A strange, uncanny sense of familiarity washed over her.
Those sharp, angular eyes and the crisp line of his mouth gave off a rugged vibe.
That cocky posture, as if he had some secret backup, and the flawless, glowing skin that only came from eating and sleeping well—all of it radiated effortless confidence.
And that mischievous, slightly defiant expression… it only added to the familiarity.
But there was more.
His hairstyle… Is that a slicked-back undercut?!
A slicked-back undercut—short on the sides and back, with the top swept back with pomade—was the hallmark of someone effortlessly stylish and bold.
I’ve seen this somewhere before… Ah!
Suddenly, reality seemed to shift, unfolding like a VR simulation before her eyes.
She was transported in her mind to a modern PC room somewhere on modern-day Earth.
—Hey, you. Do you have fire?
—Uh… I-I don’t…
—Don’t fxck with me. You really look like you have.
—R-really, I don’t.
A bitter memory stabbed at her.
Somehow, she wanted to lower her gaze and avoid eye contact.
This wasn’t an emperor. Not really.
He’s just… a punk!
Flustered, Ivyn reached for the glass of water in front of her, trying to hide her reaction.
Her hand trembled ever so slightly as she grasped the glass, but thankfully, she lifted it without spilling a drop.
“Why don’t you all get along instead of fighting?”
Clink- Rocinel opened a bottle of liquor that had been prepared on the round table and poured the clear liqueur into an empty on-the-rocks glass.
Gulp- gulp-
He drained it in one go, casually wiping his reddened lips with the back of his hand, then cast a glance toward Dylan.
“Right… what was it again?”
“The Holy Nation kidnapped and forcibly held my daughter prisoner, Your Majesty,” Dylan replied, his voice tightly controlled, as if suppressing his anger at the emperor’s question.
“Kidnapped? We simply followed proper procedure and apprehended a potential criminal in our nation, identified by a witness as part of the group known as the Oath of Darkness.”
Not one to be outdone, the Holy Nation’s archbishop, Bernas, stood abruptly.
“What?! Criminal?!”
Bang! Dylan slammed his massive fist on the table, making it shudder.
He shot to his feet, his hands trembling as if he wanted to seize the archbishop by the neck and twist it.
Ivyn’s own anger boiled at the archbishop’s outrageous statement.
Criminal? All based on nothing more than the word of some unidentified witness, with no proper evidence to back it up?
Fhss- The fabric of her dress brushed as Ivyn quietly rose from her seat to stand beside Dylan.
In an instant, every gaze in the council hall turned toward her—including Theodore’s cautious, calculating eyes and Rocinel’s intrigued stare.
“The statement you just made seems to differ quite a bit from the truth, Archbishop.”
“…What?”
The suddenness of her intervention visibly unsettled the man.
The blunt hostility in his tone made Ivyn flinch, but she fought to keep her composure.
She met the archbishop’s gaze with calm before slightly pivoting her body toward the emperor.
“I greet the sun of the Hwig Empire. I am Ivyn Kinzell of the Kinzell family.”
Ivyn placed one hand over her chest and lifted the hem of her dress with the other, bowing respectfully to the young emperor.
Of course, having been an ordinary office worker in her previous life, she had never received formal training in court etiquette. Yet her extensive prior knowledge of various fantasy romance novels had prepared her well enough to avoid embarrassing herself.
Rocinel’s eyes traced her from head to toe as if studying every curve and line.
The emotion reflected at the end of that gaze was pure intrigue.
Ivyn’s skin was fresh, clear, and soft to the touch, a perfect contrast to her lips, plump and rosy, like a just-ripened peach.
Her hair, a mysterious wave of violet, flowed down to her slender waist.
Long eyelashes framed her eyes, blue as hydrangeas.
From Ivyn radiated an innocence, yet also an indescribable, subtle aura that was hard to put into words.
It was the kind of presence that… well…
If you plucked it with your fingers, it would give off a bitterly sweet fragrance.
The young emperor’s eyes, which had been scanning her carefully, narrowed slightly.
“Your Majesty, the claim that I snuck out of the castle at night to contact the secret organization known as the Oath of Darkness is a misunderstanding.”
Her hands were cold, and her body trembled slightly from the tension, yet she tried to convey her words clearly and firmly.
“During the interrogation, they said there was a witness of unknown identity—no. They said they couldn’t reveal their identity… Yet I find this utterly absurd. I suspect that one faction that usually opposes the Kinzell family may have spread false information…”
She trailed off at the end of her sentence, hesitant.
No… my daughter, Vyn!
A surge of emotion rose in Dylan, and he clenched his fists tightly.
He wore an intense expression that obsessive fans sometimes make when they get completely carried away.
How can she speak so composedly, expressing her own opinion in that tiny, delicate form, especially after everything terrible she just went through…? Truly, my daughter, my brave daughter! Our Vyn, she’s amazing, she’s incredible! Long live Vyn!
As Dylan gazed at his daughter with pride and awe, a crisp voice cut through the room.
“Your Majesty, the defendant is lying.”
Archbishop Bernas, who had been glaring at the two of them with eyes full of hatred, interjected.
TL Note:
Hello~ Elle here. I took my sweet time doing updates, I know.
Piaf, my baby princess kitten and soulmate, urgently needs surgery. The cost is far beyond what I can handle alone, so I’ve prepared some special challenges to turn every bit of support into hope for her.
💬 Challenge #1: Every 5 unique comments = 1 extra chapter
💖 Challenge #2: Every 10 NU votes = 2 extra chapters
☕ Challenge #3: Every $15 on my Ko-fi goal = 3 extra chapters
Every comment, vote, and donation brings us one step closer to her surgery.
Thank you, truly, for supporting us.
