The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"...So," Alice began, pressing her fingers against her temple as if to suppress a headache after listening to my explanation.

"Father has... been spreading the royal bloodline far and wide, taking in anyone who showed potential, then raising them as his own sons and daughters?"

"If the Emperor's words are entirely true, yes," I replied.

"And you're saying he mistook you for Claire and ended up bringing you in when it should’ve been her?"

"That’s correct."

"That doesn’t make any sense."

Alice shut her eyes tightly and spoke with frustration.

"If these ‘bloodlines’ were so carefully managed, shouldn’t he at least have remembered their physical appearances? Honestly speaking, you have black hair—"

Alice pointed a finger toward Claire, who flinched slightly but remained silent.

"—and she has blue hair. And Father’s hair is golden! If he knows the hair color of his own children, it’s common sense that he should’ve realized his child wouldn’t have black hair!"

Claire, who was suddenly on the receiving end of Alice’s sharp gesture, looked completely bewildered, unable to react.

Her face alternated between seriousness, shock, and confusion. She opened her mouth as if to say something, only to close it again, seemingly unable to find the right words. Even knowing the original story, I had been stunned when I first discovered this twist—how much more shocking must it be for Claire, who had never suspected such a thing her entire life?

"Perhaps it’s atavism," I said, trying to sound serious.

Of course, discussing genetics in a world where hair colors could range from blue to purple seemed somewhat ridiculous. Back in the real world, without dye, unique hair colors were limited to shades like platinum or fiery red. How something like "blue hair" could be genetically inherited was beyond me.

"Or perhaps he didn’t care much about appearances and focused solely on finding viable candidates to bear his offspring."

This theory seemed far more plausible to me. The Emperor, though he claimed to love his children in his own way, also viewed them as tools. It wasn’t hard to imagine him mechanically spreading his bloodline without any emotional attachment.

If the Emperor had countless illegitimate children but only selected a few to be part of his "family," and if he was confident enough in his judgment to believe any child with talent was undeniably his own...

"...."

Alice bit her lip, looking as though she might vomit.

Even Alice seemed to think, If it’s Father, he might actually do something like that.

"And it was Lucas who brought me to the palace," I continued. "Of all the children, I ended up in the Emperor’s favor not because of his judgment but Lucas’s."

Of course, that didn’t mean the Emperor didn’t trust Lucas.

But trust didn’t mean full disclosure. I doubted he had ever told his children outright that they shared his blood.

All of this had snowballed into the convoluted situation we were in now.

"I don’t know how he chose the women who bore his children, but tracing the imperial bloodline through history, it’s not unimaginable. There have been countless noble families who fell from grace, becoming less than minor nobles."

Though I had destroyed the evidence that could shed light on Claire’s mother, I could still imagine.

Not everyone with imperial blood was treated as royalty. Just as there were nobles without lands or titles—nobles in name only—there were imperial descendants who had fallen so far that they were no longer recognized.

Of course, their bloodlines likely weren’t as pure as those in the main family.

"...Mother was assassinated by a political rival," Alice muttered suddenly, breaking her silence.

"It happened when I was too young to remember. At the time, there were even rumors that the assassination attempt was meant for me, not her. Fangryphon’s name may hold the highest status in history now, but back then, it wasn’t as unshakable as it seems today. Even though people speak of absolute power and an unyielding empire, most of the Empire was still controlled by nobles."

Alice raised a hand to her chin, her gaze dropping as she pondered.

"The first to be purged during that time were the other members of the imperial family. Many who had succession rights, besides me, were executed or fell from grace."

And with that, the Emperor’s power solidified further.

"At first, I wondered if... Father had been the one to assassinate Mother. That he had used her death as an excuse to eliminate political rivals and consolidate power for the imperial family."

But if that wasn’t the case...

If the Emperor had no intention of killing the Empress and they were merely a normal couple, but he lost her during a power struggle—leaving him with only one heir...

Having only a single daughter as an heir would make anyone anxious. Children can die for countless reasons, not just from weapons or poison. Even with magic, there are diseases that medicine of this era cannot cure.

It wouldn’t be surprising if there were those who suggested the Emperor take a concubine to secure more heirs, whether from a noble family with diluted imperial blood or a distant branch of the family.

If that heir were a son, it would provide the legitimacy needed to pass down the throne.

If that’s why the Empress died...

Then the first to be purged under the pretense of "legitimacy" were the distant imperial relatives.

And among the nobility, the faction opposing the Emperor.

Even during my childhood, those power struggles continued. I had received orders from the Emperor to assassinate a count. That count had been Count Crowfield.

"...If Father, who trusted no one, sought to create a Fangryphon who trusted only him and whom only he could trust..."

"...."

It was all conjecture.

The truth could very well be that the Emperor was simply a hedonist who indulged freely and abandoned his lovers, selecting only the most talented children later by sheer coincidence.

Or perhaps he had orchestrated the Empress’s death, using it as a pretext to justify purging the opposition. That would also be entirely in character for him.

To uncover the real story, I would need to confront the Emperor directly.

"So, this relic..."

Alice trailed off, turning her gaze back to the relic, as if her thoughts had reached the same conclusion as mine.

"Yes. For reasons unknown, this relic is undeniably reacting to Fangryphon’s bloodline. Since it’s responding to Claire and not me, there’s no doubt about it."

It was strange for something called a "relic of the goddess" to react more strongly to Fangryphon’s bloodline than to anyone from the Holy Nation.

While my conclusion was based on the relic’s behavior as well as the original story’s lore, explaining this in terms of "fictional settings" and my ability to rewind time would be impossibly convoluted. I’d have to start with an explanation of video games.

"Then I..."

Claire, who had been listening to our conversation with a conflicted expression, finally spoke.

"..."

I looked at her silently before responding.

"Claire."

"Y-yes?"

"What kind of person do you want to be?"

"What kind of person...?"

"Whether you choose to embrace being Fangryphon or remain Claire of the Grace family, the choice is yours."

The original Claire had never been given such a choice.

She had been swept along, sold off, and subjected to a horrific past, with no say in her fate. Her only act of agency had been sacrificing herself in the end for someone she considered a sister.

But the Claire before me was different.

Would she be Claire Fangryphon or Claire Grace?

She had the freedom to choose.

Now, Claire had no master.

"I..."

Claire placed a hand over her heart, clenching it tightly.

"I want to stay as I am." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Then that was enough.

There was no need for Claire to sacrifice herself for anyone.

That’s why I was here—to stop that from happening.

"Understood."

I replied and reached out toward the relic.