“It’s because I don’t like it when Teacher is displeased.” I closed my eyes in shame. His fingertips brushed my cheek light.
As I stared at his deep golden eyes, a thought crossed my mind. Can I take it as a good thing that he gets jealous when others approach me? Is that because he is protective about his only disciple or that he doesn’t want other men to covet me? I sincerely hope it’s the latter.
“Also, it’s been a long time since I have been out of the mansion. Let’s stay a while,” I said. I didn’t want to be swayed by his charm, not today. Kaichen always said things that made my heart flutter. It was my turn to shake him. There were only a few hours left until my confession.
Kaichen let out a short sigh and removed his hand from my face. “If we stay longer, Princess Akshetra will arrive.”
That did dampen my excitement for my plans a bit. Since it was the Crown Prince’s birthday, it was obvious that Princess Akshetra would attend. I forgot all about it because I had been busy preparing my confession plans.
So, I can finally see the mastermind behind everything. For Julius to be an emperor, Akshetra absolutely needed to be defeated. After considering that she might be the real villain of the novel, I had racked my brain trying to remember anything from the original novel.
In Blue Dragon’s Protection, Julius, she was the rightful heir to the throne with the most screen time in the story than anyone else. The only thorn in her way was her birth. She had no choice but to confront Julius, who had a legitimate birth status. The moment the stupid and indecisive emperor withdrew from politics, Akshetra had put a lot of effort, more than anyone else, to take care of the state affairs from the time she was a child.
It was also due to the fact that there was only Akshetra to rely on since the child of the empress was assumed dead. Beautiful, smart, and compassionate, Akshetra was strong enough sometimes to make necessary cruel decisions without hesitation. She considered herself capable of being an emperor. Her followers did not doubt her strength.
Then, there had been news that two disciples of the Magic Tower traveled around the empire rescuing and helping those who struggled. They were well known in the empire and Akshetra had helped them thinking that they would be a great help to the empire in the future. Then one day, it had been revealed that one of them was the Empress’ son who was assumed to be dead. Akshetra’s position was shaken. She had worked hard for her title. Julius had returned as a prince.
The people of the empire naturally welcomed the fact that the person who had been helping them generously as a disciple of the Magic Tower was their Prince. They knew that such a compassionate person would definitely turn out to be a great emperor. People felt that he was the rightful heir. Akshetra’s benevolence wasn’t lacking but the people knew the difference between helping someone directly and directing help. That was what I remembered from the original novel.
Akshetra, who thought that her position would be taken away if Julius returned to the palace, became anxious and joined hands with Momalhaut. The assassins were sent to kill him, but the assassination attempt was ruined by Kaichen, who protected Julius with his monstrous mana and magical powers. Julius realized the true meaning of his identity through a series of events and made a big decision.
“I heard that my sister took care of the state affairs on behalf of His Majesty. If she is a great person and justifiably capable of holding the title, I wonder if I should step down. I want to travel the world with you and help those who are struggling anyway.”
“She is a person who wants to kill someone so that she doesn’t lose her position. I don’t know if she is someone you can talk to.”
“I won’t know unless I meet her. I want to have a conversation with her.”
So, Julius met with Akshetra, who sent assassins to kill him. Despite his expectations, Kaichen was right, and Julius himself went to the imperial palace to meet the emperor and claim his position. Contrary to Julius’s plan to return as the prince, the emperor, who loved the empress dearly, foolishly and blindly appointed him as the crown prince immediately.
Having been stripped of her title so easily, it would have made Akshetra angry, justifiably so. However, Akshetra had been calm and meek unlike the first time Julius met her. Julius thought she was suddenly like an entirely different person.
Although Momalhaut was the culprit behind the Acrab incident, there was a rumor that they had acted under the orders of Princess Akshetra. These were the things Julius had told me when I asked him about the princess. I felt sorry for her rather than angry. She had worked hard to build a perfect life and it was taken from her the moment Julius appeared.
