Episode 6 

I looked at Floretta with a sullen expression. Seeing my sour face, she seemed to think I was frightened, took a step closer and whispered.

“And that tyrant let very, very vicious prisoners loose.”

They always locked the prisoners up properly and released them safely when the sentence was over—what kind of fabrication was this?

Of course, some were serving life sentences.

Even if one of them by some miracle had their shackles undone, it wouldn’t matter.

“It’s been a hundred years; there’s no way any of them could still be alive.”

From what I could see, nothing had been used after I died.

As I tried to worm between the two of them, Fonent suddenly lifted me and set me down where I’d been standing.

“If you go in, you’ll see skulls clinging to the wall like ivy.”
“And on the floor! They’ll be piled up like weeds.”
“I don’t care.”

I tried to shove both of them away at once, but it was impossible to toss aside a boy and girl who were bigger than me.

‘These idiots. I was trying to pity them and share some money! Even trying to help causes a commotion.’

In the end, pushed by their insistence, I drifted farther and farther from the villa.

When I tried to lose them and slip back to the villa, Fonent scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder.

My insides burst at the thought that there might be buried treasure underground.

But I didn’t struggle. There was no point; I couldn’t overpower them. Struggling would only waste my energy.

‘It’s not always my day. Curling up and waiting for the right time is also a ruler’s virtue.’

……That’s not something I’m saying because being carried is comfortable.

I swung my dangling legs harder.

Floretta narrowed her eyes and walked while watching me. She seemed to think she was keeping an eye on me—but she looked like she might trip.

As soon as I thought that, Floretta stumbled over a stone.

“Watch where you’re going.” I reached out and grabbed her arm; Floretta bowed her head, sulking.

“I’m older than you…”

How timid. I clicked my tongue lightly and brought up a neutral topic.

“When will Kynesia arrive?”

“I don’t know exactly, but she said she’s coming today… so maybe by tomorrow at the latest?”

“She’ll come today even if she’s late. Or she’ll arrive at dawn.”

Fonent spoke with certainty, finishing Floretta’s tentative reply.

Usually nobles were a few days later than they promised. They were lazy, and it was also polite toward the host.

A little delay gave you more time to prepare.

“Will the envoys arrive then, too?”

“The envoys will probably come later. Kynesia is dutiful—she’ll keep her word. She wouldn’t be late when she’s arriving at the palace.”

Kynesia sounded like a sensible descendant.

Despite that being something to be proud of, Fonent’s voice had a bitter edge.

‘Weren’t Kynesia and Fonent twins?’

I remembered records saying Kynesia was born first, but only minutes apart.

With that small a difference, they’d usually send a prince.

“Did the allied nation demand a princess as a hostage?”

Before I finished the sentence, the hand supporting my weight vanished in a flash. Of course, I was always a prepared emperor, so I didn’t panic and…

“Aaah!”

…landed on the ground with a little surprise.

“Ria, are you alright?”

Floretta, flustered, grabbed me and I brushed myself off and stood. When I looked up, Fonent was standing there with his fists clenched.

Then he suddenly yelled.

“She said she’s going!”
“Who said what?”
“You, really…!”

Fonent panted as if he were about to rush me, then twisted on his heel and stormed into the palace like a tragic protagonist.

“What’s his problem, puberty?”
“…He is going through puberty, but I don’t think that’s the reason,” Floretta said cautiously, denying my remark.

But my attention had already drifted away from them.

‘I could probably handle just Floretta—if she knew how to wield strength.’
I gauged the quantity of treasure by the thickness of Floretta’s forearms.

Her strength didn’t look particularly useful.

Deciding it was better to postpone, I started walking and Floretta followed.

“Ria, why did you say that? You know Fonent feels guilty about that.”
I didn’t know.

“Did something happen with Kynesia?”
Floretta looked at me for a moment and let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s go and apologize.”

Then she grabbed my hand and pulled.

She seemed intent on taking me back to Fonent—so I freed my hand.

“He just got angry by himself; if we leave him alone he’ll calm down.”
“That’s not wrong, but…”

I took hold of Floretta’s fretting shoulders and steered her back toward the garden.

“Go back to the garden and finish looking at the flowers.”

I left Floretta and returned to my room.

There didn’t seem to be anyone worth working with. Maybe I should just take whatever I could carry myself? That wouldn’t be bad either.

While I was thinking, an idea struck me.

‘This actually works out well.’

I’d write an autobiography and put it in the vault.

After all, the official records were essentially fiction. People would trust an autobiography more than ridiculous tales.

And any kingdom would benefit from having one more ancestor remembered as a wise ruler, right?

Yes. Way better than having another tyrant on the list.

If the autobiography were “found” together with the vault, they’d correct the official records themselves.

…Though it felt slightly shaky.

I might as well try. If it worked, I’d be at peace!

I cracked my knuckles and loosened my hands with a creak, deciding to write concisely but include every important achievement.

How hard could it be?

I locked the door and set to work as diligently as I could.

When it was mealtime, Dora knocked on the door.

“Princess—your meal—”
“I’m not eating!”

I didn’t answer; scolding drifted through the door and then the footsteps receded with a sigh.

When my concentration broke, I lit the lamp.

If I got back into it, I wouldn’t notice when night fell.

As I expected, after adding a brief evaluation and reflection beneath my list of achievements, the sky outside had already grown dark.

I lifted the prepared lamp and checked the wall clock.

‘1:00 a.m.’

Good. Now I’d take this down to the vault and pretend I found it along with the treasure.

I tucked the book into my clothes, grabbed a sack I had prepared earlier, and slipped outside.

I moved carefully—and, as usual, was not discovered.

I had thought the guards would be lax because of the chaos from the fire, but apparently they were just always lax.

‘No wonder the king runs into the fire to save the princess.’

He’s alive because of it, but if something happened to the king the country could be shaken.

They have no competent heir, and I couldn’t understand letting the king remain in danger.

What sort of training do these knights get? I clicked my tongue and stood before the underground prison entrance in the backyard.

Descending, I saw a corridor blocked off. Only a few knew how to open the secret passage, so no special guards were needed.

‘Thanks to that, I can come and go freely.’

When I was pillaging the nobles, rumors spread that I kept people locked in the labyrinth to watch them starve to death…

‘Wait a second.’

I think I just realized the source of those rumors.

Anyway, it’s all because people like to gossip.

A benevolent person like me ended up painted as a tyrant!!

‘I should have disposed of them into the afterlife before they could gossip.’

Regretting it, I knocked the wall in a steady rhythm. Between the seventh and eighth candlesticks a wall swung inward. The trapped mana stone within lit up and brightened the corridor.

I walked down the long steps and stood before the vault door, perfectly concealed to look like a wall.

“What was the password again?”

It felt like something I didn’t want to say out loud.

I folded my arms and tried to recall the day the vault was first made.

Though it was only a memory, Pelion’s voice felt close enough to touch.

‘There are two ways to open the vault. First: you must be Irane herself, or be of her blood. Second: you must know the password.’
‘What if neither is satisfied?’
‘If you get the password wrong it’s fine, but if you’re not blood-related you’ll be tormented by dreadful nightmares.’

Pelion in my memories smiled with eerie blue eyes.

‘Even if you leave the place, you won’t escape the fear.’
‘So it’s unbreakable?’
‘You could if someone could circumvent my magic, but there’s no one like that.’
‘Good. What’s the password?’
‘It’s long—can you repeat it right away?’

‘I’m an emperor.’

‘An emperor is beyond reproach, right? You know that.’ Pelion grinned and placed my hand against the wall.

I put my hand in the place I remembered.

‘Now say it. Exactly as I say.’
‘I get it, just stop stalling—hurry up, I’m busy.’
‘You’re always impatient. Alright, I’ll do it.’

He started to speak.

‘Pelion, I love you. Accept my heart.’
‘Pelion, are you conning me? Do you want to die?’
‘No, no, it’s a bit different. Again, say it right… ow. Fine, fine.’

‘Tteukbeurhaera.’

I clenched my teeth and repeated it, and he recited the proper but still annoyingly elaborate password.

“Pelion. Most powerful living sorcerer. Great sage. Incarnation of dragons. Open the magically concealed door with your magic.”

I echoed the words that surfaced, and the space folded. A dazzling multicolored light should have flashed—

Flash!

…should have flashed, but…?

“Where did it go?”

Gold and silver treasures that should have reached the ceiling! All sorts of magical items and mana crystals!

“Where is my treasure?”