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Chapter 12
Cecilia didn’t look flustered at all; she simply stared straight at Edward with her bright blue eyes.
No doubt, five years ago, the old her would have been utterly shaken by those words.
Back then, she and Edward had been nothing more than husband and wife in name only, and she had been terribly awkward when it came to relations between men and women.
She might have pretended to be calm, but she never could have managed to appear truly unaffected.
But now, Cecilia was different.
It was all written in the books, after all.
With a faint chuckle, she replied,
“Because of the things you’ve done to find me, the whole continent knows you’re fond of me. So why are you still doing such needlessly dangerous things?”
“Dangerous to my life, you say…?”
“They might not attack you while you’re awake, but when you’re asleep, it’s a different story.”
Edward’s lips twisted into a crooked smile.
“Or perhaps you’d like to use drowsiness as an excuse to kill me?”
“Why would I ever do that?”
Cecilia asked back in genuine confusion.
“Edward, stop with the pointless misunderstandings. The one I’ve been running from and the one I hated all this time was Emperor Gerard, not you.”
“……”
All she got in return was a look that said he didn’t believe her.
Cecilia sighed.
“Edward… if I truly wished to leave, there would be nothing you could do to stop me. Yet here I still am.”
Edward countered,
“If I chose to stop you, you wouldn’t be able to leave.”
“Because of the demon’s power?”
Cecilia snorted.
“If the demon were really that formidable, why hasn’t it managed to seize me yet? Instead, it stooped to lowly things like threatening Medina.”
“Indeed!”
Björn bellowed loudly, but both Cecilia and Edward ignored the dragon.
Dejected, the dragon curled up his tail and slithered into Cecilia’s nightgown pocket, poking only his head back out.
“Anyway, I’m not here to blame you. I left without a proper explanation, so it’s only natural you’d misunderstand.”
“……”
Edward looked like he had countless things he wanted to say, yet he kept his mouth shut.
Taking advantage of the moment, Cecilia decided to say something she should have said long ago.
“But I’ve explained everything to you now. If even after this you still can’t trust me…”
She shook her head.
“That’s unfortunate. Either way, we’re bound as husband and wife for the next year. If you can’t bring yourself to trust me, then for you, it’ll be a year of living in hell.”
Rosemary was in a very good mood.
She had been nervous because so few people knew much about the empress, but it turned out she was straightforward and not the type to make many demands.
“Her Majesty the Empress is such a wonderful person. She’s way less difficult than most noble ladies!”
“Still, you need to be careful.”
Isabel spoke with caution.
“You heard what the soldiers were saying. They said she’s actually terrifying.”
“Don’t you think that’s just a misunderstanding? How could someone that beautiful and delicate-looking have made soldiers kneel?”
Listening from the other side of the wall, Cecilia stifled a laugh.
One day, Rosemary would see her true self.
But for some reason, Cecilia had a feeling the girl wouldn’t be all that frightened.
She’s got good nerves. Isabel, on the other hand…
Isabel clearly feared her.
Fear came from ignorance, and Cecilia intended to give her one chance to open her eyes.
But if Isabel still refused to see, no matter what…
Then I’ll have to get rid of her.
And simply select another maid instead.
Having once been the mistress of a ducal household, Cecilia knew very well just how important it was to have trustworthy people by her side.
She slid another plate of tiramisu toward Björn and sipped her tea.
By the time Björn had—well, swum through—no, devoured his third plate of tiramisu, there was a knock at the door.
When she told them to come in, it was the head maid.
“Baron and Baroness Graham have arrived, Your Majesty.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. They are waiting in the drawing room.”
Cecilia’s face lit up.
She hadn’t seen her parents’ faces in five years.
No matter how much she longed for them, becoming an archmage had been her first priority, so she had forced herself not to dwell on it.
But now, she was the empress of the Linek Empire.
She could meet whomever she wished.
Hastily, she tucked Björn into her sleeve.
By now, he was used to wrapping himself around her wrist like a bracelet and staying perfectly still.
Cecilia hurried straight to the drawing room.
“Cecilia!”
“Our daughter, Cecilia…”
The couple, not yet fifty but already with hair gone completely white, burst into tears the moment they saw her.
After giving birth to Cecilia, Baroness Graham had been told she could never have another child, so the couple had poured all their love into their only daughter.
For them, the last five years—unable even to confirm if their daughter was alive—had been a living hell.
“Mother, Father.”
Her throat tightened on its own.
At nineteen, she had married Edward Keres to escape a future where she would become the tyrant’s empress and die miserably.
But even that had lasted only a year before she fled.
From being cherished in her parents’ arms to being suddenly cast into a cold, cruel world.
“Have… you been well?”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve returned to us, safe and sound.”
That was the kind of people Baron and Baroness Graham were.
Whether their daughter was a duchess, the empire’s empress, or the terrifying witch the world gossiped about—it didn’t matter.
All that mattered was that their only child stood before them alive and well.
Cecilia’s eyes grew wet.
Her eyes stung more and more, and if she let down her guard for even a moment, the tears would pour out.
“Of course it matters. You haven’t been unwell, have you?”
She asked in concern.
Though only six years had passed, they looked as if they had aged twice that.
The baroness in particular was thin and haggard, her complexion ashen—anyone could see she was unwell.
The baroness gave a faint, bitter smile.
“My daughter’s eyes miss nothing. You’re right, I’ve been sick ever since you left.”
“……!”
Cecilia clapped a hand over her mouth.
While she had been living safely in the Tower of Sages, her mother had been ill all along. Her chest ached with guilt.
“The doctor said I wouldn’t live long. To keep myself going, I needed rare and expensive medicines…”
Cecilia’s lips trembled.
She should have left the tower sooner.
Forget becoming an archmage—she should have found some way, any way, to take care of her family.
“But don’t worry. Thanks to His Majesty the Emperor, I’ve nearly recovered.”
“…What?”
Cecilia’s voice sounded dazed.
The emperor? Surely not Gerard. It had to mean Edward.
But why would he help her parents after she abandoned him?
“Even after you disappeared, His Majesty continued to treat us as his in-laws. That alone was more than enough, but… as soon as he ascended the throne, he sent Dr. Tauzen to us.”
Dr. Tauzen.
There wasn’t a soul in the empire who didn’t know that name.
The legendary physician who was said to bring the dead back to life. He never treated anyone outside the imperial family.
Even now, with a new emperor on the throne, nothing had changed.
“So we are truly grateful.”
“And I must offer my gratitude as well.”
The words came out mechanically, but her mind was spinning.
Why…? Why go so far as to send Dr. Tauzen…?
Edward wasn’t a cruel man; she knew he had a sense of duty. Buying costly medicines was believable enough.
But to summon the imperial physician right after seizing the throne?
The Graham couple, distant from politics, didn’t realize—but Cecilia did.
When Edward had just won the throne through rebellion, there would have been countless urgent matters demanding his attention.
Yet he had gone so far as to persuade the loyal physician of the royal family to attend to them.
Seeing her lost in thought, Baron Graham quickly spoke up.
“Cecilia, what troubles weigh on your mind?”
