58 Unknown Origin (1/2)
KNOWING that their conversation was going to be very confidential, Tilly invited her father to the study instead.
She remembered Kiho told her that the study had a strong spell inside. No one or nothing could hear anything inside the room even if someone was to use an eavesdropping spell. After the servants brought tea and snacks for them, she told them not to disturb them unless she called for them.
”Father, is it true that my mother was a commoner?” Tilly asked while gripping the handle of her tea cup tight. ”But as far as I know, Mother was a daughter of a fallen marquis from a neighboring kingdom.”
She knew that House Prescott was a fallen noble house.
Also, according to the memory of her past life, her father was already a duke when he met her mother. So even if her mother's family had already fallen, the fact that she was still a noble made it possible for her parents to get married.
”I paid House McMillan from Alec Kingdom to adopt Marianne before we get married,” Duke Prescott confessed. ”As the Duke of Oakes, our vassal families wouldn't have let me marry Marianne if she remained a commoner. But House McMillan wasted the fortune I paid them to gambling and that caused their downfall.”
Okay, she was shocked by that revelation.
Her father practically bought a noble title for her mother. Well, being a ”lady” was technically a title because only women with high social rank could be called that way.
”If Mother was only adopted by House Prescott before you got married, then what kind of family Mother had before?” she asked curiously. ”And did you meet here in the Royal Capital?”
”No, we didn't meet here,” her father answered. Then, he sipped tea before he continued. ”I met Marianne when I was at Aranka.”
”Isn't that the small village at the border of our territory?”
”Yes, Aranka is a village at the border of Oakes,” her father confirmed. ”It used to be a poor village. I went there to personally check on our people.” Much to her surprise, the duke smiled as if he just remembered a fond memory. ”Your mother was working at the village as a Healer.”
'Healers' were what the empire considered as ”unlicensed doctors.” They used herbal medicines and some simple spells to cure diseases.
[I didn't know that my mother used to be Healer.]
”But her passion was dancing,” the duke added. ”Whenever she had free time, she would teach the children of Aranka to dance.”
Okay, she was surprised again.
Well, she didn't really have many memories of her mother because she died when she was still small. And in the past, her father rarely talked about her.
”When I met Marianne, she was already an orphan,” Duke Prescott said. ”Actually, she grew up in an orphanage so she didn't know who her parents were. But I didn't care about that. The moment I fell in love with your mother, I knew that she was the one for me.”
She got teary-eyed at that.
[Father really loved my mother. And he still does.]
God, she wanted that kind of love with Kiho.
”I was willing to give up my nobility to marry Marianne,” her father continued. ”But your mother didn't want me to lose the life I was used to. So even if it hurt her pride, she let House McMillan adopt her just so she could marry me.”
”I'm sure Mother didn't regret that, Father,” she consoled him. ”I also know that Mother was aware that you would still marry her even if everyone around you were against it. But because she loved you so much, she chose to protect the kind of life that you were used to. And you made it worth it, Father.”
The duke looked touched by her words. ”I hope so, daughter. I really hope so.”
She just smiled and sipped her tea.
[I'm sure my father and my mother had a lovely marriage.]
”When your mother got pregnant with you, her Mana started to weaken,” Duke Prescott said. ”During that time, Marquis Morgan Denver– Captain Mikhail Denver's father– came to talk to us and told us a surprising truth about your mother's blood. You may already have an idea so let me confirm it now: your mother was a Fire Mage.”
She couldn't say that she was surprised.
Ever since Captain Denver told her that she had the heart of the Supreme Fire Mage, she realized right away that her mother was a Fire Mage. It couldn't be her father because House Prescott was an old family. If they were Fire Mages, then they should have been purged by the royal family a long time ago.
On the other hand, she thought her mother came from another kingdom and somehow managed to hide the fact that she had Fire Mage blood in her.
”We were scared when Marquis Denver proved to us that Marianne was indeed a Fire Mage,” her father continued. ”To be precise, we were scared for you. We thought of leaving the Royal Capital and moving to Oakes, our dukedom. But when your mother was two months pregnant with you, she received an invitation from Her Royal Highness. During that time, the princess was ten years old.”
Her forehead knotted in confusion. ”What kind of invitation was that?”
”The princess requested Marianne to be her personal dance teacher,” he answered.
It was normal for royals to be served by high-ranking nobles. In fact, most of the ladies-in-waiting for the princess came from good families. So Princess Nia requesting her mother to be her dance teacher could be considered normal.
[Except the princess is a b*tch you can't trust.]
”We couldn't turn her down and use your mother's pregnancy as an excuse,” her father continued. ”After all, House Prescott is a part of the Royal Faction. Marquis Denver also advised that we should stay at the Royal Capital to avoid suspicions.”
She swallowed before she asked the question that had been bugging her. ”Father, at that age, do you think Her Royal Highness was already aware that my mother was a Fire Mage? Was that the reason why the princess asked Mother to be her dance teacher?”
”Yes, Tilly,” Duke Prescott answered. Then, anger crossed his eyes. That was a rare sight because her father was one of the calmest people that she knew. He always acted with elegance and showing one's anger wasn't considered as one. ”I'll tell you the truth now: your mother didn't die from accident– she was killed by Her Royal Highness.”
Tilly felt a sharp pang of pain in her heart when she heard that.
[God, I should have burnt that princess to crisp!]
***
”I DON'T want to die, Your Majesty,” Kiho calmly told the emperor. ”I want to live long enough to see my grandchildren born. You can try to kill me right now but I can't promise that I won't fight back to protect myself.”
”You're crazy, Kiho. You're crazily stupid. And here I thought I raised you well,” Emperor Aku said, the glow in his red eyes fading away as the ground returned to being stable. Thankfully, no physical damage to the throne room occurred from his bout of anger. ”If other people heard what you just said, you'd be thrown to jail for threatening me.”
”That wasn't a threat,” he said. ”I would really do it, Your Majesty.”
The emperor closed his eyes tight as if he was calming himself.
When Emperor Aku was acting that way, he was reminded that the emperor was almost a decade older than him. He often forgets that because first, His Majesty was immature. Second, he looked young for his age. And lastly, the emperor liked imitating how young people in the empire talk.
But Emperor Aku was very different when he was in the battlefield. He was anything but immature as a leader.
”Why do you want to quit as the captain of the Black Serpent Knights?” Emperor Aku asked when he opened his eyes. ”I'll decide after I hear your reason.”