You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 91

There was nothing different about the capital’s Rowen.

The capital’s weather, upon their arrival after several weeks of utterly uncomfortable companionship with Iswen, was typical Southern spring. The time when the most brightly colored flowers bloomed before it got too hot. A season she had never enjoyed with peace of mind because she had always been with her family.

What difference could the familiar season make to the mansion? Rowen looked exactly the same as before. The main gate, built with boxwood and seven gems set into iron, and the elaborate climbing flowers wrapping around the mansion’s walls. Inside, her tiresome old house, which was no different from a golden cage.

No, there was something that had changed.

“Iella.”

Demian, who was standing between the building and the main gate as if he had come out to greet her, cautiously approached. He still wore an eye patch, as the wound to his eye had apparently not yet healed.

Demian looked at her, his single visible eye meekly—a look that didn’t suit him—and seemed to be gauging her reaction.

“I—I’m sorry. I’m an eyesore, right? Should I go back inside?”

“Stop it.”

“Huh, huh?”

Watching him blink stupidly made her involuntarily grit her teeth.

“You got your wish; I came back to the South, so stop pretending to walk on eggshells.”

Although her reaction seemed entirely predictable, Demian froze at her words. She walked past his halted form toward the mansion. The sound of Iswen’s cane hitting the marble stepping stones that stretched from the main gate to the mansion echoed.

* * *

Iswen seemed determined to handle the business quickly.

The day after they arrived at the mansion, he summoned her to the family head’s office. Then, he had her sign all the documents necessary for the transfer of the title.

After finishing the necessary tasks, he stamped the documents with the seal of Duke Rowen. This was to certify that all these proceedings were carried out by the will of the family head.

Iswen laid the documents out briefly to let the ink dry and looked at me. His bright yellow eyes, so much like my father’s, were persistent, as if they intended to pierce right through me.

In the past, I would have avoided his gaze and lowered my eyes. But not this time.

I was leaving the family soon anyway. Worrying about the future by being mindful of Iswen would end then.

Iswen opened his mouth.

“To succeed the title, you must receive approval from His Majesty, the Emperor.”

The Emperor.

At that word, the voice of one man reflexively flashed through my memory.

“Beatrice has ascended to the throne.”

Sioden had chosen that sentence to make me accept that a rebellion had occurred.

Thinking of him did not bring peace to my heart. It was natural, as we had failed to achieve the gentle closure that others preferred when parting ways.

However, I did not regret having hurt him by refusing all his offers.

Even if I went back to the past, I would make the same choice.

“I will soon arrange an audience.”

I asked Iswen, who spoke with his usual cold-blooded expression.

“Is there anything I need to prepare separately?”

“No.”

In that case, there was no reason to remain here any longer.

I was about to ask if I could leave when a book on Iswen’s desk caught my eye.

Tucked inside the thick hardcover book was a small picture. Judging from the partially protruding part, it seemed to be someone’s portrait.

It was none of my business whose portrait Iswen had, but my gaze was drawn to the wavy golden hair at the edge of the visible picture.

It was at that moment that Iswen pulled the paper out.

Realizing that my action must have caught his eye, I froze, and he held out the portrait to me.

“Look at it up close.”

I reflexively took the picture from him.

As I had guessed, it was someone’s portrait. Bright blonde hair like the autumn sun and light green eyes. Features that were notably similar to mine, but the woman in the portrait was smiling much more brightly.

It was obvious who the model for this picture was.

Iswen, too, did not hide the fact that one glance was all it took to know.

“It is of the former Duchess.”

The former Duke Rowen—that is, our father—had married twice, but I immediately knew who Iswen was referring to.

My mother.

There was writing at the bottom of the picture. The sentence began in a language I didn’t recognize, and the only part I could make out was the small, scrawled writing in the language of Cowlem that followed: -From your Lerisa.

Lerisa is not my mother’s name. That thought immediately sprang to mind. Therefore, my mother’s name must be the word before this…

Before the thought could be completed, Iswen spoke.

“I will give it to you if you want it.”

At that moment, I felt as if I was released from the spell I was under while staring at the portrait.

Before giving the woman in the picture another look, I handed the portrait back to Iswen.

“It’s fine.”

Iswen narrowed his brow.

“She is your mother.”

“So?”

The space between the man’s eyebrows constricted even further, as if I had uttered some unbelievable filial impiety.

“She’s dead.”

My mother passed away when I was very young. Unlike Iswen or Demian, I was still too young to remember my mother’s face.

It’s impossible to cherish the memory of someone whose face you don’t even know.

“When I was little, you didn’t even allow me to mention her.”

It’s even more impossible when you don’t know a single story about that person.

It wasn’t just Father. Both Iswen and Demian prevented me from saying anything about my mother.

So, what kind of reaction did he expect from me?

I stood up, meeting the gaze of Iswen, who still looked displeased.

“If there’s nothing else you need, I’ll take my leave now.”

* * *

Iswen’s word that he would soon arrange an audience wasn’t a lie.

Before long, I was standing below the dais of the throne, accompanied by Iswen.

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

I bowed according to the etiquette. It was the Southern etiquette, which I hadn’t used in a long time, but thanks to the harsh training I’d received as a child, I made no mistakes.

The emperor on the dais was silent for a moment before calling me.

“Lady Rowen.”

“…”

“No, are you still the Duchess of Raslet?”

She rose from the throne. I heard the sound of her shoe heels clicking. The sound of her approaching steps made my spine stiffen involuntarily.

Raise your head. The Emperor commanded. As I lifted my head in response, a pair of light blue eyes, the same color as Aiden’s, looked down at me.

The emperor stared intently at me and asked.

“Or, should I perhaps call you Countess Resebel in advance?”

Resebel was the name of the title Iswen had promised to give me. It was often the case that the surname and the title name differed if the family head was not of the highest nobility.

In such cases, people were generally referred to by the title name rather than the surname.

Just as the Emperor was doing now.

Iswen, who was standing beside me, made a sound.

“Your Majesty.”

The Emperor, whose light blue eyes quickly rolled over and scrutinized me, gestured to him.

“You, Duke, go and handle the paperwork for the new Countess with my Chancellor.”

Immediately after she spoke, a man who had been waiting on one side of the room approached Iswen. After forcing Iswen to follow the man, the Emperor spoke to me.

“I wish to have a little chat. Will you spare me some time?”

* * *

Since I couldn’t refuse the Emperor’s suggestion, I followed her and walked through the palace corridor.

The Emperor walked a step ahead of me and decided.

“Let’s go to the garden. The flowers in the palace are much lovelier than any of the people who have passed through the court.”

She rounded a corner and entered a certain corridor. Although the carpet and surrounding decorations had changed a little, I recognized the corridor at first sight.

‘Ella?’

It was where I had encountered Sioden on my way to the audience chamber, summoned by the former emperor’s command.

We had entered the audience chamber before we could even properly take notice of each other’s formal attire. And there, the former Emperor, who must now be buried in the ground, had paired Sioden and me.

‘From up here, the two of you look very well matched.’

What was Sioden’s expression like when he heard those words? What was my expression when I looked at him?

If someone had seen our faces then, would they have realized how rough the next three years would be?

My recollection of the past, which now felt utterly fleeting, ended with the intervention of Beatrice.

The Emperor, who had already passed the corridor and stepped down onto the flagstones leading to the garden, turned back to look at me.

“We almost became family.”

That was true, as I was originally scheduled to marry Aiden, according to my father’s original plan.

“Yes.”

“I’m glad that didn’t happen. Aren’t you?”

Was I? From one perspective, perhaps. Aiden had lost his life in the rebellion.

The emperor did not wait for my reply and walked briskly through the garden. Upon reaching a flower bed full of pale blue flowers, she commanded the attendant following us.

“Bring me the shears.”

Taking the shears, the emperor began to pick the flowers herself. However, the blade of the shears was aimed not at the stem but at the receptacle right below the flower. The heads of the light blue flowers were snipped off, one by one.

The emperor picked a handful of flowers and handed them to the attendant.

“Brew a tea.”

So, those flowers were likely the kind used for brewing tea.

The Emperor walked forward again. Soon, we reached the greenhouse of the garden. The walls were made of glass, and the ceiling was made of a mixture of glass and marble to provide adequate shade.

As soon as the emperor entered the greenhouse, she said.

“Sit down.”

Following the Emperor’s invitation, I sat down, and the attendant brought the tea. It was a beverage with a transparent, indigo hue.

I didn’t want to put something I’d never seen before into my mouth, but I couldn’t refuse the tea offered by the Emperor.

I forced a sip into my mouth, and a pungent aroma enveloped my tongue. The emperor waited until I swallowed the tea and then asked.

“Lady Rowen, what was your relationship with your father?”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

My father and I were, of course, on worse terms than strangers.

The Emperor tilted her head slightly. As I tried to avoid her gaze—which was similar to Aiden’s but strangely felt very different—I realized that the tea placed in front of the Emperor was colorless.

Was I the only one made to drink this strange tea?

It was an action whose intention was utterly incomprehensible.

Even seeing me frozen in shock, the Emperor continued to speak.

“When you were young, did the former Duke Rowen ever use you?”

“…”

“For example, to revive something that is now all but forgotten.”

It was a metaphorical expression. Whatever she was asking, it was difficult for me to answer. I didn’t know how a single word from me might be interpreted.

“My two brothers would remember my father better.”

“Oh, Lady. you know too what the former Duke Rowen was so obsessed with.”

Magic.

I realized instantly what the Emperor was referring to.

My father was obsessed with magic because he wanted to cure his incurable heart disease. The biggest reason he wanted me to marry Aiden was because there was magic in the Imperial Palace.

“A man who already had two children to set up as heirs took a new wife. And he wasn’t even a man known for chasing women and wine.”

That statement had only one implication.

I swallowed hard and took my hand away from the teacup. My eyes fell on the blue tea that still almost filled the cup. The emperor’s face was reflected on the surface. Her gaze, too, was fixed on her teacup, as if she knew I would look down at the liquid.

Our eyes met on the small surface of the tea.

“Are you saying the former Duke Rowen considered other conditions regarding my mother?”

The Emperor grinned. It was a smile slightly distorted by the ripples in the tea.

“Yet, you understand so well.”

Does she truly know nothing? The emperor muttered softly and pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket.

She smoothly presented the paper to me.

“Is this a script you can read?”

The writing on it was a script I didn’t know, but it was also one I had seen once recently.

-From your Lerisa.

The word written before it was also in that script.

However, I shouldn’t reveal everything to the Emperor. Even if I hadn’t been trained in politics, I knew I had to be careful about what I said in front of someone in power.

I offered a reply that contained an appropriate amount of truth.

“No.”

It was then that the voice of an attendant was heard from outside.

“Your Majesty, Duke Rowen has sent word that he wishes to depart with his party.”

“Oh, it seems my Chancellor failed to detain your brother.”

The emperor clicked her tongue lightly and put the paper back into her pocket.

“Just one more question before you leave.”

“Please ask.”

The Emperor then stared intently at me.

The woman was silent for a moment before her mouth curved into a smile.

“What was your mother’s name?”

“…”

“No, do you even remember your mother’s name?”