Chapter 135
Chapter 135
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Everyone Has Secrets
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No matter how far away they were, Zero could communicate with her doppelgangers connected to her.
Not as intensely as when they were close, but faintly, ever so faintly.
‘Do normal people each carry one secret through life?’
She knew that her minions, who had been gathered in one place by someone’s command, were now scattered across the continent.
And that Adelrian hadn’t noticed yet.
In that process, she could tell they had accepted the before and after—not out of resentment or other negative emotions, but as if it had always been meant to be that way. None of it had been forced.
‘If everyone carries at least one secret.’
Then didn’t that make her a fine ‘person’ already?
Zero lay on her bed, lost in thought.
The elves she’d met in the spirit forest.
Along with Bahadi, she had waited an incredibly long time, drinking countless cups of Gamur’s blood and awakening repeatedly with his blood and the mana from the starlight spring.
Her essence as Zero had begun to crack bit by bit.
In the end, the featureless brown-haired form she’d been patched together into had peeled away and risen, restoring her to this ashen-haired self with jewel-like eyes.
Fragments of memory, not all but some, had returned.
A small piece allowing her to faintly guess why she’d been trapped in that labyrinth.
And.
‘I’m not a monster.’
Zero now had some inkling of just how great an evil her existence was.
Yet thanks to Adelrian, who carried her around without a care, it was still okay for now.
Everyone in this party carried one secret each.
They might not show it, but after all the time spent together, they all had their suspicions.
Why Rachel pretended to be a martial artist, unable to separate her mana from her body.
Why Lif had stayed in that floating fortress for over a thousand years, and why only pure-blooded humans could enter it.
Why Zero herself had been trapped in that labyrinth.
Why Kain, who despised humans so much, followed Adelrian in saving them.
And how Luna, not human, understood Lif’s words.
Things like that.
If they’d met in different places, separately.
Some might have become enemies, others might have merely brushed past.
‘The cramped prison in that labyrinth was nothing compared to now. This is more fun.’
There hadn’t been much danger, but it hadn’t felt like living.
So even if it meant a little danger, she prayed to stay like this.
* * *
“Have you packed everything?”
“Of course.”
Luna fidgeted, smoothing out the clothes I’d just straightened, doing it again herself.
“If something happens…”
“Yeah. Scream?”
I smirked at Rachel’s words and replied.
“I’ll still be near the palace anyway.”
“The palace is so huge it doesn’t count.”
I shrugged at Zero’s remark.
—Administrator. Have a safe trip.
“Don’t worry.”
I gestured firmly at Kain, who eyed me with distrust, telling him in no uncertain terms not to follow, then left the room.
“You can ride here.”
A common carriage. Except the windows were sealed with wooden panels, and the door I grabbed to climb in felt unusually sturdy.
‘The capital feels so bleak.’
I’d received a few invitations since coming here, but they always sent a carriage.
It felt less like courtesy and more like them trying to control the situation.
Most were shady gatherings pretending to be formal social events anyway.
‘Not like I don’t know where I’m headed.’
The First Princess rarely left the palace, and dragging me to some secret mansion would just expose its existence—no gain there. Destination had to be the palace.
But taking the long way around.
‘Means there’s that much dirt to hide.’
I stared at the window I couldn’t see through for a while. The carriage slowed, then stopped, and the door opened.
Not the main palace gate—some side entrance, no inspection. In the distance loomed the main keep, with fountains, gardens, and a relatively small inner castle in between.
“This way.”
A maid with her hair pulled back so tightly it made her face look severe guided me coldly, as if leaving nothing to chance.
‘Being alone makes it a bit eerie.’
I lightly touched Aegis in my coat pocket with my fingertips and followed.
Sunlight poured through bright windows onto warm-toned furnishings. Anyone would call it cozy.
‘But no people.’
Not a single maid in sight.
No guards on duty either.
Maids or butlers could be dismissed temporarily, but escorts? They doubled as visual intimidation and protected imperial safety.
‘Shadow guards hidden from view, sure. But dead silent like this?’
That implied a few things.
No need for people to guard it.
Or they didn’t want anyone knowing I’d come.
‘If it’s the latter, can I handle the kids’ nagging?’
Nah, no way. She’s royalty; not that petty.
I’d start with talk anyway.
At the corridor’s end, a door carved with angels and fruit trees opened. Inside, in a spacious living room with fluttering white curtains, Ceria sipped tea ahead of me.
“Welcome, Sir Adelrian.”
“I greet First Princess Ceria.”
My curt greeting made the maid beside me clear her throat.
Did I need to drone on with ‘flower of the empire’ this and ‘wise and beautiful’ that?
‘She’s pretty, sure.’
Ignoring the maid’s subtle reprimand, I grinned. Ceria, unperturbed, gestured to the seat before her.
“Honored to receive such a secretive invitation?”
“Hehe, jokes. You don’t look honored at all.”
“Caught me.”
I chuckled, met her gaze over my tea—unworried about poison—and took a sip.
‘User’s Eyes.’
[Seira von Taiteria—Secret Schemer]
Representative Traits: [Diligence (B+)] [Shadow (B)]
Hidden Traits: [Gluttony (C)] [Addiction (E)]
Sealed Traits: [Sealed (SS)] [Arrogance (S)] [Cruelty (A)]
As expected.
I could see why Ceria acted that way in the original story.
That addiction was the issue.
Part of me wanted to snap back, but on the surface, she was the empire’s exalted First Princess—gentle demeanor, modest traits, yet the top candidate for emperor.
I was just a damn wastrel.
I opened humbly.
“So, Your Highness. Why summon this humble one today?”
“Because I was curious about you.”
Ceria covered her mouth with one hand, smiling with slightly narrowed eyes.
Wavy honey-blonde hair shimmering like waves, eyes like carved amethyst.
Cheeks and fingertips faintly rose-tinted, angelic as in a masterpiece painting.
‘Doesn’t work on me.’
“Then I’ll have this tea and go?”
“Such impatience.”
She lowered her eyes slightly; light shattered in those honeyed irises. I sipped my tea, unmoved.
“About what’s hitting the capital soon.”
Prodding a few times with no big reaction from me, she seemed bored and cut to the chase.
“Ah, that. Why?”
She eyed me reproachfully, like why pretend you don’t know. Whatever.
If you’re so aggrieved, become my favorite. I’d have pushed with all I had.
My nonchalant response hardened her once-bright smile.
“How about discussing that siren stake with me?”
“I’ve already partnered with someone from the imperial family.”
I smirked, as if she were too lofty to meet. Her calm gaze fixed on me.
“Who?”
“Prince Shahad.”
No contract yet, but I sold him out preemptively.
He’d handle the fallout in exchange for unsealing those traits.
“Shahad? Wouldn’t I be better than Shahad?”
Her wide-eyed confusion made me counter.
“What can you offer, First Princess?”
Distribution? The Krugers’ trading company was the continent’s largest.
Investment? The Krugers were the richest single house, rivaling the imperial treasury.
Sales channels? Commerce was the family business.
“If the emperor orders partnering with an imperial, isn’t a stable one better than an unstable prince?”
My provocation—what can you do?—irritated her; she dropped the formal speech.
But.
I hadn’t planned to act cocky.
Why was I being so contrary?
Sure, I played the wastrel publicly, but I hadn’t meant to poke at royalty.
Didn’t want unnecessary trouble.
So someone must have schemed.
Magic? Buoyancy would block it.
Incense? Not like the last masked ball’s aphrodisiac; no instant effect.
My gaze fell on the teacup.
Direct mental magic? Buoyancy covered most.
Inhaled scents? Some resistance, somehow.
But ingested? Different. If buoyancy blocked that, I couldn’t drink potions.
Not poison—the small subspace ring had minor addiction resistance enchantment, unlike my Kruger ring.
So, no poison, but something to nudge toward her desired outcome?
I twisted my lips into a smirk.
That’s how it goes. You don’t feel pain until you notice the wound.
Once aware, the effects hit harder.
I suppressed the urge to mock her, forcing a grating smile.
Who does she think she’s toying with?
“What you say is reasonable, Princess. Highest in succession among residing royals, ties to key figures—you’re the sturdiest backer.”
Yeah, let’s play. See if I’ll give you what you want.
I took a breath and added,
“That’s exactly the biggest reason I won’t partner with you.”
“…Why? I don’t understand.”
Staring straight into her eyes, I grinned idiotically, then crooked thumb and forefinger into a coin shape and shook it.
“It shrinks my slice of the pie, Princess. This is a big deal, right?”
Blame the drug for seeming impulsive. But really, like I lack authority as a non-power-player.
Make me seem like a puppet, shield, mere messenger.
Fight a shadow power, Ceria.
“What if I guarantee you that much, Sir Adelrian?”
“Ah, that’s not something I can decide freely… Ahem, it’s tricky. You know? Backing out of a done deal isn’t easy. I plan to go with Prince Shahad.”
“Think it over carefully when you get back?”
“It’s already decided.”
I smiled like, what can you do? You’ll long-distance comm Kaiman or whatever.
Plus, I hadn’t explicitly praised Kaiman; ambiguous enough—no hook.
Her arrogance probably hoped the drug would make me slip and lunge.
Beg if you want alliance, that childish impulse.
Win-win if it works; no loss if not.
‘But it pisses me off.’
“…Is it your father, Grand Duke Kaiman’s will?”
“I wouldn’t know, but I’ve decided on Prince Shahad.”
Parrot me. Shameless.
My weak smile prompted her to stare, then speak.
“From what I know, Grand Duke Kaiman hasn’t shown himself in ages.”
If I keep you, will he contact?
Her whispering implication made me blink at her.
“Stay with me a couple months? Might the Krugers reach out?”
“Gotta go that far? Isn’t that confinement?”
She beamed, clapped.
“Confinement? If you’re happy, it’s fine.”
Right? She gestured, and someone grabbed me from behind, clamping my mouth.
In that instant, flashing through my mind wasn’t ‘I fell for it!’ or ‘Danger!’
It was the others’ nagging.
Ah, screwed.