Chapter 55

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***

When Ovya became the king’s wife, she was at the age where it wouldn’t have been weird to already have two children.

In her homeland, she was having an affair with the Emperor of Cordelia, and her daughter during that time might be Edith.

So she left her daughter behind and came to Idelberg led by his father?

…She couldn’t return even if she wanted to.

His father wouldn’t have let her go.

The words that the Lady Ovya shouted to him suddenly came to his mind.

-After I gave up everything and came all the way here…. I….!

The image of the Lady Ovya, who was obsessed with Onderon to claim the throne, looked as if she was being chased by something.

She might be scared that Edith’s existence would come into light and her position would be shaken.

If that wasn’t the case, he didn’t understand how they looked alike.

Edith’s gentle face really resembled Ovya, except for her viciousness.

‘At this rate, I’m no different from Father.’

Carmun’s face looked as if he was sinking deep in the water.

What he figured out might be a good clue.

The reason he was cursed in the first place was because of Lady Ovya.

“I’ll have to look into it.”

Carmun hid Lady Ovya’s portrait along with his note deep inside the drawer.

I didn’t want to see it again if I could. He didn’t want to see it again if it’s possible.

***

Helen was frightened by the face she saw as soon as she woke up early in the morning and retreated to the bed like a cockroach that caught the sight of a human.

“Oi.”

“W-Why are you here… Ah!”

She retreated back too much that resulted in falling behind the bed with a thud.

She grimaced at the severe pain that crept up from her bottom.

“You’re so careless.”

And who’s to blame for that!

Helen couldn’t spit out the aggressive complaint coming from her mind and pursed her lips poorly.

Even with this alone, she carried out her best to express her feelings.

Helen was horrified by the emperor’s gaze, which looked down on her in a frightening way, so she restored her lips to their original form.

“How long are you going to sit there like that?”

The emperor walked up to her and held out his hand.

However, she was too afraid to hold onto his hand, so Helen just jumped up and rearranged her sleep attire.

It had been a long time since she overslept, so this morning felt strange for her because Ellie didn’t wake her up despite knowing she overslept.

She even tried to fall asleep because she wanted to get more sleep.

She didn’t sense the presence of someone when lying down on the bed comfortably, but she felt an exhilarating pain as if someone grabbed and shook her heart when catching the sight of the emperor as soon as she woke up.

She almost died due to the heart attack in the early morning.

Carmun glared at the sight of Helen avoiding her hand.

‘Do I make her uncomfortable by any chance?’

He couldn’t help but be offended at how she treated him very differently from his night self.

Retracting his hand, Carmun’s eyes turned into a triangular shape, and Helen was sweating profusely while looking at him.

“Why, why, why… are you here?”

Helen appeared to be trembling at his words as she inhaled swiftly.

She would be reprimanded again!

That’s when she covered her mouth with her hand.

“No need to be so nervous. I’m not here to reprimand you.”

Helen wasn’t shocked, but she got a shock at the way Carmun spoke, that had become a little more gentle than ever.

The, the emperor….

Looks like she finally lost her mind.

Every time she met the emperor, he seemed to be someone who was unbefitting to the circulating rumor.

That he’s a warmonger and despises people….

“Does your body feel sick, are you alright?”

Did he ever care about his concubine falling ill?

Helen simply blinked, it was such an unexpected question coming from the emperor himself.

“…Do you not hear me talking?”

The emperor’s eyes crumpled as he sat on the sofa across from her.

Only one thing for sure, he had an extremely hot temper.

“I, I heard you.”

“Then you have to answer. Are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

Only then did the emperor have a satisfied smile hung on his mouth. Even though she didn’t see it, she was able to sense it.

…He had come here before morning arose and made her nearly suffer from a heart attack, now he was asking if she felt hurt anywhere?

“…If you have anything to say, kindly say it now. I, I’m prepared to listen.”

Her voice, laced with anxiousness, was trembling as if she had prepared herself.

The emperor chuckled as if he was confused at her response.

“I think I’m going to take you.”

“…Pardon me?”

She said that every time they met. Questioning it for a while, she came to realize that her voice kept trembling and her body cowered.

But she couldn’t help due to her nervousness.

Because this guy is holding her life in his hand.

“If you felt uncomfortable somewhere, I, I would like to offer my apology!”

When she lowered her head and apologized, the emperor’s gaze was firmly fixated on her.

Why do they keep looking at her?

The emperor heaved a deep sigh as she began to tremble in shame.

“Lift your head.”

After contemplating for a moment, she lifted her head and met his eyes.

The emperor’s gaze felt as if piercing her.

“Listen to me carefully. Don’t ever apologize to me again. You’ve never done anything wrong.”

“I, I sneaked into the library……”

“So you’re going to behave like a criminal for your whole life?”

For her whole life? That sounded strange, but she didn’t make a retort.

“I’ll forgive you. I’ll spare you. After all, you’re devoting your night to me, so I can spare you in exchange for that.”

Giving what to His Majesty?

The emperor added as soon as he sensed his words sounded strange to her.

“…I mean that guy.”

Oh, so that’s what he meant.

Helen gently nodded as if agreeing to him.

“Therefore, stop acting like a criminal. Every time I see you like that, I feel like I’m about to die from annoyance.”

Did he despise it so much that he no longer wanted to see it?

The emperor must have despised her. Not to mention he was uncomfortable around her, but he also spoke in an angry voice laced with annoyance.

He seemed to despise her.

“I understood, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, as you should.”

The emperor laughed satisfactorily. It’s her first time seeing him laughing loudly so she opened her eyes wide out of surprise, and the emperor’s laughter stopped at once.

Ehem.

The emperor controlled his breathing awkwardly with a small cough.

Because it’s surprising, indeed.

“I have a question.”

The emperor spoke again and took out a small portrait he had brought from his pocket.

After taking it out, he stared at it long enough, and even compared it to Helen’s face while thinking on his own.

‘What’s with him?’

Helen was facing a dilemma about the man in her own mind.

‘Should I ask him about Mar? Why did he (the Emperor) lock him up?’

Thinking that the emperor, whom she was scared of, might not be as scary as she thought, she really wanted to ask about Mar.

She wanted to ask him to release Mar if it’s possible.

‘Would the emperor grant it? Will he blame me for saying absurd things?’

It was when she spoke softly after much consideration.

“Pardon me… Your Majesty….”

“Do you have any information about this person?”

Helen’s small voice was suppressed by the emperor’s voice who spoke at the same time as her.

‘What is this?’

When she looked at what the emperor had in his hand, she immediately knew it was a portrait.

After all, it was a portrait of her mother.

“…How come Your Majesty has this?”

“…So you know her?”

The emperor’s mumble grew into an absurd laughter.

“Of course. This is my mother.”

“…What?”

The emperor was quite baffled by Helen’s confidence remark, but Helen seemed even more baffled by his reaction.

“…Isn’t it so obvious? We really look alike.”

Wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair-skinned. That was definitely her mother.

However, Helen gradually doubted her judgment as she spent more time looking closely at the portrait.

There was something missing under her mother’s eyes.

Moreover, was she upset on the day she was painted? Her visage seemed a little grim and sharp in general.

“I didn’t expect you to confide so obediently about Lady Ovya to me.”

He spoke in a puzzled tone.

“Lady Ovya? Who is she?”

“…The one in the portrait.”

“…Pardon me?”

Their eyes met and blinked simultaneously. A moment has passed, but no one took the chance to speak up first.

They somehow felt like they couldn’t communicate with each other.

“What’s her name?”

“Sevya Fault, that is my mother’s name.”

Oh, dear.

Carmun’s head was spinning rapidly. At that moment, he knew the Emperor of Cordelia was as crazy as his father.

So after his fiancée left, he took her sister, who resembled her the most, as his empress?

Carmun’s face stiffened awkwardly as he felt repulsed beyond disgust.

“…Why are you doing this?”

Helen asked anxiously.

The emperor had a baffled look on his face.

Even when she looked at the portrait as her daughter, this woman looked exactly like her mother.

She knew through her senses that this was the person her mother would sometimes talk about her sister.

The one who disappeared before she was born.

She heard that she went through bad things, did it mean becoming the Concubine of Idelberg?

“She’s your mother’s sister, isn’t she?”

Is this her aunt?

Actually, it was her first time seeing this woman. Helen blinked and engraved the portrait in her head?

This woman really looked like her mother.

The same with Edith and her.

“Yes.”

She felt more complicated after confirming the emperor’s remark.

‘I really don’t know anything.’

The emperor asked cautiously.

“Do you know anything about Lady Ovya?”

“….I’ve never seen her face before.”

“Okay.”

“I will ask you one more question. What year were you born?”

The random question left her speechless for a moment.

Don’t make a mistake this time, too!

“Oh…. I, I was born in the summer of 596.”

She recalled what Ellie asked her a few days ago, so she was able to avoid making mistakes.

“What about your younger sister?”

“…My sister was born in the Spring of 597.”

“She was born a little earlier.”

“….”

That’s what she thought, too.

She was born ten months just after her sister.

The gap was so short.

“That’s all of my questions. Can I ask why you have that look on your face?”

“My look?”

her face with her hands in confusion upon the emperor’s question.

What’s wrong with my face….

“You don’t look really well. You don’t seem happy to know about a family you never knew before.”

“I’m happy to know about her.”

The emperor paused and pondered for a moment.

“Then do you miss your little sister who you left in your hometown?”

“…No.”

That’s impossible.

Her sister wouldn’t want to see her either. She (Helen) didn’t want to see her sister (Edith) or her father either.

However, he didn’t know what’s behind the screen, so the emperor spoke with a smirk.

“What a cold sister you are.”

“….”

Carmun was trying to soften her, who somehow seemed in distress.

But he realized once again that he, with that heinous mouth of his, didn’t have a knack for that.

‘I should have just shut up.’

Belated regrets washed over her and wriggled his lips slightly.

At that moment, an idea snapped up into his mind.

“Is it because you didn’t get any birthday wishes?”

“…Pardon me?”

“I mean your birthday. You said it’s in summer.”

“…You needn’t worry about that.”

“Who takes care of my concubine’s birthday if not me?”

Since when did he care about such a thing?

Helen looked up at the emperor with an impertinent look without realizing it.

But then she came to her senses again and dropped her gaze.

“Looks like you’re getting comfortable with me now. Or, do you feel comfortable around people that easily?”

“N-No!”

“I’m not angry. Because I prefer it.”

“….”

Helen glanced at the emperor once more.

Her face heated up in an instant and reddened at the slight smile on his face.

‘Why, why do I…?’

Helen fanned her heated face roughly with her hands, attempting to cool off.

Carmun chuckled lowly at the sight of her and coughed in an attempt to recollect himself.

“Is there anything that you want?”