Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Before you read,

Empress – refers to the former/dead Empress, Shuelina’s biological mom

Your Grace – how you refer to the Grand Duke

—

“Looking at it now, isn’t that the dress?”

“Her Majesty the Empress’….”

“How come they look alike?”

The nobles looked at me with trembling eyes and murmured – well, at my dress, to be more precise.

‘That dress?’

Lucas’ expression, the Emperor’s words, and the people’s reactions… this dress apparently has a secret.

“Your Grace, what’s with that dress? Wasn’t that Her Majesty’s dress?”

“It’s an insult to the Imperial Family for a Grand Princess to wear the clothes of the Imperial Family…!”

Some people began to question the Grand Duke about the details just like Bella did earlier. But, because they were afraid of him, their words gradually slowed down and became thin like a mouse’s.

Everyone seemed to think that this dress was prepared outside of the palace. Hmm, I feel like I am being slandered a lot today.

‘What kind of clothes are these clothes…’

Due to the circumstances, the Empress … I think these clothes were a lot like what Shuelina’s mother wore. I saw Wyndert and Lucas as I looked around.

Wyndert didn’t have any idea that this dress was a gift from the Emperor and he probably didn’t understand the topic of talk now, so only Lucas was left. I gently tugged on his sleeve.

“Are you okay, Shuelina?”

“I don’t understand anything they were saying just now.”

“Oh, that’s… because the clothes you were wearing now resemble the dress mother was wearing in her portrait.”

Lucas told me that there was a large portrait in the main building – a portrait depicting the dress the Empress wore on New Year’s Eve in her first year as the Empress.

So in the end, the Emperor gave me a dress that was similarly designed to what the Empress wore.

‘Why? Is it because you want to take me?’

People would be really confused if my identity was to be revealed like this as I looked very similar to the Emperor…! If I was to reveal that I am a real daughter of the Emperor, it might become a great obstacle to the growing Grand Duke’s family.

I felt that people’s stares had become very burdensome while I was thinking like that.

“……So, are you all finished talking?” The Grand Duke said in a very heavy tone, who was quietly watching what was happening around him.

The adults staggered while the children were already sitting down and it looked like they were about to cry.

‘Dad, where’s your gentle attitude!’

I went to the children’s party with a bright smile so people would get rid of their wariness towards the Grand Duke’s family, but all of that was wiped away swiftly in vain. I chuckled slightly as I grabbed the Grand Duke’s sleeve.

“Excuse me, but this was the dress that the Imperial Princess had prepared for me. My clothes got dirty because of an accident earlier.”

I didn’t want to be in the spotlight but I couldn’t stand it as I saw the Grand Duke getting more and more uncomfortable. So I protested in a cautious tone that I only received it as a New Year’s gift.

The people who were questioning the Grand Duke immediately closed their mouths with a face that said they had a lot to say. Bella also stood close to me and opened her mouth to help me.

“I fell… and Miss Shuelina’s skirt was dirtied. We both changed our clothes.”

The ice-cold atmosphere cooled down after Bella’s words fell. The adults averted their gaze instead of apologizing to me. Apparently, it was the nobles who made it an issue.

Well, fine. Grown up adults are harassing children! I think I have to show you your punishment as a child.

“Dad… do I have to take off these clothes? I just wore what they gave me… Why is everyone so upset? What did I do wrong?” I looked up at the Grand Duke with moist eyes deliberately squeezing out tears. His eyebrows twitched more.

It looks like they shuddered when they realized that I was still a six-year-old child. The Grand Duke looked around with stern eyes. He seemed to be memorizing all the people who had spoken in this place.

“It wasn’t enough that adults came to the children’s party, and now you’re pressuring a child.”

“Ummm….”

Lucas also took a step forward as if he was covering me from them, while Wyndert sighed and looked around. Both of them seemed to be alert of my thoughts.

The nobles’ faces paled when the Grand Duke, Grand Prince, and even the Crown Prince all stepped up to protect me. I think they were attacking the Grand Duke under the pretext that they were doing their work, but they didn’t even think about the situation before and after this. Anyway, the Grand Duke will take care of this, so I smiled inside of my mind out of ease.

“Come here, both of you.”

The emperor reached out to me and Bella.

After suddenly being summoned by the Emperor, Bella seemed to be surprised. I gently grabbed her hand and led her towards the Emperor.

“Are you really not hurt?”

“Y-yes! That’s right!”

“Great.”

The Emperor nodded after he asked Bella. This time, he looked at me intently.

I have no idea why you showed up here… don’t tell me, you came here to see me wearing this dress, right? I stopped my sudden thoughts and looked up at him.

“You are very pretty.” The Emperor left me a short comment.

While we were staring at each other for a moment, a child next to us exclaimed, ‘They look alike!’ I reflexively turned my head. I couldn’t see who said it but I could see how the people’s faces trembled around us at the exclamation.

“Your Majesty, we will take our leave now if nothing is wrong. My daughter looks very tired.”

The Grand Duke soon stopped in front of me and spoke to the Emperor. His large body shielded me like a curtain that separated me and the Emperor. I could sense that he was in a very bad mood just by looking at his back; moreover, I could feel his ferocious energy leaking out.

‘Ah…!’

It was then that I realized the Emperor’s thoughts. The Emperor and I were very similar. However, it was common sense that there was a slim chance that his direct bloodline would grow up in an orphanage and become the adopted daughter of the Grand Duke. So, you wouldn’t even notice it if you skipped that possibility.

Moreover, it may be difficult to distinguish me from a crowd since I was still young, so he showed them on purpose. He approached me at close range, so that anyone would remember that ‘the Emperor and the Grand Princess look alike’.

‘He also let me wear this dress to connect me with the Empress.’

Like Lucas, the Emperor had no intention of handing me over to the Grand Duke quietly.

You didn’t even know that I existed that long before this and you didn’t even come to rescue me! I uneasily clung to the Grand Duke’s leg, not knowing whether I should cry or laugh.

“I can give you a room in the Imperial Palace again if you are very tired.”

“No need, our mansion is right in front. Then, we will take our leave.”

The Grand Duke cut off the Emperor’s offer and rejected it as he lifted me up. Holding Wyndert’s hand next to him, he quickly walked out of the party hall.

[‘You are the star I’ve always been waiting for.’]

I remembered the message card the Emperor left for me the moment our eyes met.

My existence will surely become a hot topic of discussion in high society right now, and I don’t know how it would provoke the Empress and Azuela, but… those words were the only thing that came to my mind when I saw the look in the Emperor’s eyes.

* * *

As we arrived at the mansion and made our way to my room, the Grand Duke didn’t say a word. He just stared at me with cold eyes as if thinking about something.

“Dad?” I lightly called him.

It seems that he was very angry ever since we were in the Imperial Palace, but he didn’t say anything at all and it was making me sad. But I knew he wasn’t mad at me.

“…Go to sleep for now and let’s talk tomorrow.” The Grand Duke said as he lightly stroked my hair.

I grabbed his hand and clasped it tight, pouting my lips, “Why are you angry? It was my mistake… for wearing this dress. I thought it would be better than wearing my cream-stained dress….”

“Shushu, I’m not mad at you.”

“And, if not?”

“The Emperor is putting you in danger. Though he hasn’t decided yet to make you an Imperial Princess, he will try to do that sooner or later. That would be the most dangerous.”

“That….”

“Since he recklessly made everything so obvious like this… what if the Empress sends an assassin in the near future? What if she is planning to do something right at this moment?”

So in the end, you were angry because you were worried about me?

I bit my lip. The emperor probably doesn’t realize that I’m in danger, right?

Many risk factors existed since I came to the Imperial Capital, and it was true that their actions increased them a little more today – since the Queen doesn’t want me to be recognized as an Imperial Princess. She may try to get rid of me, kidnap me, or cause other similar incidents.

“Shushu, if you can, don’t go out for the time being, and if you have to go out, make sure you bring Wyndert or Sir Hilloran with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

I nodded trying to relieve the Grand Duke’s anxiety.

He handed me over to Nina and Franc who were standing behind me and fidgeting, after making a promise to him. At first, they were excited to ask me how the party went, but they froze when an unusual conversation between me and the Grand Duke took place. Besides, I was wearing a completely different dress than when I left the mansion, so they must’ve guessed that an accident happened.

“Then… you must be tired, so you better wash up and go to bed early.”

Hearing the Grand Duke’s words, I was instantly exhausted. I hugged him tightly and shook my head. He then gave me a kiss on my forehead saying goodnight.

“Good night, Dad.”

How did this happen today….

I entered the dressing room as Nina led me inside after I looked at the Grand Duke’s back for a moment.

* * *

The Emperor was staring intently at the five-colored flickering mirror.

Spirit mirror – it was a sacred object inhabited by a spirit that looked down upon the Abunicia Empire.

“We’re going to verify her spirit power her, right?” Lucas walked up to him and asked.

The emperor placed his hand on the young son’s shoulder and nodded.

Shuelina is a child and cannot attend any official social events. Therefore, she would only stay at the Grand Duke’s capital mansion for a while so the only chance for her to go in front of the Spirit Mirror would be at the Spirit Festival on the last day of the New Year, after yesterday’s children’s party.

The Spirit Festival is an event to pray for good luck, so even children can attend.

‘I must seize this opportunity.’

He also didn’t know what kind of spirit power the child was using either. So in order to verify it and inform the whole world that she was a member of the Imperial Family, it was best to make use of the Spirit Mirror where spirit power multiplies.

The power outside the body was originally the only force visible, but the power from the head would also be clearly visible in front of the Spirit Mirror due to the multiplication of the power. Everyone will be able to clearly see the spirit power coming out of Shuelina’s head.

‘She must’ve been very surprised by today’s events.’

The Emperor remembered the surprised expression of his daughter with a slightly depressed face. He originally thought that he couldn’t even give his child clothes to wear when she was born, so he gave her clothes now as a gift – he asked for them to design a dress while thinking of his wife.

Seeing that she rejected the candy, he had half-given up as she said she was unable to accept it. But when he was informed that there was an accident, he frantically called for the Grand Chamberlain to deliver the dress to her.

‘I couldn’t stop my urge of wanting to see her so I somehow went there under the pretext of asking about the accident….’

Either way, he had no regrets preparing for her Imperial Princess certification. He placed one of his strongest knights around the child. He deliberately showed himself in order to prevent a conspiracy against the child.

The Empress wouldn’t be able to make a move right away knowing that she is under the Emperor’s protection. It was indeed enough to break down all the dangers that the child may encounter.

As he was thinking about it, he heard the voice of someone deliberately making his presence known.

“Your Majesty.”

The emperor turned to face the expressionless face and looked at the secret knights. It was his secret knights who investigated special things that could not be entrusted to the Imperial Knights Order or dealt with through normal private matters.

“I put a tail on the clothing store.”

It was the news the emperor had been hoping for.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────