Cedric blamed himself.
“To hide such a frightening fact, I…it’s my fault.”
“What are you saying, brother?”
Cedric looked painfully at Lilian, who was flustered. His younger sister looked like a child no matter how much she grew up.
Looking at it, he could easily recall the day when a 12 year old girl came to him saying she would get engaged.
21 year old Cedric didn’t know, but 28 year old Cedric knew.
Lilian was an overly grown up child. It was all because of Cedric himself.
“Because of me, you became a child who had no one to rely on. I shouldn’t have done that…”
The things that worried him since Lily wasn’t like a child. The moments he felt happy when she seemed to be relying on him.
All of those moments felt like punches. With belated regret, his heart was torn.
He was ashamed of everything, even the fact that he had written a letter to Damian raging at him, proudly saying how he cared for her.
He had no right to say that he cared for Lilian.
His younger sister had reached out to him first and approached him first, so he failed to be her support.
Because of that, this child suffered alone, even knowing that she didn’t have long to live.
It’s a huge mistake that will remain as a shame for the rest of his life.
“I’m sorry, Lilian. Although I can’t apologize for anything…”
Listening to Cedric’s words, Lilian thought for a moment.
Her memories of waking up from a fever at the age of 12 were largely divided into two.
One is a previous life.
One is a story she read in her previous life.
The main content of the latter was her wrongs, which left a deep trauma to her son, and the story after Matteo’s accesion, which is now largely useless.
Among them, the memory of the former was deeply embodied and became an obsession that ‘you shouldn’t live like that’.
Thanks to this, by the time she was 12, Lilian felt like she was living her third life.
Perhaps even if Cedric had reached out to her first, she, Lilian, would still have been a grown up.
But now things have changed.
As she prepared to die alone, Lily was approached by Damian. Damian put down everything including his face and yearned to come within Lily’s line, and finally succeeded.
So she, too, chose the path of living with him.
Only after accepting Damian’s feelings did Lilian let go of her last remaining obsession.
From then on, the weathering of her memories proceeded at a rapid pace.
It was a blurry memory.
The more Lilian struggled to deviate from the planned path, the more the memory lost weight and withered away from her mind.
Not only the memory of the story, but also the memory of her previous life, leaving only the intellectual part, was in a state of fading.
That’s how Lilian lived as Lilian, not as a third life, but a life that everyone only has once. A real life that is neither omniscient nor omnipotent, clinging to memories but not bound by it.
In the past, she might have been anxious. But not now.
This was possible because Lilian met Damian.
A smile appeared on Lilian’s lips.
“If you feel so sorry for me… Please promise that you’ll marry as well.”
“?”
It sounded like nonsense to Cedric, but Lilian was serious.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Since you forced me to be engaged, I will also force my brother to be engaged.”
“Lily.”
“I won’t tell you to marry anyone right away. Because the other person’s intention is also important. I just want you to seriously consider this matter.”
Cedric smiled bitterly.
“Lily, that doesn’t sound like much of a punishment.”
As the head of the household, Cedric was supposed to get married, even if it was too late.
So he readily admitted to Lily.
“I suppose. So what I mean is that I’ll forgive you, brother.”
“…”
It wasn’t about preparing for the time of her death like before. Even if Lilian doesn’t die early, she can’t live with Cedric.
Even though she can’t be sure since her love was insignificant compared to Damian’s, Lilian still decided to live with Damian for the rest of her life.
This decision, like a true Turinian, would never change, and was perhaps more affirmation than the words I love you.
Right now, Lilian just wanted Cedric to have someone like that.
“…yes, if that’s what you want…I’ll try.”
Only then did Lilian smile.
“Yes. That’s enough.”
***
A few days later, Matteo appointed the Duke Blanchett, Ethan Schmidt, as an escort.
The reason why Ethan couldn’t get a higher position was because his aides insisted that they couldn’t let a man, who was once a traitor get close, so Ethan was offered a low-end position.
It was an insult to someone like Duke Blanchett, but Ethan didn’t think so.
“I will accept it. You gave me an undeserved opportunity, so I will definitely repay you.”
His record was a problem, but his loyalty was unquestionable. Since that match was not actually Ethan’s will, the new Duke Blanchett, who was struggling in a mismatched position, was able to quickly reconcile with his old colleagues.
This was exactly what Matteo intended.
“For the time being, I’m going to make him suffer a little. To clear the piled up sediment and show it off to others.”
Ivan was amazed.
“That’s a good way.”
Damian’s reaction was more ruthless.
“Looks like you’re finally able to think. Congratulations.”
Matteo wasn’t hurt.
“Because I intend to become Emperor. It’s pretty good.”
The reason Matteo didn’t give in to all kinds of threats during the kidnapping was that he didn’t want to be broken by Claude of all people.
Admittedly, he should be the emperor.
He didn’t think much of it.
But now it’s different.
“Your Highness will make a really good emperor.”
Because Lilian said so.
As the relationship between Damian and Lilian became more like a couple, Matteo began to give up his feelings for Lily.
Somehow, this feeling should not be exposed and cause trouble to Lilian. A big reason was that he didn’t want to be like his mother and second uncle, who claimed to love each other.
Matteo was just thinking of allowing himself to be the ‘good emperor’ that Lily said.
He still didn’t know how to do that. Even if he tries until he dies, the result may not be known. Because evaluation is the responsibility of the next generation.
However, it was the expectation of the person who was his first love.
Even if he stopped, Matteo believes it will be worth the lifetime effort to live up to.
But there’s still a long way to go.
***
The throne room of the Artura Palace.
Crash! Expensive pottery shattered with a sound. Fragments shattered into an already chaotic room.
“Ethan Schmidt, is that rotten bastard finally crawling to my house?”
The enraged emperor lost his temper and was screaming loudly.
Once again, there was a whooshing sound, this time bottles and crystal glasses were shattered. However, this was not enough to appease the Emperor’s anger.
The attendants whispered outside the office.
“Is he still like that? It’s time for the Electors to come see His Majesty…”
“What about Madame Rachel?”
“She went inside thirty minutes ago.”
“Yes? But why is His Majesty still…”
The emperor sometimes exploded in anger and could not calm himself down. The only person who could appease such an emperor was Rachel.
Rachel first endured violence and abusive language until the Emperor’s anger was relieved, then calm him down with pleasant words until he was able to communicate.
But today, despite Rachel’s entry, the emperor’s anger showed no signs of abating.
Everyone watched the office with anxious eyes. Inside, the Emperor glared at Rachel, who sat silently while cupping her cheeks.
He kept pretending to be furious, wheezing, but in fact, the emperor was in a rather bewildered state.
‘Why isn’t she stopping me?’
Today, Rachel gave the Emperor her cheeks but did not open her mouth.
Waiting for an excuse to calm his anger, the emperor panicked and soon became even more angry than usual.
‘Is this unruly girl not doing her job properly?’
After all, isn’t it because Rachel assigned Ethan Schmidth from the Blanchett family to seduce the Grand Duchess?
“You!”
The emperor went over to Rachel and held her head. However, Rachel did not make a single sound today and just endured it.
Unable to let go of his anger at her cold response, the Emperor almost threw Rachel away so he threw away the furniture with more ferocity than before and started kicking her with his feet.
Eventually, the time when the emperor decided to have an audience with the electors arrived.
There were three electors who supported the current emperor: The Elector of Lucerne, the Elector of Tirana, and the Elector of Bishkek.
The attendants were embarrassed and bowed deeply.
“We meet the Electors, Your Excellencies.”
“I came to see His Majesty the Emperor…”
The Electors made puzzled faces at the sound of something being smashed in the audience room.
“What’s going on? I hope His Majesty is well…?”
“Yes, that’s…”
The Electors felt embarrassed and offended. The current Emperor desperately needed their support. However, instead of welcoming them properly, he’s acting out of spite in the time for the audience?
“First, tell His Majesty the Emperor.”
Even the servants knew how important these electors were.
They called, hoping that the emperor would calm down when he heard the news that the electors had arrived.
However, the emperor, blinded by anger, merely threw a chair at the door instead of answering.
The chair that hit the door was smashed. At that moment, the emperor felt sorry, but the incident had already happened.
“Your Majesty doesn’t seem to be in a condition to receive an audience.”
“I will come back later.”
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