"When the emperor learned that your mother was in love with someone else, he ordered to kill him." Grandfather said with an expression of sadness and fury. I could feel the turbulent emotions hidden in his voice.
However, I continued hearing without interrupting him.
"Of course, the emperor never admitted it, but it's an open secret. Even your mother knew about it.
"Then, after he killed your mother's lover, he raped Silna. Dina was born from that day."
After grandfather said that, the entire room fell silent.
So, it was what happened huh.
"Your mother never was happy from that day. I knew she wanted to die, but because she wanted to protect the child on her womb and she feared that the emperor would retaliate against our family if she died, she agreed to marry him.
"The emperor's obsession only became stronger after that day. Nobody knows why he was so obsessed. After all, although your mother was beautiful, there were many other women more beautiful and with greater status than her. At the end of the day, she was just the daughter of a small noble family.
"But the emperor's obsession with your mother only caused her more trouble. The empress was jealous of it and hated your mother deeply. She did not want anything else but see your mother die. So, she hatched a plan.
"At that time, your mother was already pregnant with you, Claus. Taking advantage of that, the empress began to feed the emperor with suspicions about your mother. Because Dina did not inherit the imperial family's hair or eyes, the empress began to insinuate that she actually was not the emperor's daughter and that the child on Silna's womb was not his either.
"Of course, the emperor did not believe it, but with the time, he became increasingly suspicious. Because your mother never loved the emperor, and under the empress's repeated lies, the emperor's behavior turned for the worse. He began to scold and mistreat your mother. Sometimes, he even hit her! Due to that, your mother turned increasingly weak and skinny. She even fell gravely ill! If not because she wanted to give birth to you, she would have died sooner.
"But once you were born, she finally died... Do you know? The day she died, she looked really relieved!
"As for you, you inherited the emperor's blue hair... Hahaha! The emperor's suspicions caused Silna's death, but in the end, your birth cleared her name!"
Grandfather's eyes were bloodshot. His voice was laced with hatred. He hated the emperor that killed and made his daughter suffer. Unfortunately, he was powerless to do anything.
"Do you know why the emperor hates you so much? It's because you remind him of Silna's death! You remind him that he caused the death of the person he loved the most! Actually, if not because you are Silna's son, he would have killed you long ago!"
I tightened my fist silently. To think that the truth was something like that.
I thought that the reason because the emperor hated me was that he believed I was the cause of mother's death! But now, it appears that the reason is completely different!
The reason he hates me is that I remind him that it was he who killed mother!
Seeing the expressions of hatred in grandfather and aunt's eyes, I heaved a sigh. I never thought that mother's death would have such a backstory.
Actually, my feelings for my mother in this life are practically zero. I never met her, and I have had many mothers during my hundreds of lives. For me, her death was not different than the death of a stranger.
But in the end, she was the one who gave birth to me in this life.
I could not simply ignore it now I learned about the reason for her death.
Grandfather looked at me with a distorted face. He grabbed my arm and continued speaking.
"Now that you know the truth, you must avenge your mother! Claus, we are useless. Even after knowing how much Silna suffered, we can't do anything to avenge her. But you, you are different! You are smart and talented! Your businesses have flourished through the empire, and your feat of facing someone two layers higher than you on equal grounds has spread between the nobles! You must–"
"Father, stop!" Aunt Sera stopped my grandfather abruptly. "What are you doing?! How can you put such a heavy weight on Claus's shoulders?! Don't you know about his current situation?!"
Grandfather fell silent immediately. His expression changed between hatred, hope, and helplessness, and finally, he sighed sadly.
"You are right, forget what I said before..."
"No grandfather. I'll not forget. I'll promise you I'll avenge my mother."
Instantly, both aunt Sera and Grandfather looked at me.
"Claus, don't be rash! You can't do anything now!"
"Don't worry, aunt, I know." I smiled to reassure her. "Besides, I told you I have a plan, right? I assure you that the emperor will pay for what he did."
Aunt Sera looked at me with a complicated expression, but in the end, she sighed.
At that moment, grandmother entered the room followed by a servant and brought lunch. We silently agreed to stop speaking about mother and began to eat.
Meanwhile, I was modifying my plans on my mind.
My revenge against the emperor would be a bloody and cruel one.