The dethroned emperor killed his sister, who was the rightful successor and tried to kill her son as well.

Facing countless crossroads of life and death, the prince stood by the support of a loyal faction of noble families, eventually returning to become the emperor.

It was a story that had been passed for about ten years.

Mom lowered her voice even more.

“Besides that, isn’t there something else you haven’t told me yet?”

“….”

“Answer properly. Saving the daughter of the deposed ruler, leaving her as the Duchess of Chelsiers, maintaining her position as the emperor’s cousin? There couldn’t be such a thing. What kind of insane thing have you done?”

The man nonchalantly retorted as if it were nothing.

“I awakened the Fermata and swore that you were my Tara.”

I almost turned to look at my parents.

If it wasn’t for Eciel, with her happy face, charmed by the soft  cake in front of her, I might have stared at Dad intently.

Mom’s voice trembled.

“…. Is it the Fermata that I know?”

“Are there other Fermatas?”

Dad asked in confusion.

Instead of an answer, Mom’s voice poured out, murmuring frantically.

“This is insane, truly insane…. How did you awaken that?”

This… This, I couldn’t help but agree with Mom……

Fermata was a phoenix that consumes a person’s true oath. No one knew how long it had lived on this land.

‘There’s a speculation that it may have existed on this land even before history begin.’

It couldn’t be subjugated by any means available to humans whether it was magic, divine power, and authority.

There was only one way to subjugate it. Swearing an oath of absolute truth that one would never change.

Fermata ate the unchanging oath, making it its new heart, then returned as a little bird and served the one who made the oath as its master.

‘But if the oath is false, the situation could get… quite… serious.’

Unless it was not an unchanging oath, Fermata would burn everything related to the one who lied, including the one who made the oath.

People, land, objects. It didn’t discriminate anything or anyone.

The first emperor swore to Fermata, ‘I will become the emperor,’ and actually founded the Empire.

After that, countless people who dreamed of becoming like the first emperor challenged Fermata.

However, many people burned to death, and very few succeeded.

When the oath of a certain king who challenged Fermata last failed, his entire kingdom burned down to ashes.

‘It completely proved that Fermata’s oath is not to be taken lightly.’

After that, the sleeping Fermata was collected from the temple. It was decided to not reveal it to the public, and Fermata disappeared from history.

Dad said calmly.

“I only wanted to let others know that you were my Tara.”

“Don’t say such crazy things casually.”

“I thought Fermata was only dangerous when one tells lies? I didn’t think there was any reason to fear the truth.”

“Oh, your attitude shows that you’re completely crazy now.”

Mom struck back again.

“You know why others didn’t think of you as Tara? My… my, father…… and.”

It was a pronunciation so painful that it seemed like she was chewing and cutting her tongue.

“I… I cast you… with a magic. Even though I’ve studied magic all my life, I don’t know what kind of magic it is.”

“In conclusion, the magic is not one that makes anyone other than Tara to be considered as Tara.”

There was a brief silence.

I suddenly looked up. Eciel gestured to the untouched white  cake in front of me after finishing all the  strawberry cake cake topped with whipped cream.

“Claire, aren’t you going to eat that?”

“Why? Do you want it?”

“No. I’m full. But it looks delicious, so eat it and tell me how it tastes, Claire.”

Well, why not? I picked up the fork obediently and delicately cut a piece of cake.

Like a cake being cut straight, my mother’s voice fell apart word by word.

“So, what kind of magic was that?”

Dad let out a low sigh.

He was the one who committed the crazy act of waking up the fermata and swearing an oath on it.

And yet … it only made my trembling mother seemed more pitiful, infinitely sweet and heartbreaking.

“Charlotte, calm down…”

The cake was sweet and melted in my mouth. It was neither stuffy nor greasy. The refreshing scent of fruit seemed to spread to the tip of my nose.

Eciel, who had no idea what was being said in the room, asked innocently.

“How is it?”

“It’s like a lemon cream cake. It’s sweet and refreshing.”

“Looks delicious.”

While we were talking, Mom quietly asked after she had calmed down.

“What was it?”

“A magic that makes Astariol obey the emperor for life.”

“… what?”

I ended up looking inside.

Eciel also looked inside.

Mom’s voice asking a question was too loud to be ignored.

My parents originally sat across from each other at the table, but before I knew it, they were sitting next to each other.

My father, who was wrapping his arms around my mother’s shoulders, looked over and whispered quietly.

‘Is she okay?’

I nodded and handed Eciel some cake.

“Just eat this. It’s delicious.”

Eciel easily turned her attention to the cake. Her mouth opened obediently and says, “Ah.” She looked delicate and pretty like a small bird.

My mother spoke in a more suppressed voice than ever.

“That kind of magic existed in the imperial family?”

“Some monarchs tend to fear subjects who are more powerful than them.”

Ah, my father was just like me.

I felt it painfully from that rational and cold response.

The feeling of hearing the answer I would have given in a low, elegant adult male voice. It was strange.

Mom muttered, but soon stopped.

A moment of cold silence.

Eciel, who ate the cake, nodded.

“This is delicious, but Claire will like it more than me.”

“Okay?”

“Claire likes sweet and sour flavors rather than the just sweet ones.”

Was I? I lowered my gaze and looked at the cake.

The cake, which had been so neat and perfect, now looked like a destroyed ruin. It was twisted and damaged inside, unable to hide anything anymore.

Mom barely spoke up.

“But… you didn’t obey, did you?”

“Before the magic was cast, my emperor was already Evan.”

Sounds of cloth brushing against each other were heard. Mom leaned closer to Dad.

“No… Ashel, the magic was released because Father died, right? Right?”

Dad whispered tenderly.

“But your magic, which initiated the spell, is still intact. Evan, who is still my emperor, will remain so until I die.”

A brief sigh was heard, like a breath of despair.

Dad remained steady. He was calm and firm.

“Still, I’m glad, Charlotte.”

“…. What’s there to be glad about becoming the emperor’s dog?”

“Without this magic, and if this magic hadn’t started with your power, Evan wouldn’t have promised to spare you.”

Now that I thought about it, it made sense.

‘Now I understand. You two met because of the wrong magic.’

Mom as the perpetrator who initiated the magic. Dad as the victim of the magic.

It was not surprising if they became enemies, but they fell in love. In a love that no one believed in.

However, Dad eventually proved that Mom was his Tara.

How irrational that was.

‘It’s love, but…’

The emperor had nothing to lose even though Mom remained a royal or the wife of Dad.

‘No, it’s actually more advantageous.’

Mom was the origin of the magic that made Dad obey the emperor unconditionally and became a permanent weakness for him.

The emperor might have spared Mom so that she could live to become a chain that bound Dad.

And it really happened. Or so it would be.

It hadn’t been long since I saw Dad, but even with my immature eyes, I was sure that Dad couldn’t give up Mom.

Mom’s voice blurred.

“…I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Then why does your love make me so miserable?”

“…”

“When I say I love you, it means I put you before my own life, you know? It’s okay if I never see you again in my life. I want you to be free and glorious.”

“…”

“Is it such a big wish for me to no longer be an obstacle in your life?”

It felt like Eciel was saying something to me. Still, I muttered, “Wait a minute,” and eventually looked back into the room.

It was something I couldn’t bear to hear without seeing it.

Dad’s face was strangely cold. Could he make a face like that toward Mom?

The coldly angry man spit out one syllable at a time.

“Were you the kind of person who knew how to be considerate like that?”

“What did you say?”

“I got married, feeling like I was about to die. The magic I had built up throughout my life was lost in a moment of mistake and I could no longer get it back.”

“…”

“I threatened you that if you said, ‘You’re my Tara’ for the fifth time, you would see my hanged corpse.”

“…”

“In the three years since we got married, not a single day has passed without an argument.”

Even yesterday’s apology, which was so explicit, did not include all the countless things my mother had done.

Dad didn’t raise his tone at all.

His calm tone seemed harsher than ever.

“My love means that I love even your despair, sadness, and selfishness. Charlotte, if you really love me, you must also love that.”

“… Why?”

“Because I love all your pride and downfall.”

People could fight fiercely because they love each other so much.

I slowly realized that while watching their cold yet tender quarrel.

Unlike the sweet and sour lemon cake, the taste of that realization was bitter and soggy.