TEWMDD09

Chapter 9

They said there was an error.

They said it couldn’t be measured.

So why did it recover so quickly?

And five percent, at that?

At this rate, my presence here barely makes any difference.

What do they take me for?

Yes, I may only be a seven-year-old kid, but still—!

Ugh, that’s deflating.

Can I really protect Mom…?

“It’s been a while,”

Mom’s voice cut into my thoughts. She was gazing out the carriage window, speaking in a tone tinged with nostalgia.

“When I first saw this scenery, it was so hard to get used to.”

Her voice was softer than usual, like she was reliving a distant memory.

I paused my worrying to listen more carefully. Mom’s expression looked unusually serious.

“You once said the world you came from was very different from this one.”

Dad—well, one of my dads, Harzen—turned his gaze in the same direction and picked up the thread.

Oh, right. Small reminder: my dads—meaning the main male leads of the novel—already know Mom is a transmigrator.

That’s why they don’t even blink when she uses modern words.

In fact, lately they’ve started picking up some of those words themselves.

“Mm, that’s right,” Mom replied.

“…”

“At the time, everything was frightening. Everything was confusing. I didn’t know who I was, or what I was supposed to do.”

Resting her elbow on the window frame and her chin on her hand, she went on.

“And to make things worse, I had the label of ‘villainess’ hanging over my head. No one listened to a word I said. People flinched if I so much as raised my hand.”

“…”

“It felt like there was nowhere in the world that welcomed me.”

Her gaze dropped from the window to her lap.

“It’s all in the past now, though.”

Harzen watched her for a long moment before asking, “Have you ever thought about going back?”

“Why wouldn’t I have? I thought about it a lot.”

“Then even now—”

“I told you. It’s all in the past.”

Her rose-colored lashes shimmered in the sunlight, casting a soft glow.

“Over time, I made new bonds, faced hardships together, overcame them together. Now this place truly is my world.”

“…”

“There’s nowhere else I’d want to return to… nowhere else I need to return to.”

The smile curving her lips was brighter than any sunlight.

“Because you’re all here.”

Her amethyst eyes, warm and curved in affection, seemed to hold the spring sun itself.

I clapped both hands over my mouth, inhaling sharply.

Whoa. Mom’s like, peak protagonist energy right now.

Well, she is the real protagonist.

“Not to mention,” she added, “my beloved daughter is here too.”

“You mean the cold-hearted daughter who didn’t even see you off,” Harzen teased.

My eyebrow twitched.

Dad’s an idiot.

I’d snuck here out of love for Mom, thank you very much.

“Anyway,” Mom continued, “things are different now. I like this world a lot, so you don’t have to worry so much.”

“…”

“Though the imperial palace is still awful.”

Harzen chuckled quietly at her playful jab.

Then, with a lazy tilt of his head, he echoed, “Yes… I too have grown fond of this world lately. The imperial palace, however, remains as unpleasant as ever.”

Mom smiled at that, but soon let out a small sigh.

“In a place like that, the only person who ever opened their heart to me is now unwell… How could I not go?”

Harzen laid his hand gently over hers.

“Her Majesty will be fine.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” Mom said firmly.

That was, after all, what her ability was for.

She drew in a deep breath and smiled faintly.

“You probably dislike going back to the palace more than I do. Thanks for agreeing anyway, Harzen.”

“I was summoned as well, was I not?”

“But you could have refused if you wanted.”

“Perhaps.”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a sly smirk as he touched a finger to his chin.

“Those with no path of retreat tend to become the most aggressive.”

I shivered.

I knew he was talking about the imperial palace, but… maybe because I knew the future, it almost felt like he was talking about himself.

To my dads, Mom was probably that sort of person—someone they would never retreat from protecting. The ultimate reason to stand their ground and defend this world.

Alright. I’ll do it.

I clenched my fists, resolve hardening again.

To protect Mom. To protect this world she loved.

I’d do everything in my power.

What mattered most was an unshakable will.

First, I need to revise my plan.

Once we reached the palace, what could I do to stop the percentage from dropping?

To figure that out, I needed to fully understand the relationship between my parents and the palace… but—

All I know is that they don’t get along.

In the original novel The World Is All She Has, the story unfolded from the heroine Yuria’s perspective.

Mom didn’t go to the palace often, for obvious reasons.

She had a Demon Lord to defeat!

Between all the trips to the Demon Lord’s castle, when would she have time for palace visits?

The only times she went back were when she was summoned for the subjugation campaign, and later, to receive her reward after defeating the Demon Lord.

And even then, aside from the Empress, most people couldn’t stand her.

Or rather, they didn’t like the Hero at all, seeing her as overshadowing their own glory.

If only I’d read the side stories…

But no. Not me, Cecilia. I was the kind of kid who skipped extras.

Now I deeply regretted it.

Still, I’m not totally in the dark.

Thanks to Harzen telling me bits here and there, I at least had some foundation to work from.

One: The Imperial Family doesn’t like Mom and Dad.

Two: Mom and Dad don’t like the Imperial Family.

Three: The closer we get to the Audience Hall, the faster the scroll’s percentage drops.

I eyed the steady 0.01% decrease as we walked.

What should I do now?

If we went into the Audience Hall like this, the moment we met the Emperor, the original story would begin.

After following them all the way here, I couldn’t fail without doing anything.

If I took off the invisibility cloak now…

I shook my head. Bad idea.

If they noticed me now, Mom and Dad might just send me away before entering.

Sure, I had things from Dad Kyle’s research lab, but none of them could be used in this setting without causing trouble.

I need to get to a place where they can’t easily send me away.

Somewhere even Mom and Dad wouldn’t dare make a scene—like in front of the Emperor himself, in the Audience Hall.

Risky, yes. If I messed up, the original plot might kick in immediately.

But—

I’ve stopped the story from starting at the last second before. I can do it again!

“Please, go on in,” Count Leonald said, bowing and gesturing toward the great doors.

Alright. Time to focus.

Let’s go!

I darted ahead of Dad and slipped into the Audience Hall first.

At the far end of the crimson carpet sat a man on the throne.

His eyes were lined with age, his hair streaked with white.

He looked a great deal like Harzen, but with a harsher, more imposing presence—

A man who could make you feel suffocated with a single glance.

That must be the Emperor.

I swallowed hard and checked the scroll.

Progress until full activation: 0.1%

…Good.

Seeing that number steadied my nerves. Compared to it, the intimidating old man didn’t seem so bad.

You can do this, Cecilia.

This was my moment.

“…We greet Your Imperial Majesty,” Mom and Dad intoned, bowing.

And in that instant, I yanked off my invisibility cloak and stepped forward—

“W-whoa?!”

Only to trip over the cloak and land flat on my face with a loud thud.

The Audience Hall fell into instant, weighty silence.

“…”

“…”

“…?”

Lifting my head, I glanced quickly at the scroll.

Progress until full activation:
ERROR — unable to measure due to system fault

“…Ahem.”

I sniffed once, then grinned.

Well, whatever else—mission accomplished, right?