I stared directly at Lloyd, who was watching me with a look that suggested if my reason for calling him aside was trivial, I would have to deal with the consequences.
Even though it was a bit early, it seemed like the only card I could play in this situation was Lloyd’s secret. I spoke in a voice so faint it could barely be heard, despite us being in a private room.
“You possess the Light attribute, don’t you?”
At my words, Lloyd’s jewel-like eyes widened.
“And you’re hiding it because you can’t let the Grand Temple find out.”
“……How did you know that?”
Lloyd, realizing the gravity of the matter, muttered in the quietest voice possible. He then followed up with a question, keeping his tone just as low.
“Who are you, my lady? And who else knows besides you? Surely the Young Lady doesn’t know this secret….”
“Please, calm down.”
I tried to soothe the agitated Lloyd and continued.
“I am the only one who knows, and I am someone who keeps secrets better than anyone else. There is no chance the Grand Temple or anyone else will find out your secret, Your Highness.”
However, since he was already on edge, he didn’t seem to trust me easily.
I revealed my own secret to him—the one Theor and I had concocted together.
“Do you see this?”
I gathered black magic in one hand, creating a black shadow similar to the one Theor used.
“……Darkness attribute!”
As expected, Lloyd recognized the Darkness attribute immediately. Having unintentionally raised his voice in his excitement, he glanced at the door and lowered it again.
“Why does a young lady like you have the Darkness attribute?”
“One of my ancestors bore a descendant with the late Grand Duke. The Darkness attribute that began flowing through that lineage has manifested in my body in this generation.”
“……!”
“It’s a bit different from how you were born with the Light attribute, Your Highness. You were born with two attributes from the very start, weren’t you?”
“The Light attribute is a secret known only to my father, the Emperor. Everyone who saw or heard about it when I was born was killed.”
That was how dangerous it was for Lloyd to possess the Light attribute. The Grand Temple, which held a standing equal to the Imperial Family, would undoubtedly use the fact that a royal was born with the Light attribute—the power closest to the gods—to claim that even the Imperial Family was beneath them.
The Grand Temple was far too powerful to be dismissed as a mere nuisance. Fortunately, the Northern Grand Duchy was so diametrically opposed to them that they couldn’t touch Theor, who possessed the Darkness attribute—the other power closest to the gods.
“Is that why you meet with Caroline so often? Because of the Light attribute? And you treat my sister—no, Lady Periose—coldly to avoid being discovered?”
At my words, a dark shadow fell over Lloyd’s face.
“It isn’t easy for me, either.”
Hearing such an unexpected admission, I realized that the current Lloyd did not dislike my sister as much as he did in the original story.
“The Young Lady, knowing nothing, keeps interfering with my meetings with Lady Caroline, so I have no choice but to treat her coldly.”
I asked him with sparkling eyes.
“So, you don’t dislike my sister?”
Lloyd let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.
“The Young Lady is my number one candidate for a fiancée. Why would I dislike her?”
“Then why do you treat Lady Pere so coldly? Because she interrupts your meetings with Caroline?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I have to cultivate this power I possess without anyone knowing. To do that, I need the help of Lady Caroline, who has already manifested the Light attribute. You know as well, my lady, that the Light and Darkness attributes are the only ones born once per generation.”
“But that’s not true. I was also born with the Darkness attribute.”
It wasn’t true at all, but I said it as earnestly as if it were fact, and Lloyd nodded once.
“Indeed, there are always anomalies in this world.”
His pupils glittered with a subtle light.
“Anyway, I am the only one who knows your secret, and as I am better at keeping secrets than anyone, there is no way the Grand Temple or others will find out.”
Since I had handed over my own secret to prove my promise to keep his, I made it clear that if his Light attribute were ever exposed, it wouldn’t be because of me, but because of the Emperor, himself, or Caroline. Since the original story revealed it due to the “nuisance heroine” Caroline’s slip of the tongue, I emphasized Caroline’s name a bit more.
Lloyd assured me there was no need to worry.
“Lady Caroline does not yet know about my ability. She probably just thinks I have a strong interest in the Light attribute.”
I nodded at him and said,
“You’ve done well. Rumors fly quickly, so it would be best to wait until you are certain that Caroline is someone you can truly trust with your secret.”
“That is what I intend to do. But truly, how did you find out my secret?”
“I can’t explain it well, but I just felt it.”
“Felt it…?”
“Yes. Should I say it was an intuitive, supernatural hunch that’s hard to put into words?”
Lloyd’s beautiful eyebrows twitched at my words.
“Are you saying you guessed it based on a hunch?”
“Let’s just say that this hunch isn’t one given to ordinary people.”
I smiled slyly and continued.
“Anyway, since I’ve said I would take this secret to the grave, you have to trust me, Your Highness.”
“Ha, words are cheap.”
“Right? Words are the lightest thing in the world, aren’t they?”
I nodded once, smiled, and held up three fingers toward Lloyd.
“That’s why I want to set a collateral. Three wishes.”
Lloyd’s expression turned cold at my words.
“Do you think that is appropriate for this situation?”
“Yes.”
When I answered confidently, Lloyd’s eyes widened slightly.
“To be honest, Your Highness, you don’t think I’d keep this heavy secret without anything in return, do you?”
I lowered my voice and whispered,
“I know that killing someone like me would be trivial for you, but I’ve planned for my own survival before doing this. So don’t think that killing me will bury the secret. If I were to disappear without a trace, this secret would definitely be revealed to the entire world.”
Lloyd looked at me as if to say, ‘How?’, but I just smiled brightly and said,
“I think you know better than I do, Your Highness, that the mere rumor of the Crown Prince possessing the Light attribute would keep the Grand Temple from staying quiet.”
At that moment, Lloyd’s face stiffened.
And rightly so. The Grand Temple had been suppressing the Imperial Family by invoking ‘oracles,’ and because the Light attribute was the ‘blessing of God,’ according to their logic, it was the power of the Grand Temple, not the Imperial Family. Thus, Lloyd was desperate to hide his possession of it.
I added a more persuasive, threatening remark.
“The moment your ability is revealed, the Grand Temple will rejoice. And they will turn the royals into puppets, claiming they are the representatives of God.”
It seemed like a possibility Lloyd had pondered deeply. He pressed his lips together, his face hardening.
I opened my palm and gathered my dark magic. The sphere of darkness pulsed in my hand as if it were a heartbeat.
“And this is my secret. If the Grand Temple learns of this as well, they will target my life, calling it another name for ‘evil’.”
“…….”
“We are already in the same boat, Your Highness. The choice is yours. If you take my hand, when you ascend to the throne, I will make sure the Grand Temple doesn’t even dare to step on the shadows of the Imperial Family.”
Lloyd’s eyes wavered dangerously at my words. I didn’t miss that look and continued.
“Three wishes.”
I deliberately wiggled my fingers and gave a charming smile.
*Now that we’ve come this far—*
To ensure it didn’t sound like a threat, I made myself look as harmless as possible.
“If you grant me three wishes, I will use my power, wealth, connections, and everything at my disposal to keep your secret and protect you from the Grand Temple in return.”
A brief silence followed my words.
Lloyd seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before letting out a low, weary chuckle.
“You are quite an insolent young lady.”
“One must be shameless to survive, Your Highness.”
“……Fine.”
Lloyd’s expression turned serious in an instant.
“I will grant your three wishes. However, they must be within the scope of what I am capable of doing.”
Yes!
Internally cheering, I beamed at Lloyd and replied.
“Of course, Your Highness!”