At that moment, Lellia had barely calmed her mind and was tidying up her surroundings.
Bang!
However, the things she had organized in front of the door became a mess again as someone kicked the door open and entered.
Lellia was so startled as if struck by lightning that she fell on her bottom.
The one who opened the door with a fierce expression was a large adult man.
Lellia clenched her fists in tension.
She wondered if it might be Elizabeth's younger brother who had been so angry with her earlier....
'Emperor Perseus...?'
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was Emperor Perseus who had come to the tower.
He was alone without any attendants or guard knights.
"...."
Perseus approached her with an even more intimidating expression than the man she had encountered earlier.
Lellia held her breath at his imposing manner.
She had thought it was fortunate it wasn't that man, but perhaps it would have been better if it had been him instead.
Perseus squeezed his eyes shut as if suppressing something, then opened them again and asked.
"Why did you go to the cottage? How dare you? How did you find out about that place! Did Princess Iris tell you when you were young? That place is...!"
He couldn't continue speaking, like someone who had been greatly wounded by having something precious damaged.
His tone and expression revealed dark emotions such as grievance, resentment, grief, and hatred.
It seemed he had witnessed Lellia coming out of Elizabeth's cottage.
"...."
Emperor Perseus's face bore such a wronged and grief-stricken expression that Lellia couldn't easily bring herself to answer.
Because right now, no matter what she said, he would be angry.
Perseus spoke while forcibly suppressing his anger.
"That place... is not a space where Iris's bloodline can go. Answer me. Why did you go there?"
It was a firm tone. One could feel the will not to ask twice.
Overwhelmed by his force, Lellia unconsciously knelt and bowed her head.
'Let's speak honestly.'
No, she couldn't be completely honest, but....
"I, there was no food... so...."
Lellia carefully began to speak. This was clearly a fact, so it wasn't entirely a lie.
"What?"
"I was so hungry... I went to find something to eat. But I didn't steal anything! I just looked and came right out!"
Actually, she had stolen food, but she lied.
If he found out she had stolen the food Elizabeth had preserved with magic, she feared he might really kill her then.
Not wanting to die was one thing, but....
If Lellia died at Emperor Perseus's hands, that would also be a great loss to him.
Eventually, Emperor Perseus would learn that Lellia was his own blood.
In the original work, even when Lellia died from an accidental death, he struggled so much later, so how much harder would it be if he knew he killed her with his own hands?
This was also for Emperor Perseus's sake.
So Lellia rubbed her hands together and begged. Because she had to survive somehow.
"I was wrong, but I didn't steal anything. Please forgive me, I was wrong...."
"...."
Emperor Perseus frowned and couldn't say anything. He was dumbfounded and flustered.
Because of food? Because she was hungry?
Only then did the space inside the tower catch his eye.
Ridiculously, this tower was furnished as cozily as Elizabeth's cottage. But looking closely, it was old and incredibly shabby.
He knew this child was staying in the tower, but....
'No one to bring her food?'
Originally, he never wanted to know if someone was taking care of this child or how she was living, so he never asked.
However, he had assumed someone would be taking care of this child. She was still royalty after all.
But....
The space inside the tower, though old and shabby, was neatly organized enough to feel cozy at a glance. It felt like it had been tidied by someone's hand.
This young child couldn't have organized it alone....
But....
"...."
Emperor Perseus looked down again at Lellia who was kneeling and begging.
The child seemed even thinner than when he had encountered her last time.
Not long ago when Lydios died, it seemed the person who had been taking care of the child had also left. Had she been starving since then?
Emperor Perseus clenched his fists with a bitter feeling.
No matter how much he hated the child of someone he detested, he too was a father who had a child.
He wasn't heartless enough to get angrier at a young child's words that she did it because she was hungry.
Moreover, this child was about the same age as Uriana, whom he cherished.
Comparing her to that child, his heart became uncomfortably unsettled.
And this child's claim that she didn't steal anything was probably true.
Earlier, if this child had stolen something from the cottage, Carius wouldn't have just let her go.
"Since Lydios died, has there been no one to take care of you?"
"...."
Lellia slightly raised her head at those words. Emperor Perseus's voice seemed to have calmed down a bit.
'He doesn't seem to know the fact that I went to the neutral zone by Emperor Lydios's order.'
Then again, given Lydios's personality to begin with, it was more likely that everyone who knew that fact had been killed by his own hand long ago.
"...I will send someone. But if you go there again, you will have to follow your mother's side."
With those words, Perseus turned his back and left.
'Send me to my mother's side? Hmph, does he think I'll die that easily?'
Lellia deliberately looked at his retreating figure more boldly and criticized him.
Emperor Perseus's threat was frightening, but Lellia was thinking of going to the cottage again.
'Of course, this time I'll have to be more careful not to get caught.'
She couldn't help it. Not just for food, but because she needed to find a way out of the Imperial Palace.
Lellia had to lie curled up under the covers for a long time to calm her startled heart again.