Oh, yeah.
'Adrienne... I have to kill that bastard.'
'Okay, but... I kill him first.'
Yes, that's right.
The woman hr love is exactly that kind of woman.
Too wise, too thoughtful, too damn brave to be locked up in a fragile body, always surprising him....
'It's so cruelly loving.'
A breathy laugh seeped out from between the broken faces.
'Yes, if this is your way.'
My hands were trembling, but my heart was beating like crazy, wanting to protect Adrienne who was standing in the middle of danger. It was painful to fall in love in this situation.
Rhodnes, who was laughing in vain while washing his face with one hand, soon moved further to the center of the stage with deeply sunken eyes.
As he walked under the anxious gaze of Empress Grace, his eyes darkened and then brightened without anyone noticing.
Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!
"Ugh!”
Around the stage, black, sticky creatures rose from the ground. The space around the creatures was emptied as people fled back.
Originally, the teeth of those monsters would have pierced the hearts of the people where he directed his magic.
They are monsters desperate to obtain the sweet magic he possesses.
And then the moment.
He met the eyes of those who had dared to threaten to kill Adrienne.
Rhodnes raised the corners of his lips with a cold expression.
Everyone who threatens Adrienne.
The plan was to use demons to eliminate those people and turn the canonization ceremony, featuring Doris Castagna, into a bloodbath.
After making it known to all the world that God's will was not with Doris, he planned to personally kill those monsters before the people's eyes and clearly show them who was protecting this country.
Rhodnes, who had awakened and controlled magical powers on his own but had never used them before, had no hesitation in using them this time.
'No matter what anyone says.'
Because now, such gazes were not important.
An invisible force instantly grabbed the necks of the rampaging monsters.
Without hesitation, Rhodnes drew the longsword at his side and rushed through the crowd of people, swinging it several times.
“Kueeeeeeek!”
A monster that couldn't move was no match for him.
Rhodnes, who had defeated the monster in one breath, stared at the people running away from the pouring monster's blood.
The faces of those who dared to talk about dealing with Adrienne were splattered with the blood of the demon in a crimson spurt.
“The West strongly supports His Highness the Second Prince of Rhodnes... as the true successor who will protect this country!!”
The nobles of the West, who had suffered damage from the monsters and were saved by his help, responded with a thunderous roar as soon as they saw their incompetence.
The fallen Duke of Castagna and the not-so-saint Princess Doris were no longer their lifeline.
“The West wishes for His Highness the Second Prince to ascend to the throne!!”
People who had been terrified by the appearance of the monster finally relaxed and began to applaud and cheer loudly.
“The Second Prince has defeated the monster!”
“The Second Prince protects us!”
It's something that's always happened.
It's something he's been doing and known since the time he left the capital.
Thanks to the winds of change brought by Adrienne, he had become a sage who protected people from monsters, rather than a monster that sucked their blood.
From an object of fear to an object of awe.
Even though he was covered in so much blood, and his whole body was covered in it.
“The Second Prince is the new sun that will save the country and brighten Ronta!”
True successor.
Not red eyes that lead the country to ruin, but red eyes like the sun that protects the people.
'Ha.'
A fake trust that was clearly Adrienne's scheme.
She sewed up and straightened up his torn and trampled past years.
It was the first time he had heard such thunderous cheers and applause, even though his clothes were stained with blood.
Rhodnes slowly wiped away the blood as if he couldn't hear the people's shouts.
For a moment, his ears felt blocked as if he was underwater.
He put the frost-covered longsword back into its scabbard and closed his eyes for a moment.
Not far away, Adrienne was looking at him, her hands clasped together.
It was clear that on that delicate and beautiful face, there was a very refreshing smile, even if it was a bit worried.
“Catch Doris Castagna, who impersonated the Saintess and almost killed her!”
“The Lord said that anyone who impersonates a Saintess is a devil and should be killed!”
“Wasn’t it the evil Doris Castagna who summoned the demon?”
“Kill Doris Castagna!”
Cheers for Rhodnes and condemnation for Doris poured out onto the stage simultaneously.
"Ah...!"
Doris's eyes, which had been frozen by the sudden appearance of the monster, began to droop with large tears.
No matter how far she stretched out her hand, none of the Western nobles would make eye contact with her.
"Ah...!"
Her lips, which could no longer make any sound, trembled and quivered, but Rhodnes' gaze did not reach there.
“Lock up the criminal.”
Neil and Vincenzo approached Doris as if they had been waiting for her, their voices low and suppressed.
Two of Rhodnes' lieutenants grabbed Doris, who was dressed in white like a bride, by her arms and began to drag her out.
“No, let go! Let go! How dare you! Do you know who I am! A sinner! A sinner!”
After wiping away the blood for a while, leaving the wailing Doris behind, Rhodnes finally approached Adrienne.
Even as she was dragged down the platform, Doris' voice, her momentum not fading, rang in my ears.
Amidst the shouts of fear and joy, admiration and condemnation, I finally came face to face with Blie.
Sweet honey blonde.
She was clearly alive, as the color began to return to her pale face.
As I was looking her over, Blie also looked at me in front of her for a long time as if looking into a mirror.
“I have a lot to ask you. I have a lot to say to you.”
"...Me?"
Blie raised her eyebrows in confusion as she saw a hint of hostility in my voice, unlike the excited effort we had just given each other.
“But there’s one thing I want to say now.”
“Huh?”
Blie looked me up and down slowly, then stood with her arms folded. When her head rose as if to ask me to say more, I quickly continued.
“You. You wanted me to see for myself how pitiful, pathetic, and outrageous my situation was, and then solve it myself?”
One of her eyebrows twitched as if it wasn't entirely wrong.
“My revenge is what you wanted me to do, right?”
I thought about her for countless hours and recalled the old feelings I had felt.
“That’s why you saved me from dying.”
Blie looked at my moving lips as if they were curious, then blinked slowly. I couldn't tell if it was positive or negative.
“It’s your turn now.”
“...?”
I turned to face my father, who was shouting at us nonstop.
“You take your revenge.”
The eyes of the awakened Blie and my father met in the air.
The faces of my father and Gregory, who had been looking back and forth between Blie and me, turned pale at the same time.
Olivia was also seen crying nearby, with Bianca trying to comfort her.
Blie didn't pass me by, even though I stepped aside to make way for her.
Shr just blinked very slowly at the sight of my father and brother.
Without shedding tears or getting angry.
But my father, who had been reacting violently to something that had stimulated him, soon disappeared hurriedly into the crowd.
“Father...”
“...More than that, now.”
My arms outstretched to chase my father, stopped in midair.
I slowly turned around, no, I tried to turn around.
Wow-.
Immediately, my other wrist was pulled, and I was suddenly held in a slender, strong embrace.
“Right now, what is this...!”
It was Blie's arms.
The most enigmatic person in my life.
My strange... who seduced my husband and kept me alive as she pleased.
“I wanted to hug you at least once.”
... my older sister.
Blie, not caring about the stiff me, hugged me tighter.
"Your Highness."
The most remote corner of the square.
A desolate place where everyone rushes to the stage to see the miracle up close, the new successor up close.
Jimsker, running so hard that his lungs were about to burst, approached a man standing behind a giant statue.
The man wearing a black robe and hood pulled over his head stood for a long time, staring at the podium without answering.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“...I guess it would be better not to call me that anymore.”
Noevian turned away from Jimsker, who was unable to leave due to regret and thought back to Adrienne that day.
'There's just one thing I want from you.'
'Die for me.'
He shut his eyes tightly and pursed his lips.
'For someone like you to escape from prison and come here, you must be prepared. You must be prepared to give everything up.'
'Then give me that useless position of Grand Duke of Trovica.'
'Help me do anything for the one I love. Die.'
The woman he loved was that kind of woman.
That fragile woman who used to say desperately that she wished she could do something for him was such a strong woman.
A thin stream of tears flowed down his exposed, thin cheeks.
'If dying for you is the most useful thing I can do, I'll gladly do it. But if the Second Prince chooses Doris over you to become the Crown Prince...then can't you pretend not to notice me hovering around you?'
'No.'
He clung to the person who asked him to die until the very end.
He was so desperate that he was completely oblivious to Ephero's icy gaze.
'No, Noevian.'
He wanted to start over again, away from all danger, in a place other than Ronta, Elacon, or any country that knew him and Adrienne.
If Adrienne were to be abandoned by Rhodnes, he would think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given to him by the Lord, and spend his life with her... really, with her...
'You too, live your life now.'
But in Adrienne's eyes, there was no longer any hatred, no contempt, no anger, let alone foolishness.
Remorse.
'Abandon the empty surname you received from the Emperor, and just go wherever you want as a Noevian. Live and do whatever you want.'
Sympathy.
'Are you destined to live a life surrounded by fakes, thinking about who you really are? Live your real life... Decide for yourself.'
It was the first time since he was born that someone had faced him with such emotions.
The words he had always longed to hear someone say were now coming from the mouth of a woman who did not love him.
The revived Grand Duchess eventually faints, and there is another commotion.
Noevian stood there for a while as if he was nailed down, and then turned around.
“Now, where are you going now?”
Jimsker stretched out his hand, which he could not bring himself to touch, and asked.
Noevian didn't look back.
“...I don’t know either.”
He's never lived like this before.
Jimsker, who was growing anxious at the whispering voice, called out to him once more.
“Your Highness, please only for me...”
“There is still someone here who I want to see while alive. Anywhere is enough as long as I can see that person.”
"Your Highness?"
“A place where she can come back whenever she feels sad and in pain... I guess that’s the kind of place it is.”
... Now I'm telling you.
He muttered self-mockery, recalling a time when he couldn't do that even when he was living as a married couple.
A lonely wind blew through the crowd.
As the crowd of people began to gather in the square after hearing the rumor, the man in the black hood finally stepped out and disappeared into the crowd.
Jimsker stood there for a very long time, following the back of the already invisible man.
'Adrienne... I have to kill that bastard.'
'Okay, but... I kill him first.'
Yes, that's right.
The woman hr love is exactly that kind of woman.
Too wise, too thoughtful, too damn brave to be locked up in a fragile body, always surprising him....
'It's so cruelly loving.'
A breathy laugh seeped out from between the broken faces.
'Yes, if this is your way.'
My hands were trembling, but my heart was beating like crazy, wanting to protect Adrienne who was standing in the middle of danger. It was painful to fall in love in this situation.
Rhodnes, who was laughing in vain while washing his face with one hand, soon moved further to the center of the stage with deeply sunken eyes.
As he walked under the anxious gaze of Empress Grace, his eyes darkened and then brightened without anyone noticing.
Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!
"Ugh!”
Around the stage, black, sticky creatures rose from the ground. The space around the creatures was emptied as people fled back.
Originally, the teeth of those monsters would have pierced the hearts of the people where he directed his magic.
They are monsters desperate to obtain the sweet magic he possesses.
And then the moment.
He met the eyes of those who had dared to threaten to kill Adrienne.
Rhodnes raised the corners of his lips with a cold expression.
Everyone who threatens Adrienne.
The plan was to use demons to eliminate those people and turn the canonization ceremony, featuring Doris Castagna, into a bloodbath.
After making it known to all the world that God's will was not with Doris, he planned to personally kill those monsters before the people's eyes and clearly show them who was protecting this country.
Rhodnes, who had awakened and controlled magical powers on his own but had never used them before, had no hesitation in using them this time.
'No matter what anyone says.'
Because now, such gazes were not important.
An invisible force instantly grabbed the necks of the rampaging monsters.
Without hesitation, Rhodnes drew the longsword at his side and rushed through the crowd of people, swinging it several times.
“Kueeeeeeek!”
A monster that couldn't move was no match for him.
Rhodnes, who had defeated the monster in one breath, stared at the people running away from the pouring monster's blood.
The faces of those who dared to talk about dealing with Adrienne were splattered with the blood of the demon in a crimson spurt.
“The West strongly supports His Highness the Second Prince of Rhodnes... as the true successor who will protect this country!!”
The nobles of the West, who had suffered damage from the monsters and were saved by his help, responded with a thunderous roar as soon as they saw their incompetence.
The fallen Duke of Castagna and the not-so-saint Princess Doris were no longer their lifeline.
“The West wishes for His Highness the Second Prince to ascend to the throne!!”
People who had been terrified by the appearance of the monster finally relaxed and began to applaud and cheer loudly.
“The Second Prince has defeated the monster!”
“The Second Prince protects us!”
It's something that's always happened.
It's something he's been doing and known since the time he left the capital.
Thanks to the winds of change brought by Adrienne, he had become a sage who protected people from monsters, rather than a monster that sucked their blood.
From an object of fear to an object of awe.
Even though he was covered in so much blood, and his whole body was covered in it.
“The Second Prince is the new sun that will save the country and brighten Ronta!”
True successor.
Not red eyes that lead the country to ruin, but red eyes like the sun that protects the people.
'Ha.'
A fake trust that was clearly Adrienne's scheme.
She sewed up and straightened up his torn and trampled past years.
It was the first time he had heard such thunderous cheers and applause, even though his clothes were stained with blood.
Rhodnes slowly wiped away the blood as if he couldn't hear the people's shouts.
For a moment, his ears felt blocked as if he was underwater.
He put the frost-covered longsword back into its scabbard and closed his eyes for a moment.
Not far away, Adrienne was looking at him, her hands clasped together.
It was clear that on that delicate and beautiful face, there was a very refreshing smile, even if it was a bit worried.
“Catch Doris Castagna, who impersonated the Saintess and almost killed her!”
“The Lord said that anyone who impersonates a Saintess is a devil and should be killed!”
“Wasn’t it the evil Doris Castagna who summoned the demon?”
“Kill Doris Castagna!”
Cheers for Rhodnes and condemnation for Doris poured out onto the stage simultaneously.
"Ah...!"
Doris's eyes, which had been frozen by the sudden appearance of the monster, began to droop with large tears.
No matter how far she stretched out her hand, none of the Western nobles would make eye contact with her.
"Ah...!"
Her lips, which could no longer make any sound, trembled and quivered, but Rhodnes' gaze did not reach there.
“Lock up the criminal.”
Neil and Vincenzo approached Doris as if they had been waiting for her, their voices low and suppressed.
Two of Rhodnes' lieutenants grabbed Doris, who was dressed in white like a bride, by her arms and began to drag her out.
“No, let go! Let go! How dare you! Do you know who I am! A sinner! A sinner!”
After wiping away the blood for a while, leaving the wailing Doris behind, Rhodnes finally approached Adrienne.
***
Even as she was dragged down the platform, Doris' voice, her momentum not fading, rang in my ears.
Amidst the shouts of fear and joy, admiration and condemnation, I finally came face to face with Blie.
Sweet honey blonde.
She was clearly alive, as the color began to return to her pale face.
As I was looking her over, Blie also looked at me in front of her for a long time as if looking into a mirror.
“I have a lot to ask you. I have a lot to say to you.”
"...Me?"
Blie raised her eyebrows in confusion as she saw a hint of hostility in my voice, unlike the excited effort we had just given each other.
“But there’s one thing I want to say now.”
“Huh?”
Blie looked me up and down slowly, then stood with her arms folded. When her head rose as if to ask me to say more, I quickly continued.
“You. You wanted me to see for myself how pitiful, pathetic, and outrageous my situation was, and then solve it myself?”
One of her eyebrows twitched as if it wasn't entirely wrong.
“My revenge is what you wanted me to do, right?”
I thought about her for countless hours and recalled the old feelings I had felt.
“That’s why you saved me from dying.”
Blie looked at my moving lips as if they were curious, then blinked slowly. I couldn't tell if it was positive or negative.
“It’s your turn now.”
“...?”
I turned to face my father, who was shouting at us nonstop.
“You take your revenge.”
The eyes of the awakened Blie and my father met in the air.
The faces of my father and Gregory, who had been looking back and forth between Blie and me, turned pale at the same time.
Olivia was also seen crying nearby, with Bianca trying to comfort her.
Blie didn't pass me by, even though I stepped aside to make way for her.
Shr just blinked very slowly at the sight of my father and brother.
Without shedding tears or getting angry.
But my father, who had been reacting violently to something that had stimulated him, soon disappeared hurriedly into the crowd.
“Father...”
“...More than that, now.”
My arms outstretched to chase my father, stopped in midair.
I slowly turned around, no, I tried to turn around.
Wow-.
Immediately, my other wrist was pulled, and I was suddenly held in a slender, strong embrace.
“Right now, what is this...!”
It was Blie's arms.
The most enigmatic person in my life.
My strange... who seduced my husband and kept me alive as she pleased.
“I wanted to hug you at least once.”
... my older sister.
Blie, not caring about the stiff me, hugged me tighter.
***
"Your Highness."
The most remote corner of the square.
A desolate place where everyone rushes to the stage to see the miracle up close, the new successor up close.
Jimsker, running so hard that his lungs were about to burst, approached a man standing behind a giant statue.
The man wearing a black robe and hood pulled over his head stood for a long time, staring at the podium without answering.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“...I guess it would be better not to call me that anymore.”
Noevian turned away from Jimsker, who was unable to leave due to regret and thought back to Adrienne that day.
'There's just one thing I want from you.'
'Die for me.'
He shut his eyes tightly and pursed his lips.
'For someone like you to escape from prison and come here, you must be prepared. You must be prepared to give everything up.'
'Then give me that useless position of Grand Duke of Trovica.'
'Help me do anything for the one I love. Die.'
The woman he loved was that kind of woman.
That fragile woman who used to say desperately that she wished she could do something for him was such a strong woman.
A thin stream of tears flowed down his exposed, thin cheeks.
'If dying for you is the most useful thing I can do, I'll gladly do it. But if the Second Prince chooses Doris over you to become the Crown Prince...then can't you pretend not to notice me hovering around you?'
'No.'
He clung to the person who asked him to die until the very end.
He was so desperate that he was completely oblivious to Ephero's icy gaze.
'No, Noevian.'
He wanted to start over again, away from all danger, in a place other than Ronta, Elacon, or any country that knew him and Adrienne.
If Adrienne were to be abandoned by Rhodnes, he would think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given to him by the Lord, and spend his life with her... really, with her...
'You too, live your life now.'
But in Adrienne's eyes, there was no longer any hatred, no contempt, no anger, let alone foolishness.
Remorse.
'Abandon the empty surname you received from the Emperor, and just go wherever you want as a Noevian. Live and do whatever you want.'
Sympathy.
'Are you destined to live a life surrounded by fakes, thinking about who you really are? Live your real life... Decide for yourself.'
It was the first time since he was born that someone had faced him with such emotions.
The words he had always longed to hear someone say were now coming from the mouth of a woman who did not love him.
The revived Grand Duchess eventually faints, and there is another commotion.
Noevian stood there for a while as if he was nailed down, and then turned around.
“Now, where are you going now?”
Jimsker stretched out his hand, which he could not bring himself to touch, and asked.
Noevian didn't look back.
“...I don’t know either.”
He's never lived like this before.
Jimsker, who was growing anxious at the whispering voice, called out to him once more.
“Your Highness, please only for me...”
“There is still someone here who I want to see while alive. Anywhere is enough as long as I can see that person.”
"Your Highness?"
“A place where she can come back whenever she feels sad and in pain... I guess that’s the kind of place it is.”
... Now I'm telling you.
He muttered self-mockery, recalling a time when he couldn't do that even when he was living as a married couple.
A lonely wind blew through the crowd.
As the crowd of people began to gather in the square after hearing the rumor, the man in the black hood finally stepped out and disappeared into the crowd.
Jimsker stood there for a very long time, following the back of the already invisible man.
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