This was the price for arbitrarily using Seriden, who had been in an alliance relationship with him, and recklessly showing off his abilities. It was a moment of regret. Even though he wanted to cover his ears and turn away from reality, when the blade dug into his neck, the Second Prince couldn’t even turn his gaze away from Ibris.

Trembling filled with fear spread throughout his entire body.

“What about Emmerin rubbed you the wrong way? Or did Emmerin’s mother get on your nerves? Tell me exactly why you killed Emmerin’s mother.”

“That… that was…”

The Second Prince stammered, then convulsed and stiffened completely when the blade dug deeper. But when Ibris showed no mercy and applied pressure to the sword tip again, he desperately shouted.

“I’ll tell you! I’ll speak, so please spare my life!”

“Life? Hahaha. Jerman, get a grip. Didn’t you enjoy manipulating people for entertainment? After driving so many people to s*icide, do you hope to keep breathing?”

Ibris let out his voice in a truly sweet whisper.

“The only thing I’ll promise you is a comfortable death. If you obediently tell me what you know, I’ll let you die without pain. But if you resist…”

Blood drops beaded on Jerman’s pale skin and slowly flowed over his imperial robes. The killing intent that made his knees weak just from feeling it filled the space where they stood.

And at that moment, Jerman’s pants became soaked.

“Huh… huuuk… uuu…!”

Yellow stains slowly spread on the ground.

“I’ll strip the skin from your entire body, then pull out your fingernails one by one. Then I’ll pull out your toenails, and after that, I’ll cut the visible blood vessels and fingers one by one. Is that all? Next will be your toes. And after that, I’ll cut your Achilles tendon. Then I’ll pull out your limbs one by one.”

Ibris looked down at the terrified vermin with a cold laugh.

Jerman lost his mind at the spine-chilling sentences just from hearing them.

But seemingly wanting exactly that, Ibris flowed cold laughter and tapped his neck with the sword tip. The terrified Jerman scrambled backward with his hands on the puddle of urine, retreating. Truly like vermin.

“Now, speak.”

Before he could even say to spare his life, Ibris spoke coldly. Like such words were impossible.

“…That, that was…”

There was no way to easily k*ll the one who drove Emmerin’s mother to s*icide.

Therefore, Ibris intended to k*ll that vermin painfully until he begged to be killed, no matter how he responded. Daring to make Emmerin, who was like a moon goddess to him, sad was a mortal sin that wouldn’t be satisfied even if he tore him limb from limb.

Because of that, Emmerin developed trauma about high society.

Not only that, but Duke Shaunt became overprotective of Emmerin beyond necessity, raising her by relying only on the preferences his young daughter had expressed.

‘He didn’t even give Emmerin proper food according to her growth, only giving her the diet she wanted to eat every day when she was young. Because he thought that’s what she wanted.’

But that was fundamentally wrong.

People grow through various experiences.

However, Duke Shaunt had denied that his daughter wanted to accumulate various experiences as she grew up. He ignored that she wanted to spread her wings freely by encountering the hidden sides of the world, remaining only in childhood times.

Due to that overprotection, he even made sure his daughter received only marriage-focused education instead of heir education so she wouldn’t experience even a little stress.

‘Since this bastard was the beginning of all that… I definitely won’t k*ll him easily.’

“Now, speak. Unless you want to die in excruciating pain.”

At Ibris’s urging, Jerman was about to open his mouth.

Whack!

Instead of the hand holding the sword, a stone-like fist struck Jerman’s cheek. Stars flashed in his vision instantly, and Jerman almost forgot what he had been doing for a moment.

But before he could come to his senses, his other cheek was also struck with a smacking sound. Thus Jerman had to endure a rain-like beating before he could even speak. 

However, Ibris cruelly struck him until all of Jerman’s teeth were knocked out and his entire face was torn and swollen, preventing him from making any excuses or explanations.

“Please… please… don’t hit me, if you would just… th-then I can sp-speak…”

Jerman, who had wet himself again, trembled in the puddle of urine and begged with his hands clasped. But Ibris coldly spat out each word.

“I thought you were trying to buy time again. I thought you wanted to be tortured. Well, this level of beating is nothing, isn’t it? If you’ve killed, torn, and split so many people, you should be prepared to earn someone’s resentment. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uuuuk…”

Tears dripped from Jerman’s swollen eyes. But Ibris drove his fist into Jerman’s jaw. Instantly Jerman was beaten and slammed into the grass. Only then did Jerman realize that if he delayed even a little, punishment would fly from Ibris.

“I-I’ll speak! Ugh. I’ll speak! I wanted to possess Emmerin. Her mother, when I…”

Whack!

His head turned and broken teeth flew from his mouth. Jerman prostrated himself and begged while crying. Shouting to please stop hitting him, he frantically spilled out the reason for murdering Emmerin’s mother.

Hearing the reason for the murder, Ibris was even dumbfounded. His head spun at the ridiculous reason. At the same time, rage boiled up to the top of his head. 

The reality that Emmerin had to lose her mother and grow up with her freedom sealed away at Duke Shaunt’s estate for such a trivial reason was painfully agonizing and sad.

“Even a demon wouldn’t be as bad as you, Jerman.”

Unable to contain the surging rage, blue fury erupted from Ibris’s eyes.

“To murder Emmerin’s mother for such a trivial reason…!”

Whack!

When the aura-infused punch struck Jerman, his body flew 5 meters through the air, broke a garden tree, then fell with a thud below.

He trembled like an insect, then wet himself again, forming a yellow circle around him.

When he was about to punch once more, Seriden blocked Ibris’s path.

“Please calm down. Are you planning to k*ll him this easily?”

“…Seriden.”

Seriden persuaded Ibris with sunken eyes.

“Death is too easy. Shouldn’t that vermin suffer for as long as Her Majesty the Empress has suffered? Only then might Her Majesty’s sadness over losing her mother be somewhat soothed.”

“…”

“Please be rational. The end of revenge mustn’t be ambiguous. Didn’t you always tell us? To sharpen our blades more ruthlessly than anyone and stab the blade until the target becomes thoroughly minced meat.”

Only then did Ibris’s fist tremble slightly. But blue flames still burned fiercely in his blue eyes like an angry god’s lava.

Right. He knew.

He understood with his head. That he shouldn’t k*ll Jerman like this.

Just like how he had cut off the Emperor’s limbs and made him die in pain while being stoned by the empire’s citizens, Jerman too should pay a corresponding price before dying.

‘Only then… would Emmerin’s painful past be somewhat soothed.’

Through the enemy’s pain.

He would have to offer him as a sacrifice on the altar of revenge.

“…”

While calming his rough breathing with deep breaths, Ibris soothed his anger.

But that didn’t mean the rage that had consumed him to the top of his head disappeared.

It was just wandering around looking for an outlet to burst forth.

“Take him away. Don’t treat him and lock him in the underground dungeon. Don’t give him even a glass of water.”

“Understood.”

Having called the knights, Ibris continued coldly.

“I’ll handle it personally. Hang him upside down from the dungeon ceiling and whip him until his entire body bursts. If you don’t do it that way, I’ll severely punish whoever did the whipping.”

“We receive your command.”

The knights, recognizing Ibris’s anger, grabbed Jerman’s wrists and dragged him away. He got scratches while being dragged, but this would be much better for temporarily calming Ibris’s rage.

A cold wind blew.

The conifers entering autumn swayed lightly in their green color. The hand holding the sword was still hot, but his chest ached like it was being torn inside. Like soothing him, the fragrance of autumn flowers danced gracefully and tickled Ibris’s nostrils.

He had to tell Emmerin everything about this matter.

She would definitely be hurt, but only by revealing exactly why Emmerin’s mother died could both Emmerin and Duke Shaunt escape from the bonds of the past.

‘…Emmerin.’

Ibris placed his hand on his chest and looked up at the sky.

The vast firmament was particularly clear today.

The sunlight shining down seemed to represent the clearly revealed truth, so Ibris made a sad face.

He slowly closed his eyes, hoping this truth would hurt Emmerin a little less.

***

Emmerin was looking at her mother with a sorrowful face.

This was the first dream of her mother since Ibris had told her the entire truth.

“…”

When she first heard the ‘truth’ from Ibris.

Emmerin couldn’t control her body at all. Her vision spun and her strength left her body, so she entrusted herself to his arms that firmly supported her.

And she curled up her body.

The pouring tears proved how cruel that truth was.

She never knew her mother would be driven to s*icide because of the Second Prince’s greed to possess her.

“He heard that Emmerin wasn’t entering the palace because of the Duke’s wife’s orders. So the Second Prince threw a tantrum saying he had something to tell the Duke’s wife and left the palace.”

“Ah…”

“At that time, Emmerin’s mother also had favorable feelings toward the Second Prince. So she let him in, but she got fed up with his tantrum trying to somehow get Emmerin to come to the palace and asked him to leave.”

And the Second Prince harbored malice at that moment.

Even saying that Emmerin was reluctant to associate with princes other than the First Prince… 

Though her mother spoke honestly, denouncing it all as lies she was telling, the Second Prince reached out and dominated Emmerin’s mother with his ability.

He tried to command her to call Emmerin and make her come play at the palace frequently. But at that moment, the Second Prince realized he couldn’t manipulate someone he had already controlled once, and to keep Emmerin coming to the palace, he gave Emmerin’s mother the command to commit s*icide.

However, since such commands invoke resistance from the subconscious of the controlled person, her mother tried desperately not to commit s*icide. 

While doing so, the room became a mess, but throughout that long, long day, the Second Prince gritted his teeth and used all his strength to somehow k*ll Emmerin’s mother.

He made her drink several bottles of cosmetics she shouldn’t drink, made her stab her eyes with sharp objects, and even made her cut her carotid artery with sharp fragments.

But seemingly that wasn’t enough, he even put the sharp object she had painfully stabbed her eyes with back into her suffering hands.