Chapter 22

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 22

Chapter Title: Dragon's Blessing?

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Dragon's Blessing?

Such a thing couldn't possibly exist.

Of course, it was a phrase I'd made up to persuade the Emperor and create a pretext.

But I wasn't worried at all.

Because among the words I'd spoken before the Emperor, there was an important truth woven in.

'I can save Arpad from his madness. That's a fact.'

So I stood tall with confidence!

The gazes of the Emperor and Arpad fixed on me were scorching hot, as if they might burn me to cinders.

For a long while, the audience chamber remained deathly silent.

"……."

"……."

The prolonged silence was broken once again by the Emperor.

He asked me in a low voice.

"...Are you telling me to believe that?"

"I haven't spoken a single lie, Your Majesty."

Of course, I didn't forget to choose my words carefully.

The Emperor clicked his tongue.

"Would you swear a sacred oath before a divine object or priest that it's the truth? Staking your life on it?"

Of course not. It was a blatant lie.

But I didn't waver in the slightest as I replied.

"There's no need for that. Artanus himself promised me."

"Promised?"

"Yes. He said he'd show direct proof."

The Emperor's face, which had looked at me like I was a liar, clouded with confusion.

I'd spoken so boldly that he seemed unsure whether it was real or not.

"...What proof?"

Perfect. The moment those words left the Emperor's mouth, I was more than halfway to success.

I calmly and boldly made one more demand.

"Exactly one month and three days from now, grant me Artanus Hall for the wedding banquet of myself and Crown Prince Arpad."

"...What?"

The Emperor blinked in bewilderment and asked again.

"Artanus Hall? Do you even know what that place is?"

"How could any citizen of the Empire not know? It's the hall where Your Majesty's coronation was held."

To be more precise, Artanus Hall was used only for the Emperor's coronation.

As its name suggested—honoring the dragon founder—it was the most important and magnificent hall.

To hand that over as a wedding banquet venue, even for the Crown Prince?

It was absurd.

'But is regressing three times any less absurd?'

And anything less wouldn't allow me to publicly proclaim that the Emperor had approved our marriage.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason. The hall was also the best venue for the performance I planned to showcase at the banquet.

'It's possible elsewhere, but for symbolism and impact, nothing beats that place.'

Cold sweat drenched the palms of my clenched hands.

But I couldn't let my tension show in my expression or demeanor.

Pretending not to twitch an eyebrow, I acted as if every word I'd said was pure truth.

After staring down at me silently for a long moment, the Emperor twitched his finger.

"Come closer."

I nearly stumbled—this was unexpected.

Fortunately, maintaining my composure, I slowly ascended the steps of the throne and stood right before the Emperor.

Then I felt a powerful magic enveloping both me and the Emperor.

"This is...?"

"A light barrier. It only prevents sounds from leaking out."

Ah, he wanted a conversation Arpad couldn't hear.

Noticing this, Arpad crossed his arms below with a displeased expression.

At that moment, the Emperor's troubled voice rang in my ear.

"What in the world are you thinking?"

"I have no ulterior motives. I'm simply following the will of the great dragon, as I said."

"……."

The Emperor's red eyes resembled his son's, bound by blood.

They brimmed with suspicion and distrust.

"Do you think I'll believe such a thing?"

"Whether you believe it or not, the outcome won't change."

The most crucial point being that I could prevent Arpad's madness.

Thanks to that, my voice overflowed with confidence.

Sensing it, the Emperor's expression grew even more confused.

In the Emperor's red eyes, shaken by fatigue, anxiety, and doubt, I spotted one alien emotion.

'...Hope.'

I knew the Emperor desperately wanted to cling to hope.

Because I knew his true heart.

"In the end, I was never able to be a proper father to that child even once."

I remembered the Emperor's regretful expression as he said those words.

That's why I could say it—pointing out the Emperor's hidden truth that no one else knew.

"Your Majesty. You cherish and love Crown Prince Arpad more than anyone, as your one and only son."

The Emperor's eyes widened in shock.

"...What are you saying all of a sudden?"

His voice feigned calm but couldn't hide the tremor.

The reaction of someone caught off guard and struck at their core.

I smiled softly and asked.

"I know full well that Your Majesty wants to save your son more than anyone."

Because I remembered his blood-curdling cry.

"What father in the world would want to kill his only son!"

I dared to reach out.

Gently grasping the Emperor's rough, scarred hand, I looked up at him and smiled.

"Give me just one chance. I'll prove that I can save your precious son."

Emperor Walter Istrid felt at a loss for words.

His most secret inner thoughts, unshown since his wife's death, were being laid bare.

By a young woman he'd barely spoken to before.

Her slender, delicate hand clasped his wrinkled one.

Hilia smiled radiantly.

A smile like sunlight piercing through storm clouds.

A smile that reminded him of his deceased wife. And for the first time in ages, he returned not as the Emperor, but simply as a man.

As one man named Walter Istrid.

For the first time since his wife's death thirteen years ago, he wanted to harbor hope.

His wife's dying words replayed vividly in his mind once more.

"...Walter. Please, at least for that child—our son—don't let him meet the same fate as me......"

Walter Istrid knew he was the Emperor. He had to think and act as such, anytime, anywhere.

But he'd already lived thirteen years solely as the Emperor. Having killed off his fatherly self. It was far too grueling and cruel.

Painful years of suspecting and checking his only son while fearing the loss of even that.

He knew this was irrational and impulsive. Yet he couldn't resist surrendering to the impulse.

"Please save him......"

Perhaps he'd been waiting for someone to push his back.

Maybe he needed an excuse.

In the end, the Emperor—no, the man Walter Istrid—had no choice but to admit it.

"Give me just one chance. I'll prove that I can save your precious son."

'Those words touch the desire I've longed for so desperately.'

It was too temptingly hopeful to refuse.

The very words he'd yearned for so desperately.

After a long silence, the Emperor dispelled the barrier and gave his answer.

"Very well. In about a month, I'll open Artanus Hall. If you prove your words there, I'll recognize this marriage."

It was a surrender.

Hilia flashed a victorious smile.

'I did it!'

If the first step of my plan—the hardest part—was executing the bride abduction marriage.

The second was undoubtedly persuading the Emperor.

'Honestly, I thought the second would be even tougher......'

But I'd pulled it off.

In fact, just granting Artanus Hall would be seen as the Emperor approving our marriage.

And once I 'proved' it there, no one could object.

That proof in about a month was the third step.

'I'll definitely make it happen!'

As the tension eased, my legs wobbled even more.

I leaned harder on Arpad. He naturally supported me and whispered softly.

"What did you talk about with the Emperor?"

His voice was thick with displeasure and suspicion.

He clearly didn't like that they'd raised a barrier right in front of him for a secret chat.

'Says the one who uses barriers to keep our conversations from being overheard.'

Actually, Arpad had been doing this since we entered the audience chamber.

Every time he whispered to me.

Every time he heard my replies.

'This is just like that father-son duo.'

Of course, the Emperor loved and cherished his son without showing it, while the son freely invoked 'the Emperor' in conversations with others.

I grinned and shot back.

"It's a secret."

"……."

Arpad's smooth brow furrowed in dissatisfaction.

"I'll interrogate you in detail back at the Crown Prince's Palace."

Was it my imagination, or did that sound like a declaration of war?

Anyway, we were just about to withdraw when the Emperor unexpectedly issued a command.

"...Stay behind a moment, Arpad."

"Me, Father?"

Arpad looked quite flustered.

"Yes. Have your bride wait outside briefly."

"...!"

Until moments ago, he'd been calling me 'Delphin Duchess.'

'Arpad's bride'—that was a first.

'Yes!'

I seized the moment and pushed Arpad's back.

"I'll wait quietly outside, so go ahead and talk."

Forgetting my shaky legs, I marched out briskly.

Bam!

The audience chamber doors closed behind me.

Once alone in the audience chamber, an awkward silence settled.

It was always like this. Father and son, yet they were rarely alone together.

It had been over a decade since the Emperor had called him back like this.

In his childhood, they were a happy family...

But now, those were distant memories.

'What, trying to play father-son now?'

Arpad waited for the purpose with a wry smile.

Finally, the Emperor asked his son.

"Do you believe that girl's words? Is that why you pulled off this insane bride abduction?"

As expected, his father didn't buy Hilia's grandiose claims from earlier.

So how had she secured Artanus Hall?

Surely some secret deal in their unheard conversation.

Feeling a fresh surge of displeasure, Arpad answered without thinking.

"I don't know."

"...You did something so outrageous without believing it?"

Arpad recalled the night he first met Hilia.

The woman who came to him in the underground crypt with a stern expression.

Her offer—or threat—he couldn't refuse.

"I can ensure Your Highness ascends the throne safely without going mad."

Remembering that, Arpad smirked and replied.

"From the moment I first met her, this thought struck me."

He paused for emphasis on what followed.

"Being by this woman's side might keep me from going mad, at least."

"……."

"That's why I took the gamble."

The Emperor asked his son no more questions and dismissed him.

Arpad opened the audience chamber doors with a slightly elated mood.

Thinking of the woman waiting obediently ahead.

But the scene awaiting him when the doors opened was utterly unexpected.

"Arpad!"

There stood Ludwig, gripping Hilia's wrist.