Roina thought she needed to correct her father’s wrongs from now on.

To atone to Conrad for everything that had happened, and to ensure Aila’s complete safety.

‘So I must find out the circumstances.’

The perfect person to tell her what kind of deal had led to her marriage with Conrad was right before her eyes.

If she had asked Marquis Würetti about this matter, he would certainly have tried to interrogate her.

It would feel strange for a daughter who had always obediently followed orders to suddenly ask such questions.

The marquis would want to dig deep into Roina’s bones to find out what she was thinking.

Since she had no intention of explaining these circumstances to the emperor, she calmly continued her answer.

“I simply followed my heart.”

“Hmm, followed your heart, you say.”

Cedric also seemed to have no particular intention of prying into that reason.

“I feel like you and I could become good collaborators.”

“Thank you for viewing me favorably.”

The emperor, who had been nodding, soon looked at her with sharp eyes.

“But surely you want something, which is why you informed me.”

“……!”

At the emperor’s direct question, Roina’s violet eyes briefly wavered.

“So tell me. What is it that you want?”

Clasping her trembling hands tightly together, she answered calmly.

“I want to know… what kind of deal was made regarding my marriage.”

As if he hadn’t expected that question at all, Cedric slowly withdrew his smile.

“I see now that the marquis told you nothing at all.”

“……”

Since the emperor’s guess was close to the most common reason, Roina simply waited silently for his story.

After some time passed, Cedric, who had been lost in thought, slowly opened his mouth.

“Three years ago, Marquis Würetti came to see me.”

When Cedric ascended to the throne, the political strife between the two factions was reaching its peak.

From the time the previous emperor fell ill until his death, the progressive faction’s power had grown stronger day by day, so the marquis’s visit would not have been particularly welcome.

“He showed me a prophecy book.”

‘A prophecy book……’

There was no way Roina wouldn’t know what a prophecy book meant in the Noxtan Empire.

The imperial memorandum that had been passed down for ages—within that prophecy book were written revelations about the next emperor.

As it was the only legacy left by ancient magic that had now disappeared, everyone believed in it.

“Though it was somewhat damaged, the next emperor was clearly recorded.”

Cedric said that he had checked the memorandum the marquis handed him several times, but it was undoubtedly an imperial treasure.

‘The temple must have officially recognized that prophecy book as genuine.’

Currently, the only way to authenticate relics of ancient magic was to request it from the temple.

Befitting an organization that served God, they had possessed sacred objects capable of proving ancient magic since the founding of the nation.

Besides that, authenticity could be revealed through imperial blood and holy water, but even this had to be procured from the temple.

Even before he could gauge how the marquis had come to possess a treasure that had been stolen decades ago, the contents written within were said to be nothing but tragic.

“One with dark blue hair and green eyes. That was the revelation I saw.”

“……!”

Roina couldn’t believe those words.

The current emperor, Cedric, had red hair and green eyes.

‘That means……’

The one the prophecy book referred to must be none other than Benjamin Duke Kaldebaum.

The second prince with dark blue hair and green eyes—he was someone with such uncontrollably violent temperament that even the imperial family had given up on him.

As if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, Roina’s violet pupils dilated greatly.

“Marquis Würetti used the prophecy book as leverage to demand a deal.”

In exchange for overlooking that fact and handing over the prophecy book, he wanted a union with the Asheter ducal family.

‘So what could Father gain from that?’

She tried to swallow her dryly and regain her composure, but Roina’s hands were trembling violently.

The father she knew was absolutely not someone who would suffer losses.

At the marquis’s unpredictable moves, Roina anxiously bit her lips finely.

On one hand, she cautiously asked if it was alright for her to know such facts.

“Is it proper for me to dare know this?”

At her question, the emperor tilted his head slightly and answered in a low voice.

“Since Duke Asheter also knows, wouldn’t it be fine if you became an accomplice too?”

“……”

When she heard an unexpected name, Roina’s eyes trembled finely.

‘Conrad already knew……?’

Watching her reaction, the emperor lifted the corner of his mouth crookedly and continued.

“Well, if you were to reveal this fact, the story would be different.”

Perhaps Conrad had chosen an unwanted marriage out of concern that the prophecy book’s contents would become known to the world. And with a woman he utterly hated, no less.

‘Is that why I was even more repulsive to him?’

Roina felt her heart sink heavily as if a stone were pressing down on her chest.

Without showing this, she politely bowed and left the emperor’s office.

※※※

Lost in thought as she headed toward the carriage, Roina suddenly came to her senses at the sound of someone calling her.

“Roina!”

Looking back, she could easily identify the owner of that voice.

There was only one man who would wave at her and show such a bright smile.

“Michael.”

“Roina, what brings you here?”

“I had some business to attend to. What about you?”

“I have something to get approved regarding charity work.”

Looking at the thick bundle of documents in Michael’s hands, Roina nodded slightly.

She had recently heard news that the Bistanto marquisate family was starting charity work.

“Are you…… doing well these days?”

He asked about her well-being as if trying to carefully assess Roina’s mood.

Though they had already exchanged letters once, he seemed concerned about not being able to stay until the end at the banquet.

“Of course, nothing to worry about.”

Roina answered with deliberate cheerfulness. She couldn’t honestly reveal her situation.

Then Michael seemed to show a bitter smile, and soon displayed a serious look.

“Actually, I was a bit worried. That you might still be concerned about those rumors.”

“……”

‘Rumors? What does he mean by that?’

Roina tried to understand her friend’s words.

The rumors he was talking about must have occurred during the period she couldn’t remember.

As she pondered for a moment about how to respond, it happened.

“Really…… have you been concerned about those rumors all this time?”

Apparently Michael had taken her silence as confirmation.

What kind of rumors could they be for him to look so apologetic?

Roina and Michael had spent a long time together, so there were plenty of rumors about them.

‘Among them were talks of marriage proposals.’

But since they were just rumors, Roina hadn’t paid much attention to them.

Hadn’t the two of them, as childhood friends, already had their wedding ceremony in people’s mouths at one point?

“Michael, you know well that there aren’t just one or two rumors about us.”

“……Yes, I know that all too well.”

Finding something strange, she looked at him with her head tilted.

“I don’t know which rumors you’re talking about.”

At those words, Michael stiffened his expression and awkwardly touched the back of his head.

Then, after a long while, he continued his answer in a voice that seemed ashamed.

“Shortly after you got married, someone spread malicious rumors about us.”

“……!”

At that moment, Roina fragmentarily recalled one lost memory.

The love of the century between the Duchess of Asheter and the Young Marquis of Bistanto—how did it end?

The rumors someone had intentionally spread quickly circulated and heated up gossip magazines and social circles for a while.

Those rumors even contained sordid content about how the duchess, unable to bear her husband’s coldness, had first seduced her friend.

Michael had gotten into a fistfight with a noble’s son who had maliciously embellished the rumors, eventually receiving disciplinary action.