“You are my daughter and the imperial princess of this empire. Selestia Latrancia. That is the name you had forgotten, your true name.”

It was an incredibly shocking truth. Her trembling legs finally gave out.

As Sel, who had been leaning against the entrance of the cave, staggered, Luxos quickly caught her.

“It looks like dawn is breaking. Though I deeply… regret that this time is ending, I suppose we’ll have to hope for another.”

The likelihood of a ‘next time’ was slim, but Luxos didn’t say that aloud. Sel answered with a trembling voice.

“This—this can’t be real.”

“…I’m sorry. I had no time left, so I had no choice but to tell you like this.”

“I know what I did was wrong. I won’t ask for forgiveness.” Luxos quietly added that final line.

Neigh— At that moment, Lavi’s black horse, Limpha, which had been guarding the carriage from afar, approached Luxos.

Luxos furrowed his brows as he gently stroked Limpha’s mane with his hand.

“Yes. This truly is the end for us as well, Limphax. Take good care of this body and my daughter, until the very end.”

Snort. As if understanding the words, Limpha breathed out and nuzzled Luxos’s cheek with his face. Limpha had once galloped across battlefields with Luxos.

He was more than just a horse—he was like a comrade. Tears fell from Limpha’s sharp eyes. Luxos laughed heartily and comforted Limpha.

“This fellow used to be called a divine beast. Keep him close—he’ll surely be of help.”

“Limpha isn’t mine. He belongs to you, Lord Commander.”

“Well, what belongs to this body is yours now, is it not?”

Luxos smiled slyly as he offered those loaded words.

“Now that I’ve fulfilled the purpose of my descent to this land, my strength fades. After today, this body will no longer be troubled. Be at ease.”

“………”

“I pray that the time left for you ahead will be more abundant than anyone else’s.”

Luxos gently patted Sel’s shoulder before regretfully withdrawing his hand. A faint smile lingered on his face, tinged with sorrow. Then, Luxos slowly closed his eyes.

His form, which had been clearly visible above Lavi’s body, turned into a wispy smoke and scattered into the air. The possession had ended

“………Dad.”

She belatedly murmured his title into the empty air, but no one was left to hear it. The father who had appeared like a sudden rain shower vanished like mist in the sunlight.

Sel had thought she would feel relieved once the spirit haunting Lavi was gone, but something felt wrong. Her heart, covered in frost, throbbed painfully.

At that moment, Lavi’s unconscious body slumped toward Sel. Trapped between the stone wall and Lavi’s large frame, Sel couldn’t hold up and collapsed to the ground.

Even then, she wrapped her arms tightly around Lavi’s head to protect him from injury. Eric, who had momentarily stepped away, saw Sel fall and quickly ran over.

“Are you all right, Sel?”

Eric didn’t spare even a glance at the unconscious Lavi and focused solely on Sel. The priest who followed Eric checked on Lavi’s condition in his place.

Cradling Lavi’s head gently to the ground, Sel looked up with tearful eyes. Without a word, Eric took out a handkerchief and wiped Sel’s eyes.

“We were up all night. First, we need rest. Lavi as well, of course.”

Just as he was suggesting they get up, Eric’s eyes fell on the necklace in Sel’s hand.

“……..Adamantium?”

His sharp eyes scanned the necklace closely. Though he hadn’t heard her conversation with Luxos, Eric had been secretly guessing Sel’s true identity inside the cave.

Now, seeing concrete evidence of her royal lineage left him speechless. Eric stared at the necklace as if trying to pierce it with his gaze, then let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha… ha. How could this be?”

It really is adamantium. And the name of the late Empress Creta was clearly inscribed on it.

Eric, who normally took joy in recording every strange occurrence, couldn’t even bring out his notebook now. His brown eyes swirled with complex emotions.

“Ah. I’ll explain about the necklace in time. Right now…”

Sel, flustered, called out to Eric. He knelt before her and lowered his head.

“Your Highness, Princess… I offer my respects.”

“Eric, please, don’t do this. Get up.”

Sel grabbed his shoulder, trying to lift him. But Eric didn’t budge. From afar, the unit members watching Sel gaped in shock.

They dropped the bundles they were carrying and began whispering among themselves.

“Hey, the Vice Commander just knelt before Sel!”

“No way. Huh? It’s true?”

“Didn’t he just call her ‘Princess’?”

The area quickly turned chaotic. Even the knights who had been working nearby gathered in groups to observe Sel and Eric.

“Count Eric Tylen is kneeling?”

“No way. But that mercenary—wasn’t she the delicate one who supposedly turned into a woman after touching a moon fragment? She looks even more familiar now with her long hair.”

“Wait, look at that silver necklace the mercenary is holding! The energy it’s emitting—it’s just like adamantium….”

“Why would sacred adamantium be here? Stop spouting nonsense.”

“I know, but look over there!”

A knight pointed at the necklace in Sel’s hand. The faces of the priest and the knights who saw it turned pale. A strange energy shimmered from the silvery metal.

It was a material every noble would recognize. Members of the excavation team began gathering one by one around Sel. All eyes were drawn to the necklace in her hand.

“That’s real adamantium!”

“Dear God, how could this be?”

“You mean that mercenary was royalty?!”

Royalty. That one word brought a sudden hush to the uproar. The first to kneel was Commander Graham, who had run over to inspect Sel and the necklace.

One by one, the others followed, kneeling on one knee behind him. Some of the mercenaries, not being of noble birth, looked puzzled at the sight of the necklace, but quickly copied the gestures of those around them.

One clueless bald mercenary slyly asked, “Did Sel become royalty by touching a fragment of the moon?”

But no one answered him.

“P-please, everyone, don’t do this. Get up!”

Sel shouted, but they remained unmoved.

Sel rose to her feet. Perhaps it was because too much had happened immediately after awakening—her vision kept flashing white before returning.

She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her tingling fingers from blood loss.

“I’m just…”

I’m just— Sel couldn’t finish her sentence. Her upper body, barely propped against the stone wall, collapsed weakly to the ground.

But before her body touched the floor, something caught her and held her up. In her fading vision, she thought she saw trembling, deep green eyes— But her sight soon blacked out completely.

***

The temple lobby, with twelve white marble pillars arranged in a perfect circle, was awe-inspiring just to look at.

On floor tiles with a faint bluish tint sat a plush sofa made of linen fabric. The emperor, elegantly crossing his legs on that sofa, sipped chamomile tea.

“Lavirus?”

“We’ve received a message that he’ll arrive shortly. But it seems he has an urgent matter. Perhaps someone is injured.”

“More urgent than reporting the results of the imperial command, is it…”

How like Lavirus.

The emperor let out a hollow laugh.

The high priest lifted his head and looked up at the temple’s ceiling. At the center of the domed roof was a round hole. From it, rays of light poured down like a sudden rain, illuminating the temple floor.

The high priest began, “Looks like we may have a welcome guest.”

“Have you braced yourself to retrieve your memories, Your Majesty?”

“Well, what’s there to brace for? I’m just reclaiming what’s mine.”

Even as he said that, the emperor anxiously tapped the armrest of the sofa. His gaze drifted far away, as if groping through an invisible past.

“You forgot them because they were painful. You must be cautious.”

“I’m no child anymore. Surely I can handle a few harsh memories now. Haha.”

Isn’t your emperor quite the rugged man?

The emperor lifted one corner of his mouth, speaking of wildness. But that confidence didn’t last long.

Bang!

With a loud crash, the temple’s double doors burst open violently. One side of the door, unable to withstand the force, clattered to the ground.

‘What is this, an ambush?!’

The emperor, who had just been talking about wildness, flinched his shoulders. The knights guarding him quickly surrounded the emperor and stood ready, eyes trained forward.

But the tension didn’t last.

The figure who had kicked open the sacred temple doors and rushed inside was none other than Duke Lavirus. Lavi strode in boldly, holding a collapsed woman in his arms.

The emperor looked down at the woman in Lavi’s arms. Her limp body looked like a corpse, but judging by her complexion, she wasn’t dead. Her face was also familiar.

‘Just the other day, she was grinning over some male mercenary. And now she has a lover?’

“I have completed my mission, Your Majesty. However, I must delay my report due to an urgent matter.”

Lavi rattled off the formal greeting like rapid fire. Then he immediately turned to the high priest.

“High Priest, please examine this lady.”

This lady. The Duke of the Empire had just used an honorific for a woman in ragged clothing. The emperor, watching Lavi, quietly furrowed his brow.

“No—this aura…!”

The high priest, eyes wide, examined the woman carefully.

“The Lady in severe exhaustion. Treatment must come first. Please take her to the Healing Chamber, Brother Lavirus.”

Even the high priest had referred to the woman as “Lady.”

‘Huh?’

The emperor crossed his arms and tilted his head.

Before the high priest had even finished speaking, Lavi was already heading toward the Healing Chamber. Even as he walked down the short corridor, Lavi repeatedly tightened his hold on Sel, as if to confirm her warmth.

“What is this, High Priest? I feel like I’m the only one being left out.”

“A precious guest… has arrived, Your Majesty.”

The high priest smiled with a hint of wonder.

“Even from me, it’s a secret?”

“I will explain once you retrieve your memories.”

“This way, please.”

The high priest led the emperor to the Chamber of Purification. The emperor, after staring for a long while in the direction Lavi had disappeared, began to follow.

***

Wearing only a thin robe, the emperor sat in a bath filled with purifying water.

His eyes had a slightly downturned shape, and beneath his high nose were firmly closed crimson lips. Though his features were delicate, his strong jawline and pronounced brows gave him a distinctly masculine charm.

He was handsome enough to make one lament the lack of an empress.

The purifying water, reaching up to his waist, sparkled as though sprinkled with gemstone dust.

The high priest, having imbued the water with divine power, extended his hand to Lavi, who was waiting at the rear.

“Then, will you now show us the fragment of the moon, Brother?”

Lavi hesitated as he tried to hand the box he was carrying to the high priest.

“Brother?”

Despite the high priest’s call, Lavi didn’t respond. His gaze flickered briefly. He had been so worried about the unconscious Sel that he had forgotten to break off a small piece of the moon fragment to keep.

‘I was planning to give her a ring embedded with a piece of the moon when I proposed.’

Of course, with her status now changed, who knew how things would turn out. But he still wanted to secure it. The moon’s fragment held symbolic meaning for Lavi.

“Could I ask you to wait a moment, High Priest?”

Lavi gave a forced smile and turned around. Then he opened the box.

Creaaak—a suspicious sound echoed through the quiet room, obvious to anyone.