C141
I stayed at the door, watching Liena, who trembled in contemplation.
"Why, why is she here...?"
Liena, who couldn't even complete a single sentence, seemed to want to say this.
Why is Professor Ángela here?
To explain it, I had to go back in time.
Back to the day I had a "conversation" with Mikhail in the greenhouse.
After I mentioned the Empress's love, Mikhail simply listened to my story in silence.
He opened or played with the books I had studied as a child for a while, and at some point, he stood up without saying a word.
After seeing that his eyes were much clearer than before, I didn't stop his steps.
After Mikhail stumbled away, a man entered the greenhouse as if he had been waiting.
"Did I do it for nothing?"
Terence, who came to the pavilion, responded to my question.
"Why do you think that?"
"He has improved a lot, but the brainwashing of Prince Mikhail hasn't been completely resolved. Even though I poured all my divine power."
Probably, except for the three members of the Cassius family, Mikhail was the most influenced by Liena's blessing.
In the novel, isn't he the companion of Liena who swears eternal love to her?
I looked at the books lined up on the table and the paper Mikhail had written.
These were things I had prepared with the Empress's cooperation as ingredients that would resonate in his soul.
Indeed, the Empress was also imbued with Liena's divine power.
It's just that the amount was insignificant, and she distrusted Liena a lot, so it didn't turn her into a follower.
I had a conversation with the Empress about Liena and erased the divine power from her body.
And then, to free Mikhail, they planned today's matter by listening to the Empress's story about her childhood.
"I decided that it would be too late if the two of them got engaged."
Mikhail was a person who wouldn't abandon Liena once the engagement ceremony was held, even if it was out of a sense of responsibility.
Above all, the emperor was the problem.
Once Liena became engaged to Mikhail, whether because he wanted the dowry or because the engagement was announced, the emperor had to meet the person who would become his daughter-in-law.
"There is a high possibility that even His Majesty the Emperor will receive the blessing."
The reason why the emperor had withheld Liena's blessing until now was that he disliked Cassius so much that he ignored Mikhail's repeated attempts to arrange a meeting with him.
In a way, it can be said to be similar to Kais.
Indeed, if you look at "Return and Walk on a Path of Flowers," Liena couldn't have a meaningful conversation with the emperor until the latter half of the story.
Although she was the Cassius princess, she couldn't force herself to talk to the emperor if he didn't like her.
However, in the final chapter of the novel, even the emperor finally recognizes Liena, who saved the world from the clutches of the evil spirit.
It's an advantage that he regretted his mistake of daring to abandon his illegitimate son and turn him into a potential successor.
For us, the worst situation would be if the emperor fell into Liena's hands.
I can erase Liena's blessing, but it would be better to cut it off at the root before it becomes a problem.
So, I called Mikhail to the greenhouse...
"It hasn't been completely resolved yet, so I don't know if Liena will brainwash him again."
Terence smiled as he sat next to me.
"It will be fine. I heard that the divine beast also said that once caution is taken, it won't disappear easily."
Moreover, he said, looking at a piece of paper on the table.
It was something that young Mikhail wrote during the writing class.
"... I don't like it, but I think it's worth recognizing his desire to become a good emperor."
He seemed to have his own thoughts as well.
Indeed, Terence didn't oppose my plan to free Mikhail, but he didn't show much reluctance either.
It seemed that he thought there was no hope for Mikhail.
However, when the Empress gave Mikhail childhood items, he looked at them closely.
Suddenly, I became curious about the kind of relationship Terence and Mikhail had in Liena's previous life.
Of course, since they were a pair of legitimate and illegitimate children of the emperor, they couldn't have been normal and friendly brothers...
"It would have been better if it were the second round, where there was a bloody power struggle."
Perhaps, in reality, maybe they were just good brothers who didn't bother each other when they met face to face.
"Oh."
Then Terence looked at me and said.
"I received a call from your teacher."
"If it's my teacher... do you mean Miss Ángela?"
"Yes, she contacted me through my subordinate."
In the secure house where Angela stayed, her subordinates were always stationed to escort her.
"What's going on?"
"Well. She finally made a decision and asked me to tell you."
"A decision...
I had a supposition.
I visited Angela some time ago and asked her if I could reveal the truth to Duke Cassius.