7.
I had never once seen her hold Moren or whisper words of love to him.
The more she turned away from him, the more Moren clung to me.
And driven by a sense of responsibility and guilt toward my younger brother, I took greater care of him.
‘Looking back now, maybe to Mother, Moren was just a character from the “original story.”’
Mother, who had always been lethargic and suffered from severe depression, expressed her emotions only to me.
Whether they were positive or negative, it was always only to me.
‘Unlike Moren, I didn’t appear in the original.’
I recalled the pained expression on Moren’s face as he watched our mother care only for me.
Because I remembered that look so vividly, I couldn’t just leave him holed up in his room.
“I’m just worried about you. I heard you’ve even been skipping meals.”
“……”
“Just come out for a bit, okay?”
“…Sister.”
“Yes, Moren.”
In a voice so quiet it was barely audible, Moren asked,
“You know… that Mother didn’t die by her own hand, right?”
I froze at those words.
Then instinctively lowered my voice.
“You… do you know something?”
“……”
“Moren Miban Lornod. Do you know anything?”
I called his name several more times after that, but he never gave me an answer.
In the end, I had to leave his quarters empty-handed.
Sitting in the carriage back to my own palace, thoughts swirled in my mind.
Moren isn’t such a weak child.
He’s not the type to isolate himself just because of Mother’s death.
And those last words…
He clearly knew something.
But to shut himself up and refuse to speak?
He was the one person who never kept secrets from me.
I sighed heavily in frustration.
First things first… I need to put out the most urgent fire.
The original story should be in the imperial treasure vault.
That takes top priority.
I’d focus on that for now, and hopefully, in the meantime, Moren would come around and share what he was hiding.
*
There were seven children of the Emperor.
The Crown Prince and eldest, Gobard Luim Lornod.
Then came Derien, Brindel, me, Kinia, Ruhel, and the youngest, Moren.
Strictly speaking, Derien was born first.
He was born three months before Gobard.
But Gobard was the son of the late Empress—no one else.
Naturally, a son of the Empress outranks a son of a concubine.
So Gobard became the Crown Prince, and Derien’s mother, the First Empress, never openly expressed dissatisfaction.
Though who knows what she felt deep down.
Incidentally, Gobard was the “male lead” in the original story that my mother mentioned in her diary.
It could be summed up in one line:
A noble Crown Prince and a beautiful commoner woman overcome hardship and fall in love—a story of social ascension.
Mother, it seemed, was cast as the final villain in that story.
A notorious Fourth Consort who desperately tried to make her only son, Moren, the Emperor.
According to her diary, she ran away to avoid becoming such a villain and met my father instead.
Thinking about it now, it’s all rather absurd.
Though she was eventually caught and made a royal consort, Mother always told my brother and me:
“Listen closely, children. The moment you get involved in power, your peaceful life is over.”
I never had any affection for this troublesome palace to begin with.
So I tried to live quietly, just as she had said…
And now I’m trying to do exactly what she warned against.
In the end, I was the one plunging deep into power.
Anyway, the first piece of my plan was obviously Gobard.
The Crown Prince had the authority to open the imperial secret vault alongside the Emperor.
And more importantly, Gobard was a serious threat to me and Moren.
Unfortunately, Gobard despised us both—
More specifically, our maternal family—the Miban lineage.
Because it was my maternal grandfather, Count Miban, who caused the Empress’s carriage accident.
No matter how much Mother wanted to live quietly, she couldn’t control accidents she didn’t even know were happening.
The Empress’s death was one such case.
Count Miban, greedy and ambitious, hated that Mother remained a mere consort despite the Emperor’s favor.
So he tampered with the Empress’s carriage in an assassination attempt.
That’s how the Empress died. The Emperor, fearing for Mother’s position, buried the truth.
In return, Miban was punished unofficially.
Grandfather died, and our family fell into near ruin.
Anyway, this incident left a deep trauma in Mother, and she suffered every time she saw Gobard.
Gobard, for his part, had long known of the Miban family’s involvement and kept requesting further investigations.
Of course, the Emperor destroyed all evidence, so the requests were always denied.
To Gobard, Moren and I were the blood relatives of the one who killed his mother.
If Gobard ascended the throne, our lives would be snuffed out like candle flames in the wind.
That’s why I planned to marry while the Emperor was still alive—to leave the palace.
Then, even Gobard wouldn’t dare touch us.
But everything went terribly wrong.
The Emperor, clearly viewing me as a replacement for Mother, would keep delaying my marriage.
In the end, I would remain trapped in the palace and likely be eliminated by Gobard, the next in line.
Worst-case scenario.
Before that happened, I had to talk to Gobard.
Who knows?
Maybe he would feel some sympathy toward fellow motherless siblings.
With that in mind, I scanned the banquet hall.
The hall was extravagantly decorated, and finely dressed nobles mingled everywhere.
Gobard had to be among them.
To be honest, I didn’t want to attend this banquet at all.
Though not much time had passed since Mother’s death, the empire’s official functions continued.
Today’s banquet was especially important—it welcomed the leader of the Magic Tower, who had always had a rocky relationship with the Emperor.
Even though Lornod is the strongest empire on the continent, life without magic would be impossible.
The Magic Tower was an independent organization that operated in neutral territory outside the empire.
It was especially known for developing “practical magic,” essential in many aspects of life.
They were the undisputed leaders in that field.
If we wanted a more convenient life or more useful magic, cooperation with the Tower was essential.
The current Tower Master has a reputation for being… eccentric.
The Emperor loathed him for a very simple reason.
The Tower Master once publicly got the Emperor’s name wrong.
“Oh, are you His Majesty Lara? That’s the same name as a stray cat in my neighborhood.”
For reference, the Emperor’s name was Laurom.
Infuriated at being equated with a cat, he cut off all relations with the Tower.
Though the Tower was hardly affected.
Plenty of countries sought them out regardless.
In fact, nobles who understood the importance of magic had worked tirelessly to mend the rift.
Even so, the Emperor remained angry for years, until finally agreeing to this banquet.
It’s that important—every royal had to attend.
Which meant Gobard had to be here.
I kept glancing around the banquet hall to find him.
If not now, I’d miss my chance to speak with him naturally.
Just as my impatience was starting to rise…
“Oh, it’s Princess Neroli!”
A gentle gust of wind swept through, and a pair of amethyst-like eyes locked onto mine.
…!
Maybe it was the lighting—or something else entirely—
But those eyes shone brilliantly as they met mine.
I stood frozen, mesmerized, locking gazes with him.
Only belatedly did I notice the surrounding commotion.
“Where did that breeze come from?”
“Look! Over there!”
“He just appeared out of thin air!”
Only then did I realize how close the owner of those eyes had gotten to me.
I stepped back and blinked rapidly.
Then, feigning shock, I raised my voice.
“Ah! Who are you?!”
But inside, I was already analyzing the man before me.
This must be the Tower Master.
A handsome man with striking violet hair and eyes.
And an earring—the kind said to suppress overwhelming magical energy.
I’d seen him from afar before, but his distinctive features made him easy to recognize.
Others who also recognized him began murmuring in excitement.
“Wasn’t the Tower Master on the terrace just a moment ago? How’d he get next to the Princess?”
“He must’ve used teleportation magic.”
“To cast such high-level magic so effortlessly…”
“Wait, are the two of them acquainted?”
Of course, I had no prior relationship with the Tower Master.
I quickly composed myself and greeted him politely.
“Oh no, I didn’t recognize such an esteemed guest! Pleased to meet you. I’m Neroli Miban Lornod of the Lornod Empire!”
The Tower Master watched me for a moment, then gave a light smile.
“Nice to meet you, Princess Neroli. I’m Hist Netern, representative of the Magic Tower.”
With that, Hist handed me a small rectangular card.
I took the card from between his long fingers and saw the Tower’s circular magic sigil first.
Beneath that, it read:
“Magic Tower Company
Representative: Hist Netern”
I tilted my head curiously.
“Hmm… What’s this?”
“Unfamiliar, right? That’s what we call a business card.”
“A… business card?”
“One of my subordinates came up with the idea to modernize the Tower’s operations. Said we should restructure it like a corporation or something.”
Hist shrugged lightly as he explained.
“They’ve been nagging me nonstop to hand those out and promote ourselves. So please take good care of Magic Tower Company, Princess.”
“Oh~ I see. That’s a bold new venture!”
“For the record, you’re the second person to receive my business card.”
…If I’m the second, does that mean he’s barely given any out?
The thought crossed my mind, but I let it go.
“It’s an honor to receive your card right after His Majesty.”
“Huh? I didn’t give one to the Emperor.”
“…What?”
“The first one went to the Pope. So you’re the second.”
He said this with pride, holding up two fingers.
