“…Do you know my mother?”
Yasiris was confused by the name that was suddenly brought up.
She never expected her mother's name to be mentioned from the mouth of this particular woman.
Lilia Chernyan.
She is the concubine of the Kingdom of Verain, and is known to be a commoner coming from the polar regions.
She married the king after he laid eyes on her at a resort where he spent his vacation.
Even Yasiris, who had heard their love story directly from Lilia, knew only this.
So, it was natural that she would not expect her mother to have a connection with a mysterious and powerful warrior.
“Are you really Lilia's daughter?
The one with silver hair and blue eyes?”
“That's true... but what is your relationship with my mother?”
“Didn't she mention me to you?”
Yasiris closed her mouth in confusion.
From the way she spoke, it seemed that she had a close relationship with her mother, but she did not hear anything about it, so she felt guilty for no reason.
“Okay, that's okay.
I see from your expression that you don't know anything.
It's stupid of me to expect anything from a girl who ran away from home.”
“What?”
"Get in now.
Let's get out of here and talk.
Weren't you on the run?"
Yasiris, who suddenly heard about her mother's amazing past, tried to erase the word “escape” from her mind.
She also curbed her curiosity about the real age of this woman who appeared to be in her twenties.
Instead, she cautiously brought up the topic that had been going on between them moments before.
“I...my child...”
"I'm not going to take it away from you.
I'm not without conscience.
Ah, before we go, let's decorate the place a little.
Put some blood first...and maybe some hair?
To make it look like you, of course.
Platinum blonde hair is rare, isn't it?"
Yasiris blinked her eyes in confusion, unable to keep up with the rapidly changing topics.
She felt stupid because she had been struggling to protect her child just minutes before, while the woman seemed to carelessly pass it by.
The dark blue-haired woman immediately followed through on her words.
She took out an animal that she kept in her luggage as food for the griffin, and stabbed it several times with the dagger.
When Yasiris retreated, convulsing from the heavy spray of blood, a monotonous voice came to her: “Why are you standing in shock?
Take off your clothes.”
“What?”
“I will lend you my robe, so wear it, and give me your clothes.
I will tear them and throw them away.”
“Ah, okay”
"You ran out here, didn't you?
To be safe, maybe you'd better scream before we leave.
Are you good at acting?
Or should I ask Finn to pretend to eat you?"
“…I will try on my own.”
Yasiris's death was faked in moments.
The monster's blood-stained footprints made the atmosphere frightening.
It added to the realism that the griffin actually tore the clothes and ate some of them.
And finally…
“Why?
Are you still attached to him?”
"no."
Yasiris grabbed her wedding ring, which she was looking at calmly, and removed it in one go from her left finger.
Although the trace remained due to wearing it for a long time, she felt relief and her heart palpitated when she finally got rid of this restriction.
It seems like a dream.
Incredible happiness.
Although she felt astonished by the sudden luck, she was sure of one thing.
It's all over forever.
With Kazan Tinilath.
Yasiris finally smiled, and the wedding ring fell from her hand.
It has been a year since the Empress disappeared.
Six months ago, rumors began to spread that the Emperor had gone mad.
“You also seem to think that the Empress is dead, right?”
“No, no, Your Majesty!
I just…”
Chuck-!
Blood quickly spurted from the severed neck before he could complete his justification.
The body that had unjustly lost his life fell to the ground, but those around him closed their eyes tightly, avoiding the cruel scene.
In the frozen place, Kazan coldly flicked his sword.
He seemed bored as he killed the nobleman without blinking an eyelid.
"How stupid.
Didn't I say that doubting me is treason?"
Neither the dead nor the survivors said a word.
Without hesitation, Kazan turned around in the silence.
“The session ends here today.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Duke Jefken Barilio cleaned up the situation after the Emperor left.
He sent the nobles outside and summoned servants to quickly dispose of the body.
No one was trying to silence the nobles anymore after the incident was repeated several times.
Rather, he was encouraged to spread the word to prevent the emergence of any other lunatic who would dare to provoke the Emperor.
“You're very tired today too.”
“Duke Blake”
Jeffkin turned around at the sound of a familiar voice and nodded his head in greeting.
Temesyan welcomed him with a calm face, as if he had not seen the terrible incident that had just occurred.
“I was hoping the Empress would return soon, but it is a pity.”
“…There is no escape from it.
She certainly has unavoidable circumstances.”
Geffkin replied coldly, but he found the situation very funny.
An emperor insists that the dead empress is still alive.
And Duke Blake only follows his orders because the Emperor says so.
Unfortunately, Gefkin is the only person capable of controlling them, even if only a little, so he had to bear most of the reconciliation and coordination tasks.
“I will handle the matter this time as well, but hearts have been troubled inside and outside the palace lately, and this is worrying.”
“Haha, but thanks to Duke Barilio’s efforts, His Majesty is acting freely, right?”
“Duke Blake could have helped me too.”
“Oh, I'm just a middle-aged man with no strength, I only move on His Majesty's orders.”
Gevkin almost responded to Timsyan's joke, but stopped.
In fact, if Temsian moved, the situation would more likely turn into a sea of blood than a settlement, so it was best to avoid such a dangerous gamble.
“If you're not here to help, what's the point of coming back?”
Didn't he leave excitedly with the nobles after the meeting ended early?
When he asked him the reason for his hidden return, Temesyan cleared his throat and said, “I heard something strange on my way out.
They said that they would search for the Empress to stop His Majesty’s tyranny this time.
Since Duke Barilio supported the Empress previously, I thought I would alert you before something happened.”
“What a…”
Geffkin paused for a moment to choose his words.
He was going to surround her with elegant expressions, but he realized who was in front of him and uttered unconcerned words: “A stupid plan.
Since when has the Empress been harmed by His Majesty?”
Tak-!
“I said I wouldn't!”
Ronelia got up from her place, hitting the table, and the people sitting across from her followed her, standing up automatically.
“Your Majesty!”
“Count Tachyon, were you the one who instigated this?
Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“What are you saying?!”
“How can I manipulate the Empress’s search teams?
Just one word will make His Majesty swing his sword!”
Count Tachyon broke out in a cold sweat amidst a scream filled with rage.
He expected that the Empress might refuse, but he did not imagine that her reaction would be so violent.
“I didn't say you should stop them.
I just suggested that if we reduced the number of people in the search a little and used them elsewhere, wouldn't that be helpful?”
"This is the same thing.
You fear for your lives, so you push me to do what you cannot.
If this is not an assassination attempt, then what?"
“But His Majesty cares more about you than us, doesn’t he?”
As if she had been pricked in a hidden weak spot, Runelia screamed violently:
“What interest are you talking about?
Don’t you know that His Majesty is fascinated by the First Empress and not me?!
Get out of here, I don’t want to see you!”
“H, well, we apologize.”
Under the weight of her attack as if she were going to throw something, Count Tachyon and his group fled in confusion.
Indeed, as soon as the door was closed, a cup of tea shattered with a loud sound.
“Indeed, these imperfect people are called nobles!”
Ronelia was left alone in the reception room, breathing angrily and taking her anger out on things.
She felt very humiliated when she talked about the reasons that prevented her from taking action, and her anger did not subside easily.
If it had been Empress Yasiris, she would have come forward without hesitation and survived.
In fact, wasn't the Empress the reason for the Emperor's constant madness?
Ronelia hated Yasiris, who still made her feel inferior even after her death.
She could no longer make fun of her to relieve her pressure, her anger was lost without direction.
“It was supposed to be mine...”
The Emperor should have been mine for sure.
Ronelia gritted her teeth.
She couldn't understand how she ended up in this situation.
When the Emperor returned from his journey in a miserable state, without the Empress, she thought the opportunity had finally come.
She imagined that if she cared for him and cherished him, he would soon open his heart to her, so she sank into rosy dreams.
But her plan collapsed on the first day of Kazan's return, when he recovered physically.
Witch potions temporarily increase healing, but do not treat serious injuries.
So how did he do that?
“Is he even human?”
She muttered unconsciously, then closed her mouth, startling herself.
How many people have been beheaded recently because of an obscene word?
She looked warily into the empty room and sighed.
Should I be so afraid?
“How infuriating.”
I kicked the chair hard.
Its position as an empire, its field of activity, its people, everything remained the same, but much changed.
All this because of the Emperor's madness.
Not only did he destroy Hirti's kingdom, but he also made the borderlands barren with nothing to live in.
Even though more than a year has passed since the Empress's disappearance, he still acts as if she is alive.
He sent huge numbers of skilled people to search for her.
Of course, voices of concern rose, but they were all executed.
Only Duke Barilio survived after trying to stop the Emperor.
Ronelia also almost died in a ridiculous way, so she did not dare to visit him freely after that.
Her hand trembled as she felt the scar on her neck, hidden by makeup.