Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Her Identity
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Once he received the order from Lainen, Kashan immediately set out to find the genealogy of House Emari. If he could locate the family record, he’d know everything about its members.
“But no matter how I look at it, I’ve never heard of this house before…”
Mulling it over, he entered the family’s secret archive and searched for anything on House Emari. After sifting through thousands of noble lineages, he finally found it.
“It was there after all.”
He opened the book and meticulously noted every detail. Their title, the kingdom they hailed from, what they were known for.
“No way…”
House Emari had been a merchant family. But due to prolonged economic downturns and a catastrophic shipwreck, they’d gone bankrupt, and some wealthy merchant from another continent had bought up their name. Soon after, the house itself had vanished entirely.
And that had happened centuries ago. Kashan shot to his feet in shock, his hand trembling as he clutched the genealogy.
“A house that no longer exists?!”
How could this be? The ball had required an invitation to attend, and those invitations had been enchanted against forgery or impostors. They’d been rigorously checked at the entrance.
“No one on this continent can wield magic except His Imperial Majesty. So how…?”
Was there some artifact from past emperors that could fool it completely? If so, he would have known. The Remiachi family and the Intelligence Bureau gathered all intelligence on the continent.
But he’d never heard of anything like this. It was the first incident of its kind since he’d taken charge of the bureau.
“Young master, it’s the butler.”
“Come in.”
“Here are the documents you requested.”
Kashan had also ordered investigations into the shoemaker who supposedly made the glass slippers Canivela had dropped, the staff at Kasha’s where he’d met her with Lainen, and testimonies from anyone who might have had even fleeting contact with her.
“What is this…?”
The shoemaker swore he’d never made any glass slippers. And every single testimony matched: no one had ever seen her.
The more he read, the stonier his expression grew. A chill ran down his spine, accompanied by a sense of real danger.
A woman bearing the name of a house extinct for centuries, slipping past everyone unnoticed!
“No. I have to report this.”
He quickly changed into his uniform and barged into Lainen’s office. Fortunately, Lainen was alone.
“What brings you here?”
“We need to call off the search for this woman.”
“What are you talking about, barging in like that?”
“She showed up with the name of a house that vanished centuries ago, and she fooled even His Majesty’s magic. This is a serious threat to national security!”
“Explain.”
Biting his lip, Kashan laid it all out. House Emari had disappeared hundreds of years ago, and this woman bearing their name had bypassed imperial magic. She was dangerous.
“We have to stop. We need to figure out who she is and what her game is first!”
“I’ve already identified her.”
“What?”
Lainen handed Kashan an official dispatch from the Kingdom of Rasoni, along with a portrait. It was an urgent letter penned by Queen Muira herself.
[Name: Canivela Lu Rasoni
Height: 163 cm
Age: 18
Description: Curly golden hair reaching halfway down her back. Blue eyes. Was wearing a pink dress with a large yellow ribbon on the chest when she vanished.
Incident: Disappeared en route to an arranged marriage in the Kingdom of Lemius.
The Kingdom of Rasoni formally requests the cooperation of the Luminir Empire.
Queen Muira Lu Rasoni of Rasoni]
“What’s this?”
Kashan stared at the dispatch for a long moment before shouting.
“So that Maria Emari woman is Princess Canivela?”
“That’s right.”
Lainen gazed at the portrait of Canivela neatly placed on his desk. The girl in the painting looked to be in her early teens, but he remembered every detail about her. This was indeed Maria Emari—the one he’d fallen for—Princess Canivela.
“Then what’s her angle for coming here?”
Kashan still couldn’t shake his suspicions. Why would a princess from another kingdom suddenly show up in the empire? Disguised, no less?
“She vanished on her way to a marriage alliance, so she must have ended up here somehow.”
Lainen answered simply. Of course, questions remained about how she’d passed inspections and obtained an invitation to the palace, but he didn’t believe she harbored any malicious intent.
If that kiss had been an act, it didn’t add up. He dealt with countless people in his position and could usually tell truth from lies by their expressions.
“She probably had some kind of help.”
“Then we need to catch whoever aided her. Grill the woman, and something will come out!”
“Why would I grill my fiancée?”
“Hey, you’re talking about your fiancée in this situation? She’s a massive security threat!”
“Then we cover it up. And if she’s that much of a threat, isn’t it better for the empire if we keep her close?”
Kashan wanted to argue. This guy had lost his mind over a woman, planning to marry someone who could threaten the empire and keep her by his side. He wanted to yell that he was insane.
But flipping it around, he had a point. If she’d truly evaded imperial magic with some method, it made more sense to keep such a powerful figure under watch and control her.
“Then finding her comes first.”
“Exactly.”
Lainen smirked. The dispatch droned on about why they absolutely had to locate Canivela. But he had no intention of cooperating. It reeked of arrogance—a mere kingdom demanding aid from the empire.
Besides, above all else, she was his fiancée. Her place was by his side. He wouldn’t allow anywhere else.
As if he’d let them take her away!
“The issue is how to find her.”
“Why worry? She’s immune to His Majesty’s magic. Spread word across the empire that we need a shrine maiden from the temple who fits that description.”
Someone magic doesn’t work on. Use that to lure her out as a shrine maiden. Lainen thought it was a solid plan.
“And once you have her? You’re really going to marry her, like you said?”
“Of course.”
“You dragged her here by force, and now you say it’s all good? How do you plan to pull that off?”
“Leave that to me. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah, yeah, got it.”
Afterward, Lainen sent a formal request to the temple declaring her a shrine maiden. He detailed how they’d met and that she was immune to imperial magic, but omitted his feelings for her and her true identity.
The Pontiff found Lainen’s dispatch baffling but agreed to cooperate. If she was truly immune to “magic,” they couldn’t let her go anywhere else.
“Immune to magic, huh… We’ll have to bring her in.”
Still, requesting an oracle to anoint her as a shrine maiden was amusing. The Pontiff chuckled at the letter.
“His Highness the Crown Prince does stir up the most entertaining troubles.”
He couldn’t say if this was the god’s will, but for Lainen’s sake, he wanted to help. To the Pontiff, he was like a sore thumb—a son.
“Then I’ll grant that request.”
The next day, the Pontiff announced to the people that he’d received an oracle. Its contents were as follows.
A mysterious woman with golden hair and blue eyes has been chosen as the vessel of the gods. She shall conquer this continent!
The populace buzzed at the proclamation. Meanwhile, the imperial family offered a staggering bounty for her capture. The sum was so enormous it turned heads.
“With that much money, my family could live comfortably forever!”
“If we find that woman…!”
No one cared why the temple’s shrine maiden was being hunted by the palace. All they could think was that finding her would end their struggles.
After that, the people formed search parties for golden-haired women. Any woman with remotely similar hair or eyes was reported on sight. Lainen personally vetted the captives, reassured them, and paid the rewards.
But as the frenzy grew, blondes and blue-eyed folk hid in the shadows. With the empire in uproar, word reached even the emperor’s ears.
“I assume you know what you’ve done.”
“…”
“I know this oracle is fake. The Pontiff probably indulged you out of fondness.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I know what scheme you’re pulling. But stop this now. The matching citizens live in fear.”
“You once said that if I found someone I loved, you wouldn’t object to a marriage.”
“I did.”
“Then you know this is all to achieve that goal?”
The emperor knew everything. He’d been aware of Kashan’s investigation into “Maria Emari” but hadn’t interfered. Just like Kashan suspected, magic hadn’t worked on her.
As if someone were hiding her.
The emperor felt uneasy about this woman with unknown powers, but since it was Lainen’s choice—and aligned with his own judgment—he’d stayed silent and observed.
“Then I’ll give you a chance.”
For the first time, Lainen looked up to meet his father’s eyes.
“You have permission to search for her. But no more terrifying my subjects!”
“Yes, Father Emperor.”
Lainen now had the chance to search for Canivela himself. He was relieved.
“I’m off to find my bride.”
Kashan, approving documents in the Intelligence Bureau office, was so startled he snapped his fountain pen.
“W-what? His Majesty approved?”
“Yes. Pack up—we leave now. Keep the group small.”
That way, it’d be easier to handle later if they found her. An official search would complicate cleanup.
Kashan shook his head at the scheming. Then sheer absurdity hit him, and his jaw dropped.
“Wait, did I hear that right?”
The emperor removed his reading glasses. The empress entered with tea—exquisite as always. As they sipped, he grumbled about his son, who’d stormed out like a cold wind.
“Bah, that ungrateful boy. After so long apart, how can he be so icy?”
“His Highness knows Your Majesty’s doting nature all too well. That must be why.”
“You think so?”
“The prince is shy about affection. Your subtle displays must fluster him.”
“I’d like to believe that, but one look at his frosty face chases the thought away.”
The emperor bantered enjoyably with the empress. Meanwhile, Lainen, Kashan, and three elite guards from Erical galloped secretly out of the palace.