It was heartbreaking to see him mourning over her death.
'Why are you so sad?'
He knew the whole truth. He would pity her, but he would not love her.
A lonely smile appeared on Karina's lips. After she found out the truth, she understood everything. Forgiveness and understanding were different, but she understood why he did not trust her in the past and why he pushed her away. Jeremiah had no choice but to hate her and turn away from her. The culprit who killed his parents was her father, and he constantly pressured the North and harassed him. On top of that, he shamelessly conspired with the Emperor and forced himself to marry her, and when they had a child, he used him to blackmail Jeremiah and plotted to take over the North.
'How could he like me?'
It was understandable that he had not accepted her no matter how much she expressed her feelings. He had not completely trusted her and was wary of her, and had not accepted her within the boundaries he had set. If it had been the other way around, she would not have trusted Jeremiah's feelings either.
Karina's head drooped. She felt a complicated mixture of bitterness, emptiness, resentment, and futility. She wanted to burst into tears. The surrounding scenery changed again with the rough wind. When she raised her head, she saw the desolate capital that had turned into ruins. Wherever she turned her eyes, they were filled with bright red blood. Countless corpses were strewn everywhere, and flames were burning, emitting black smoke.
"Tell me. Why did you kill her?"
Jeremiah pointed his sword at the Marquis's neck and questioned him fiercely with eyes burning with anger. Marquis Millainer shouted fearlessly even though the sword was held to his neck.
"I can do whatever I want with my own daughter, so what do you have to do with it?"
"What?"
"You should be grateful that you took in a woman who was kicked out after getting a divorce."
"..."
"What good would a punk be who can't even do what she's told while babbling nonsense like, "I really like him," or "Please trust me just this once?"
When Jeremiah heard those words, he felt a terrible pain as if a nail had been driven into his heart.
"How could you do that to your own child?"
Jeremiah asked back as if he couldn't understand.
"Ha, a child is just like a child. She was just a useless woman who took after her own mother. She was always an eyesore and a nuisance at home."
The Marquis snorted and growled with an annoyed expression.
"And do you have the right to question me? You were the one who kicked that bitch out!"
"!"
The Marquis shouted and swore at Jeremiah. Jeremiah's face twisted into a grimace at his shouting.
"Yes. It's all my fault. It's my fault. She suffered because of me."
Jeremiah clenched his fist.
"She died in terrible loneliness and pain."
His eyes darkened as if he had given up on everything.
"So now I plan to pay it all back."
"What?"
The Marquis, who had been giggling, looked puzzled.
"You, the Emperor, the Warlock. Everyone who has tormented Karina."
A cold murderous glint flashed in Jeremiah's eyes.
"I will deal with all those who brought her misfortune with my own hands."
Boom!
Jeremiah, his bloodshot eyes flashing, stabbed the Marquis with his sword into his shoulder.
"Ugh!!"
The Marquis burst out in anger with a flushed face.
"This... this guy...! And you're still safe after doing this...!"
"First, I will kill you painfully."
Crunch!
Jeremiah mercilessly cut off the Marquis' arm.
"Kuaaaah!!"
He swung his sword again, paying no attention to the Marquis's shrieking screams.
"Ugh!!"
Jeremiah, who had been stabbing the Marquis without stopping as he tried to run away in a panic, stabbed the Marquis in the back as he crawled on the ground like an insect.
Phew!!
"Ugh!"
The Marquis trembled and convulsed, spitting up blood. Jeremiah's eyes gleamed with incredulity.
"It's still a long way to go."
Phew!
"Ugh!!"
Jeremiah mercilessly beat the Marquis with his fists and stomped on him until the Marquis's breath left his body.
Crunch!
"Ugh!"
The Marquis let out a final scream with the sound of bones breaking. Thus the former Marquis Millainer met a pitiful and miserable end at the hands of Jeremiah.
"..."
Karina was a little surprised to see the horribly dead Marquis.
'Jeremiah is being so cruel? Because of me?'
However, Jeremiah seemed unsatisfied even after killing the Marquis. After that, he continued to slaughter and kill everyone in front of him without any regard for the consequences. Even as blood flowed and flesh flew, he showed no hesitation or hesitation at all. Karina was shocked to see Jeremiah gradually turning into a heartless murderer.
"Save... Save me...!"
Phew!
Jeremiah stabbed the back of the neck of the enemy who was begging for his life. Someone was approaching him.
"Would you not mind killing inside the temple?"
It was Lucia, wearing a robe stained with blood. Karina looked around at Lucia's words about the temple. Before she knew it, the area around them had become a wide open space that had been in chaos for a long time. However, if you look closely, you can see that it was where a magnificent temple used to be. Jeremiah spoke in a businesslike voice to Lucia, who was speaking in a reprimanding tone.
"Are you still talking about that? I guess you've already forgotten that you stabbed the Emperor to death with your own hands here."
Jeremiah sneered in response. Karina's eyes widened at the mention of the Saintess killing the Emperor.
'In the past, did Lucia succeed in killing the Emperor? But why did the Saintess try to kill the Emperor?'
Lucia said as if answering Karina's question.
"It was God's will to kill the Emperor. I cannot leave alone a human who sold the empire to a warlock out of greed."
Only then was Karina able to guess that the Emperor had joined hands with the Warlock.
"But killing all the soldiers like this is too much. You don't plan on killing them all, do you?"
"If necessary, there is nothing I can't do."
"Are you serious?"
Jeremiah turned his eyes and looked at the Saintess. Her eyes, as cold as ice, contained the question of why not.
"You're not taking your anger out on me because I killed the Emperor, are you?"
"..."
"You cooperated with the plan, but now you're acting like this, which is embarrassing."
"Cooperation lasted until the wedding."
"Yes, yes. That's right."
Lucia shrugged her shoulders and answered in a nonchalant tone.
"Uh?"
Karina listened to the conversation between the two with a puzzled look on her face.
'What? Didn't they have feelings for each other?'
Now that she think about it, there didn't seem to be any feelings between the two of them for someone who was talking about marriage. Rather, it seemed like a cold wind was blowing between them.
"I see you're here again. I guess it's that day."
Lucia went to a corner of the temple and picked a few purple lavender flowers that were blooming there. She trimmed the leaves off the lavender stems and made a bouquet with her practiced hands.
"It's been a while since I've given you flowers. Please go and place them at the Grand Duchess' grave. They're her favorite flowers."
"How did you know that?"
"Don't you remember? Whenever you came to the temple and saw lavender, you always mentioned the Grand Duchess, saying that it was your wife's favorite flower."
'What?'
Karina was surprised by Lucia's words. In the past, she had been so distressed when she saw him always bringing lavender from the temple.
'You told my story every time?'
While Karina was still unconscious, Jeremiah stared intently at the bouquet of lavender Lucia had handed him.
"Did I do that?"
Jeremiah's eyes became blurry as if recalling a distant memory.
"I should have given it to her sooner..."
He muttered bitterly, playing with the flower petals.
"You always bring me flowers like that. Have you never given them to the Grand Duchess?"
"..."
Lucia shook her head in disappointment as she watched Jeremiah, who was unable to answer.
"But the Marquis and the Emperor are dead, and we've dealt with the leader who led the warlocks with the holy power. All we have to do is deal with the remaining monsters and the remnants of the warlocks that escaped. I think you've gotten your revenge."
"..."
"Are you satisfied now?"
Lucia's question brought Jeremiah out of his deep thoughts.
"No. There's only one left."
"Yes?"
The culprit who caused Karina the most pain was left behind. Jeremiah left the Saintess who didn't know it and headed to the tomb where Karina was laid to rest. He carried Karina's coffin and went into the deep, deep forest in the north. As if time was passing quickly, the surroundings changed with the cold wind.
'Where am I?'
They were in a frozen cave. It was a place Karina had never seen before. As she looked around, Jeremiah let out a long sigh and muttered.
"We finally arrived."
An ice cave somewhere in the northern forest. The legend says that the dragon's heart is buried there. Jeremiah finally found it. It was a beautiful place where light in the transparent ice scattered and shone, but at the same time, even the breath he exhaled froze like frost and it was covered in a bitter cold that no living thing could survive.
As soon as he arrived at the cave, he opened the coffin. Karina's body had barely decomposed despite the passage of time because it had been stored in the cold frozen permafrost. Jeremiah stared at her face for a long time, seeing that she looked not much different from the day she died, or rather, not much different from when she was sleeping. He carefully hugged Karina's coldly frozen body. Then he dropped a few drops of his blood into the pure white pendant he had taken from the warlock. It was an object that was said to contain the dragon's consciousness. Then.
Shushu!
The inside of the cave, which had been filled with only cold air, was instantly enveloped in darkness and transformed into a pitch-black consciousness. A dragon with a huge body appeared in front of him, expressionless as if he felt no emotions. It was a method he could use because he was a descendant of the first Emperor of the empire who had received the blessing of the dragon.
'You who have inherited my blood, what is the reason you have come to me?'
Jeremiah opened his mouth with empty eyes.
"They say that if you meet a dragon, any wish you make will be granted."
He hugged Karina tightly and kissed her forehead.
"Please make Karina happy."
'Ah.'
When Karina heard Jeremiah's wish, she felt a pang in her heart.
'But in the end, he wanted me to be happy.'
That alone seemed enough. Karina felt sorry for him, but also grateful.
'Wishing for the happiness of someone already dead. How foolish.'
No matter what the dragon said, Jeremiah's intentions remained unchanged.
'You will have to pay a price greater than you can imagine.'
"I'll pay whatever it takes to make her happy."
The dragon eventually showed Jeremiah the price of his stubbornness.
'I will take back the blessings I have bestowed upon the Empire. The peace and stability of the continent that you have so barely managed to maintain will all go up in smoke.'
It was no different from saying that they had to sacrifice everything. The peace they had barely achieved by driving out the corrupt Emperor and the warlock, and even the peaceful future ahead.
'The Imperial bloodline will no longer be protected from the moment my blessing is taken away, and the last remaining blessed bloodline will be forever destroyed the moment the price is paid.'
Not only the bloodline of the first imperial family but also the soul of the person making the wish. Nevertheless.
"It doesn't matter."
Jeremiah answered without any hesitation.
'You're willing to sacrifice everything for the happiness of a dead person who has already passed away. I don't know why you're making such a foolish wish.'
Jeremiah answered the dragon's question as if it were a matter of course.
"Because I love her."
'What?'
Karina was so surprised by his unexpected words that she almost gasped.
'Jeremiah... loves me?'
Karina looked at him with trembling eyes as if she couldn't believe it. Then as if trying to confirm it, Jeremiah continued speaking once more.
"I realized it too late, but it was worth giving my all. I love Karina."
Karina's heart was touched by Jeremiah's desperate words of love as if he was holding her as if she was precious. Something unbearable rose from the depths of her heart to the tip of her throat at those words she had longed to hear.
Before she knew it, her eyes were hot and tears were welling up at the corners of her eyes.
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