Work Text:
The moment Claude opened his eyes that morning, something felt… off . Perhaps he woke up on the wrong side of the bed? He blinked a few times and observed his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place at first glance. Nor did he feel any magical disturbance around him. So what was it?
It wasn’t until he was more focused that he realized something was indeed amiss. The drawings Athanasia had made for him since her childhood that he put up above his bed were gone.
There was no way the drawings fell since he made sure to cast preservation spells both on the papers and adhesive, but he peeked underneath his bed anyway. Yet they weren’t there either.
A crease formed on the Emperor’s head. Did he misplace them? Did he move them somewhere else, maybe somewhere he could see easier whenever he woke up?
He looked at the curtains around his bed, the first thing he saw every morning. He also looked at the ceiling of his bed frame. The drawings were still nowhere to see.
The next place he looked at were the walls in his room. He searched every nook and cranny, even the ones behind each furniture, but his search was fruitless. They weren’t on any of the tables, nor the wardrobe, nor the chair. Not even on the window.
They were nowhere to be seen.
‘Maybe someone moved it? ’ He had thought absentmindedly, before quickly dismissing it. First of all, nobody could enter his room without his permission, let alone touch his bed. The only one who could aside from him would be Felix or Athanasia. Second, nobody knew about the existence of those drawings aside from him. Not even his aide or his daughter. He had kept it a secret, his little treasures. And last, if someone had moved it, that meant they undid the spell he put and he would’ve noticed immediately.
Which meant what, exactly? Did the drawings just… disappear ?
Most people would say he was making too much of a fuss over a couple of drawings, but Emperor Claude de Alger Obelia was not ‘most people’. Those were, as said before, his little treasures he cherished greatly, the little gifts from his beloved daughter. They kept him grounded, reminding him that he still had a family to love and care for, a beautiful little girl left behind by his one and only love. A reminder to not revert to his foolish self in the past who dwelled in black magic to erase every trace of memories and feelings. His foolish self who neglected Athanasia.
Because despite what his expression may have told people, he loved Athanasia more than he loved life.
Now that he thought about it… The commissioned painting of him and Athanasia was also nowhere to be seen. He had opened the curtain in search of the drawings, but not even the easel was there. No one could’ve moved it away but him and Felix, and he sure didn’t do it, so did Felix put it somewhere else?
He couldn’t be sure, but he did know that Felix wasn’t someone who would do such a thing without his order. Especially since he knew that Felix was aware of how much he actually doted on Athanasia.
Claude shook his head lightly. Maybe he did misplace them somewhere and forgot. Especially since yesterday was quite hectic with Athanasia’s debutante ball. He could still feel that swell of pride and nostalgia in his chest when he saw his grown daughter standing there in her pink dress, looking so much like her mother.
He also remembered his conversation with Duke Alpheus. The nonsense he was spouting off, asking if he would love other children? He couldn’t be more sure of anything else in his life. His child was the one and only Athanasia de Alger Obelia and no one else. He only needed her by his side until the end of his life.
But then again… What about her? The expression she made yesterday as she bid him goodbye… Why did it feel like a forever farewell?
Claude heaved a sigh and rubbed his tired eyes. It would not do him well to dwell on such matters. He should just get up, get ready for the day, and see his daughter to shake off whatever nonsense was going on in his head.
He called for a maid to prepare a bath. Perhaps a good, refreshing bath would wake him up and clear his mind a bit.
Later, as he ate his breakfast and read through some documents, Felix was by his side as always, reading his schedule for the day.
The peculiar feeling he had noticed since the moment he woke up still lingered. Even Felix seemed a bit off today as well. His aide had become more… cheerful ever since he was assigned to be Athanasia’s guard years ago. He still looked the same outside, but Claude had known Felix for so long, he could notice the little quirks and changes in him. For example, today, the red-haired knight didn’t have the same bounce on his steps and his expression was more serious than usual.
“Did anything happen?” He found himself asking, cutting off Felix’s long ramble about his schedule.
Felix stopped talking and looked at Claude with a weird expression. “What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
Claude stared at Felix, noticing how he genuinely looked confused about his question. Did he really just imagine it? Maybe he was so tired mentally that he kept making assumptions?
“...Nevermind.”
Felix still looked at him weirdly, but he continued listing off what the Emperor needed to do that day.
After his breakfast was over, he walked towards his study, Felix following closely behind him. “Where’s the Princess?” He asked as he opened the door.
“The Princess should be in her music class right now, Your Majesty.”
Music class? Isn’t Athanasia’s music class usually on Tuesday?, Claude thought. Did he confuse something else again? He really needed to get his mind straight. It’d been a while since he was this disoriented.
Speaking of disoriented, his study felt off, as well. So not just his bedroom and his aide, but now his study too?
As Claude sat behind his desk, he took a look around his study to discern just what was wrong. And he immediately noticed several things.
The red arm-chair Athanasia always sat on was missing. So were several trinkets she had gifted him over the years that he kept on his desk. Other little drawings or jewels she found interesting that he kept in the drawer were also gone.
He began to feel wary. Something was indeed off and it definitely wasn’t him being tired. Amongst all the things he felt was wrong, they all connected to Athanasia.
“Sire? Is something wrong?”
Claude’s expression grew darker. He trusted Felix, in fact he might be the only person he trusted with his own life, Athanasia excluded. That meant Felix couldn’t be the one doing… whatever it was.
“Felix.”
“Y-Yes, sire?” Felix answered, clearly startled. It was rare that Claude would call him by his name, after all.
“You said the Princess is having her music lesson?”
“That’s right.”
“...What day is it?”
“It’s Monday, Your Majesty.”
So he didn’t get the day wrong. It was really Monday, which meant the debutante ball which was on Sunday was yesterday. Then why would Athanasia’s music class be today? He memorized her schedule for years, there was no way he could mistake it.
Claude couldn’t shake off the wariness.
“Call her.”
“Pardon?”
“Call the Princess here.”
“R-Right now?”
Claude glared at Felix. “Don’t make me say it again.”
Felix gulped. “Right away, sire!”
Before Felix could call a guard to bring Athanasia to him, Claude added, “Go get her yourself.”
Not about to question the Emperor whose mood was clearly not good, Felix gave an affirmative and left hurriedly.
Now alone in the study, Claude stood up and looked around once more. Now that he looked more closely, the painting he had hung up on his study after noticing Athanasia looking at it for so long when the merchant came by was also missing. It seems as though everything related to Athanasia was gone.
Anger began to bubble in him. Someone dared to mess with him now, was it? Was this a threat? Removing everything about Athanasia, saying that they would remove her too? Was that it?
Claude swore the moment he found out the person behind all of this he wouldn’t execute them immediately. He would make them suffer to the point they begged for death themselves.
Claude turned around to gaze outside the big window behind his desk. He could see the garden Athanasia and he often frequented-
Wait.
The garden wasn’t there.
It was still a well-tended garden, fitting for a Palace, but it wasn’t Athanasia’s rose garden . No roses were in sight no matter where he looked. Roses were Athanasia’s favorites and he had ordered the gardeners to ensure roses would bloom all year long.
Near the garden should be the private library he ordered to build for Athanasia-
It’s not there.
The library building was also not there.
“What the hell…”
Removing a chair, a painting, drawings, those were easily done. Removing roses, a bit hard but not impossible. But to vanish an entire building? Even with magic, he would have felt it immediately. The amount of mana it would take to demolish that big library would be immense that everyone with mana within the entire palace would notice.
He took a step back from the glass windows.
Claude’s eyes quickly swept through the room, trying to find if something else was amiss. He sent his mana out to scout for possible dangers. He had a bad premonition and he needed to know for what .
He found nothing.
There was nothing wrong in his study, aside from the missing things.
Everything that was missing from his bedroom, his study, and even his palace all belonged to Athanasia’s.
‘Did something happen to Athanasia? Who would dare? I need to see her! ’
Right the moment he thought it, a knock came from his door, followed by Felix’s voice.
“Your Majesty, I brought the Princess as you ordered.”
He should’ve felt relief, shouldn’t he? Felix brought his daughter to him and he sounded normal, which meant Athanasia was fine.
But why didn’t the bad feeling go away?
If anything, it felt even worse than before.
It almost felt like-
“Father, is everything alright?”
Black magic.
Claude’s eyes widened. He felt black magic . And it wasn’t coming from him.
The door to his study was wide open, and standing in front of Felix was not Athanasia. The wench calling him ‘father’ was not Athanasia.
Claude remembered her. She looked older, but she was definitely the insolent girl the Alpheus family was taking care of. The one who returned Athanasia’s ribbon before they left the ball.
“How did you get in here?” He growled.
The girl was startled, taken aback by his harsh tone.
“Sire, you’re the one who asked me to get Princess Jennette…” Felix slowly said, also confused.
“Father, are you okay?” Jennette asked, worried.
“Who are you to call me father ?” Claude spat out. “And how did you get to the palace? Did Alpheus put you here?”
“Father, I-”
“DON’T CALL ME FATHER!”
Jennette nearly jumped back and fell had Felix not caught her. Her eyes, her jeweled blue eyes , started watering as she struggled to answer him.
Claude was sure her eyes weren’t jeweled yesterday. And the black magic he felt clearly came from her. Felix seemed unaffected, which meant she must have bewitched him.
“Felix! Where’s my daughter?!”
“Y-Your Majesty, Princess Jennette is your daughter!”
SLAM!
Both Jennette and Felix couldn’t hide their flinch when Claude slammed his fist on his desk.
“ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!”
Dark aura surrounded the Emperor of Obelia. The guards who came rushing in when they heard the slam froze before him. ( but since when were there guards in front of his study? )
Claude’s eyes were ablaze with fury as he glared at everyone in the study, especially the girl who dared set place before him and pretended to be his daughter.
“Where. Is. Athanasia? ” Claude hissed.
Even through his wrath-filled eyes, he could see how each and every one of their eyes widened.
Jennette and Felix looked at each other, unsure what to answer.
“ANSWER ME BEFORE I EXECUTE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!” Claude roared, hands fisted tightly as the furniture in his study started to shake.
“Y-Your Majesty!” Felix rushed forward, going down on one knee and bowed his head in front of him, hoping to somewhat appease his rage.
Claude turned his blazing eyes towards his kneeling aide. “Answer me, Felix Robane. Where is my daughter?! ”
Felix took a deep breath. He had noticed that his Emperor was acting quite off, but to think he would be like this… Felix knew whatever he would answer, be it the truth or white lies, Claude’s wrath would be upon him and everyone else. He had a feeling that Princess Jennette would take the brunt of it, too.
“Your Majesty…” Felix started, swallowing his own saliva.
“You ordered Princess Athanasia’s execution nearly a month ago.”
A sudden rush of chill filled the room.
Claude froze. He could feel his heart skipping a beat and cold sweat forming on his back.
“What are you talking about…?” He asked stiffly, eyes as wide as saucers and fists clenched, trembling.
“Last month Princess Athanasia was accused of poisoning Princess Jennette, so you had her executed, sire. Don’t you remember…?”
“What nonsense are you...”
For a moment, the room was engulfed in silence. Nobody dared to move an inch in fear of their Emperor blowing up. The Emperor himself was frozen still, eyes wide in disbelief.
Like a broken dam, memories started rushing through Claude’s mind incredibly fast. He saw the imposter, Jennette , collapsed on the floor as Athanasia held her close, crying. He saw a familiar face ( Penelope? ) screaming at Athanasia to get away, accusing her of poisoning her niece. He saw himself , coldly commanding the guards to seize Athanasia.
He saw himself decreeing an execution for his daughter. Without trial.
He saw his Athanasia’s limp, dead body.
And to his horror, he saw himself shrugging off after finding out that Athanasia did nothing wrong to warrant an execution.
The moment Claude snapped back to reality, without realizing it, he had run out from his study, ignoring Felix and Jennette’s calls.
‘Those weren’t my memories,’ Claude told himself. ‘I never ordered Athanasia to be executed.’
‘Athanasia can’t be dead.’
‘Athanasia has to be alive.’
As Claude arrived at the Emerald Palace, the maids and guards were startled at the sudden appearance of the Emperor who ran by himself without stopping. He ignored their confused greetings and ran inside.
“ATHANASIA!”
“ATHANASIA WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“ATHANASIA ANSWER ME!”
He checked every single room; living room, dining room, music room, playing room, bedroom, even the kitchen where he knew Athanasia liked to sneak in to steal chocolates.
But there were no traces of her.
The bedroom was lived in, but he could see that the room was not used by Athanasia. The bedding, the stuffed toys, the papers strewn about on the desk, the teacup on the little table, the flowers on the vases, they weren’t Athanasia’s.
Gritting his teeth, Claude rushed outside, once again ignoring the clearly confused maids and guards. He could hear Felix’s voice calling him from afar, but he ignored it as well.
His feet took him to the garden at the Emerald Palace, which was supposed to be filled with roses. Yet he could see not a single rose bud anywhere. Instead, daisies were blooming wherever his sight landed on. The white flowers contrasted greatly to the red and pink roses Athanasia loved.
Instead of the fragrant rose scent, all he could smell was the subtle, herbaceous green scent wafting from the daisies. It threw him off as he felt himself growing sick of it.
“Sire! Are you okay?!”
Felix finally caught up to him, and Claude could see Jennette following behind him worriedly.
“Felix.”
“Yes, sire?”
“Call the imperial magician boy.”
“Imperial magician… boy…?”
“It’s time to put an end to this foolish illusion before I destroy it myself.”
Claude turned away and left both of them without a word.
‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘it’s time to end this illusion.’
“Mr. Felix, what’s happening to Father?”
“I’m not sure, Princess…”
“I-Is the guilt for Athanasia finally catching up to him?”
“...I’m not sure, Princess.”
Claude sat on his throne, eyes closed. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became. He knew, he was so sure, that there was no way that he would do such a thing to Athanasia. There was no way he would put someone pretending to be his daughter above Athanasia. Especially someone, whom the moment his eyes landed on her, that he realized had ties to his brother.
He had read through some documents earlier and noticed the date. At first he thought that he was still disoriented as he first suspected, but now he wasn’t certain of it. The date all showed 4 years in the future.
If the memories coming to him earlier were right, then that means he ordered Athanasia to be executed on her 18th birthday.
He couldn’t remember anything else aside from that, but a thought did come across him. Could it be that he had lost his memories? Could this be a future that awaits him? Was he destined to loathe Athanasia to the point of killing her in cold blood?
And did Athanasia know that this would happen? Was that why she bid him farewell?
...No, it couldn’t be, could it? He loved Athanasia. He told Roger Alpheus straight on that he could not love another child, unless Athanasia herself split into two. Claude de Alger Obelia was a man of his words; he wouldn’t go against his principle so easily. Even now, when he thought of it, he could feel no affection towards Jennette. The only thing he felt when he saw her was wariness and trepidation. The black magic he felt from her was a concern as well.
Hence why he needed to summon the young imperial magician, the young boy who became Athanasia’s playmate after he saved her life years ago. He should be able to help him discern the truth. After all, Claude did notice the tremendous power coming from him.
“Your Majesty.”
Claude opened his eyes to find Felix standing in front of him.
“Where is he?” He asked curtly.
Felix had a frown on his face as he answered, “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but could it be that you are unwell? Shall I call for the imperial physician?”
“I told you to bring the imperial magician, not the physician.”
“It’s just… Your Majesty…” Felix gulped slightly. “There have been no young magicians in the palace for hundreds of years…”
Claude glared at the knight, causing him great discomfort.
“H-However, we have received news that the Magician of the Black Tower has returned, and that he wishes to have an audience with you, sire.”
For a while, Claude debated whether or not he should grant the audience. But the young boy wasn’t here either and he was sure none of the old magicians had the answer he desired. The Magician of the Black Tower was known for his incredible magic power, so perhaps he could give him some answer instead.
“Granted.”
“I shall deliver the news myself, Your Majesty. Blessings and glory upon the Obelian Empire.”
It didn’t take long until the Magician of the Black Tower arrived. Felix had entered the throne room to inform him that the Magician teleported himself to the Palace and was ready to meet him, and so Claude had sent Felix to get him.
Claude didn’t know what to expect of the Magician, but it sure wasn’t this.
He let his mana go haywire in anger, leaving flurries of dark red wisps around him. He didn’t get to the point of actively using magic circles, but he wasn’t doing anything to suppress it either.
The Magician in front of him, although an adult, was clearly the child magician who became Athanasia’s playmate.
The Magician, Lucas, was calm as he stepped in amidst the chaos Claude’s magic caused. His own light blue mana appeared to be deflecting anything Claude’s erratic mana tried to throw at him.
“What are you doing here?” Lucas asked dryly. “This isn’t your place.”
Claude glared at him. “You’re the Magician of the Black Tower?”
Lucas sighed and waved his hand. In an instant, the world ceased to move. Felix, who had tried to force his way towards Claude although he kept getting pushed back, was frozen in his place, not moving at all. The sounds of birds chirping outside had also stopped.
“What did you do?”
“I stopped the time, for now.” Lucas shrugged.
Warily, Claude calmed down his mana. He needed an answer and attacking Lucas would do nothing. Even through his pride, he knew his magic was nothing compared to the Magician of the Black Tower.
“Earlier, you said this isn’t my place. What do you mean?”
Lucas tilted his head slightly and scoffed. “Haven’t you noticed anything wrong with this place?”
“I know that already, so where is my place? How did I get here?”
The long-haired wizard scratched his head in annoyance. “Haah I really don’t want to help you, but I guess I owe it to her.” He mumbled underneath his breath.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Basically, someone near you has unstable magic and accidentally sent you to another timeline, so to speak. Someone with time-related magic. I can already guess who it is.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone with time magic near me, and I’ve always kept check of any magic.”
“That’s because you never suspect her, fool.”
“Who are you calling a fool, imposter?”
Lucas scoffed once again. “Anyway, I’m here to send you back. Having you here already messed with the flow, so you should go back quickly.”
“Wait!” Claude said, stopping Lucas who was about to approach him.
“What?”
“Tell me, what is this place exactly? What timeline are you talking about?”
Lucas grumbled something that Claude couldn’t hear properly before answering, “Think of this as another life. From your point of view, this ‘timeline’ would be your previous life. No, this isn’t an illusion, whatever happened in this timeline really did happen. You made your decisions.”
It felt as if a bucket of ice cold water was thrown at Claude.
Not even once in his entire life would he think that in another life, he would kill Athanasia.
“Anyway, you don’t have much time here. Quickly go back to your own timeline and cherish your daughter, foolish Emperor.”
Before Claude could retort, Lucas was already in front of him and the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by darkness.
Claude woke up drenched in cold sweat. He found himself in his bedroom, curtains drawn.
‘Was it a dream…?'
He quickly turned around to look at the head of his bed. The sight of multiple childish drawings greeted him.
‘But it felt too real to be a dream.’
Claude threw the duvet covering him and quickly got out of bed. He approached the curtains covering the commissioned painting and nearly ripped it out due to his immense strength. Behind it was a canvas depicting him and his beloved daughter together.
Normally those would be enough to appease his wariness, but for some reason, the heavy feeling in his heart wouldn’t leave. He couldn’t erase the memory of Athanasia’s lifeless body under his command.
Gritting his teeth, without bothering to grab his cloak, Claude slammed his bedroom door open and marched towards Emerald Palace.
He needed to see Athanasia with his own eyes.
Judging from the darkness, it was well past midnight. The entire palace was quiet, which was to be expected. Nobody in their right mind would dare cause a ruckus in the middle of the night where their Emperor was resting. In a way, it felt like a double-edged sword for Claude.
On one side, the eerie quietness gave him peace on his quest to see his daughter, unlike all the noisiness that happened on that timeline. But on the side, it gave him a sense of anxiety. There was nothing to distract him from what if thoughts.
As he arrived in front of the Emerald Palace, the guards on duty that night ceased their chattering between themselves.
“Halt! Identify yourself!”
Clearly the darkness shrouded him, because why else would they say that to him?
Claude didn’t even have to say anything, he just continued walking towards them with a glare.
“Y-Your Majesty! Blessings and glory upon the Obelian Empire!”
“Move.”
“Right away, Your Majesty!”
The guards parted as one of them opened the big oak door for him to enter. Without sparing a glance, Claude entered quickly, already having one destination in mind. Everyone awake at the time must have heard that he had arrived, as they all bowed and greeted him immediately as he walked past them.
The moment he stepped in front of Athanasia’s bedroom, he faltered.
He remembered what he saw there and though he’d deny it should anyone ask, he was truly feeling afraid. What if when he opened that door, the one laying on that bed wouldn’t be the golden-haired Princess?
Taking a deep breath, Claude slowly pushed the door open, trying not to disturb the Princess’ sleep.
Even just the scent of the room was starting to calm him down. It was different from that place .
Claude took a step inside. The curtains around the bed were obscuring his view, but it was sheer enough for him to notice the light color of her hair. He approached the bed and silently sat on the edge.
There, on the bed, sleeping without a care for the world, was his daughter. His Athanasia.
The sight of her brought such relief to his heart. Her chest was rising in tandem with each breath she took, telling him that she was most definitely alive.
The rush of emotion Claude felt nearly brought tears upon his eyes had he been a lesser man. His experience in suppressing emotions for years had stopped such a thing from happening. Strangely enough, Claude actually didn’t think he would mind if a tear would escape that moment.
Gently, he caressed the Princess’ hair. As she always did, she unconsciously started nuzzling his hand. Claude must agree with Felix, she really was lovely.
“Papa…?”
Athanasia blinked a few times, a hand coming up to rub her tired eyes. “What are you doing here?” She asked before yawning.
Claude smiled faintly. Hearing her voice was the final thing he truly needed.
“Go back to sleep.”
“Mhm… Did you have a nightmare?” She asked softly.
“Perhaps.”
“I see…” She mumbled before another yawn overtook her. Through her drowsiness, she managed to say, “You can sleep with me if you want, Papa.”
Athanasia scooted over, making enough room for Claude. “Here you go,” she said, patting the empty space.
Maybe it was because he was still feeling some wariness after what he went through, but Claude slipped into the bed soundlessly. He felt like a child, almost. Waking up from a nightmare and couldn’t fall back asleep, so he had to search for comfort.
“Good night, Papa. Have a good dream this time.”
As Athanasia fell back asleep, Claude let out another faint smile.
“I will.”
Bonus:
“How are you doing, Papa? Nothing hurts or feels off?”
“I’m fine. Sit down.”
The breeze felt quite good as it blew softly through her hair. The day had been quite taxing, both emotionally and physically. Athanasia couldn’t thank Lucas enough for his help detaining Anastacius. Without Lucas, her father would probably be dead and so would she.
He’d really been a great help throughout the years for her, hadn’t he?
“Athanasia.”
“Yes, Papa?”
“...Do you remember the night after your debutante ball?”
Athanasia turned towards her father who had a troubled look.
“The night you came to Emerald Palace? What about it?” She asked.
That morning, when she woke up to Claude beside her, she had panicked inside before remembering what transpired. It really shocked her that Claude admitted to having a nightmare to the point of needing to sleep beside her. But Claude had never disclosed just what was it he dreamt of when she asked him.
“It felt like a dream, but I don’t think it was.”
“Why?”
Claude looked at her. “You wondered why I wasn’t surprised when you told me that boy is the Magician of the Black Tower?”
Athanasia nodded. She was surprised when she found out herself, so Claude not having the same reaction baffled her. She thought he would be upset, at the very least.
“I already know about him. From that dream.”
“You… dreamt of Lucas…?” Athanasia asked incredulously.
Claude scoffed. “Not exactly. But he was there.”
“And that was a nightmare…?” Athanasia asked again, still in disbelief.
He stared at her in silence.
“O-Okay, so Lucas was there! What happened then?” She quickly changed the subject when she realized he was staring at her almost frustratedly.
“...In that dream, it appears that you were replaced by your cousin.”
Athanasia stopped on her tracks.
“I had you executed for poisoning her.”
“W-What are you talking about, Papa…?”
Claude looked down at his clasped hands. “I knew immediately something was wrong, because I had no memory of that wench or of you poisoning anyone. Even if you did, I would believe your words and no one else’s. So I tried to look for you, but everything related to you was gone.”
Athanasia couldn’t believe her ears. There was no mistaking it. Claude dreamt of the original Lovely Princess timeline. But how and why?
“I told Felix to bring that boy to me, only for him to appear as the Magician of the Black Tower. He told me an unstable time magic accidentally brought me there before sending me back here.” Claude continued. “It felt too real to just be a dream.”
Unstable time magic? Didn’t Lucas tell her that the nature of her magic was time?
“That’s why that night I had to see you right away. That night I swore I would never do anything to harm you, but I did anyway, didn’t I?”
Silence ensued between them. Athanasia was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Claude knew about that timeline and that she was the one who sent him there. Claude mistook her silence for shock after hearing that he had killed her.
“Athanasia.”
“Y-Yes?”
Claude took a good look at his daughter. Her hair that was a shade lighter than his, perfectly mimicking Diana’s. Her jeweled blue eyes that proved her connection to him. She truly was a combination of him and Diana, wasn’t she?
“No matter what will happen, you have to live.”
“What?”
“Even if I end up brainwashed, no matter what, you have to survive. You have to live.”
“Papa, what are you talking about!” Athanasia exclaimed, grabbing Claude’s hands. “In order for me to live, you have to live too! Who else would I live with if not you, Felix, and Lily? Don’t be silly!”
“Besides, no matter what happened to you, I will always save you, Papa! We have Lucas on our side too! So don’t speak like you’re going to die and leave me like that!”
Athanasia grinned.
Yeah, what did it matter if Claude knew about what happened in Lovely Princess?
The fact was this Claude de Alger Obelia was her father in every sense of the word. She, Athanasia de Alger Obelia, was his daughter, the Crown Princess of the Obelian Empire. She succeeded in her Plan C and found a family while going through it.
Now all left to do was deal with Anastacius and Aeternitas, and afterwards she could return to her peaceful days. This time, she knew she would survive her 18th birthday.