“Lumiere.”

Lumiere came out from her seat at Karl’s call and approached him with quick steps.

The king spread his arms wide for the approaching Lumiere.

Lumiere jumped into his embrace without hesitation.

The two held each other affectionately and caressed each other.

“……Wh-what is this?”

Landers and Schultz’s faces crumpled like paper at this strange sight.

Lumiere Lashantia was Karl Winger’s lover.

That was something Landers had confirmed many times, and it was a fact he could be certain of without a shred of doubt.

Could it be that this woman pretended to be Karl Winger’s lover for the king?

Was it because he had lost too much blood, or because he had been beaten so badly by the mob?

Landers’ mind worked unusually slowly.

Perhaps he wanted to ignore a certain ‘truth’ that was simply unbelievable, that he didn’t want to believe.

But Karl didn’t let him ignore that truth.

While embracing Lumiere, he reached out with one hand and pulled down the cloth covering the king’s portrait.

The smooth silk cloth slipped off, and the truth that the king had thoroughly hidden all this time was revealed in the old chapel.

“……!”

Landers, shocked enough to forget the excruciating pain of his lost fingers, stared blankly at the king’s portrait.

Glossy black hair, shoulders solid and broad that couldn’t be hidden even in the painting, and golden eyes that shone beautifully like melted gold.

Those golden eyes shining beautifully and intelligently enough to make one’s teeth chatter……

“Karl Winger……?”

Did he hear that murmur?

The king, who had been staring at Landers, slowly removed his mask.

The black mask that had been covering him came down.

A clean forehead without a single burn mark, an elegant nose bridge, and tightly closed beautiful lips were revealed.

“……!”

Karl Winger wearing the king’s clothes, no.

The king who had been crouching under the name of Karl Winger had finally revealed himself to his enemies.

“The king is you……? No, you…… were the king?”

Schultz’s chest rose and fell violently.

He became breathless even though he hadn’t done anything.

“Ho-how…… how…… how!”

This made no sense.

The king, Laedro Carlei Stings, had definitely suffered burns all over his body.

Didn’t the king of Berhe personally take his grandson to seek treatment to save his life?

At that moment, a lightning-like realization struck Schultz’s brain.

“……The king of Berhe was also in on it all along. Right?”

Karl smiled faintly but didn’t answer, looking out the window instead.

The screams of armed people could be heard close by.

It was the sound of the palace knights stationed below the chapel trying to stop the citizens.

“Aaagh! They have grenades, be careful!”

“Stop them! Hurry, stop them! Why aren’t you stopping them!”

“Ca-Captain Lachika……!”

The battle would probably be full of chaos.

Lachika, who had been imprisoned in Batus Prison, was a woman who had served as the citizen captain until she was dragged to Batus.

She had considerable combat experience and charisma, and there were quite a few young friends among knights of commoner origin who followed her.

And that would intensify the confusion of this moment.

“What are you doing! Stop them! I said stop them!”

The guard captain shouted desperately, but the knights’ formation had already been disrupted.

Uwaaaaa—!!!

The sound of citizens pouring in was thunderous.

Karl listened to it and picked up the torch placed on the altar.

The specially made marriage candle for today flickered magnificently.

He looked at Lumiere for a moment.

It was a careful gaze, asking for her opinion once more.

Lumiere smiled brightly, stroked his cheek, and kissed his lips.

They held hands, their eyes locked.

And together they set fire to the edge of Karl’s portrait.

Since the frame had been soaked in oil beforehand, the small spark quickly grew into a larger fire.

The portrait of Laedro, also Karl Winger, businessman and king who dreamed of revenge, was slowly burning.

Schultz and Landers stared blankly at their actions, mesmerized.

The bursting sounds, the citizens’ cheers, the desperate shouts of knights heard from afar……

And even the burning portrait of the king who looked like Karl Winger.

Nothing seemed real.

Karl took Lumiere’s gun.

And aiming the muzzle at Schultz’s leg, he murmured.

“That day, the despair and pain that no one could escape……”

Click.

The revolver came down.

“You should experience it too.”

Bang—!

With a resolute gunshot, a bullet lodged in Schultz’s thigh.

“Aaaagh! Uwaaaagh!”

Landers, who had become a mess like a rag, and Schultz, who was screaming with his thigh pierced, rolled around like a single piece of waste.

“You, you bastards won’t get away with this! Even in death, even in death I will curse you!”

Karl and Lumiere calmly received Schultz’s rage.

They looked only at each other, pretending not to hear those furious cries.

“Let’s go now. If we delay any longer, it might be too late.”

The sound of people rushing into the chapel could be heard, probably having heard Karl’s gunshot.

Karl lifted the carpet on the altar where he stood.

An old secret passage waited for them with its black mouth wide open.

Karl went down first and extended his hand to Lumiere.

Lumiere jumped into his arms, and the two were sucked into the secret passage in an instant.

Simultaneously, part of the burning portrait fell to the floor.

The fire spread to the cover that had been covering the portrait on the floor, and the wooden altar caught fire instantly.

“No, no, no. Don’t go! Take us too! No!”

Schultz tossed aside Landers whom he had been embracing and crawled toward the altar.

Abandoned, Landers watched his father’s retreating back with eyes that seemed to have lost part of his soul.

He struggled to breathe, as if his lungs, trampled by citizens, were losing their function.

His blurry vision filled with the sight of his father crawling on the floor.

For a moment, Landers saw his own image overlapping with that figure.

They had wanted to become truly ‘royal.’

For that, they crawled on the floor and committed dirty deeds without hesitation……

‘No. Father and I are different. I am…… Landers Tartien, born and raised as a noble.’

He gritted his teeth and picked up the pistol he had dropped.

Through his muffled ears, he heard the sound of people opening the chapel doors.

He pulled the trigger with his blood-covered hand.

With a bang, blood splattered.

In Landers’ unclosed eyes, a familiar shadow mixed among the citizens caught his attention.

Shantes……

“Fire! The chapel is on fire! Everyone back away!”

Lachika and Jack Lübain, who stood at the front, pushed back the excited people.

“Ah, aah! You there! Sa-save me! I’ll give you all my fortune! I’ll give all my wealth to whoever saves me!”

The citizens who had entered the chapel with tremendous force looked at the miserable fallen Schultz without a shred of sympathy.

“……They say you pushed people into a fire pit 13 years ago?”

“……!”

“Perhaps this is karma.”

With Jack Lübain’s words, someone from behind threw an oil container into the chapel.

When someone threw in a spark afterward, flames instantly filled the front and back of the chapel.

“Wha-what are you doing! No!”

“……Let’s go, our business here is done. Let’s head to the main palace!”

Jack Lübain left the chapel without looking back.

People quickly turned away before the flames grew larger.

Someone remained behind the rapidly departing crowd and looked at the screaming Schultz.

Schultz recognized him and shouted in surprise.

“……Shan, Shantes! Shantes, save me. Save your father……!”

Shantes, who had been staring at Schultz, smiled cruelly.

Limping, he completely locked the chapel doors.

“No! Nooo! Help me, help me!”

The screams were heart-wrenching.

But soon, the swelling flames devoured those terrible screams.

The palace abandoned by the king and nobles.

The citizens finally took complete possession of this old and ancient palace.

The end of November, when summer had passed and cold winds began to blow.

The Levanian Revolution ended like that.