Please Divorce Me Villain, I’ll Raise the Child Alone - Chapter 136

Revert everything back to how it was? What does that mean…? And she couldn’t hear Elaina’s voice anymore. Amelia’s face turned pale with anxiety.

“If… if she reverts everything back….”

Does that mean everything that has happened until now will be nullified…. That could be why she wasn’t speaking to her anymore.

“Mother! That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

“Elaina is just being unreasonable.”

Being unreasonable…?

“It’s because she thinks the Khalid Empire is going to end.”

Raphael said that all the imperial family members would be punished and dethroned. The goddess wouldn’t be unaware of that. Of course, she might turn a blind eye to Emperor Kendrick, but she wouldn’t forgive killing everyone.

“Elaina doesn’t have the power to revert everything. She made a contract with me.”

“Ah….”

Hearing it confirmed from Leonel’s mouth, her tense body relaxed. She had a rough idea of what unreasonable demands Elaina was making. She was probably asking her to become a saintess.

“And the reason she can’t appear before you….”

Leonel’s gaze was directed not at her but at Raphael.

“She said it’s because of Father. It’s hard for her to exert power with Siegfried standing firm. And she also said she respects privacy.”

Adults had no filter when speaking to a child. Amelia’s face turned as red as an apple. So Elaina could speak to Leonel as well, not just her.

“What does Elaina want…?”

“She said the Khalid Empire must continue somehow. And she wants the issue of the saintess’s absence resolved.”

She had many demands. She didn’t know about the saintess, but the absence of the imperial family would bring chaos to the country. Dethroning all the imperial family members at once would make it easy for other nations to attack. Of course, as long as Siegfried was standing firm, it wouldn’t be an immediate problem….

“I wanted to ask your opinion regarding the throne.”

“And yet you didn’t want to come out of the room?”

“It’s not that urgent.”

At Raphael’s nonchalant words, Amelia was at a loss for words. He wasn’t lying; it was the truth. To this man, she was more important than the throne. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she cleared her throat and looked away.

“What does Elaina want us to do?”

“That’s….”

“What’s important is your opinion. The goddess’s opinion doesn’t matter.”

Isn’t Elaina listening to this conversation right now? Raphael’s bold statement made her laugh. Asking her to become emperor was also a problem. She had no desire for the throne. She couldn’t live hypocritically like an emperor….

“I… like being the Grand Duchess of Siegfried.”

“I also like that you are my Grand Duchess.”

Amelia’s body shivered as she felt Raphael’s breath on the nape of her neck. She now knew what this signal meant. She tried to push him away under the table, but it was useless.

“I don’t want to ascend to the throne….”

There was someone she wished would ascend to the throne. Surely, what the goddess wanted was for her to take the throne. If not that, she would at least want her to become the saintess. The important thing was to continue the goddess’s bloodline.

“There is someone I wish to become the emperor.”

***

“Who is that?”

“Leonel. I want Leonel to ascend to the throne.”

While she wanted to avoid the responsibility of being the emperor, she also wanted Leonel to ascend to the throne. Leonel had been utterly destroyed by Aaron, who was the crown prince. But what if that position had originally been Leonel’s? If everything was corrected by the goddess’s mistake, Leonel could very well inherit the throne.

“Mother?”

“If we are there as guardians, there won’t be any problems, right?”

“That’s right.”

And it was possible because Leonel wasn’t an ordinary child. He already had memories of the past.

“That’s a good idea. Actually, I was worried that if you ascended to the throne, you would leave me.”

Raphael supported her decision more than anyone else. Leaving the stunned Leonel behind, Raphael quickly proceeded with everything. Although Leonel couldn’t be placed on the throne immediately due to his age, they agreed to make him the crown prince.

“This is… nonsense. Why am I becoming the crown prince?”

“Isn’t that why Elaina quieted down?”

“That’s true, but….”

The argument that an emperor was needed immediately didn’t work on Raphael. With Siegfried firmly behind Leonel, there were no other choices left. She regained her title as princess and ascended to the emperor’s position. Raphael and her goal was to abdicate quickly.

“But we won’t be living in the imperial palace permanently.”

“But when I become an adult, I’ll have to live here permanently.”

Currently, for stabilization, she, Raphael, and Leonel were all staying in the imperial palace. Amelia didn’t like the white and glittering palace, which seemed to be Kendrick’s taste. She had become accustomed to the black and grand ducal castle.

“Should I change everything to gold?”

‘No, I hate that!’

Amelia closed her eyes briefly at the loud voice echoing in her head. Elaina would appear and chatter away whenever Raphael wasn’t around.

“Elaina is being noisy again, isn’t she?”

“She doesn’t leave even though we did as she wanted.”

Would she come to her for the rest of her life? The thought alone was dreadful. Amelia patted Leonel’s head, who was sitting with a sullen face in front of her. The soft hair under her fingers made her feel good. She almost lost this lovely child again.

“Even though we showed mercy by not killing the emperor.”

“That’s….”

The emperor and the first prince were still alive in the underground prison. The empress, Logan, and Aaron, who hadn’t committed serious crimes at this point, were only exiled. But Kendrick and Patrick weren’t so lucky. Instead of being hanged, they were sentenced to spend their lives in the goddess’s prison.

Seeing the person who had imprisoned her now locked up felt strange. Of course, even in there, they didn’t acknowledge their guilt and glared at her as if they would kill her. Raphael had silenced them, so they couldn’t verbally abuse her, but their looks were enough to convey their curses.

“But today seems a bit leisurely.”

“Only Father is busy.”

She and Leonel were having tea time after a long while. It had been two months since they entered the imperial palace, and Raphael had been extremely busy during that time. It was only at night that she could see him. Of course, part of it was because she started her day late in the afternoon. She naturally woke up late because Raphael kept her up all night.

“I wish Father would ascend to the throne. Then Mother and I could live separately.”

Amelia chuckled at the sight of Leonel smiling and swaying. Indeed, Raphael and Leonel were very much alike. He would often coax her with that same face.

“Then Raphael might come looking for us.”

Raphael had a way of knowing and finding her whenever she talked about him. Since entering the imperial palace, Raphael had been very anxious that she might become too busy. However, the reality was the complete opposite.

“Oh, Father won’t be able to come today.”

“Did you put off your work to come here?”

“Father was the one who wanted to put it off first.”

Amelia didn’t have much to do as the emperor. She had an office and documents assigned to her, but most of them had already been reviewed. In short, she only needed to give final approval. Even that was handled by Edward, whom Raphael assigned to her, worried she might find it hard. In contrast, Raphael had a lot to do, including arguing with the nobles.

“Even so, you shouldn’t put off work.”

Even though she was also putting off her work to enjoy desserts with Edward, lately, she hadn’t been feeling well. She often felt sleepy, and if she didn’t stay alert, she would find herself dozing off.

“Are you tired?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Even now, she was nodding off. It was probably because someone kept bothering her every night. Despite spending his energy until dawn, he would go to work in the morning. She wondered where he got such stamina.

“Surely, Father….”

“Amelia.”

Just as she was thinking of going back inside to sleep, she felt a desperate hand grasping hers. Along with it, a refreshing scent filled the surroundings.

“Raphael?”

“How did Father get here…?”

At this hour, Raphael should have been in his office. Seeing him with a playful look in his eyes made her smile unconsciously. She hadn’t known he could make such an expression at first.

“Ra-Raphael…?”

In that state, she was lifted and found herself in his arms. He then started running somewhere while holding her tightly.