Carlos’s head lowered. The heavy guilt like a lead weight pressed down on his shoulders.

His forehead touched the cold earth. The pile of soil, devoid of any warmth, made him realize Ines’s death once again. In the face of this devastating reality, a desperate voice escaped his lips.

“Please…”

His voice was pitiful, as if suppressing something.

“Please, tell me it’s not true. Ines…”

He murmured even though he knew there would be no answer. He couldn’t stop his muttering even knowing his plea would end as a miserable soliloquy.

That’s how unbearable this reality was for him to accept.

“What cruel things have I done to you…”

He just hoped their words weren’t true. The guilt weighing him down was already making it impossible to take a step.

Ines’s final moments flickered before his eyes again. He could almost hear the screams of Ines, who died feeling the agony of her flesh burning while tied to the bed, unable to escape.

“What must you have felt towards me all this time…”

Tears he could no longer hold back rolled down his cheeks. Drop by drop, the teardrops that had gathered at his chin wet the soil.

If only he had paid a little more attention to Ines. No, if he had at least not turned away from the hand she had reached out to him. At least she wouldn’t have been buried in this cold place.

His heart felt like it was being crushed imagining how Ines’s life must have been hell after becoming his wife, right up until her death.

Imagining Ines withering away day by day because of his foolishness made him want to end his own life.

“Ugh…”

Carlos let out a painful sigh and clenched his fist. The cold particles slipped through between his fingers.

If he had believed Ines’s words then, what he would have held in his hands wouldn’t have been dirt, but Ines’s warm, living body.

‘Can’t I go with you? I want to follow you. Please take me with you.’

Perhaps what he had thought was just being unreasonable was actually a cry for help. Instead of leaving to kill Joseph for her sake, he should have held Ines’s hand and listened to her words.

‘Actually, I’m Duke Claudia’s illegitimate child.’

‘Now you’re even resorting to such lies.’

Instead of mocking Ines as she struggled to reveal the truth, he should have silently embraced her.

The words he had carelessly spoken pierced his heart like sharp spears. Everything that had happened until now was his karma. But…

Carlos, biting his lips hard, stood up from his place. Then he approached the two men who were still arguing.

And.

Swoosh.

Carlos drew the sword from Herman’s waist and without hesitation cut off Delmonsi’s neck.

With a death cry, Delmonsi’s face fell to the ground with a thud.

“Y-Your Majesty…”

It happened so suddenly. Herman’s surprised eyes widened. Delmonsi’s face, unable to close its eyes, rolled on the dirt ground.

Delmonsi’s body soon collapsed to the ground as well. Carlos, who had been watching it with cold eyes, turned around.

“Herman.”

His emotionless, flat voice rang out eerily. Herman, finally coming to his senses, raised his head.

Their eyes met with pupils whose thoughts were impossible to read. The blood spatters on his face and the sticky blood soaking the ground created an unfathomable sense of terror.

“Isn’t it funny? That I, who ignored the words of the woman I loved, now realize the truth from just a few words from you people?”

Red blood dripped from the sword Carlos was holding. His lips, drawn in a ghastly line, were chilling.

Carlos found himself utterly ridiculous. He hadn’t paid any attention when Ines begged him to listen, saying it wasn’t true, that she was wronged, but now he understood everything from just a few words these people had spoken.

The tears that had gathered in his eyes rolled down his cheeks. Tears mixed with blood fell to the ground with a drop.

“Don’t you find me ridiculous too? That’s why you tried to dispose of Delmonsi without reporting to me, right?”

At Carlos’s question, Herman unconsciously took a step back.

“I just… for Your Majesty’s sake…!”

“For my sake…”

Carlos, who had been mulling over Herman’s words, raised the sword he was holding towards Herman.

“If you really cared for me, you should have told me! If you had…! If you had at least told me before Ines ended up like this…!”

But that didn’t last long. As if realizing something, Carlos closed his mouth.

‘What would have been different even then? Would I not have confined Ines? Wouldn’t I have gone even more mad?’

As his thoughts reached that point, he gritted his teeth.

Finally throwing the sword to the ground, Carlos called for Jeremy, who had been watching from afar.

“Jeremy.”

Jeremy, who came running at his call, bowed his head.

“You called for me.”

“You heard what Delmonsi said? Capture everyone involved in this matter. And what was her name, Margaret? The maid who served Ines.”

The maid who had been sent away from the capital under the pretext of managing the villa. She had returned to her territory after Ines’s death, hadn’t she?

“Bring her in too.”

Surely that woman must have been involved as well. That must be why Ines had asked him to remove that maid.

Carlos let out a hollow laugh. Though late, he intended to carry out all the things he couldn’t do then, starting now.

“I’ll kill them all with my own hands.”

If he didn’t do at least that much, he might really go mad.

“And Herman.”

Carlos shifted his gaze to stare at Herman.

“Leave the palace immediately. I have no intention of keeping someone who disobeys my words. I’m letting you off this easily because of your past service to me.”

Herman, his legs giving out, collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Carlos turned around and began walking. Though his stumbling steps seemed somewhat precarious, he accepted no one’s support.

As he walked, he thought.

‘Wait, Ines. After all this is over, I too…’

Carlos smiled as he pictured something in his mind.

For that, he first had to complete all his revenge for her sake.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ines’s aimless journey had led her to a small village. She had stopped there briefly to rest while heading to the port to leave for another country.

But perhaps because her body was too exhausted? As soon as she arrived in the village, Ines lost consciousness.

And the first thing she faced when she opened her eyes again was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Ines slowly blinked her eyes and looked around. A strong scent of herbs wafted to her nose.

“Where…”

Just as she was turning her head to figure out where this place was, someone who had noticed she was awake approached the bed.

“Are you feeling better now?”

At the unfamiliar voice, Ines turned her chin. There stood an elderly woman of considerable age. The old woman, who had now approached Ines, placed her hand on her forehead.

“Thankfully, it seems your fever has gone down a bit.”

“How did I get here…”

“They say you collapsed at the village entrance. Fortunately, I was just returning from gathering herbs, otherwise it could have been serious.”

“Ah.”

Ines let out a short exclamation. She had just remembered how she had lost consciousness as soon as she reached the village. She carefully asked the old woman.

“Are you a doctor?”

Finding the word ‘doctor’ amusing, the old woman chuckled and replied.

“How could there be a doctor in such a small village? I’m just an herb gatherer living in the mountains.”

At those words, she realized the source of the smell she had noticed upon waking. It seemed to be coming from the herbs that filled the house. Should she consider herself lucky?

Thinking she couldn’t impose any longer, Ines tried to painfully raise herself, but the old woman stopped her.

“Don’t push yourself. Your body is very weak. How did you even make it to this village in such a condition?”

“That…”

After hesitating briefly, Ines answered.

“I was traveling…”

“Traveling?”

At the word ‘traveling,’ the old woman clicked her tongue briefly.

“What you need isn’t travel, but rest. I don’t know where your destination is, but you won’t be able to move for a while. If you try to move any further, you’ll collapse within a day.”

When Ines made a troubled expression at those words, the old woman asked again.

“Where was your destination anyway?”