It's a Total Jackpot!
“Huh…? What is this?”
Inside the box lay a scrap of paper.
“Could it be a dud…?”
Fearing it might be a complete miss, I reached out with trembling hands toward the slip.
Description: A treasure map that reveals the location of heroines from the original story.
Effect: Establishes an encounter with a heroine. Heroine acquisition possible.
Price: 750,000 pt
“Hah… hah…!”
An item 7.5 times more expensive than the Author’s Setting Compendium I had wanted so badly had just appeared.
“Jackpot! It’s a total jackpot, it is!”
I hurriedly unfolded the Treasure Map of Fate.
As expected, the name matched its purpose perfectly.
The map showed the Barshain territories, with a star marking one specific point.
The location is… Gray Garden?
It was a place name that had never been mentioned even once in the prologue.
“Hmm… I shall have to ask His Majesty about it tomorrow.”
I set my precious 750,000-point treasure beside my pillow and burrowed beneath the blankets.
“Haa… This is paradise… indeed…”
Deep in the night, when everyone else was asleep, the same was true for Calian.
“Lu… Lucia…”
Tears glistened at the corners of Calian’s eyes.
The usual image of a tyrant was nowhere to be seen; in its place lay an ordinary man murmuring in his sleep.
This was what Calian looked like while sleeping.
For the past ten years, Calian had been tormented by nightmares every single night.
Ever since he lost his wife, Lucia Florence.
“Don’t leave me behind…!”
Calian sat up within the nightmare.
“Ha… What a disgrace for the Emperor of the Empire…”
It had already been a full decade.
He had even confided in the minister who had served him the longest.
Minister, I keep having the same dream… A terribly sad… and painful one.
Your Majesty, they say time heals all wounds. In time, you will surely forget.
Even now, years later, Calian still could not break free of the past.
Iris Barshain, the daughter he cherished above all else.
Lucia, the woman Calian had loved then and still loved now.
Iris was their only child.
That beloved wife of his had—
Calian… I’m sorry…
Lucia… Please, open your eyes…!
—died barely a week after giving birth to Iris.
“…Tonight, I feel like sleeping beside Iris for the first time in a long while.”
It wasn’t only because she was his beloved daughter.
The older she grows, the more she resembles Lucia.
His wife’s face began to overlap with hers.
Around the time Lucia drew her last breath, Calian had hated Iris with a passion.
If I had never fathered you, Lucia would not have died.
Why did you hide a disaster beneath the gift called a blessing?
Until Iris turned five, Calian had pretended not to see her even when she stood before him.
Whether she was toddling down the corridors or enjoying tea time with the maids in the garden while he rushed past on urgent business, Calian refused to look.
Simply meeting her eyes caused an ache deep in his chest.
One day, while Calian was reviewing documents in his office—
“P-Princess! You mustn’t go in there…!”
Young Iris had opened the door to his office and stepped inside.
“Da… ddy? Daddy!”
Calling out for her father, the little girl ran straight into Calian’s arms.
“Y-Your Majesty… I have committed a grave offense… Please show mercy…!”
The maid who had followed her kept bowing her head repeatedly.
“It is fine. Leave us for a moment.”
The maid tried to take Iris away.
“I misspoke. Leave Iris here and go.”
“U-Understood…!”
Once the maid had withdrawn, only Iris and Calian remained in the quiet office.
“Daddy! Play with me!”
“Heh heh, you rascal. All right—what shall we play?”
“Dolls!”
A single tear, then another, slipped from the corners of Calian’s eyes.
“Daddy, are you crying?”
“It is nothing…! Merely some dust in my eye, that is all!”
Calian regretted it from the bottom of his heart.
The fact that he had ignored such a lovely daughter for the past five years.
A daughter who was the spitting image of the wife he had adored so deeply.
A wave of self-loathing crashed over him.
From now on, I will devote everything I have to my one and only Iris.
And so Calian’s stubbornness finally came to an end after five long years.
“Those old memories are coming back to me.”
Calian walked briskly toward the room where Iris slept.
For a sword master like him, moving without a sound was basic courtesy.
Before long he stood before her door.
Carefully, gently, he opened it.
“Even in sleep the child looks exactly like Lucia.”
Calian approached Iris.
“Grow up healthy and without pain, my beloved daughter.”
He kissed her forehead, then slipped out of the room.
“Yawn… What a refreshingly pleasant morning, it is!”
I quickly retrieved the Treasure Map of Fate I had used as a pillow the night before.
My immediate priority was to meet Calian and obtain information about Gray Garden.
However, there was one tiny problem.
“Just where is His Majesty, I wonder?”
I had no idea where Calian’s office was located.
I left the room intending to ask one of the maids.
As expected, quite a few maids were patrolling the corridors.
I singled out one who had not yet greeted me, ignoring the others who bowed as I passed.
“Faithful servant of the empire, answer this princess’s question.”
That was the automatically corrected version of simply asking for directions.
I worried the slightly arrogant tone might startle her, but the moment the maid saw me her face brightened with a wide smile.
“Oh my, Princess! Your manner of speech suits you perfectly! Is it His Majesty’s influence?”
She immediately began stroking my hair.
My body reacted on instinct, slapping the back of her hand.
“Cease your jesting and answer my question.”
“…I’m sorry. What would you like to know?”
The maid rubbed the spot I had struck.
No, I didn’t have to hit her…!
Once again I realized just how exhausting the Tyrant’s Majesty skill truly was.
“Guide me to where His Majesty is.”
“Yes, Princess.”
The maid did not utter another word until we reached our destination.
The silence was so awkward I thought I would lose my mind.
I spoke first.
“…Is the hand I struck earlier all right?”
“Pardon? Oh, of course! It doesn’t hurt at all. I was the one who overstepped my bounds. I am reflecting on it even now.”
Her calm response only made my guilt grow heavier, yet—
I can’t even offer a sincere apology because of this cursed Tyrant’s Majesty!
It seemed the skill automatically corrected any speech that was not sufficiently noble the moment it tried to leave my lips.
In that case, if I deliberately use lofty speech from the start, will the skill still correct it?
Practicing inside my room would have been easier, but after reading countless romance-fantasy and possession stories, employing regal speech was child’s play for me.
It was worth attempting at least once.
“This princess did not truly mean it. I was merely a little startled… I hope you will not take it to heart.”
The result was an overwhelming success.
Whoa, that was a huge step forward.
The maid looked genuinely surprised by my apology.
Soon a gentle smile curved her lips.
“Hehe. Understood.”
After walking a little farther, the maid’s steps halted.
“We have arrived. I shall take my leave to attend to my duties.”
“I shall not forget this kindness.”
After dismissing the maid, I knocked three times.
Though I was a princess, I could not simply barge into the Emperor’s office.
“Daddy, it is me—Iris.”
“Enter!”
When I opened the door to Calian’s office, a female knight stood beside him like a block of ice, guarding him with a chilling aura.
She possessed long crimson hair and green eyes, with the appearance of a sleek cat.
Merely sharing the same space made the air feel oppressively heavy.
“I was just about to summon you, yet it seems my daughter has stolen the initiative.”
“Today of all days, I missed Daddy terribly!”
“Kuh…! Come here, my daughter!”
Calian ruffled my hair with rough affection.
“Ugh… Daddy, you are ruining my hair…!”
“It is fine! My daughter is an unparalleled beauty whenever I look upon her!”
In the middle of the vigorous head-patting—
“Your Majesty, should you not be providing the Princess with an explanation?”
The knight delivered a pointed remark to the clearly delighted Calian.
I recalled how the elderly minister had rebuked him in the state council chamber yesterday.
Calian had looked ready to execute the man on the spot.
As I stood there, unsure whether the same scene would repeat itself—
“Haha! Look at me, losing my senses again! To always show such a disgraceful side the moment I meet my daughter… It seems I still have a long road ahead.”
Hmm…?
Normally Calian would have snarled something like Have you gone mad, wishing for death?
Instead he was laughing and gently reproaching himself.
The difference from yesterday left me inwardly tense.
There is no way a person can change overnight!
“Daughter, this is Roclair, the sword master who will protect you from today onward. She is also my sparring partner.”
The moment Calian finished speaking, Roclair lowered herself into a respectful bow.
“My name is Roclair. From this day forward, I shall be the Princess’s sword.”
“Well met, Roclair. I look forward to your service.”
After greeting Roclair, I turned to the main topic with Calian.
The whole reason I came was to say I want to visit Gray Garden.
“Daddy! There is a place I wish to go… May I?”
“Anywhere my daughter desires to go, I shall send her without question! Tell me where!”
“Gray Garden!”
At the words Gray Garden, both their expressions darkened at once.
Had I uttered some taboo I should never have spoken…?