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Chapter 50 Part 1 – Alisa and Scarlet in the previous「108 times」. The Queen and the Maiden of Salvation. Malice is like a burning fire.

Wood crackled in the fireplace.
Before I knew it, night had fallen.

「…… It has been a long journey. Now I will be queen from this day forward ……」

I went upstairs to my room, and when I was alone, I leaned my back against the wall, looked up at the ceiling, and took a small breath.

Just a few minutes ago, the influential members of the Hydrangea Parliament were gathered here at the Duke’s residence for a special meeting. The meeting was a mess, but it was there that I was finally approved to accede to the queen’s throne. It seemed as if everyone’s murmurs were still lingering in the empty hall. I was not aware of it, but the meeting had lasted much longer than I had expected.

My legs are trembling now that the thread of tension has been broken. I was on edge throughout the meeting. I had to identify which parliament members would be my allies and which would be my enemies. Rather, it wasn’t just during the meeting, it had always been that way. I have continuously been in life-threatening battles, and I never had a moment to relax.

「…… Don’t let down your guard, Scarlet. The battle is far from over.」

I told myself as I bit my lip. I clenched my fist, touched my forehead, and steeled myself.
This can’t go on like this. I have to be focused. The coronation ceremony is still a month away and is not over yet, so don’t even think about letting my guard down. My journey as Queen has not even started yet.

…… Still, looking back at what I’ve gone through, I do feel sentimental.

It has been a long and an extremely harsh struggle for the succession to the throne. Blood and schemes were everyday occurence. Assassination attempts were made on a daily basis. Including attempted assassinations, the number exceeded a hundred. The four princes from the four great kingdoms tried to take advantage of my unusual appearance and tried to kidnap me at every opportunity. Their subordinates had received a violent order to kill me if they could not kidnap me and so they sometimes turned into an assassin. I can no longer tell how many times my life has been threatened. It is a miracle that I have survived this long. Moreover, now I’m about to be crowned Queen ……

Since I have the same red eyes and red hair as the legendary True Emperor, by special exception I had the right to become a part of the line of succession to the Hydrangea throne after the royal family. Even so, my rank in the line of succession to the throne was not even in the single digits. It was an extremely disadvantaged starting point.

It would have been a different story if my father, the 「the Crimson Duke」 the hero of Hydrangea, were still alive, but unfortunately, he was caught in an avalanche and died when I was a little girl. It has been a difficult journey.
「…… Father, I’m about to become the Queen …… I wish I could have shown you, even if it was only for one glance……」

My beloved father …… how pleased he would have been to know that I’m about to be crowned as the Queen. I guess he would have put his hands on my sides, raised me above his own head as he did when I was a girl, and spun around on the spot.

「As expected of Scarlet. Our daughter, whom I am more proud of than anyone else …… You are my greatest treasure, shining as brightly as a ruby」, his nostalgic voice praising me replayed in my mind.

Though he seemed unconcerned when we were outside, when we were alone, father made no attempt to hide his doting and fondness for me.
The warm hand that stroked my head, the quiet deep voice, I …… have never forgotten a single moment of it. How could I forget?
How could I forget those happy days that were abruptly taken away from me?

I sniffled.
My heart still breaks when I recall the grief I felt when I lost my father.
When I was informed of his death, I fainted from grief. I considered death many times so that I could follow after him. Father was nearly my whole world when I was a young girl.

He was so kind and dignified and I was proud of my father …… My red eyes and red hair that were the same as my father were my pride. As a daughter, he was the ideal father. He loved my late mother with all his heart, and no matter how much people around him encouraged him to do so, he never took a second wife. He assured me that the three of us would always be together and that we would never need another person in the family and raised me all by himself. He referred to me as a little lady and swore at mother’s grave that he would protect me with his soul and life until I could stand on my own. I am sure that the reason I have miraculously survived until now is because my father’s soul was protecting me even in death, just as he said.

「Father …… I have become an adult now. So, don’t worry about me and go to mother in heaven. I’ll …… be fine now.」

Father always wanted to go to mother’s side. He just didn’t do so because he cared for me as much as he cared for her. On the date mother passed away, father always went to visit her grave. He always spoke gently to the grave, as though she were alive.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was small compared to my peers, but I could have become father’s dance partner. Father had passed away before I was ten years old, so I had only been allowed to have a make-believe dance with him as if we were playing house. He was looking forward to the day of my debutante.

「I’m not very good at dancing. But it’s not so bad to feel a little embarrassed if I can dance with my beloved daughter.」 He said as he laughed. He loved to say that he would become my first partner.

In fact, it was only after his death that I was told at a ball that father was an expert in dancing whom everyone was fascinated by. After mother passed away, he sealed off dancing as a memory between the two of them. He would never let anyone touch their memories ……

Only one person, I, was special enough to be allowed to touch father’s precious memories. Father loved my mother and me to the utmost. I left that ball early, and on the carriage ride home, I stifled my voice and wept.

…… I bent down and put some more wood on the fireplace.
The color of the flames are the same as father’s eyes and hair, it is the color that connects us.
The shadows created in the room are shimmering in the glow of the flames from the fireplace mounted behind the wall.
The decorative marble frame that wrapped around the fireplace opening was as white as fresh snow.

I stared at the flickering flames for a moment, then stood up.
I reached for the artificial rose on the overhanging mantelpiece and held it gently to my chest.
The red glass petals and brass leaves and stem were beautifully crafted as if it were alive.
…… It was a memento of father.

The avalanche had engulfed father and his body had never been found.
When Ethelreed arrived at the scene, he searched frantically and finally found this artificial flower. It had been prepared by father as a birthday present for me. It was an avalanche so large that it changed the terrain, but only this flower, a fragile work of art, did not break, and miraculously arrived at my hand.

「…… This little flower contains your father’s wish for you to live. Your father desperately protected this flower during that avalanche. Just as he has protected you until now. …… I understand the pain of losing a loved one. But please. Please don’t let your father’s feelings for you go to waste.」

Ethelreed admonished me as he handed me the flower.
His fingers were trembling. His eyes were red.

Father and Ethelreed had a close relationship. Even so, until I, his daughter, held father’s memento in my hands, he could not shed a tear, he thought, his back trembling in grief.

I broke down and cried right there.

Father had been worried for me and loved me to the very end.
That memory saved me many times when I felt discouraged.
I started to walk again toward the throne.