The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 164

164. Michael’s Last Offer

“Your Majesty, the Second Prince requests an audience.”

“Louis does?”

The Emperor reacted with a somewhat indifferent expression.

“What is it about?”

“He says he has come to pay his respects.”

“Tell him I have a guest now, so he should come back later.”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Joshua rose from his seat.

“I believe I have said all I needed to say, so I will take my leave.”

“Very well.”

The Emperor quietly muttered towards Joshua’s departing back after his bow.

“How is Ophelia doing?”

Joshua paused for a moment, turning back to the Emperor with a slightly surprised look. The Emperor was looking at him with his usual expression.

“……Pardon?”

“I asked how the Empress is doing.”

“That……”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“It’s nothing.”

Joshua composed himself and turned back to the Emperor.

‘I can’t fathom what he’s thinking at all.’

It was a well-known fact throughout the Empire that the Emperor and Ophelia did not have a good relationship. They had become distant after giving birth to Joshua, the heir.

After Lilith and Louis came to the surface, Ophelia rarely visited the Imperial Palace, which she had frequented before.

Even in a loveless marriage, her sense of betrayal towards her husband was significant.

Moreover, Ophelia was a princess from a kingdom and the Empress of the Empire, despite her innocent appearance. She must have realized that the Emperor had turned a blind eye to the assassination attempts targeting her and Joshua.

So why is the Emperor pretending to care about Ophelia now?

His mouth felt bitter. He couldn’t guess the Emperor’s intention in mentioning Ophelia in this situation.

He tried to remain calm and opened his mouth.

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, Mother is doing well.”

“I’ve been worried because I haven’t seen her lately.”

“If you are so concerned……”

Joshua added with a slightly resentful tone.

“Why don’t you visit the Empress’s Palace, Your Majesty?”

It was a remark made knowing he would never go. However, the Emperor showed a somewhat unexpected reaction.

“I would like to, but I doubt the Empress would welcome it.”

Was he ever the type to care about such things? Joshua clenched his fists.

“Of course, Mother would welcome Your Majesty’s visit.”

“Alright, I understand.”

As Joshua was about to bow again, the Emperor asked once more.

“But why do you call me Your Majesty?”

“Isn’t it natural to address the supreme sun of the Empire as Your Majesty?”

“Am I not your father before being the master of the Empire?”

“……”

After Ophelia died and the Emperor buried her death, Joshua never thought of him as his father. Since then, he had consistently called him Your Majesty.

The Emperor had never questioned the changed title.

But why now……!

“Hearing Louis call me Father has changed my heart a little.”

“……”

When Joshua didn’t say anything, the Emperor didn’t press further. Instead, he offered something else.

“Visit me often and keep me company.”

“If it is an order, I will do so.”

“Not quite an order. I have many thoughts as I get older. At this age, I realize that family is the most important thing.”

“……”

“It would be good for you to take a Princess as your wife soon and build your own family. Give me grandchildren too.”

“I will consider it. More importantly, Louis has been waiting too long. I will take my leave now.”

“Very well.”

The Emperor didn’t hold him back and let Joshua go. Joshua, clenching his teeth, came out of the office and met Louis, who greeted him happily.

“I wondered who Father was meeting, and it was you, Brother.”

“Yes.”

“What brings you to the Imperial Palace, Brother?”

“Is there any other purpose for coming to the Imperial Palace?”

“That’s true, but you never come to the Imperial Palace, Brother.”

“Don’t talk nonsense and go in. His Majesty is waiting.”

Joshua answered vaguely and tried to pass Louis. Then, Louis put his arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“Then please go in safely, Brother.”

It was a remark with a strange nuance. Joshua was about to ask what he meant, but Louis had already gone inside.

Joshua stared at the closed door for a moment before returning to the Sapphire Palace. Silver, who was guarding his bedroom, wagged his tail and approached.

[Woof!]

“Yes.”

Silver was clamoring to see Rosette.

“Later. There are too many eyes watching now.”

He was appeasing the whining Silver, but in truth, Joshua’s heart was no different from the wolf’s. He also wanted to run to Duke Adrian’s mansion right now to see Rosette.

He missed Rosette.

He longed for that clear face that always smiled shyly and chattered whenever she saw Joshua.

If he had Rosette, this frustration would completely disappear.

Joshua had never felt the warmth of a family in his life. Ophelia was a kind and affectionate mother, but Joshua was always anxious when he was by her side.

The fear of losing her again.

But Rosette was different.

He still had to protect her and was afraid of losing her, but he felt at ease when he was with Rosette.

It was a relationship built on trust and affection over a long period.

-It would be good for you to take a Princess as your wife soon and build your own family. Give me grandchildren too.

It would be a lie if Rosette didn’t come to mind when he heard the Emperor’s words, which seemed to have noticed something. The moment he heard those words, Joshua unconsciously imagined a future with Rosette.

A life where children who resembled both him and her lived together.

Things he could have dreamed of if he were an ordinary nobleman.

Once the desire grew, it didn’t think of shrinking.

“But I have to restrain myself now. Because there’s something more to worry about.”

Joshua muttered words that he didn’t know if he was saying to Silver or to himself, and looked out the window.

Unlike his complicated heart, the sky was only clear.

* * *

“Then sleep well.”

“Yes, Father.”

Rosette, lying in bed, followed Duke Adrian with her eyes as he left the room. It was a recurring routine since she woke up from her long sleep.

Duke Adrian cherished Rosette as if he were worried that she would suddenly disappear.

Whenever Rosette saw the anxious Duke, she felt like she had become the eight-year-old child who had just arrived at the mansion.

‘It’s not bad.’

Now she was an adult, and she didn’t know how much longer she could live with Duke Adrian, her family, and in this mansion.

Daniel, Isabel, Lucas, and Rosette herself were slowly reaching the time to find their own lives.

Yes, their own lives.

Rosette looked at the ceiling with a complicated expression. Bbibbi, who was settling down on the pillow to sleep, seemed to sense something was wrong and climbed onto Rosette’s chest.

[Bbi?]

“No, Bbibbi. I’m not worried.”

[Bbii?]

“Just…….”

Rosette stroked Bbibbi’s head and fell into thought.

“I was just thinking about my future.”

[Bbit?]

“It’s nothing much…….”

At Bbibbi’s urging to tell her, Rosette organized her thoughts.

When she confessed to Joshua, she said she didn’t want to be an Empress. She told her family the same thing.

Joshua understood her anxiety and didn’t force her. They decided to focus on each other’s feelings for now.

However, as the time she spent with Joshua grew longer, she began to think more realistically. She realized how naive her idea of focusing on the present was.

“What if I don’t marry Joshua?”

[Bbit?]

“We’ll each live our own lives. Maybe marry different people…….”

[Bbii…….]

“Is that really right?”

Bbibbi, who didn’t understand the complex relationships of humans, had a confused look on her face.

It didn’t matter if Bbibbi didn’t understand. Rosette continued to mutter to herself.

“I don’t want to spend my life with anyone other than Joshua. I don’t want Joshua to have another woman besides me either. But I still don’t want to be an Empress.”

[Bbii.]

“I’m so selfish, aren’t I? I’m so bad.”

[Bbit!]

Bbibbi shook her head, saying that wasn’t true. She even vowed to fly to Joshua and pull out his hair if Rosette allowed her to, for making her so upset.

“No. Joshua didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all my fault…….”

At that moment, she felt the presence of mana outside the window. Rosette, who was calming Bbibbi, jumped up without realizing it.

“Silver?”

However, it wasn’t a silver wolf that was coming over the window, but a white snake. Rosette muttered softly as she saw the red eyes that were clearly visible even in the dark.

“Perito?”

The white snake nodded and slithered to Rosette, placing a communication device in front of her. At the same time, Michael’s voice flowed from the communication device.

“Michael.”