One day, while she was living quietly like that.
Rellia was abruptly dragged before the Emperor.
"Hmm, I see... So you're my niece? That fool Iris actually bore a daughter."
"……."
"Still, you happen to be around the same age as our Crown Prince. What a fortunate coincidence!"
Rellia could only blink, not understanding what was happening.
"I mocked and cursed Iris so much for falling in love with some lowly commoner knight... And now Iris has given me a gift like you. Hahaha!"
The Emperor was in a situation where he had to send the Crown Prince to the neutral zone at the Temple's request.
Whether to receive a priest with healing powers greater than a mage's, or because of the watchful eyes of neighboring nations who disapproved of him having forcibly taken the throne—he could not refuse.
However, he could not send his own son.
Even now, there were many factions within the empire who resented him for pushing aside his older brother and seizing the throne.
In fact, the young Crown Prince had once faced assassination threats.
An Emperor who would sacrifice even his own son without blinking would never send his child to the sacred neutral zone in this situation.
Of course, with priests and holy knights guarding the place, it would be safe, but one never knew. Nowhere in the world would be safer than his own embrace.
He could only rest easy keeping his son by his side.
"Is it true this child lived alone in the tower?"
The Emperor asked the maidservants.
These were the ones who had been bringing food to Rellia. A servant who had presented a solution to the Emperor, who was troubled by the problem of having to send the Crown Prince, had brought them.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Lady Rellia moved her residence there when Your Majesty built the Empress's villa."
"Hmm."
The Emperor searched his memory. He had once repaired the castle where his dead younger sister lived and given it to his wife.
'So she's been living in the place she was chased out of all this time. Good, very good.'
The Emperor laughed inwardly and asked.
"Who else knows of this child's existence?"
"No one but us, Your Majesty."
This was true.
The child's birth mother, the Princess, was dead, and the number of people who died during the Cataclysm was enormous. Most who knew of young Rellia's existence had already passed away.
"I see... How fortunate. Very fortunate indeed."
The Emperor approached right before the small, thin girl's face.
Though she smelled unwashed and filthy, he paid it no mind and examined her palm.
"You are certainly of Iris's bloodline."
The imperial family of Auraria are born with markings on their palms.
This was true of all imperial families across the Five Empires. They were marks engraved through the covenant between the first Emperors and the Saint Emperor. Though the patterns differed slightly between empires, since dragon's mana was the foundation, they could never be replicated through magic or sorcery.
The Emperor grinned as he looked at the young girl.
'Since all the children my brother sired are dead, the only young imperial blood remaining are my son and this child.'
Moreover, this marking was the best proof of imperial lineage.
An imperial whose existence no one remembered. Even if someone did remember, they would assume she died during the Great Upheaval.
'With a marking that cannot be forged, no one at the Temple will be able to doubt.'
For the three years this child stays in the neutral zone in his stead, he can keep his young son hidden under his shadow and guarantee his safety.
Unless assassinations dared to infiltrate the sacred neutral zone and kill this child, but that would be unavoidable.
'Still, it's not my son dying, so it doesn't matter.'
Having thus decided to send Rellia in the Crown Prince's stead, the Emperor killed all the servants and maids who had brought her.
From that day forward.
The Emperor began instructing Rellia repeatedly.
"You must never let anyone discover that you are a girl. Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty."
Rellia, getting to eat proper food for the first time, nodded at whatever the Emperor said.
Though the Crown Prince would sometimes come and kick and beat her, she endured the pain in silence.
The Emperor even had someone cut her hair short. Just like the Crown Prince. Still, Rellia didn't care.
'As long as I can eat proper food, what does it matter?'
And so Rellia came to the neutral zone, disguising her identity as the Crown Prince's substitute.
Perhaps thanks to the marking on her palm, none of the priests suspected that Rellia was not the Crown Prince.
And they would suspect even less that she was a girl.
On the surface, she pretended to be ten years old—Crown Prince Leo's age—but in reality, Rellia was still seven.
Since it was not yet time for secondary sexual characteristics to appear, it wasn't a problem.
Fortunately, the Temple was being as considerate as possible toward the imperial family. Moreover, Rellia's current status was no mere imperial, but the Crown Prince himself.
Rellia was able to use a large, luxurious private room complete with a shower.
Even so, the Emperor, concerned about potential dangers, tried to send a knight disguised as a maidservant with her, but that was impossible.
The Temple blocked it. The Temple's position was this:
"The Five Empires have entrusted us with their precious future leaders, trusting in the Temple. We will educate them to become as independent and exemplary adults as possible. Therefore, we cannot accept servants to attend to them."
In short, they meant to let them learn to take care of themselves.
Still, while there were no servants constantly attending at their side, lesser priests and servants working at the Temple handled most matters.
The Emperor felt anxious about not being able to send a separate servant.
'Damn it... What if they discover that child is a girl? The Temple, those damned bastards.'
However, since he could not reveal his hidden motives, he couldn't press the matter further.
But one needed insurance.
The Emperor placed a binding spell on Rellia through the imperial mage.
It was safe to assume the child's identity would not be exposed by others.
'No one would dare peek at the Crown Prince's naked body.'
What if an assassin appeared and killed the child, revealing she was a girl?
'That would actually be fortunate.'
His son would live, and the Temple wouldn't dare protest. They wouldn't be able to escape responsibility for failing to maintain security, so raising the issue would only hurt themselves.
The problem was Rellia's mouth.
He had to prevent young Rellia from verbally revealing her identity or writing it down.
So the Emperor used the binding spell.
"Bastard..."
Rellia bit her lip as she recalled the face of Emperor Lydios, who had sent her here.
If she herself revealed her identity and violated the binding spell's constraint, she would...
'Die vomiting blood.'
The binding spell was typically a fearsome magic used on spies entrusted with important missions, but the Emperor paid that no mind.
And so, a seven-year-old girl came to bear a terrible secret that was no different from a curse, arriving at this sacred neutral zone—the Kreutz Sanctuary.