I watched the servant hurriedly flee for a moment.
Then I picked up one of the candles and frowned.
‘That crazy bastard.’
Seeing my reckless sibling, I couldn’t help but think that way. Because…
“Wow, they say you’re my father’s mistress; your figure isn’t bad at all, huh?”
That crazy, reckless bastard was scanning my body.
He then sneered at me and said,
“Hey, widow. I can tell you’re missing the taste of men, but don’t bother with an old man like that. I can make you feel much better.”
I never thought I would be hit on by this bastard, who was notorious for being a womanizer.
‘Even if he doesn’t know I’m his sister, this is unacceptable. That bastard has sold his soul for lust.’
I glared at the beast in front of me with contempt and disgust.
‘No wonder the nobles turned their backs.’
If it were up to me, I would want to use the gun in my pocket to ensure that idiot could never be a man again.
But before I could act, Fritz was already receiving a punch from someone.
“You reckless brat!”
And the one who uttered such vulgar words was none other than the emperor, who had just had a confrontation with me.
‘Why did he chase after me? And…’
While I was surprised that the Emperor chased me, I was even more shocked to see him slapping Fritz’s face, his face red with anger.
Whack!
“You vulgar fool, how dare you say such things to that girl… cough, cough!”
As the Emperor coughed, Fritz pushed away the frail hand that was grasping his collar.
“Ah, Father! Don’t just have fun by yourself; let’s enjoy together!”
At that doglike remark, the emperor’s face turned bright red as he tried to raise his fist again.
But instead, Fritz grabbed the Emperor’s fist.
“Don’t waste your strength; let’s share the good things. After all, you’ll leave everything to me when you’re gone, right?”
I could no longer hold back at his outrageous words and took off my hat.
“Alright, Fritz. Let’s have some fun.”
At that, Fritz’s face, which had been smirking just moments ago, stiffened.
“Damn it!”
As if he had seen something truly disgusting, he immediately started gagging.
“Ugh, crazy! I can’t believe I… that… damn…!”
Normally, I would have frowned at his swearing, but at that moment, they sounded pleasant to my ears.
It was a relief to confirm that, despite being a piece of trash who shared the same blood as me, he wasn’t the absolute worst.
‘Well, if he had acted the same even knowing it was me, I would’ve really shot him.’
Finally, he glared at me, huffing as he approached.
“Hey, you crazy bitch! You should have said something earlier! Where have you been hiding and pretending to be dead, and now you show up in the palace…?”
Click.
I pointed the gun at him.
“Keep talking, Fritz.”
He might not recognize his own sister, but it seemed he understood the gun well enough that he froze for a moment.
However, he soon contorted his face into a scowl and angrily shouted back.
“No, damn it! Hey, it’s your fault for deceiving me in the first place!”
“Oh, you still have some nerve, huh?”
Bang!
As soon as I finished speaking, I fired a shot near Fritz’s feet.
“Eek! You crazy bitch, are you really out of your mind?”
I smirked at his words and replied, “If you were in my place and received such disgusting looks from your brother, would you not go crazy?”
“Ah, that’s just… I made a mistake!”
“A mistake?”
“To dare commit such blasphemy against His Majesty and call it a mistake?” I said, raising the gun towards his head.
“Don’t accuse me of things I didn’t do! What blasphemy are you talking about?”
“Fritz, don’t you remember what you said? Not only did you call His Majesty an old man, but you also talked about him dying.”
At that, he flinched and finally glanced at the emperor.
“Ah, Father, that’s not what I meant…”
But the emperor spoke in a cold voice. “I don’t want to hear it; disappear from my sight at once.”
At those words, I could see the bastard trying to run away quickly.
‘Normally, I would have just let it go, but not this time.’
Indeed, it felt like a perfect opportunity where the Emperor was weak.
‘It’s a chance to hit that reckless fool; how could I let it slip away?’
I immediately threw a punch at his face, using my hand adorned with a large ring.
“Ugh, ahhh! It hurts!”
Seeing him in pain, I felt that my regular physical training had paid off.
Fritz clutched his face in agony, then glared at me fiercely.
“Damn it! You’re dead!”
However, Fritz froze in place.
It was no surprise, as the gun was pointed at the most critical and feared location he could not afford to lose.
“You’d better be careful, Fritz. I will ensure that a bullet is delivered to that precious spot of yours if you continue to behave like a rabid dog.”
At my words, Fritz turned pale and replied,
“I-I get it, so put the gun away! Damn it!”
“What? Damn it? Do you want to die, Fritz?”
“Do you really think you can shoot? The Emperor is here…”
“Ah, but Father is ill right now. So, I’ll do what you do and act without restraint.”
Click.
As the revolver’s chamber rotated, the reckless fool began to whimper.
“P-please, just put the gun away… I won’t do anything…”
Finally hearing a proper plea, I smiled slightly.
‘As expected, he only comes to his senses when threatened.’
However, I did not put the gun away and said,
“For now, stay out of my sight and live quietly like a mouse. If you keep acting like a fool, I won’t let it slide.”
Seeing the fleeting anger in Fritz’s eyes, I smiled and warned,
“Remember this: I won’t go easy on you anymore, and if you harbor any grudges and act foolishly, my bullet will pierce somewhere on you.”
At those words, he flinched and nodded with a pale face.
“I get it, so just put the gun away… Sister!”
Finally, as I stepped back while still holding the gun, he quickly fled the scene.
Only then did I lower the gun and let out a sigh.
‘As expected, this empire has no future. To think that such a pathetic person is the next in line for the throne.’
I watched his retreating figure with disdain for a moment before turning my head away.
’Now that I’ve resolved one issue, I must address the other one.’
At that moment, the Emperor spoke.
“Cornelia, why did you reveal your identity to Fritz? He will surely blab about it to the whole world!”
At the Emperor’s question, I shrugged and replied,
“Oh, it’s fine. I plan to leave this empire soon.”
“What?”
“Do you think Fritz will listen to me after today? Once he seizes power, he’ll definitely try to take revenge on me.”
As I watched the emperor’s face darken, I continued.
“But Your Majesty, why did you come after me?”
At that, the emperor opened his mouth.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
When he first chased after Cornelia, the emperor couldn’t understand why he had dragged his ailing body out.
‘Why should I care what happens to that girl…?’
However, just moments ago, he felt as though someone had struck him in the head for the first time.
‘That kind of reckless fool is my son?’
He’d always turned a blind eye to the fact that Fritz was an irredeemable wastrel.
He believed he could overlook such a flaw. However, seeing his son disgracefully treat his own sister, he felt the last remnants of his rationality snap.
“This vile son of mine!”
When he regained his senses, he was mindlessly beating his son. But even that was only for a brief moment.
‘After all, you’ll leave everything to me when you’re gone, right?’
Compared to his ailing self, his son was young and full of strength. And now he was acting rashly, assuming that he would die.
‘I was going to make this good-for-nothing son of mine the Emperor? He’ll ruin the empire…’
A deep regret washed over him. Yet, as his son had said, his own death seemed imminent.
At that moment, a voice of salvation echoed.
‘Alright, Fritz. Let’s have some fun.’
What happened next was astonishing.
‘P-please, just put the gun away… I won’t do anything…’
The Cornelia, whom he had thought of as a weak girl, not only subdued Fritz but completely forced him to submit.
‘How could she act so boldly?’
The Emperor then gave a hollow laugh.
Yes, he had always known. Cornelia was a truly remarkable candidate for a ruler. Yet he was the one who pushed her down and overlooked her potential.
‘I’ve been such a fool all this time.’
Regret was fleeting as the Emperor suddenly recalled something he had missed and urgently asked his daughter.
“Why did you reveal your identity to Fritz?”
“Oh, it’s alright. I plan to leave this empire soon.”
At his daughter’s answer, he felt his heart drop as if it were plummeting.
‘As expected, I…’
“Then why did you come after me?”
Caught off guard by his daughter’s sudden question, he momentarily lost his words.
At that moment, Cornelia coldly said, “Surely you’re not still planning to demand the mine from me.”
“No!”
The emperor, hastily cutting her off, let out a sigh before stating his purpose.
“Marquis Arzen is protesting at the palace gates, exposing your identity. I came to warn you about it…”
Cornelia scowled instead of answering.
‘Yes, what’s the point of intervening now?’
The Emperor then gave a wry smile and continued.
“Since you’ve already revealed your identity yourself, there’s nothing more I can do. But still… living in a foreign land won’t be easy.”
“So you’re going to stop me from leaving?”
“That’s not it. I’ll write a letter to your aunt, so you can go to Alshera and live comfortably.”
“You don’t have to worry about me…”
“Don’t refuse. At least, I want to be a father to you one last time.”
The moment he expressed his long-hidden true feelings, the emperor realized why he had come after his daughter with such a flimsy excuse.
‘Yes, I wanted to apologize to this child.’
The kind child who had worried about him until the end, the only one who had grown well despite being neglected.
He wanted to be a father to her, even if just one last time.
However, the response he received from Cornelia was resolute.
“I don’t need it.”
