Goddess Kingmaker Chapter 2

This X-like thing.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, I was very quick to grasp reality.

 

No matter how much I cursed or fought, I couldn’t take back a bet sworn upon the Rubion River.

 

Now, I had only two choices left. I could either wait another thousand years and slowly accumulate points again, or…

 

『I will be reborn. Into the most difficult life that exists.』

 

Either finish everything at once.

 

『Did they say the youngest prince of the Caronin Empire?』

 

Fine, I’ll become the subject of my own bet.

 

That woman who took all my points wouldn’t even see this coming.

 

The emperor of that mess of an empire was still alive and well, and our bet wasn’t over yet.

 

◇ ◆ ◇

 

‘Haa, it seems like this is completely over.’

 

I looked at the chubby, white hands with a complicated look and bit my lip.

 

Even that didn’t sound right—it came out more like the soft sucking noises a baby would make.

 

“Father, we must send a messenger immediately and summon Targa! We must catch him and punish him for this!”

 

“That’s right, Father. This isn’t something we can just let slide. How many times must he disgrace the imperial family?”

 

“……”

 

‘What kind of life had my biological father lived to end up like this?’

 

I once again started to resent my biological father, whose face I didn’t even know.

 

Watching his so-called brothers argue over capturing him made me sigh involuntarily.

 

As silence fell over the room, the emperor, who had been clutching his head, suddenly turned his gaze toward me.

 

Toward the source of all this trouble, the root of this sudden misfortune.

 

“……”

 

I swallowed hard under the emperor’s piercing gaze.

 

I had been born and died nine times in the human world, but this might just set a new record for the shortest lifespan.

 

“You!”

 

“Ahh, aang.”

 

I wasn’t born to be like this.

 

I’m not afraid of dying, but this life was special. I chose the highest difficulty level with everything I had left, so I couldn’t die without saying a word.

 

‘Damn it. If I had known, I would have stayed hidden until I was at least five or six before making an appearance.’

 

I forced my lips to move, but all that came out were incoherent babbles.

 

“Aang. Aaang!”

 

Excuse me, please calm down first.

 

As the emperor’s footsteps drew closer, my tiny heart pounded in my chest.

 

There was no doubt—my instincts were screaming at me.

 

That old man had completely lost his sense.

 

“…….”

 

-Clank

 

The long sword at the emperor’s waist rattled as he stepped down from the platform.

 

Everyone else, including me, seemed to be thinking the same thing, waiting for the Emperor to draw the sword.

 

“Y-Your Majesty! You mustn’t!”

 

“Get out of the way!”

 

The man who was trying to stop him was pushed away by the emperor’s strong force.

 

I sucked my thumb in anxiety as I watched the man rolling around on the dirt floor.

 

“No one said it would be this bad!’

 

Sure, his son might be a disgrace, but drawing a sword on a granddaughter he had never met?

 

This was an unprecedentedly extreme opening to a life.

 

I covered my mouth in shock, but the emperor kept approaching.

 

“Aang.”

 

I had to survive.

 

No matter what, I had to live through this.

 

My tiny brain spun rapidly, trying to come up with a plan.

 

I might be a baby now, but in my last life, I had been smart enough to get into Seoul National University’s medical school.

 

I had solved every problem in every textbook at the bookstore—there was no way I would give up now.

 

However, things like ‘How to Survive in Front of Your Furious Grandfather’ did not appear on the entrance exam.

 

“Uungg.”

 

“Silence! Be quiet!”

 

“…….”

 

If you cry once, you’re out.

 

If just a little babbling annoyed him this much, I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if I actually started crying.

 

Even without thinking hard, I can’t help but know that the emperor is not an ordinary grandfather.

 

There was no way he would feel guilty over a crying baby, nor would he be charmed by his granddaughter’s adorable behavior.

 

Luck wasn’t something I could rely on here.

 

‘Then what should I do?’

 

While I was eliminating all the options that wouldn’t work, the emperor came to a stop right in front of me.

 

He hadn’t drawn his sword yet, but my heart was pounding as I wondered when his hand would rise.

 

“……”

 

Okay, let’s think about it.

 

Think, think.

 

I just had to hold out until my father arrived.

 

Under the weight of the emperor’s fierce gaze, my tiny chest heaved.

 

I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t act cute, and I couldn’t even speak.

 

That left only one option…

 

“…. Are you smiling?”

 

I stretched my cheeks into the brightest, roundest smile I could manage.

 

“You find this funny?”

 

“Heheh.”

 

You’d kill me if I cried.

 

If nothing else worked, my best bet was to act like a baby.

 

It wasn’t like he would be fooled, but at least I could lean into the innocence of a baby.

 

Maybe he’d feel some sympathy, or at the very least—

 

“Haah!”

 

Maybe he’d just give up.

 

“What am I supposed to do with a baby?”

 

“Your Majesty, perhaps we should wait until Lord Targa returns before making a decision.”

 

Even the onlookers seemed to deflate with relief. One noble took the chance to step forward, appearing far more intelligent than the princes.

 

“It’s not too late to make a judgment after we have all the facts. If punishment is necessary, the child must be alive for it.”

 

The old man, who didn’t know what to call me, glanced at my smiling face for a moment.

 

The princes, who were about to object, had no choice but to agree with him, and just wore displeased expressions.

 

“Is there anything worse than this? A man who has been disappearing for years has just had an illegitimate child?”

 

“B-but Your Majesty, executing the child here and now would be—”

 

“Execute?! What nonsense!”

 

“……”

 

Wasn’t it?

 

My eyes also widened at the Emperor’s loud voice.

 

“Hic.”

 

My still-unfamiliar baby body hiccupped on its own, but surprisingly, it worked in my favor.

 

“……”

 

The emperor’s expression looked as if he didn’t even want to bother dealing with this.

 

“Y-Your Majesty. So, it’s as I thought. Then, we should protect the child in the imperial palace for now. Like it or not, they are still Lord Targa’s blood.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“……”

 

“But only if this child is truly of Targa’s blood.”

 

Why is this old man suddenly acting all sharp and suspicious?

 

Hearing that I wouldn’t be killed had made me relax, but now my lips stiffened again.

 

However, this time, the emperor didn’t back down so easily either.

 

“Count Montes. Does this child really look like Targa to you?”

 

“Well, umm… she is still very young, so it’s hard to say… But their hair and eye color do seem somewhat similar.”

 

“That’s not enough proof. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in the imperial family, is it?”

 

“Ahem.”

 

When the emperor suddenly glared at his two sons, they flinched and cleared their throats awkwardly.

 

Even without further explanation, it was obvious how carefree and reckless the sons of this family were.

 

‘This is a mess.’

 

I had no right to judge, considering I was dragged here as the child of a supposed illegitimate child, but I still found it amusing. The irony of people just like them criticizing me was almost laughable.

 

I had to suppress the laughter that threatened to escape.

 

After all, the only expression I could show was an innocent, clueless smile!

 

“But, Your Majesty, Lord Targa has never had such an issue before.”

 

“That’s why it’s even stranger. He was the one man who never had problems with women, yet now, all of a sudden… Unless this child is a fake.”

 

“…….”

 

The Emperor’s words instantly froze the surroundings.

 

His expression had changed from before—perhaps due to his experience in dealing with such matters countless times.

 

“Speak.”

 

The emperor called for the man who had brought me. A chamberlain gestured for the man to remove his black hood, but the emperor ignored that and went straight to the point.

 

“How old is the child?”

 

“She has just turned nine months, Your Majesty.”

 

“….I see.”

 

The Emperor frowned, as if dissatisfied with the man’s answer.

 

Count Montes, guessing the reason, cautiously lowered his head.

 

“One cannot use the power of water until after their first birthday. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm their imperial bloodline until then.”

 

“Who says there isn’t?”

 

When the emperor suddenly raised his hand, the shoulders of all those watching flinched simultaneously.

 

I, who had been watching blankly, also shook my head in surprise, but the emperor’s hand was already on my head.

 

‘what’s this!’

 

It wasn’t a sword, but the sudden cold air gave me goosebumps.

 

“Y-Your Majesty!”

 

“Even if she cannot wield power yet, she should at least be able to withstand it.”

 

The emperor smirked, curling his lips as a stream of pure white water poured from his fingertips.

 

Like a bolt from the blue.

 

The water flowed over my tiny body in an instant, leaving me dazed, my eyes blinking in confusion.

 

‘Oh my god, at least give me a warning!’

 

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