Chapter 54 Why You Married Me
“Well, why, all of a sudden.”
“You said it was to make me your trophy.”
Then he furrowed his brow, as if to say who dared to say such an abominable thing.
“That’s…”
“But it doesn’t make any sense.”
Delphine blinked her eyelashes in innocence and glared up at the man.
She even thought she was doing a pretty good job of it.
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
“Well, it’s a trophy, you’re supposed to show it off, not hide it in a closet at home.”
“…”
This was the man who had hurt her time and time again with cold words like that, whenever she’d pried into his identity.
But if she’d come out this low first, what would he do?
How long would he hesitate, pursing his lips.
He finally sighed and said.
“… Then, in my excitement, I said it without thinking.”
As if that wasn’t enough, he continued.
“You’re not a trophy or anything.”
“Well?”
Delphine asked, the corners of her eyes lifting as she spoke.
As she stared at him, head tilted slightly, a clear agitation appeared in his eyes.
His lips pursed like a man deprived of oxygen for a moment before he finally declared quietly.
“… You may go out as long as you wish. I’ll tell my escorts to be careful.”
He went on to promise that even within the manor, he would not allow the servants to interfere too much in her life.
That was it.
Belly’s strategy worked.
She hadn’t realized that the easiest way to take down the strongest and cruelest man in the Empire might actually be to make him fall in love with her.
Not by stirring up his past and stroking his ego.
Delphine swallowed in silent triumph as she watched the massive man, unable to hide his subtle flirtation.
With a single glare, she got permission to leave.
She wonders how much she can get out of him.
Three hundred years ago, the first Emperor built an opulent Imperial Palace in the center of the capital.
As they walked through the long corridors lined with massive columns, Pride’s eyes were cold and he was pondering something.
He remembered Delphine’s face, the way she’d smiled at him out of the corner of her eye this morning.
And the red hair that had fallen in the factory the day before.
He wanted to deny that it belonged to someone else, but there was no way he could have mistaken the color, a color he could only forget if he tried to forget for the rest of his life.
And the rat rebellions that were erupting all over the Empire.
No way.
Of course not.
She had been a noblewoman of District 1 all her life? How?
More importantly, why?
What had she done to earn her position?
To come from the misery of District 3, to the center of this shining District 1.
And then to leave all that exclusive opulence and privilege to side with those wretches?
It was unthinkable to his common sense.
But if, just in case, she really was on their side…
‘What in the world have I done to deserve such a thing?’
Pride curled his fists into tight knots that made his blue blood boil.
He walked and walked, lost in thought, until he came to the end of a long, labyrinthine hallway.
A statue of an owl, symbolizing the Goddess of Truth, perched on a white marble wall.
Looking up at him, Pride spoke in an emotionless tone.
“Under the light of truth. By the eye of Providence.”
That was not the end of the ancient magical incantation that animated these walls.
He added nonchalantly, with a hint of boredom in his eyes.
“For… all things return to nothingness in the end.”
The owl statue’s neck turned to the side.
The barrier opened itself to reveal itself.
Pride stepped boldly into the gaping black hallway.
Soon, an enclosed, windowless room was revealed.
It was perfectly claustrophobic and lit only by a few candles, giving it an unusually eerie atmosphere, even though it was midday outside.
It was a place that seemed to make you lose track of time and space.
This was the headquarters of a secret society called Veritas, a group of men and women who were given black crystals by the Emperor and his minions.
The Emperor’s hounds, each of whom had forsaken their humanity for their own reasons, were in charge of the Empire’s dirtiest and most secret affairs.
And to name such a place ‘Veritas’.
Pride swallowed the cold arsenic in his stomach.
It had been a long time since he had set foot in this place.
Upon his arrival, those gathered around the long table rose from their seats in unison.
Only one person.
The old Emperor, still hunched over in his chair, raised his head and muttered grimly.
“Welcome to…. My faithful servant.”
He barely had one marriage when they tried to ostracize him.
Now, with the uprising in District 3, his presence was desperately needed.
The Emperor was such a man.
A cowardly, short-sighted, and greedy little man.
No, in fact, not only the old man, but the blood of that madman, the first Emperor, had been like that for the past three hundred years.
“You called for me, Your Majesty.”
Barely suppressing his disgust, the old Emperor immediately took up the matter.
“Yes. I’m sure you can guess why I’ve summoned you here.”
“…”
“Why are those reactionaries in District 3 suddenly going on such a rampage?”
“Rumor has it they’re using magic, is that true?”
Then Duke Purcell, who was sitting right next to the Emperor, quickly added his two cents.
‘He’s the latest to join Veritas, and he’s already risen to that level.’
He doesn’t know, but he must have learned early on how to please the cranky old man.
“… I’m assuming so.”
Pride replied in a tone that felt like an interrogation.
“We believe it has something to do with the recent release of a large amount of phosphorus from the plant.”
The words sent a ripple through the assembled group.
“No, how?”
“Don’t you need both the aurum and the magic circle to use magic?”
“Even if they took the phosium, how would they charge them?”
The Emperor, who had been agitated without speaking, opened his mouth with a fearful face.
“No, no…”
He pursed his lips for a long time, his wrinkled old face contorting into a grimace, and finally spoke.
“You mean there are still descendants of saints left in this Empire…?”
That was the moment he heard the word saint.
Suddenly, a vivid memory flashed through Pride’s mind like an arrow, a memory that had an intuition beyond that of a human.
The red hair on the floor.
‘… No way.’
It can’t be.
Just her, in this vast, vast Empire? No such coincidence.
Besides, he’d seen her since he was a child, and he’d never noticed any sign of it.
As he had told himself countless times before coming to this secret chamber, he ignored the cries of his intuition this time.
Unaware that he was blinded by his own overgrown emotions.
“Let’s investigate…”
Instead, he turned to the Emperor, his voice eerily low.
“Thoroughly.”
The rats were using magic, that much was certain.
How?
We’ll find out soon enough when we catch a few of them.
If they weren’t easily caught. Well, then.
Maybe we could hang the heads of innocent District 3 citizens over the central barrier until they revealed themselves.
When they’re no longer needed, we’ll grind them up and scatter them in the fields for the people of District 3 to eat as grain for next year’s harvest.
The death of a few humans would not change anything in his world.
To him, humans, with the exception of Delphine, had no value or utility.
His twisted view of humans has only grown stronger since he learned of the Empire’s secrets.
This world was doomed from the start.
A country ruled by an Emperor like that, within these false walls.
The only thing untainted in this hell was his saint, his Delphine.
So it’s an Empire for Delphine, and people for Delphine.
They have to go out sometimes, have tea parties, and go to concerts if she want.
If it threatened Delphine’s safety and peace, he didn’t care if every living, breathing human being in this Empire died.
Maybe it would be better if it was just the two of them in this world.
…That thought, he’d never let her know.
‘So let the lowly rats run wild.’
The room fell silent as he continued.
“Well, yes. Your luggage is always a relief.”
The old Emperor stammered, trying not to sound frightened.
‘If you’ve done enough to save face in front of his faithful bastards, you can step aside.’
He knew the Emperor was always on the lookout for him, as if he were the key to this Empire’s damned secrets.
Pride nodded and saluted with a somewhat unceremonious gesture, then slowly slipped out of the room deep within the palace.
