Lea poured the drug into Robs’s mouth. Robs rolled his eyes and shed tears.

Strength gradually left his body. The magical power in his body leaked out, and his brain was being cleanly wiped. Robs finally lost consciousness in the face of this unbelievable reality.

Lea laid down the unconscious Robs.

They planned to tie him up in the square.

The North had numerous people who resented him. People who wanted to spit on him, curse him, and fulfill their unfinished revenge.

Of course, there were also those who just waited for his head to fall.

Lea ordered the knights to tie Robs tightly with ropes.

The knights from the North sniffled secretly while looking at Lea. They had worked by Lea’s side, waiting for this day. For them, the past was like a secret box that should never be opened. When they tried to take out good memories, bad memories also emerged one after another. So everyone implicitly buried and covered up past events. To prevent the Vice Commander from suffering from guilt.

But now that past had ended.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

James said to Lea with reddened eyes. Lea nodded. Allen came and took Lea’s hand. Lea gripped his hand tightly in return.

* * *

The knights closed the eyes of the former nobles and researchers who had nothing left but bones, as well as those whose forms were unrecognizable. Even if they had been bad people in the past, the knights weren’t cruel enough to leave those who had paid for their sins in the same way and regretted deeply.

The damage to the Knight Division wasn’t severe. Although many were injured, very few sustained major injuries. Perhaps because they had been eating nutritious foods like eel to fill their vitality, the knights were so robust that the physicians were surprised. The physician said that even injuries that looked serious would heal quickly.

The knights considered their wounds and scars as medals for protecting the North. In the infirmary, they boasted about their achievements in battle, each claiming their contribution was greater.

“There I! Sliced the monster’s belly right open!”

“I pierced that tough skin and took it down with one strike!”

Watching the knights’ chatter, Evan deeply regretted not being able to join them at the front.

“I should have been there!”

“Hey, you were a good archer though.”

“That’s nothing. Our family has produced knights for generations.”

Evan rubbed under his nose. Unable to move his legs, he had taken up a bow instead. Although he regretted not using his main weapon, the sword, he was glad he could help the knights from a distance.

Robs was tied to a tree in the square. Many people came to spit on him and pour out words of resentment. Some threw stones, and others punched his face.

Robs had no strength to resist. He faced despair. No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember the knowledge he had diligently sought and memorized, nor the magic he had painstakingly created. That felt more painful than being beaten by people.

After being beaten here and there with a body weakened from days of starvation, Robs soon breathed his last.

Lea burned Robs’s corpse along with the others. The flames consumed the bodies, sending black smoke up into the sky. Whether Robs’s soul was mixed in that smoke was unknown, but if it was, she hoped all the victims in heaven would see it.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t feel real yet.”

Lea looked up at the smoke and spoke in a small, murmuring voice. It didn’t seem like she would immediately feel better just because the man who had tormented her so much was now dead. But.

“You’ll be alright.”

“Yes.”

“I’m here. And the knights are here too.”

Allen wrapped his hand around hers. Lea nodded.

After Lupe’s treatment was completed, Lucy met with Lily and Paul to say goodbye before leaving the North. The children held onto her and cried as she was about to depart again. Lucy promised to write letters.

“Next time you come to the South, let’s go see the sea together.”

“Yes!”

Lucy hugged the brightly smiling children in return. A long embrace followed.

After sending the children inside the house first, Lea and Lucy remained outside alone. An awkward silence flowed between them for a few minutes, but it wasn’t as cold as before.

Lea pondered how to part her lips and speak. She had something to give, but finding the courage wasn’t easy.

“Sister, I’ll be waiting in the South.”

Lucy spoke first to Lea with a reddened nose.

“I don’t know if we can go back to how we were before. But……”

Lucy covered her mouth with her hand. She kept choking up, making it difficult to continue speaking. Lucy swallowed her tears and barely managed to continue.

“I’ll try to be okay.”

“Lucy……”

“Back then, I thought my pain was the greatest. I shouted at you to talk to me, but in truth, I wasn’t ready to listen.”

“No, I—”

“Sister, you don’t need to apologize anymore. Rather, I should……”

Lucy wrapped her arms around Lea’s shoulders. Lea’s body flinched. Her eyes became wet from feeling her sister’s warmth after so long. Lucy sobbed in her embrace.

“I’m sorry. I should have been on your side. I was the selfish one. I only thought about myself. I didn’t consider the pain you must have endured.”

“What fault do you have? I didn’t tell you. You couldn’t have known.”

Tears welled up in Lea’s dried eyes. Lea slowly began to stroke Lucy’s back. The touch was very awkward and stiff, but Lucy felt warmth.

“I’m doing well in the South. The treatment at the Viscount’s house isn’t bad. The welfare is good too.”

“Yes, that’s good.”

“So don’t worry about me and brother Lupe. Later, much later, when you feel better, come down to the South anytime.”

“I will.”

Lea nodded. Lucy separated herself from her. Her face was covered in tears. Lucy wiped her face with her hands and showed a faint smile.

“We’ll share our difficult and hard stories then. Let’s meet with smiles at that time.”

“Yes, yes, let’s do that.”

Lea answered and, with determination, took out a letter envelope from her uniform pocket. It had turned yellow from age. Lea inhaled and slowly spoke.

“I’ve been wondering how to give you this.”

“This is……”

“I didn’t have the confidence to tell you verbally.”

Lea carefully placed the envelope in Lucy’s hand. Her hand trembled terribly.

Lucy held it and examined it, then covered her mouth with both hands when she saw the name written on the back. Her eyes wavered. When she looked up at Lea, Lea was dropping tears and uttering three syllables of a name.

“Hetis……”

It took a long time to mention that name again. Lea’s voice shook with moisture. Her words came out broken.

“His, last words.”

Lucy burst into tears. She rubbed the name with her fingertips and tilted her head up, afraid the letter might get wet with tears. Still, the tears wouldn’t stop.

“I’m sorry for giving this to you only now.”

Lea covered her wet eyes with her palm and bowed her head.

Back then, she hadn’t been in the right state of mind to deliver the message. Lucy would faint just hearing Hetis’s name. Lea feared Lucy might make a wrong choice, so she repeatedly only moved her lips without speaking. She had thought she would tell Lucy when she calmed down somewhat, but the timing became too late. Before that, Lucy had felt deeply betrayed by her and left.

Lea wrote down Hetis’s words on paper and kept them to remember what she had held only in her heart. She waited for Lucy in a collapsing house, not moving out, determined to deliver it when Lucy came.

Lucy sobbed for a while, then wiped her tears and took out the paper from the envelope to read. It wasn’t a long letter, but her eyes kept blurring, so it took a long time to read it all. Lucy held the letter preciously and said.

“Thank you for giving it to me even now.”

Lucy hadn’t even seen Hetis’s body when she left the North. Robs had burned the experimental subjects in large numbers. Only ashes remained, and bone dust of unknown origin came out. Finding Hetis’s remains among them was difficult.

People told Lucy it was fortunate she didn’t see Hetis’s terrible appearance, but Lucy deeply regretted not being able to watch over his final journey. Lucy eventually had no choice but to take Hetis’s belongings down to the South and create a grave.

For Lucy, this letter containing his last words was like Hetis himself.

By giving it to Lucy, Lea could finally let go of Hetis, who had remained in her guilt.

* * *

Ian prepared to return to the South. His work was all done. He urged Lea once more to come to the South, but Lea firmly refused.

In the past, she had always wanted to escape from the North, but now Lea wanted to find a new life in this North where Robs had completely disappeared.

Ian looked full of regret but didn’t force her further. Instead, he decided to travel with Lucy since they were going in the same direction.

The knights were quite sad to part with Ian.

“Marquis, you must not forget that promise!”

“I always keep my promises.”

Allen sighed while listening to the conversation between Ian and the knights. These knights were planning to visit the South to get introduced to women by Ian.

After exchanging greetings with each knight, Ian had something to tell Allen and had a separate meeting with him just before leaving.

“Do you know that Your Grace also possesses magical power?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Oh my, you really didn’t know. For your information, it’s not ordinary magical power.”

Allen narrowed his brow. Ian should quietly return to the South now that everything was over, but suddenly he was seriously talking nonsense. Ian curled the corners of his eyes and pointed to his own head with his index finger.

“I feel a strong energy from your head. It seems like mental-related magic. I completely blocked it because I felt like you were stealing my thoughts.”

Ian chuckled.