The Emperor's Adopted Daughter
“Raise your heads. There’s no need to be so stiff with formalities.”
The voice, softer and more dignified than I had expected, resonated against the high ceiling of the audience chamber. When I lifted my head, Emperor Haley had already descended from the lofty throne and was walking toward a luxurious leather sofa prepared along one side of the room. She sat with elegant grace, then gave a light wave to us as we stood there, flustered.
“Don’t linger so far away. Come closer and sit. The road to the capital must have been difficult. It can’t have been easy for young ladies like you.”
Following the knight commander’s guidance, we cautiously settled onto the sofa opposite the Emperor. Up close, Haley’s face was exactly as the novel had described—marked by clear signs of illness. Her skin was pale as parchment, and deep shadows of exhaustion clung beneath her eyes like hard-won medals. The faint tremor threading through her occasional breaths hinted that her life force was slowly being whittled away. Yet her golden eyes still burned with a lion’s piercing intensity, cutting straight through us.
“Ah, Commander, you may leave us.”
At the Emperor’s order, the commander bowed once to her and once to Psyche before withdrawing from the audience chamber. With only the three of us remaining, Haley let out a soft hum, as though deciding where to begin. Soon she smiled, her mind apparently made up.
“I’ve received the commander’s report. So you are the Saintess’s guardian?”
Her gaze settled on me. Black hair, black eyes—an utterly ordinary woman with neither magic nor sword energy to speak of. It must have looked strange, seeing me seated beside the empire’s sole hope: the silver-haired Saintess.
“Yes, Your Majesty. My name is Roen.”
“I see, Roen. Outwardly, the age difference between you two doesn’t appear all that great… but what is your exact relationship?”
The purpose of the question was obvious. She wanted to determine whether we were bound by blood or by some calculated interest. Before I could answer, Psyche squeezed my hand tighter and stared directly at the Emperor.
“She is the most precious person in the world to me. My one and only older sister.”
The Emperor studied Psyche’s eyes and our clasped hands, then gave a small nod as if she had inferred something. Suspiciously close sisters, parents who were never seen. She must have sensed that our family ties were less than harmonious. With the consideration befitting a ruler, she chose not to probe our past any further.
“I understand. Then let us move to the main topic. As you both know, Psyche has become a vital asset to the empire from the moment she awakened her power as the Saintess.”
She was laying groundwork for something. A flicker of unease stirred inside me. I nodded and asked, “Yes… So what will happen to Psyche now?”
The Emperor slowly set down her teacup. The soft clink against the saucer sounded strangely loud in the quiet chamber.
“Psyche will enter the Great Temple. There she will receive systematic education and learn to wield her latent divine power with the efficiency needed to confront the Demon King.”
Psyche grabbed my sleeve in a panic and pressed the Emperor. “Then what about my sister? She’s coming to the temple with me, right? Isn’t that correct, Your Majesty?”
Instead of replying, the Emperor produced a single transparent crystal orb from beneath the table. A mysterious blue light swirled within it like mist.
A mystical artifact that reacts to divine power.
No response detected from Roen.
“Roen, place your hand on this, if you would.”
I obeyed, though I didn’t understand why. The cold glass pressed against my palm. Time passed, yet the orb remained completely inert.
“Ah… as I thought.”
The Emperor wore a troubled expression, as if this outcome had caught her off guard, and released a long sigh. “This is a resonance orb that reacts to divine power. As you can see, there is no response from you. Roen, I am sorry, but I sense not even a single grain of holy power within you.”
Of course. I had no talent for anything after all.
“I expected as much… but does that affect entry to the temple?”
“It affects everything. The temple’s barrier completely rejects anyone without divine power. By regulation, ordinary people lacking holy energy cannot be permitted inside.”
The Emperor’s words were brutally final. Psyche shot to her feet. Tears welled in her eyes in an instant.
“No… Then I won’t go either! If I have to be separated from my sister, I don’t want to be a Saintess at all! Your Majesty, please. I can’t do this without her…!”
Psyche’s cry rang through the audience chamber. The Emperor’s face showed regret, yet her golden eyes remained resolute. With a look of utter despair, Psyche turned to me and buried herself in my arms.
“I finally became the Saintess… I thought I could finally make my sister happy… What is this? This can’t be right…”
Her tears soaked my shoulder. My own chest felt as if it were being ripped apart. Yet Psyche had to go to the Great Temple. She needed to train there, to gain the strength that would prevent the empire’s ruin and defeat the Demon King.
The Emperor, who had been quietly watching, finally spoke.
“Saintess, do you wish to make your sister happy?”
Psyche gave a tiny nod.
“Then simply staying together is not the only way.”
With clear determination, the Emperor turned to me. A new light flickered in her golden eyes.
“Roen, how would you feel about becoming my adopted daughter?”
Both Psyche’s and my eyes widened at once. The Emperor’s adopted daughter?
“If I adopt you and bestow upon you the status of an imperial princess, you will be able to live in the safest and most abundant conditions within this palace.”
The Emperor looked back at Psyche, seeking to persuade her. “Psyche, I will make your sister the most precious person in the entire empire. So will you trust me and go to the temple?”
The proposal was extraordinary. It was closer to a desperate plea than an offer—the Emperor’s final gambit to send Psyche to the Great Temple.
I rapidly assessed the situation in my mind. Becoming the Emperor’s daughter? This was far more than a simple rise in status. It would grant me far easier access to the empire’s hidden information, concealed treasures, and the fateful opportunities that the original protagonist Kael was meant to claim. Moreover, it was the single best position from which to protect Emperor Haley, who would otherwise die miserably to poison.
This was a golden opportunity. For Psyche’s sake, and for my own goals. The only drawback was the separation from Psyche; otherwise the conditions were perfect.
“Sister…”
Psyche clutched my sleeve with an expression that said she had no idea what to do. I gently enveloped her trembling hand in both of mine.
“Is this truly all right? Even if you take me as your adopted daughter?”
The Emperor smiled and answered firmly. “Yes. And it is not only for your benefit. The ministers have been hounding me to produce an heir regardless.”
‘…An heir.’
Because she belonged to the dragon race, she possessed a long lifespan and had no need to hurry. Yet the ministers pressed her in order to stabilize the shaky imperial authority. In the original story, her brother—high in the line of succession—had poisoned her precisely because she lacked a successor. If I became her adopted daughter, it would be a win-win for everyone involved.
“And… Roen, I find myself strangely fond of you.”
The Emperor’s slightly bashful smile as she said this only strengthened my conviction. Becoming her adopted daughter was the correct choice. Psyche seemed to feel the same; she spoke with firm resolve.
“Sister. Only until I become strong. Only until I return from the temple… let’s be apart. I think that would bring you greater happiness.”
“…”
For Psyche, who hated being separated from me even for a moment, this decision must have required enormous courage. How admirable. The image of her as a small child overlapped with the girl before me. I carefully stroked her hair.
“Then it is decided? Saintess, and Roen?”
Psyche looked at the Emperor with solemn eyes. “…Yes. You must treat my sister well. Without fail.”
The Emperor nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “I will handle the adoption procedures. The two of you should prepare for your parting by tomorrow.”
Tomorrow…? Although we had resolved to separate for a time, the thought that it would happen immediately tomorrow still made my heart ache.
“I am sorry, but even a single day sooner increases our chances of victory against the Demon King.”
Still, this was too abrupt. When I glanced at Psyche beside me, her face already showed the quiet strength of someone who had made up her mind.
“I will take my leave. The maids will show you to your rooms.”
With those words, the Emperor departed the audience chamber. The moment she left, a group of maids entered and guided us to a room deep within the imperial palace.
“Please rest comfortably.”
When I came back to myself, only the two of us remained in the quiet room. Wanting to ease the heavy atmosphere, I teased Psyche with a joke.
“Psyche, since it’s our last night, shall we bathe together?”
I hadn’t actually expected her to agree. For some time now she had been avoiding bathing with me.
“Yes, let’s bathe together, sister.”
“Huh?”