“Think of what will happen to the treasure you took. You are not stupid. Doesn’t the other side say they’re ready to go to war? With what kind of determination did you bring the seeds here?”
The one the Empress spoke of was, of course, Chaser. Why did Ricdorian bring the seeds of discord here? She was asking that.
“It is Your Majesty who has called me to this place.”
“Yes. I have called you. I……had no idea you would bring the seeds.”
The Empress’s eyes glimpsed at me.
“As long as the ‘blue flower’ appears, you will follow that Lady even more than me. Sometimes at the expense of competition and sacrifice.”
She smiled suspiciously.
“As a burden considering the safety of the Empire, I cannot help but consider it. Do you understand?”
Every word was threatening.
“The moment I realized it, I even thought about whether I should destroy that flower.”
The purple eyes staring at me subsided. At the same time, the energy I felt in her grew stronger.
“There are no two suns under the sky. So far, I’m sure you’ll understand what I am thinking.”
I don’t know why, but I only knew that the Empress was overly wary of the Blue Rose. This seemed to be the cause of the anxiety. Did I make the wrong choice to come here?
That was the moment.
“But still, I don’t like it.”
The Empress stretched out her hand.
“This is tiring. It has a very long history.”
The intangible energy that threatened me and Ricdorian disappeared in an instant. Anger faded from her eyes in front of me, and interest took its place.
“Even more so if the emotion I feel is not mine, but jealousy.”
Interesting…? I did not understand this situation in which the boundary was released in an instant. I didn’t understand what she was saying, but Ricdorian didn’t release his expression as if he had guessed.
“…… You are a strong person, so I think you will overcome it.”
“Hmm, just like before.”
The Empress, who had been exchanging words like that, suddenly turned her head to face me.
“The Lady over there doesn’t seem to know anything. Didn’t you tell her?”
“Yes. She may not know it yet, but today she will know it all.”
“Does she know that you are on a time limit?”
It was a straight ball that came in. Ricdorian paused for a moment, but answered calmly.
“Yes, she knows.”
“I see.”
The Empress slowly straightened her upper body. Her flowing hair was scattered. It appeared and disappeared at first glance, but I watched them carefully.
“Then she just needs to know the facts about me.”
She stroked her chin as if she was having fun. Also, even though the wind was not blowing, the drapery with the rose behind it flew. Now I know. No, it seemed so. That a purple force blowing like the wind shook the drapery.
“The fact that the Imperial Family is in fact an imperfect rose, and that it reigns over the imperfect subject. Oh, should I tell her this too?”
She looked happy.
“My heart is a little worried about showing bad things to a pretty Lady. Right, Lady Domulit, are you good at watching difficult things?”
“What?”
For a moment before I even questioned what it was, the Empress swept her head. A scar appeared from her head where one eye was covered. It was a huge, deep scar with a thread that ran across the top of the eyelid.
It was crushed as if it had been burned, but if you combine the things that appeared here and there, maybe from the forehead to the temple…… It looked like there was originally a tattoo. A rose tattoo.
“It’s a scar from my resistance to ‘imperfection’. To put it simply, I didn’t want to have the power of a rose.”
She pretended to poke her eyes.
“It was done. It’s pathetic.”
“… As I have said several times in the past, as long as you are sitting there, I do not think there is any need to lower yourself.”
“Is this power in my hands?”
The Empress chuckled in a low voice. She stroked her cheek with her long finger. I was busy organizing what the Empress was talking about. I was always indifferent and slow, but even I could not pass this.
The Empress and the Imperial Family are purple roses that were not on the slate. The Purple Rose was an incomplete rose. And that the Empress stabbed herself in the eye because she didn’t want to have power…. My head spins quickly.
Ricdorian was cursed with the curse of becoming a beast and the curse of shortening his lifespan. Even though he was a perfect rose, wouldn’t imperfection pay a greater price?
However, looking at the Empress’s attitude, it seemed that my reasoning was not wrong. In the meantime, the Empress was having a conversation with Ricdorian, about the envy of when I had entrusted myself to Hernim.
She closed her eyes again and smiled bitterly.
“Yes. Is she okay out of Domulit?”
“Yes, under Hernim’s protection. Rosenia will also protect her.”
“The White Rose already? Whoa. Don’t touch me easily.”
The Empress laughed out loud.
“Well, okay, I got it. I think it would be too bad for me to erase the Lady, who is so pretty from the world.”
The eyes that were curved towards me were full of intimidation, but at the same time, they were attractive. I wondered if this was the charisma of those who reigned.
“Anyway, there must have been a willingness to respond to my summons like this. Do you have any wishes?”
Said the Empress, stroking the bat sitting on the armrest. It was the Empress’s side who invited me to come to the Imperial Castle while bringing up the story of Domulit. So there must be something we want, nevertheless she skillfully led us to the negotiating table.
“I like to be straightforward.”
I was told not to talk about this and that, but to talk about the main point.
“By the way, I don’t really like the slyness in Duke Domulit’s face.”
She smiled and stroked her chin.
“The precariously beautiful things, as always, harbor poison.”
It also meant that Domulit had asked first, but she gave this side a chance.
“Your Majesty is well aware that I will not live long.”
“I do. It’s precisely what this unwelcome power tells me.”
The Empress tapped her blindfolded eyes. It seemed that the power the Empress had was power related to information.
“Yes, I want to go to Kambrakam with Iana. Could you please allow it? This is what I want.”
The Empress exclaimed in admiration.
“Are you going to lift your curse on Kambrakam?”
“That’s right.”
She seemed to have a lot of knowledge as well as power related to information. It was not unusual to become an Empress at a time. Moreover, after quenching her first unusual anger, the Empress continued to show a friendly attitude.
“Not a bad idea. I, too, do not wish for the Grand Duke, the pillar of the Empire, to disappear.”
Hernim was already a huge family that supported the Empire. The disappearance of those in power will cause chaos. The Imperial Family would also be in trouble when the Head suddenly disappeared. Of course, there were benefits to be gained by Ricdorian’s disappearance, but more than that, she seemed to want to maintain the present peace. I found out the next moment.
“So I can give you permission.”
That she was not an easy-going person.
“But there are conditions.”
“… What is it?”
She rolled her eyes and spoke her words with a smile worthy of the monarch’s seat.