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Chapter 53
Upon learning of Cereus’s bloodline, Ranellica showed intense hostility.
The atmosphere, which had been gradually easing, immediately collapsed.
No matter how expensive the jewels, how dazzling the dress, or how lavish the bouquets, none of it could win Ranellica’s heart.
Unable to sway her feelings by any means, Cereus’s emotions transformed into pure obsession and possessiveness.
By chance, he discovered that the village where Ranellica lived was a hidden sanctuary for pure fairies.
The wise know how to turn a crisis into an opportunity.
Cereus immediately headed to the village.
With appropriate destruction—and slaughter.
The fairies, mistakenly believing that the royal Cereus could wield Mirror Shield Magic, were defenseless against him.
Eventually, when Ranellica pleaded desperately, promising to do anything if he would just stop:
“Then… you should have loved me.”
“You… you’re insane.”
“Yes, Ranellica. I’m mad about you.”
Cereus stood in the center of the half-destroyed village and proposed to Ranellica.
Naturally, Ranellica was terrified.
Despair, fear, helplessness.
She also despised Cereus for destroying even the village to claim her.
When she showed signs of trying to escape, Cereus drove the point home:
“The survival of this village depends on you, Ranellica.”
After hearing that, Ranellica hesitated briefly.
In truth, the fairy village consisted entirely of pure fairies.
Within it, Ranellica was the only half-blood.
Being a half-blood born under unfortunate circumstances, it was natural for Ranellica to be ostracized.
She had suffered persecution and hardship, but there were also fairies who treated her kindly out of sympathy.
Cereus cunningly took as hostages the fairies who were closest to Ranellica.
In the end, to protect them, Ranellica had no choice but to accept Cereus’s proposal.
Later, when Cereus, born of a palace maid, became emperor, turmoil arose in the empire.
Partly because he had eliminated his legitimate brothers, the princes, but even more because he appeared with half-blood fairies.
“The pure fairies tried to interfere, bringing up what I did to their village…”
Half-blood fairies, who had lived in hiding to avoid persecution, stepped forward and drove out the pure fairies.
This deepened the rift between pure and half-blood fairies, but ironically, it gave the half-bloods some breathing room.
It was around this time that Ranellica began to become compliant.
“At first she resisted, but eventually she accepted me.”
Of course, this “acceptance” wasn’t in the usual sense.
After that, Ranellica assisted Cereus as empress without deficiency.
About seven years passed, and by now, Cereus firmly believed that Ranellica loved him.
In reality, Cereus had ensured a life so luxurious and beautiful that Ranellica’s difficult past as a persecuted half-blood barely crossed his mind.
“How could she not fall in love with me?”
Cereus nodded to himself.
But only for a moment.
A slight annoyance began to flicker across Cereus’s face.
“However… the empress’s recent behavior is odd.”
Cereus tilted his head and rested his chin on his hand.
His sculpted, long, beautiful fingers lightly tapped his cheek.
“Why does she suddenly dislike Indigentia?”
And that wasn’t all.
It seemed she was even trying to block access to the Sanctuary of Knowledge with absurd excuses, as if intending to kill Cedric entirely.
“Why… even kill the attendants?”
Ranellica’s decision to send the attendants had twisted the dragon’s mood.
Because of this, he couldn’t enter the Sanctuary of Knowledge to monitor Ranellica more closely.
Cereus watched her every move and knew all her actions.
“Claims that it threatens the throne are just an excuse.”
If she were acting for the throne’s sake, she should have targeted Marine Nest, not Indigentia, which contained a cursed individual.
“Because the princess of Marine Nest has learned the forgotten royal magic, Mirror Shield Magic.”
This was a sign of royal blood, and so it had to be carefully monitored.
Especially now, with Cereus of palace-born heritage sitting on the throne, no one was a greater threat than the Marine Nest princess.
“They say she’s teaching Renaud as a sign of loyalty…”
But no one knew if she was actually teaching him properly.
“Tch.”
Cereus clicked his tongue and crossed his legs.
“Such a shame.”
If Cedric hadn’t broken Cereus’s staff, he would likely be learning Mirror Shield Magic by now.
“Speaking of which, when will my staff be restored?”
Nearly a year had passed without a word.
After being broken in a crushing defeat against Cedric during the long-anticipated national festival—the Magic Colosseum—Ranellica had taken the staff.
“I know a skilled Dwarf craftsman. I’ll leave it to him.”
“You didn’t have to go that far.”
“I had to. It’s the emperor’s staff, and I don’t want Your Majesty to suffer such humiliation again.”
Her words had been so devoted that he had trusted them as love, yet it had taken too long.
“I’d better check on it soon.”
Cereus immediately pressed the bell fixed to his desk, calling for an attendant.
“You called, Your Majesty?”
“Yes.”
Cereus had intended merely to inquire about the staff’s whereabouts, but a new suspicion arose.
“Come to think of it, they said ‘he’ when referring to it. Could it be a man?”
What kind of scoundrel is this?
How does he even know Ranellica?
She hadn’t met any men recently—was there secret contact?
Who is this man that she’s hiding so meticulously?
Irritated without warning, Cereus said sharply:
“Gather all information about anyone connected to the empress.”
“Those around her… you mean?”
“Yes. Every single one, especially…”
The attendant quietly bowed and listened.
Cereus smoothed his impossibly handsome, smooth jaw and said:
“Focus on the men.”
His obsessive suspicion, which he would never admit, flared up.
“Is this really necessary?”
Cedric said while flipping through the Verbum newspaper.
I looked at the same paper and replied,
“If we’re going to do it, it’s better to be thorough.”
The second page of today’s Verbum morning edition featured my photo.
In it, Calib was pretending to place a wet towel on my forehead.
Above was a bold subheading:
“Elia Indigentia, bedridden from the sorrow of missing her honeymoon; the Grand Duchy falls into despair…”
As agreed beforehand, the article turned out well.
After the story claimed I had given up the honeymoon out of disappointment for not entering the Sanctuary of Knowledge, a small uproar occurred in the capital.
The commoner council criticized the royal family as excessive, while the nobles argued it was over the top.
I moved on to the next article.
“After disparaging the commoners in the debate hall, Marquis Devolan’s troupe boycotts declared…”
“Being wealthy doesn’t make you a noble; you’re just a nouveau riche…”
“Protests claim they will no longer be ignored for being commoners…”
Because of this, the commoner council fully aligned with Indigentia.
Among the commoners, some were wealthier than many nobles.
Wealth brings power, and power increases wealth.
Even nobles could no longer look down on commoners.
On the contrary, the few nobles had to pay attention to the majority commoners.
Hence, some nobles still wanted friendly relations with Indigentia despite minor friction with the royal family.
Even though the empress’s attendants caused a fuss at the wedding, it ultimately helped Indigentia.
I nodded in satisfaction and put down the newspaper.
“The empress must have seen this too.”
“Most likely,” Cedric replied with a slightly awkward smile.
He still wondered whether antagonizing the royal family so openly was the right move.
Though freeing himself from the curse was important, he worried about the harm it might cause Calib, who would become a Grand Duke.
“Hmph. It’s too late to regret and open the path now. We’ve already found another route to the Sanctuary of Knowledge.”
However, unlike Cedric’s deep concerns, Calib seemed simply pleased to have outdone the empress.
Indeed, if it’s your older brother, you’d just die laughing.
As Calib said, tomorrow we would head to the fairy village.
I had thought it would require a long discussion with Mephisto, but surprisingly:
“Don’t speak to Elia without my permission. Don’t use that tone with her.”
Calib had handled it himself.
Mephisto, evidently terrified of Calib wielding a staff, only trembled and had no objection.
“Elia lost her memory. She’s in a very unstable state. So don’t bother her unnecessarily.”
Moreover, Calib had given this explanation.
Thanks to him, the conversation with Mephisto went very smoothly.
I told him I had to hide being a pure fairy due to circumstances.
“That’s because humans killed all the pure fairies in the past? You’re afraid of being killed?”
“Yes, exactly.”
To be precise, I was afraid of dying at Cedric’s hands, but I did not deny it.
“So you’ll go along with me being a half-blood fairy?”
“Alright. I am the Grand Sage of Indigentia. I won’t let bloodshed between a couple bring disgrace to a family.”
Thus, Cedric and Calib confirmed through Mephisto that I was indeed a half-blood fairy.
They probably already knew from my gemstones and strength, though.
Floating around between us, Mephisto said,
“But Elia is bedridden, isn’t she?”
Mephisto, besides revealing another path to the Sanctuary of Knowledge, had his life guaranteed under the condition of becoming Calib’s teacher.
His grotesque appearance was transformed into a cute, fluffy cotton-candy-like form.
Though he was still entirely black.
He asked,
“Can I roam around freely?”
