Knox, who had rushed up the tower, couldn’t say a word at the scene before him. He couldn’t tell whether the emperor, who had collapsed bleeding, was dead or alive, and the blind priestess had so many wrinkles that she would have been unrecognizable without her blindfold.

But what froze him in place wasn’t the fallen emperor or the priestess whose hair had turned to ash. What made Knox freeze was the expression of his lord, who stood there holding the princess in his arms.

Unbelievably, there were clear tear marks on his lord’s face. And what was that expression? His lord stood there stupidly with a face like a lost child.

He had revered his lord like a god. Sometimes he thought he might not even be human but truly divine, so firm and cold was he. But why now……

“Knox.”

Roshan called to Knox, who had become stuck to the floor at the unimaginable sight. Knox moved with difficulty out of loyalty. He knelt with difficulty and waited for his lord’s words.

Roshan didn’t look at his subordinate kneeling before him. He only looked at the princess he held in his arms.

Blood dripped steadily from his hand against the princess’s back. Roshan stood like that for a long time, only opening his mouth when his feet were stained red.

“……What should I do?”

“……”

“I’ve never been like this before…… I can’t see the path. I truly don’t know what I should do.”

* * *

The rebellion ended successfully. The knights who had been waiting in the underground of the Central Palace were startled by the sudden appearance of mercenaries but soon regained their composure and defeated them.

The mercenaries were individually skilled but too few compared to the forces Roshan and Duke Day had stationed. Moreover, being motivated by money, they fled without delay when they saw their employer’s plan was failing.

People clamored at the truth revealed with the morning. The emperor was immediately deposed and imprisoned. The high nobles who had survived the underground of the Central Palace didn’t hide their anger toward the former emperor. But amid all this noise inside and outside the palace, there was one quiet place, the infirmary treating the wounded within the palace.

On the fourth floor of the infirmary building, in a room prepared for high-ranking knights, a knight sat with his upper body raised and legs stretched out on the bed, with wounds all over his body, not just his face. But even so, his handsome face wasn’t hidden beneath the brilliant golden hair like sunlight.

“I was assigned to guard a mere prisoner woman?”

Disbelief clouded his emerald eyes. Frederick frowned deeply at Hayden, who slowly nodded and answered.

“Yes.”

“But why? Why was I assigned to guard a mere prisoner? Hayden, did I commit some crime? Was I demoted?”

Frederick’s frown deepened. He couldn’t understand at all. Even if she was a princess, for him to guard a prisoner from a defeated country. Was there nothing else to do? He couldn’t understand himself for not remembering.

“Because our lord commanded you to.”

Hayden’s words about the lord’s command somewhat eased his doubts, but they didn’t disappear completely. He thought he had handled important matters by his lord’s side over the years. Why had his lord given him such a trivial task? Couldn’t he have ordered a knight far below him to serve as a guard?

“……Don’t make that face. You didn’t show the slightest dissatisfaction at the time. You even seemed pleased.”

Hayden spoke flatly after seeing Frederick’s expression. Frederick widened his eyes and raised his voice in disbelief. The bed rippled with his movement.

“That’s absurd!”

“……”

“Why on earth?”

That he had shown no dissatisfaction. It was unbelievable. Frederick muttered, trying to think about the Sedas princess whose face, let alone name, he couldn’t remember.

“That kind of prisoner girl……”

Harsh words came out automatically in the irritating situation. Hayden tried to warn Frederick. The princess of Sedas was no longer a princess or a prisoner. She was the most noble woman in the Empire, who would stand beside their lord who would soon be enthroned.

But seeing Frederick’s expression, Hayden closed his mouth again. His bedridden friend was biting his lip with a bewildered face.

‘Why?’

The moment he uttered the word “girl,” Frederick felt his heart sink. He didn’t know why. He just found the words he had spoken unpleasant and irritating, hard to bear.

He clenched his fist and after a while, tried to compose his expression. Then, grumbling as if nothing was wrong, he said,

“Hmph! Don’t tell me I fell for that prisoner?”

“……”

“No, that can’t be. You said our lord showed interest in her. I wouldn’t be crazy enough to do that.”

It was meant as a joke. But Hayden’s expression as he heard the words was strange. Frederick read the shocking answer on his friend’s face and muttered,

“I was crazy.”

“……”

“It’s fortunate I lost my memory. Better this than staying by our lord’s side with that kind of mindset.”

A mere prisoner who would be enough as a concubine, yet placed in the position of empress. Though he couldn’t remember the past, he could well imagine how great the lord’s interest in that woman was.

Had he been interested in such a woman? Had he forgotten his dead sister? Frederick found himself unacceptable and was almost grateful for losing his memory.

“……D*mn it.”

But the feeling of relief was brief. For some reason, his chest tightened and felt suffocating at the fact that the prisoner woman would become empress. He unconsciously cursed. Hayden stared at him. Feeling strangely guilty, Frederick turned his head to look out the window and made a lame excuse.

“……I’m suddenly feeling awkward about aging. Five years of memories completely gone. What a state this is.”

A friend who had lost five years of memories. Even to Hayden, he seemed to have grown younger. Though his exterior remained the same as before he lost his memory, his expressions and the words he spoke had subtly returned to that more youthful time.

But was the shadow that fell on his friend’s face as he looked out the window really due to the fact that he had lost his memory? Hayden looked at his friend, who couldn’t remember the princess’s face or name yet wore a bitter expression, and made the same face.

* * *

The funeral of Princess Yerena of Sedas, who had been taken prisoner to the Empire and died of illness, was modestly held in the Sedas Kingdom. Isnal, who had newly become the king of Sedas, sent a formal greeting to the Empire, which had cremated the body and handed it over, and the Empire conveyed brief words of condolence.

The princess, who would be buried in the royal palace’s underground alongside her family who had died in the war with the Empire years ago, was recorded in history books as a beautiful but unfortunate princess who died early after contracting an illness during her captivity. Isnal looked at the empty coffin of Princess Yerena, who was also his distant relative, and raised the corner of his mouth crookedly.

“Isn’t it ridiculous? Putting mere ashes in such a splendid coffin.”

“What can we do? There’s no actual body. It’s just for show.”

“Well, this turn of events is good for me. The princess needs to be gone from this world so there won’t be any troublesome talk.”

Isnal actively participated in Roshan’s plan to falsely kill Princess Yerena. The Sedas Kingdom was in turmoil after the invasion war followed by civil war. Within it, there were quite a few factions that didn’t recognize Isnal’s accession using bloodline as an excuse. Therefore, Isnal had no reason to oppose Princess Yerena dying and her name disappearing from the world.

“Now that all the former king’s bloodline is dead…… The murmuring groups will also decrease.”

“Hmph! Let them talk. Anyway, more than half the nobles left in this country are trash. If they wag their tongues, I’ll cut off their heads right away.”

“Your Majesty. As I’ve repeatedly told you, you must be careful with your words now. It’s different from when you were in Deren territory. In the royal palace, there are ears in the floor, ceiling, and walls.”

Princess Yerena was already a finished issue for Isnal. He no longer showed interest in the princess’s coffin and, leaving the royal tomb, asked his close aide about his greatest concern.

“I understand. Stop nagging. More importantly, what about Pria?”

“Lady Irzen has been placed in the Lily Palace as you commanded. However……”

“However?”

“……They say she’s not eating properly.”

“She’s still being stubborn, I see. Leave her be. She needs to be weakened to reduce her tantrums.”

“……”

“I don’t know what’s so good about that husband who ran away from me…… Tsk!”

The conversation between the king and his close aide gradually faded away, and the royal tomb soon became quiet. Only the princess’s coffin placed on one side sparkled, showing off its existence in the darkness.

Thus, Princess Yerena of Sedas completely disappeared from the world. Forever.

* * *

The dead princess was moved from the tower to a palace. But she neither cared nor showed interest in where she was.

She blamed God countless times. Though the dead princess thought the gods she had believed in no longer existed, she blamed them again and again. Because she couldn’t bear it without blaming someone.

The sight she saw again was horrifying. The color of bird feathers she had been curious about when blind, the color of leaves moving in the wind, the sunset sky she had wished to see just once more—all made her want to vomit.

But what was most terrible was herself. The dead princess found it horrifying that she was perfectly alive. She felt she would go mad every time she felt her heart beating and herself breathing. She even thought she might already be mad.

So Yerena attempted death several times. She crawled around with red eyes looking for something sharp. But had that terrible man anticipated this? She couldn’t find any metal objects, not even glass items.

That wasn’t all. Eyes watching over her were spread everywhere. After she dashed toward a window, nails were driven into all the windows. There were some windows left open for ventilation, but they were all so high that they couldn’t be opened without a ladder.