I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 77

The scene changed.

The newly revealed space was my father’s study. Sitting deeply in his chair, my father looked utterly haggard. Standing before him was the butler from his younger days.

“She has left, along with the young lady.”

“…That’s good.”

My father, who had been covering his eyes with his hands, twisted his lips.

“She is your child as well, Master.”

“Whose child is she?”

“Master!”

“She’s the daughter of the woman who killed Isabelle. There’s no way I could ever love that child.”

When he removed his hands, my father’s expression was revealed. His gaze, filled with hatred, left the butler speechless. The butler bowed his head, unable to offer any further rebuttal.

I stood silently in a corner of the study, watching the scene unfold. As the butler opened the door and left, the background shattered once more, just like before.

The next scene appeared in a garden.

“Ascaa!”

I had grown to the point where I could now speak. Sitting on the grass in the garden, I waved my small arms enthusiastically toward Ascal.

“Ascaa!”

Calling his name in a voice with a lisp, I tried desperately to get his attention, but Ascal stood at a distance, merely watching me.

The young me got up from the ground and ran toward him.

“Ah!”

My small body rolled onto the ground. Tears welled up in my large eyes as my knees became scraped.

Ascal looked at me with a flustered expression, seemingly unsure of what to do. The young me reached out toward him, silently asking for help.

“Ah, Ascaa!”

“Ascal.”

At that moment, my father approached. Unlike the affectionate gesture of placing his hand on Ascal’s shoulder, his silver-gray eyes regarded me coldly.

“Let’s go now.”

Leaving me lying on the ground, my father turned away with Ascal in tow. The young me could only sit there, staring blankly at their retreating figures. I remained in that spot for a long time until the nanny, who eventually noticed me, ran over in a panic.

Once again, the background shattered.

“…Why are you showing me this over and over?”

I murmured in a subdued voice. No answer came. The next scene began to form, filling the empty void.

This time, it was a graveyard.

“The body has been cremated as instructed.”

“…You’ve done well.”

My father stood before a grave. The name inscribed on the tombstone read Isabelle Bodebachne. It appeared to be the resting place of the wife he had loved. Beside it, however, stood another grave—one without any inscription.

“…Why didn’t you bury her here?”

“She does not belong in this place.”

“Master, at the very least, you should inscribe her name on the tombstone…”

“Let’s go. We’ve lingered in a masterless place for too long.”

Ignoring the butler’s words, my father turned away. Slowly, I turned my head to look at the nameless grave. The butler still stood in front of it.

“Please, rest in peace now, Lady Cordelia.”

With a deep bow, the butler paid his respects and then left the site as well.

“……”

Through the butler’s words, I realized who this empty grave belonged to. It was my mother’s grave.

“She’s gone.”

I had vaguely suspected it might be so, but as no one had ever told me, this was the first time I learned of my mother’s death.

Drip.

Drip.

Despite the bright blue sky, the ground beneath my feet was dampened.

At that moment, someone called my name.

“Lindel.”

“……!”

Startled, I turned my head to see a woman standing there, her emerald eyes reflecting my own.

In her kind, gentle gaze, I could see myself. My voice trembled as I addressed her.

“Mother…”

My mother, who was supposed to be dead, stood before me.

“Oh, my dear daughter. You’ve grown so much.”

Her kind face was tinged with sorrow as she opened her arms and pulled me into an embrace. Her body, though warm in appearance, felt devoid of warmth. I bit my lips.

“My precious daughter. I missed you so much.”

Her hands gently stroked my head, tears streaming as she cradled me tenderly.

“What is this place?”

“This is a place I created. To reveal the truth to you.”

“The truth?”

“Yes, the truth.”

Tears fell from eyes identical to mine as her trembling voice whispered to me.

“I never left you behind. I was killed by your father, Lindel.”

My body froze as her hand rested on me.

“I didn’t kill Isabelle. But he didn’t believe me. He sought vengeance and did this to me.”

Her once kind eyes turned to hatred.

“You heard what he said earlier, didn’t you? He didn’t even properly bury my body. He cremated it and scattered my ashes in the river. He couldn’t even allow me a place in the family grave, despite my short time as his wife!”

Her voice turned into a scream of anguish.

Her strong grip held my arm tightly.

“Don’t trust humans, Lindel! They will sweet-talk us into their lives only to grow cold and turn away!”

“……”

“The man you love will be no different. One day, he will abandon you as well.”

Her voice, like an incantation, echoed in my ears.

“Avenge me. For your poor mother, take revenge on that man in my stead.”

The background shattered. Nothing new appeared. I found myself back in the dark void where I had first awakened.

But this time, there was something different. My father stood before me, his face pale and aged, his weary eyes fixed on me.

Cold arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

“He’s right there. Go on, avenge me, Lindel, my beloved daughter.”

I moved toward my father as she urged me. As I did, the arms restraining me loosened and fell away. I drew the sword at my waist, and a satisfied laugh sounded from behind me.

My father looked at me with resignation, his reddened eyes filling with tears as he spoke.

“Lindel.”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

His eyes turned red, and I burned his image into my memory as I slowly moved my lips.

“Why didn’t you bury my mother in a grave?”

“…That’s…”

“Was it because she was a dragon?”

My father’s face twisted, and he nodded. I exhaled a trembling breath. That was all the answer I needed.

“Hurry, Lindel. Quickly!”

The voice from behind urged me to act.

With a smile on my face, I swung the sword in my hand.

-Clang!

“Aaargh!”

With the sound of something shattering, a terrible scream erupted from behind me.

I looked at my father, his face wrinkled with sorrow, as I spoke.

“Let’s leave this horrible place now, Father.”

The pitch-black void began to crumble rapidly. Light seeped through the cracks.

“How did you—!”

An enraged voice screamed in my direction, filled with malice.

But I couldn’t help but scoff at the thought that they believed I would fall for such a thing.

“Do you take me for a fool? You thought I’d trust you?”

The kind emerald eyes had long disappeared. Before me stood a woman with vivid yellow eyes, glaring at me.

“Why didn’t you fall for it?”

The woman—no, Muros—looked at the shattered magic tool. Even at a glance, it had been expensive, but now it was beyond repair.

“Oh, I thought something felt off. So, it had that kind of function?”

From the moment I first awakened in the empty void, I had felt a sense of discomfort. Of course, waking up in such a place would naturally cause unease, but the exact reason was something else.

From the moment I opened my eyes, a faint, murmuring voice had been attempting to bewitch me.

“Believe what I show you. Hate them all.”

Apologies, but I was more annoyed than enchanted.

“How did you find the location of the magic tool? You weren’t even supposed to be able to handle mana, let alone aura!”

“That’s true. But not anymore.”

I pointed my sword at Muros. The silvery-white aura enveloping the blade shimmered beautifully. Muros’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I took some good medicine, you see.”

The heat coursing through my body was no longer a problem.

Estelle, the dragon’s elixir, had stabilized the imbalance in my body. Not only could I wield aura, but I also felt strength coursing through me like never before.

“You’re dead now, you bastard!”

I lunged at Muros without hesitation.

***

“Aaaaah!”

With a scream, Muros’s body slammed against the wall.

‘It wasn’t like this before!’

Muros couldn’t comprehend the current situation. When she had confronted Lindel at the ball, Lindel had been incredibly weak. The disparity between her state back then and now was far too great to attribute solely to aura.

Her trembling limbs, drained of strength, made it nearly impossible for her to stand.

‘If I overuse sorcery any further, my body won’t hold up.’

Muros was a sorceress. The strength Lindel had once marveled at was not her own but borrowed power, derived from her sorcery.

By casting sorcery on her own body, she had temporarily amplified her strength. However, the moment the sorcery wore off, everything would come to an end. The human body was frail; the more power it drew from sorcery, the sooner it would deteriorate.

For this reason, Muros had often possessed the bodies of other humans. Since those bodies were expendable, she used sorcery on them without hesitation.

But that option was unavailable now. She was facing Lindel in her true body because she had planned to use the Count of Bodebachne’s body once Lindel killed him. As such, she hadn’t prepared an alternative. The priest’s body she had used during her time at the mansion had already decomposed and disappeared after her mind vacated it.

“Have you thought it all through? So, have you figured out a way to escape?”

Lindel taunted Muros, a mocking smile playing on her lips as she stared her opponent down.

In a final desperate outburst, Muros screamed back, “Think carefully, Lindel! Every scene you saw through the magic tool was real!”

She pointed toward the Count of Bodebachne, who was leaning against one of the walls.

“Your mother couldn’t even be buried in the family’s grave! Are you seriously going to forgive a man like that?!”

“What is there for me to forgive?”

“What did you just say?”

“My father made the choices he did for my mother’s sake.”

Muros’s gambit had been a foolish one. Lindel’s smile vanished entirely, leaving no trace.

“I told you, didn’t I? I was never bewitched from the start.”

“No, no way…!”

“From the very beginning, I was watching my father sobbing by my side.”

In place of her vanished smile, a clear expression of fury took hold of Lindel’s face.