Chapter 18
‘He really did say I looked like her…’
Watching Yudis panic, I also started to feel nervous.
Now that I think about it more carefully… Yes, that woman in the portrait really did look a bit like me.
‘She was my great-grandmother, so it makes sense we resemble each other.’
I had thought I only looked like Yudis.
I secretly glanced at the emperor, who calmly swirled his wine glass. He seemed to have just said whatever came to his mind—but it hit the mark perfectly.
“That can’t be true, and you know that well,” Yudis said coldly.
Her nervous expression from earlier was completely gone now, and she had returned to her calm, icy tone.
“Izana, go back to your room now. The Count and I have important matters to discuss.”
At her cold glare, I obediently turned around to leave in a hurry.
Then the emperor said,
“Well, I think I’ve seen all I needed today. I’ll be going now.”
“…Excuse me? What do you mean?”
He waved toward someone behind me and looked at Yudis with a slight smile.
“Sorry for tricking you. But after hearing such an interesting story, I couldn’t help but come in person.”
Just then, someone who looked like an attendant ran over, out of breath.
“Count, are you leaving now?”
The emperor replied,
“Linton, the roleplay ends here.”
He took off his wide-brimmed hat.
And then—what appeared next took everyone’s breath away…
A cascade of silver hair shimmered like a waterfall, like stars raining down from the sky.
“…Your Majesty?”
“Th-The Emperor!”
The man, now hatless, looked completely different.
His red, rough hair smoothly changed to cool silver, reaching his waist.
His figure became slender and elegant, and his face sharp and noble.
And finally, the red eyes—symbol of the Lioniya Imperial family—came into view.
Some people even dropped their teacups from the shock.
“Your Majesty, what am I supposed to do now?” grumbled the assistant, removing his gloves.
As soon as he did, he changed back into the red-haired man the emperor had been pretending to be earlier.
But his transformation didn’t have nearly the same impact.
All eyes were already on the emperor.
“Silis…?” Yudis muttered in disbelief.
The emperor frowned slightly.
“Duchess, we are no longer children. That’s not an appropriate way to address me.”
Yudis, realizing her slip, quickly covered her mouth with a trembling hand.
Maybe she wasn’t prepared for this sudden meeting.
That old love she thought she had buried suddenly surged back like it had never left her.
“Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this…?”
Duke Bern Rohia ran over in a panic and bowed deeply to the emperor.
“I heard new rumors and felt I had to see it for myself. I’m sorry for the surprise.”
“N-No, it’s alright. I was just caught off guard… I’ll bring Yubel right away.”
But the emperor stopped him with a wave.
“Yubel is still just a baby. No need to wake him. I’ll summon him to the palace later.”
The duke, who assumed the emperor came to see Yubel, now looked confused.
“Then why did Your Majesty come without notice…?”
The emperor glanced around. The previously noisy hall was now silent.
His eyes landed on Joseph.
Joseph looked surprised too, but unlike the others, he remained fairly calm—like a small ripple on a lake.
Then the emperor’s eyes moved to me.
I was busy eating from my plate, but when our eyes met, I froze.
He motioned for me to come over.
When I approached, he leaned down to my eye level and said,
“No one eats food with raisins in front of me.”
His red eyes had no warmth at all—only sharp curiosity.
I quickly looked at my plate.
No raisins.
Raisins are a common favorite among Imperials, but I had unconsciously avoided them—probably because I sensed something from him.
“The late emperor—my father—died after eating poisoned raisins,” he said.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled gently.
“But actually, the poison wasn’t in the raisins. It was in the bread. He ate everything and was just fine. So I used the sword he gave me to send him off instead. Even so, everyone pretended not to know and kept blaming the poor raisins.”
His calm, casual tone made cold sweat run down my back.
In the original story, it was said the emperor poisoned his father with raisins—but apparently, there was a hidden truth.
“Everyone else has raisins on their plates. But not you. Of course, I assume it’s just a coincidence.”
His insight was unbelievable. But he still pretended to brush it off as a coincidence.
“I just don’t like raisins, Your Majesty.”
I answered calmly.
The emperor nodded a few times, as if it didn’t really matter.
“Roll up your sleeve.”
…Huh? That came out of nowhere.
Still, I obeyed and rolled up my right sleeve first.
“The other one.”
In his words, I rolled up my left sleeve.
Then a faint bruise appeared—one I hadn’t even noticed.
Duke Bern Rohia looked like he might faint. He anxiously glanced around.
Some guests who saw the bruise covered their mouths in shock and began whispering.
Yudis quickly tried to explain the bruise away, but no one was listening.
‘Did I get this when Yudis grabbed me earlier?’
I looked at the bruise, surprised.
She hadn’t grabbed me that hard… Maybe my body is still weak, so even a little pressure leaves a bruise.
But the more shocking thing was the emperor’s sharp eye that noticed it.
“Linton, heal it.”
At his command, Linton Hester came up to me.
“Excuse me, young lady.”
He held my wrist and muttered something. The bruise began to fade slowly.
So Linton Hester was a mage too.
The emperor casually touched the dessert tower next to him, then picked up a raisin and popped it into his mouth.
He spoke to the duke and duchess.
“She’s quite a handful. To get a bruise like that, she must’ve been running around a lot.”
Bern blushed in embarrassment and couldn’t say anything.
The emperor was pointing out two things:
One, that I was not sick or weak like they claimed—I was healthy and mentally aware.
Two, that I was being treated poorly enough that people were trying to cover it up.
Yudis clenched her trembling hands into fists and replied calmly,
“…As I said, she hasn’t been taught proper manners yet.”
The emperor didn’t bother to scold her lie.
A warning was enough—for now. He had seen what he came for.
“My aunt’s granddaughter—I mean, Irina Haiga—is looking for a friend. She’s supposed to inherit the Haiga Marquis title, but she’s shy and hasn’t found a good companion yet.”
Duke Bern Rohia wiped his cold sweat and nodded quickly.
“I’ll bring Izana along on our next visit to the palace.”
“Good. I think her cheerful nature will be a good influence on Irina.”
The emperor clapped, looking quite pleased.
Yudis bit her lip so hard it nearly bled.
Something was going very wrong.
‘Where did it start to go wrong?’
Yudis stared at the little girl before her.
Izana… that child shouldn’t even be here.
She had never given permission for this.
Izana wasn’t supposed to leave that hidden room.
If she had stayed there, none of this would’ve happened. The Haiga Marchioness wouldn’t have gotten suspicious. And now, she wouldn’t be drawing the emperor’s attention either…
Yes! The emperor’s attention!
‘Why is she the one getting it?’
Those eyes, those gestures—everything from the emperor was supposed to be for Boris, not Izana.
Her poor son, born of the emperor’s blood, had to grow up in a duke’s house because of his unworthy mother… This was all meant for him.
“Boris… Boris!”
Yudis suddenly called out to him, even though she had purposely kept him away from the emperor’s view.
She dragged over Boris, who came reluctantly, annoyed.
“Your Majesty, this is my firstborn, Boris. Do you remember him?”
