“What about you?”

“I must follow our lord. I know where he’s going.”

It made sense. Considering what Frederick’s subordinate had said before fainting, the emperor had boldly brought in forces from outside the palace. If he had moved internal forces, they would have known, as they already controlled the knights within the palace. Hayden nodded and turned around.

* * *

Roshan gritted his teeth at his own stupidity. He had underestimated his half-brother. Despite knowing how vile and foolish he was, he failed to predict his movements.

Until Frederick’s subordinate rushed over to tell him about the tower’s situation, Roshan naturally assumed his half-brother would be struggling to take control of the palace. The aftermath of the unimaginable act of crushing high nobles to death by trapping them in the underground hall of the Central Palace wouldn’t be easy to handle, and Roshan’s forces would obviously move once they became aware of the situation.

But his half-brother went straight to the tower where the princess was. Roshan’s teeth ground together as soon as he realized this fact.

How dare he. Who was he trying to touch?

Given the emperor’s temperament, his reason for going there was obvious. Roshan had warned him not to touch the princess, offending his pathetic pride. In the end, he had revealed that the princess was originally under his protection, and that the emperor had merely been manipulated by the high priest’s words. Furious, the emperor couldn’t confront him directly, so he plotted to kill him, and as soon as he thought his plan had succeeded, he went to vent his disgusting temperament on the weaker princess.

‘I should have killed him long ago.’

He regretted keeping his half-brother alive. The last will of his father that he now had to break. He should have broken it when the emperor first harmed the princess, when he first inflicted violence on that small face.

‘Please……’

Praying for the princess’s safety, Roshan continued running. The tower appeared in the distance. He clearly saw the emperor’s vermin prowling around it.

Swoosh.

In the blink of an eye, a sword appeared in Roshan’s hand. He flashed his red eyes, leaving a golden trajectory. And immediately after, one of the mercenaries standing guard around the tower on the emperor’s orders collapsed, spraying a fountain of blood from his neck.

“Cough!”

* * *

Rip. The dress tore lengthwise from top to bottom. The emperor licked his lips as he looked at the exposed white skin and long gashes, then cast his shadow over Yerena.

The emperor’s long hair poked at the wounds on Yerena’s upper body. With her eyes half-open, she stared at the disgusting golden light mass flickering closely with lifeless eyes and muttered inwardly.

‘So this is the end. I had hoped to avoid at least this kind of ending……’

The worst ending she had imagined approached with large strides. The emperor who had relentlessly beaten his concubine in the garden. And the death sentence passed on her. Yerena recalled that time and mocked herself.

‘……Well, maybe this is right. I couldn’t say a word even after hearing that. I just sat down trembling. I’m getting what I deserve. I didn’t help others, so I shouldn’t expect others to help me.’

Her entire body was in agony. Especially her side, which the emperor had kicked, brought pain like being stabbed with a knife with every breath.

Yerena closed her eyes, thinking she would rather faint and be done with it. There was a dirty touch on her body, but thankfully it was buried under the pain. She breathed raggedly, waiting for the end.

Darkness consumed her vision as the golden light disappeared. And within it, Yerena saw proper forms and colors.

‘Father. Mother……’

It was her family. But Yerena wasn’t surprised to see the dead. They were visions she had been seeing for a long time. Her family, who had stepped into pools of blood and emerged into reality, had persistently followed her for the past few months.

At first, she screamed many times. But as the visions of her family appeared more frequently and stayed longer, they were no longer surprising. She just thought she was going insane.

And now she even welcomed them. Seeing her family before death. It wasn’t bad. Yerena carefully examined her family’s faces with her eyes closed.

Unlike the past few months, they didn’t look angry. Nor did they have the smiling faces they had shown in life. Her parents and two older brothers just looked at Yerena with indifferent expressions.

‘How cruel. Couldn’t you smile at least at the end? Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter since I’ll see you soon.’

Yerena silently muttered as she looked at her family. Her lips slowly curved upward.

‘……Have you already forgotten your promise?’

‘……I love you. Truly.’

But her smile faltered. A familiar light flickered in front of her family, and a man’s voice echoed in her mind. Yerena put down her smile and opened her mouth.

“I’m… sorry.”

“What are you saying?”

Slap. When a sound escaped from Yerena’s mouth, who had been lying as if dead, the emperor didn’t hesitate to put his hand on her face. Yerena turned her head weakly. At this sight, the emperor clicked his tongue and placed his hand near her chest.

It was a feast he had hunted and prepared. It was his share that he had finally won from his d*mn half-brother. The emperor bent his head toward Yerena’s nape, filling his terrible, nauseating inferiority complex.

But at that moment, the sound of men screaming and something rolling came from far away. The emperor turned around. And simultaneously, the four mercenaries stationed outside the door shouted in panic.

“W-what’s happening! Cough!”

“Ugh!”

Men collapsed beyond the open door, and blood spurted, leaving long marks on the doorway. The emperor, startled by the sudden situation, couldn’t move and remained stiff, barely managing to move his legs.

“What’s going on……!”

Thud.

A series of breaking sounds followed, and his vision tilted strangely. The emperor thought this was strange and tried to shout. But that was the end of his thoughts. He fell like a lightning-struck tree and rolled on the floor with a dull sound.

* * *

“Yerena!”

“……”

“Open your eyes!”

“……”

“Please…… D*mn it!”

With a familiar voice, she felt her upper body moving. Yerena barely raised her heavy eyelids and looked ahead.

A familiar scent, the voice she never tired of hearing, and the warm body temperature she always felt. It was him.

“Ki… an.”

Yerena called only his name for the first time. The man froze momentarily when she called him. But soon he adjusted his hold on her with trembling hands and said,

“A physician…… No, we need a priestess.”

His voice trembled as much as his hands, showing none of his usual composure. Yerena tried to call him again but gasped at the tremendous pain in her side, specifically near her ribs, from his movements.

“Haah……”

The pain only worsened when she inhaled deeply. It seemed that something was wrong with her side where the emperor had kicked her. The man examined her again at her reaction. Seeing her struggle to breathe properly, it appeared her ribs were broken and piercing her lungs.

Curses rose to his lips at his inability to do anything. If he moved her incorrectly now, she might immediately stop breathing. But he couldn’t leave her like this either.

The man carefully laid Yerena down and first searched his pockets. His hand found the antidotes and painkillers he always carried. He poured the painkiller into her mouth.

“Please endure a little longer. I’ll bring a physician right away.”

He had handed the bottle to the physician and the cleric. Recalling this, the man tried to stand up, but a small hand grabbed him.

“Why…… Why did you come?”

Her colorless lips parted, and a faint voice flowed out with a weak breath. The man focused on her voice despite his anxiety at Yerena’s appearance, which looked like she might expire at any moment.

“How did you come? Today… in the house… there was an i-incident.”

The emperor’s voice had disappeared, and the man was anxious. Yerena roughly guessed the situation. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but the man had returned.

Was it because she was glad? Tears welled up. But Yerena didn’t show her emotions and instead reproached him.

“You sh-shouldn’t have come…… What… what will you do… from now on……”

What she had faintly seen. The man had harmed the emperor who had been sitting on top of her. And what that implied was clear. Regardless of the reason, anyone who harmed the emperor was a traitor.

The man, an imperial knight, had harmed the emperor, his lord. Because of her. Yerena found this fact distressing.

The man felt like he would go mad at the sight of her worrying about him despite her labored breathing. She didn’t need to care about someone like him. Kian was just a fabricated lie.

“Please. Just wait a little. Hmm? Yerena.”

But he couldn’t reveal the truth. He held her hand firmly and implored her again and again. Then he moved to stand up.

“Do… don’t go. Anyway, I……”

“……”

“Be-because of me… hic. Y-you because of me… haah.”

Her tears fell like beads, full of worry. She shouldn’t use her strength on such things. She needed to endure a little longer.

“I’m sorry. And… thank you.”

Yerena used all her strength to hold the man’s hand. He seemed determined to do anything to save her, but she knew it was useless. How many more minutes could she endure? What was certain was that she couldn’t hold on until he brought someone back.

‘I’m glad.’

Yerena thought it fortunate that she at least had this brief time. She spoke the words she had never said to him before, without hesitation.

“I wanted to… tell you this……”

“……”

“I also… hic. L-love… love you.”

A confession with all her heart. It was what the man most wanted to hear. But at this moment, he wished she wouldn’t say anything at all. She exhaled each word with a breath that was precarious. He could see the light of life fading in her eyes.

“You must wait. You must.”