Just as Yerena was trying to get up to avoid Jane, Jane’s voice from right behind her was cut off, followed by the sound of something collapsing. Startled, Yerena turned around.

“Ugh……”

“J-Jane? Jane! Are you alright?”

As Yerena bent down to find Jane who was groaning, someone grabbed her shoulder. Yerena stiffened at the sudden smell of blood.

“Pr…… Are you the princess?”

Though she couldn’t see, it was clear that the person who grabbed her was from the Sedas resistance. Yerena, recognizing the accent of her homeland in his speech, gathered her wits and said.

“Don’t waste your precious life and run away! Please!”

“That……”

The man seemed confused by Yerena’s intense reaction. Yerena felt something strange about the man’s attitude but urged him again.

“Hurry! Soon more imperial soldiers will……”

“Damn it! What are you doing!”

“Huh?”

“Stop wasting time and do what you were told! The following units will soon join us.”

Before Yerena could finish speaking, someone interrupted. A stronger smell of blood and a distinct imperial accent…… Yerena finally sensed that something was wrong and closed her mouth.

“B-but the princess……”

“What? Did you suddenly develop patriotism that wasn’t there before upon seeing your country’s princess?”

Unlike the man holding Yerena’s shoulder, the newly joined man paid no attention to Yerena at all. And from their brief exchange, Yerena was certain.

‘……They’re not resistance fighters. They have a different purpose.’

It was strange from the start. This was imperial territory, not the Sedas Kingdom, and despite shouting that they had come to take back the princess, no one had approached the carriage where she was clearly expected to be for quite some time.

Clang. Clang. The sound of weapons clashing was distant. Yerena bit her lip and contorted her face. Someone was using the already precarious Sedas for their own purposes.

‘Why…… You’ve already trampled us enough, isn’t it time to stop?’

Just as Yerena, consumed by anger, clenched her fist so tightly that her nails left marks, the man who had arrived later among the two arguing in front of her looked around the battlefield and suddenly muttered in a chilling voice.

“……Right. I was told to kill this wench if it looks like we’ll fail. Since I could be punished for failing the mission……”

“What? That’s not—Urgh!”

The man who had shouted “that’s not right” at the other man’s words collapsed. Yerena could tell that someone had died in front of her from the blood that splattered on her face.

“Ah……”

As the blood directly touched her, the scene from that day habitually flashed before her. The man who had just committed murder in front of the now-rigid Yerena raised his arm high and sneered.

“Princess. With a face that’s a shame to kill. But don’t blame me. I’m just following orders……”

Shick.

“Guhk!”

The sound of a sword coming down was clearly heard. However, it was not Yerena who spilled blood, but the man who had swung his sword at her. Only after the man’s body fell sideways with a dull sound and the sword he was holding rolled on the ground with a sharp noise did Yerena realize that someone had saved her.

“Princess.”

A cool voice, as if coming from the bottom of a deep well, tickled Yerena’s ear. In that brief moment, Yerena felt as if she had been plunged into an abyss and then suddenly pulled up by that unfamiliar voice. Her stomach churned and she felt goosebumps. It was eerie. Yet strangely, she couldn’t help but follow it.

As Yerena’s blind eyes followed the voice, the owner of the voice reached out and grasped her arm. The touch was careful but as cold as the voice. Yerena trembled at the sudden chill.

The owner of the voice released his hand at Yerena’s reaction. But right after, something acrid seeped into the air along with someone’s shout.

“Ugh! These cowards! Everyone be careful of the smoke!”

Along with someone’s shout, her head felt like it was about to split. It was difficult to breathe, as if she had inhaled a lot of flying ash. Yerena, who was already shocked by the fact that someone had died in front of her, staggered, unable to endure.

“……Cover your nose and mouth with your sleeve.”

The hand that had retreated as if fleeing approached again and wrapped around Yerena’s waist like a snake. The man’s breathing could be heard right beside her. Yerena barely supported her unsteady head and opened her mouth.

“Ugh…… Is it poison?”

“It’s a crude substance used to blind the enemy’s eyes. It has mild toxicity, and since we’re outside, its effect will be significantly reduced, so you’ll be fine soon.”

Though blunt, the firm hand that seemed to reassure her with the explanation was solid. Yerena nodded her head and, in her hazy state of mind, unconsciously voiced the question that had been inside her.

“But who, who are……”

“……”

The man did not answer. Instead, he placed his arms under Yerena’s back and knees, carried her, and opened the carriage door right in front of them. Unlike Yerena, who had gone limp from the poison she was experiencing for the first time, the soldiers and knights seemed able to move, as shouts and the sound of weapons clashing continued from all directions.

“It would be better for you to stay quietly in the carriage.”

“J-Jane? There should be another woman besides me, can you check on her? I-I can’t see……”

Yerena, barely keeping her eyes open, looked for the fallen Jane. The man laid her down in the carriage, went out, and came back in. Yerena heard the man laying someone down on the seat opposite her, but she still moved her head anxiously.

“She’s just unconscious. Don’t worry.”

The man whispered to her and then moved away. Thud. The sound of the carriage door closing was heard. Only then did Yerena close her eyelids. Of course, whether open or closed, it was the same pitch-black darkness.

“Roshan Vistius!”

Outside the carriage, someone shouted Roshan’s name in rage. The invader of Sedas. The one who killed her parents. Yerena bit the inside of her mouth at the enemy’s name that clearly pierced her ears, and recalled what her brother had told her before. At the same time, she could roughly guess who the current intrusion was targeting.

‘Antonio once told me. That the emperor of the Empire considers his younger brother a thorn in his side because of legitimacy……’

Her foggy mind was dizzy. The name of the enemy she wanted to tear apart was heard once more from outside. Even in her half-drugged state, Yerena opened her mouth.

“……die.”

A strong breath escaped her lips. A voice so faint that it couldn’t be heard by anyone, let alone escape the carriage, barely audible even to herself. But her wish toward Roshan Vistius was powerful. Yerena whispered once more.

“Die…… more painfully than anyone else.”

* * *

The blind Helena asked the elves living in the Rubeo sacred tree that was red throughout all seasons. Living for at least hundreds of years and more versed in magic than humans, she thought they might know how to break the curse.

‘Elves. Do you have a way to fix my eyes? Can you help me wipe away these filthy spits and escape that person’s curse?’

‘Blind princess. Your curse cannot be broken here. No one here can erase the curse of the blind mage that has fallen upon you.’

The elves with their long flowing hair shook their heads and spoke decisively. Their ears, peeking through their hair, were long and pointed.

‘Ah…… Am I to never see again? Is there no way to reclaim my stolen throne?’

The shining, or rather once-shining princess, collapsed in frustration. Watching her despair as she blinked her sightless eyes, the most tender-hearted elf with blue hair stepped forward. The gazes of the surrounding elves became as pointed as their ears. However, no one stopped the elf who had stepped forward.

‘……Princess. Is your goal to escape the curse?’

‘Yes. Do you perhaps know a way?’

‘None of us can do anything about the curse placed upon you. However, here, the sacred tree where we have made our home can do one thing for you.’

‘What is that?’

‘The sacred tree sprouted from a piece of flesh of the red dragon whose head was cut off by the first king of Sedas. The tree hates you. It deeply despises those with Sedas blood flowing through them.’

‘That’s a lie. The sacred tree is Sedas’s guardian tree. The first king said so long ago.’

‘That’s also correct. The blood of the red dragon killed by the first king flows through Sedas.’

‘What does that……’

When the princess showed disbelief, the oldest elf stepped forward this time. With white hair reaching down to his toes, he roughly pushed aside the most tender-hearted elf, his only son, and shouted at the princess.

‘Foolish and greedy humans. To even forget your original sin. You are so convenient!’

‘……’

‘The first king of Sedas beheaded her lover, the red dragon, as soon as he bore an heir with her. And she plundered everything from that body. Do you see where the magic power you possess, the power your ancestors held, began?’

‘……’

‘She killed the father of his child, chewed his heart to steal his magic power, used his bones and scales as armor, and meticulously stripped the flesh to boil without rest for three years to make an elixir for himself…… The nauseating smell still reaches here. Terrible. Disgusting. Revolting.’

‘……’

‘The red dragon did not forgive the cruel king who killed him. However, he could not hate his child born from their union. Thus, the deep roots hold everything, but the sturdy trunk and branches contain only love and beautiful memories for the child, and the hatred and resentment that can never be forgotten remain only in the leaves, to be blown away by the wind when the time comes.’

‘……’

‘But even the sacred tree cannot break the blind mage’s solid and sticky curse attached to you. However, using the first king’s blood flowing through you, the sap flowing through the tree’s trunk, and finally the red leaves……’

‘……’

‘……it might be possible to deceive the curse.’