‘Could it be…?’

The moment she heard what Ishtar had just said, Sirha remembered something Shulat had told her long ago.

“It’s a prayer asking God to consider that this person deserves to die when killing a fellow Imperial citizen. Everyone in the Knight Order has to use a different prayer. That’s why they told me to find a prayer I want from the scripture too. So, do you have a scripture? Let me borrow it, sis.”

Shulat took the scripture that she had never once opened and spent all day flipping through it, looking for an impressive passage. But unable to find one that pleased him, he muttered with a gloomy face.

“If I say I want to use the same prayer as the Deputy Commander… No, I’d get beaten…”

Even while muttering like that, he continued to imitate Ir, and Sirha could tell that her brother sincerely respected that scarred Deputy Commander.

But now Ishtar had spoken the exact same prayer she had heard from her brother.

‘How?’

Sirha’s heart pounded heavily. Come to think of it, Ishtar had spoken about Shulat like he was a cherished younger brother. She treated him with such familiarity. And Sirha remembered how Ir had treated Shulat the same way and smiled when she visited their home.

Once the suspicion arose, memories from the past continued to surface. Including how Ishtar had just defended the 9th Knight Order as much as Shulat would have, perhaps even more, while arguing for their innocence.

‘…but that’s impossible.’

She’d heard that the cave where the Holy Sword had been kept had collapsed. Everyone said that all members of the 9th Knight Order must have died in there. Above all, even if she were alive, the Ishtar before her looked completely different from Ir. Yet, to Sirha’s eyes, Ishtar now appeared to be Ir.

Meanwhile, Ir had pinned Kilim’s chin with one arm and aimed her dagger at his throat with the other hand. Kilim blocked Ir’s dagger-wielding hand with all his strength.

Both of them realized that whoever lost this battle of strength would die.

‘Just a little more!’

The sound of grinding teeth escaped from Ir’s mouth. If she gave way now, both she and Sirha would face danger. But as the standoff lengthened, the dagger gradually moved away from Kilim.

Suddenly, Kilim’s face brightened.

‘What is it?’

Before Ir could turn around, she heard a voice.

“What is going on here?”

It was Nergal’s voice.

Ir’s heart sank.

When leaving the villa, Ir had told Seviti that she needed some items and would briefly visit the capital. Fortunately, Nergal hadn’t specifically forbidden going out, as Seviti immediately prepared a carriage.

Ir deliberately asked the coachman to take her to Vativira. Then, at the first shop, she intentionally ordered many items and asked the coachman to move the luggage. She quickly slipped away, took another carriage, and went to Shulat’s house.

‘I need to delay the message reaching His Highness as much as possible.’

Vativira had countless shops. The coachman would need quite some time to move all the luggage and search for her at other stores. Even if he couldn’t find her, he would likely wait a while before contacting Nergal.

She thought buying that much time would be enough, but the message had reached Nergal faster than expected.

‘I should have killed him before he arrived.’

No matter what, Kilim was a nobleman. Moreover, his family was quite a prestigious knight family. Even Nergal couldn’t take her side in this situation.

Kilim saw Nergal and shouted loudly with relief:

“Your Highness Nergal! This woman is in league with traitors! She must be arrested immediately!”

Hearing this, Nergal approached and let out a long sigh. At the sound of his sigh, Ir’s face hardened. Now what should she…

“Ir.”

Nergal called her in a low voice. Then he slowly bent down and knelt on one knee beside Ir. Eventually, he wrapped his hand around hers that held the dagger.

Kilim exhaled in relief, thinking he was now saved. That’s when it happened.

Nergal gripped Ir’s hand in an embrace and applied force so the dagger pointed downward. With that strong force, the dagger Ir was holding plunged straight into the unsuspecting Kilim.

Thunk!

The sound of the old blade tearing through leather was heard as something warm gushed up. Ir didn’t avoid the blood that sprayed on her face. When the spurting blood stopped, a gurgling, bubbling sound could be heard. The sound of a pierced windpipe.

A certain sensation traveled through her hand. A sensation all too familiar to Ir. The feeling of taking a life in one stroke.

“Kugh…”

With the dagger stuck in his throat, Kilim raised his trembling hand. His eyes were wide open in disbelief.

He had naturally thought Nergal would push Ir away and save him. Kilim couldn’t accept the fact that Nergal had attacked him together with Ir.

Ir too looked at him in surprise. Nergal smiled at her. With blood on him, he spoke to Ir in a gentle voice:

“Let’s finish this and go back.”

As if what they were doing now was nothing at all.

While still holding her hand, Nergal applied more force. As the tip of the dagger completely penetrated the neck and scraped the floor, Kilim’s body trembled even more violently. But Nergal didn’t even glance at Kilim as he moved his hand. The dagger slowly twisted, making the gurgling sound grow louder. Blood flowing from the mangled throat spread across the floor.

“Ugh!”

Kilim coughed up blood with a loud noise and then went limp. He no longer moved. Ir stared at the dead man for a moment before turning her head to the side. Nergal was still smiling, holding her hand.

He had killed someone with Ir in a pool of blood.

“Why…”

Ir ended up muttering the same words Kilim had stupidly uttered.

Ir knew what kind of life Nergal had lived. Although he had experienced hardships as a child, he was of noble birth as a prince. Such people do not kill directly. This is because of the belief that those who have blood on their hands, no matter how much their sins are forgiven, cannot ascend to the highest place in heaven.

The same applied to Nergal. He too had never killed anyone directly. Perhaps until death, those white hands that held pens would only be stained with ink, nothing filthy. That’s how it should have been…

Nergal’s eyes curved even more gently. He even looked proud, like someone who had finally accomplished something long desired.

Still holding Ir’s hand, Nergal pulled the dagger from Kilim’s neck. The dagger came out with a sound of scraping bone and muscle and fell to the floor.

While Ir stared at him blankly, Nergal raised his hand and wiped the blood from Ir’s face with his sleeve, then said:

“I told you I would help with your revenge.”

No, this wasn’t just helping. It was something bigger, this seemed like his own affair…

“Ir? Could it be…”

At that moment, Sirha, who had been frozen in the corner, opened her mouth. Nergal immediately turned his head and said to Sirha:

“That’s enough. Don’t say anything more. Otherwise, I’ll have to reconsider your fate.”

“……”

At the clear threat, Sirha immediately closed her mouth. But she didn’t back down. She instinctively realized that Nergal had spoken for her benefit.

Nergal stood up and took Ir’s hand to lead her. But Ir could hardly stand. Suddenly, all strength seemed to drain from her body, and she felt extreme fatigue as her vision blurred. It wasn’t just tension being released. She had experienced this kind of thing countless times, so it wasn’t particularly surprising. Nevertheless, her body swayed so much she could barely stand.

Nergal embraced Ir and said to Sirha:

“I heard you can speak the Southern language.”

“Yes? That’s… correct…”

“Then there shouldn’t be much problem settling in. It will take time for all three of us to get used to our new names, but since it’s a port where people from many regions come and go, no one will pay much attention to three siblings from the capital.”

Nergal looked around the house once more and said to Sirha again:

“Only the essentials, pack quickly what you can carry by hand. This place will soon disappear in flames.”

“…!”

Sirha looked at him in surprise at his words.

“Today, the traitor’s siblings and the imperial knight who came looking for them will die, unable to escape a sudden fire.”