Chapter 54
The Reason You Married Me
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
“You clearly said before that you married me just to make me your trophy.”
At that, he had the audacity to furrow his brow, as though wondering who could dare say such a thing.
“That was…”
“But the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.”
With an innocent look, Delphine batted her lashes and stared up at the man.
At this rate, she thought her acting was quite commendable.
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
“Well, if I were really a trophy, wouldn’t you be showing me off? Who hides a trophy away in the closet at home?”
“…”
He was the man who had coldly wounded her countless times with sharp words whenever she prodded at his true nature.
But if she were the one to suddenly approach him so meekly… how would he respond?
He hesitated for a long time, lips moving soundlessly.
At last, he let out a sigh.
“…Back then, I spoke without thinking, in the heat of the moment.”
As though even that weren’t enough, he added,
“You are absolutely nothing like a trophy.”
“Then what am I?”
Delphine tilted her head slightly, her gaze lifting to meet his as the corners of her eyes arched upward.
In his eyes, a clear ripple of unease appeared.
Like someone struggling for air, his lips moved again before he finally spoke quietly.
“…If you wish to go out, you may do so as much as you like. I’ll warn the guards as well.”
He went on to promise that even within the estate, the maids would no longer overstep and interfere too much with her daily life.
Done.
Velly’s strategy was correct.
Perhaps the easiest way to bring down the man hailed as the strongest and most ruthless in the Empire… was to truly make him fall in love with her.
Not by provoking his past or bruising his pride.
Delphine quietly swallowed her sense of triumph as she looked at the towering man, unable to fully hide his faint excitement.
With just a single flirtatious smile, she had secured permission to go out.
I wonder just how much more I can take from you.
Three hundred years ago, the first Emperor had built a palace of unimaginable splendor in the heart of the capital.
Passing through the long corridor lined with massive columns, Pride walked on, his cold gaze fixed in thought.
That morning — the sight of Delphine’s eyes curving like crescent moons as she smiled at him.
And the day before — the red hair he had seen lying on the factory floor.
He wanted to deny it belonged to her, but there was no mistaking that hue. Not for someone who could never forget it for as long as he lived.
And now, one after another, the rats’ uprisings were erupting all over the Empire.
Surely not.
It couldn’t be.
She, who had lived her whole life as a noble of the First District? How could she possibly…?
More than that — why?
He remembered what he had done to climb to her position.
From that wretched Third District to the shining heart of the First — the misery he endured for that ascent.
And now she would throw away every ounce of exclusive privilege and plenty… to side with those pitiful people?
It was something his mind simply could not fathom.
But if — even the slightest chance — she truly had taken their side…
Then why in the hell did I go so far, do such things, to stand here now?
Pride clenched his fist until blue veins bulged on the back of his hand.
Lost in thought, he walked and walked, until he reached the end of the labyrinthine hall.
On the white marble wall stood an owl statue — the symbol of the Goddess of Truth.
Casting it a brief glance, Pride recited in a flat voice,
“Beneath the light of truth. With the eyes of providence.”
The ancient magical phrase that moved this wall did not end there.
With a look of boredom, he added carelessly,
“…All shall in the end return to nothingness.”
The owl’s head turned to the side.
The sealed wall parted of its own accord, revealing a hidden door.
Without hesitation, Pride stepped into the gaping black corridor.
Soon, a windowless, enclosed chamber came into view.
The perfect sealed-room structure, lit only by a few candles, felt oppressively dark despite the fact it was midday outside.
A place meant to make one forget both time and space.
This was the headquarters of Veritas, a secret order formed by the Emperor and the chosen few to whom he had granted black crystals.
They were the Emperor’s hunting dogs — those who had abandoned their humanity in pursuit of power, and who handled the dirtiest and most secretive matters of the Empire.
To give such a place the name “Truth (Veritas).”
Pride swallowed a cold sneer.
It had been a long time since he last set foot here.
As soon as he arrived, those gathered around the long table rose to their feet in unison.
Only one man — the aged Emperor, hunched in the seat of honor — merely lifted his head and muttered gloomily,
“…You have come, my faithful servant.”
How quickly things changed — it wasn’t long ago that he had sought to alienate him over a mere marriage.
And yet, now that the Third District’s people were in turmoil, suddenly his presence was indispensable.
That was the kind of man the Emperor was — petty, cowardly, and obsessed with short-term gain.
No, truth be told, that streak ran through every mad descendant of the First Emperor for the past three centuries.
“You summoned me, Your Majesty?”
Suppressing the bile that rose in his throat, Pride asked. The Emperor immediately came to the point.
“Yes. You can guess why I’ve called you here.”
“…”
“Why have those rebels in the Third District suddenly begun to riot like this?”
“I’ve heard rumors they’re using magic. Is that true, Marquis?”
The Duke Purcell, seated beside the Emperor, quickly added this comment.
He was the most recent to join Veritas — and had already climbed to that position?
No doubt he had quickly learned how to curry favor with the old man.
“…That is our current assumption,” Pride replied, his tone edged with annoyance at the relentless questioning.
“We believe it’s connected to the recent large-scale leakage of posium from the factory.”
His words sent a ripple of shock through the room.
“How could that be?”
“But to use magic, you need both aurum and a magic circle, do you not?”
“Even if they stole posium, how could they possibly charge it?”
The Emperor, silent until then, spoke at last — his face pale with fear.
“No… no, it can’t be…”
He opened and closed his mouth for a while before his deeply wrinkled face twisted further, and he finally uttered,
“Could it be that a descendant of the Saint still lives in this Empire…?”
The instant Pride heard the word Saint, a memory shot through his mind like an arrow.
The red hair that had fallen on the floor.
…No way.
Impossible.
In all the vast Empire, her of all people? Such coincidence could not exist.
Besides, he had seen her since childhood — there had never been the slightest sign.
Just as he had repeated to himself over and over on the way here, he now ignored the voice of instinct screaming within him.
He did not realize that the feelings that had grown inside him were clouding his vision.
“…I will investigate.”
Instead, in a voice low enough to chill the room, he murmured to the Emperor,
“Thoroughly.”
That the rats were using magic — that much was certain.
How?
That would be learned soon enough, once a few of them were dragged in and interrogated.
If they didn’t get caught easily… well.
Perhaps he could hang the heads of innocent Third District residents along the central wall until the rebels showed themselves.
And when the bodies became useless, he could grind them into the soil — to feed the crops that the Third District people would harvest and eat next year.
The deaths of a few humans would change nothing in his world.
To him, any human besides Delphine had neither worth nor use.
This twisted view of humanity had only deepened since learning the Empire’s secrets.
The world was rotten from the start.
A country within false walls, ruled by a wretch like that Emperor.
In this hell, the only thing untainted was his Saint — his Delphine.
The Empire existed for her alone, and its people for her alone.
There would be outings, tea parties, concerts — if she wished it.
And if anything threatened her safety or peace, then even if every living human in the Empire died, he would not care.
In fact, perhaps it would be better if only the two of them were left in the world.
…Though he could never let her know such a thought had crossed his mind.
So what if a few rats scurry about?
The chill in his presence silenced the room.
“Y-yes. With you here, I can rest easy,” the Emperor stammered, trying hard to hide his fear.
In front of his loyal hounds, this was as much dignity as the old man could muster.
And that was enough for Pride to take his leave.
He knew well that the Emperor was always wary of him — the very core of the Empire’s cursed secret.
With a perfunctory nod of salute, Pride slowly left the chamber deep within the palace.
