Side Story.6

“Sir, you’re not well, you shouldn’t come out like this……”

“It’s fine, Maria. My grandsons work so hard, this old body has to help with something.”

Adelstein’s grandfather, feeling a bit better, went to the market.

Maia supported him, choosing goods and paying.

In the ancient times, there were no real countries or laws, so there was no concept of money; it was more barter than purchase.

“Hey, I heard the house with those handsome grandsons brought in a woman to live with them. Is it true?”

“My, I’ve never seen such a beauty. Where did they find her? Someone like that, you’d never forget even after one look……”

Since she hadn’t gone out except for gathering herbs, this was her first real outing in ancient times.

Wait.

Can this even be called an outing?

……She didn’t know. She decided to think positively.

After a moment’s hesitation, Maia shook it off and escorted Adelstein and Aeterna’s grandfather to the edge of the market.

“That’s quite……”

As they passed through a narrow alley, a suspicious voice pricked her ears.

“Red hair, just like that Princess. What Lord Uperta desires most……”

Red hair.

……Were they talking about her?

“…….”

Maia pretended not to notice, listening to the voices of people wrapped head to toe in black cloth.

“Is it easy to kidnap a princess from a kingdom? Lord Uperta, if only he’d give up that stubbornness.”

“If Ilaya would just hand over the princess, there’d be peace. But those Ilaya people have no intention.”

A sticky gaze followed immediately after.

“……Then why not offer the woman who resembles the Princess?”

“Maria, what’s wrong?”

Ah, she had stopped walking for a moment.

Maia forced a smile, trying to calm her pounding heart.

“It’s nothing.”

This old man couldn’t walk quickly.

No, Maia bit her lip.

She should have brought her cane.

If only she’d brought the ancient relic used by the First Grand Duke Aeterna, she might have had a chance to escape……!

‘Please, just don’t try to kidnap us here.’

If Adelstein and Aeterna were nearby, there was hope.

They were skilled warriors, the protagonists of a great destiny.

Surely, she wouldn’t be harmed by supporting characters not even mentioned in history.

But her hope was mercilessly crushed again.

“What is this……!”

A rough hand grabbed Maia’s arm.

“Be quiet. Unless you want to die.”

Maia opened her mouth to scream, but saw a weapon pointed at Adelstein’s grandfather and clenched her teeth.

She had no choice but to be silent.

How could she ignore that threat and resist?

“Quietly, come with us.”

They led Maia and the old man away from the market.

“……Oh my.”

A kindly-looking woman saw the scene and muttered in shock, her face turning pale.

* * *

They led Maia and the old man into a deserted forest path, tied them tightly with ropes, and forced them to kneel.

“……I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

“What are you saying! This isn’t your fault! You bastards, what are you doing! Why did you drag us here!”

Maia bit her lip in frustration.

Adelstein’s grandfather scolded the thugs, shouting at them without hesitation.

“You’re just a dying old man, how dare you!”

One of the two thugs drew a weapon in anger.

“Enough. We didn’t mean to bring him. Let’s not spill unnecessary blood.”

The other stopped him, then stared at Maia and spoke.

“Our lord is Lord Uperta. You must have heard his name.”

Uperta.

Maia’s eyes narrowed.

She hadn’t wanted to know, but after two months in ancient times, she’d inevitably learned things.

Uperta was both the name of a group and its leader.

He was known as one of the most notorious rulers on the continent, with the stature of three men combined, muscles like rocks.

Brutal in battle, cunning in subjugating followers.

He was infamous for kidnapping beautiful women from all over the continent and forcing them into his harem.

“He cannot sleep, obsessed with a single woman. The woman who enjoys that glory is Princess Seiya of the Kingdom of Ilaya.”

……What?

Maia couldn’t hide her shock at the sudden mention of a name every imperial citizen knew.

Princess Seiya.

She was one of the figures who appeared in the founding legend, though her recorded role was small. But she was famous for another reason.

‘His Majesty the Founding Emperor Adelstein never cared for women. Only peace and his people’s happiness mattered most to him.’

‘But there was one woman he gave his heart to. That was Princess Seiya.’

Princess Seiya, said to be from one of the countless ancient kingdoms that appeared and vanished without trace, greatly aided the Founding Emperor Adelstein in his first battle against a fierce ruler whose name was lost to history, helping him kill the tyrant and offering her kingdom to him. Her kingdom became the firm foundation for the Emperor’s future empire.

Without Princess Seiya’s help, the Emperor could not have won that war, according to the Book of the Founder. Historians were fascinated by her.

The princess, praised as the most beautiful woman of her time, recognized the Emperor’s ideals and abilities and bravely helped him, despite his weak position.

Adelstein was deeply grateful to Princess Seiya and publicly declared that she was the woman he cherished most.

‘The ancient princess, more beautiful and clever than anyone, sadly left no later records. It’s said His Majesty often cared for her and remembered her fondly, so it’s presumed she survived after the first battle.’

‘And though it’s just a legend…… since there’s no record of who His Majesty’s Empress was, some claim Princess Seiya was the Empress.’

Such a theory gained passionate support.

Adelstein left no records or rumors about any other woman—only the story of Princess Seiya survives.

The ancient princess and the young hero with a great cause.

The hero became the Founding Emperor, but the princess’s later life was unknown.

Secrets left unexplained by history become romantic legends.

As a child, Maia too believed the theory that Princess Seiya was the Emperor’s Empress.

The idea that the vanished princess lived her life as Empress was the most romantic legend imaginable.

“Princess Seiya……”

But why was the legendary Princess Seiya, famed as the Emperor’s lover for centuries, suddenly appearing here?

Did that mean this Uperta was the ancient tyrant the Emperor first fought?

“And you resemble the Princess.”

“……Me?”

What was this supposed to mean?

The huge man looked down at confused Maia and continued.

“He only saw her once, from a distance. But it was clear at a glance that the woman had blazing, flame-like red hair. Lord Uperta fell in love with the Princess from that single encounter, and the Kingdom of Ilaya absolutely refused to give up the Princess. So there’s only one way.”

Maia’s heart dropped.

Her breath trembled as she desperately hoped it would not be what she feared.

“To offer up a woman who resembles her. And you, you certainly possess a beauty worthy of Lord Uperta’s love.”

“What…… No, I refuse! Why would I—!”

“Being Lord Uperta’s concubine is far better than living a poor and difficult life. All kinds of treasures and pleasures will be yours. Not only that, you’ll have the power to save or take anyone’s life as you wish.”

What nonsense.

Who ever said she wanted that?

That kind of power, treasure, pleasure—

Maia had already experienced all that as the Duchess of Western.

But what use was all that luxury?

She had learned through hard times that the most important thing was the happiness of the heart.

“Then I’ll give you a choice. Die here, or go quietly. I’ll give you time to think.”

Death loomed before Maia’s eyes.

It was hard to breathe.

When the thugs left, Maia struggled to breathe, squeezing her eyes shut.

“……Maria.”

An elderly voice made Maia open her eyes.

Pale-faced, she looked at Adelstein’s grandfather.

“If there were just one way to escape, what would you do?”

“……Pardon?”

What was he saying?

Maia’s face hardened with unease as she looked at the old man.

His two red eyes, which would often dim when his illness worsened, were shining especially brightly.

That pushed Maia deeper into anxiety.

“They thought I was a dying old man, so they tied me loosely.”

Indeed, Adelstein’s grandfather slowly raised his wrists.

The knots of the rope were undone.

“How did you…….”

Maia tried to force her own wrists free, but the tightly tied knots wouldn’t budge.

No matter how carelessly they tied her, it wasn’t something a sick old man could easily undo.

The old man simply smiled at her shock.

“Not all problems in the world can be solved by strength alone. Will you tell Adelstein this?”

“Sir, why are you saying such things…….”

Suppressing her trembling, Maia asked, but Adelstein’s grandfather silently took out the sharp end of a hair ornament from his collar and cut through the ropes binding Maia’s wrists and ankles.

Soon, Maia could move her limbs freely.

But her face grew even more rigid than when she was tied up.

She realized what the old man was planning.

“Here, take it. It’s a piece of jewelry my daughter used before she died. A mother’s keepsake should be left to my poor grandsons.”

“Sir, no. Whatever you’re thinking, please don’t…….”

She had always wondered.

How did the Founding Emperor and the First Grand Duke’s grandfather, who left no name in history, meet his end?

“No, it’s nothing. I saved your life this time, so from now on, help my grandsons.”

The elderly man smiled for the first time, pressing his daughter’s keepsake into Maia’s hand.

“That’s enough.”

She never thought it would be a death caused by her.

No, it couldn’t be.

She was just a stranger who had fallen into the past.

Just a trespasser disrupting history.