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Chapter 13
‘If I fail to conceive the Emperor’s child… then maybe I’ll have to use that brother of his instead. He was once a temporary emperor, so you could say he’s someone close to the throne. And magical power itself is an extremely rare talent. If the child is a son, at least he might inherit that magic.’
The divine power Roabellin possessed was a power inherited only by the daughters of the Hoo family. For that reason, the sons of the Hoo family usually did not possess any special power unless their father had magical ability.
In a situation where the family could no longer act as a shield for the child, Roabellin hoped that if the child turned out to be a son, he would at least inherit the father’s magic.
Having organized her thoughts, Roabellin nodded slightly.
“Um, could you tell me the way to a village called Himmel?”
Leaving the shop, Roabellin headed in the direction the shop owner had indicated.
‘I might have to use him later. I should go see where he is in advance.’
After asking for directions and walking on, Roabellin finally reached the village as evening approached.
‘Whew… I’m tired. Still, it’s a relief I arrived before the sun completely set.’
After getting a room at an inn and unpacking, Roabellin changed into comfortable clothes and draped a shawl over herself. She told the innkeeper at the counter that she couldn’t sleep and was going out for a short walk, then went outside.
Leaving the inn, she headed toward the tower said to be on the outskirts of the village. Along the way, she lightly waved her hand and released the magic that had changed her face.
‘It’s night anyway, so there’s no one to see me.’
When she returned to the inn later, she only needed to briefly change back to brown hair and blue eyes.
It was a night with a bright full moon. Arriving in front of the small stone tower, Roabellin quietly looked up at it from outside the low stone wall.
‘Judging by the small windows on each floor… it’s about six stories in total.’
Her gaze reached the window at the very top of the tower. All the windows were tightly barred with iron.
‘So that’s where the First Prince is imprisoned.’
She could see a flickering yellow candlelight inside.
Soon, a young man appeared at the window. It was Heimelrik, with dark blond hair, green eyes, and a height slightly above average.
Roabellin did not know Heimelrik’s appearance, but in any case, the only people who could be inside this tower would be the imprisoned prince or, at most, a servant.
‘Judging by his clothes, he’s not a servant. Then… that must be the one imprisoned here. The First Prince—no, now the Emperor’s brother.’
Heimelrik, who had been looking out the window, also noticed Roabellin below and flinched in surprise. It was dark all around, but even from afar, it was clear she was an extraordinary beauty.
‘W-what? A ghost? At this hour, in such a remote place, why is there such an absurdly beautiful woman…?’
Even though she knew he was looking at her, she did not avoid his gaze. Her platinum-blond hair, shining in the bright moonlight, seemed to sparkle on its own.
‘The shadow stretching sideways shows she’s definitely human… but still…’
Her beauty was so inhuman that Heimelrik felt as though he had been bewitched by a ghost.
“……”
“……”
Neither of them spoke or moved, simply staring at each other. Their gazes held a slight wariness as they quietly observed one another.
After meeting his eyes for a moment, Roabellin lightly turned her body away.
‘They said he was imprisoned, but he looks better than I expected. If I fail to conceive the Emperor’s child later, maybe I should go into that tower and use Illusion Incense or Succubus Incense. Make him believe that his relationship with me was only a dream…’
Whether Emperor or his brother, to Roabellin they were not goals, only means. Her purpose was not to enjoy wealth and glory as the Emperor’s or Prince’s woman, but solely the restoration of Hertenes.
‘I’m sorry for thinking of you like this. Once I achieve my goal, I won’t want anything and will quietly disappear. In the end, you won’t lose anything either.’
Though Roabellin left without a word, Heimelrik remained standing there, staring in the direction she had gone.
‘Platinum-blond hair and an extraordinary beauty. I can’t see her eye color clearly from this distance, but it looked rare… purple. That combination sounds familiar.’
When he had been temporarily on the throne, he had accessed a great deal of information and top-level state secrets as the head of the nation. As he thought quietly, he caught hold of a thread of memory.
‘Ah! Aventador’s… the Hoo family, was it? They said the daughters of that family usually have platinum-blond hair and purple eyes, beauties so rare that ordinary people would never see one in their lifetime. And… they are fated to make their husbands kings.’
Once he recalled it, the memories unraveled like a spool of thread.
‘I scoffed, thinking a family bearing such a heavy destiny could really be wiped out so easily in a single night. But seeing it in person like this…’
In the dark room, his eyes gleamed.
“I want her. That beauty—and… that fate.”
Estina neatly folded Roabellin’s letter and put it into a drawer, then sat at her desk deep in thought.
‘While I wait for Roa, I should do my own work. While that child goes to a faraway foreign land, perhaps even risking her life to achieve her goal, what is it that I must do?’
For the sake of rebuilding the Hoo family, Estina herself also needed to give birth to descendants of the Hoo family who could help Roabellin’s child.
The face of her former fiancé, Iskal, briefly passed before her eyes, but that relationship had been severed eight years ago.
‘Even if by some luck I met him again and succeeded in having a child, the man I know would never let a woman carrying his child leave so easily. And with someone who has that level of magical power, there’s no way he wouldn’t be able to find me even if I ran away secretly.’
Estina quickly brushed those thoughts aside. More important was something else she had to do first.
‘I want to know the truth of what happened on the day our family fell. Exactly who in the royal family did it, and why. If I am to take revenge someday, I need to know my enemy precisely.’
After hesitating briefly, she made her decision.
‘Yes, let’s go to the royal palace of Aventador. Since everything began there, if I want evidence, that’s where I should go.’
Roabellin was running desperately. Beside her were Estina and three servants. After escaping the forest surrounding the burning castle, the five tried their best to stay close to trees and bushes to hide their bodies.
Their life-or-death escape came to nothing. A man suddenly jumped out and grabbed Roabellin’s wrist.
“I caught the Hoo family’s daughter!”
She wanted to scream, but no voice came out. She stretched out her hand with all her strength, hoping someone—anyone—would help her.
At that moment, someone appeared, grabbed her hand, and pulled her strongly. His face could not be seen clearly because he stood with the firelight behind him, but the eyes that flickered briefly in the light were golden.
“……!”
Roabellin burst into tears and opened her eyes wide. Still half-asleep, she looked around the room for a moment before realizing she was in an inn room in Himmel.
‘Whew, it was that dream again. It’s been a while since I dreamed of “that day”…’
Since the day their family was destroyed, Roabellin and Estina often relived those events in their dreams. Estina also suffered, but Roabellin’s aftereffects were worse, as she had been young and had lost her entire family in an instant.
‘I thought the frequency of those dreams had decreased a lot as I grew up. Was I that tired today?’
Roabellin pressed lightly on the left side of her chest. Even though it was just a dream, it had been so sad and frightening that her heart was still pounding.
Once she woke up like that, sleep did not come easily again. She was afraid she would have the same dream if she fell asleep again. Even though she must have dreamed it hundreds of times by now, it was still frightening and painful.
Lying in bed, Roabellin thought about the dream. Usually, only a few scenes repeated, but this time there were new parts.
‘Someone grabbed me and said, “I caught the Hoo family’s daughter.” Could that mean… someone will come after me, knowing who I am? No way, not now…’
She lightly shook her head, as if to shake off the ominous thought.
‘And there was someone who helped me. A man with golden eyes.’
As she dwelled on the face she had seen in her dream, the blunt, ill-tempered man she had met yesterday at the magic tool shop suddenly came to mind.
‘Now that I think about it, he was the first person I’d ever seen with golden eyes in my life. It must have left a strong impression. If he showed up in my dream tonight…’
Feeling somewhat calmer, Roabellin closed her eyes again.
‘Please let me see that handsome man’s face from the dream one more time—just once, properly this time…’
Praying earnestly to God, Roabellin fell back asleep. She must have been having a good dream, because a smile appeared on her lips.
The next day. Leaving the inn in Himmel, Roabellin was crossing a small mountain.
‘Once I cross this mountain, it should be Vicentium.’
Soon, an open view appeared. Climbing onto a high rock, Roabellin caught her breath and looked down at Vicentium spread out below. True to its reputation as the capital of the Empire, Vicentium stretched endlessly, with tall buildings and countless people moving about.
‘Oh, the one in the center must be the Imperial Palace.’
The Imperial Palace was surrounded by high walls, and its architecture was exceptionally splendid, making it easy to recognize. Even Roabellin, who had seen both Hertenes Ducal Castle and the Aventador Royal Palace, had never seen a palace this large and magnificent. It was truly a palace worthy of a great empire.
‘It really is enormous. The Emperor must be there.’
She imagined the arrogant Emperor in her mind and steeled her resolve.
‘Wait for me, Your Majesty. Until I get there, don’t look at any other woman.’
