“……Your Majesty?”
When the Emperor heard it, he hurriedly let go of Dalia’s hand, as if he had come to his senses.
But he still looked at his palms with a surprised look. Dalia glanced at Hikan. Even he seemed a little flustered.
“……No, it can’t be.”
The Emperor muttered to himself and regained his composure. He smiled again at Dalia.“Sorry, Miss Dalia. I guess I was mistaken for a while.”
“It’s, it’s okay.”
She doesn’t know the reason, but Dalia shook her head.
The Emperor looked at Dalia, touching his chin with a strange expression.
“By the way, a cute girl like Miss Dalia still doesn’t have a fiance yet. What about my son?”
Dalia laughed because she thought it was a joke.
“Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty.”“It’s not a joke. I’m being serious.”
But the Emperor answered in a serious tone unexpectedly. Dalia’s complexion, which met his eyes head-on, gradually grew pale.
‘Uh, uh, eehh?’
Dalia was thrown into confusion.
Why all of a sudden? Why is the conversation jumping this way all of a sudden?’
“One of my sons is about the same age as Miss Dalia……yes, there’s Leonard and Cedric. Of course you know Leonard, the Crown Prince, right? He’s a little silly, but he’s a good kid. Cedric is my second son. He’s not a bad kid, even though he’s a wanderer.”
Of course her mind thinks it’s a joke, but the Emperor’s expression was so serious that it could not be dismissed as a joke.
‘Wha-wha-what? Are you being serious? Am I really going to get engaged like this? Can you do this easily?’
No matter how young the nobles in this world get engaged, but by her standards, this is ridiculous.
Dalia felt like her head was spinning. Suddenly, she was conscious of Hikan standing behind her.
‘If it’s real, there’s no reason for my brother to refuse.’
It’s a great opportunity to marry off the useless little sister to the prince and get rid of her.
But……if she gets engaged to the prince, her face will appear in the newspaper. Then the plan to run away and live with a new identity will be impossible.
It seemed that her life plans are becoming more complicated.
“Well, it-it’s too much for me…”
“Dalia.”
Hikan stops her from behind with a firm voice.
‘Ah, it’s hopeless now.’
Now, the only future left is when my head flies with my brother.
Dalia shut her eyes tightly.
“She will not have the engagement, Your Majesty.”
Hikan’s calm voice rang out in the audience room.
‘…..Huh?’
Dalia slightly opened one eye that had closed tightly to the unexpected situation.
“She said she doesn’t want to be engaged.”
“……Really?”
“Yes, absolutely not.”
Hikan’s bad way of speaking has never been more welcome than today.
Dalia looked back with tears in her eyes. But Hikan didn’t even look at her sparkling eyes.
“Why?”
“Well, personally, I don’t think I want that either.”
The Emperor’s gaze went to Dalia. She couldn’t bear to nod, but her eyes gave her assent.
Then the Emperor sighed sadly.
“Hmm, that’s too bad.”
“……”
“I wanted to see Miss Dalia become my daughter-in-law.”
‘So it was a joke after all.’
Why are you making a joke with such a serious expression?
Only Dalia felt bitter inside. Hikan greeted the Emperor when the conversation was roughly settled.
“……Then we’ll be going.”
“Okay.”
The Emperor gave a nod indifferently.
Dalia, who had overcome one crisis, also gave her greeting.
“Your Majesty, thank you for your generous offer and your considerate thoughts.”
Strange as it was, the Emperor looked at Dalia for a long time as if he’s in regret.
Then he smiled gently.
“Yes, Miss Dalia. See you next time. Hikan, you too.”
That’s how the royal audience ended.
Dalia and Hikan left, closing the door of the audience room.
The Emperor looked back at his hand after Dalia left.
‘As expected, am I mistaken?’
Everyone envies the Transcendents. Because of their superior intelligence and special abilities.
However, the life of a transcendent is like swimming forever in endless suffering.
Is it because the power of non-human is being implanted in humans which is different in nature?
Every time you use power, reason becomes blurred, and only the desire to destroy all the things that are inconvenient to your eyes becomes stronger.
He has endured well so far.
He played the role of a kind and friendly Emperor.
Because of the humans that he loves, because he didn’t want to see this world destroyed.
He will have to endure endless suffering forever in exchange for love.
But the moment he held Dalia’s hand, he felt his head clear for the first time. It felt like he went back to the time before the “Blooming”, when he knew nothing.
From the child’s hand to the head, it felt slowly but surely like his soul is being purified.
But, as everyone knows, it was impossible to return a soul that was once tainted with mana.
‘I stayed up all night yesterday and I guess I was confused.’
For now the Emperor just dismissed it over. He glanced at the place where the two siblings had disappeared.
‘By the way, I’m a little worried about those two.’
Sensitive to human emotions, the Emperor quickly noticed the conflict within Hikan.
No matter how much he pretended to be an adult, he was old enough to hurt something precious just because he didn’t want to admit his feelings.
‘He’ll make a big mistake and regret it.’
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
* * *
Dalia opened the audience room door and came out. Hikan was walking ahead without waiting for her. But now she was grateful.
‘Heuk heuk, I’m alive.’
I really thought my life would end by marrying someone I didn’t know.
I was glad it was a joke, and I was glad Hikan defended me there. Dalia caught up with him and greeted him.
“Thank you, brother.”
“……”
“I really didn’t want to get engaged.”
“His Majesty is always saying that to anyone. If you react seriously to it, you’ll be ridiculed for life. Usually, very stupid people fall for it.”
“……”
‘You won’t hear nice words from his mouth until the end.’
Dalia pouted her lips out of his sight and followed behind him.
“But it was surprising that you said you didn’t want to. Doesn’t everyone usually covet the position?”
Hikan said indifferently.
Dalia walked faster to catch up with him, choosing what to say in her head.
“That’s……I……if possible……because I want to stay with brother longer……”
“……”
Hikan glanced at her. The expressionless face, as usual, was hard to know what was on his mind.
The answer came back after a while.
“Don’t be mistaken. I wasn’t trying to help you, I just didn’t want Pesteros to be treated like a fool.”
Dalia hangs her shoulders like a dead puppy.
“I-I see. I’m looking forward to nothing…”
Was it wrong to force myself to speed up? At that moment Dalia’s shoes broke.
“Ah.”
With a little scream, her body tilted sideways, and fell right on the floor on her bottom.
‘Why are you doing such stupid things today?’
Dalia sighed heavily and raised her head. Hikan, whom she thought would go right away, stopped in front of her.
“……”
“I’m sorry.”
Hikan breathed a short sigh.
“Just what the heck are you doing?”
“……I, I can get up on my own!”
In vain, Dalia stretched her arms forward.
But then, Hikan grabbed her waist without a word and lifted her up and put her on his shoulder.
Dalia was never so small as to be lifted at once like this. He was only sixteen years old, but Hikan was really strong.
Dalia flapped her legs in surprise at the feeling of floating.
“Stay still.”
Hikan grabbed Dalia’s leg with the hem of her dress.
Dalia held on tightly to Hikan’s neck so that she wouldn’t fall. Then Hikan’s body stiffened for a while and loosened again.
Dalia felt a little strange.
She recalled Hikan’s handsome blue eyes carrying her. Although he is a villain with a terrible and mean personality, he helped Dalia today.
‘What if I get attached to you?’
He won’t hold her like this in ten years. If the plan worked then, she’d already be somewhere else.
If it is in 10 years Hikan will be 26 years old?
Dalia, who was thinking of Hikan’s figure, said casually.
“I think my brother will grow a lot.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
She can’t say that she knows the future, so she just speaks vaguely.
“I just want to say it once.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
Hikan started walking again.
Dalia was excited for no reason. It was the first time that the atmosphere between the two was so good.
‘It would be nice if we could always be this close.’
With a little wishful thinking in mind, Dalia also started cosplaying her cute and dainty little sister antique like a habit.
“It’s really nice to have my brother hugging me.”
She kept on talking.
“If I continue to like my brother like this, you’ll love me someday, right?”
Then, inadvertently, I crossed the line. The line I didn’t even know was there.
Hikan’s steps came to a standstill.
