"I don't even remember how long I was frozen in the forest… It was a very, very long time."
Inside the room, Emilia spoke about her past.
"I remained asleep in the ice until Puck rescued me," she said, absentmindedly touching the crystal hanging around her neck, where Puck usually resided. Strangely enough, ever since entering the Sanctuary, Puck had not appeared.
"Although I already knew about the ice and was called the 'Frozen Witch' because of it… I never imagined I had stayed inside for so long… a full hundred years."
"A hundred years," Lillian murmured with some emotion. "That really is a long time — an entire century."
"Century?"
"Ah, nothing. Please continue."
"…At the beginning, I was only about six or seven years old," Emilia said. "But even while inside the ice, my body continued to grow. So when Puck rescued me, my body was like everyone else's, and it took me a long time before I could even walk without stumbling."
Though she spoke of growth, in reality she had only matured to the physical appearance of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old.
Lillian studied Emilia's face. It hardly resembled that of someone whose actual age exceeded a hundred years. Then again, for spirits and elves, living a century meant little. As a half-elf, Emilia inheriting such longevity was hardly impossible.
"And before that… before that… um…"
Emilia's expression became pained. Recalling those memories seemed to bring intense suffering.
Seeing this, Lillian said gently, "Don't force yourself to remember."
"No, I want to remember!"
Unexpectedly, Emilia showed firm determination. She forced herself to continue:
"Before that… before the forest was frozen… I lived together with many kind spirits. They treated me very well. And… there was also someone very gentle who took care of me, and…"
She could not continue. Covering her head with both hands, she struggled. Lillian noticed that the crystal hanging at her neck was beginning to glow faintly.
"Emilia, take a deep breath," Lillian said gently. "Don't think about those things for now."
"…Okay… haa…"
Following Lillian's guidance, Emilia took several deep breaths, her chest rising and falling. Gradually, her emotions steadied.
About five minutes later, she began speaking again.
"Later, Puck saved me. I wanted to undo the ice sealing the forest, but I couldn't."
"I waited for a very long time, hoping the ice would melt someday, but no matter how long I waited, it didn't change at all. Even Puck couldn't do anything about such massive frozen ice. So… I could only leave the forest and participate in the royal selection."
Hearing this, something stirred in Lillian's mind.
"What does the forest have to do with the royal selection?"
"Because… Roswaal made an agreement with me," Emilia explained. "He handed me the insignia he brought and saw the gem on it glow. Then he told me, 'If you obtain the throne, then melting the frozen forest may also become possible.'"
I see…
A chill passed through Lillian's heart. From the very beginning, Roswaal had already been manipulating Emilia. By using such a promise to lure her into participating in the royal selection, he had been certain she could not refuse.
"Lillian… do you think I'm despicable?" Emilia covered her face with both hands, her voice trembling slightly. "You must think so… I actually know almost nothing about the country of Lugunica. The other candidates all fight for this nation, but I—although I say it's for everyone's peace—harbor such selfish motives… How could someone like me be worthy of becoming king?"
"You're wrong."
"…"
Lillian looked at Emilia's reddened eyes and spoke seriously.
"Everyone participating in the royal selection has their own personal motives. You're not the only one. And your selfishness is meant to save others, isn't it? As for 'becoming king to unseal the forest'—that's simply Roswaal deceiving you."
Lillian speculated that Roswaal's reasoning was probably this: once one became king, one could communicate with the Divine Dragon, and with the dragon's help—being an omnipotent existence—unfreezing the forest would be a trivial matter.
Emilia likely believed the same. But in Lillian's view, such logic did not hold at all. Setting aside whether Roswaal—who had prepared for years for the dragon's appearance—would take action at that time, even if he did nothing, why would the Divine Dragon help with such a matter?
Only a small number of spirits were affected in the frozen forest, and they were not even citizens of the Kingdom of Lugunica. The dragon had no obligation to assist them. Should one simply place hope in the dragon's "kindness"? Lillian thought it would be more realistic, after becoming king, to mobilize thousands of workers with pickaxes and shovels to smash the ice. The strength of the masses was no joke.
"You're saying… Roswaal is deceiving me?" Emilia was startled by Lillian's sudden statement.
"In truth, Emilia, you can sense that he's using you to achieve his own goals, can't you?"
"…"
"As your supporter, he didn't stand up for you during the royal selection conference. And regarding the discrimination you face in politics and from the people of his territory, he's never tried to resolve those issues. Isn't that right?"
If Roswaal truly supported Emilia, he would certainly try to help her gain public support—not necessarily nationwide, but at least within his own domain. Yet he hadn't even done that.
It wasn't that Roswaal didn't want Emilia to become king—he simply didn't want her to become king through normal means.
How had the royal selection even begun in the first place? Why was it necessary? Because, aside from Felt—the lost princess living outside—the entire royal family had mysteriously died from a strange illness.
No one believed that this "disease" had occurred naturally. Even Reinhard and other royal loyalists had investigated thoroughly, yet found no clues whatsoever. To achieve such a result, Lillian could only suspect Roswaal.
That man had obtained the insignia in advance. Once he confirmed Emilia possessed the qualification, he immediately began preparations. Using some unknown method or poison, he eliminated the entire royal bloodline and triggered the royal selection, allowing Emilia to step onto the stage.
From this, it was clear Roswaal was not someone who preferred gradual, orderly methods. This also meant he had no intention of letting Emilia win the love of all the people and ascend the throne legitimately. Instead, he would likely use more efficient methods—such as eliminating the other candidates so that Emilia alone remained. In that case, regardless of the people's wishes, the throne would inevitably be hers.
It was also worth noting that a throne gained in such a way would be easy to overthrow later.
These were merely Lillian's speculations without evidence, but considering Roswaal's extreme nature, such actions would not be surprising. After all, his strength was undeniable—on this continent, there were probably fewer than ten people stronger than him.
At this moment, Emilia fell silent. Just as Lillian had said, she had long sensed that Roswaal was not particularly "concerned" about her. There was even a strange sense of distance in his attitude.
Lillian understood the reason. Roswaal's actions were all for Echidna, who had been killed by the Witch of Envy—the person she hated most. As someone obsessed with his teacher, Roswaal naturally harbored hatred toward the Witch of Envy as well. Emilia, who resembled the Witch so closely, would naturally not be someone he liked.
Lillian even suspected that once Roswaal achieved his goals through Emilia, he would discard her without hesitation. At that point, her throne would not remain stable, and a tragic fate would be inevitable.
"I… have no other choice," Emilia finally said.
Indeed, from her perspective, even if she knew Roswaal was using her, what could she possibly do?
"Lillian, I also have many questions I want to ask you," Emilia said after revealing so much about herself, finally realizing she too had things she wanted to know. "You have to answer me as well!"
"Alright," Lillian nodded. Looking at the crystal around her neck that continued to glow, he could not help but ask, "Emilia… that crystal is where Puck resides, isn't it?"
"Huh?" Emilia looked down and only then noticed the crystal was shining. She had been too focused to realize earlier.
"Since arriving at the Sanctuary, Puck hasn't appeared even once," Emilia said while gazing at the crystal. "I don't know what's going on."
"He appears when you're in danger, doesn't he?"
As Lillian spoke, an invisible fist suddenly struck toward Emilia's abdomen. She could neither see nor sense it, but the fist stopped just centimeters from her body. At the same time, the crystal shone brilliantly, and in the next moment, the long-absent little cat appeared, stretching lazily.
"Long time no see, Lia. And you—troublemaker who likes stirring things up and who has deceived my daughter several times."
"Puck!"
Emilia was overjoyed at his appearance.
"Did something happen to you during this time? Why haven't you—"
"Well, there were some issues," Puck said. His gaze toward Emilia was somewhat unusual, as if trying to etch her face deeply into his memory.
"Lia, although we have much to talk about, before that, I would like to speak with Lillian alone. Is that alright?"
"Eh…? O-okay…"
Though Emilia did not understand why Puck wanted to speak privately with Lillian, she still nodded and turned to leave.
"You rest in the room. We'll talk outside," Lillian said. Puck, beside him, nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm."
The two of them left the room. Standing in the courtyard, Lillian looked at the small floating cat before him and asked,
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
Puck stared at Lillian for a moment, then suddenly said something completely unexpected.
"I want to make an agreement with you—or rather, exchange a contract."
Lillian froze slightly at the words, then frowned.
"With me… exchange a contract?" he looked at Puck. The latter's expression was unusually serious, lacking his usual playful grin.
"What kind of contract? And why?"