The next day, when I opened my eyes in the morning, I unintentionally smiled when I saw Damien.
My little boy was smiling brightly as he slept.
'What kind of sweet dream makes him smile like that?'
He looked much happier than when he ate his favorite cheesecake.
That was incredibly nice.
“Sleep tight, my dear.”
After observing the sleeping child for a moment, I kissed his rosy cheek.
“[Dad!]”
Eric's face tightened when he saw the familiar blond boy.
The little boy he had seen in his dreams so long ago began to appear again.
Even though it was just a dream, it always hurt him to see the child.
“[My mother and I are safe!
But when are you coming?]”
As Eric looked at the child, he clenched his hands in self-reproach.
'Are you blaming me for not being able to protect you and your mother?'
However, the reason he couldn't take his eyes off the child was because the child's eyes looked exactly like Cornelia's eyes.
Suddenly, Eric felt that Cornelia was cruel.
The child was reaching out to him, not to his father, but he had stopped appearing in his dreams at some point.
'I wanted to see her, even in my dreams...'
Then it happened-
“[Dad, there's no more time!
You have to find us quickly.]”
Eric wanted to say something to the kid.
He wanted to find them too and ask where they could be.
But as usual, the words didn't come out.
He felt frustrated as he looked at the child, who soon opened his mouth with a bitter expression out of proportion to his age.
“[Saying our location violates the law of causality, so my father must find us himself.]”
At that moment, Eric opened his eyes.
He saw a familiar roof.
Eric sighed and got up.
'This dream again...'
The child in the dream was constantly begging to be found with his mother.
'I've searched everywhere along the west and south, where the rivers connect, but I haven't found it yet...'
Having lost contact with Janet for years, he no longer has hope that she is alive.
He just wanted to at least find her body.
Eric slowly walked over to where the wedding photo was.
Soon, a bitter expression crossed his face.
'I was just thinking of myself, unaware that you were rotting inside.'
When he regained consciousness and returned home, he suddenly wanted to see Cornelia's face.
So he looked at the picture that was drawn during their wedding, but it was a mess because of the ink.
At that moment, Eric felt his mind go blank.
He was afraid he would forget the face he always saw when he came into this room.
Try to find her picture and put pressure on the artist responsible for drawing her.
However, since Cornelia hated having her portrait painted, there was nothing left.
The image the artist created was also not what he imagined.
Her image was gradually fading.
'I want to see you.
Even if it was in a dream.'
He thought that even if she was cursing him in a nightmare, he would welcome her.
However, at some point, Cornelia no longer appears in his dreams or as a ghost.
Eric was despondent over the fact that she was fading away from him.
Sometimes this despair led to extremist ideas.
'If I die, will I be able to see you?'
In the end, he smiled with a blank expression.
'That won't happen.'
He was a murderer who slaughtered countless people.
On top of that, he was also a depraved son who drove his single mother crazy by giving her unbearable shock.
'If I hadn't visited, no.
If I hadn't told the truth, she wouldn't have gone crazy.'
If there was an embodiment of the ugliest things in the world, it would be him.
In contrast, Cornelia never harmed anyone, and during her time as a princess, she showed kindness even to the lower classes, whom the nobles considered filthy.
'Even if I die, I won't be able to meet you.
'You must have gone to heaven.'
He was a widower, but he couldn't die yet.
He still had to seek revenge and find her body.
At that moment, a gray hawk flew in.
whoop-!
It was a message from Hit, his informant.
As soon as he checked the letter tied to his ankle, Eric's eyes sparkled sharply.
“[Marquis Argens was investigating Countess Heard.
It has also been confirmed that the Emperor monitors Heard’s territory periodically.]”
While it was easy to ignore the Marquis of Argen, the Emperor was different.
According to investigations conducted over the years, there was a very high possibility that the Emperor was involved in Cornelia's death.
‘After her death, it was suspicious how the Emperor banished Marquis Arjen from the capital so quickly and how quickly evidence regarding Cornelia’s death surfaced.’
Furthermore, the Emperor would not introduce himself unless there was something important going on, and would keep himself at a distance and minimize outside activities as much as possible.
In such a situation, it was very unnatural for the emperor to be interested in a local province.
'I need to investigate.'
A few days after I finished my inspection, I frowned at an unexpected visitor.
“It's been a long time.”
“What brings you, Marquis Philippe?”
Given my position, it was appropriate that I show him respect.
However, he was one of the few who knew my true identity and served as a messenger for the Emperor.
The only reason the Emperor would send him to me is when he had something to discuss.
“To the point.”
Marquis Philip sighed and opened his mouth.
“Recently, His Majesty the Emperor has not been in good health.”
That was expected.
Around this time, the Emperor suddenly fell ill and continued for about a year before he died.
'At that time, there were problems with his liver and digestive system.'
The liver is the organ most sensitive to toxins.
So I suspected that the Emperor might have been poisoned for a long time.
As for whoever might have poisoned him...
'Marquis Argen.
'It would not have pleased my father to live longer, as that would delay Franz's succession to the throne.'
علاوة على ذلك، بما أنّ خاله كان لديه الإمبراطورة كحليفة، كان من السهل تمرير السم من خلالها.
So I warned him to be careful of Marquis Arjen.
Fortunately, the Emperor began to grow wary of Marquis Argin and expressed his intention to restrict him by exiling him from the capital.
However, upon hearing that the Emperor feels unwell, I wondered if Marquis Argin had manipulated things through the Empress, so I asked: “Where does he feel unwell?”
“His lungs.
He was constantly coughing and even vomiting blood.”
Takh-!
I was surprised by the symptoms that were different from before, so I got up.
'What is this?
Why are the symptoms different from before?'
“What's wrong?”
I clenched my hands as Marquis Philippe looked at me with a confused expression.
'I tried to change my fate, but it seems that it is not possible.'
For a moment, this thought crossed my mind, but then I laughed.
'No, it can't be.'
I have already changed my fate.
I took revenge on the Grande Madame and Madeleine, who tortured me and tried to kill my child.
And now, instead of being just an empty wife to Eric Lennon Brant, I was living a happy life as I am.
In my experience, most events in human history were the result of someone's intervention.
'There must be another villain behind this.'
He may be the mastermind of the rebels I was looking for.
“I need to see the Emperor in person.”
With that thought, I prepared to leave for the capital.
But there was one problem I hadn't thought of.
"Mom!
Don't go!
Waaah!"
Damian, who had always been an obedient child, clung to my leg and started crying.
"Mom, you can't go at all!
Stay with Dami.
Okay?
Waaah!"
حاولتُ سحب الطفل بعيدًا والمغادرة، لكن رؤيته يبكي كما لو كان سيغمى عليه إذا غادرتُ جعلت قلبي يتألم.
'What should I do?'
Eric stared expressionlessly at the area visible from the mountain below.
‘So this is Heard territory.
It was a very poor land just five years ago…'
The thriving city before him made him fully aware of the capabilities of the landlady, Countess Heard.
Gradually, a bitter expression crossed his face.
‘Originally, this land belonged to Cornelia…’
After Cornelia's disappearance, the Emperor confiscated the items she had brought, as well as her possessions.
This land was included in the confiscation.
‘ظننتُ أنها ستُعطى لوليّ العهد، لكنني لم أتخيّل أبدًا أنها ستُسلم لشخص آخر هكذا.’
رفع الإمبراطور الفيكونت هيرد، الذي تميّز في حرب الحدود الشرقيّة ومات في المعركة، إلى رتبة كونت ومنح هذه الأرض لزوجته، التي فقدت زوجها.
For the emperor, it was perhaps merely his smallest and least useful possession.
But, as it turned out, Countess Heard discovered a diamond mine in what was then just a village and became very rich.
'If you were alive...'
She always had a special love for sparkling jewelry.
Thinking that all this should have been hers, he felt angry at those who had caused her death: the Emperor, who had neglected her and failed to punish them properly, and himself for not protecting her.
Part of him wanted to kill everyone and end his life there.
But Eric practiced patience.
He had to find out the truth about her death.
'First, I need to know what the Emperor is planning.'
Eric clenched his fist and headed toward Hurd territory.