either. Even accounting for divorce and such, it was strange that there was no heir.
‘Does he perhaps have an even larger domain? One big enough that he can afford to give up Faustine?’
Come to think of it, when he first visited our house, he had brought a whole group of subordinates with him.
Back then, since he was someone I had never seen before—even as the daughter of the Duke of Pond—I never imagined he might be a noble of such high rank.
‘Could his status be extremely high? Higher even than the Duke of Pond?’
Just as I tilted my head and opened my bag, Louis-Louis—who had been transformed into a small dagger—revealed his true form and leapt into my arms.
—Master!
“Louis-Louis!”
You clever little thing! You even brought Camin here. I hugged Louis-Louis tightly, patting him as I spoke.
“Weren’t you cramped in the bag? Are you okay?”
—Of course. Are you all right, Master?
“My head’s a mess. One big incident after another keeps happening.”
To be honest, I wasn’t completely fine. How could I be, when the father who had once abandoned me now claimed I was suddenly useful? Still, I didn’t have time to sink into despair.
“There are so many good people around me—I have to be okay. I don’t know what kind of luck I have.”
When I was Riena, the Duke of Pond’s daughter, no one helped me even when I was disgracefully dumped.
‘I’m glad I left the duke’s estate. Even if I’d married Crown Prince David, I wouldn’t have been happy.’
They were such shallow people, with feelings that changed just as lightly.
I pressed a quick kiss to Louis-Louis’s blade and added,
“Of course, the one who makes me happiest is you, Louis-Louis.”
—Master!!
Who would have thought I’d meet an all-purpose sword like Louis-Louis in the countryside? More than anything, Louis-Louis was a precious friend—the one I could open my heart to completely.
