Chapter 77

The carriage carrying Rodella raced across the empire at an incredible speed.

Virtually every resource Royden had was mobilized to get her to the hospital.

Not just the carriage, but all of Royden’s modes of transport, magic, and artifacts.

So many wind-magic artifacts were used that—

—Whoooosh!

“Huh?”

Even commoners unfamiliar with imperial affairs could tell that someone important had just flown toward the capital.

As soon as they arrived at Lenaris Capital Hospital, doctors who had been contacted in advance by carrier bird came rushing out to receive her.

“This way…!”

And then their expressions turned grim.

Rodella’s condition was far worse than what had been conveyed by the carrier bird.

“Her body temperature is too low!”

“Melt the ice first!”

“But then the bleeding will—!”

“If her temperature drops any more, it’s over! Hurry!”

The doctors moved frantically, swarming around Rodella.

Their faces grew paler by the second.

Partly because of the critical state of the patient—but more so because the patient was Rodella Syveric, and the one who sent her was Aivert Royden.

They had to save her. No matter what.

“What?”

It wasn’t long before the news reached Ameris.

Her gaze, buried in paperwork, snapped up sharply.

“We managed to stop the bleeding quickly with emergency care, but the location of the wound is critical,” the chancellor’s aide said with a troubled expression.

“Be specific,” Ameris said, taking off her glasses.

“…It grazed her neck.”

At those words, Ameris tightly shut her eyes.

“We passed the critical stage for now, but she’s still unconscious.”

Unconscious.

That meant it had been truly dangerous.

Ameris let out a sigh.

She gestured for the aide to leave and sat down in the hidden chamber inside the chancellor’s office, resting her forehead in her hand.

“…….”

Under her hand, her expression hardened coldly.

Rodella Syveric.

She was someone Ameris cherished—but more than that, she was someone who had to lead the future of the empire.

That was why, while looking for a more secure way to protect her within the Administration Department, Aivert had appeared.

‘Do you really think I’d let anything happen to her?’

She still remembered Aivert’s words before Rodella left for the Azure Knights.

“You said you’d protect her, Duke.”

You said it with such confidence.

Ameris whispered like a sigh.

So much rested on Rodella.

She was the most suitable—no, the only—candidate to inherit the position of Chancellor, which Ameris had devoted her life to.

She was also the one who made the Emperor finally decide to purge the noble faction—a person the imperial faction absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

That was why Ameris had sent her to Aivert.

Because she believed that love—true love—would lead to greater protection.

But was her judgment wrong?

Aivert Royden had nearly let the future of the empire slip through his fingers.

The man who she thought would protect Rodella even by locking her away, if necessary, had failed to even touch those who hurt her.

Of course, Ameris didn’t fail to understand that emotion.

But if the one you cherish dies—what use is that emotion, that love?

More than anything, if he couldn’t protect her, then Aivert Royden’s very status as a Duke could become a threat to Rodella.

Royden had many enemies.

After thinking deeply for a long while, Ameris finally murmured: “I’m sorry, Aivert.”

“Our promise is broken.”

Before things become more dangerous, I need to send her somewhere safe.

Ameris rose from her seat.

The headquarters of the cult calling themselves the Valkarion Sect was on an unnamed island in the western part of the continent.

A dense, tangled forest—clearly only touched by human hands where necessary—greeted Aivert.

But that posed no issue for him.

—BOOM!

A deafening roar shook the forest, loud enough to question whether the sound truly came from a sword swing.

Crack—! A fierce noise followed as a path was torn open through the forest—rough and jagged, as if ripped by the hand of a giant.

—Thud!

Aivert’s body streaked through the center of the new path, even before the dust had settled.

In his hand was a sword—so light it was hard to believe it had caused such destruction and noise.

As his icy blue eyes gleamed and he swung his sword again—

—RUMBLE!

Everything that had blocked Royden’s advance was brutally torn away.

Even the cult’s hidden base in the depths of the forest was now exposed.

“What the—what is that?!”

“An outsider has entered the inner sanctum!”

Those guarding the front of the temple cried out in panic.

Caught off guard by the sudden chaos, not one of them could keep their head straight.

The quick-witted among them tried to look for escape routes—

But there was nowhere to run.

This was a closed-off island designed with just a few boats and no exit for the sacrifices they brought in.

“All the docks are blocked!”

“And every path to the shore is cut off!”

Royden’s forces had already sealed off the path to the docks.

The very features they had once counted as advantages had now become the noose tightening around their necks.

With no boats left to escape by sea—they couldn’t leave either.

“Who the hell is this guy?!”

The man who had torn apart the forest now calmly advanced straight toward the temple—

like he was inviting them to just try and run.

As every cult member stared at him in terror—

“Make sure no one leaves the temple.”

Even as he felt their fear on his skin, Aivert showed no hesitation.

He struck fear not just in the cultists on the island, but even in the Royden soldiers who had come with him.

And his eyes—icy, vivid, chilling—were fixed on the temple.

“…Yes, sir!”

Royden’s people answered with tense faces.

A cold realization had taken hold of them: No one on this island today—not one cultist—would leave here alive.

Now that the leash named Rodella Syveric had been cut, their lord was nothing more than a bomb with a lit fuse.

A bomb ignited by fury.

—Swoosh!

Statues near the temple lost their heads and collapsed the moment Aivert brushed past them.

And near the temple—

“P-please, spare us!”

Perhaps the cult had treated them as expendables—

Emaciated people, clearly starved and overworked, were found there.

“There are more people near the altar…!”

As Royden’s men approached, the frail people pointed toward the altar, crying and trembling.

They had never dreamed that salvation would come to this sealed-off island.

They used up what little strength they had left to scream.

Aivert gestured to the Royden forces.

“I’ll go to the temple alone. Protect them.”

“…Understood.”

“Oh—and be especially cautious in that direction. There’s likely a group of women there.”

He pointed toward a cave-like structure, faint traces of sleep incense drifting out from it.

Those about to follow his orders froze in place.

Aivert was truly intending to enter the temple alone.

“You don’t want us to follow you?”

Aivert nodded.

Where the sleeping incense lingered—

That was likely where the women held as sacrifices had been kept.

If Rodella hadn’t been rescued, she might’ve been there too.

Aivert’s lips pressed into a thin, hard line.