Despite Rossi's words, Rhodnes' eyes continued to sway.
Vincenzo, who was still kneeling, straightened up.
“Your Highness. The reason I wanted to tell you why Bardenaldo was twisted is not simply to ask you to take Bardenaldo’s place as you are the true successor to this country.”
Vincenzo, who saw the eyes quietly seething like water on the verge of boiling over, looked up at him earnestly, who remained calm even when faced with the tremendous truth.
“It’s very late, but... I wanted to tell you that Your Highness was the light, not the darkness, of Her Majesty Empress Letina.”
What about the successor? What about the true successor?
In fact, more than that, Vincenzo wanted to correct the words that had been tormenting Rhodnes his entire life.
It was unbearable to see that in recent months, Rhodnes' eyes had become less and less bright and he was clinging to Countess Acacia as if the only meaning in his life lay with her.
“Do you think that just by looking at those past events, Lord Bardenaldo never loved you even once? He was twisted so haphazardly, but he truly loved you until he saw that record. Until he saw that record.”
Vincenzo was the one who had observed Rhodnes' devotion the longest.
The guilt of having sacrificed your life for someone who never loved you.
Even though he was a brother like that, he felt guilty for contributing to his death.
A sense of guilt for destroying his mother's will with his own hands.
His master was too great and a pity for him to live with such a dark heart.
What Rhodnes needed was not just the truth, but comfort. Vincenzo knew that better than anyone.
“So there is no need to hold back your sorrow, and no need to carry everything alone. There is no need to hesitate. Just take what you want.”
After saying those words, Vincenzo burst into tears.
Rhodnes looked down at Vincenzo as if he was seeing him for the first time in his life.
Neil, who had been watching the two from afar, felt goosebumps when he looked into Rhodnes’ eyes.
The eyes that had been sparkling with various colors began to crack like shattering glass, and a black darkness rose up from within and spread out like light.
When he saw his eyes suddenly becoming darker and more dazzling as if his personality had changed, he felt a chill run down his toes.
He had seen the terrifying sight of his lord countless times, but this was the first time he had seen his eyes turn so completely red.
In this situation, even Ephero, who had an angry expression on his face, could not dare to come forward any further and hold his breath.
His beautiful face was blurred by the torchlight.
The eerily cold and dark red eyes slowly turned downwards.
His long eyelashes were beautiful, but at the same time, they cast a shadow that made my heart flutter.
“Do you dare to comfort me?”
“...I can only ask for forgiveness for my cowardly silence.”
Vincenzo whispered, not daring to raise his head.
Rhodnes' face, devoid of any warmth, tilted slightly to the side.
Every time the platinum hair, clotted with hardened blood, fell in strands onto the slanted forehead, the onlookers gasped.
“If you want forgiveness..."
A red blood stain spread from the strong lower jaw to the chin below the ear, throbbing.
“...Now prove to me your usefulness.”
A powerful torch burning in the darkness.
The red burning eyes of Rhodnes were clearly urging Vincenzo with such a color.
“So that I can have what I want.”
The descendant of Caldeion, who defeated all the demons and united Ronta into an empire, gave a cool command.
A stunned Neil and a terrified Count followed Vincenzo, who jumped up and ran out of the cave. Then they left the cave to Ephero, who had a mountain of questions for them.
“I’ll let the magic awaken tomorrow. Right now, I think I need some time to gather my thoughts.”
Even Rossi shook her head and slowly left the cave, leaving only Rhodnes and me behind inside the thorn fence.
After hearing the truth and receiving comfort from Vincenzo, Rhodnes' eyes became even darker.
Nothing will feel real, just like it did every moment he faced the truth.
I hung the torch the Count had given me on the wall.
Rhodnes stood a few paces away from the body of Empress Letina, staring at it like a well-made statue.
As I watched his gaze change from dark to bright, I quietly approached him and took his hand.
Perhaps because his hand was stained with the demon's blood, Rhodnes instinctively flinched and tried to pull his hand away.
I bit my lower lip like a mother scolding him, grabbed his large, bloodshot hand, and led him toward me.
A dark gaze moved towards me. It was like a fake jewel whose shape had been shattered to pieces.
“...Bloody, Adrienne.”
"I don't care."
I took his hand in my arms and hugged him tightly.
The sparkling eyes stared at the sight silently. It was heartbreaking to see the hands that were always hot have become cold.
“...Weren’t you scared?”
"What?"
“When I kill a monster.”
Is that all you were worried about?
Even after hearing such a great story, Rhodnes was still asking me if I wasn't scared of him, covered in the blood of a demon.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but the feelings I felt were more sadness and pity than fear.
I saw the young Rhodnes then.
It's not the heroic protagonist who coolly slices up monsters, but the afterimage of a young boy who fought with all his might to kill a monster.
Rhodnes looked down at me with difficulty, but eventually, unable to meet my eyes, he turned his gaze back to the glass case.
His dark, gleaming eyes, which had made people tremble in fear, looked to me like those of a wounded beast.
“Roan, you heard me.”
I tried to suppress my trembling voice and answered calmly.
“I told you so.”
It was I, not Vincenzo, not Rossi, not anyone else, who always wanted to say this to Rhodnes.
“You will not be the darkness of your mother from the beginning. From now on, you will not be the darkness of your mother.”
Didn't his life prove it? He is not someone's darkness.
“You are the light of your mother and my light.”
I pulled his hand as if to draw Rhodnes's gaze, which was still focused on the corpse.
And after staring into the violently shaking eyes of Rhodnes for a long time, I dug into his arms and hugged him deeply.
My heart was full of emotion as I was finally able to hug Rhodnes, who had been avoiding my eyes all day.
The body of Rhodnes, standing tall while being held, was as solid and large as always.
Rhodnes's mind seemed to lighten up a little at the sound of Adrienne's voice, not at Vincenzo, not at the old records, not at Rossy's conviction in writing them.
The eyes, like swaying torches, turned towards the sleeping Letina.
'Wasn't I... the darkness of my mother?'
Belated tears fell in thin lines down his cheeks, which were as hard as a rock.
'Is it a lie that you have never loved me even once?'
Even though he saw Bardenaldo's ugly past, he only searched for Bardenaldo's sincerity.
He knew it too.
As Vincenzo said.
It is a lie that Bardenaldo never loved him.
When he was very young.
When he was hiding in a corner, avoiding those who avoided him, it was always Bardenaldo who reached out to him.
When he fell asleep from crying, he was the one who stroked his hair until he woke up and smiled bashfully, saying that he was watching over him in case he had a nightmare.
Even during the time when he was said to have been frequenting the imperial library, it was his older brother who, unable to bear the sadness, would touch his forehead as he fell asleep and whisper to him not to be in pain.
'There was a time like that.'
Because he was shaking with a great sense of betrayal. Because he didn't stop Bardenaldo, who he thought was his mother's only light, from dying.
Rhodnes had to hold back his tears over Bardenaldo's death, even if it meant being ashamed in front of Letina.
“It’s okay to cry, Roan.”
As if to soothe his heart, Adrienne leaned her lovely cheek against his chest and whispered.
It was something he always wanted to hear from someone.
“It’s okay to cry.”
It wasn't about forgiving Bardenaldo.
The tears that flow now are tears of saying goodbye to the Bardenaldo of his childhood.
Rhodnes, unable to cry properly after losing two of the people he loved most in his life, buried his face in Adrienne's shoulder.
Even at Bardenaldo's funeral, hot tears that had been kept tightly hidden poured out.
He held Adrienne in his arms, who was digging into him, and belatedly chewed over his mother's true will.
'Live not for someone else's glory, but for your own glory.'
It all seemed like a dream.
Vincenzo's words, Bardenaldo's fantasies, and Rossi's story. They still didn't seem real at all.
The afterimage of Bardenaldo rising like a mist in his head twisted the corners of Rhodnes's mouth.
'Mother, I guess Bardenaldo is not the only twisted son.'
The sun of Ronta that Rossi speaks of. A light of the world so strong that it can burn out demons?
'That kind of thing is just for dogs.'
He didn't care at all if only the woman in his arms could live in the light and not in the darkness.
'Mother. If it means I can protect Adrienne... I will become an Emperor or a God.'
He gritted his teeth and made a pledge.
Through his blurry vision, the image of his mother sleeping comfortably, just like the day he saw her for the last time, rippled.
'Can this light illuminate my mother?'
It was a slightly self-deprecating question.
“Let’s go out too, Roan.”
Adrienne carefully led Rhodnes out of the cave.
Adrienne, who had stepped out first under the bright sun, stopped at the entrance to the cave and reached out to Rhodnes, who was staring at him.
Adrienne, shining in the backlight, was blindingly beautiful.
“If you want to become Emperor, I will help you. I will make you... Emperor.”
Rhodnes' heart ached at the sound of Adrienne's voice, as she spoke without even knowing why he wanted to become Emperor.
“Not Doris, but me.”
Adrienne blushed slightly and said, envious of Doris who could say that so confidently.
At those words, Rhodnes chuckled with a wet face. Adrienne stared blankly at him.
No matter how dark the place was, Rgodnes's smile was beautiful enough to make her heart pound.
It was a completely different reaction from when he had just stared indifferently at Doris's offer to make him Emperor.
Adrienne extended her hand further toward Rhodnes.
Rhodnes, who was staring at the faint trace of blood that had been transferred to her, slowly extended his hand to that hand.
Adrienne still didn't care and grabbed his hand tightly in one go.
His combat boots, which had been shrouded in darkness, stepped into the light.
“...Yes, please take care of it.”
A low, sweet voice. Adrienne's face slowly brightened.
The dangerously beautiful Prince held Adrienne, who promised to make him Emperor, in his arms and lifted the corners of his lips that had not risen all day.
Although his body was still soaked in blood, Adrienne did not dodge at all. Rhodnes's heart suddenly swelled with excitement.
He emerged from the pitch-black cave and whispered in Adrienne's ear.
“Help me, Adrienne. So that I can be a real light.”
For the first time in her life, Rhodnes asked for help from someone.
“I need your help more than anyone else.”
It couldn't have been happier.
“Help me, Adrienne.”
That concludes it all.
His dark, sparkling eyes suddenly sparkled like beautiful jewels, and his lips, which had found their true colors, swallowed Adrienne's lips.
In the gentle breeze, the smell of blood from the monster that had been hovering around the young lovers was instantly blown away.
Vincenzo, who was still kneeling, straightened up.
“Your Highness. The reason I wanted to tell you why Bardenaldo was twisted is not simply to ask you to take Bardenaldo’s place as you are the true successor to this country.”
Vincenzo, who saw the eyes quietly seething like water on the verge of boiling over, looked up at him earnestly, who remained calm even when faced with the tremendous truth.
“It’s very late, but... I wanted to tell you that Your Highness was the light, not the darkness, of Her Majesty Empress Letina.”
What about the successor? What about the true successor?
In fact, more than that, Vincenzo wanted to correct the words that had been tormenting Rhodnes his entire life.
It was unbearable to see that in recent months, Rhodnes' eyes had become less and less bright and he was clinging to Countess Acacia as if the only meaning in his life lay with her.
“Do you think that just by looking at those past events, Lord Bardenaldo never loved you even once? He was twisted so haphazardly, but he truly loved you until he saw that record. Until he saw that record.”
Vincenzo was the one who had observed Rhodnes' devotion the longest.
The guilt of having sacrificed your life for someone who never loved you.
Even though he was a brother like that, he felt guilty for contributing to his death.
A sense of guilt for destroying his mother's will with his own hands.
His master was too great and a pity for him to live with such a dark heart.
What Rhodnes needed was not just the truth, but comfort. Vincenzo knew that better than anyone.
“So there is no need to hold back your sorrow, and no need to carry everything alone. There is no need to hesitate. Just take what you want.”
After saying those words, Vincenzo burst into tears.
Rhodnes looked down at Vincenzo as if he was seeing him for the first time in his life.
Neil, who had been watching the two from afar, felt goosebumps when he looked into Rhodnes’ eyes.
The eyes that had been sparkling with various colors began to crack like shattering glass, and a black darkness rose up from within and spread out like light.
When he saw his eyes suddenly becoming darker and more dazzling as if his personality had changed, he felt a chill run down his toes.
He had seen the terrifying sight of his lord countless times, but this was the first time he had seen his eyes turn so completely red.
In this situation, even Ephero, who had an angry expression on his face, could not dare to come forward any further and hold his breath.
His beautiful face was blurred by the torchlight.
The eerily cold and dark red eyes slowly turned downwards.
His long eyelashes were beautiful, but at the same time, they cast a shadow that made my heart flutter.
“Do you dare to comfort me?”
“...I can only ask for forgiveness for my cowardly silence.”
Vincenzo whispered, not daring to raise his head.
Rhodnes' face, devoid of any warmth, tilted slightly to the side.
Every time the platinum hair, clotted with hardened blood, fell in strands onto the slanted forehead, the onlookers gasped.
“If you want forgiveness..."
A red blood stain spread from the strong lower jaw to the chin below the ear, throbbing.
“...Now prove to me your usefulness.”
A powerful torch burning in the darkness.
The red burning eyes of Rhodnes were clearly urging Vincenzo with such a color.
“So that I can have what I want.”
The descendant of Caldeion, who defeated all the demons and united Ronta into an empire, gave a cool command.
***
A stunned Neil and a terrified Count followed Vincenzo, who jumped up and ran out of the cave. Then they left the cave to Ephero, who had a mountain of questions for them.
“I’ll let the magic awaken tomorrow. Right now, I think I need some time to gather my thoughts.”
Even Rossi shook her head and slowly left the cave, leaving only Rhodnes and me behind inside the thorn fence.
After hearing the truth and receiving comfort from Vincenzo, Rhodnes' eyes became even darker.
Nothing will feel real, just like it did every moment he faced the truth.
I hung the torch the Count had given me on the wall.
Rhodnes stood a few paces away from the body of Empress Letina, staring at it like a well-made statue.
As I watched his gaze change from dark to bright, I quietly approached him and took his hand.
Perhaps because his hand was stained with the demon's blood, Rhodnes instinctively flinched and tried to pull his hand away.
I bit my lower lip like a mother scolding him, grabbed his large, bloodshot hand, and led him toward me.
A dark gaze moved towards me. It was like a fake jewel whose shape had been shattered to pieces.
“...Bloody, Adrienne.”
"I don't care."
I took his hand in my arms and hugged him tightly.
The sparkling eyes stared at the sight silently. It was heartbreaking to see the hands that were always hot have become cold.
“...Weren’t you scared?”
"What?"
“When I kill a monster.”
Is that all you were worried about?
Even after hearing such a great story, Rhodnes was still asking me if I wasn't scared of him, covered in the blood of a demon.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but the feelings I felt were more sadness and pity than fear.
I saw the young Rhodnes then.
It's not the heroic protagonist who coolly slices up monsters, but the afterimage of a young boy who fought with all his might to kill a monster.
Rhodnes looked down at me with difficulty, but eventually, unable to meet my eyes, he turned his gaze back to the glass case.
I could clearly see the two men, their faces uneasy, unsure of their presence amid so many people talking.
“Roan, you heard me.”
I tried to suppress my trembling voice and answered calmly.
“I told you so.”
It was I, not Vincenzo, not Rossi, not anyone else, who always wanted to say this to Rhodnes.
“You will not be the darkness of your mother from the beginning. From now on, you will not be the darkness of your mother.”
Didn't his life prove it? He is not someone's darkness.
“You are the light of your mother and my light.”
I pulled his hand as if to draw Rhodnes's gaze, which was still focused on the corpse.
And after staring into the violently shaking eyes of Rhodnes for a long time, I dug into his arms and hugged him deeply.
My heart was full of emotion as I was finally able to hug Rhodnes, who had been avoiding my eyes all day.
The body of Rhodnes, standing tall while being held, was as solid and large as always.
***
Rhodnes's mind seemed to lighten up a little at the sound of Adrienne's voice, not at Vincenzo, not at the old records, not at Rossy's conviction in writing them.
The eyes, like swaying torches, turned towards the sleeping Letina.
'Wasn't I... the darkness of my mother?'
Belated tears fell in thin lines down his cheeks, which were as hard as a rock.
'Is it a lie that you have never loved me even once?'
Even though he saw Bardenaldo's ugly past, he only searched for Bardenaldo's sincerity.
He knew it too.
As Vincenzo said.
It is a lie that Bardenaldo never loved him.
When he was very young.
When he was hiding in a corner, avoiding those who avoided him, it was always Bardenaldo who reached out to him.
When he fell asleep from crying, he was the one who stroked his hair until he woke up and smiled bashfully, saying that he was watching over him in case he had a nightmare.
Even during the time when he was said to have been frequenting the imperial library, it was his older brother who, unable to bear the sadness, would touch his forehead as he fell asleep and whisper to him not to be in pain.
'There was a time like that.'
Because he was shaking with a great sense of betrayal. Because he didn't stop Bardenaldo, who he thought was his mother's only light, from dying.
Rhodnes had to hold back his tears over Bardenaldo's death, even if it meant being ashamed in front of Letina.
“It’s okay to cry, Roan.”
As if to soothe his heart, Adrienne leaned her lovely cheek against his chest and whispered.
It was something he always wanted to hear from someone.
“It’s okay to cry.”
It wasn't about forgiving Bardenaldo.
The tears that flow now are tears of saying goodbye to the Bardenaldo of his childhood.
Rhodnes, unable to cry properly after losing two of the people he loved most in his life, buried his face in Adrienne's shoulder.
Even at Bardenaldo's funeral, hot tears that had been kept tightly hidden poured out.
He held Adrienne in his arms, who was digging into him, and belatedly chewed over his mother's true will.
'Live not for someone else's glory, but for your own glory.'
It all seemed like a dream.
Vincenzo's words, Bardenaldo's fantasies, and Rossi's story. They still didn't seem real at all.
The afterimage of Bardenaldo rising like a mist in his head twisted the corners of Rhodnes's mouth.
'Mother, I guess Bardenaldo is not the only twisted son.'
The sun of Ronta that Rossi speaks of. A light of the world so strong that it can burn out demons?
'That kind of thing is just for dogs.'
He didn't care at all if only the woman in his arms could live in the light and not in the darkness.
'Mother. If it means I can protect Adrienne... I will become an Emperor or a God.'
He gritted his teeth and made a pledge.
Through his blurry vision, the image of his mother sleeping comfortably, just like the day he saw her for the last time, rippled.
'Can this light illuminate my mother?'
It was a slightly self-deprecating question.
***
“Let’s go out too, Roan.”
Adrienne carefully led Rhodnes out of the cave.
Adrienne, who had stepped out first under the bright sun, stopped at the entrance to the cave and reached out to Rhodnes, who was staring at him.
Adrienne, shining in the backlight, was blindingly beautiful.
“If you want to become Emperor, I will help you. I will make you... Emperor.”
Rhodnes' heart ached at the sound of Adrienne's voice, as she spoke without even knowing why he wanted to become Emperor.
“Not Doris, but me.”
Adrienne blushed slightly and said, envious of Doris who could say that so confidently.
At those words, Rhodnes chuckled with a wet face. Adrienne stared blankly at him.
No matter how dark the place was, Rgodnes's smile was beautiful enough to make her heart pound.
It was a completely different reaction from when he had just stared indifferently at Doris's offer to make him Emperor.
Adrienne extended her hand further toward Rhodnes.
Rhodnes, who was staring at the faint trace of blood that had been transferred to her, slowly extended his hand to that hand.
Adrienne still didn't care and grabbed his hand tightly in one go.
His combat boots, which had been shrouded in darkness, stepped into the light.
“...Yes, please take care of it.”
A low, sweet voice. Adrienne's face slowly brightened.
The dangerously beautiful Prince held Adrienne, who promised to make him Emperor, in his arms and lifted the corners of his lips that had not risen all day.
Although his body was still soaked in blood, Adrienne did not dodge at all. Rhodnes's heart suddenly swelled with excitement.
He emerged from the pitch-black cave and whispered in Adrienne's ear.
“Help me, Adrienne. So that I can be a real light.”
For the first time in her life, Rhodnes asked for help from someone.
“I need your help more than anyone else.”
It couldn't have been happier.
“Help me, Adrienne.”
That concludes it all.
His dark, sparkling eyes suddenly sparkled like beautiful jewels, and his lips, which had found their true colors, swallowed Adrienne's lips.
In the gentle breeze, the smell of blood from the monster that had been hovering around the young lovers was instantly blown away.
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