Chapter 13
“Listen, I know you’re smart and kind-hearted. But what you’re lacking is knowledge worthy of status, which you can prepare for. Isn’t that enough? It was tiring to see you being nervous all day long.”
If he was really making this suggestion, he had a desire to try and get as many people as he wanted. And honestly, Celestia was glad that he was treating her like a person.
‘Is it a reward for not accepting the Empress’ proposal?’
She was hesitating, but she nodded unconsciously. He seemed exhausted.
Celestia had longed to go to the academy ever since she was a child. She never thought that her dream would come true this way. Her heart thumped.
“I will study hard, Your Majesty.”
He gave a small nod to her, his face devoid of any emotion.
“Very well then, I’ll send a letter to the mayor.”
“Then, shall I live with my brother at his house?”
“No. That wouldn’t be possible. You have to stay here, no matter what.”
“His Majesty wants me to live here?”
“I don’t think you understand. You’re not allowed to go anywhere once the sun sets down.”
‘Are you some mother who takes care of her immature kid? And you want me to be present here on time before curfew?’
She couldn’t stop frowning.
“Are you serious?”
“This is not a matter of making concessions. You are already exposed to the outside world due to the banquet. I’d have to admit that the Empress Dowager was right. It never would have happened if I had locked you up in my room from the beginning and kept you from taking a step out.”
‘Don’t say such scary things! Or I might run away from this place right now!’
“What would happen if I don’t return in time here?”
“You’ll be in danger. And I’ll be in trouble as well.”
‘Maybe not the latter one.’
It seemed like the Emperor cared about her. Of course, she was the only one who knew about his weakness.
She wondered if there was a third individual who could harm him….but since the Empress had already caused the scene, it was hard to think of it as the Emperor’s delusion of grandeur.
He was now good at making proper sentences, unlike the day she first met him.
“Learning from the academy will improve the treatment. It’s always good to be efficient.”
“Ah, yes.”
Finally, the time came for her to let the Emperor know how she learned to invalidate magic. This was what he asked last time and she hated to answer it.
She didn’t want to talk about it……which would mean nothing to him. But she also couldn’t deny the fact that he brought her brother, who was doing much better than she thought.
“I think I can answer you now, Your Majesty.”
“What do you mean?”
“The method by which I learned healing.”
He raised his chin as she explained.
She told him why she had learned to invalidate magic, trying not to mention anything about her feelings as much as possible. His expression was not very good from the beginning of the explanation as it began with Serek’s name.
The story of “them being too poor to afford medicines, so she taught herself to invalidate magic because she wanted to blossom Serek’s talents” was a bit woeful. His expression became more and more disfigured as he listened to her.
‘Now that you’ve heard about it, will I lose my credibility because the source of my ability is from a random back alley?’
“So that’s how I’m here.”
When her explanation was over, he nodded with a slightly irritated look.
“Well, I can understand it very roughly.”
His thoughtlessness bothered her for no reason. She hated him for making her brood over her stupid past self.
She put up her arms over the table to make a quick explanation.
“What is it?”
“Please take a look, carefully.”
She rolled up her sleeves to his shoulders and held them out to him. The formulas were engraved on her light skin in a dark color.
He looked at her arms, astonished. It definitely was something new. In fact, it was a taboo in Goldina, so she had to hide them.
The shift of the topic was successful.
“Do you mind if I touch it?”
“No, I wouldn’t, Your Majesty.”
It was funny to her that the Emperor was asking for her permission.
He slowly held her arm and grazed his fingertips over the engravings as he looked at it closely.
“Is this even possible? Where else do you have them?”
“On my nape and my back.”
Without any delay, he lifted up her hair, touching her nape. Even though it was only his fingertip, she felt the heat rising to her cheeks.
“It’s pretty deep…..even a Magic Circle can’t have an effect like this. You must have had many side effects, and the engraving process must have been very painful. Anyway, it must have required a lot of effort.”
It was a bad judgment of hers to think that the topic shift was successful.
It’s true that it was extremely painful and she had many side effects. But she didn’t want to talk about it.
She carefully pulled down her clothing a little. The mere touch of his fingertip was somehow lush. She could feel his cautious touch along her back.
“Don’t they hurt now?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“So you’re telling me these were all done by you? All by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“But how?”
She awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“I couldn’t get direct access to my back or shoulder, so I asked an old lady, who was famous for drawing tattoos in the back alley of Goldina. Frankly speaking, her hands were more reliable than mine.”
‘Tsk’
“……I’m amazed that you’re still alive after committing all this stupidity.”
“I know, I was stupid. I don’t know why I was like that. I don’t have the guts to do it now, even if someone asks me.”
“Was it that necessary?”
As she turned her head to a question that was out of context, her eyes widened. His face was much closer to hers.
“For him?”
“…..Serengueban?”
“Yeah.”
She was trying not to think about him. But maybe because he was one of the people with whom her past life was deeply involved and he was perhaps her first love, his name would just pop up whenever she talked about her past.
“Well…..it was….then.”
“Do you still miss him?”
‘Why are you asking me such stuff?’
“Of course not. That bastard was going to sell me in the market! If it wasn’t for you, Your Majesty, who gave me a chance, I don’t know where I’d be now…..”
“Do you want to go back to Goldina?”
‘Even if I wanted to, you wouldn’t give me permission. So why do you ask?’
She gave him a forced smile, like a service ambassador.
“No, thank you. I will bury my bones in this beautiful and safe empire ruled by His Majesty.”
He smiled at her remark.
His unexpected deep smile surprised her. It felt like her heart suddenly stopped beating.
***
The Emperor was talkative tonight. She thought it might be because he drank liquor while meeting the guests.
After she came back to her room, she thought over their conversation again as she took off her dress.
Now that he was not her master, but her future boss, she was bound to have a rumination about him.
Today was the strangest day of her life. He was the first man to stand up for her in a royal banquet hall. He even criticized the Empress Dowager.
And at the end, he called her to talk, not about his treatment, but about herself, and he even suggested her to study at her dream place with the goal of becoming his secretary.
‘A secretary.’
It was kind of heart-rending to hear it but it was worth it.
‘And the Academy!’
She couldn’t be happier. She was really going to a place where it was impossible for her to even step on the threshold.
A person should have expertise in everything. She was free from slavery, and she could do something that other people couldn’t. She would go to the academy.
She excitedly rushed to the small bathroom.
There were so many things she wanted to learn at the academy. She still remembered spending her time crouching down inside the bookstore of the back alley and reading many strange old books. Pharmacology, Magic, Politics, Economy, History, and many others that seemed interesting to her.
Reading alone was interesting in its own way. But the lessons would take place every day at the ivory tower. Fortunately, status was not an important issue for them, who only explored learning the truth.
She was so excited that she hummed while taking a shower. Now that she had adapted to this luxurious bathing facility, she’d feel sad to leave this place.
As she was rubbing foam on her arms, she stopped and stared at the engravings.
‘It doesn’t look good.’
It wasn’t creepy or anything, but compared to those smooth, flawless skin of so many women she had seen all this time, her skin was nothing like them, even if she had achieved such an ability.
But she didn’t care anyway. She didn’t want to date anyone again. She didn’t want to act like a woman but……be a better person to her colleagues, friends, and superiors.
She opened the tap of the shower, washing her head under it.
‘Let’s not think about such useless things. I should focus on my studies at the academy now so that my brother and I can eat delicious meals! I’ll buy a cheap house in the capital. The Emperor’s arrangement is good, but it’s better for me to buy one myself.’
She clenched her fist in the air, determined.
There were two changes from the very next day. She was immediately liberated from the various duties of a maid, and she earned free citizenship.
The royal servants, as well as even the free citizens, were shocked. The maids with whom she used to talk carelessly, seemed to hesitate to speak informally to her as they passed by her.
Among them, it was Luana who was closer to her and with whom she worked every day. Luana approached her to ask her about the banquet, but she was surprised when she heard the news belatedly.
“So you’re free from those duties starting from today?”
“I think so.”
“Wow….I knew this would happen.”
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