How to Safely Divorce An Obsessive Emperor

Various… Slow vibrations shook her body.

Lasilia knew she was riding a carriage.

‘Carriage… Where are you going?’

If she was riding a carriage, it meant she had left the temple. Lasilia felt like her head was going to burst as she searched her memory.

‘If she had left the temple, something must have happened… Did something happen to confirm the prophecy?’

But what was the prophecy… If she had made a prophecy, there must have been a dreamer who heard the contents.

“Dr…”

Lasilia stopped talking as she was about to call the dreamer’s name. Suddenly, her mouth seemed to freeze.

‘Why? Why do I not want to say that name?’

She couldn’t figure it out. But a strong sense of rejection that made her stomach churn leaked out from the name.

‘Dre… dreaming,’

A multi-faceted… bang.

In the meantime, the carriage stopped.

Lasilia straightened up, holding her head.

“…?”

For a moment, she was so flustered that she couldn’t speak.

She wasn’t wearing the clothes of a prophet, but a precious dress that the imperial family would wear. And she didn’t even have a headdress on. She could feel her long hair flowing down her shoulders.

Lasilia grabbed a handful of her hair and let out a sigh of wonder.

“What the heck is this…?”

“Lady Lasilia, are you awake?”

A strange voice was heard. It was a young man’s voice.

‘Who is it?’

The fact that she didn’t know meant that it wasn’t the priest’s coachman.

“I’m awake. Who are you? Where are you going?”

“Oh, you’re awake. I’ll open the door.”

Suddenly, the carriage door opened.

By the way, it wasn’t even the temple carriage.

All temple carriages were supposed to be white. This carriage had only the seats covered in green velvet, and the rest was painted black.

“Are you feeling okay?”

A man appeared in front of me.

He had a face she didn’t remember. However, he looked strangely familiar.

“…My head hurts a little. Why did I leave the temple?”

“Huh?”

The man looked embarrassed and turned his head. Next to him, as expected, was someone she didn’t know but seemed to know. He had his eyes covered with a white cloth. It was strange that she didn’t recognize someone like that.

He whispered something in the man’s ear.

“…I’ll explain that later. It’s late at night, so I’m going to rest for a day at the inn.”

“An inn? Did the High Priest give permission?”

“I’ll explain later.”

The man postponed everything until later.

It was strange. It was very rare for a prophet like him to come out of the temple. Not only that, but staying at an inn was even more unfamiliar.

Lasilia had never slept anywhere other than the prophet’s room. And that was not possible if there was not even a dreamer.

“Do you have a dream?”

“…He did not accompany me.”

“Then we should return to the temple. A prophet who does not know when he will prophesy cannot sleep in a place without a dreamer.”

The young man made a troubled expression. But soon he nodded with a face of agreement.

“I was short-sighted, Lady Lasilia. Then, please get off for a moment. I will just change the carriage.”

“Why the carriage?”

“The horses are too tired.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to change the horses?”

“That… The carriage wheels are worn out, so it would be better to change them.”

“….”

She couldn’t help but have a slight suspicion, but there was nothing more to dig into.

“Then.”

Lasilia stood up from the carriage, gathering up her voluminous skirt.

“Take my hand.”

A young man with silver hair and blue eyes held out his hand.

Lasilia, who had never held the hand of a person other than a dreamer, hesitated for a moment and then took the hand he held out.

“…Wait.”

Then suddenly her eyes fell on the white shoes visible under the hem of the skirt. She had never seen shoes made of white silk embroidered with gold thread. A prophet should not have worn shoes like these.

“Why am I wearing these clothes?”

Lasilia let go of the man’s hand and asked.

“Oh, that…”

“Ugh,”

A headache suddenly came over Lasilia and she leaned against the carriage door.

“Lady Lasilia!”

The silver-haired man climbed into the carriage. He hurriedly sat Lasilia down on the chair.

“Do you have a headache? They said it would get better with time. For now…”

Her gaze went to the man’s blue eyes. They were clear and kind eyes. Now she remembered those eyes. Those eyes were the eyes of the Dell’Arta royal family.

“…It’s okay, Your Highness Ecelion.”

Her mouth moved on its own as she recognized the man.

“Do you… recognize me, Lady Lasilia?”

Prince Ecelion made a perplexed expression.

“I recognized those eyes. I…”

At that moment, the one whose eyes were covered with a white cloth climbed onto the carriage.

“Your Highness, it’s dangerous.”

“Yenion, not yet,”

The one called Yenion took off the white cloth. The pupils, as white as snow, were revealed, and at that moment, Lasilia realized what she had to do.

“Don’t open those eyes to me.”

She remembered. What those eyes had done to her.

Those eyes could curse humans. To be exact, the hearts of humans.

The memories that humans had stored in their hearts, and the emotions that came from those memories, could be taken away.

The eyes took away the memories from the moment she opened her eyes as Lescal’s companion.

* * *

“…ssh,”

Yenion tightly closed his eyes and covered his head.

The Lasilia he was facing looked calm, but her eyes were red with blood rushing to them and her breathing was ragged.

“Yenion?”

Ecelion, who had no idea what had happened between the two, expressed his confusion.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. My power… is not working.”

“What?”

Ecelion quickly turned to Lasilia.

In the meantime, Lasilia caught her breath.

This time, she knew. The moment the power of the curse was digging into her. She came to her senses and resisted the unfamiliar power.

She believed that she had the power to do so. Just as he had regained the consciousness that had been taken away by Serven and Yvette, he would be able to protect himself.

She had to do that. Otherwise, she would be used again without knowing anything. Just like the prophet who lived without even knowing his own face.

“How on earth…?”

Ecelion asked incredulously.

That was because some of the demon’s abilities had been transferred to him. However, he had no obligation to answer that question.

“Is this the Imperial territory? Or have we already crossed the border?”

Ecelion’s eyes hardened at Lasilia’s question.

“Lady Lasilia, I…”

“I don’t really care what Your Majesty intended to do. However, I can guarantee that no matter where you took me or what you wanted to do, it won’t come true. I have a tracking spell on me. Of course, I have a protection and tracking spell. It’s only a matter of time before the Imperial army will be chasing Your Majesty’s party.”

In fact, it was still unknown whether the tracking magic was still working. The same was true of Decan’s sorcery. Lasilia was gambling now.

“If you don’t want to make a big deal out of it, leave me here and go your way. I will repay my debt to King Verhoyet by not holding you accountable any longer.”

“I did it for Lady Lasilia!”

Ecelion burst into anger, or rather, a resentment that resembled anger.

“I know what it means to be a companion of the Demon Tribe. Isn’t it something that requires you to be married in order to subjugate your blood? I can’t possibly… Why Lady Lasilia…”

Ecelion bit his lip as if he couldn’t finish his words.

“I don’t know where the word ‘forced’ came from. It wasn’t my will to be born as a companion of the Demon Tribe, but now I know that it’s my duty.”

“I’m telling you that you don’t have to do that! I will protect Lady Lasilia from an unwanted fate!”

Ecelion was probably sincere. He didn’t read the lie at all.

That made him a little angry.

Why was he so sure that she wouldn’t want to be Lescal’s companion? The prince of Dell’Arta, whose face he had never even known. What on earth did he know?

“Why would Your Majesty want to do that?”

“…Yes?”

Ecelion shook his shoulders, as if he had never expected the question. His eyes shook together.

“Even if I don’t want it, why should Your Majesty protect me?”

“I…”

Ecelion couldn’t answer. He just stammered out words that didn’t make sense.

“I find that very unpleasant. If Your Majesty needed a prophet, even if it was just a shell, to restore his royal authority, I would have understood. But it doesn’t make sense that it’s for me. Because I don’t want it.”

“I…”

Ecelion’s expression was pitiful.

“Lady Lasilia… said she didn’t care about the Emperor… She wanted someone else…”

“Where did you hear that?”

Lady Lasilia said in the study… to the Shadow Knight of the Empire…”

It was absurd, but it was also true. No other thoughts came to Ecelion’s mind than what he was saying right now.

“I never said that.”

“Lady Lasilia.”

Ecelion shook his head sharply and knelt before Lasilia.

“This is not the land of the Empire. Whatever is in your heart, you can tell me honestly.”

“I have never lied.”

“No. You are lying. Lady Lasilia clearly said she loved someone other than the Emperor. She shed tears as she looked into my eyes.”

It was shocking. And on the other hand, it was scary.

If Ecelion wasn’t lying, then someone had shown him a lie.

‘That demon…’

He could take away some of a person’s consciousness and make them his puppet. He could also control people by using demons. And like Ecelion, he could also instill false experiences instead of taking away their consciousness.

“What Your Majesty saw…”

…was fake.

Lasilia was about to say that at that moment.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…!”

Tion shouted outside the carriage, and Ecelion and Yenion turned their heads at the same time.

Wooooooooow…

A dark shadow began to spread across the empty road. The shadow that started out as a circle grew and grew until it was large enough for a person to pass through.

“Ah…!”

Lasilia’s eyes widened as she spotted the shadow outside the window. She had seen it before. It was exactly the same as the spell that Duke Pierion had created when he had been locked in the small room in the temple courtroom, saying he had come to get her.

inally, the shadow became a passage.

Kiuuuk!

Kyaaak!

And then, monsters began pouring out from inside.

 

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Translator Note: