Chapter 196

"Duchess — no. Viola. My precious niece."

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

"That's surely the very reason my sister hid you away. To protect you from all of it."

Sorrowful regret welled up in the Emperor's eyes.

"It must have been a lonely thing, growing up without anyone. You must have wondered, so many times, who your own roots even were. But I hope you won't hold it against my sister too much, for leaving you behind the way she did. I know — I know she must have loved you more than anyone."

His voice was composed, but it somehow sounded like weeping. At that heartbreaking plea, I quietly shook my head.

"I don't hold it against her. If she hadn't made that choice, I wouldn't be who I am now."

Only then did the Emperor smile faintly, as if relieved, and turn his steps back toward the palace.

It hadn't…