VWTI 16

Chapter 16

How should I put it?
It was such an unexpected question that I couldn’t answer right away.
I just stared blankly at my father for a while before stammering out a reply.

“Uh… The Artlux Empire was founded, it’s been thirty-one years since His Majesty ascended the throne, and, um…”

“Not that kind of superficial information.”

“Other than the ‘anecdote’ you told me, Father, I don’t really know much.”

My father looked straight into my eyes, as though trying to judge whether I was telling the truth.
Then his calloused hand slid down his arm and clasped mine tightly.

“…Have you met any strangers recently?”

“Hmm…”

“A young man, or perhaps an older woman?”

For a moment, I almost forgot how to breathe.
If not for that additional phrase — “an older woman” — I would have thought Father had already seen right through my flimsy little plan.

Forcing myself to ignore the chill running down my spine, I smiled faintly.

“Oh, Father. Really. What kind of young man would be crazy enough to approach me?”

“Evgenia.”

“Come on. You know it takes a death wish just to get within ten feet of me.”

No one knew better than my father how insane “Evgenia” could be.

If it were only a matter of throwing tantrums or causing minor trouble, Father wouldn’t have to personally intervene every time.
But the scale of Evgenia’s incidents always exceeded all imagination — which meant Father inevitably had to clean up every mess that followed.

I didn’t need to bring up some noble’s disgraced son or anything of the sort.
Just saying, “You know,” was enough.

As expected, Father sighed quietly, released my shoulder, and straightened his posture.

“Alright. For now… I’ll look into it. Until then, it would be best if you kept this matter to yourself.”

“…What?! Why—how? Are you going to the temple or something?”

Startled, I snapped my head up.
How exactly was he planning to “look into” something that wasn’t a tattoo but a name that had simply vanished overnight — and yes, the kind of “overnight” that implied I’d slept, but not that way.

There was no way Father knew about Yulan’s power — the ability he had so carefully hidden while living in secrecy.

‘Well… who knows. Maybe he’s heard rumors circulating through the back alleys.’

I decided I’d contact Yulan as soon as dinner was over.

While I was turning that over in my mind, Father gently stroked my hair and said,

“If need be, I’ll go beyond the temple — I’ll seek out the god Himself.”

There was a heavy weight of love and concern in those words.
It felt like that tenderness was sparking up from the tips of his fingers.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I grabbed his hand tightly.

“Father, I’m just worried this could spiral out of control. There’ll be plenty of people eager to blame me for why my name disappeared…”

“Oh, Zhenya.”

“I’m not trying to justify what I’ve done before. I deserve punishment. Truly.”

“…”

“So I want to resolve this quietly, as peacefully as possible.”

I lowered my gaze, speaking softly and carefully.

“After annulling the engagement, I’ll return to the duchy and devote myself entirely to successor training. I don’t care who you choose as my husband-to-be. It’s just… I feel too guilty toward Raymond. I can’t possibly…”

I wasn’t sure if Father noticed the slight tremor in my eyelashes.
I wanted him to see how sincere I was being.

“Of course, declaring a breakup on my own will cause trouble for the Larson family. But for Raymond’s happiness, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“…”

“This morning, I couldn’t accept the reality of it all. I tried to redraw the name with a quill and ended up leaving a scar instead… But that pain woke me up. It made me realize Raymond’s fate isn’t tied to mine.”

I’d piled on so many flowery words to hide the truth — that I simply wanted to escape this marriage — that my tongue began to ache.

If Father had truly examined the scar, he would have noticed it was an old, already healed wound — one deep enough to have formed long ago.

But he didn’t seem to doubt my story at all.
The shock of the name’s disappearance, the brief moment he’d seen it, and the fact that the scar was hidden under where the name used to be — unless he had eagle eyes, there was no way he could tell.

‘Besides, Father’s always been a scholar, not a warrior. He said he needed glasses as soon as he came of age.’

Now that my perfect counterargument was complete, all I could do was wait for the judge’s verdict — Father’s judgment.

I tried to look wistful and calm, hiding my nervousness, when—

“Evgenia. Answer me just this one thing.”

“Yes? What is it…”

“Before your name disappeared, are you certain you didn’t meet even one stranger?”

“…Of course not, Father.”

Even with my firm answer, his expression remained troubled.
What could he possibly know?

I wanted to pry into the secret behind those gentle blue eyes — but I knew it was something I wasn’t meant to learn.
If I did, I might just ruin my own life.

‘Let’s just pretend I don’t know. If it were something I needed to hear, Father would tell me himself.’

I couldn’t even swallow my dry throat as I waited in silence.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Father patted my shoulder softly.

“As for the engagement… let’s think it over a bit more. It’s too soon to call it off.”

“What?! Father, what do you mean—!”

“Until we uncover the truth behind your missing name… yes, it’s better that you spend more time with Raymond.”

My eyes, already wide, somehow widened even further.

What kind of plan was he cooking up to reach that conclusion?

I quickly clasped my hands over his, afraid he might walk away.

“F-Father! Why on earth should I spend more time with Raymond?”

“If your name vanished as an act of divine will, so be it. But if human hands were involved, we can’t afford to ignore that intent.”

I instinctively held my breath.
Could it be that Father really knew everything?

“F-Father, what do you mean? How could a human possibly tamper with a divine name?”

“I only know what I’ve read in old texts — I can’t be certain. But if it’s written, it means it has happened before… and could happen again.”

“Well, yes, but still…”

“Don’t worry. Evgenia, I’ll look into it as quietly as you wish.”

Then Father gently ruffled my hair.

“Just go about your days as usual, as though nothing happened. Alright?”

“Yes, Father…”

Only after he left the dining room did all the tension drain from my body.
Leaning back in my chair, I held my aching head and let out a weak groan.

I wanted to scream, but I forced myself to hold it in.

‘I’m doomed. My name’s gone, and the engagement ceremony is still happening? This makes no sense!’

If Father really started an investigation into “humans who can erase names,” how could Yulan possibly avoid his reach?

The more faith I had in my father’s competence, the more anxious I became.

I dug my nails into the tablecloth, trying to steady my racing thoughts.
When I finally calmed down enough to think rationally, the conclusion was clear.

‘…I need to meet Yulan again. If I warn him about Father’s investigation in advance, he’ll know to hide.’

I didn’t know why Yulan hid his identity and lived in the shadows, but the fact that he’d abandoned all his privileges as the Second Prince meant there was definitely some dark reason behind it.

He surely wouldn’t want to draw the Duke’s attention, either.

‘Honestly… I kind of feel bad. He got tangled up in this mess because of me.’

How could I have known Father was aware of the power to erase names?

Judging by Yulan’s reaction when I first brought it up, it wasn’t the kind of secret anyone could easily discover.

‘Even for the Martyr Duchy, this is too deep. What’s Father’s connection to the royal family, anyway?’

At first, all I wanted was to cut ties with Raymond, escape the original plot, and avoid the villainess route.

But now, instead of a breakup, I’d been ordered to spend more time with him — and Father’s cryptic attitude only made things murkier.

‘What’s going to happen to me now? What about my “happy Schrödinger’s limited-life plan”?’

Was it a mistake to trust the original story and seek Yulan’s help?
Still, without his power, I couldn’t see any way out of marrying Raymond.

At this point, my only option was to weave an even tighter web of lies and deceive Father completely.

‘I’m sorry, Father! This is all for the sake of House Martyr!’

After that small, guilty prayer in my heart, I turned to Anna, who had just returned.

“Anna, prepare some stationery. The finest kind you can find.”

I already knew which shop to send it to — one run by Yulan’s guild.

In the original story, those shops would randomly shower Stella with free gifts, glorifying her as some blessed heroine.

‘Well then, time to put them to much better use — as my personal postal service.’

And while I’m at it… I’ll fool Father, too.