To be honest, I never expected Sever to truly reveal all information to me without holding anything back.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t particularly angry about this fact. Besides, strictly speaking, he was a duke and I was the emperor. Wouldn’t it be rather undignified for me, as emperor, to make a fuss about why a mere duke hadn’t shared information with me?

“If I were going to punish him for this, I wouldn’t have used his help at all. The Kelliard ducal family was one that even Father had to yield to. Well, it’s presumptuous, but I can’t create a rift over something like this.”

“…”

“Of course, I’ve found an excuse now, so he’ll have to apologize the next time we meet.”

Rigan looked somewhat dubiously at me as I muttered with a smile plastered across my face.

“As I’ve always thought, Your Majesty has tastes that exceed my imagination.”

“You get beaten by me all the time and you’re only realizing this now?”

“…”

“Well, anyway, leave him be for now. Instead, have someone shadow Duke Kelliard from now on. I don’t intend to punish him, but to fully utilize his intelligence network, we need to do at least this much.”

“Understood.”

“And you’ve already informed the Adler marquis family? About the festival day.”

“Ah, yes. Lady Evelyn is especially excited, I hear.”

“That child is so easily pleased. Over just one festival.”

Nevertheless, the smile didn’t leave my lips.

As time passed, the day before the festival arrived, and I made a rare visit to Ilian’s room. Since returning from the Adler mansion, I hadn’t seen Ilian much. This wasn’t particularly strange, since alchemists typically shut themselves in their rooms to conduct research.

Bang, bang.

After knocking on the door without the slightest respect, almost breaking it down, I heard rustling sounds from inside after a few seconds, and then the door opened. Simultaneously, Ilian appeared, his long platinum blonde hair hastily tied up in a high bun, wearing a slightly stained shirt. Whatever he had been doing remained a mystery.

“My, young lady, I’m not deaf yet. You don’t need to knock that hard.”

“Why did you take so long?”

“I opened it right after I heard you.”

“May I come in?”

Though it was a question, I took a step forward, already knowing the answer. However, Ilian slightly blocked my path and smiled.

“Ah, wait, let me take care of something inside first.”

“What? What are you up to in my palace?”

I narrowed my brows and questioned him accusingly.

Surely he wasn’t revealing his true nature and creating something strange in my palace to kill me?

“Just in case you’re thinking of killing me with mana poisoning, don’t forget you’ll die with me.”

“Our young lady is so clever.”

“What? Really?”

“I’m joking. It’s not mana poisoning.”

With those words, Ilian stepped completely aside.

I stared into the room. The table was cluttered with various test tubes, potions, and magic stones—all sorts of alchemical materials from who knows where.

What is all this?

My brows furrowed further at the sight, which resembled the room of a deranged eccentric researcher.

When I turned my head sharply to look up at him, Ilian spoke to reassure me.

“I was making an artifact.”

“An artifact? What kind?”

“It’s the most basic ability of alchemists. Creating objects with magical effects for those who aren’t mages.”

“I know that. I meant what kind of artifact are you making?”

“Hmm. Just a moment.”

With those words, Ilian went back into the room.

This time, I didn’t step into the room carelessly. Instead, I leaned against the doorframe while Ilian roughly tidied the table, opened the window, and then approached the table again.

Soon he picked up a small magic stone from one side of the table. After a moment, he seemed to channel some mana into it, and a soft light emanated from the stone.

‘Huh?’

I blinked when I noticed that the air in the room, which had felt somewhat stuffy until just now, had become refreshing.

Seemingly reading the thoughts on my face, Ilian spoke with a gentle smile.

“Doesn’t it feel clearer?”

“What is that?”

“If I had to explain, it’s an artifact that quickly ventilates a room. I haven’t named it yet.”

“Even for an artifact, is it possible to work this instantly?”

“It’s possible. Because it’s me.”

Despite his words, Ilian’s face showed no trace of boasting or pride.

Well, for someone who eliminated half the royal and noble families with mana poisoning, he certainly had reason for “confidence.”

I crossed my arms and made a wry face.

“This is why it’s troublesome when smart people have bad intentions.”

“Are you complimenting my intelligence?”

“If you weren’t smart, you wouldn’t have ended up imprisoned in Death Gorge. Everyone trapped there is of the same kind—smart people who developed bad intentions.”

“Hmm.”

“In a world where only the strong survive, countless people sought their own path to survival and eventually blocked others’ paths.”

That’s why evil is so frightening.

Even ordinary humans can fall into an abyss with just one small misstep.

Until I was sixteen, I never imagined I would be in this position. The executions happened in an instant, and the bloodshed that swept me to the throne became a karmic burden I would carry for life.

Ilian looked at me with a subtle gaze.

“Do you think you’re evil, young lady?”

“Yes.”

I answered nonchalantly and gestured with my chin, sending a look that asked if I could enter now. Ilian extended his arm invitingly, his eyes curving pleasantly.

“Anyway, good people don’t do what I did.”

“But didn’t Hasis say it before? That hitting someone, hitting back after being hit, and hitting to avoid being hit are all different matters.”

“But in the end, hitting is hitting.”

“…”

“Whatever the reason, hitting is hitting. Even if it couldn’t be helped, it’s still hitting. Whatever the reason, you hit. We consider the circumstances, grant pardons, reduce or increase sentences, and pass death penalties, but objectively, if violence occurred… just the fact of hitting causes humans to live with guilt.”

“Like you, young lady?”

“No. I don’t feel guilty.”

“…”

“If I were going to feel guilty, I wouldn’t have done those things in the first place.”

This was quite an ironic issue.

‘Well, it’s still human nature to feel happy when someone offers comfort.’

That’s why I couldn’t say anything when Hasis spoke to me that way. Though I couldn’t forgive myself, in that moment, I selfishly wanted to accept Hasis’s words for my own comfort.

“Anyway, enough useless talk.”

“Young lady. Do you think dead people can come back to life?”

That’s when it happened.

Just as I was about to state the purpose of my visit today, Ilian suddenly asked me this out of nowhere.

I made an irritated face in response.

“What nonsense is this? How can you bring back the dead?”

“Just wondering.”

“Why, did whoever hired you tell you to cooperate because they can resurrect the dead?”

It was a half-hearted comment. Of course, the fact that black mages used resurrection techniques had been passed down orally for quite some time.

However, this resurrection technique ultimately involved controlling a corpse to make it move, making it more of a marionette of the black mage than a true resurrection.

‘Unless one is insane…’

I muttered inwardly and glanced at Ilian. Noticing the cold smile on his face, I finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Really?”

“Is there no one you want to bring back to life, young lady?”

“Are you crazy? Even gods can’t resurrect the dead.”

“Are you sure gods can’t?”

“They can’t! If gods could bring back the dead, they wouldn’t have created death as an end in the first place.”

“Then, on the slight chance it were possible, is there still no one you’d want to bring back?”

Ilian’s voice sank strangely.

I flinched at his words.

Someone I want to resurrect? I don’t know. If I were going to bring them back, I wouldn’t have eliminated them in the first place. If my siblings were to come back to life, the consequences would be too obvious—I didn’t want to engage in such madness.

However…

– Father. Please open your eyes.

– …

– Please. Open your eyes. Please open them again…

I bit my lip hard.

“There is.”

“See? Even you…”

“But I won’t bring them back.”

“…Why?”

“Because they’re dead.”

“…”

“Do you know what’s the only fair thing in this already unfair world? The opportunity of life.”

“…”

“Just once, on the countless paths of choices we face in life, one mistake can turn someone into a villain or a hero. Some walk toward happiness, others toward misfortune. You can’t know if a choice was wrong until you reach the end. Everyone gets just one life. But if only certain chosen individuals get a chance at resurrection…”

“…”

“What meaning would there be in the lives of humans who lived their entire lives doing their best?”

In truth, there were countless attempts to kill me after I became emperor. Each time, I felt anger and fought back against them.

But objectively speaking, their anger wasn’t groundless, and while I repelled their threats, I never felt wronged.

“I’m going to return to my adult form. And I’m going to eliminate whoever did this to me.”

“…”

“That’s all. No regrets, no sense of injustice, no bone-deep reflection on why I did what I did. I did my best at every moment. That’s all.”

So, don’t do anything useless.