Episode 41

Lian asked with a very happy face, spreading his arms to about the width of his chest.

“Do you know that babies are about this size when they’re born?”

“Yes, I remember when my youngest sibling was just born.”

“So small, weak, and unimpressive that it could be killed with a single finger, yet it smiled at me.”

It was even more upsetting to know that his much younger sibling was the first person to ever smile at him.

When Lian was thirteen, he was still a child himself, meaning that no one had smiled at him until then.

“Were your parents strict?”

“They were fearful people.”

I asked if his parents were strict in their discipline, but I got a strange answer.

Our conversations were always like this, so I clarified more precisely.

“Maybe you just don’t remember the times your parents smiled at you when you were little.”

“I remember everything since I was born.”

Ordinarily, people can’t do that, but this was Lian.

As if to prove his point, he started sharing his past.

Lian was set to be adopted by his father’s older brother, the previous Duke Zernia, even before he was born.

Although the previous Duke Zernia had never married, he needed an heir, so he decided to take Lian in. Perhaps that was why.

Lian’s parents did not become attached to their first child, whom they had to send away soon.

Unfortunately, his adoptive father had no affection for him either.

“Were you raised entirely by servants? What about a nanny?”

“The nannies hired were fearful too.”

Lian shrugged as he spoke, leaving me puzzled.

Were the nannies too scared to smile at the child?

I wanted to ask more but hesitated, fearing to probe into a painful past.

He was sent to the Zernia household right after being weaned, and his first outing was at thirteen to see his younger sibling, indicating his childhood was far from smooth.

Why do the growth stories of these beasts all seem to be like this?

Vitrain’s family history tied to his brother was complex, and Aiden nearly died because of his insane father.

I looked at Lian’s face with mixed feelings.

Lian met my gaze with his mysterious violet eyes and leaned toward me.

“Choose me, and help me remove the mark of the oath. Then everyone will be happy, Your Majesty.”

His beautiful face with a gentle smile captivated my eyes, and his sweet voice enchanted my ears.

I almost agreed impulsively.

What a man who can never be trusted.

Everyone happy, my foot. I can’t imagine being happy marrying this narcissistic embodiment of self-love.

“Is it necessary for me to marry you to remove the mark of the oath?”

“I told you I have two wishes left.”

I had a feeling one of them might be me, but was he really serious?

“Duke Zernia.”

“Please, call me Lian.”

The treacherous yellow snake subtly reached out with a slight hand.

His hand wrapped around my fingers like a snake, cold and smooth.

“Lian, I want my second marriage to be with someone I love.”

“I love you, Your Majesty.”

“I said I hate liars.”

I gently pushed away Lian’s hand, which had confessed so straightforwardly without batting an eye, and smiled.

While it’s admirable that he cares for his sibling, and I’ll think about how my kingdom and Lothania can coexist with the Zernia family, I’m not selling out to a snake.

Lian retracted his hand and chuckled softly, a cold and dry laugh I’d seen before.

“I thought appealing to your sympathy would work.”

“You underestimated me.”

“Because you seem to pity dogs, I thought I’d try. I didn’t expect you’d regret my adoptive father’s peaceful death.”

I’m usually not at a loss for words in conversations, but his shamelessness sometimes leaves me speechless.

The snake with an unhappy past and a cute sibling indeed had a broken personality.

He only had one exception: Melbrid.

Lian stared at my stunned face and then smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“I like the way Your Majesty looks at me like that.”

“What look?”

“You’re looking at me with pity.”

“Lian, don’t say such things to others. I worry people will think the Chancellor of Belpator is insane.”

I offered sincere advice, but Lian burst into laughter as if he’d heard a hilarious joke.

It wasn’t a joke. He already seemed completely mad.

It’s hard to understand how he got the reputation of being a clever and cold-blooded person.

After laughing heartily, Lian finally said something strange.

“Since Your Majesty sees me as a person, I can live as a person by your side.”

Well, he is still a person, even if he’s mad. That’s true.

Enough with the ‘person’ talk.

It was starting to anger me that Lian, Vitrain, and Aiden all treated themselves as real beasts.

“Lian, no matter what anyone says, you are a person. If anyone tells you otherwise, let me know. I will reprimand them.”

“Will you be angry on my behalf?”

“Yes, I will.”

It didn’t matter that he was my daughter’s first love’s older brother or the Chancellor of the Empire. I didn’t need to bring up those excuse-like titles.

After spending a whole season with the three beasts getting to know each other, a relationship had formed between us.

It was still an ambiguous relationship, not yet defined as ally or enemy, but they had become people I knew.

It was natural to care about those you knew.

It was also natural to be angry if someone treated them like beasts.

So please, stop looking so moved over a simple statement.

It’s pathetic.

* * *

While Lian’s sharp nose was melting in the reception room of the secondary palace, Lothania and Melbrid were sitting side by side by the pond in the rear garden of the imperial palace.

The twelve-year-old boy and girl were having a serious conversation, lowering their voices so no one could overhear.

“So, you think your brother is sincere about our mother?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Just look at the gift he prepared today. My brother doesn’t usually care if others are hot or not.”

Melbrid liked his brother, Lian, but he knew well what kind of person he was.

Lian could destroy and collapse the entire empire, or even the whole world, just for fun.

If the oath’s constraint didn’t hold him back, Belpator might already be ashes in his hands.

When the Emperor died, releasing the leash that controlled Lian, Melbrid feared what his brother might do.

He believed Lian wouldn’t harm Lothania, knowing how much he cherished his sibling, but he worried he might kill the Empress and burn down the entire imperial palace to destroy the oath’s mark.

His brother had recently been trying earnestly to win the Empress’s favor.

Melbrid, with a face much like his brother’s, added gloomily.

“It seems my brother has fallen in love with the Empress.”

“It’s not strange to fall for someone as lovely as my mother.”

Lothania replied sadly, lowering her crimson eyes.

If the snake had fallen in love with Sione, it was a good thing.

Given that assassins had already targeted Sione, it was reassuring to have him sincerely protecting her.

Although Lian’s personality was dubious, judging by how he treated Melbrid, he wouldn’t treat Sione badly either.

And Sione, my mother…

Lothania looked at Melbrid and sighed deeply.

If Sione realized Lian’s sincerity, she would soon love him back.

There was no doubt. Lian Zernia was as beautiful as Melbrid.

Unlike her stepmother, Lothania had a preference for handsome faces.

Thinking it was only a matter of time before they loved each other, Lothania sighed again.

“If they get married…”

Melbrid began with an uneasy expression but trailed off.

“Mother said she wouldn’t marry anyone.”

“But, Your Highness, when you’re in love, you want to get married.”

Melbrid was a twelve-year-old boy with a firm belief in marriage.

Lothania trusted her stepmother’s words but understood why she’d said she wouldn’t marry.

Once all dangers had passed, she might say she would marry Lian one day.

Lothania, who had decided in her heart to marry her favorite, or rather, her second favorite person, agreed wholeheartedly with Melbrid’s opinion.