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Chapter : 23
“What kind of nonsense is Father spouting?”
Since when did you ever act like my dad?
Controllers at Headquarters, as people with control authority, had to avoid getting overly emotional.
But once controllers took off their uniforms, they were just human.
It was only natural to have characters you liked—and ones you hated.
“Senior Jua is the definition of professional. No matter what goes on inside the monitors, she doesn’t even blink.”
“That’s not professionalism—she’s just cold-blooded.”
“Honestly… how should I put it? Senior Jua really lacks human warmth. Sure, it’s a manufactured dimension, but those characters are alive and moving right in front of our eyes.”
Yet I didn’t even have preferences like that.
No matter how tyrannical the tyrant became, no matter how vile the villain acted—
They’re just playing their roles.
To me, they were simply actors performing on a stage.
The emperor was no exception.
But ever since I entered this world and met the emperor face-to-face…
A strange feeling had crept in.
What’s wrong with me? Lee Soo-hyuk would cackle if he saw this.
Maybe this was DL’s heart.
Or maybe—
“What did you say your name was?”
“…Baek Jua.”
“Ah, right. It’s been so long I forgot.”
“…”
“Well, now that you’re an adult, you should show some filial piety to your father.”
Was it my heart leaking out behind the excuse of DL?
“From now on, call me Father. You are my daughter too, after all. I feel distance when you don’t.”
Then the emperor spoke again.
“No.”
Thanks to that, I managed to erase the filthy thought lingering in my head.
“How could someone like me dare address His Majesty—the Sun of the Empire of Elbenard—in such a way?”
Did DL want to call him father?
Maybe she had spent her whole life longing for this moment.
“Unlike the princes and princesses here, I left the imperial family years ago. I’ve never fulfilled my role as a daughter, so I don’t believe I have the right to use such a title.”
But at least I had no intention of doing so.
“…I see.”
The emperor merely looked down at me.
“If that’s how you feel.”
He didn’t push further.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
I bowed at the perfect timing.
It was time to exit.
* * *
A week passed waiting for the crown prince to regain consciousness.
Why is this taking so long?
I thought it would be enough, but there was no news.
“Your Highness, are you truly planning to leave the palace? Since things turned out this way, wouldn’t it be better to stay and get closer to His Majesty?”
Countess Karl said.
“You could even try calling him Father. He looked secretly disappointed when you refused last time.”
But her words made no sense to me.
Why would he feel disappointed? Am I seriously the only one who doesn’t get this emotional shift?
“It’s already been ten years since I left the imperial family. We’ve never lived as father and daughter—His Majesty has no reason to feel hurt.”
“A parent’s heart and a child’s heart are not the same,” she said.
Maybe it was because she was a parent herself. She seemed deeply immersed in the emperor’s feelings.
Even without that, she clearly wanted me to keep him in a good mood.
“Even if you lived as strangers, your child still carries your blood. Instinctively, the bond tugs at you.”
Her comment suddenly struck me as odd.
Come to think of it, DL and the emperor don’t resemble each other at all.
The emperor was stunningly handsome.
If vampires were real, they’d probably look like him.
But as for physical resemblance with DL?
Not really.
Well, maybe DL took after her mother.
“At this rate, who knows when the crown prince will wake? I can’t stay in the palace forever.”
“Don’t be hasty. My husband says His Majesty is in very good spirits these days.”
Thankfully, the Countess could bring me news from the imperial quarters.
A short-tempered emperor choosing silence was not a bad sign.
It likely meant worth keeping an eye on.
“Even though the prince hasn’t woken yet, surely there’s been some improvement. Isn’t that why His Majesty’s mood has lifted?”
That much, even I could guess.
But the problem was that trusting the emperor had wasted too much time.
The Earl of Rock’s banquet is creeping closer.
The emperor was selfish, and to him DL was no daughter.
He could easily take everything I learned about Alyan and clamp his mouth shut—and I’d have no recourse.
Disgusting.
A mistake I’d never have made in reality.
How is this fake world more real than reality itself?
Everything seen from HQ had been different from living it firsthand.
“When are you leaving the palace? Have you told Viscount Rekaten where you’re going?”
As soon as the Countess left, I intended to depart.
This afternoon, in fact.
“Not sure, maybe in a couple of days… you’re the only one who needs to know where I’ll be.”
I stalled vaguely.
“The palace maids can handle things from here. You don’t need to come again.”
Neither Rekaten nor the Countess could know my whereabouts for at least two days.
Having wasted time, I needed to move fast and efficiently.
“Lots of royals are already in the capital for the Rock Earl’s banquet… if I leave, that’s one less person to fuss over.”
“What did His Majesty say? Nothing, even after hearing you plan to leave?”
I swallowed the insult hovering on my tongue—a polished face with a rotten core—and answered calmly.
“No. Nothing. He must be busy.”
I hadn’t expected anything fatherly from the emperor.
That would be character-breaking.
But still, still—
If he lets my Alyan fruit go to waste… I won’t forgive him.
I never imagined he’d simply shut his mouth afterward.
And finally, afternoon arrived.
I need to be back in the capital before the Countess reads this letter.
I left her a note and departed alone.
Nothing had changed for DL—or for me—coming or going from the palace.
I was Ekaterina, yet not Ekaterina, still with nowhere to return to.
“Where shall we go, miss?”
I climbed into the carriage and declared:
“To the Bontek District, please.”
“Bontek? For a lady like you? Going there alone without a maid or knight?”
The coachman politely asked why someone of rank was heading to such a rough area.
“Oh, there’s a vocational school in Bontek. They say you can find decent servants for cheap.”
In truth, Bontek was where the original heroine lived.
The emperor and the Alyan fruit aren’t the only escape routes.
The crown prince was recovering too slowly.
The emperor was too unpredictable.
Expecting them to move according to my wishes, like in HQ, had been foolish.
If dying is too hard…
Watching the scenery speed past, I clenched my fist.
Then I’ll use whoever I must.
All I had to do was wreck the original story until the dimension collapsed.
* * *
After about an hour from the capital, Bontek District came into view.
I was walking down an alley toward the inn I’d booked when—
“…Excuse me.”
A faint voice called from behind.
Huh?
I turned reflexively—and my eyes widened.
“Priest Arno?”
Anyone would’ve thought a drunk was sprawled in the street at midday.
If not for that luminous sky-blue hair.
What is Arno doing here?
