‘Dalia Pesteros is an old friend of the Duchess Blueport.’
She will never forgive him if she finds out that he was the reason behind the Duchess Blueport’s mana explosion.
“If Aceras is caught……I will definitely get you out.”
He remembered what she said unaware of what he did.
‘But not now.’
Aceras thought quietly to himself.
Dalia of that time comes to his mind. With her messed up hair and torn dress, she was talking to Hikan Pesteros.
“I almost fell off trying to pick it up, but he caught me before I fell. But it was too late, so……we fell together.”
Foolish girl.
But at the same time, she was also the only one to notice the little servant’s dream that no one else was interested in.
‘Now that this is the case, I must go to the Holy Empire earlier than expected……’
He’s already awakened.
With this power, those foolish beings will glorify him, believe him as the messenger of God, and put him in the highest position.
Then he will find Dalia Pesteros again. He will take her by all means and drive the continent to war.
That way, he can rationalize himself.
What kind of expression will she make at that moment? He was already looking forward to see that.
5. Mana Blooming
Summer has passed three times before she knew it.
Dalia turned 16. Her height increased 20 centimeters too!
But she was still a little smaller than her peers. Dalia comforted herself by saying that she was growing a little slower than others.
There has been one more incident recently. A new Pope has been appointed at the Holy Empire. Of course, it was Aceras.
It was supposed to happen years later according to the original <The Labyrinth of Ouroboros>, but it was not known why he had already gone to the Holy Empire and became a Pope.
It would not have been easy for a commoner or a foreigner to become a Pope.
The news stirred the capital for a while. He became a Pope from being the Emperor’s servant. It is a story of a life reversal that can be hard for anyone to believe it.
However the smarter people are beginning to see the other side of the situation.
Aceras’ ascension as Pope was due to his enormous divine power. A rigorous investigation also revealed that the source of his power was in fact has the traits of a transformed transcendent.
Then he would have ‘bloomed’, so why was he still satisfied with the position of the Emperor’s attendant with such power? And why did he suddenly change his mind and go to the Holy Empire?
Countless spies and aides of the Emperor were running day and night to find the answer to this question.
During the state meeting, the Emperor did not mention the past when Aceras was his attendant at all, but only referred to him as the ‘new Pope of the Holy Empire’.
If he had been a fool, he would have obsessed over Aceras’s past status and tried to kill him, but the Emperor now knew that it meant nothing.
On the other hand, Dalia, who knows the flow of the original work, was having a completely different dilemma from them.
‘But since he went to another country right before he fell in love with Adrisha, do I still have to worry about Aceras route?’
But she couldn’t relax easily. In the Aceras route, after becoming a Pope, he used up his divine power and gradually went crazy.
‘I’m not sure if his obsession towards Adrisha is going to happen again this time.’
In the original, he showed a strong hatred towards the Frederic Empire.
The original didn’t tell his past story in detail, so she doesn’t know all of it, so she just assumed that something had happened.
Dalia briefly asked Hikan about how Aceras was doing, but he replied that he’s too busy to know that and now he will only care about his country’s problems.
Well, since he’s not from the Holy Empire, it’s hard to establish a power base even after he becomes a Pope. Dalia decided to relax for now.
Anyway, she had three birthday parties in the meantime, and received a lot of presents every time.
The room was full of dolls and was about to burst, so Dalia banned dolls as gifts, instead of expanding the room as Hikan suggested.
Hikan was still 18 years old since his birthday hadn’t passed yet. His face, which was originally handsome, shone brighter as time went by. He also has soft hair, so it became a habit to fiddle with his hair in his office whenever he was bored. The Westerner’s ‘16 Devils’ section seems to have gone awry. (*t/n: I don’t really understand the last part ㅠㅠ)
And the day after tomorrow, he turns 19. It was the time when the ‘Mana Blooming’ would soon begin.
‘Mana Blooming’.
The moment when the magical power hidden inside the transcendents first manifests itself as a specific special ability.
Instead, she was told that blooming is a very difficult and exhausting process for both the person concerned and the people around him.
Mana Blooming has not come to him yet. In the original, since he was ten years old, he prepared himself every day, but surprisingly nothing happened.
Dalia rather hoped that her brother would never bloom his magic. Hikan didn’t seem to be too nervous either.
Anyway, let’s stop worrying about things that haven’t happened yet.
“So, what should I give my brother for his birthday?”
Dalia began consulting with the people that were close to her. The nanny gave a troubled look at the annual question.
“The Duke will like whatever you give him.”
“……But still.”
“I’m not sure.”
Adrisha replied while sipping the tea.
“How about not giving him anything? That would be a fresh gift.”
“……well, that’s a little bit……”
It’s been 3 years, but there’s no sign of improvement between Hikan and Adrisha.
This was the limit of Dalia’s narrow network. She made a few other friends from several ball and tea parties, but she’s not close enough to consult with them.
In the end, Dalia had to deal with this challenge alone. Dalia made a firm resolve.
‘I can do it!’
Hikan held Dalia’s birthday ball every year, but not his own birthday ball.
“I hate it when pretentious people come and give me a fake smile and a fake congratulation.”
Still, every year she is surrounded by many people and celebrated, and Hikan always cared about spending his birthday alone with her.
‘I’ll give you a nice present again this time!’
Dalia ambitiously made an appointment with her nanny to go out. She also got permission from her brother. She has also collected pocket money for this occasion. All she needs to do is to go buy something.
Dalia and her nanny got into the carriage and went to the downtown area. She was thinking of looking around several places slowly, so she asked the coachman to come in three hours.
Dalia’s first birthday gift candidate is a fountain pen. For some reason, Hikan still sticks with the quill. The quill has an old fashioned look, but a fountain pen is much more comfortable.
But still, he will use it since it’s her gift.
Dalia was proud of herself and headed to the fountain pen shop. Now that she’s taller than the counter, she didn’t have to ask the nanny to deliver what she said.
She was a little proud of the clear evidence of her growth.
“I……I want to buy a present for my brother.”
The elderly clerk looked at her with a happy expression.
“Which type would you like?”
“The one that is good for beginners.”
“Well, what about this?”
While the clerk leaned over, another tall man stood next to Dalia.
“Is it for Hikan?”
‘……Huh?’
Dalia looked up at the familiar voice.
Black hair, black eyes, plain suit. His hair color and outfit have changed, but that face…..!
It was clear that he’s the Empire’s Emperor, Alexandro Duncan Michelio II. Although he was nearing late 30s, he still retained his late 20s appearance.
Dalia was so surprised that she almost jumped from her seat.
“Your Ma……”
“Shh.”
The Emperor brazenly put his index finger on his lips. Then the clerk who lifted himself looked curious.
“Your Ma?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Dalia shook her head quickly.
The Emperor naturally stepped before her and held out money.
“Give me this and that together. Gift-wrapped.”
“Yes, sir.”
The clerk left to wrap up Dalia’s precious gift that the Emperor chose.
The Emperor smiled.
“That’s my gift to Hikan.”
‘……I was going to give it to him.’
Dalia pouted.
Then she recalled who the man in front of her was and hurriedly covered her mouth. How dare she pout just because the Emperor took away her gift.
“Well, Your Ma, no……”
She can’t call him ‘Your Majesty’, so Dalia just blurred out her words because she didn’t know what to address him as.
The nanny, who was quick-witted, quickly noticed the Emperor’s identity and had no idea what to do like Dalia.
The Emperor smiled and gestured at the nanny.
“I’ll escort Miss Dalia well and send her home. You can go ahead.”
“B, but……”
“I don’t want to give orders as the Emperor here……”
“Goodbye!”
The nanny left Dalia alone and quickly disappeared. She belatedly reached behind her nanny’s back, but she had already left the store.
“Haha, there’s no need for her to do that.”
‘It’s because of you, Your Majesty!’
Dalia shed tears in her heart.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s too uncomfortable.
The relationship between Dalia and the Emperor was as good as a manager and a new employee. They are not close enough to buy her brother’s birthday present together.
“Wh, what brought you here?”
“Ah, that’s…….”
The Emperor scratched his cheek as if in trouble.
“It’s been more than a month since Cedric escaped. But the people underneath me are so annoying…….”
Second Prince Cedric is now seventeen.
He is a transcendent who just finished blooming. He was a man who broke through the security even before the mana blooming, but now that he has bloomed, no ordinary man can find him.
‘That’s why you come here yourself.’
It’s a tearful love between father and son. At the same time, Dalia was in tears because of the awkward time with the Emperor.
“But why am I……?”
Dalia asked carefully.
“There’s a very important reason for this.”
The Emperor said with an extremely serious expression. Dalia asked because he got so serious.
“Why is that?”
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