The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me - Chapter60

60 – The Blossom in the Western Forest

There was a woman who lost a child.

The child was a twin.

The woman was a witch. She desperately fought to save the twins. Her husband, being in a high position, disapproved of her actions.

In the end, the woman gave up her status.

She delved into it.

And she achieved success.

She couldn’t bring back the lives that had already disappeared, but she could hold on to their souls.

But the woman received a curse.

-You shall never see twins like yourself again. You shall not be able to touch them.

The woman continued her research.

And she secretly wrote a book.

If someone were to find that book and come to this forest, they would receive guidance from her daughters.

And they would let her know about her daughters’ appearances and news.

“Hey, Elenia, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve always been sad because of us. We were a hindrance. You had that expression back then too.”

Susia patted the girl’s head.

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“No, it’s not true. Mother loves all of you very much.”

“But Elenia has never told us that she loves us.”

“Yeah. She always got angry when I called her mom.”

Ascal thought for a moment.

Then he approached the girl.

“Can I take off your hat for a moment?”

“… Will we become disliked?”

“Nothing like that will happen.”

“… Then okay.”

Ascal took off the girl’s beanie.

As expected.

Sparse strands of hair were missing, and black spots stained the exposed skin.

“Witch’s disease…”

Witch’s disease.

A congenital illness that only a few children are born with.

Children born with this disease mostly die before reaching adolescence.

No one knew the cure.

However, ever since someone called a child born with this disease a witch’s child, everyone called this disease witch’s disease.

And it was considered a condemnation of both the child born with witch’s disease and their mother.

Ascal kissed the girl’s head.

“Itchy… hehehe.”

“It must have been tough.”

Ascal turned to Elenia.

Elenia was soulless, observing Ascal’s actions.

However, she was also incredibly afraid.

“What did those kids say? That they hate me? That they abhor me?”

“They asked if you were alright.”

Elenia couldn’t approach the children even when she trapped their souls in the forest. Because it was terrifying. Terrifying to hear what would come out of their mouths.

However, the news she received from the visitors was probably the maximum she could handle.

“These children… have reached their limit, right?”

Sushia, who had been observing the children’s states, asked.

“Yeah.”

“I may have bound them to this land, but I can see that the connection is gradually weakening. Maybe, at most, by the end of today…”

“That’s right. I’ve tried everything, but I failed.”

Elenia replied as if resigned.

“Is that why you confessed that the medicine was poison?”

“Yeah. When these children were here, I wanted to seek revenge one way or another, but now it’s meaningless.”

The empire abandoned these children.

They didn’t even acknowledge them as humans.

In return, Elenia wanted to burn down the empire.

She wanted to make the father who abandoned these children suffer as much as possible. She barely kept her own life alive and wanted to show him the empire crumbling before his eyes.

But now it’s too late.

Elenia laughed as if she had given up.

Thump, thump.

At that moment, Fehr suddenly rushed in and swiped Elenia with his forelegs.

“Eek!”

However, it seemed like he controlled his strength, as he stopped right before hitting the ground. Even in Fehr’s eyes, it seemed pathetic.

“Don’t torment Lady Elenia.”

“Stop it.”

The two girls wrapped their bodies around Elenia.

Even though their bodies didn’t physically touch, they tried to cover their mother’s body as much as possible with their small bodies.

“Unbelievable!”

Sushia expressed her anger and crossed her arms.

Elenia looked up at Sushia as if she wanted her to say what she wanted to say.

“Seek revenge on the empire, say it’s meaningless… I don’t understand at all. Isn’t it for the sake of these children?”

“Then what am I supposed to do…”

“Play with us.”

But Elenia couldn’t see the girls.

How can she play with them?

Sushia drew a line on the ground with a stick.

“Really.”

Elenia watched Sushia’s actions with curiosity.

“Alright, kids! It’s stick game time! The first one to complete it wins!”

It’s tic-tac-toe.

The children’s eyes lit up.

“I want to go first!”

The girl drew an O in the center.

Susia handed the stick to Elenia.

“Go ahead. It’s your turn.”

“What is this…”

“Hurry up.”

Elenia drew an X next to the O.

Soon, an O appeared next to the X Elenia had drawn.

It was a crumpled circle.

“Lorian?”

Lorian had never been able to draw a circle properly since long ago.

Elenia quickly redrew the X.

This time, the drawn circle was elongated.

“Flora.”

They were mischievous children.

Instead of trying to win the game, it seemed like they enjoyed drawing circles and placed them anywhere.

Elenia also drew an X in an unexpected position.

There was even a circle outside the drawn line.

“I can’t lose.”

Elenia started drawing the X with a smile.

Dozens of O’s.

Dozens of X’s.

The circles leaning against the X that seemed to simply follow Elenia’s drawn X.

“Well, I lost.”

As per the children’s arbitrary rules, Elenia declared her defeat.

“Wow! I won against Elenia-dnim!”

Lorian and Flora laughed.

Elenia smiled back at her.

Even though she couldn’t see them, she knew where her daughters were.

“I’ve beaten you, so you have to give me a prize.”

It was an old story.

Every time Elenia praised her daughters, she would pick a flower for each of them.

As Elenia walked towards the flower bed in the forest, she stopped in her tracks.

She realized that it had been quite a while since she last watered the flowers.

“…Huh?”

But Elenia was taken aback.

The flower bed, as if someone had taken great care of it, was blooming with various colorful flowers.

Elenia picked two flowers and returned to her daughters.

“Here! Take them.”

Elenia reached out her hand.

Soon, the flowers that had been placed on her hand disappeared.

The flowers danced in the air.

Flutter, flutter.

Like an innocent girl dancing.

“Where are you going?”

The two flowers moved gracefully.

Elenia followed them.

“This is…”

It was the hut she lived in.

Surrounded by swamps.

But the flowers suddenly disappeared.

“Lorian! Flora!”

No way.

No way, had they vanished?

Had she lost even the traces of her daughters?

Elenia swallowed her dry saliva.

“You can’t see it? That?”

“Dance, Sushia.”

“Suddenly?”

“Sing, too.”

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Though Sushia couldn’t quite fathom it, she began to dance anyway, her movements still clumsy.

“Fortuna, Fortuna, come to us,

Veritas, Veritas, give us light.

Amor, Amor, fill our hearts.

Again and again we sing,

Again and again we invoke,

Come to us, give us light!”

Nevertheless, her voice was so sweet that it made the song bearable.

As Sushia sang, little by little, starlight began to illuminate the cottage and the marsh.

Then, the original appearance of the cottage began to reveal itself to Elenia.

“Ah…”

There was a flower garden.

Day by day, they had carefully selected beautiful flowers,

Planting them one by one around their mother’s house,

And finally, the twins’ hard work had resulted in the beautiful flower garden.

“Elenia, my lady.”

“Are we beautiful?”

The twins, without their hats and flowers adorning their hair, hid in the garden and smiled faintly.

“Well, beautiful or not.”

Elenia laughed.

Her face was smeared with tears and mucus, but the twins didn’t mind.

Elenia, embracing the twins, managed to speak through her tears.

“Lorian, Flora.”

“Why? Elenia, my lady.”

“Try calling me ‘Mom.’”

Lorian giggled, and Flora followed suit.

“Mom.”

“Mom.”

Suddenly, the dawn was breaking.

Starlight cannot be seen beneath the sun.

Now, the time was almost over.

“Now… stop…”

“Just a moment.”

Elenia held the twins tighter, wanting to feel their warmth even a little more. And she continued to whisper in their ears.

“I love you, I love you. Mom loves you.”

“Me too.”

“And Flora too.”

Suzia, filled with emotions, burst into tears.

Ascal, watching her, took out a white bead from his pocket. As a person with black hair, he couldn’t forgive such melodramatic scenes.

Last night, a dragon appeared in his dream.

“Where did you get that bead?”

“I just picked it up in the Kingdom of Kelli.”

“Give it to me.”

“…Why?”

“With that, I can regain all my power. I can even make you an emperor.”

“Are you crazy? I can’t give it to you even if I die.”

“How about just a tenth of it?”

“…Is it really that tempting?”

“Let’s make a deal. If you need my power, hold the bead and shout. I will do whatever is possible. In return, I will take a tenth of the bead’s power.”

“Can you also help me escape from the empire?”

“Except for that.”

“Dragon! Save these two people! By the way, I cannot make any arbitrary interpretations, but you should already know what I want, so please figure it out and make it happen!”

Suddenly, clouds covered the sky.

And I felt as if time had stopped.

“How can you revive someone who is dead?”

“Can’t the great dragon of the world do that too?”

“That’s why the person who has been visiting various graves is no good. You get used to it and braise your belly.”

“Is there a way or not?”

– It is impossible to bring back the dead. However, there’s something that witch had prepared in advance. All I have to do is add my part to it.

“I refuse to interpret in a strange way.”

– Do I seem like someone who would deceive a regular?

“Can you give me a coupon, by any chance?”

– …I’ve never seen someone like you in all my years.

The Luck Dragon breathed fire.

Did I cross the line?

Ascal regretted it.

But the breath didn’t burn Ascal. Instead, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm, and Ascal rolled up his sleeve.

There was a cloud-shaped mark, almost like a tattoo.

– It was a good deal.

“Let’s meet from time to time.”

– Sure.

The cloud disappeared.

Elenia felt a strange sensation and looked around.

“Lorian! Flora!”

The day had dawned.

In the end, the deadline had arrived.

Elenia sat down, utterly dejected.

No matter how much you prepare, saying goodbye never gets any easier.

At that moment, the door of the cabin opened.

Coming down the cabin’s stairs were two girls dressed in carefully crafted handmade dresses. They looked like dolls.

“Let’s go, Sushia.”

“Like this?”

“Pay some attention to appearances. We have to make way for them. We can collect our payment later. What’s one more day of seeing ghosts?”

“No, it’s not about the reward…”

Sushia, who had become a psychopath in an instant, started pouting.

At that moment, Fehr stretched his front legs and loosened up.

“Here we go!”

The day dawned.

Per took off between the trees without hesitation.

The wind felt refreshing.

“Nice to meet you. I received permission from the government office today and opened a fortune-telling shop. I’ve come to give out cookies.”

“I’m Lorian, the fortune-teller!”

“I’m Flora, the cashier!”

With a bright smile on her face, Elenia, who had turned into a beauty to the point where one might doubt if she was the same person from yesterday, nodded respectfully to Ascal.

“…I am the minister here, who gave you permission?”

“Oh, you’re here. Ascal.”

The crown prince, who showed himself in the evaluation office for the first time in a while, laughed lightly.

“I gave the permission.”

“Ahem. Even though you’re the prince, it’s not right to hire peddlers without consulting me.”

“Is that so? It’s not something anyone can do, hiring a queen as an employee. Even though it’s former.”

“…What did you say?”

Elenia chuckled softly.

“By the way, I didn’t tell you my former name.”

“Yes?”

“I am Ellen Barba. The former empress of the Barba Empire. Of course, now I’m just a common fortune-teller.”

Ellen Barba.

One day, she disappeared, and her name was erased from history as the first empress of Karamon Barba.

And those records were strangely completely erased.

“My mother.”

“What kind of, understandable, then what about the princesses…”

“To be honest, I do meet occasionally with Serena. It’s better to have an affable daughter than a son who is originally insensitive.”

“hahahaha. You disappeared without a word, and what are you talking about, mother.”

Come to think of it, he remembered the image of Elenia when they first met as a beggar.

He also vividly remembered observing Yulia for a long time.

And even setting up an illegal stall around the evaluation office.

“Well, what can you do? If I had appeared to you, Yulia would have killed me.”

“Yulia has an obsessive side to her.”

“The Empress is a witch…?”

“Oh, so you’ve found out the secret. I can’t let it slip. Lorian, Flora.”

Lorian and Flora shoved candy into Ascal’s mouth.

“Mmm!”

“Well, now that you know the secret, you’ve joined forces with the Empire. Well, you were already on their side anyways. If you were thinking about immigration or retirement or something like that…”

The Crown Prince said.

“Snap out of it.”

And the Crown Prince disappeared with a laugh.

“Of course, I’m sure you never had such thoughts, but aren’t you someone, the Empire’s guardian and support! hahahahaha! Continue to protect the Empire in the future as well! But why are you still called the guardian even though you’ve already achieved success?”

Laika was in the editing room of the Empire’s newspaper.

“A memory came back to me.”

“You, what is a traitor doing here?”

“I’m a forger.”

A man wearing a hood coolly spoke while holding a cane.

“Don’t say that name so casually.”

“But I must thank you.”

“What nonsense.”

Laika took out the Empire’s newspaper and magazine. And there were articles written about the Myomyo tribe’s advocacy, massage shops, and the Empire’s expansion.

“J. S. It’s your other pen name.”

“You.”

“At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. But when I gathered them all, I realized. Clapping doesn’t make a sound unless it meets. The minister used us without discrimination. And someone raised their pen.”

Laika knelt down and reached out both palms.

It was a gesture of utmost gratitude.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for saving our people.”

“It’s amusing. It was only because writing articles about the Myomyo tribe received a good response. It was merely a part of the current trends.”

“The article you’re writing now, is it about the witch?”

“Yes. It’s the shocking truth that the Empress of the Empire was actually a witch. If this comes out, the Empire will crumble from its very foundation.”

“Forger, you are a congenital cripple.”

The forger looked down at his leg. It was a prosthetic developed by the Department of Development and Innovation. It was affordable and available to anyone without any inconvenience. And its performance was excellent.

“We have experienced a lot of discrimination until now. Simply because of the fact that we were born this way.”

“Yeah. Isn’t that why we were trying to destroy the empire? I don’t know why I’m having this conversation with a traitor.”

“Does the empire still hate us?”

“Well, of course…”

The forger couldn’t respond.

The deep-seated hatred that should have surged in their heart was suddenly blocked somewhere in their throat.

“Release the witch. She has also suffered for a long time.”

“But…”

“I’m asking you.”

“…”

The forger dropped the article they were writing to the floor.

“Oh damn it! It’s my un-copied rough draft! If I lose it, I won’t be able to submit the article on time! This is a big problem.”

Laica looked at the paper that had fallen in front of them.

Hesitation.

It tasted good, as if it were a luxury item.

“This is really bad. All the evidence inside will also be lost.”

“What can we do? That’s life. We’ll just have to rewrite it.”

The forger picked up their pen.

“There was a flower in the western forest of the Empire. They said it bloomed beautifully. They say it’s a forbidden place where people commit suicide due to constant depression, so you should never go there. That should be a good alternative.”

“What’s the flower called?”

“I think it was camellia or something…”

Sushia said.

“You’re here again, former manager.”

“No, it wasn’t a sacred place?”

“I don’t know.”

Sushia occasionally receives lessons from Elenia. She seemed to have gained some control over seeing ghosts.

“Oops!”

Sushia interrupted.

“Oh, oh, oh.”

The former manager burst into flames once again.