chapter 5
“I heard you summoned me, Father.”
“Yes. Come in.”
Father gestured toward the plush sofa and ordered tea and refreshments to be prepared.
It was rather late to be drinking tea together, but I sat down without complaint.
That alone made the distance between us feel much smaller.
In my previous life, I never even knew my biological father’s face…
I studied the face before me with affection.
Father looked far more gaunt than I had expected.
Losing Mother alone would have filled him with grief and guilt, but on top of that, he still hadn’t found any concrete evidence of the assassination.
Even when he sleeps, he’s probably tormented by terrible nightmares.
I hadn’t been able to spend even a few peaceful days myself.
During meals, I kept remembering the sight of Mother clutching her throat as her body slowly stiffened, and it made me tremble.
Just picking up utensils terrified me, but I forced myself to chew and swallow my food.
There was too much I still had to do—I couldn’t afford to let my strength deteriorate further.
At least I didn’t waste my time in despair. I gathered quite a bit of information about Daniel Prause.
Things like “they protect time” or “the ducal family carries dragon blood” were already widely known, so they weren’t particularly useful.
And the fact that he was a handsome man with an unexpectedly impressive body beneath his innocent-looking face wasn’t especially important information to me either.
Though I certainly appreciated the fact that he was handsome.
In any case, thanks to my persistent investigation centered around the imperial library, I managed to uncover the information I wanted.
After taking a brief moment to mourn Mother, I met Father’s eyes and spoke.
“Father, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“...Ask of me?”
For some reason, Father’s voice sounded unusually tense.
I had a rough idea why.
Father was the kind of man who once built an entire villa just to comfort his daughter after the twelfth pony she’d received as a gift caught a cold.
Having grown up watching that, I’d become even more extravagant than he was despite not earning a single coin myself.
Back then, I spent the emperor’s private fortune recklessly and thought nothing of it.
So it makes sense that he’d get nervous when I say I seriously have a request.
When I even poured tea for him myself, Father wore the expression of a man bracing for disaster.
“Frey. It seems you need something again to help you overcome your grief. Perhaps Reverse Island in the south...?”
Come to think of it, when I came of age, I had once asked him to gift me Reverse Island.
An island larger and more beautiful than Jeju Island—asked for without the slightest hesitation.
“Um, it’s not that.”
“Then perhaps you want the Labelle Plains after all. I’ll look into how long the acquisition would take.”
The largest granary region in the empire?
Once again, I was reminded that Father operated on an entirely different scale.
Though honestly, I wouldn’t mind receiving it—
But now that Mother was gone, I didn’t want to keep acting like a spoiled menace toward Father.
No gift could possibly erase the grief of losing her anyway.
More importantly, if I’m thinking about the future, I can’t keep acting immature.
When I shook my head, the shadow over Father’s face deepened.
He probably thought I wanted an even greater gift.
Before the misunderstanding could grow worse, I carefully moved to the main point.
“Mother used to tell me almost every day how happy she was to have married you.”
Because she had become the emperor’s lover, she had been attacked and tormented from all sides.
And yet she said her marriage was happy enough to endure all of it.
“So she always told me about the joys of marriage too. And Father, you introduced me to several foreign nobles before, didn’t you?”
Perhaps he had already guessed where this was going, because Father looked slightly regretful.
“Frey. So you’ve begun thinking about marriage. It feels like only yesterday you were saying you wanted to live in the imperial palace with me forever…”
He seemed saddened, but he didn’t react with complete shock, which meant he must have anticipated that I might bring up marriage.
That made it easier for me to continue shamelessly.
“If I marry within the empire, it should be fine. You know who I have in mind.”
So the moment has come.
Father wore that same expression again.
“Frey. People naturally have those they’re instinctively drawn to.”
But that kind and virtuous Grand Duke Prause probably wouldn’t feel the slightest attraction toward you.
I could practically hear the apologetic thoughts behind Father’s expression.
Well, after I showed interest in the grand duke at the funeral, Father had probably discussed it with his loyal retainers.
And not a single one of them would’ve said we suited each other.
I agreed with them.
We were complete opposites.
But if I wanted to change the future, I had no other choice.
“Grand Duke Prause and I have completely opposite personalities, so perhaps we’d unexpectedly get along.”
“Frey, I don’t believe you’ve ever even met Grand Duke Prause.”
The North was the only region not connected to the capital by gates.
That was because undead monsters frequently appeared throughout the territory.
Which was also why its development was so slow.
So it was exceedingly rare for Grand Duke Prause, who lived so far away, to come to the capital.
The only time I had ever seen him was at Crown Prince Tahar’s wedding.
Even then, because the grand duke was popular while I was a princess who was supposed to remain inconspicuous, I could only watch him from far away.
I’d seen him for maybe three minutes from a distance where he looked no bigger than a cotton swab.
Still, seeing him was seeing him.
Just as I was about to answer, Father grasped my hand with a worried expression.
“Frey. I understand your anger over losing Roselia, and your fears for your own safety.”
“...”
“But it pains me to think you view marriage merely as a means to an end.”
His hands, roughened from years of wielding a sword, gently stroked mine.
Feeling that warmth, I thought:
If I admitted I was marrying for revenge and protection, Father’s heart would shatter.
He would never forgive himself for failing to stop that assassination.
Because Father always loved Mother and me with everything he had.
The people of the empire did not think highly of him.
They mocked him as an emperor with almost no magical power, completely overshadowed by House Zelon in every regard except divine power.
And it was true.
But to me, he had always been the greatest father in the world.
I can’t make him worry.
Only now did I truly understand how fortunate I was to have a father like him.
So I spoke like a shy young girl in love.
“I’ve seen Grand Duke Prause before.”
“Hmm...?”
“At His Highness the Crown Prince’s wedding. It was one of the rare times Grand Duke Prause personally opened a gate and came to the capital. The Holy Knights temporarily took over guarding the North.”
“That’s true.”
“I didn’t see him up close, but in that moment, I realized something. I’d fallen in love with him at first sight.”
“...?”
Father’s eyes widened in shock.
As though he’d never imagined I would confess to being in love with Grand Duke Prause.
I had to keep up the momentum.
“What woman wouldn’t be captivated by Daniel Prause? He’s handsome, has an impeccable personality, and he’s capable too.”
“That may be true, but…”
“I know this is sudden and surprising. But after Mother was assassinated, I no longer want to hide my desires.”
I had already decided on the perfect scenario to persuade Father.
In short, it went like this:
It was exactly the sort of logic a sheltered imperial princess ignorant of the world would come up with.
And when I added a completely unfounded confidence that Daniel Prause would naturally fall for me if I truly pursued him, Father’s expression twisted strangely.
“I know you’re worried about my safety. But if I become the Grand Duchess of Prause, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“That may be true, but…”
“And if I take the position of Grand Duchess Prause, then the empress’s allies won’t be able to forge marital ties with him.”
As a bonus, Ivril Bliet—who firmly believed she would marry Daniel—would be utterly humiliated.
Furthermore, if the neutral House Prause formed a marital alliance with the imperial family first, it would help restrain the empress and the crown prince’s faction.
The only problem with this scenario was…
“Frey. To be honest, I don’t know whether Grand Duke Prause would show any interest in this marriage. I’ve heard he rejected every proposal he’s received so far.”
Exactly.
Daniel Prause would not show even the slightest interest in me.
He had rejected all the refined and intelligent noble ladies before me, so there was no way a cowardly imperial princess known for daily hysterics would catch his eye.
But that only matters if I’m seeking his love.
For someone like me, who only needed the title of grand duchess and enough time to build wealth, there was another method.
Clink—
I set down my teacup and met Father’s gaze.
“Father. I read in a book that there was once a pact between the previous Grand Duke Prause and the emperor.”
The moment I said it calmly, Father’s eyes shook violently.
“According to the records, the Grand Duke of Prause promised that once every generation, he would absolutely obey a command given by an emperor possessing divine power.”
The Right of Absolute Obedience.
The only weakness of House Prause—a family powerful enough to found an independent empire if they wished.
The first Grand Duke Prause had once received some form of aid from an emperor. In return, he promised that once per generation, he would obey any one command issued by the emperor.
Father’s generation still hasn’t used the Right of Absolute Obedience. Tahar has no divine power, so he can’t use it even after ascending the throne.
Usually, the crown prince who inherited divine power would later become emperor, but Tahar was an exception.
For generations, emperors understood the value of the Right of Absolute Obedience.
After all, it was the authority to command a bloodline descended from dragons.
Father was no different.
“Frey. I would rather give you islands and granaries instead. The Right of Absolute Obedience must not be used this way.”
As expected, Father remained firm.
After all, using a power capable of ordering the Grand Duke Prause to commit suicide if he rebelled… just for the sake of his foolish daughter’s crush would indeed be absurd.
“My daughter. Even if I use the Right of Absolute Obedience to give Grand Duke Prause to you, that marriage would never be a happy one.”
“...”
“And even if, by some miracle, you gained your husband’s love, the North is nothing like the capital. It’s not a place one can move to on the strength of unrequited love alone.”
His eyes, fixed on me, were filled with sincere concern.
I knew.
More than anyone else in this world, Father truly worried for me.
That was exactly why I had to be resolute.
“If you give me time, I’ll prove it.”
“Prove what exactly…?”
“That using the Right of Absolute Obedience to make the grand duke my husband is the wisest possible choice.”
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