Chapter 16
“I don’t think it’s mine. You just told me to say that, Cecilia.”
“No! You’re supposed to keep insisting! Once I give it, it’s over! ‘It’s mine! Give it back!’ You’re supposed to hold your hand out like that!”
“……”
Lionel looked at me with an expression that clearly said he had no idea what this was about, then slowly extended his hand.
“It’s mine. Please return it.”
“From now on, when something like this happens, are you going to say it like that again?”
“……Am I supposed to?”
“You are!”
“Why?”
“Because I get frustrated!”
I felt like if we exchanged even one more of these back-and-forth questions, I might actually breathe fire out of my mouth.
Whether he understood my suffering or not, Lionel looked down at the almond cookie that had returned to his palm and nodded.
“I will try.”
“Yes. Let’s start with trying for now……”
I swallowed a sigh that was rising in my chest and watched him eat the cookie. Then I noticed his teacup was empty and picked up the teapot.
“Ah, you must be thirsty eating all those cookies. But the teapot is in my hands. What should we do?”
“I’m fine. I’m not thirsty.”
“No, that’s not the point! Ask for it!”
“I’m not thirsty, so there’s no need……”
“Ask for it!”
“Please give it to me.”
Ha. Seriously.
I swear on my name.
This clueless, frustrating fool—I will somehow turn him into a proper human being!
* * *
And so, after stubbornly making Lionel say “please” about ten times out of sheer determination, I left the Second Prince’s palace.
As the cold wind brushed against my face and cooled my heated head, I suddenly came to my senses.
‘Wait. What exactly did I just teach the future obsessive male lead?’
Did I just dig my own grave?
Had I turned someone who would’ve grown up as a harmless pushover into an obsessive male lead myself?
“Miss? Is something the matter?”
“Huh? Ah—no, nothing……”
No! That can’t be it!
I was just doing a good deed. I only taught someone who couldn’t even claim what was his to say “please.”
If just that one word changes someone’s personality, then it only means their true nature was hidden all along!
“Yuni, what you’ve heard about him has suddenly become extremely important. Tell me everything.”
I quickly got into the carriage with Yunis.
Yunis signaled the coachman to depart by tapping the carriage wall, and once the carriage began to move slowly, she started reporting what she had heard from the aides.
“First, the overall evaluation…… they say he is a very easy superior to work under.”
“An easy superior?”
Impossible. Wasn’t that kind of person like a mythical unicorn? Did someone like that really exist?
“In what sense is he easy to work with?”
“He is rational, efficient, rejects things with valid reasoning if something is lacking, and even when excessive workloads come in suddenly, he doesn’t push the work onto subordinates—instead, he works overtime himself.”
Wow. That actually does sound easy to work with.
“What about as a person? Is he secretly a terrible personality or something?”
“There are no such reports…… but the common opinion is that he is rather indifferent.”
“Indifferent?”
“Yes. He not only avoids private meetings but also does not engage in personal conversation during work.”
“Hmm…… but isn’t that just normal professionalism rather than a flaw?”
Yunis nodded slightly, as if she agreed.
“Perhaps that was the most they could say in front of your lady’s maid.”
“That’s true.”
They were capable aides working under the future crown prince. Of course they knew what should and shouldn’t be said.
‘So if I want to dig deeper into his private side, I might have to use that method after all?’
Thud.
“Hm?”
“The carriage suddenly stopped……”
“I’ll go check what’s going on.”
While Yunis opened the small window to ask the coachman what had happened, I slightly lifted the curtain and looked outside.
‘We haven’t left the palace yet. What’s going on?’
As I wondered who could possibly stop a Rohaim carriage, one extremely unpleasant face immediately came to mind.
‘Come to think of it, things have been quiet lately?’
Did my fountain pen warning actually work? Honestly, I thought it would just make him more annoyed and cause more trouble.
“Miss. It appears a temple carriage is passing through the palace gate right now.”
“A temple?”
Ah. Then we have to yield.
Normally, lower-ranking nobles would give way to higher-ranking ones, but temple carriages were an exception.
In this empire, the next emperor was chosen through divine revelation. In a sense, religious authority stood above imperial authority.
Of course, that didn’t mean the temple interfered in politics all the time.
What the temple wanted was only one thing: for the divine oracle to be fulfilled.
So the temple supported the imperial family in every way possible so that they could live according to the fate laid out by the gods……
“Come to think of it, I have something I’m curious about.”
“Yes, miss?”
“That ‘oracle of fate’—it’s not only given to the imperial family, right? I heard it can occasionally be given to other people too.”
It was a casual question that came to mind while watching the temple carriage pass by.
But Yunis, who had obediently nodded even when I asked her to investigate the Second Prince, suddenly stiffened and asked back.
“May I ask why you’re suddenly asking that?”
“Huh? ……No, it just came to mind. Why? Is it something I shouldn’t ask?”
“No, it’s not that……”
Yunis looked like she wanted to ask something. Her lips moved hesitantly as she gauged my expression, then she finally answered.
“Generally…… I’ve heard that in cases where someone possesses a noble fate that marks a turning point in history, the gods occasionally reveal the direction of the path they will walk.”
“A great destiny? Like what?”
“Becoming a victorious general who leads a war to success, or a pharmacist who develops medicine to cure an epidemic……”
Yunis paused as if recalling something, then slowly met my eyes.
“Or becoming an empress.”
“……Huh? Empress?”
That didn’t really seem comparable to a general who wins wars or a pharmacist who cures diseases.
“I only heard it as a rumor myself, so I’m not sure. It might be wrong.”
“It must be wrong.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Yunis smiled slightly in relief, and I nodded.
No matter how I thought about it, becoming an empress didn’t seem like something worthy of a divine oracle.
“But you know, they say the oracle of fate appears as a light when a child is born, and then a bishop or archbishop records it onto a stone tablet.”
“Yes. That’s why the High Priest always attends imperial births.”
“But what about ordinary people? Sometimes there’s no bishop present at childbirth, right? What happens if an oracle appears then? Does the light just disappear?”
“I’ve heard it remains until a high-ranking priest arrives to inscribe it onto a tablet.”
“So if someone hides that tablet properly, no one would ever know they received an oracle?”
“Probably…… yes.”
“Hm, I see.”
Anyway, oracle or not, there was something more important right now.
And that was confirming whether this world was truly the same one from the novel—and whether Lionel really was the male lead who would one day fall into darkness and become a tyrant.
To do that……
‘Yeah. I’ll have to use that method after all.’
* * *
“Wow, what a beautiful carriage.”
With both hands resting on her lap, fingers wrapped around a long rosary, Nicole had her eyes gently closed—until a bright, innocent voice from across her made her lift her head.
Realizing she had disturbed her, the young girl quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
“I’m sorry, Bishop Nicole. I didn’t mean to interrupt your prayer……”
“It’s alright, Eve. I had just finished praying.”
In truth, she hadn’t been praying at all. She had simply been calming her nerves while imagining what would happen today.
But in the end, she had failed to calm her heart.
Still, since they had almost arrived, Nicole offered a gentle smile to comfort Eve, who looked dejected.
Reassured, Eve brightened up again and started chatting.
“The building is beautiful too…… Bishop Nicole, the First Prince we’re about to meet will probably be very impressive too, right?”
“Yes, I’m sure he will be.”
“I’m so excited, hehe.”
As she spoke with Eve, Nicole felt her tension slowly ease.
Thanks to that, she was able to face the First Prince with a calmer expression.
“May the blessings of the divine be with you. It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the First Prince. I am Nicole, humbly serving as a bishop.”
“G-good day! I’m Eve, Bishop Nicole’s attendant and apprentice priest!”
“I’ve been curious.”
“Pardon?”
But Cayenne did not respond to their greetings.
Instead, he spoke in a cold voice.