That damn god.

Sesenia almost blurted out those words.

‘Our god has already abandoned us, so why do they keep talking about god?’

There is no god.

God is an extremely selfish being, having long since given up on the empire.

“God…”

“Recently, I’ve been having strange dreams.”

“Dreams?”

“Yes. I don’t remember well, but they’re terrible nightmares. In them, it seems I’ve caused you irreparable harm. I wake up regretting it. Perhaps… my changed view of you is because of those dreams… I’m not sure.”

Sesenia quietly looked at her father.

“Is that all? About the dream?”

“It’s a nightmare, so I don’t remember well. Just… hmm. I think you died. That’s why I regretted it, I suppose. It’s too vague to be certain.”

A dream. Was it just a dream? Or was it showing future events, the returned time?

‘Is it possible that even Father knows, in such an unreasonable way?’

But that didn’t seem to be the case.

Sesenia, who returned whole in exchange for wishing for her own death, and Elzere, whose reasons were unknown.

In such a situation, it would be truly absurd if even the Duke, who was the central point of her revenge, had also returned in time.

‘It’s different from the others.’

Unlike the daughters who immediately remembered everything and could act, the Duke had this vague medium called dreams.

And it’s not even full memories, just conveying uncomfortable emotions.

“Perhaps it’s more fitting to say that god is guiding your path.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. So don’t worry too much about it. It’s probably just a dream.”

“Right. That must be it…”

Was he always so easily swayed? Or was he the type to casually brush off things that bothered him?

Either way, seeing this new side of the Duke, Sesenia changed the subject.

“So, you won’t see elder sister?”

“I don’t want to see her. As you said, she was truly deceiving me. Threatening and intimidating me by saying she was fasting… It seems she was eating and living well. Even enjoying the desserts brought by Prince Ian…! Not knowing this, I… I…!!”

As if anger was welling up again, the Duke looked at Sesenia.

Trailing off as if his words were cut short.

‘The words that would have followed were probably: “…even though I groveled to continue the engagement with the Crown Prince!”‘

He was such a predictable person. No, rather, his actions became visible when he was angry.

Sesenia struggled to hold back a laugh as she patted him.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No. Thanks to you… I clearly realized how much Elzere has been disrespecting me. Hah… really. I don’t understand why. To tell such lies just to… to me…”

“Father.”

Sesenia whispered into the ear of the Duke, who had bowed his head as if he had become a demon bewitching people, tasting despair.

“By the way, I heard something strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems that elder sister… is trying to make Prince Ian the emperor. That’s why… it seems she ignored your words. Because she’s the heir… it looks like she’s trying to lend the power of the Duke’s family to Ian.”

The Duke, who had been staring at the floor, slowly turned his head.

“What…?”

As if surprised by the unexpected words, the Duke didn’t notice Sesenia’s chilling expression.

“She told me. Not to get engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“That’s…”

“She also said she wanted to become emperor herself. I told her it was unreasonable. Then… she said to me that she had the Duke’s family, didn’t she?”

The Duke’s hands trembled.

“What? That arrogant fool…!! Even if born as royalty, the starting points are different, so how dare he?! And he tried to manipulate you like that?”

“Don’t worry. I told him it was absolutely not possible. But he seemed strangely confident. Now that I think about it… it seems related to elder sister Elzere’s actions.”

“That good-for-nothing… So that’s why my daughter has changed like this…!!”

To the Duke, Elzere had always been a good daughter. And having just discovered the reason why that good daughter had changed strangely, the Duke expressed even more anger.

“I’m not sure which side is the culprit. Still, I think you should be a little careful. Ian was too confident. If by chance… if this fact reaches the ears of His Highness the Crown Prince or Her Majesty the Empress, I’m worried it might cause problems with the engagement. Suddenly. Just suddenly. Such thoughts come to mind.”

“Right. It wouldn’t be good if they knew this. I’ll cut it off very clearly.”

“Even if you cut off Ian… shouldn’t you be careful with elder sister? Unlike me, who has given up everything about succeeding the Duke’s family and lives as your daughter according to your will… elder sister has too much power invested in her. If elder sister really inherits the Duke’s family… The work you’ve struggled with for so many years might go wrong. Ah… this is just my assumption, but I’m so afraid. I liked His Highness the Crown Prince… what if something goes wrong…?”

Sesenia returned with an angelic face. As if she was really worried that her engagement with the Crown Prince might go wrong.

And all the words she had spoken left a strong impression on the Duke.

“I see. That could be possible. I gave that child too much power. Hearing your words, I understand everything. It makes sense why Elzere strangely disliked the position of being engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince, why she refused so much when she wanted to become Empress more than anyone else. I certainly understand now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. That was it.”

Although Sesenia had told him everything, the Duke nodded as if he had gained enlightenment himself.

“She fell for Prince Ian’s persuasion. Since she agreed to make him emperor, she absolutely couldn’t get engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince. That was it. That…!! So… that’s why she kept asking me.”

“What did she ask?”

“If you might get engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince. As you said, when I kept saying no, she seemed rather relieved. I didn’t understand why she was acting like that, but now I understand. Hah… So this is what it was. Really… how terribly disappointing.”

“Still, don’t be too harsh. She must have had her own circumstances.”

“Would it be better to reveal this?”

Sesenia nodded very emphatically.

“What if Prince Ian gets unnecessary ideas if we leave it like this? What if he breaks the connection between our family and the imperial family that we’ve barely managed to create…”

“I’ll make sure of it. I should also tell Elzere that she can’t do whatever she wants with our family. Sesenia, I’m sorry to you, but I still think Elzere is the right one to continue the family.”

“I think elder sister is right too.”

“I’m grateful you think that way. So I won’t take away the position of heir.”

“I didn’t tell you this story to ask you to take away that position or to look at me. So you don’t need to worry too much about it.”

The Duke, who had been speaking cautiously, seemed touched as his eyes sparkled.

“I really didn’t know you were such a considerate child.”

“Consideration? I just said what was obvious. So what are you going to do about elder sister?”

“I need to make her come to her senses. I plan to give her responsibilities but take away her rights. To ensure that she doesn’t push for Prince Ian or contact him to create such situations in any case in the future.”

“That’s a good idea. Thanks to my wise father, elder sister will surely come to her senses.”

As if he finally had a reason to move, the Duke slowly rose from his seat.

“Now that I’ve made a decision, I should go. May I leave first?”

“Of course. I should return to my room too.”

“You didn’t come because you had something to say?”

“No. I just came because I was worried about you. Don’t worry about me and please go ahead.”

After patting Sesenia’s shoulder once, the Duke immediately stepped outside as soon as those words ended.

There was no reason to stay in a room without its owner, so Sesenia immediately returned to her own room.

On her way back, Sesenia forcibly held back the laughter that was about to burst out.

‘Elder sister. One path has disappeared. So why do you try to make Ian emperor in vain? You should just quietly receive the Crown Prince’s dirty and sticky gaze and get engaged to him.’

The Crown Prince is a being who won’t be tied down unless Elzere clings to him.

In contrast, Ian is a person who will stick close to Elzere no matter what she does.

‘To get rid of all the trash at once, I need to make them stick together.’

Sesenia returned to her room with a smirk.

She seemed to be in a better mood than ever.

**

Not long after she returned to her room, an unexpected guest arrived.

While Lizbeth was briefly absent, a door appeared in Sesenia’s room, and the Master of the Magic Tower boldly walked through it.

“Master of the Magic Tower…?”

“Oh. Yes, the Master of the Magic Tower has arrived.”

“Ah…”

Sesenia laughed as if bewildered by the unexpected words.

“You came?”

“Yes. By the way, the Duke’s mansion is quite noisy. I was thinking of visiting officially, but it’s quite noisy, so I just came like this.”

“Were you really planning to come officially?”

At those words, the Master of the Magic Tower waved his hands.

“It was a joke. A joke. It’s obvious it would be very troublesome, so why would I do such a thing?”