Choosing the Baby’s Father From the Following – Chapter 38

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟖
The Tower Master’s necklace was engraved with the oath, stating that it was pledged with life. If the oath was broken, the necklace would slowly absorb the mage’s life force.

The Emperor chuckled while looking at the necklace and handed Ren a booklet.

“The words written in this booklet are a secret of the Imperial Family. Anyway, since it’s written in ancient language, I can’t read it.”

The Tower Master’s expression crumpled strangely.

“Then, does that mean Your Majesty doesn’t know the exact contents either?”

The Emperor shook his head.

“No, Moghald read it to me a long time ago. He was……”

His voice continued with a bitter tone.

“He was very surprised by the use of ‘Belich’. That might have been part of the reason why he suddenly retired.”

Ren, suddenly realizing the truth, stared blankly at the booklet in his hand.

Since his teacher also had the Tower Master’s necklace, he wouldn’t have been able to reveal the secret of the booklet to him either.

After thinking for a moment, Ren opened his mouth.

“If you’re worried about leakage, I’ll read it here and leave.”

“Can you decipher it overnight?”

“……I’ll try.”

The Emperor nodded.

“Indeed. I trust the Magic Tower, but not everyone in the Imperial Palace does. So, may I formally place the Imperial Guard, even if just for formality’s sake?”

Ren asked, as if puzzled.

“……What do you think the Imperial Guard can do to me?”

The Emperor replied in a tired tone.

“Well, they’ll just look around. If you don’t like it, just think of them as statues.”

Then, he got up with his tired body and left the room.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

―Knock, knock.

I slightly furrowed my brows at the sound of knocking early in the morning.

Phoebe seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.

“His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have already arrived.”

If it was about me needing rest, it seemed like the palace physician had said enough yesterday.

Phoebe sighed and got up to open the door.

Immediately, a surprised voice was heard.

“Ren-nim?”

What?

Well, it was a time and a way that one couldn’t expect Ren to appear.

‘Right now is definitely his sleeping time, the door that just opened is my room’s, and I didn’t hear any explosions.’

But Ren strode in, saw me, and frowned.

“You collapsed? And you didn’t contact me?”

Ah, right, I collapsed yesterday……

‘Pretend.’

I chuckled and reached out to Ren.

“Ren……”

“Do you think you can get away with acting cute? What do you think I am?”

He scolded me, but he grabbed my hand without hesitation.

The hand of the man who must have been worried about me was warm, and his gaze was gentle.

I purposely teased him.

“The Imperial Tower Master…… ?”

“The Imperial Tower Master……?”

As I giggled, watching him get annoyed, Ren sighed deeply and sat down by the bed.

Then, he glared at me and threatened me.

“If you keep doing this, I won’t go back to the Magic Tower. I won’t look into anything you want to know.”

“……I think you will.”

Ren clicked his tongue at my timid rebuttal.

“I won’t, you hear me?”

Only then did I fiddle with Ren’s hand and whisper.

“I just pretended to collapse. Everyone needs to know I’m sick so I can go recuperate.”

“What?”

Ren asked back, dumbfounded, then his face crumpled.

His bright purple eyes flashed fiercely.

“Does Erni know that?”

“Huh?”

Ernst…… wouldn’t he know?

With my eyes wide open, I tilted my head, and Ren suddenly shook off my hand.

“Oh, Erni, that bastard……”

It seemed like Ernst had played a prank.

I hurriedly grabbed Ren’s hand back and said,

“Come on. Erni bribed the palace physician for me.”

“He did that for his own benefit. You said you were planning to go to Flavi for recuperation.”

Ren answered curtly, then raised an eyebrow and asked,

“But Lou, why are you suddenly curious about His Highness the Crown Prince’s magic sword?”

“Ah, that?”

Lurik thought Ren was the Emperor’s pawn, but I thought differently.

“Ren, actually……”

Therefore, I felt no need to hide the matter of the magic sword from Ren and answered immediately.

“Recently, my brother’s eye color sometimes changes to black.”

“……What?”

But for some reason, Ren’s eyes wavered.

‘Huh? I never expected him to know anything……’

Was I wrong?

Maybe Ren knew about the magic sword too?

“Th-that is……”

I stammered, flustered, and continued.

“It’s just, strange, isn’t it? His eye color changing. The only thing different about my brother is that he possesses the magic sword, so I thought it might be related to the magic sword.”

“Lou.”

When Ren called my name, I hoped he didn’t know anything.

About the Emperor giving his own son a mind-eating magic sword and using him like a war machine for over a decade, what he did to my brother.

‘I hope he doesn’t know.’

However, Ren’s face, calmly calling my name, was filled with many expressions, along with hesitation.

A kind of emotion that someone who knows nothing could never show.

“Actually, His Majesty the Emperor ordered the Magic Tower to forge a new magic sword.”

“A new magic sword?”

I pretended not to know and added,

“But doesn’t that sword have a legend about a magical beast’s heart or something?”

A forced smile appeared on Ren’s firm lips.

He slowly reached out and stroked my hair.

“Right. But this time, the Emperor’s order is to make it by simply processing magic stones, excluding terrible ingredients like a magical beast’s heart.”

The large hand stroking my hair was gentle, but for the first time, I felt a distance from Ren as he spoke of the Emperor’s order.

“Really? Why? Do you know what His Majesty will use the sword for after he makes it?”

I asked sharply without realizing it, but Ren answered softly.

Unlike him.

“It seems he intends to bestow the new magic sword upon His Highness the Second Prince and retrieve the old one.”

The Emperor suddenly?

“I don’t know the exact reason, but if it goes according to the Emperor’s order, Lou, you won’t have to worry about the magic sword.”

Suddenly, I remembered hinting to the Emperor about Lurik’s condition about a month ago.

“I don’t know if I’m overthinking it, but I’m worried because my brother’s eyes seem different after his return……”

I thought he would understand my hint if he was concerned about the magic sword, but the Emperor, like an idiot, just laughed and praised the bond between us siblings.

‘Even though he did that, did it bother him as he thought about it more?’

Actually, I didn’t have high expectations from the beginning, so it was an unexpected development.

‘The Emperor in the novel was a foolish and stupid villain, so he ended up neglecting Lurik until he went berserk.’

I made him that way.

But did the Emperor also have a chance for redemption?

‘He missed the timing, but did he have even a little intention of retrieving the magic sword?’

Except for Lurik, all the characters around me were just supporting characters from the novel.

As such, I didn’t give them any narrative or backstory……

‘Why do they all seem to be acting on their own?’

Questions piled up one after another, but I soon shook my head.

Now is not the time to relax and compare the Emperor to a character in a novel.

‘A chance for redemption? That’s ridiculous.’

Even if he suddenly wants to retrieve the sword now, I won’t give the Emperor absolution.

‘Lurik’s life force has already been consumed!’

Perhaps the Emperor, having used him enough, is trying to retrieve the sword from Lurik before a major incident occurs?

Then, I suddenly remembered what the Empress had said at the banquet hall.

“But after taking over the entire upper stream of the Dunez River, I’ve become covetous of the Whitney plains. If we could incorporate that land into the Empire, Zideln, with nowhere to go, would naturally follow.”

Is he trying to replace the sword before a new war of aggression, in case Lurik goes berserk before his next mission?

‘And Ren is helping him with that?’

I slowly removed the gentle hand that was stroking my hair.

“Lou……?”

“Ren.”

From the day I first met Ren as Louise, I turned a blind eye to all the somewhat grumpy and rude behavior of the man in front of me.

Of course, it was also because he was handsome enough to stare at blankly, but it was more because I learned through numerous letters how much Ren cherished Louise.

‘But you knew about the magic sword?’

If he knew from the beginning and hid it, I really wouldn’t be able to forgive this man.

“About the magic sword…… did you know? Did you know that it was harming my brother’s health?”

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