Chapter 38

“I have nothing to say. Y, you can’t say anything like blind passion!”

Dietrich, whose face turned red, looked around in embarrassment when no one was watching. 

Luce spoke more naturally.

“What’s wrong with blind passion? Is that a bad word?”

“O, of course!” 

“Isn’t that a term used to refer to romance novels like burning passion novels?” 

Dietrich’s face, which had been flushed to the fullest, suddenly cooled down.

Yeah, what did this kid know to say? She probably said that because she heard someone else say it. 

Looking at Dietrich’s face as if he had given up, Luce thanked Angel for a moment, who said it was a marriage between pretty and handsome people. 

“Anyway, I’m curious about the sad love story. Even if you reject and hate the person you accidentally married at first, your body… no, it’s because their hearts match so well that they end up falling in love. But because our relationship was so bad, I thought I must really, really hate that girl because every time I saw her, my heart would race!” 

‘Can you mistake hating and loving without knowing other things? I think a tyrant was described as a very intelligent person, but isn’t he actually a fool?’

“Then, due to a misunderstanding, the relationship ended in confrontation. Even though we fight each other with sharp blades, somehow my heart hurts when I see the back of the woman crying and walking away!” 

‘Don’t you have to know by now? That’s love, Emperor.’ 

“When misunderstandings pile up and it becomes an irreversible relationship, you only realize it after killing everyone, including the woman, due to unavoidable circumstances. Oh, I mean, that was love. But when you look around, there will be nothing left.” 

‘I don’t know the contents of Volume 3, so I roughly guessed it through the comments and hit it right, but this must be true, right? There is a shocking ending to such a story.’

“It’s so sad and heartbreaking to be a lonely Emperor on a lonely throne.”

Dietrich, who was stuttering and listening to Luce, said thoughtfully.

“I should probably tell Aunt Chelsea that she needs to crack down on the books you read. Where the hell are those dark and sticky novels… Ugh. Do children’s storybooks come out like that these days? Is that fun?”

“First of all, I’m not a kid, and of course it’s fun. It’s fun because adults can’t read it.”

Luce winked and mouthed, “It’s a secret from mom.”

“But since novels are also based on true stories, it must be a story based on them. After reading it, I wondered if such an incident actually happened, so I asked. Brother know a little bit about history.”

She thought it was a pretty good reason.

It wasn’t worth talking about romance with a focus on it, so she did a bit of building up with a love story because she didn’t want to ask, ‘Is there a case where the emperor went crazy and killed everyone?’. 

Of course, Luce had been looking for history books since she started keeping a diary.

‘But there’s no way that the Imperial family’s secret story is in the history books that the entire nation can see.’

Moreover, the history books of this country somehow didn’t specify the exact names of the members of the imperial family.

It seemed to be because no one would dare say the names of the members of the sacred imperial family. 

This strange story also seems to depend on something else.

‘It must mean that history books are subject to prior censorship. Members of the imperial family can change the contents to their liking. So at least, I can’t believe the stories about the people of the imperial family in the history books straight away. I don’t know if it’s the words of people who studied other than books. Yes, someone like Dietrich.’ 

The main character’s name was “A,” so if she only knew the name, it would narrow the scope, which was unfortunate for Luce.

‘Thanks to it, I was so confused when I read it. There is no yearbook and no list of characters, so I have no choice but to guess. Ah, if I knew this was going to happen, I would have read the description of what was in front of me instead of just reading the scene.’ 

But there was Dietrich, who majored in history, so if he answered correctly, she might have had a better helper than books.

Luce, who raised her head with a hopeful expression, looked around at the sound of the fishing rod’s reel being wound. What, is he already done fishing?

“Ack!”

Dietrich wrapped Luce’s neck around his forearm.

“You, if I tell you, you will try to find another book like that!”

“No! No! It’s just because I’m so curious!”

“As the older brother, it’s my obligation to keep my younger sister on the right path!” 

“There is no such duty! Besides, you’re not even my real brother!”

“…I, I’m not your real brother, but.” 

“I told the truth, why are you so sad?!”

Ah, how is this different from Angel, whom Franz captured? 

Luce, who was hanging around his side by the back of her neck, had a tearful expression on her face.

*****

【Wizard】

Only when Luce got home was she freed from Dietrich’s belt.

Dietrich seemed to think she had read a strange romance novel and asked because she wanted to read more similar novels.

In the end, he didn’t tell her at all but instead gave me a clue.

“It’s a story that doesn’t make sense in the first place. Murder is not allowed in the imperial palace. It’s because of the ancient magic.”

“Ah, so the Emperor won’t even punish his vassals?”

“Ah, of course they can kill a vassal! Even though vassals are fine, they say that people who inherit imperial blood cannot harm each other. There’s ancient magic in it, so you can’t see blood in it. Don’t say anything weird, and go to sleep! If you’re a kid, you should read a fairy tale like a fairy! If you ask me about that one more time, I’ll tell Aunt Chelsea!” 

‘It’s such a headache that it’s called ancient magic.’

Luce, who was underlining the last sentence, pressed her temples.

‘Then how did the Emperor in the novel kill all the people?’

It’s strange, no matter how she thinks about it. 

Dietrich is a historian. A historian rather than an officer.

So he wasn’t the one who saw the imperial family’s every move, he was just a person who studied the stories handed down in the literature.

Could there be an error in what he knows?

Or maybe Dietrich, who thought that Luce was interested in strange novels, was lying, but she was worried that he was too confident in his tone. 

Luce nodded her head as she flipped through the notebook where she had written down the clues. 

‘Well, there are many possibilities. Because this is a romance fantasy. It could be that the Emperor has managed to trick the ancient magic through the contract with the Wizard so that it doesn’t only work on him, or it could have been possible because the ancient magic weakened after many Wizards died.’ 

Radanum was said to be the last wizard.

So, it could be a different person than the wizard who cast the ancient magic. 

‘If that’s the case, the Emperor wouldn’t have needed to correct the known facts. They can’t kill him anyway, so he can catch them all at once and kill them.’ 

He’ll have to pretend he doesn’t have a weapon if he’s going to stab people in the back.

‘There are still things you can ask Dietrich about. Since he’s a person who studies deeply, he might know the Emperor’s name that starts with ‘A’ or something… As long as the misunderstanding that I read a dirty novel is cleared up.’

Is it not a misunderstanding? Because {The Cruelty of the Vladin Empire} is an R-19 novel. 

Luce smiled and covered the notebook.

Still, Luce scratched the back of her head as she recalled the conversation with Dietrich, who had scolded her because he was older than her.

“So, such novels are not educational at all!… Hey, what kind of house is there? Anyway, it doesn’t even fit your age!” 

To get from the river to their house, they had to pass by the spot where they could see Rev’s house.

After hearing Dietrich mutter something, she thought of something as she looked at the two-story house with its lights on.

‘I thought it was odd at first too. It was definitely a place to go to pick raspberries and mushrooms, but suddenly a house appeared. When I asked my mom, Aunt Dahlia, and other people, they said it had been there for a very long time…’

But no matter how long he has been in the capital, how could Dietrich not remember at all? 

She should ask again when she has a chance next time.

Of course, she wasn’t suspicious of Rev, but it was a confirmation to clear her doubts. 

‘I have a lot to ask. About the history and Rev’s house. The same goes for my thoughts on the Lord.’ 

Whoo–.

“Ah!”

They said that if someone talk about a tiger, it will appear, and the pendant Rev gave shone brightly.

“Rev! I was just thinking of you.”

「Ah… thought of you too, Luce.」