Irene tilted her head as if she didn't understand. "You mean... we can change his fate?" asked Irene at Gren's silent acceptance. "I'm prepared to sacrifice as much as I can. Tell me what you are thinking."

====================

Irene smiled, recalling the old days now more than thirty years ago.

She could not stop the marriage of Cordelia, who ended up falling in love with the current Emperor. Instead, when her sister got married, she told her the prophecy of Gren and asked her to take herself along as a Queen. She thought it would be better to live as a Queen than the wife of an aristocrat she didn't like.

There were two conditions that she gave: No one was going to care about her. She would stay away from the Emperor for the rest of her life. That was all. But Irene's request was rejected because Cordelia did not want her sister to make such a sacrifice.

At that time, Lady Dudley grew jealous of the concubine who the Emperor had taken at the time her son was born, and drove the woman out forcibly. Thus she did not rise to Empress and became the first Queen. As her son Francis grew older, the Duke of Dudley was appeasing the n.o.bles of Congress, pouring his strength and wealth into making his daughter and grandson the Empress and Crown Prince.

But the Emperor didn't want greater power for Duke Dudley, and held on regardless of the pressure from the Dudley faction. Then he took Lady Cordelia, the princess of the Princ.i.p.ality of Bertino, as his Empress.

Irene could not understand Cordelia, who said she would marry an Emperor who not only had the first Queen and concubines, but also a child among them. 'What is love?' She thought she wouldn't understand until she died.

Cordelia entered into the fire pit that was clearly visible because of that love, and soon became pregnant and was delighted and happy. But after a while, she had a miscarriage. After Cordelia's grief had gone somewhat, Irene began to persuade her. At the end, she could have been the second Queen.

It wasn't long afterwards that Irene entered the Imperial Castle of Austern as the second Queen, and Cordelia became pregnant again. They had never thought the first miscarriage was a natural thing, and announced that the second Queen was also pregnant by a month difference.

Everyone's eyes were on Cordelia, the Empress, so no one noticed that Irene's pregnancy was fake. The only ones who knew the secret were the Emperor, a new imperial palace doctor, their nanny, and the maid Pamela, who followed her from Bertino.

The sisters told everyone that they were pregnant and left for Bertino shortly after, because no one could be trusted in the Imperial Castle, which was dominated by the First Queen and the Dudley family. So, the Empress was able to give birth to the Prince safely in Bertino under the protection of the king of the Princ.i.p.ality. However, she immediately hid him and grieved, saying she had a miscarriage again. A month later, Killian was introduced to the world as a child born to Irene.

At first, since Killian was not a child of the Empress, he was not watched so alertly. Everyone expected that Francis who was already old enough, would take over the throne in the absence of the main line of descent from the legal wife.

However, the Emperor left the seat of the Crown Prince empty using this and that excuse, and as the Empress's movements began to get busy with Killian's growth, there was a move to eliminate Killian and the Empress, centering around the Dudley family of the first Queen…

===================

Irene looked at Killian, thinking of the death of Cordelia that she had tried to avoid so much. She gritted her teeth in sorrow over her sister's death, but couldn't force her nephew to risk his life for revenge.

"Killian, I'm happy now. If I were married to an ordinary n.o.ble, I would have had to give birth to a child, attend the social world that I really hate, and try to expand my personal network and power of my family."

Irene looked around the s.p.a.ce given to her.

The paintings, the books which she had started to read but stopped, and the refreshments that were left behind were easily noticeable. She was the second Queen, who was known to be thoroughly supported and loved by the Emperor, and no one could blame her for freely enjoying her life like this without any responsibilities.

She had nothing to miss, be it freedom, power, a solid future with a nephew who would become the next Emperor, except for the sister who was not around. "You can like her, and that's all right. But don't love her. I still believe that if she didn't fall in love and choose to become the Empress, she would not have died and would still be with me. That's why I hate that kind of love. I can't understand it, because it's a feeling I've never experienced before."

Irene's relaxed eyes glowed coldly. "I'll never forgive you if you are so taken in by such a play of emotion that you're in danger. Don't forget how you survived."

Killian, of course, knew it well. It was a life gained by surviving the death of his mother and the life of his aunt. He didn't intend to do such a thing as love, but he didn't want to lose what he liked. "Don't worry. You know I can't be swayed by such foolish feelings."