(196) It is too late to regret
The walls of the Imperial Palace were solid, but they were helpless against the giant elephants. The elephants, the size of several buildings combined, had thick skin, so even when the Imperial Knights swung their swords, they suffered only minor wounds.
Knights skilled in swordsmanship stepped forward to confront the elephant, but whenever they did, ferocious beasts like tigers and leopards would rush in from the side at high speed.
Knights were killed as their necks were torn off by wild beasts, and the high walls of the imperial palace cracked and crumbled from the kicks of elephants.
Meanwhile, the Emperor moved through a secret passage surrounded by his knight guards, screaming in frustration.
“Bring the Northern Lord here! Bring the Northern Lord and the former Eastern Lord here immediately!”
Several men blocked the path of the Emperor as he shouted. Their mouths were soaked in blood, but it was not their own. A few black and yellow leopards prowled around them.
The Emperor recognized the man standing at the very front.
It was Pielta Kubera, the Prince of the Karuto Kingdom.
“You... you...”
Pielta grinned at the terrified look on the Emperor's face.
“Weaklings. You insignificant nobodies have been filthily ignoring us all this time. How about that, Emperor?”
Pielta spread his arms.
"Do you still find me funny?"
The Emperor blinked his eyes and looked around.
Only five knights were guarding the Emperor. The rest had gone out to stop the commotion outside. Furthermore, the strongest guardian knights in this empire were not by his side, having gone to capture Theodore.
"Hey, guys."
As Pielta spoke as if singing, the beasts bared their sharp teeth and crouched low.
Grrr-
The eyes of the beasts gleamed cruelly.
“Eat it all up. It won’t taste good, though.”
Only then did the Emperor realize his foolishness.
He should not have treated Theodore that way. If he had admitted his mistake and revoked the imperial order when Theodore came to visit, Theodore would have rushed to the palace by now to stand in the Emperor's way.
No, if he hadn't believed the words of the Western Lord before that, if he hadn't rejected the Eastern and Northern Lords, and if he had spoken kindly to the Eastern Lord, then he trusted him.
Would the situation have been different if that had happened?
The knights wielded their swords to protect the Emperor. They were able to stop a few of the beasts, but their skill was not enough to stop them all.
A hollow laugh escaped from between the Emperor's lips.
The beast's sharp fangs pierced the Emperor's neck.
It is too late to regret.
Victoria and her companions lay collapsed in the dungeon, their fingernails and toenails completely fallen off, barely breathing. With no strength left to even think, they lay there staring only at the ceiling, even as the dungeon rang out.
The ceiling was falling with a rustling sound; the situation was serious. It looked like the ceiling would collapse soon.
The other prisoners who still had some energy left cried out, asking what was going on. Victoria regained her senses just a little at their sharp screams.
'What is it...? Has something happened at the Imperial Palace...?'
She heard the sound of a door opening with a clang. Victoria struggled to turn her head and confirmed the figure visible in her blurry vision.
"Oh my, how pitiful. I didn't know you looked like this."
She guessed who the other person was from the voice she heard.
“Ma... Mati... Mati...”
Her tongue didn't move well.
Martina climbed over Rachel and crouched down next to Victoria.
"Poor thing. It's tough, isn't it?"
“Sa... ve... me...”
"Of course I'll spare your life."
Martina rummaged through her top and took out a pocket. She opened the pocket and took out several chunks of flesh inside.
“It’s the heart of a resilient lizard. It might look a little gross, but so what? Do you want to eat it?”
“Give... this!”
Victoria, who had been barely breathing as if she were about to die, sprang to her feet and clutched the heart resting on Martina's palm. As she stuffed the red chunk of flesh into her mouth, Victoria looked like a demon rising from hell.
Even in the midst of her pain, Rachel was horrified by the sight of her daughter.
“V-Victoria... Who on earth... Who on earth...”
Although Ariana had called Victoria Paganus in front of the Emperor, Rachel did not believe her. She had assumed it was a lie Ariana had told to plunge Victoria into even greater pain.
However, Victoria munched on and swallowed the disgusting chunks of flesh, and after a few seconds, a noticeable change occurred.
The torn skin healed little by little, and light returned to the blurry eyes. Although the fingernails did not grow back immediately, the festering wounds healed.
Victoria, looking much better than before, put another heart into her mouth. The sight of Victoria chewing made Rachel feel nauseous, but there was nothing left to throw up.
Meanwhile, the commotion outside continued.
The ringing sound was annoying, so Victoria frowned and looked up.
"What's going on outside?"
"Your grandfather gave me instructions."
“He gave instructions to only you? Without even telling me?”
“He must have been worried you would mess things up. And you actually did.”
"I am!"
Victoria grabbed Martina by the collar.
"I didn't fail!"
“You failed, Victoria. You lost to Ariana.”
Victoria gnashed her teeth.
“But be grateful. Your grandfather has decided to give you one more chance. Let’s go, Victoria.”
The people Martina had brought were taking Harold out of the adjacent cell and carrying him on their shoulders. Harold did not move at all, appearing to have lost consciousness.
Victoria asked coldly.
“Why are you taking him?”
"He told me to get him, too. He said you never know when he might come in handy."
"Ha."
Victoria snorted and walked lightly toward the open iron gate. Rachel reached out and grabbed the hem of Victoria's clothes.
Victoria looked down at her tattered mother with eyes full of annoyance.
“Save... me...”
Victoria's expression did not change despite Rachel's pleading. Rachel desperately clung to Victoria.
“Save me... please save me, Victoria....”
The weak, intermittent voice did not reach Victoria. Victoria grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled hard, as if annoyed.
Rachel, who had been barely hanging on, tumbled to the floor. Martina clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“Your grandfather only told me to save you and the Third Prince, but if you want, I could save your parents. They are so desperate, do you think I will?”
Victoria raised one corner of her mouth.
"That's enough. It's useless."
Rachel gasped for breath at the harsh words that brushed her off.
Victoria walked ahead toward the entrance of the dungeon as if she didn't even want to waste time looking.
Rachel, left behind, stared blankly at her daughter's retreating figure before turning to look at her husband, who was slumped in the corner. Jacob Bronte, who had once been dependable and caring and protected Rachel's world, was crumpled like a rag, unaware that his daughter was abandoning him.
“It’s useless.”
Rachel had heard those words many times. The voice saying them was none other than her own.
"You're really useless."
Rachel had said that to Ariana a hundred, a thousand times. Because Ariana was a child who deserved to hear such words. Because even though she had given birth to her, she didn't feel like her own child.
The words that had stabbed Ariana's heart countless times came back exactly as they were, tearing Rachel's heart apart. She could not breathe as blood gushed out of her heart.
Ariana, did you feel this way too? Did you feel this pain every time I told you you were useless? Is that why you looked at me with such despairing eyes, eyes darker than darkness itself?
Helena acted selfishly, and Victoria always harbored ulterior motives. However, Ariana steadfastly desired only Rachel's love.
If Rachel had spoken kindly to Ariana even once, or hugged her affectionately, Ariana would not have been able to cast Rachel aside so heartlessly.
Because that is the kind of child she is. Because she is such a good child.
Rachel only just found that out.
Kwaaaaang-!
The roar that seemed to be ringing from afar grew closer. The floor of the underground prison shook. Her vision blurred with dust falling from the ceiling.
Rachel gathered her remaining strength and crawled on the ground. Crawling like a beast, she slipped through the open iron gate and crawled down the long corridor.
Bang! Thump!
Crunch!
A rock fell every time the loud roar rang out.
The prisoners' screams mixed with a deafening roar. A beast's roar was heard from somewhere.
A few pieces of stone struck Rachel's head. Blood flowing from her torn forehead blurred her vision.
Still, Rachel crawled.
Suddenly, she thought of her life in the East.
"Are you alright?"
Eastern Lord asked Rachel, who had just given birth to a child, that.
The blue eyes directed at Rachel were affectionate, but Rachel, disoriented by the pain of childbirth, failed to notice them.
But now that she thinks about it, that voice seems to have been truly affectionate.
"Are you alright, madam?"
Whenever the Eastern Lord came to see Ariana, he would first ask Rachel how she was doing.
Tears mixed with blood flowed down Rachel's cheeks.
She thought her life had been nothing but being used by the Western Lord. She believed that being born as the Western Lord's daughter meant there hadn't been a single good moment, and that she had been forced to make unavoidable choices to survive.
It wasn't.
There was definitely a chance to escape.
If only she had remained in the East at that time, and raised Ariana as the Eastern Lord Consort, shown her affection, grown fond of the White family, and not viewed their attitude with contempt...
'If that had been the case, things would be different now.'
As she watched the collapsing ceiling and the massive boulder crashing down on her, Rachel thought.
But it was too late to regret.
Having escaped the dungeon, Victoria smiled brightly as she looked back at the horrors unfolding in the Imperial Palace.
“Ah, life is finally bearable.”
She never imagined Western Lord would be plotting something like this. Shd thought it had ended in failure, but Western Lord was preparing for the next move, as always.
Victoria thought that she was indeed an indispensable asset to Western Lord.
'As long as Grandpa is here, I'll be fine no matter what I do.'
There must be a reason why he ordered the rescue of Victoria, who was imprisoned in the dungeon, even in the urgent situation of destroying the Imperial Palace. Perhaps he intends to rebuild the Imperial Palace after bringing down the Empire once, and place the Third Prince on the throne as Emperor and Victoria on the throne as Empress.
Martina had tightly bound Harold to the back of the leopard waiting outside. Harold still hadn't regained consciousness.
“Victoria, you get on that and hurry out of the Empire. Once you cross the border, your people will be waiting for you. Join them.”
“What about Ariana?”
Watching Victoria obsess over Ariana even in the midst of this, Martina frowned slightly. But she soon smiled and spoke.
“She probably hasn’t left the capital yet. We have allies outside the capital, too.”
“Then bring Ariana here. Make sure you bring her alive and stand before me.”
“Well, I’ll give it a try, but...”
“You said that if you eat the heart of a human who is good for mutual growth, the effects last for a few years, right?”
Martina smiled sweetly, realizing what Victoria wanted.
“Right. Come to think of it, you and Ariana share the same blood. Even if it’s only half.”
"So bring her back alive. I absolutely must eat her heart."
The walls of the Imperial Palace were solid, but they were helpless against the giant elephants. The elephants, the size of several buildings combined, had thick skin, so even when the Imperial Knights swung their swords, they suffered only minor wounds.
Knights skilled in swordsmanship stepped forward to confront the elephant, but whenever they did, ferocious beasts like tigers and leopards would rush in from the side at high speed.
Knights were killed as their necks were torn off by wild beasts, and the high walls of the imperial palace cracked and crumbled from the kicks of elephants.
Meanwhile, the Emperor moved through a secret passage surrounded by his knight guards, screaming in frustration.
“Bring the Northern Lord here! Bring the Northern Lord and the former Eastern Lord here immediately!”
Several men blocked the path of the Emperor as he shouted. Their mouths were soaked in blood, but it was not their own. A few black and yellow leopards prowled around them.
The Emperor recognized the man standing at the very front.
It was Pielta Kubera, the Prince of the Karuto Kingdom.
“You... you...”
Pielta grinned at the terrified look on the Emperor's face.
“Weaklings. You insignificant nobodies have been filthily ignoring us all this time. How about that, Emperor?”
Pielta spread his arms.
"Do you still find me funny?"
The Emperor blinked his eyes and looked around.
Only five knights were guarding the Emperor. The rest had gone out to stop the commotion outside. Furthermore, the strongest guardian knights in this empire were not by his side, having gone to capture Theodore.
"Hey, guys."
As Pielta spoke as if singing, the beasts bared their sharp teeth and crouched low.
Grrr-
The eyes of the beasts gleamed cruelly.
“Eat it all up. It won’t taste good, though.”
Only then did the Emperor realize his foolishness.
He should not have treated Theodore that way. If he had admitted his mistake and revoked the imperial order when Theodore came to visit, Theodore would have rushed to the palace by now to stand in the Emperor's way.
No, if he hadn't believed the words of the Western Lord before that, if he hadn't rejected the Eastern and Northern Lords, and if he had spoken kindly to the Eastern Lord, then he trusted him.
Would the situation have been different if that had happened?
The knights wielded their swords to protect the Emperor. They were able to stop a few of the beasts, but their skill was not enough to stop them all.
A hollow laugh escaped from between the Emperor's lips.
The beast's sharp fangs pierced the Emperor's neck.
It is too late to regret.
***
Victoria and her companions lay collapsed in the dungeon, their fingernails and toenails completely fallen off, barely breathing. With no strength left to even think, they lay there staring only at the ceiling, even as the dungeon rang out.
The ceiling was falling with a rustling sound; the situation was serious. It looked like the ceiling would collapse soon.
The other prisoners who still had some energy left cried out, asking what was going on. Victoria regained her senses just a little at their sharp screams.
'What is it...? Has something happened at the Imperial Palace...?'
She heard the sound of a door opening with a clang. Victoria struggled to turn her head and confirmed the figure visible in her blurry vision.
"Oh my, how pitiful. I didn't know you looked like this."
She guessed who the other person was from the voice she heard.
“Ma... Mati... Mati...”
Her tongue didn't move well.
Martina climbed over Rachel and crouched down next to Victoria.
"Poor thing. It's tough, isn't it?"
“Sa... ve... me...”
"Of course I'll spare your life."
Martina rummaged through her top and took out a pocket. She opened the pocket and took out several chunks of flesh inside.
“It’s the heart of a resilient lizard. It might look a little gross, but so what? Do you want to eat it?”
“Give... this!”
Victoria, who had been barely breathing as if she were about to die, sprang to her feet and clutched the heart resting on Martina's palm. As she stuffed the red chunk of flesh into her mouth, Victoria looked like a demon rising from hell.
Even in the midst of her pain, Rachel was horrified by the sight of her daughter.
“V-Victoria... Who on earth... Who on earth...”
Although Ariana had called Victoria Paganus in front of the Emperor, Rachel did not believe her. She had assumed it was a lie Ariana had told to plunge Victoria into even greater pain.
However, Victoria munched on and swallowed the disgusting chunks of flesh, and after a few seconds, a noticeable change occurred.
The torn skin healed little by little, and light returned to the blurry eyes. Although the fingernails did not grow back immediately, the festering wounds healed.
Victoria, looking much better than before, put another heart into her mouth. The sight of Victoria chewing made Rachel feel nauseous, but there was nothing left to throw up.
Meanwhile, the commotion outside continued.
The ringing sound was annoying, so Victoria frowned and looked up.
"What's going on outside?"
"Your grandfather gave me instructions."
“He gave instructions to only you? Without even telling me?”
“He must have been worried you would mess things up. And you actually did.”
"I am!"
Victoria grabbed Martina by the collar.
"I didn't fail!"
“You failed, Victoria. You lost to Ariana.”
Victoria gnashed her teeth.
“But be grateful. Your grandfather has decided to give you one more chance. Let’s go, Victoria.”
The people Martina had brought were taking Harold out of the adjacent cell and carrying him on their shoulders. Harold did not move at all, appearing to have lost consciousness.
Victoria asked coldly.
“Why are you taking him?”
"He told me to get him, too. He said you never know when he might come in handy."
"Ha."
Victoria snorted and walked lightly toward the open iron gate. Rachel reached out and grabbed the hem of Victoria's clothes.
Victoria looked down at her tattered mother with eyes full of annoyance.
“Save... me...”
Victoria's expression did not change despite Rachel's pleading. Rachel desperately clung to Victoria.
“Save me... please save me, Victoria....”
The weak, intermittent voice did not reach Victoria. Victoria grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled hard, as if annoyed.
Rachel, who had been barely hanging on, tumbled to the floor. Martina clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“Your grandfather only told me to save you and the Third Prince, but if you want, I could save your parents. They are so desperate, do you think I will?”
Victoria raised one corner of her mouth.
"That's enough. It's useless."
Rachel gasped for breath at the harsh words that brushed her off.
Victoria walked ahead toward the entrance of the dungeon as if she didn't even want to waste time looking.
Rachel, left behind, stared blankly at her daughter's retreating figure before turning to look at her husband, who was slumped in the corner. Jacob Bronte, who had once been dependable and caring and protected Rachel's world, was crumpled like a rag, unaware that his daughter was abandoning him.
“It’s useless.”
Rachel had heard those words many times. The voice saying them was none other than her own.
"You're really useless."
Rachel had said that to Ariana a hundred, a thousand times. Because Ariana was a child who deserved to hear such words. Because even though she had given birth to her, she didn't feel like her own child.
The words that had stabbed Ariana's heart countless times came back exactly as they were, tearing Rachel's heart apart. She could not breathe as blood gushed out of her heart.
Ariana, did you feel this way too? Did you feel this pain every time I told you you were useless? Is that why you looked at me with such despairing eyes, eyes darker than darkness itself?
Helena acted selfishly, and Victoria always harbored ulterior motives. However, Ariana steadfastly desired only Rachel's love.
If Rachel had spoken kindly to Ariana even once, or hugged her affectionately, Ariana would not have been able to cast Rachel aside so heartlessly.
Because that is the kind of child she is. Because she is such a good child.
Rachel only just found that out.
Kwaaaaang-!
The roar that seemed to be ringing from afar grew closer. The floor of the underground prison shook. Her vision blurred with dust falling from the ceiling.
Rachel gathered her remaining strength and crawled on the ground. Crawling like a beast, she slipped through the open iron gate and crawled down the long corridor.
Bang! Thump!
Crunch!
A rock fell every time the loud roar rang out.
The prisoners' screams mixed with a deafening roar. A beast's roar was heard from somewhere.
A few pieces of stone struck Rachel's head. Blood flowing from her torn forehead blurred her vision.
Still, Rachel crawled.
Suddenly, she thought of her life in the East.
"Are you alright?"
Eastern Lord asked Rachel, who had just given birth to a child, that.
The blue eyes directed at Rachel were affectionate, but Rachel, disoriented by the pain of childbirth, failed to notice them.
But now that she thinks about it, that voice seems to have been truly affectionate.
"Are you alright, madam?"
Whenever the Eastern Lord came to see Ariana, he would first ask Rachel how she was doing.
Tears mixed with blood flowed down Rachel's cheeks.
She thought her life had been nothing but being used by the Western Lord. She believed that being born as the Western Lord's daughter meant there hadn't been a single good moment, and that she had been forced to make unavoidable choices to survive.
It wasn't.
There was definitely a chance to escape.
If only she had remained in the East at that time, and raised Ariana as the Eastern Lord Consort, shown her affection, grown fond of the White family, and not viewed their attitude with contempt...
'If that had been the case, things would be different now.'
As she watched the collapsing ceiling and the massive boulder crashing down on her, Rachel thought.
But it was too late to regret.
***
Having escaped the dungeon, Victoria smiled brightly as she looked back at the horrors unfolding in the Imperial Palace.
“Ah, life is finally bearable.”
She never imagined Western Lord would be plotting something like this. Shd thought it had ended in failure, but Western Lord was preparing for the next move, as always.
Victoria thought that she was indeed an indispensable asset to Western Lord.
'As long as Grandpa is here, I'll be fine no matter what I do.'
There must be a reason why he ordered the rescue of Victoria, who was imprisoned in the dungeon, even in the urgent situation of destroying the Imperial Palace. Perhaps he intends to rebuild the Imperial Palace after bringing down the Empire once, and place the Third Prince on the throne as Emperor and Victoria on the throne as Empress.
Martina had tightly bound Harold to the back of the leopard waiting outside. Harold still hadn't regained consciousness.
“Victoria, you get on that and hurry out of the Empire. Once you cross the border, your people will be waiting for you. Join them.”
“What about Ariana?”
Watching Victoria obsess over Ariana even in the midst of this, Martina frowned slightly. But she soon smiled and spoke.
“She probably hasn’t left the capital yet. We have allies outside the capital, too.”
“Then bring Ariana here. Make sure you bring her alive and stand before me.”
“Well, I’ll give it a try, but...”
“You said that if you eat the heart of a human who is good for mutual growth, the effects last for a few years, right?”
Martina smiled sweetly, realizing what Victoria wanted.
“Right. Come to think of it, you and Ariana share the same blood. Even if it’s only half.”
"So bring her back alive. I absolutely must eat her heart."
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