Warm sunlight seeped through the thin curtains.
The sound of birds singing seeped in through the slightly open window.
My eyes opened as I tossed and turned in bed at the sound of a peaceful sound that disturbed my sleep.
The first thing I see is the same ceiling and the fluttering white canopy.
And... it was Carsis who was sleeping next to me.
How many days have passed?
When I came to, I was always on the bed. Carsis was always looking down at me, and sometimes I was looking down at Carsis from above.
Very occasionally, I think I was drinking water.
Strangely enough, I didn't remember eating anything, but I wasn't hungry at all.
Rather, I feel full and satisfied as if I had overeaten the day before.
I counted the days on my fingers but soon gave up.
Because I haven't been in my right mind for the past few days.
To begin with, I've never been so clear-headed as I am today.
All I remembered was myself clinging to Carsis like a starving person.
At that time, there was no shame or embarrassment.
Only the survival instinct to survive remained.
I who was lying on my side and quietly looking at Carsis, reached out my hand.
Then my fingertips brushed the sleeping man's hair.
My fingers ran over the man's smooth forehead and sharp nose, finally stopping at his lips.
A slightly drier sensation than last night tickled my fingertips.
I began to look over Carsis' face carefully, thinking back on what had happened.
'I used my power, and because of that, Leila....'
Dead.
In my hazy memory, the image of Leila stabbing herself in the neck with her own hands was clear.
With a calm face that seemed to show no emotion or pain.
My gaze, which had been drawing Leila's last appearance, moved to the hand touching Carsis's lips.
'I killed her.'
Of course, it was the first time I killed someone with my own hands.
All I did was tell her to die.
It was so easy to kill a person like a paper doll in the palm of your hand.
And what's even more creepy is...
'It was nothing...'
The fact that I felt no guilt about killing people.
But I killed someone I once called a friend, even if it was one-sided, who had been kind to me.
In that situation, Ellie was looking for a dropped earring.
'Back then I....'
I felt like I had become a different person.
My brow furrowed as if I had imagined something unpleasant.
But that was only for a moment.
Suddenly, I remembered the terrible pain that had come after Leila's death.
I still vividly remember the horrible sensation of my internal organs being melted by something as hot as lava.
'Come to think of it...'
I soon began to touch my ears.
'My ears are fine.'
The earlobe that had been half-cut off was intact, and on it was the earring I had been desperately looking for.
Nothing had changed as if all that pain was just an illusion.
'This is the power of Carsis.'
Perhaps, if it weren't for Carsis' healing powers, I would definitely...
'I must be dead.'
A sudden realization sent shivers down my spine.
'The reason I've had a headache all this time is because the power I used was trivial.'
As the power gained is great, the price paid is commensurate with it.
That must have been the reason why Elizabeth, or rather Bellona, continued her relationship with Carsis.
The puzzle of all the questions so far has been put into place one by one.
How long have I been lost in thought like that?
A low, deep voice pierced my ear. At the same time, all the thoughts that had been clouding my mind disappeared.
“Are you awake?”
Carsis was looking at me, not knowing when it happened.
"...Yes."
Only then did I come to my senses and remove my hand from Carsis' face.
No, I was trying to clean it up.
Bam.
But it couldn't be done because Carsis was holding the mouse.
Carsis grabbed my wrist lightly and closed his eyes, burying his nose in the back of my hand.
Then he took a deep breath and muttered in a low voice.
“Please stay in your room for the time being. Even if you seem okay now, you may not be fully recovered.”
Every time he spoke, his hot breath tickled the back of my hand.
“Instead, I’ll come every day.”
In an instant, a cool summer breeze seeped in through the slightly open window.
Bright sunlight streamed through the fluttering thin curtains and cut across the two people.
“To where you are.”
A gentle smile appears on the man's lips.
It was a smile that contained a refreshing feeling like the wind that cooled my flushed cheeks.
Late at night. Under the sky where the dark clouds have cleared away, only the full moon is shining brightly.
Masked men were secretly stirring up trouble in the palace.
Their footsteps were unstoppable as if they knew the geography of the palace well.
For a while, he moved around quickly, avoiding the guards' eyes.
A man, after making sure there was no one around, took off his black mask as if he was frustrated.
Then, the golden hair reflecting the moonlight sparkles.
“Your Highness.”
His knight escort, Cullen, approached Ernest, who was wiping the sweat off his hands.
“Did you find it?”
“I’m sorry. She wasn’t at the Rose Palace either.”
"Shit."
Ernest cursed quietly.
It's already been three hours since he infiltrated the palace to find Riventia.
It had already been four days since he had entered and exited the palace through a secret passageway that only the Crown Prince knew about.
Where on earth is Riventia? He searched the entire palace but couldn't find even the slightest trace of her.
The only thing they got from coming here was the rumors the palace maids were spouting about traitors.
'A slave of fighting breed.'
Everyone was saying in one voice that the traitor was a man of slave origin.
But Ernest didn't believe it.
'There's no way I would have been treated like that by a mere slave.'
The rebellion wasn't planned in a day or two.
Given their methods, it was clearly something they had been preparing for over five years.
In addition to the enormous funds and troops planted in the noble families in the capital.
Even if the traitor was really a slave as rumored, he would have hidden his true identity.
It was while Ernest was clicking his tongue briefly, guessing at the identity of the traitor.
Cullen, who was at his side, reported what he had seen and heard at the Rose Palace.
“But it seemed like the Rose Palace would soon have a new owner.”
“The owner of the Rose Palace?”
“Yes. It was almost completely renovated as if someone was going to move in soon.”
The Rose Palace was a palace used by Empresses for generations.
It was also the place where Crown Prince Ernest's biological mother and the previous Empress died and was left empty for 26 years.
“And I heard that a mysterious woman is staying with the traitor in Soleria. It seems that the palace security has been tightened recently because of her. It seems that she will soon become the mistress of the Rose Palace.”
“The master of the Rose Palace...”
A bitter smile appeared on Ernest's lips at Cullen's words.
The Sollerian that the traitor is currently occupying was meant to be his, the future Emperor. The owner of the Rose Palace, where the traitor's woman would enter, was also separate.
“It would be a great pleasure for a traitor. Not only would he become the Emperor, but he would also make his secret lover the Empress.”
How can you be so happy when everything you love has been taken away from you?
Anger against the traitor welled up inside him.
And then as if intoxicated by anger, he made a choice he would never normally make.
“The traitor’s woman is in Sollerian?”
“Yes, that’s true, but why is that...”
Cullen trailed off, feeling a sense of foreboding as he looked at the stern face of the Crown Prince.
That would be the case because Ernest with that kind of face was always prone to causing accidents.
“I have to see it with my own eyes. How vulgar a woman can become the Empress.”
As expected.
Cullen let out a short sigh at the Prince's words and tried to dissuade him.
“No! Sollerian is not like other palaces! You could be in danger, and yet you go there just because you’re curious about a traitor’s woman!”
“The other palaces have already been searched to the limit. The only one left is Sollerian.”
“That’s true, but... Sollerian is where Melanie had infiltrated before. But she found nothing and was killed instead. Besides, if Riventia had been in Soleria in the first place, the traitor would have found her a long time ago.”
That wasn't a wrong statement.
Because there was no imperial citizen who did not know about Reventia.
But its true value was known only to those who inherited Cleophis' blood.
And Ernest knew his father, the Emperor, well.
If he was the Emperor, he either deliberately hid Riventia in an unexpected place, away from people's eyes, or else.
'He must have kept it somewhere only he could access.'
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The sound of birds singing seeped in through the slightly open window.
My eyes opened as I tossed and turned in bed at the sound of a peaceful sound that disturbed my sleep.
The first thing I see is the same ceiling and the fluttering white canopy.
And... it was Carsis who was sleeping next to me.
How many days have passed?
When I came to, I was always on the bed. Carsis was always looking down at me, and sometimes I was looking down at Carsis from above.
Very occasionally, I think I was drinking water.
Strangely enough, I didn't remember eating anything, but I wasn't hungry at all.
Rather, I feel full and satisfied as if I had overeaten the day before.
I counted the days on my fingers but soon gave up.
Because I haven't been in my right mind for the past few days.
To begin with, I've never been so clear-headed as I am today.
All I remembered was myself clinging to Carsis like a starving person.
At that time, there was no shame or embarrassment.
Only the survival instinct to survive remained.
I who was lying on my side and quietly looking at Carsis, reached out my hand.
Then my fingertips brushed the sleeping man's hair.
My fingers ran over the man's smooth forehead and sharp nose, finally stopping at his lips.
A slightly drier sensation than last night tickled my fingertips.
I began to look over Carsis' face carefully, thinking back on what had happened.
'I used my power, and because of that, Leila....'
Dead.
In my hazy memory, the image of Leila stabbing herself in the neck with her own hands was clear.
With a calm face that seemed to show no emotion or pain.
My gaze, which had been drawing Leila's last appearance, moved to the hand touching Carsis's lips.
'I killed her.'
Of course, it was the first time I killed someone with my own hands.
All I did was tell her to die.
It was so easy to kill a person like a paper doll in the palm of your hand.
And what's even more creepy is...
'It was nothing...'
The fact that I felt no guilt about killing people.
But I killed someone I once called a friend, even if it was one-sided, who had been kind to me.
In that situation, Ellie was looking for a dropped earring.
'Back then I....'
I felt like I had become a different person.
My brow furrowed as if I had imagined something unpleasant.
But that was only for a moment.
Suddenly, I remembered the terrible pain that had come after Leila's death.
I still vividly remember the horrible sensation of my internal organs being melted by something as hot as lava.
'Come to think of it...'
I soon began to touch my ears.
'My ears are fine.'
The earlobe that had been half-cut off was intact, and on it was the earring I had been desperately looking for.
Nothing had changed as if all that pain was just an illusion.
'This is the power of Carsis.'
Perhaps, if it weren't for Carsis' healing powers, I would definitely...
'I must be dead.'
A sudden realization sent shivers down my spine.
'The reason I've had a headache all this time is because the power I used was trivial.'
As the power gained is great, the price paid is commensurate with it.
That must have been the reason why Elizabeth, or rather Bellona, continued her relationship with Carsis.
The puzzle of all the questions so far has been put into place one by one.
How long have I been lost in thought like that?
A low, deep voice pierced my ear. At the same time, all the thoughts that had been clouding my mind disappeared.
“Are you awake?”
Carsis was looking at me, not knowing when it happened.
"...Yes."
Only then did I come to my senses and remove my hand from Carsis' face.
No, I was trying to clean it up.
Bam.
But it couldn't be done because Carsis was holding the mouse.
Carsis grabbed my wrist lightly and closed his eyes, burying his nose in the back of my hand.
Then he took a deep breath and muttered in a low voice.
“Please stay in your room for the time being. Even if you seem okay now, you may not be fully recovered.”
Every time he spoke, his hot breath tickled the back of my hand.
“Instead, I’ll come every day.”
In an instant, a cool summer breeze seeped in through the slightly open window.
Bright sunlight streamed through the fluttering thin curtains and cut across the two people.
“To where you are.”
A gentle smile appears on the man's lips.
It was a smile that contained a refreshing feeling like the wind that cooled my flushed cheeks.
***
Late at night. Under the sky where the dark clouds have cleared away, only the full moon is shining brightly.
Masked men were secretly stirring up trouble in the palace.
Their footsteps were unstoppable as if they knew the geography of the palace well.
For a while, he moved around quickly, avoiding the guards' eyes.
A man, after making sure there was no one around, took off his black mask as if he was frustrated.
Then, the golden hair reflecting the moonlight sparkles.
“Your Highness.”
His knight escort, Cullen, approached Ernest, who was wiping the sweat off his hands.
“Did you find it?”
“I’m sorry. She wasn’t at the Rose Palace either.”
"Shit."
Ernest cursed quietly.
It's already been three hours since he infiltrated the palace to find Riventia.
It had already been four days since he had entered and exited the palace through a secret passageway that only the Crown Prince knew about.
Where on earth is Riventia? He searched the entire palace but couldn't find even the slightest trace of her.
The only thing they got from coming here was the rumors the palace maids were spouting about traitors.
'A slave of fighting breed.'
Everyone was saying in one voice that the traitor was a man of slave origin.
But Ernest didn't believe it.
'There's no way I would have been treated like that by a mere slave.'
The rebellion wasn't planned in a day or two.
Given their methods, it was clearly something they had been preparing for over five years.
In addition to the enormous funds and troops planted in the noble families in the capital.
Even if the traitor was really a slave as rumored, he would have hidden his true identity.
It was while Ernest was clicking his tongue briefly, guessing at the identity of the traitor.
Cullen, who was at his side, reported what he had seen and heard at the Rose Palace.
“But it seemed like the Rose Palace would soon have a new owner.”
“The owner of the Rose Palace?”
“Yes. It was almost completely renovated as if someone was going to move in soon.”
The Rose Palace was a palace used by Empresses for generations.
It was also the place where Crown Prince Ernest's biological mother and the previous Empress died and was left empty for 26 years.
“And I heard that a mysterious woman is staying with the traitor in Soleria. It seems that the palace security has been tightened recently because of her. It seems that she will soon become the mistress of the Rose Palace.”
“The master of the Rose Palace...”
A bitter smile appeared on Ernest's lips at Cullen's words.
The Sollerian that the traitor is currently occupying was meant to be his, the future Emperor. The owner of the Rose Palace, where the traitor's woman would enter, was also separate.
“It would be a great pleasure for a traitor. Not only would he become the Emperor, but he would also make his secret lover the Empress.”
How can you be so happy when everything you love has been taken away from you?
Anger against the traitor welled up inside him.
And then as if intoxicated by anger, he made a choice he would never normally make.
“The traitor’s woman is in Sollerian?”
“Yes, that’s true, but why is that...”
Cullen trailed off, feeling a sense of foreboding as he looked at the stern face of the Crown Prince.
That would be the case because Ernest with that kind of face was always prone to causing accidents.
“I have to see it with my own eyes. How vulgar a woman can become the Empress.”
As expected.
Cullen let out a short sigh at the Prince's words and tried to dissuade him.
“No! Sollerian is not like other palaces! You could be in danger, and yet you go there just because you’re curious about a traitor’s woman!”
“The other palaces have already been searched to the limit. The only one left is Sollerian.”
“That’s true, but... Sollerian is where Melanie had infiltrated before. But she found nothing and was killed instead. Besides, if Riventia had been in Soleria in the first place, the traitor would have found her a long time ago.”
That wasn't a wrong statement.
Because there was no imperial citizen who did not know about Reventia.
But its true value was known only to those who inherited Cleophis' blood.
And Ernest knew his father, the Emperor, well.
If he was the Emperor, he either deliberately hid Riventia in an unexpected place, away from people's eyes, or else.
'He must have kept it somewhere only he could access.'
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