Kylance stood where Melish had once stood.

Unlike Melish, who had fought to the end, he had quietly lowered his eyes without even witnessing her final moments.

As much as he must have wanted to witness her death, he had not raised his head once since entering the courtroom.

Just as Ariel’s gaze deepened at the sight of his lonely, statue-like back, someone spoke.

“Even if someone is an enemy, it seems that affection for those you have raised is inevitable. His Highness the Duke never saw Melish’s death.”

“That’s not it. He probably didn’t want to see it. He killed his own parents and shamelessly played the role of their godmother – there is no way any affection would remain.”

The nobles whispered as they watched the Duke, who couldn’t even look at Melish’s bloodstains.

But they were all wrong.

Kylance was not one to harbor lingering feelings for his enemies. When the moment came that he felt it was the end, he would strike down his enemy without hesitation.

And when he came to his senses, he did not seek out Melish.

Perhaps… there was no longer any reason for him to see Melish.

For Kylance, the moment he consumed the poison was the moment he captured Melish.

At that moment, he must have separated Melish from his heart, Ariel thought.

So the reason he was standing still now had nothing to do with Melish. He was simply waiting for his punishment.

Determined to take whatever punishment came his way.

At that moment, the Emperor’s voice echoed through the courtroom.

“Kylance Seyerd, step forward.”

As Kylance stepped up to the platform where the sentence was to be pronounced, a hush fell over the crowd, which had previously been in turmoil.

The Emperor looked down at Kylance with a more stern expression than before, then raised his gaze to meet Ariel’s.

Ariel did not avert her gaze, but met it directly.

It was the Emperor who looked away first, then slowly parted his lips towards Kylance.

“Kylance Seyerd, do you admit to the crimes you have committed?”

“I do.”

The answer came without the slightest hesitation.

The Emperor took a deep breath before speaking.

“I hereby order that the criminal Kylance Seyerd be punished for committing the heinous crime of falsely accusing a loyal servant of the founding family of treason, thereby severely staining the honour of the Imperial Family. From this moment on, his right to inherit the throne is revoked. Furthermore, his name will be erased from the Imperial family tree and he will wear magical restraints on both wrists for ten years.

“Gasp.”

“Ugh!”

“Magical restraints…!”

“Ten years…!”

As soon as the Emperor’s words ended, a gasp of shock filled the room.

Even Ariel’s eyes widened at the unexpectedly harsh punishment.

Magical restraints.

But that wasn’t all – magical restraints would limit his actions with magic, making it difficult not only to wield a sword, but even to swing it.

It essentially took his sword away from him.

And restricting the use of a sword for ten years in the northern region, where danger was ever-present, was almost tantamount to ordering him to die.

“I never thought His Majesty would go so far…”

As a stunned Jedran slowly whispered, Ariel remembered the moment she had faced the Emperor before entering the courtroom.

“Lady, even though the trial is over, the Marquis of Blante will not return alive, but I will see to it that no further injustice occurs. I will see to it that you and your family can once again be a strong support for the Pentium Empire.”

Ariel looked into the Emperor’s black eyes and slowly bowed her head.

The Emperor had truly listened to her request, even at the cost of sacrificing his right arm.

In the end, it was Melish, Kylance and the Emperor himself who were punished.

As Ariel raised her head, the Emperor gave his final command.

” Exile the criminal Kylance Seyerd from the capital.”

“Do not leave the northern region until you have received my orders.”

The Emperor added gravely, then rose from his seat and left the courtroom.

“The criminal accepts Your Majesty’s command.”

Kylance’s low voice echoed behind him, but the Emperor did not look back as he left the room.

As the Emperor left, the nobles could not hide their shock, whispering loudly about the harshest punishment ever meted out in the history of Imperial Family trials.

The nobles’ excitement soon gave way to curiosity as to how Ariel would react to Kylance.

As more nobles openly stared at her, Jedran suddenly stood up with a displeased expression on his face. Ariel spoke quietly.

“Let it be. The more you raise your voice, the more attention you attract.”

It was attention that would eventually fade, and Ariel didn’t want to deal with it.

Her focus was already on one person.

Kylance.

From the moment she first met him until now, countless memories flashed through her mind.

The more she thought about him, the more her heart ached, but Ariel only hid her heavy emotions under a stern face and watched him, his wrists bound by restraints, with a dark gaze.

Clicking 

The sound of the restraints being applied was particularly loud.

“How dare I… I’m sorry for loving you.” 

The words Kylance had spoken echoed in her ears, and just as they did, Kylance raised his head.

He looked at her with a look of bittersweet longing. For the first time since entering the courtroom, he moved his lips slightly.

Following the movement of his lips, Ariel opened hers.

“…Forget everything… and live… happily.”

Ha. 

The trembling breath she had been holding in finally escaped.

Yes, we have dared… We can never go back to the way things were. 

This is right. 

Ariel lowered her gaze, making sure no one could detect her lingering feelings, and clenched her cold, stiff fingers tightly.

But perhaps she couldn’t fool Jedran. He whispered to her cautiously.

“Ariel, before the Duke leaves for the North, I can arrange for you to meet him…”

But before he could finish his sentence, Ariel replied firmly.

“No.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

It’s not okay.

But still, now is not the time.

She had come too far.

Stifling the overwhelming emotions that were rising within her, Ariel slowly stood and, seeing Jedran’s worried expression, spoke.

“It’s over. Brother, I want to see Father.”

“All right.”

She took Jedran’s outstretched hand and turned away.

“Your Majesty, it is the Emperor’s order that you leave for the north immediately.”

“I understand.”

She could hear the sound of him walking away.

And so they went their separate ways.

Without looking back, as if accepting the irrevocable past.

* * *

At the Blante family estate, in the garden where the tombs of her ancestors were gathered.

Ariel sat in front of her father’s grave, staring at it in silence, as if she were only looking at her father.

The sun had long since set and the sky was getting darker.

“If Father were here, he would have told me to go back to my room because the wind is getting cold.”

As the cold night breeze began to blow, Ariel lit the lamp she had brought and spoke for the first time.

“But today I don’t think I can follow Father’s words.”

A sad smile played on her lips as she continued.

“I want to be with you a little longer, Father.”

Ariel looked slowly at her father’s name on the gravestone, reflected in the light of the lamp, then spoke softly.

“I ran here because I missed you so much, but now that I’m here… it’s strange. I can’t seem to say anything.”

Even though it should have been happy news.

“I think you would have been sad, father. You always cared more about me than yourself… You would have been the one to worry about me and give me comfort.”

Ariel smiled bitterly and lowered her eyes.

“That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I have to tell you that I’m really okay too…”

Her words trailed off as she let out a long sigh and spoke again.

“Actually, I’m not all right yet. My heart doesn’t always follow what I want, does it? As I start to feel lighter, the good memories keep coming back, more than the bad ones…”

They don’t just fade away.

Ariel swallowed her last words and raised her eyes.

“But still, Father, I will be fine. I’ll lead the family well. So please don’t worry about me and rest now.”

Whoosh-

As if her father were gently patting her head, the night wind gently ruffled her hair.

Ariel smiled instead of shedding tears.

“I love you, Father.”

* * *

One week later.

The Blante family welcomed their new head of the family.

Ariel Blante.

As a gesture of congratulation and apology, the Emperor granted her fertile lands in the south, and Ariel entrusted the management of the southern territories to Jedran.

The Blie Shipping Company monopolised the trade of the southern region’s crops, expanding from ships to a large merchant guild, and the Blante family’s wealth and prestige grew by the day.

The tragedy that had once shaken the Empire was fading from people’s memories.

Thus Ariel and the Pentium Empire found stability, and six years passed.