Chapter 97: Give Me Back My Daughter
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: Give Me Back My Daughter
“If you don’t want to go back, Saintess, you don’t have to.”
“R-really?”
“Of course.”
As Melissa spoke in her usual gentle voice, Marianne looked visibly relieved. I tilted my head as I watched her.
Cedric aside, what on earth has Gloria been doing?
Cedric, the novel’s male lead, was such absolute trash in both personality and character that I never expected him to look after Marianne with any care. But Gloria was a surprise.
Didn’t Gloria cherish her daughter, Marianne, in the novel? And yet, she didn’t even know her daughter was being abused like this in the Temple?
I recalled Gloria’s shadowed, pitiful face.
Perhaps there were many things that never made it into the novel. After all, back when I was just a reader, I had no idea the Empress Dowager had made a contract with an Ancient Demon, nor did I know how hideous the Temple truly was.
“Saintess, stay with Dia.”
“Your Highness…”
“Hmm? You will, right?”
“Yes.”
Marianne, who had been staring blankly at my face, smiled through her tears. Then, she nodded.
“His Majesty said both of you should rest well today, so you don’t have to attend the ball. Shall we study while we play?”
“Yay!”
I answered immediately, as attending those nightly balls until late had been quite a burden.
For the time being, I definitely needed to keep Marianne hidden deep within the palace. Otherwise, there was no telling what the Empress Dowager and the Temple might do.
Honestly, shouldn’t they cancel the balls if the plague is this serious?
The South must be in total chaos by now, yet the nobles continued their extravagant balls every night. It was clear they were only pretending to be worried while not giving a damn about how many commoners were dying.
Dantalion was likely continuing them because stopping the balls would make the Imperial Family look unstable. Since he was commanding the plague response while also hosting these events, he must be busy day and night.
Anyway, what am I going to do about the plague? Seriously.
As the atmosphere in the room grew more cheerful, I fell back into my worries.
In order for Ilnes to identify and neutralize the Demon’s Poison, Nathaniel had to go to the southern plague zone himself.
It was too dangerous to send a young child to the South alone. But if I asked Dantalion to take Nathaniel, he would surely refuse. That meant I had to send Nathaniel secretly—ideally with a trustworthy adult.
Hmm?
My eyes darted around until they landed on Melissa, who was smiling brightly at Marianne.
Though she was currently hiding her identity, she was an incredibly powerful mage. In the novel, mages like her could use magical tools to travel vast distances in an instant.
If Melissa helped, wouldn’t Nathaniel and Ilnes be able to cross over to the South, resolve the poison, and return in no time?
Besides, Melissa was someone I could trust, so I wouldn’t mind leaving Nathaniel in her care.
The problem is how to explain it to Melissa and ask for her help…
Obviously, I couldn’t tell her directly. I’d have to have the demons approach and persuade her.
But what if the demons got exorcised by Melissa in the process? Dantalion had believed Dollens’s acting relatively easily because he was in a desperate situation, but Melissa wouldn’t be so simple.
“…Highness.”
“Mmm.”
“Imperial Princess?”
“Huh?”
Lost in thought, I hadn’t heard Melissa calling me.
Startled, I turned my head to find her looking at me with worried eyes.
“Are you very bored, Your Highness?”
“Oh, no.”
“Is it because you haven’t been able to sleep lately due to the balls?”
Muttering to herself, Melissa spoke briefly with Sophia before approaching me again.
“Your Highness, if you’re tired, would you like to go take a little nap?”
“Mhm.”
“Don’t worry about the Saintess.”
“Okay.”
Since I needed time to think anyway, I quickly agreed. I then pointed to Nathaniel, who was standing beside me.
“Niel needs to go night-night too.”
“I suppose so.”
Since I hadn’t had a detailed talk with Nathaniel yet, I took him with me into the bedroom.
After the demons cast a barrier around us, I turned to look at him.
“Hey, Niel.”
“Yeah.”
“Could you possibly go to the South? I mean…”
I explained the situation regarding the southern plague to Nathaniel. He answered immediately, without a hint of hesitation.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
“But it might be dangerous.”
“If Dia wants me to, I’ll go and fix it.”
Nathaniel spoke with such a confident tone. He usually seemed so vacant, but in moments like this, he appeared quite mature.
“It might be dangerous alone, so I want you to go with Miss Mel.”
“Hmm.”
At the mention of Melissa, Nathaniel looked slightly displeased. It was because they didn’t get along very well.
“You must never go alone, Niel. Got it?”
“…Fine.”
When I gave him a firm warning, Nathaniel nodded, albeit reluctantly. Now, I just had to persuade Melissa.
And that opportunity came sooner than expected.
*
A few days after Marianne began staying at the palace, Veronica—who had officially become the Empress—invited many people to her palace every day, as if engaging in a war of nerves with the Empress Dowager.
Then today, an uninvited guest arrived.
“Please, let me see Her Majesty the Empress.”
“It is impossible without Her Majesty’s permission.”
“Please! My daughter is in there!”
Hearing the commotion, I peeked out to see Gloria screaming, her appearance a mess.
The cry of a mother who had lost her child was sorrowful. However, I felt something unnatural about it.
She’s certainly well-dressed, though.
The dress Gloria wore was incredibly lavish. Now that she was the wife of a Marquis, such luxury was expected, but it didn’t suit Gloria’s image at all.
In the novel, she had accepted the position of the Marquis’s wife only because of Cedric’s coercion, and she had always exuded a frail, sorrowful aura.
Her current image was so mismatched that if her face hadn’t been identical to Gloria’s, I wouldn’t have thought it was her.
“Your Highness, what are you doing here…? Mother?”
“Mari!”
Marianne, who had come out to find me, spotted Gloria and her eyes widened. Gloria also saw Marianne and tried to rush toward us.
“You cannot enter.”
“Move! I said move!”
The attention of the onlookers began to focus on the heated struggle between Gloria and the knights guarding the palace. Just as I was feeling flustered and unsure of what to do—
“What is going on here?”
“Y-Your Majesty, that is…”
Veronica asked as she walked out gracefully. The knight who saw her quickly bowed his head.
Naturally stepping in front of Marianne and me, Veronica turned her gaze toward Gloria.
“Marchioness Lionel, what is the meaning of this disturbance?”
“…I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”
Biting her lip, Gloria offered a polite greeting to Veronica. It seemed she, too, had received etiquette training from someone.
“Your Majesty, please, give me back my daughter.”
Gloria looked up and spoke in a desperate tone. After staring at her for a moment, Veronica spoke.
“Let us go inside and talk.”
“Your Majesty!”
“Send the children back to their room.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
At Veronica’s command, the knights approached Marianne and me. Gloria tried to lung toward Marianne again, but she was blocked by the knights.
“Mari?”
“…”
Furthermore, Marianne was avoiding Gloria, looking away in discomfort. I squeezed Marianne’s hand tightly.
“She’s going to stay with Dia.”
“…!”
“She said she doesn’t want to be something like a Saintess.”
“Ah…”
Gloria staggered as if she had been struck.
Regardless, I took the silent Marianne back to the room.
What was she trying to achieve by coming here now? She had done nothing while Marianne was suffering like that.
I couldn’t understand how she had the nerve to come and claim her so boldly. Did Gloria even know about the scars on Marianne’s arms and legs? A sigh escaped me.
“Your Highness…”
“It’s okay. You can stay here.”
“Yes.”
Marianne answered weakly, her face devoid of color. She seemed shaken by the unexpected encounter with Gloria.
While I comforted her, I focused my attention elsewhere—specifically, on the conversation between Gloria and Veronica. I used a demon to eavesdrop on their voices.