'Curse.'
Demios's congenital defect was ultimately a problem that was passed down through his bloodline.
The sin of having a companion, then marrying a new lover, hiding everything, and making that child the Crown Prince.
Then.
"Does Demios know about that?"
Perhaps his trigger was not the seal, but birth.
Swany's lips lifted. Her elegant black eyes shone cruelly.
"Yes. Because he was the one who killed Charlotte."
Immediately after the death of the former Emperor, Demios visited the imperial palace alone, which was in chaos.
The former Emperor's attendant first discovered Demios standing in front of a dead Arctic fox.
He passed by the attendant expressionlessly in front of the beast, whose neck was clearly broken.
Along with the words that it was already dead.
He had personally removed the actual evidence with his own hands.
Sepia covered her mouth in shock.
'How could he know that she was his biological mother?'
At the same time, this thought occurred to her.
Perhaps his atrocities had added to the weight of his sins.
After the former Empress passed away, Swany had no reason to stand on Demios’ side anymore.
Instead, she hated him.
The current Emperor who had caused the former Empress to die in such a horrible manner.
Swany let out her cold, hidden anger with her eyes.
“No matter how great a divine being, there is nothing one can do when the blood of adultery is mixed in. In the end, didn’t he do the same thing as his father?”
It is said that being attracted to someone with one’s own name is inevitable.
However, it is only a strong attraction.
Any creature with reason should resist that temptation.
“When I first heard about the divorce trial, I didn’t understand Your Highness. How could you reject the Emperor? But after thinking about it for a little while, I understood why it was like that. The Star of Ishtar. The fate that determines the true Emperor led you to reject the current Emperor.”
The reason Swany hated Titie was not because she coveted her palace.
From the beginning, seeing Demios and his concubine reminded her of the former Emperor and Charlotte.
The one the current Empress loved the most was now the one that Swany absolutely hated.
“Now that Charlotte is dead, there is no evidence that the Emperor is an illegitimate child. The current Emperor’s madness is enough of a problem.”
Charlotte, who died in her tangible form, was declared missing, and her body could not be buried in a grave.
Furthermore, even if the innocence of the divine beast was at stake, that would not be enough to bring down the Emperor.
Swany’s eyes burned blue with the blue flame of revenge.
“I want the Emperor to fall. If that happens, I am willing to cooperate with you both in anything.”
Swany loved her precious friend.
Demios knew that the former Empress was not his biological mother, but he had to pay for using her to the end.
No matter what happens. The one who had been hiding in the palace for so long, sharpening the blade of revenge, was none other than Swany herself.
“Titie’s name is fake, right? There are rumors that there is a mastermind behind it. If that’s the case, I can guess.”
The evidence that Demios was an illegitimate child has disappeared, but the one who most closely assisted the Empress’s atrocities survived by curling her wings.
And now it was time to take out her long-hidden claws.
The Emperor’s Hobby Room.
The smell of blood never went away in this place that had been opened again.
Demios was curled up in a dark space, covered in blood.
He ground his teeth at the whispers in his head.
‘Kill, kill, kill.’
He couldn’t tell what the voice was.
It was so strong that he thought his madness was giving him orders.
He had to kill the beast next to Sepia.
At first, he thought that he could hide his flaws only by killing the real one.
However, the being that Demios hated so much, regardless of perfection, had taken away even the one he needed most.
‘They said he was definitely mortally wounded.’
Even that was an illusion.
Where did he start playing?
Now that he was the Grand Duke, he wanted to twist the neck of the beast that threatened him.
And he hated Sepia for choosing the real thing over him.
He wanted to kill her.
But ironically, the reason he could barely keep his mind was also because of her.
Every minute after she disappeared felt like a million years.
He had to kill living things every day because he felt like he would go crazy if he didn’t see them.
The relief he felt when he met Sepia’s eyes again.
Winter is eaten by spring.
All things that were frozen melt in the cozy atmosphere and accept the brilliant light.
‘If you were going to leave me, you shouldn’t have sent me letters in the first place.’
If he didn’t know ordinary emotions, he wouldn’t have suffered like this.
Sweetness and comfort. Happiness intoxicates a madman.
Once he knew that, there was no turning back.
Even at this moment, Demios could feel Sepia.
The only comfort and relief was that she was within his domain.
‘I can still turn back.’
If he just kills the target, the traces of the beast will be erased.
He realized his mistake.
Body, mind, and soul.
His determination to take everything Sepia had was an arrogant greed.
If he continued like this, he would gain nothing.
Then he would take what he could.
It was when he had made up his mind in the darkness.
The summer days were long and the sun was out outside in the afternoon.
The window was slightly open, so the wind that flowed in pushed the curtains and created a path of light.
The line made by the sunlight was now illuminating his arm.
To be exact, the inside of his wrist where he was holding his knee.
Blue veins under his pale skin.
On top of that, there was a black mark, as if ink had spread.
He absentmindedly rubbed the mark.
However, instead of spreading it, it became clearer.
Then he realized. He couldn’t remember exactly when it had started, but the mark that had appeared like a dot at first was growing bigger.
His red pupils dilated greatly.
The indelible mark eventually became letters and appeared on his arm.
‘Sepia Ishtar.’
It was the name of the female he had been longing for.
He rubbed the skin several times until it turned red, but the mark did not disappear.
Yes. That was a name.
He stood up from his frozen seat.
Then he ran out of the hobby room like a murderer.
The servants guarding the door were shocked by the Emperor’s appearance and quickly blocked him.
“Your Majesty!”
But it was no use.
Demios pushed through the servants and crossed the hallway.
The nobles in the garden were shocked to see the Emperor covered in blood.
He headed to the Empress’s palace.
The place where Titie was imprisoned.
The knights surrounding the palace of Repetto were surprised by the appearance of the monster and drew their swords.
However, they stuttered as they confirmed the approaching target.
“There, stop... Your Majesty?”
“Get out of the way.”
The knights hesitated and made way for him.
His gleaming red eyes scanned the entire palace before finding the way straight away.
He grabbed the chained doorknob and opened the long-locked door.
The foul smell that had accumulated in the blocked space assailed his sense of smell.
The knights following the Emperor turned their heads, covering their noses and mouths.
More than the stench, the Empress’s bedroom was reminiscent of a back alley in a slum.
Broken furniture. In a room littered with all sorts of trash, a woman was looking at herself on a dressing table.
The current Empress Titie.
She was brandishing all sorts of treasures in this messy place.
With heavy makeup covering her face that was almost bone-deep.
Titie, who frowned as if her eyes were sore from the sudden light, soon found the Emperor and smiled.
“Ah, my Majesty. You’ve finally come!”
Titie hugged her swollen belly and got up from her seat.
She staggered toward the Emperor with a crawling gait, her belly looking like it might burst at any moment.
It was a strange sight.
Like the story of the witch who gave birth to the devil in the folktale.
The knights were speechless at her appearance, which was completely different from before she was imprisoned in the Empress’s palace.
“I’ve been waiting, Your Majesty. Now that all the misunderstandings have been resolved, right?”
Her large eyes with raised eyelashes blinked.
However, her sunken eyelids only added to the creepiness of this coquetry.
Titie clung to Demios’s feet.
When she raised her head and met the Emperor’s gaze, he swallowed his breath.
“Show me.”
“...Yes?”
The bloodshot pupils flashed strangely.
When Titie asked again, not knowing what was going on, he suddenly pulled down the hem of her dress.
The Emperor’s name should have been clearly engraved on her chest.
There was only a faint trace on her parched skin.
The attraction was an illusion.
“Your, Your Majesty. This is...”
Titi hurriedly pulled up her dress.
However, Demios’s gaze had already left her side.
What he was staring at was her raised arm.
“Yes. The fake was you and the real was me.”
Titie didn’t even understand this, but it didn’t matter.
Demios kissed his inner wrist.
Over the name of the most beloved female.
Demios's congenital defect was ultimately a problem that was passed down through his bloodline.
The sin of having a companion, then marrying a new lover, hiding everything, and making that child the Crown Prince.
Then.
"Does Demios know about that?"
Perhaps his trigger was not the seal, but birth.
Swany's lips lifted. Her elegant black eyes shone cruelly.
"Yes. Because he was the one who killed Charlotte."
Immediately after the death of the former Emperor, Demios visited the imperial palace alone, which was in chaos.
The former Emperor's attendant first discovered Demios standing in front of a dead Arctic fox.
He passed by the attendant expressionlessly in front of the beast, whose neck was clearly broken.
Along with the words that it was already dead.
He had personally removed the actual evidence with his own hands.
Sepia covered her mouth in shock.
'How could he know that she was his biological mother?'
At the same time, this thought occurred to her.
Perhaps his atrocities had added to the weight of his sins.
After the former Empress passed away, Swany had no reason to stand on Demios’ side anymore.
Instead, she hated him.
The current Emperor who had caused the former Empress to die in such a horrible manner.
Swany let out her cold, hidden anger with her eyes.
“No matter how great a divine being, there is nothing one can do when the blood of adultery is mixed in. In the end, didn’t he do the same thing as his father?”
It is said that being attracted to someone with one’s own name is inevitable.
However, it is only a strong attraction.
Any creature with reason should resist that temptation.
“When I first heard about the divorce trial, I didn’t understand Your Highness. How could you reject the Emperor? But after thinking about it for a little while, I understood why it was like that. The Star of Ishtar. The fate that determines the true Emperor led you to reject the current Emperor.”
The reason Swany hated Titie was not because she coveted her palace.
From the beginning, seeing Demios and his concubine reminded her of the former Emperor and Charlotte.
The one the current Empress loved the most was now the one that Swany absolutely hated.
“Now that Charlotte is dead, there is no evidence that the Emperor is an illegitimate child. The current Emperor’s madness is enough of a problem.”
Charlotte, who died in her tangible form, was declared missing, and her body could not be buried in a grave.
Furthermore, even if the innocence of the divine beast was at stake, that would not be enough to bring down the Emperor.
Swany’s eyes burned blue with the blue flame of revenge.
“I want the Emperor to fall. If that happens, I am willing to cooperate with you both in anything.”
Swany loved her precious friend.
Demios knew that the former Empress was not his biological mother, but he had to pay for using her to the end.
No matter what happens. The one who had been hiding in the palace for so long, sharpening the blade of revenge, was none other than Swany herself.
“Titie’s name is fake, right? There are rumors that there is a mastermind behind it. If that’s the case, I can guess.”
The evidence that Demios was an illegitimate child has disappeared, but the one who most closely assisted the Empress’s atrocities survived by curling her wings.
And now it was time to take out her long-hidden claws.
***
The Emperor’s Hobby Room.
The smell of blood never went away in this place that had been opened again.
Demios was curled up in a dark space, covered in blood.
He ground his teeth at the whispers in his head.
‘Kill, kill, kill.’
He couldn’t tell what the voice was.
It was so strong that he thought his madness was giving him orders.
He had to kill the beast next to Sepia.
At first, he thought that he could hide his flaws only by killing the real one.
However, the being that Demios hated so much, regardless of perfection, had taken away even the one he needed most.
‘They said he was definitely mortally wounded.’
Even that was an illusion.
Where did he start playing?
Now that he was the Grand Duke, he wanted to twist the neck of the beast that threatened him.
And he hated Sepia for choosing the real thing over him.
He wanted to kill her.
But ironically, the reason he could barely keep his mind was also because of her.
Every minute after she disappeared felt like a million years.
He had to kill living things every day because he felt like he would go crazy if he didn’t see them.
The relief he felt when he met Sepia’s eyes again.
Winter is eaten by spring.
All things that were frozen melt in the cozy atmosphere and accept the brilliant light.
‘If you were going to leave me, you shouldn’t have sent me letters in the first place.’
If he didn’t know ordinary emotions, he wouldn’t have suffered like this.
Sweetness and comfort. Happiness intoxicates a madman.
Once he knew that, there was no turning back.
Even at this moment, Demios could feel Sepia.
The only comfort and relief was that she was within his domain.
‘I can still turn back.’
If he just kills the target, the traces of the beast will be erased.
He realized his mistake.
Body, mind, and soul.
His determination to take everything Sepia had was an arrogant greed.
If he continued like this, he would gain nothing.
Then he would take what he could.
It was when he had made up his mind in the darkness.
The summer days were long and the sun was out outside in the afternoon.
The window was slightly open, so the wind that flowed in pushed the curtains and created a path of light.
The line made by the sunlight was now illuminating his arm.
To be exact, the inside of his wrist where he was holding his knee.
Blue veins under his pale skin.
On top of that, there was a black mark, as if ink had spread.
He absentmindedly rubbed the mark.
However, instead of spreading it, it became clearer.
Then he realized. He couldn’t remember exactly when it had started, but the mark that had appeared like a dot at first was growing bigger.
His red pupils dilated greatly.
The indelible mark eventually became letters and appeared on his arm.
‘Sepia Ishtar.’
It was the name of the female he had been longing for.
He rubbed the skin several times until it turned red, but the mark did not disappear.
Yes. That was a name.
He stood up from his frozen seat.
Then he ran out of the hobby room like a murderer.
The servants guarding the door were shocked by the Emperor’s appearance and quickly blocked him.
“Your Majesty!”
But it was no use.
Demios pushed through the servants and crossed the hallway.
The nobles in the garden were shocked to see the Emperor covered in blood.
He headed to the Empress’s palace.
The place where Titie was imprisoned.
The knights surrounding the palace of Repetto were surprised by the appearance of the monster and drew their swords.
However, they stuttered as they confirmed the approaching target.
“There, stop... Your Majesty?”
“Get out of the way.”
The knights hesitated and made way for him.
His gleaming red eyes scanned the entire palace before finding the way straight away.
He grabbed the chained doorknob and opened the long-locked door.
The foul smell that had accumulated in the blocked space assailed his sense of smell.
The knights following the Emperor turned their heads, covering their noses and mouths.
More than the stench, the Empress’s bedroom was reminiscent of a back alley in a slum.
Broken furniture. In a room littered with all sorts of trash, a woman was looking at herself on a dressing table.
The current Empress Titie.
She was brandishing all sorts of treasures in this messy place.
With heavy makeup covering her face that was almost bone-deep.
Titie, who frowned as if her eyes were sore from the sudden light, soon found the Emperor and smiled.
“Ah, my Majesty. You’ve finally come!”
Titie hugged her swollen belly and got up from her seat.
She staggered toward the Emperor with a crawling gait, her belly looking like it might burst at any moment.
It was a strange sight.
Like the story of the witch who gave birth to the devil in the folktale.
The knights were speechless at her appearance, which was completely different from before she was imprisoned in the Empress’s palace.
“I’ve been waiting, Your Majesty. Now that all the misunderstandings have been resolved, right?”
Her large eyes with raised eyelashes blinked.
However, her sunken eyelids only added to the creepiness of this coquetry.
Titie clung to Demios’s feet.
When she raised her head and met the Emperor’s gaze, he swallowed his breath.
“Show me.”
“...Yes?”
The bloodshot pupils flashed strangely.
When Titie asked again, not knowing what was going on, he suddenly pulled down the hem of her dress.
The Emperor’s name should have been clearly engraved on her chest.
There was only a faint trace on her parched skin.
The attraction was an illusion.
“Your, Your Majesty. This is...”
Titi hurriedly pulled up her dress.
However, Demios’s gaze had already left her side.
What he was staring at was her raised arm.
“Yes. The fake was you and the real was me.”
Titie didn’t even understand this, but it didn’t matter.
Demios kissed his inner wrist.
Over the name of the most beloved female.
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