Chapter 10
In the abyss,
Elaine was shocked by such a quick and unexpected event that she didn’t even feel water pour out from inside of her soaked dress.
“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”
“You guys…”
Servants and knights came running after being alarmed. The Emperor glared at the people who were watching the small child from a distance.
But now was not the time to punish them.
The Emperor carried the child and ordered.
“Bring the priest right now.”
The knights quickly bowed their heads and ran to call the priest to the palace.
Hic. Blech!
Elaine threw up the water she had intook.
However, when the Emperor looked at the child for a moment, he saw the cold eyes that reflected his’.
“If something wrong happens to this child…”
Fwip-
Without any notice,
The intangible energy that arose from his body made everyone hold their breath.
Chuckling nervously, the servants all glanced side to side as the Emperor laid his eyes on them individually.
“Everyone here will die.”
Everyone nodded nervously at the thought of their death sentence.
***
Elaine had a dream.
She had grown up healthy despite all kinds of harassment in the Astor Kingdom.
The days where she had gotten cold stares before crossing the threshold of death.
It was the Miracle Day, when a sudden disaster struck and she finally got to escape from her cage.
Lonely moments when she had to struggle alone to live in such a cruel world.
And finally, she could remember when she couldn’t stop the flood of tears that seemed to feel like ice water.
The only thing that came after death was darkness.
An endless stream of darkness.
But it soon turned into light and was filled with glittering happiness.
Elaine’s body had also changed. Her body, which was as heavy as trudging through deep water, had become lighter.
“This is…”
Another memory that started at the same time.
There was a girl who walked around the palace in confusion.
And there was Alice, who was kind-hearted and always listened to her. And there was Cathy, who was quiet but always watched after her.
It felt like she was going through a lot. Many of her memories flashed across her head quickly.
Finally, she remembered falling into the water after seeing a strange light, and she remembered a touch of warmth before she lost consciousness.
What is it? This feeling.
The unfamiliar and warm touch was definitely somewhere in Elaine’s memory.
A man who looked cold-hearted but was actually full of warmth.
He always put on a cold poker face, but strangely, it’s not because he hates anyone.
Oh, it’s the Emperor.
The person who could give her such a warm embrace, her father.
It was Douglas Benedict.
When she recalled his face, there was a motion stirring inside her heart.
-It’s time to go back…
It’s time…with a blinding light and a voice Elaine had heard from somewhere before, her mind was awakened.
A voice that seemed to drag her back to the surface echoed in her mind.
She tried to lift her trembling eyelids with difficulty, but she heard a gloomy voice from somewhere ringing in her ears.
“Why doesn’t she wake up?”
“Haa, there is nothing wrong with the princess’ body because the Emperor has taken the proper measures! Thank the gods.”
“Now that we’ve done everything, I hope she wakes up soon…”
“Make her open her eyes right away, If it’s impossible, I’ll separate your head from your body.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
Elaine was silent.
What’s going on here?
First of all, given the soft texture of the blanket and pillow covering her, it was certain that Alice had changed her clothes and neatly put her in bed.
But this situation right now…
Even though her eyes were closed, she felt a lot of gazes on her.
In addition, her heart felt desperate.
Then, warmth flooded back into her body.
‘This is divine magic…’
The priest seemed to be infusing her with divine power.
Elaine felt more energetic and began to flutter her eyes open.
And when the warm energy suddenly disappeared, the Emperor, who had been watching quietly from afar, released his deathly aura again.
“Is that all?”
“Ah, I’m afraid I cannot do more.”
“I don’t think so. Did you receive your divine power for nothing? I’ll just cut your neck-”
“I apologize! I’ll do better!”
She could feel a shaky touch along with a loud voice.
But the sound…
Hmmm-
Tears felt from the priest’s eyes as the emperor drew a knife.
Elaine quickly opened her eyes at that moment.
“Oh?”
“Elaine?”
The Emperor, who pushed away the priest forcefully, laid his hand on Elaine’s back.
At the warm touch of the man, Elaien stared blankly at the Emperor and blinked her eyes.
“Oh, father?”
“Yea, it’s me. Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“I’m fine.”
“Alright.”
The Emperor’s eye went briefly on the priest.
Elaine pulled the Emperor’s sleeve whose eyes were staring at him as if he was thinking “How should I deal with that thing?”
“I felt warm in my sleep. Maybe that’s why I feel so light.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
The face of the Emperor also became calmer when the child said that she felt lighter.
The divine power must have not been so useless.
The Emperor muttered and nodded his head towards the priest, who was in tears as he saw Elaine.
“Good job.”
“Ah, thank you! Thank you, Your Majesty and the Princess!”
Was he happy to be alive?
The priest didn’t even have enough time to regain his composure before getting down on his knees and bowing deeply towards Elaine.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have opened my eyes earlier.’
On the other hand, Elaine, who felt a slight stab in her body, slipped away from the Emperor’s gaze.
The Emperor looked at the small child and said,
“But why did you drown?”
“What?”
“I heard you were just standing there and suddenly reached out for the lake. Why is that?”
Elaine didn’t wish for anything dangerous to happen. Rather, it was an unavoidable circumstance.
The Emperor could tell about her tendency to wander off just by looking at her. However, he did not understand what Elaine did today.
Elaine wiggled her fingers at the Emperor.
“Did you see the beautiful shiny thing?”
“Shiny? Was it jewelry?”
“No, I just saw something… I was going to grab it but because my head was so heavy, I fell in. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor pondered over Elaine’s confession.
She tried to catch the pretty shiny object, but her head was so heavy she fell into the lake.
The reason why she was even reaching out for something and falling into the water was really cute, but the act almost killed Elaine.
What if the Emperor hadn’t come in time to jump into the water after being informed of this matter from the office?
It was so wide and deep that it was even called an artificial lake.
In fact, that was the reason why the two maids named Bailey and Cathy had jumped into the lake as well but couldn’t find Elaine right away.
“I understand, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t sinned.”
“Huh?”
Only then did Elaine look at the people bowing deeply like sinners behind the Emperor.
Alice and Bailey were standing there too, with Cathy And the old haggard man in charge of managing the lake. The knights guarding the lake were also standing there. It was a crowd of people who all had to do with the incident.
The Emperor looked at them and said.
“First, maids get death sentence. How dare you watch my daughter so closely but still let this happen? You deserve to give up such an insignificant life.”
‘Come on, wait. What?’
Elaine shook her head as she looked at Alice and the two maids bowing even more as if they had no face show.
But the Emperor was not done speaking.
“The lake manager and knights are also given the death penalty. I couldn’t believe you people were just watching my daughter fall into the water. I can’t forgive you at all.”
Excuse me. Why did you give them the death penalty?
Elaine gulped, feeling the atmosphere gradually tense up.
‘Everyone’s going to die because of me. I caused this.’
Elaine felt responsible.
No, it’s a sense of responsibility to protect the dignity of the people. How could all of them stay still when they were going to die because of Elaine?
“Oh, dad!”
“What?”
The Emperor, who continued to give orders, was being shaken by his daughter.
Elaine looked at the Emperor and said with a tearful face,
“It’s my fault. Sister gave me a warning, but I didn’t listen. I was the one who climbed over the fence.”
“No. Even if it’s your fault, it’s a big sin for the people to do nothing when you’re in danger. Come to think of it, the two maids had jumped into the water in an attempt to save you. They’re going to be given special treatment and only be permanently banished from the Empire.”
“Daddy! I’m not going to talk to you anymore.”
“…”
The Emperor, who was talking so fast, hesitated when Elaine said that.
Elaine, who didn’t think this would work, blinked in shock.
But that would only last for a while.
She took a deep breath, not missing the opportunity, and grabbed his sleeve, shaking it from side to side.
“He-hey, dad! Listen to me!”
Elaine’s most powerful card; her cuteness. There seems to be some kind of magic in her charms, because it had worked.
Like every other father in this world would.
Thanks to his daughter’s cutesy act, the Emperor nodded heavily, as his stiff face slightly softened.
“Haa, I can’t help it then. I will overlook this only once.”
“Yes, thank you!”
Elaine clung to the Emperor’s arms and grinned.
Her cute expression made the Emperor relax, and the faces of the servants who were on the brink of death brightened.
The subjects thought with a sigh of relief,
‘Phew, what a relief.’
‘I thought I was going to die without a doubt.’
‘If it weren’t for the princess…’
It was because of Elaine that they could still live another day, and that they were exempt from death.
They looked at Elaine, who was still trying to get the Emperor’s attention with a silly smile, and vowed eternal loyalty to the Princess.
And the man who was watching it all was the Emperor.
He glanced at them and added,
“But there’s no guarantee it won’t happen again.”
“What?”
“From now on, the knights are to wear armor and train at the lake every morning so that they can master swimming in the water. If you don’t like it, you can instead empty up the lake.”
“!?”
There was no such thing as disobedience to the Emperor’s orders for knights.
Like the Emperor said, they are to swim wearing armor every morning or remove all the water from the lake.
There were only two options.
However, even if you try to fill the lake, it is clear that the lake was too big to fill up anytime soon.
In addition…
“No! Don’t empty the lake! The lake is pretty…”
“Princess Elaine…”
“Sorry, knights. But isn’t it too bad for the fish in the lake to die just because I drowned?”
So please suffer for a while. Please.
If it wasn’t the knights she was talking to, Elaine’s thoughts would be so admirable that they would be moved to tears.
The choice of the knights has already been decided. The knights thought about this for a while.
“I accept the challenge, princess…”
Eventually, the knights bowed their heads with tears in their eyes.
Later, a strange scene of knights in their armor swimming in the palace lake was reported.