“Water….”

Her face contorted from severe thirst, Laila barely managed to speak.

“Here.”

Nathan brought a cup of warm water to Laila’s painfully cracked lips. However, she could only manage a few sips before collapsing back onto the bed.

Her complexion was deathly pale, as she had eaten nothing since the previous day.

However, the pain that had felt like it might kill her had eased considerably and Laila managed to sit up.

“It appears the journey was too exhausting for you. I apologize. This happened because I failed to care for you properly.”

“This is not your fault.”

His shoulders slumped as he held the damp cloth.

Tormented by his helplessness and his inability to help her, he bit down hard on his lip.

Laila reached out and touched his lips. He flinched, then sighed and pressed her hand against his cheek.

“Laila…. Please, do not be ill.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“No. That is not what I want to hear. I simply… do not want you to suffer anymore.”

Laila wanted the same, but as the pain intensified once more, she exhaled laboriously. She closed her eyes against the searing energy surging through her body.

Since the previous day, it had felt as though a ball of fire was roaming through her body. The sensation appeared and vanished without warning. It was a truly strange symptom.

‘Come to think of it, His Highness Crown Prince Theodor’s unique magic was fire.’

Even as the pain left her barely able to open her eyes, Laila remembered Theodor’s magic. She recalled how people had marveled at his ability to wield fierce flames freely.

‘Without knowing that he was my older brother.’

At the time, she had merely found it fascinating, never imagining that they shared such a profound bond.

“Laila, do not think about anything. Please rest. You look terribly unwell.”

Nathan’s firm, steady palm covered Laila’s eyes. His hand was large enough to conceal nearly her entire face, and its icy coldness felt soothing.

Laila nodded faintly, then surrendered herself to her fading consciousness. Soon, she fell into a deep sleep.

And the abyss of sleep began opening the memories of her past that had remained sealed away.

“I am your older brother.”

“My… older brother?”

“Yes, Lailea. My beloved little sister.”

It was the hand that stroked her hair when he introduced himself as her older brother. They had spent many happy hours walking through the garden together. She even remembered clinging to him and crying the day before he left for the academy.

‘Ah, Theodor. My older brother.’

Even as she wandered through her dreams, Laila remembered Theodor. Every memory they had shared began returning to her.

Then another box of memories opened.

“It disgusts me that His Imperial Majesty’s blood flows through your worthless body! Remember this well, Lailea. Your mother was a lowborn wretch who coveted my husband without knowing her place!”

Thud!

Scarlet’s eyes blazing with murderous intent. Her red lips spewing *buse. And the beatings that never ended.

“Ugh….”

Laila writhed in agony. Sweat drenched her body as the pain intensified.

The memory of being imprisoned in a dilapidated palace, denied proper treatment, and of clutching her empty stomach made all the sorrow and loneliness she had forgotten come flooding back.

‘Please save me. I don’t want this….’

As the pain tore through her body, Laila’s forgotten memories began to return. She wondered if this agony was somehow connected to her lost memories. But one thing she instinctively understood was that something beyond reason was happening inside her body.

Something beyond reason was happening inside her body.

Even while unconscious, Laila tried to control the ball of fire moving within her. The heat that had begun in her hand travelled up her arm towards her heart and gradually filled it.

Perhaps the heat had invaded her mind as well because her entire consciousness was now red. The ball of fire gathered within her heart and remained there, as though pausing to draw breath.

‘I want to live. I don’t want to die.’

The agony was so excruciating that death might have been easier, yet Laila wanted to live. Just as Nathan had sorrowfully urged her to do, she wanted to live for herself, even if she was only beginning now.

She did not want to die.

“Gasp!”

Perhaps her fierce will to live overpowered the pain. In an instant, the agony tearing through her body disappeared and her eyes flew open.

Overwhelmed by the strange energy surging through her body, she breathed harshly as the sharp clash of blades rang out nearby.

“Sir Nathan!”

Turning toward the commotion, she saw Nathan fighting more than twenty assassins alone.

“Gasp, gasp….”

He stood guard by the bed where Laila had been lying, preventing anyone from reaching her.

The situation was dire, though. Nathan was already badly wounded, and there were far too many assassins.

Crimson blood dripped steadily from the deep wound in his sword arm, yet he refused to put down his weapon.

Protecting Laila seemed to be his only duty.

“I swear I will protect you. So please, do not worry.”

Nathan’s bright, refreshing smile flashed before her eyes.

‘I have to help him.’

Before Laila could rise and seize the sword beside her, an assassin rushed forward and plunged his blade into Nathan’s abdomen.

“Guhk!”

“Sir Nathan!!”

Even as Nathan sank weakly to his knees, he turned his head toward Laila.

He knew as well.

This was the end.

“Y-Your Highness….”

Even as he coughed up blood and called out to Laila, Nathan smiled during his final moments.

He looked at her, smiling brilliantly, as though asking her to remember his joyful face rather than him covered in blood.

Why was this man so foolish? How could he have possibly expected to fight more than twenty assassins alone?

As Nathan’s smile faded, countless thoughts raced through Laila’s mind.

‘You should have run away without me. You should never have remembered me. No—you should never have loved me.’

The sight of Nathan, who had foolishly refused to give up his love and ultimately sacrificed his life for it, was etched into Laila’s mind, destined to stay there forever.

Even as his last breaths left his body, his lips moved as though he still had something to say to her.

‘I love you.’

It was Nathan’s first and final confession.

With no time left even to hear her answer, he continued smiling until the very end and collapsed onto the floor.

“Ah… No!!”

In that instant, everything stopped.

“S-Sir Nathan…!”

Nathan was barely breathing. Lying on the floor as blood poured from his wounds, he looked perilously close to drawing his final breath.

“Kill that b*tch!”

Even as Laila aimed precisely for the heart of the assassin charging toward her, she did not take her eyes off Nathan.

For some inexplicable reason, Nathan gave her a faint smile.

‘Why are you smiling when you’re dying?!’

How could anyone be this foolish? He was clearly dying, and there was no one there who could save him. Yet Nathan smiled as though none of that mattered.

“Sir Nathan! If you lose consciousness now, I will never forgive you.”

As she fought the assassins, Laila shouted at Nathan, begging him not to die and to keep his eyes open; otherwise, she would never forgive him.

Laila was more terrifying than ever, wielding her sword almost unconsciously. Her body was in perfect condition.

One by one, the assassins fell beneath her swiftly moving blade. Seeing their helplessly cut-down companions, the others faltered in alarm.

“Sir Nathan, please!”

As the blood continued to pour from his wounds, Laila’s vision blurred.

Seeing Nathan lying nearby on the floor, struggling to breathe, made her feel as though her heart might break.

She could not leave him alone like that. She could not let him die so miserably.

“Quickly…!”

At that moment, flames erupted inside the room with a wave of intense heat.

“Lailea!!”

Laila turned toward the voice calling her name and saw Theodor, who had arrived without her noticing and was using his magic to strike down the assassins.

“Lailea, are you all right?!”

It was Theodor.

How was he here when he should have been at the Adelina Imperial Palace?

But Laila had no time to answer him. She rushed toward the dying Nathan.

“Sir Nathan! Can you hear me?”

“Your… Highness….”

“Call a physician… Please, call a physician!”

Someone rushed out of the room upon hearing Laila’s desperate cry.

The situation was quickly brought under control, and Laila was finally safe. Yet she could not shake off the overwhelming sense of loss, as if she had lost the battle.

“You cannot die like this. You can’t….”

“Guhk…. I am all… right.”

Laila gathered the blood-soaked Nathan into her arms.

She did not know what this emotion gripping her heart was, but she could not let him go. She did not want to lose the man who had sacrificed even his life to protect her—not this soon.

“Please…. Please, bring a physician…. Hngh!”

“Do not be so sad…. Whew.”

Nathan’s face was deathly pale as his breathing slowly faded. Gathering the last of his strength, he caressed Laila’s face. His cold, trembling hand terrified her.

“I was… truly happy… that I could see you again.”

“Don’t speak. The physician will come… so please….”

Laila looked desperately at Theodor, who stood beside them, but he remained motionless with a devastated expression—as though it were already too late.

“I love you. I have always loved you.”

As though he had finally said everything he longed to say, Nathan closed his eyes. Laila held him tightly and screamed.

“No…. No!”

If only she had not fallen ill. If only she had regained consciousness a little sooner, could she have saved him?

If he had not accompanied her to the Adelina Empire, perhaps he would still be living his own life now.

Still holding Nathan in her arms, Laila began to pray.

‘Please… save him! Please save him!!’

At that moment, a scorching energy surged within her heart, and golden light began pouring from Laila’s body.