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Chapter 9
“[He shall end his own life by his own will.]”
Honestly, it wasn’t exactly a favorable prophecy.
But somehow, the Empress had managed to interpret it in a positive light.
As long as he didn’t choose to take his own life, didn’t that mean he could never die no matter what happened?
It was admittedly a bit of a stretch, but technically, it wasn’t wrong either.
Moreover, when combined with the prophecy received by Lionel, no one could definitively claim that the First Prince would never ascend the throne. Because of the Empress’s fierce opposition, Lionel’s official appointment as Crown Prince had been delayed again and again until now.
“Any more questions?”
“Nope. That pretty much clears everything up.”
“To think you’ve started taking interest in palace politics. I guess positions really do shape people.”
Apparently, Cecilia’s brother thought she was worried about failing to become Empress.
‘It’s not like I even want to become Empress.’
All she truly wanted was to avoid being kidnapped and imprisoned while keeping her family from worrying about her. But since she couldn’t exactly say that out loud, Cecilia quietly focused on eating.
After dinner, it was still too early to sleep. Instead of heading toward her bedroom, she went to her workshop.
“My lady, are you planning to make a magic tool?”
“Yes. I was going to behave and attend the lessons properly if possible, but no matter how I think about it, memorizing the imperial genealogy is ridiculous.”
The large worktable was cluttered with blueprints, fragments of magic stones, and all kinds of crafting tools from projects she had left unfinished before.
Since Cecilia had forbidden anyone from touching the items in this workshop, she had to clean it herself. Of course, that happened maybe once a year.
Today as well, she casually swept everything on the desk to the side before spreading out a large sheet of paper and weighing it down with paperweights.
“Alright then… what kind of magic tool should I make?”
If she wanted something that would let her cheat naturally, then obviously—
“Perfect. You’re the one!”
“They’re all… correct.”
After checking the test paper, the Empress looked at Cecilia with genuine shock.
“How did you memorize all of this?”
“I didn’t memorize everything. I was just lucky. And…”
Cecilia folded the temples of the glasses she had been wearing, placed them into their case, and covered her mouth lightly with her hand as she laughed softly.
“My father gifted me these glasses after hearing I’d begun my lessons to become Empress. I think they helped me focus better.”
It wasn’t technically a lie.
The reason she achieved such good results really was because of the glasses, and her father truly had gifted them to her.
The secret, however, was that the glasses were actually a magic tool capable of recording the contents of books exactly as if using a camera lens, allowing her to search through any portion she wanted.
‘Since nobody outside knows I’m a magic tool creator, there’s no way they’d suspect the glasses.’
If there had been even a possibility that another magic tool engineer could create something like this, they might have grown suspicious. But Cecilia alone could make a magic tool with such abilities.
Why?
Because she was a genius.
Suppressing the urge to burst into loud laughter, Cecilia smiled sweetly at the Empress.
“Today’s lesson ends here, correct? Then may I take my leave?”
The Empress wore an awkward expression, but since she couldn’t find anything to criticize, she reluctantly nodded.
“Yes… you may.”
“Thank you. Then I shall return again next week.”
After elegantly bowing and leaving the Empress’s palace, Cecilia hummed happily to herself.
‘That solves one problem! I’ll just keep relying on these glasses for the imperial genealogy tests.’
Unfortunately, her good mood didn’t last long.
“I’m sorry. I lost the fountain pen you gave me.”
Because the moment she arrived, Lionel confessed the news without even trying to hide it.
Cecilia’s blood pressure instantly shot up, and she reflexively grabbed the back of her neck.
But this wasn’t her home, so she couldn’t behave carelessly. Straightening herself immediately, she tried calming down with the rose tea brought by the head attendant.
Unfortunately, since the tea was hot, it did nothing to cool her temper.
“Hoo… Fine. Since you told me honestly, I suppose I can forgive— forgive you?”
Perhaps burdened by the intensity of her wide eyes, Lionel lowered his gaze instead of meeting hers.
Cecilia called his name sharply.
“Look at me properly. It’s only been a few days since I gave you that fountain pen, and you already lost it? Exactly where, how, and while doing what did you lose it?”
Lionel stayed silent for a long while, his expression unreadable.
Then, apparently deciding there was no point hiding it, he looked her in the eyes and told her the truth.
“To be precise, I didn’t lose it. My brother asked for it, so I gave it to him.”
“He asked for it and you just handed it over? The symbol of affection your fiancée gave you?”
“I apologize.”
Cecilia’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
Lionel apologized with a face that hardly looked sorry at all before continuing quietly with lowered eyes.
“So please don’t give me gifts like that again. I don’t have the ability to protect valuable possessions.”
A bitter taste filled Cecilia’s mouth.
Because she knew he wasn’t making excuses to reject her gift. He meant those words sincerely.
“That’s a rather unromantic thing to say.”
“It may not be much of a replacement, but I prepared a return gift.”
Lionel glanced toward a servant, who immediately approached and presented Cecilia with a small box.
Inside was a fountain pen. One adorned with an amethyst the same color as Lionel’s eyes embedded in the clip.
So he really had listened when she emphasized that the blue diamonds matched her eye color exactly.
‘The body’s nice, and the nib’s nice too…’
She liked it, but she hid her reaction and calmly closed the box again.
“For now, you should keep this.”
“…You don’t like it?”
“No. You said this was a gift in return for the one I gave you, right? Then first, you need to still have my gift.”
“But—”
“That’s enough. Just wait a moment.”
Honestly, Cecilia had already expected something like this might happen the moment she gifted him the fountain pen, which was why she had come to the palace fully prepared today.
But actually experiencing it in person—
‘That bastard has some nerve. Stealing my gift?’
She didn’t know just how twisted someone’s personality had to be to steal a gift given to his younger brother by his younger brother’s fiancée.
‘Maybe the younger brother would tolerate it silently, but his fiancée absolutely won’t!’
Grinding her teeth furiously, Cecilia marched straight toward the First Prince’s palace.
“Really? She passed the genealogy memorization test with a perfect score?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Although Kaien maintained a calm exterior, inwardly he couldn’t hide his admiration.
‘Mother must have made the test intentionally difficult…’
Of course, since it was only a memorization test, the only thing required from Cecilia was memory.
But achieving a perfect score on a test personally prepared by the Empress was by no means insignificant.
Especially considering Kaien himself had repeatedly urged his mother to educate the future Empress strictly.
“Did she go see Leo again today?”
“Yes. We confirmed that the carriage carrying the duke’s daughter headed toward the Second Prince’s palace.”
“Good. You’ve done well. You may leave.”
Left alone in the room, Kaien stretched across the sofa and raised the fountain pen he had taken from Lionel high above him.
‘Blue diamonds… such a color isn’t common.’
It wasn’t quite blue, but closer to the color of clear water.
A color that reminded him of Cecilia’s eyes.
‘So this is the kind of gift one gives a fiancé.’
Kaien stared deeply at the gemstone embedded in the pen, his expression impossible to read.
Meanwhile, the voices of the maids from the Empress’s palace echoed in his ears.
“The Second Prince and the Roheim duke’s daughter? So it really ended up that way after all.”
“No wonder Her Majesty was so furious. She worked so hard trying to pair Lady Roheim with the First Prince.”
“Honestly, it was impossible from the start. If it were me, with the Second Prince there, I could never choose the First Prince…”
After overhearing the maids gossiping, Kaien came to realize just how unfair the world truly was.
Why did he have to lose everything simply because he was frail? It wasn’t his fault he had been born weak!
But no matter how bitter or resentful he felt, there was nothing he could do. For his own sake, he had to let go of the things that no longer belonged to him.
Still, lingering attachment remained.
Not because of something pathetic and childish like falling in love at first sight with Cecilia—
“Your Highness. Lady Cecilia Roheim is requesting an audience with you.”
“The Roheim duke’s daughter… who?”
As if waking from a shallow dream, Kaien abruptly snapped out of his thoughts and shot upright in shock.
“Cecilia? She came here?”
