“Too many questions. Unlike the princess.”

“……Huh? Princess?”

Gabriel, unable to understand Ileon’s words, stared with a blank expression.

“Will you understand if I say Celia Brillion?”

The moment Celia’s name slipped from Ileon’s lips, Gabriel’s face twisted instantly.

“Celia? What trouble has she caused now?”

Ileon smiled faintly.

“She’s caused quite a lot of trouble.”

“What kind of trouble…… exactly?”

“She intends to completely destroy Abelon, together with her lover Dietrich Calypso. And you are family to that Celia.”

Gabriel’s face turned deathly pale.

Unlike the puppet emperor, the current emperor standing before her was Ileon Gredrick.

Who was Ileon?

Unlike Arthur Servantes who wielded magic, Ileon was a genius in an entirely different sense.

He could brew poisons himself and possessed such sharp intellect that he could see through people’s psychology completely.

Gabriel strained her mind desperately to find a way out of this situation, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t come up with any viable solution.

‘Maybe I should just say I’ve always hated Celia? After all, they wouldn’t know what I’ve done to her in the mansion.’

In the end, Gabriel decided to cut Celia off completely, like cutting off her tail to save herself.

“I’ve never once considered Celia family. Your Majesty, I love this Abelon where I was born and raised. Why on earth would I conspire with Celia to do such a thing?”

“Go on. If your excuse sounds convincing enough, I’ll let you live.”

Ileon tilted his head slightly as he spoke.

Gabriel realized her life hung entirely on Ileon’s next words.

Desperate to survive, Gabriel quickly continued.

“If Your Majesty has any questions, I’ll answer them all. For example, Celia’s secrets…….”

Ileon’s eyes narrowed.

“……Secrets?”

Seeing Ileon’s interest, Gabriel nodded vigorously.

“Yes. A very big secret.”

“What kind of secret is it?”

“In return, please guarantee the safety of me and my family. Then I’ll tell you.”

Ileon raised one corner of his mouth, looking at Gabriel trying to bargain her insignificant life for Celia’s secret.

“Does that ‘family’ of yours include Celia?”

“As I just said, Celia is a fake with not a drop of shared blood.”

Ileon gave a meaningful smile.

“……Let’s hear this secret first.”

“The truth is, Celia’s body is incapable of bearing children.”

Ileon furrowed his brows.

“It seems her frail constitution has rendered her unable to conceive.”

Gabriel omitted the fact that Hariel Brillion, who despised Celia, had forced her to take a childlessness-inducing drug.

“She’s so weak that I’ve even seen her cough up blood right before entering the palace. Ah, although the late Emperor insisted on sending Celia, we had no choice but to send her anyway.”

“Coughed up blood?”

Hearing this for the first time, Ileon frowned.

“Yes. It wasn’t her first time—she seemed so accustomed to it. When I panicked and tried to call a physician, she kept insisting she was fine and actually stopped me. As if she were some real witch using dark magic.”

In truth, Gabriel, who hated Celia more than anyone, would never have called a physician for her.

Gabriel had only laughed with satisfaction while watching Celia violently cough up blood.

She had kept silent about it all this time, fearing timid Hariel would abandon her plan to send Celia to the aging Emperor if she found out.

Ileon remained silent for a while.

Gabriel kept stealing glances at Ileon, who seemed lost in his own thoughts, as if pondering something deeply.

Under normal circumstances, even holding such a conversation would have been nearly impossible.

Ileon Gredrick, who had risen from a frontier viscount’s daughter to the ruler of the southern territories, and ultimately ascended the imperial throne.

Even Gabriel had to admit—their standings were incomparably far apart.

‘Celia managed to become Dietrich’s lover, someone I once desired. Why can’t I do the same?’

Even in this life-threatening situation, Gabriel remained deeply consumed by her inferiority toward Celia.

Feeling Gabriel’s gaze, Ileon smiled faintly and lowered his head.

“Anything more you’d like to say?”

“……If it’s not too bold, may I ask one question?”

“What is it?”

At Ileon’s gentle tone, Gabriel gulped and lifted her chin.

“What did you mean earlier when you mentioned the princess?”

“……Princess? Ah.”

Ileon let out a faint smile. He then asked her,

“Let me ask you something. Do you dislike Celia?”

Gabriel nodded vigorously in response.

“Yes, I truly, truly hate her. When my father said he was adopting a girl who used to rummage through trash bins on the streets, I was so furious…….”

“Do you think Celia’s origins are lowly?”

It was a strange question. To Gabriel, Celia—who once scavenged through trash bins—was obviously of low birth.

Gabriel could never forget the first time she saw Celia.

She was painfully thin, parentless, and her face smeared thickly with mud, filthy beyond recognition.

When her father brought that dirty girl home and even bathed her clean, Gabriel had been horrified.

Yet, after the bath, Celia emerged like a freshly bloomed flower—radiant and dazzling, as if she had never been dirty.

They had given her the name Celia on the spot, since she couldn’t even remember her own.

Gabriel slowly opened her mouth.

“Yes, I think she’s lowly.”

At Gabriel’s answer, Ileon burst into a clear, cold laugh.

“How lowly?”

“I think she’s the lowest of anyone I’ve ever known.”

“You’ve lived with the princess for so long, yet you know absolutely nothing.”

Ileon shook his head in disappointment.

Gabriel stared at him blankly, blinking her eyes like a fool.

“……Princess? Surely you don’t mean Celia?”

“Who else could I mean? You’re not the princess, are you?”

Gabriel’s pupils trembled violently.

“N-no. Celia couldn’t possibly be of such noble birth…….”

That couldn’t be true.

Celia had never once revealed any hint of being royalty.

“Your Majesty must be mistaken.”

Gabriel forced an awkward smile.

“Celia’s origins are lowly. If she were truly noble, as Your Majesty claims, would she have wandered around like a beggar?”

“You don’t even know Celia’s real name.”

Ileon leaned forward, locking eyes with Gabriel.

Seeing Ileon’s piercing blue eyes flash sharply, Gabriel’s entire body broke out in goosebumps.

“Her real name is Anastasia de Lian. The last princess of the fallen Kingdom of Shan, destroyed by my own hands. That’s the true origin of the girl you know as Celia Brillion.”

At Ileon’s words, Gabriel’s face turned deathly pale.

“I didn’t know about the blood-coughing, but thank you for telling me. So that’s why she staggered after using her powers on me.”

Gabriel felt utterly bewildered.

Just moments ago, she had assumed Ileon disliked Celia, judging by what he said.

But now, she realized—she was wrong.

Ileon had looked at her as if she were nothing more than trash.

Gabriel finally understood her mistake—too late.

‘Should I have claimed closeness to Celia instead of cutting her off?’

No.

Ileon had already investigated Celia thoroughly—he knew everything and had only questioned her to observe her reaction.

‘Was it mere curiosity? Or to uncover something he didn’t know?’

Gabriel’s mind was tangled like a knotted thread.

‘No. Neither. To this man, I wasn’t even worthy of being an amusement.’

Goosebumps crept up Gabriel’s arms.

Having extracted all the information he could from Gabriel, Ileon slowly rose to his feet.

As the height difference widened, the distance between them grew steadily.

“Y-Your Majesty, please spare my life! I was wrong, I admit it all! I’ll do anything you command—just spare me!”

At Gabriel’s plea, Ileon tilted his head to one side.

“Really? What kind of things can you do?”

“I can do anything Your Majesty commands.”

“……Anything?”

Gabriel nodded up and down repeatedly.

“Then I’ll give you one final chance.”