Imperial Palace.
Medea entered the imperial palace.
Perhaps because of her mood, there was a faint bloody smell on the tip of her nose.
"Meet Your Highness, the 1st Princess."
The imperial attendant came to the door and bowed deeply towards Medea.
The heavier greeting than usual was not the Princess, but the attitude towards the Empress.
"Oh, meet Your Highness!"
The other palace attendants also followed the attendant and bowed down. There were even people who prostrated themselves on the grass. There was no buzzing reaction mixed with vigilance and sympathy that had been seen just a few hours ago.
"Your Highness."
Terence also heard that Medea had arrived and hurriedly ran out.
"You must have heard the general situation from Gallo. I'll take you here."
Terence escorted Medea, naturally blocking the eyes of the palace attendants.
"Cesare."
Medea turned her head.
The traces of the devastation were erased, and the busy movement was nowhere to be found.
"...The Emperor's autograph was announced as an accidental death, and the funeral of the Marquis Eratosthenes was also held as a state funeral."
Terence rubbed his chin nervously.
"Cesare's condition is not perfect now. From the time he managed to wake up... Since entering the Imperial palace, the scars of the gods seemed to continue to be engraved on his body. I don't think he showed it..."
Terence had noticed the bleeding on the backs of his hands, even as he walked out of his father's presence.
"They all disappeared. Where did he go with that body?"
Terence's voice was mixed with a strange tremor.
Now that Cesare was gone, Terence was the only one who could deal with the urgent situation. He couldn't leave his seat carelessly.
"The Emperor's death will be announced soon. The main vassals of the 1st Prince's faction, including the Marquis of Leniard, will also accompany them."
Before people's attention could be drawn further, Perdiccas II's true cause of death had to be hidden.
Even to Leniard, the main pillar of the 1st Prince faction.
However, the person who was supposed to be at the forefront of the situation suddenly disappeared.
"For now, Terence will take over this place. I'll look for Cesar."
Medea looked up. The sky under the sunset was as red as blood.
She thought she knew where he was.
***
Medea stood in front of the old Empress's palace.
It was a place that seemed to be closed after the unfortunate death of Empress Eleanor.
It was also a place where no one could take a step, and it was a place that was eventually forgotten in everyone's minds.
The outer wall of the palace, once adorned with ivory, was now covered with dark green moss that grew in every gap.
"..."
Medea stepped on the faded marble.
Weeds were growing around the palace.
Maybe that's why the palace of time, which was getting a little dark at this time of year, looked so gloomy.
Medea stepped into it.
The more she walked, the more the inside remained the same, except for the old ones.
It means that someone's hand was constantly touching. The lush bushes outside are like camouflage.
Medea stopped as she walked down the hallway.
A room with a portrait of an ornate woman with beautiful, but rather dry eyes.
There she found her husband leaning over him.
"Cesare."
There was no time to express her joy.
Finding that his always straight back was suppressed, Medea stopped.
He was unfamiliar as he sat in a dark corner of the room where the sunset did not reach.
The arrogant man, who always greets the brilliant golden light, was crouching in the dark shadows as if he were afraid.
"..."
Dorrak. Dorrak.
A quiet noise, like the sound of trees rustling, echoed through the space.
He was fiddling with the toy as if playing with his hands, but if he touched it, he felt like he would fall into an uncontrollable abyss.
Until Medea stood behind him, he was motionless.
It's as if he's blocking out external stimuli and focusing all his attention on the toy in his hand.
"Cesare."
Medea reached out to the desolate back.
"..."
His hand stopped fiddling with the toy, and his fist clenched.
The warmth on his shoulders made Cesare raise his head.
The murderous intent that was about to spread fiercely toward the intruder who had disturbed his complete solitude disappeared in an instant upon seeing Medea.
The unfocused eyes capture the green eyes looking down on him.
Only after confirming each and every detail with his eyes, as if imprinting it all: the dense face, the raised cheeks, even the white breath escaping from the corners of the small mouth.
"..."
He reached out without realizing it.
"Dea."
A thin voice and thick hands wrapped around her waist. Medea was in his arms in an instant.
"Whoa..."
Cesare rested his forehead on the nape of her neck, breathing as if he were letting out the breath that had just been blocked.
Unlike his grandfather, who was cooling down, the warmth of Medea, who was alive, woke Cesare from his hazy escape.
"Now, the place where you will sit is clean."
Now, this moment is real.
"I'm sorry... That's right."
It was then.
"..."
A short breath leaked out as if it were a gasp.
Medea was speechless for a moment. Her shoulders were hot and wet.
He was like a child who hadn't learned to cry...
The embrace that hugged her desperately, the buried head, and the trembling shoulders.
Like someone who has never learned how to let go of the sadness that runs through his whole body.
"Ah."
At the same time, Medea looked down at the toy that Cesare was fiddling with and realized the whole story.
'Did the Marquis of Eratosthenes get rid of the Emperor...'
It was for Cesare and Medea, for them.
The old man, who had been standing silently beside Perdiccas II, who was forcing the oracle, chose to block his grandson's storm with his branch-like body.
"Cesare..."
Medea couldn't stand it and hugged him by the nape of his neck.
And she hid his face in her arms.
Like beasts licking each other's wounds, he swallowed the sadness he couldn't vent instead.
Cesare pursed his lips.
"...grandfather..."
He muttered in a hoarse voice.
And he realized.
"Grandfather..."
From the moment he realized that his very existence was the shame and wound of Eratosthenes and Eleanor, he was able to call a title that he had never been able to call.
Cesare only let it out of his mouth after he was out of breath.
"Grandpa, Goodbye..."
He wished he had called him like this a little earlier, that he hadn't cared, and just called him out.
Where is there to wait for?
Cesare couldn't finish his words.
Medea swept down his back the whole time.
She hopes that her clumsy comfort will stop his tears from crying out loud.
For now, she is just burying all the things she wants to ask about being together like this
***
Katzen Castle, the streets of Persepolis.
As the sun was setting, a dull echo spread through the streets.
Dee-e-een. Dee-e-een.
The echo echoed for a long time.
"What are you talking about?"
The merchants who were about to finish their business raised their heads.
"I think it's the sound of bells ringing in the imperial palace, right? It's strange. It's a bell struck on a day when there's no ceremony or festival."
When people were puzzled and were about to go back to what they were doing.
Boowoouu Boowoouuuu
The sound of the ceremonial trumpet rang out.
Even passers-by who were on their way stopped in their tracks.
"Three times..."
The Katzen remembered this sound.
Decades ago, when the Emperor passed away, this sound resounded through the earth and the sky...
"His Majesty is dead!"
"The Emperor is dead..!"
Words of loyalty and silence erupted all over the streets.
By the time Marquis Leniard entered the imperial palace, everything had returned to its original splendid appearance, except for the faint smell of blood.
"Terence!"
His face still had the dignity of an old nobleman, but there was also a joy that could not be hidden.
It seems that God has not yet abandoned this country.
The two worries he had were solved at once.
"Where is His Highness? Where is His Highness the 1st Prince?"
It was not enough for the First Prince Cesare, who had been wandering around, to wake up, and even Perdiccas II, who was the biggest obstacle to the succession to the throne, died.
"Your Excellency, Marquis Leniar. Even though the palace gates were sealed, the news was fast."
Terence pointed out nonsense.
It was a pinch of the fact that even though people were planted in the Imperial palace, they had not yet properly grasped the truth about the Emperor's death, but it was a subtle pinch of the Marquis who did not even grasp the truth.
However, the Marquis, who was very excited, did not even notice the meaning of these words.
"Is it time to be so carefree?! What are you doing without preparing for the coronation!"
Perdiccas II coincidentally passed away without choosing a Crown Prince.
This meant that the throne was still vacant, and it also meant that the rest of the children had no ambitions for anything.
"We can't put it off even for a day because of the funeral! His Majesty's, or rather, the Emperor's funeral, will also be attended from all over the Empire, but before that, the coronation ceremony must be completed. Your Highness Cesare must wear the imperial crown first!"
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