I’ll Quit as The Empress

The autumn wind grazed his cheeks, and Evelyn found herself frozen.

“Ah, no, for a moment, I…..”

David nodded slowly in front of her eyes. “You must’ve been thinking of something else.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. What did we talk about?”

“About the suspicious movement of the demons and the Little Prince….”

Only then did Evelyn come to her senses and go back to their original conversation. Yes, she was trying to get some advice from the Paladin about Adrian. It was a good chance to speak to him first while he was still in the garden.

“You said that on the great festival, the Wyverns seemed to be targeting the prince, didn’t you?” he said.

“Oh, did I tell you that far? …..You may be wrong.”

“It’s up to the person who listened to decide whether it’s wrong or not.”

“What?”

At the moment, Evelyn blinked at an unexplained feeling of déjà vu. She felt like having a conversation like this somewhere, but she didn’t remember it.

“I understand your worries. But that fact hasn’t yet been published by the Vatican. And there is a theory that the demons are attracted to a certain bloodline.”

“Bloodlines?”

“Yeah, it’s a very old myth, but there’s a record that says the demons were eager for the blood of the Imperial family before the tragedy happened on this continent in the past.”

“A Legend like that, almost all of them have the same story.” Evelyn pressed her heart in surprise at the words “Imperial Family.”

“It’s not a legend; it’s a reality. There’s still a remnant of the demons on this continent, but since the Empire doesn’t trust the Vatican, it’s just a secret.”

She didn’t want to judge, but that story was hard to believe for Evelyn.

“There are a lot of people who think the Vatican is suspicious.”

What David had said wasn’t wrong, because Evelyn was one of them. “Everyone who heard this kind of story will respond the same way.”

“Most of the legends of the continent are based on reality. Later, the Empire banned the Vatican because we were considered to be misleading the people. ………… Do you know any legends about the birth of this Empire? “

“I’ve never heard of it since the Empire people have a rational mind.”

“I see.” Unexpectedly, David retreated quickly. “If you’re concerned about the Prince, why don’t we look into it more further?”

“No … there’s no need to go that far.”

“Don’t worry too much. The Vatican will protect the Felice Kingdom.”

Evelyn nodded. She didn’t want Adrian to be the object of attention for no reason. If she was thinking about it again, it was a little weird. Why did she suddenly talk about something like this with a mysterious guy she just met today? This kind of mistake was different from her normal self.

“We can assure you that no demons will attack the Felice Kingdom.

“Yes.”

The Paladin in front of her appeared more genuine and good than she expected. There was no feeling of discomfort or distrust she had ever felt before.

“If you said that… Sir David?”

“……Did I tell you my name?”

“I think so.” Evelyn, who was unable to remember the real conversation they had a while ago, only shook her head. But David smiled faintly, realizing that his power was getting weaker.

“Whenever you have a hard time, please rely on the Vatican.”

“Yes.” For some reason, the answer seemed to come out on its own. “Thank you,” Evelyn said, looking at a very friendly young man in front of her, and said.

“Well, I’ll say goodbye now.”

It was a short time, but as Evelyn talked to him, her concerns about the Vatican seemed to vanish. Instead, she now questioned if all the Vatican accusations had been made by the Empire itself.

Looking back, it was also the Vatican that gave back Evelyn’s freedom.

“Did I have a weird thought for a while?

Evelyn talked to herself, and she returned to the Palace.

Strangely enough, Evelyn couldn’t sleep. On a night like this, she looked out the window to see if there was a letter from Fabian, but there was no sign of it.

Even though she said that she was annoyed by Fabian’s letter and that she was so much troubled by it, but deep in her heart, she was always looking forward to it, particularly today.

“Princess, are you not sleeping?”

“Yes…..I can’t sleep.”

Looking at Evelyn, Nora lit a small lamp.

“Can I go to the library now?”

“At this time?”

When she tried to say something, Evelyn took the lamp from her hand, “It’s alright. I’ll go quietly.”

Nora nodded. She figured that Evelyn might be upset because there was no letter from the Emperor recently.

Evelyn, who had no idea about Nora’s mind, wore a robe to shield her from the cool night air and went quietly to the library with a lamp.

[“Most of the legends of the continent are based on reality. Later, the Empire banned the Vatican because we were considered to be misleading the people. ………… Do you know any legends about the birth of this Empire? “]

On sleepless nights, David’s voice kept ringing on her head. Evelyn had never heard a legend like that in the Empire because it was a ridiculous discussion topic. She would be treated like a fool if she asked a story like that.

It was a legend before Evelyn was born. So she couldn’t help but be curious.

“I can’t believe the demons are after the Imperial family,” Evelyn spoke to herself. But it was also true that those words shook her heart. At least she wanted to know about the truth of that legend.

“There are so many books in here……”

Evelyn, who had come to the library, fumbled in the dark and sighed. Maybe she shouldn’t have visited this place at night. Because she didn’t know where the books that she wasn’t interested in were located.

“Legend….legend…” Evelyn, holding the lamp, walked between through the library, and suddenly she saw a book popping out.

The type of gold leaf used for the lamplight shone the book. Looking at the legend-words engraved on the front cover, it was the book Evelyn was looking for. It was all like a nonsense coincidence, but Evelyn didn’t doubt it. She immediately took the book as if it possessed her.

Nora felt relieved after she returned to her bedroom. Evelyn then opened the book while leaning on her bed. The illustration behind the cover was so dreamy as a fantasy theme. There was a drawing of the sun and the moon, a continent split into four parts in the past, and there was also a large picture of the tower in the center.

“Is this legend happened in the Empire?

When David told her about it, Evelyn was still skeptical and thought it was a fairy tale from the Vatican. In reality, the book was written in-depth about the mythology that started with the birth of the Empire.

It was a tale Fabian would hate if he knew it. Maybe even Fabian, who was an Emperor, grew up without knowing about this legend.

[A King with a sword stained with blood came to the tower, protecting the balance of the world.]

The illustration began with two men standing in front of the tower. One was a man wearing a robe, and the other one was a man with a sad face holding a sword with blood dripping on it.

[Who was standing in front of the tower?]

[He was a poor man who was stained by blood madness while slaughtering demons to protect people, and he was a King who had lost a human’s heart.]

[What did you wish for?]

[Everything that had died in his hands was making him insane, and he was afraid that this massacre would not end. He was afraid that the demon spirit would chase him for life. He was afraid of himself that he could no longer live with a human heart.]

The book’s style was quite different from now, as it was written in ancient times.

[He sincerely wished to the tower which kept the balance of this world… to bind the madness of his body.]

The writing in the book after the sentence was difficult to read because it was badly damaged. Evelyn then turned the pages of the book quickly, and she found that the man’s crying face was covered with an iron mask and a bigger crown on top of his head.

[The tower bound his madness. It held him. From now on, the guardians of this tower would be more committed to keeping demons away from human beings, and he had to rule over the people. A Poor King, stained with blood, made the salvation of being an Emperor.]

It was a difficult story to understand at first glance.

[But he didn’t forget that the demon would thrive and curse his bloodlines forever, and the madness would never disappear no matter how many generations had passed]

Evelyn frowned her eyebrows. It was bizarre to call this tale the birth legend of the Empire.

[Remembered, one day when the power of the tower had faded, the demons would hunt his bloodlines again, and the madness of massacre would be awakened.]

Evelyn somehow felt creepy seeing the illustration, and she closed the book.

“This is a curse.”

According to this book’s story, this Empire’s founder was a King who went insane after numerous massacres. And the demons hunted the bloodline of the Imperial family out of grudge.

Besides, the madness was passed on by blood ties….even though Fabian was a cold husband. But Evelyn didn’t believe that he could do such a thing.

“It has nothing to do with Adrian.”

Evelyn tried to convince herself. There was no way a lovely child like Adrian was born from a blood-soaked mad line.

“I paid attention to the useless story.” She threw away that worrisome book and moistened her dry lips for a moment.

“But what Paladin said was probably Vatican’s orders…..”

Evelyn didn’t want to believe the legend, but the Vatican’s plans and Adrian’s future were important. It was something that existed in reality.

“Looking at Sir David’s position in the Vatican, there’s no way he would make up a story.”

Somehow, Evelyn had faith in what he had said. It was a sensation that even she didn’t know it.

For some reason, her heart felt stuffy. Evelyn got up and went to the window. She could see a black hawk standing on the side of the trellis. It wasn’t just by chance that she still saw it. Evelyn always kept the hawk there from the beginning.

“Maybe I have done something stupid lately.”

Her heart weakened after seeing Fabian’s changes lately. Whatever it was, whether it’s a dream or reality, but it seemed as though Evelyn had stepped away from the resolve that she had made for herself after she died and returned to the age of twenty.

“Yes, what am I worried about?”

Her life with Fabian was unfortunate. Even after a long time, he didn’t change, and Evelyn could not be happy by his side.

She already knew Everything, so what did she expect and continue in a relationship full of uncertainty like this? She felt stupid when it was a relationship that she broke up in the first place to protect her happiness.

“This isn’t right for each other.”

For a moment, she thought Fabian might have changed. She wanted to think so. Once, he was a man that Evelyn loved so much that her heart hurt because he was the father of the most precious child in the world.

“I’ve got to let him go.”

Only

Fabian was always waiting for Evelyn because she didn’t cut their relationship clearly. She didn’t escape from him and let him into her life again, like running water. Evelyn, unable to deal with his persistence, swallowed only bitterness.

“It’s all already in the past,” Evelyn whispered to herself.

“If I don’t let him go, I can’t hug the happiness right now.”

The White hands patted her chest. When she thought she would cut Fabian off completely, the corner of her heart became cold. She really couldn’t describe what she was feeling right now. It was a familiar feeling.

“Now, let’s really let him go.”

That’s how Evelyn comforted herself. It would hurt because she could have lost Fabian forever.

But she could still endure the pain, as long as she didn’t lose Adrian.