The first thing Elysia uttered after her crying stopped was, of course, a complaint.
"You didn't have to treat your daughter like that."
Of course, she was still in Philly's arms.
"You were Frondier's servant back then."
Elysia was still shocked by the look Philly had given her.
Of course, Philly understood that feeling well, but if she hadn't done that, Philly would have wavered as well.
To Philly, her three daughters were her top priority. Elysia thought she was loved less than Aten, but that was never the case.
"...Well, to be honest, I felt like you were being very motherly."
"That hurts, Elysia."
Philly listened to Elysia's words and felt it. As expected, her coldness was closest to Elysia's. The most necessary mindset to be above someone.
"...Come to think of it, I'm a little worried."
"Your father, he needs a successor, you know."
"...Mom, you're the only one who would talk about the next emperor like that."
But it was true, Philly laughed as she said it.
"After you left, it was decided that your younger sister Sale would be the next emperor candidate, but if it becomes known that you have returned, the Imperial Palace will be very confused."
Not just the Imperial Palace. The citizens of the Empire as well.
Elysia had caused a lot of talk among the citizens even when she first committed the crime.
They questioned the truth of the matter, argued over right and wrong, and discussed everywhere whether the punishment given to Elysia was appropriate or not.
In other words, their hearts were not aligned to that extent.
And that conflict of opinion now risked escalating into a huge conflict. At the very least, there would be many problems with the legitimacy of Elysia becoming emperor.
'...Elysia wanted to be emperor.'
Now Philly understood that feeling all too well. She had committed such a crime for that.
But then Elysia said,
"...Mom, about that."
"I'm not going to be emperor."
At those words, Philly tilted her head.
"You wanted to be emperor, didn't you, Elysia? That's why you achieved such a feat and returned to the Imperial Palace, right?"
"...I did want to be a princess again. I wanted to see you and Dad, and I wanted to see my sisters. But I don't want to be emperor anymore. It's too heavy for me."
Of course, she was right. Even her second daughter Sale was increasingly troubled by that weight day by day.
But that's why, wouldn't it be better for Elysia, who was willing to bear that weight, to become emperor? Philly thought so, considering the distant future.
"...What are you thinking?"
Elysia flinched. She rose from Philly's embrace.
Elysia looked at Philly with a serious gaze and said,
"I'll give up being emperor. I don't want the Empire to be in turmoil again because of me. Instead, I have a request."
Philly wanted to go along with Elysia's serious eyes, but Elysia's words and actions were somewhat suspicious. Especially giving up the throne because it was 'heavy' was unlike Elysia.
"...The Shadow Unit."
"Let me take charge of the Shadow Unit from now on."
After hearing those words.
Philly made an expression she would never make again in her life.
She was so surprised, so dumbfounded, and so sudden that her facial expression was strangely distorted.
She looked so bewildered that Elysia, who had brought it up, was rather intimidated.
"Ah, no, what I mean is, the Shadow Unit is in a bad situation these days, right? The people who could be leaders are all dead, and they need someone to take charge and lead."
Philly had been worried about that just a moment ago.
Elysia knew the internal affairs of the Imperial Palace well, she could distinguish between public and private matters as thoroughly as Philly, and she wasn't as dangerously pure as Aten.
To say she wasn't a suitable talent for the Shadow Unit would be a lie.
"Where did you hear that? That the Shadow Unit is in a bad situation these days."
Elysia, who had lived as a commoner. Naturally, the situation of the Shadow Unit wouldn't have reached her ears.
"Moreover, giving up the throne you so desired, saying it's because it's heavy. It's an easy reason to understand, but this mother who knows you well can't accept it, can she?"
"...Ah, that's, you see?"
Philly's eyes sank. Her red eyes blinked twice.
"...Frondier, right?"
"Ah! No, no, Mom! That's not it!"
"You lie to me, of all people, and expect not to get caught?"
"No! No, it's not that it's not! That's not it, Mom!"
"It's not that it's not, but that's not it. Is that something a princess should say?"
Elysia mumbled and then sighed deeply. It was as if she had expected to get caught.
"...Frondier was the one who suggested it first."
"Then it's not that it's not."
"But it was me who accepted it in the end."
Philly finally understood her daughter's words roughly and nodded. Though her eyes were cold.
Elysia looked at Philly and said,
"I'll take charge of the Shadow Unit. The current Shadow Unit needs someone to properly take charge and make decisions."
"...The Shadow Unit is the darkness of the Imperial Palace. They have done countless things for the sake of the Empire. Cruel deeds that cannot be spoken of to the citizens of the Empire. There are those with noble hearts, but they are all sinners in the end."
"That's why I have to do it."
Elysia's eyes were different from what Philly had ever seen before.
They were different from the eyes of her childhood, and different from the eyes of the time she had committed the crime.
In Elysia's eyes, Philly felt him.
"I'm the smartest of your daughters. The most wicked, but."
Elysia laughed playfully, and then that laughter became resolve.
"I will become the darkness of the Imperial Palace."
Philly Terst, who was endlessly called gray.
Her youngest daughter, Aten of white.
"It's been that way from the beginning."