The maids hurried after me in alarm, flustered by my relentless stride. Even as they followed close behind, they fidgeted anxiously, unable to hide their unease. There was only one place in this direction. Yet none of them dared stop me. They merely wore miserable expressions as they trailed after me.
Unlike before, I was no longer afraid of learning the truth.
If anything, I was simply curious.
There was a saying about striking while the iron was hot, and since the thought had already occurred to me, I decided to ask the marquis directly. In truth, whether I was his biological daughter or not would not drastically change my life.
Despite countless rumors, I had still lived quite comfortably until the day I died.
‘Though the ending wasn’t exactly pleasant.’
Just as he always had, the marquis would continue to neither confirm nor deny anything. He would simply remain silent.
“What brings you here?”
Two knights stood guard outside the study doors. Neither could hide their surprise at seeing me here. In all my life, I had never once approached the marquis’s study—let alone the marquis himself.
“I came to see the marq— no, Father. Is he inside?”
“He is, but…”
The knights exchanged glances and trailed off awkwardly. The maids were acting the same way. Why was everyone so sluggish today?
I had no intention of being patient with them.
Without hesitation, I pushed open the study door.
The reason knights guarded this place was to prevent the marchioness from barging in. I, however, had never once come here of my own accord since birth. Naturally, the marquis had never needed to order anyone to bar my entry. The knights could only look troubled—they had no grounds to stop me.
Perhaps because I had at least taken care not to kick the door open this time, unlike at the marchioness’s residence, the heavy door swung open smoothly and without sound.
As expected, the marquis sat behind his large desk, immersed in work.
Beside him stood the butler, posture perfectly straight and unwavering.
“My lady, you’ve arrived?”
For a brief moment, surprise flickered in the butler’s eyes at my sudden appearance, but it vanished so quickly it almost seemed imagined. He bowed politely toward me with calm composure.
Unlike the butler—who, despite his stiff demeanor befitting the marquis’s loyal aide, possessed at least a trace of humanity—the marquis did not even glance in my direction.
Though the butler had clearly announced my arrival, the marquis continued reviewing documents without the slightest reaction.
‘What a cold-hearted man.’
Why had the marchioness fallen in love with someone like him?
I could admit that the marquis was handsome. His dark navy hair and blue eyes paired well with his sharp, refreshing features, giving him the aura of an aloof, cool beauty. His well-defined face exuded masculine charm. Rumor claimed that in his youth, countless young noblewomen had taken to their beds lovesick after seeing him, and judging by his appearance, those rumors were hardly exaggerated.
Then again, I didn’t need to look far for proof. The marchioness herself was utterly obsessed with him.
Fine lines had formed around his eyes with age, but rather than diminishing him, they only added a sense of maturity and refinement.
Though the marquis himself came from a family of civil officials, his lineage had originally been martial nobility. His physique remained as solid as a knight’s. His abilities were equally exceptional. Despite his military lineage, he had risen through talent alone to become the empire’s chancellor.
Truly, the world was fair.
The heavens had granted him looks and talent, but not personality.
His cold disposition and indifference toward others could only be described as character flaws.
The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that I was not his biological daughter. Not only did I not resemble him physically, but personality-wise we did not share even a speck of similarity.
“Would you like some tea?”
Perhaps the butler pitied me for simply standing there staring at the marquis, because he smiled gently as he asked. A tea set had already been prepared nearby for the marquis, likely arranged in advance for his long hours of work.
Since I had no intention of staying long, I immediately shook my head.
Without pressing further, the butler poured tea and placed a cup atop the marquis’s desk.
Steam curled upward from the cup alongside the faint aroma of tea. Without lifting his gaze from the documents, the marquis reached for it. His right hand signed papers while his left lifted the teacup.
His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Every movement was smooth, efficient, and flawlessly elegant according to noble etiquette.
Yet he performed it all without once taking his eyes off the paperwork.
Apparently, he had no intention of looking at me until he finished his work.
Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of waiting.
Who knew when he would finally be done? But leaving without accomplishing anything didn’t sit well with me either.
If you draw a sword, you should stab something with it—even if it’s only a rotten radish.
So I asked directly.
“Am I really your biological daughter?”
“Gasp!”
“Hhk!”
“Kgh!”
A chorus of shocked noises erupted behind me.
Even the composed butler flinched while holding the steaming teapot. Had his reflexes been any slower, the pot would have crashed against the hard floor and shattered into pieces.
At last, the marquis’s right hand stopped moving.
For the first time since I entered the study, he lifted his head and looked at me.
His blue eyes were calm and devoid of emotion.
From his perspective, my question was practically a bombshell, yet he did not show even the slightest sign of surprise. It was honestly impressive.
I had expected this reaction to some degree, so I calmly met his gaze.
Slowly, he opened his mouth.
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
A faint crease formed between his brows.
That alone was a remarkable achievement. The marquis rarely displayed emotion. Iron Chancellor, Frozen Heart, Iron Mask—those were the titles people used for him.
His cold gaze pinned me in place.
I stared back without retreating.
He seemed to be measuring my intentions.
Heavy silence filled the study. Somewhere behind me, I heard someone swallow nervously.
“Does it matter?”
“No.”
My immediate answer made his brows twitch once more.
As far as I knew, today was the most expressive he had ever been.
Perhaps because of that, he let out a faint sigh that seemed oddly out of character. For a moment, he even looked tired.
“Go play your games elsewhere.”
Apparently dismissing my question as childish nonsense, he lost interest and returned his attention to the documents.
His halted hand moved across the papers once more.
It was an obvious order for me to leave.
“It may not matter much to me, but if I want to rise to the highest position, it becomes a troublesome issue.”
His hand stopped again.
Quietly, he set the pen down atop the document.
When our eyes met once more, his gaze had turned cold enough to frost over.
“Do you want to become empress?”
“Gasp!”
“Hhk!”
“Kgh!”
“Hic—!”
Another wave of startled noises burst out behind me.
I could understand the knights reacting that way since they were supposed to guard the entrance, but why were the maids still lingering there with nothing better to do?
I should have shut the door the moment I entered, but since I wasn’t accustomed to opening and closing doors myself, I had forgotten.
‘This is why being raised delicately is a problem.’
The marquis seemed irritated by their presence as well, because he signaled silently to the butler.
Receiving the wordless command, the capable butler moved at once.
After bowing respectfully to both the marquis and me, he ushered the knights and maids away from the doorway. The heavy door closed firmly behind them, leaving only the marquis and me inside the study.
A brief silence followed.
Then he spoke.
“I’ll ask again. Do you wish to become empress?”
“If I said yes, would that make it possible?”
He looked at me strangely.
My reflection filled his blue eyes completely.
“You entertain rather pointless thoughts.”
Something resembling a smile briefly touched his lips before vanishing.
No—correction.
What appeared on his face wasn’t a smile.
It was ridicule.
As though observing some curious animal, he began studying me closely.
The fact that he was finally paying attention to me was certainly an achievement, though not a particularly pleasant one.
“Questions about bloodlines can become fatal weaknesses.”
When I became empress in the past, doubts surrounding my lineage had played a major role in undermining my position. Even while I was torn apart by invisible blades, the marquis never once spoke regarding the matter.
To be precise, the issue of my bloodline was never openly raised.
That was because the marquis treated it as something beneath discussion and ignored it entirely. His unwavering stance prevented the matter from ever becoming public controversy.
But rather than eliminating the problem, his silence merely allowed countless rumors to fester beneath the surface.
High society—especially among noblewomen—thrived on such gossip.
Even the empress of the empire could not escape the rules of society.
If anything, being empress only bound one more tightly to them.
The social world was filled with people who smiled gracefully while hiding razor-sharp blades behind their backs.
In such a place, questions of bloodline were fatal weaknesses.
The truth itself was secondary.
Mere suspicion was enough to make one prey for wolves eager to tear someone apart.
“I’m not foolish enough to leap into a fire pit while carrying such a weakness.”
Vionne had resented the marquis for refusing to clarify matters. Because of his silence, she had been forced into endless political battles she never needed to fight, and in the process, she made countless enemies.
Of course, the reason she made so many enemies was largely due to her own personality and behavior.
Still, this issue had undeniably been the beginning of it all.
Until the moment she died, Vionne resented him.
More accurately, she resented and cursed the entire world.
That grief and despair still slept deep within my chest, shaking my heart from time to time.
That did not mean I personally still hated him.
The closest comparison would be the lingering emotions left behind after becoming deeply immersed in a film by projecting yourself onto the protagonist.
In truth, whether or not I was truly his daughter was not what mattered most.
Regardless of the truth, as long as the marquis remained silent, I was still the legitimate daughter of House Ellient.
And in reality, until the very moment I died, I remained the one and only daughter of the Marquis Ellient.
The real reason I had bothered coming all the way to his study…
…was something else entirely.
