Chapter 6.4

After finishing our walk along the lakeside, we headed toward the capital’s marketplace.

The security of the Quinze-Nouais Islands was better than any other empire, so from now on we only took Cedric and Owen as guards.

The knights in imperial-crested armor were much bigger than other people, and when there were more than five of them, I couldn’t shake the feeling of walking with an army.

Lately, there had been no problems during our frequent outings, so the two of them also agreed with my opinion.

On our first outing in a while, a blush bloomed on Sally’s face.

The carriage was luxurious, but I intentionally chose one without the imperial crest.

People would probably think we were a rich noblewoman and her son. We roamed the market, snacking and buying interesting things.

The market where Sally and I used to buy letters for the typewriter was still there.

And I quickly found the small restaurant I had visited with Adrian.

“Ah, you left a letter here, didn’t you?”

When I stared at the store for a long time, Cedric recognized it.

“How did you know that?”

“His Majesty came here and saw that letter… and cried a lot.”

“Adrian did?”

“Mom, why did Adrian cry? Was he hungry?”

“No, not our Adrian.”

“Ah, Dad?”

“What? Leo, where did you hear that?”

“Everyone says so. ‘How can he be so much like his dad? A spitting image of the Emperor.’ What’s a spitting image?”

I went closer to Leo, knelt down, and made eye contact with him.

“Can you tell me how you felt when you heard that?”

My heart pounded as I waited for the child’s answer.

“I… liked it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I like Dad Adrian. He’s good at fighting.”

I was very flustered, but I tried my best to hide it and spoke to the child in a nonchalant tone.

“Okay, then from now on, let’s just call our puppy Adrian, Quinzi. Got it?”

The child obediently nodded his head.

I wasn’t the only one surprised; I saw Sally, who was next to me, sighing in relief at Leo’s answer. I didn’t want him to find out from others, but I was so relieved that the child seemed to accept his father’s existence without much shock.

“La…dy Tess?”

Surprised by the familiar name, I turned around.

“Brianna?”

“Oh my, it really was you. And Sally, and Leo too! Oh? Sir Owen as well?”

“You know Owen too?”

“Yes, of course. He came to this restaurant so often.”

“My goodness, it’s so nice to see you again here.”

“I know. I’d heard that His Majesty the Emperor had brought the person who would become the empress and his son, so I had a hunch. Don’t do that, just come inside. It’s shabby, but I’ll treat you to a delicious meal.”

We were hungry, so we didn’t decline and went into the restaurant. The owner was very surprised, but she quickly calmed down and welcomed us warmly.

“This is the child from back then.”

“Yes…”

“Mom, why did you say ‘the child’ to the person who’s going to be the Crown Prince?”

“Oh my, where is my mind? Anyway, why is a precious young lady like you speaking politely to a low-status person like me?”

I still had the habit of being a strong Confucian Korean, so I was never really comfortable with this social status system. I barely nodded to show I understood.

And there, I heard a pretty amazing story. Owen, thinking it was about time to tell me, cautiously began to talk about how Adrian had been doing.

And how he persuaded Brianna, and how he saved Adrian with that fact.

I couldn’t hold back my tears. I couldn’t have imagined that he would have gone through such a hard time. Adrian once said something to me.

He knew that the size of my heart couldn’t be the same as his.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but just as he said, the depth of that man’s love was something I couldn’t even imagine.

“Lady, I used the money you gave me well and returned it all last month.”

“Brianna, that was just money I gave you to use.”

“But I couldn’t take money when you saved my life. I used it most handily during the most necessary time. I’m a respectable store owner now.”

Brianna said that in the meantime, she had opened a restaurant similar to her mother’s on the other side of the market.

“I can’t dare to invite the person who will become the empress to such a shabby place, but I wanted to let you know how a life you saved is living. Really, thank you so much.”

Sally, when the conversation shifted to topics that Leo shouldn’t hear while Owen was talking about Adrian, took the child outside to wait.

The child was at the age to be running around, so if you took your eyes off him for a moment, you couldn’t tell where he had gone. As Sally was looking through the window, curious about the contents of the restaurant, Leo started running away.

“Leo!”

Sally began to run, calling after the child who was running far away. Just then, a man appeared in front of Leo, stopped short, and blocked his way.

“Little one, you shouldn’t run away when your mom is calling you. And if you run like that and fall, you’ll get hurt.”

When the man blocked Leo and spoke softly to him, Sally calmed her startled heart. But she hurried to approach the child.

“She’s not my mom.”

“Leo! What are you doing running like that.”

The man saw Sally, took off his hat, and bowed respectfully. At a glance, his attire was not that of a commoner.

‘Why is this man bowing to me?’ Just as I was thinking this, the man continued speaking.

“Hello, Lady…”

“Ah!”

Only then did Sally realize that she was no longer wearing a commoner’s clothes.

And her face flushed with the first noble treatment she had ever received. But she didn’t realize that his trailing off was a gesture of asking for her name.

“Thank you.”

The man didn’t back down and spoke politely again.

“If it’s alright, may I carry the child for you to where you are going, beautiful lady?”

“Pardon? Oh, I…”

“What’s going on?”

Just then, Cedric, who appeared out of nowhere, stood between the man and Sally.

“Oh, this gentleman stopped Leo from running away.”

“You had companions. I apologize for my rudeness.”

The man said this, but didn’t hide his regretful look and winked at Sally over Cedric’s shoulder.

“Oh… no. I should be the one thanking you.”

“Then… if I may, could I know your name, Lady?”

The man held his hat to his chest and bowed slightly towards Sally. He was acting as if Cedric wasn’t there.

“I… yes, my name is Sally Johanna.”

“Lady Johanna, I will remember it in hopes of meeting you by chance again someday. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

He put his hat back on his head and winked one eye. At the man’s gesture, Sally felt her face flush again.

When Cedric saw her red cheeks, he suddenly felt a surge of annoyance. But he couldn’t figure out why he was so irritated. He just saw her running away through the window, so he followed her to see what was going on.

“Let’s go.”

Cedric spoke coldly to Sally and walked ahead. When she came back to the front of the restaurant with Leo’s hand, everyone inside was out.

When we went out to the street, the owner took a step closer to me.

“May I dare to hold Her Majesty the Empress’s hand?”

I took a step closer to the woman who said that and embraced her.

And that day, I expressed my gratitude to the owner, telling her that I had actually been greatly comforted. The owner wiped away tears repeatedly, saying she was grateful that I had saved her daughter.

Things I couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago were happening in my life.

“Owen, Cedric, let’s go back now.”

I wanted to see Adrian as soon as possible. My heart ached, and I was in a hurry to hug him tight and ask him if he had been having such a hard time because I had disappeared.

“Yes, my lady. The sun will be setting soon, so it’s better to return to the palace. His Majesty the Emperor will surely be unable to do anything because he’s worried.”

“Right, let’s do that. Leo, let’s go back to Dad now.”

Leo, tired from walking around all day, had sleep all over his face.

The child mumbled “Yeah,” and came over to me, whining to be held. Sally picked up Leo and held him.

As we approached the predetermined location, the carriage that had dropped us off came and stopped in front of us. Sally and I went inside with Leo.

And Cedric and Owen guarded us on both sides of the carriage.

***

Celine visited Claire’s castle and wandered around the office desk. She found a worn-out notebook.

She secretly peeked into it and saw that it was filled with Korean.

“Ha, so you’re from Korea too? Of course… this fake. You’re going to ruin my life…”

Hearing a slight noise outside, Celine instinctively crumpled the notebook into her clothes. The reason Celine visited Claire that day was to move her maid, whom she had planted in the imperial palace, to the palace where Claire was staying.

Back at home, Celine idly looked at the notebook.

Can I live without branding him?

“She came in at a similar time as me. She started ruining my life from this moment.”

Sejin Hospital. Daegun… Hansun… merger? No, there’s no way Sihyuk would do that. 

“Daegun? What is it? She was a chaebol in Korea too?”

Daegun was a large corporation that every Korean would know. Everyone had at least one of their electronic products at home.

But Claire’s notebook, which was just a list of words, was useless in this world.

“Cha Seyoung? What a countrified name. Han Hyuntaek? She had a husband. So this man is the chaebol?”

Celine threw the diary on the bed. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Um… My lady, a letter has arrived.”

“Bring it in.”

The maid’s hands were trembling. The last time she was combing my hair, she pulled it a little too hard, so I slapped her a few times, and since then, I hated the sight of her trembling whenever she saw me.

As I snatched the letter from the maid’s hand, the maid quickly exited the room.

A smile spread across Celine’s face, which had been in a bad mood while reading the letter. She soon put on a black robe, took only her knight on night duty with her, and left the count’s mansion late at night.

***

The carriage traveled peacefully down the road. It takes about an hour from the market to the imperial castle.

After passing through the entire city, and going through a narrow forest path just wide enough for a single carriage, the imperial castle would finally appear.

The Quinze-Nouais Imperial Castle was nothing short of a fortress.

It was said to have a structure where the surroundings were wide open when entering the nearby road so that the enemy could not hide anywhere. After running for a long time on such a road, a huge gate to the imperial palace would appear.

We passed through the city and entered the small forest path.

The child had fallen asleep in the carriage, and Sally had spread a fan over Leo’s forehead to protect his face from the sunlight.

“The sunlight is nice.”

“It is.”

“My lady, you seem to be thinking a lot.”

“Yeah, I keep thinking about what Owen told me at the restaurant…”

“Do you feel guilty?”

“I didn’t know he was having such a hard time. To think he tried to take his own life… I feel like I’ve been living too comfortably in comparison…”

“You can just love him with all your might from now on. Do you know what the people in the palace are saying these days? They say His Majesty the Emperor looks so happy. They say they have never seen him smile like that before.”

Sally reached out her hand that had been covering the child’s forehead and held my hand tightly.

“So from now on, don’t ever think about running away and just stay by his side. Your heart is the same as His Majesty the Emperor’s, isn’t it?”

I nodded at her words and made a promise. That I would really stay by Adrian’s side and protect him now.

“Sally, what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“You know how quick-witted I am, right? Cedric kept looking at you today, didn’t you notice?”

“What? Don’t say such a ridiculous thing. I’m worried about what someone outside might hear.”

“But it’s true…”

“Oh, no! My lady! Hailey said she would come to the palace soon.”

Sally seemed to want to change the subject, but I didn’t let her.

“Oh, really? It seems Hailey accepted Lord Doherty’s heart.”

She sighed at my words. Then, with a shy face, she asked me for advice.

“Um, my lady. A gentleman in the market called me ‘Lady’ today.”

“Oh, really? But that’s natural. You look like a perfect noble lady to anyone now. You’re wonderful.”

“Yes, it felt really good. So… I was wondering if I could be a little brave? Now that I’m a noble, maybe his heart has changed…”

But Sally couldn’t finish her sentence. The carriage suddenly rattled, and I felt my body lurch to one side.

As the carriage tilted, Sally lowered her body to wrap her arm around Leo. At that very moment, an arrow flew in and hit the seat where we were sitting.

The arrow flew directly to where Sally’s head was. If she hadn’t tilted her body to hold Leo, she would not have been safe.

“Sally! Don’t move.”

I tried to open the carriage door to figure out the sudden situation. But I heard Owen’s voice first from outside.

“You must not come out, my lady!”

The carriage was running aimlessly, as if it had lost its coachman. Sally hugged the child who had fallen into a deep sleep due to exhaustion. Leo whined as if he was annoyed, but thankfully he didn’t wake up.

Soon the horses stopped with a rough sound, and I heard Cedric’s rough scream from the right side of our carriage.

“Ugh, Captain!”

And immediately, the sound of clashing swords began to be heard from the direction Cedric was guarding. I crept forward and opened the curtain on the opposite window.

For better or worse, the carriage was on the narrowest path in the forest, and the opposite side of the sword fight was a dense forest.

“Sally, let’s get out this way with Leo.”

“But my lady, it’s too dangerous outside.”

She was afraid and didn’t want to go out, but there was no time to hesitate. Judging by the number of shadows cast inside the carriage and the aura surrounding us, there were at least ten people.

Even Owen and Cedric would not be able to fight them all. And this place was too narrow to fight.

“No, there are too many of them. We’ll all die if we stay here. Hurry!”

I took out one of the clothes I had bought at the market earlier and tied it around the child’s body and Sally. This way, she would have one arm free.

“Yes!”

After I had tied the child and Sally securely, she seemed to have made up her mind, so she held Leo again and pulled her body out of the carriage. The child was still asleep.

“I’ll follow behind you.”

I kept an eye on my surroundings and protected Leo and Sally from behind. It was a situation where something could fly out of nowhere. I intended to block any arrows with my body from behind them.

But the moment Sally, who was holding Leo, pulled her body out, the carriage suddenly tilted to the opposite side, and the door I was about to go through was closed by the jolt.

Just as I thought my foot was caught in the door, the opposite door swung open, and someone grabbed my head.

With my hair tightly grabbed, I looked out the window and saw Sally holding Leo, running frantically up the forest path.

I tried to turn around and get up so the person holding my hair couldn’t see outside.

At that moment, the stopped carriage suddenly sped up and started moving forward.

“My lady!”

I heard Cedric and Owen calling me from behind, but they were too busy fighting the swordsmen to chase after me.

The man who was grabbing my hair was a masked man who had half his face covered, and as the carriage rattled, he also shook back and forth while holding my head.

So I started to struggle to get away from him.

My body hit here and there in the carriage, and it hurt so much that my scalp felt like it was peeling off.

The man’s body also fluttered from side to side. I pulled the arm of the man that wasn’t holding me and bit down hard with my teeth.

“Aargh, you crazy bitch!”

The man let go of my hair, then grabbed the back of my head with his hand and roughly threw me towards the inside of the carriage. I thought I was going to hit it, and my consciousness cut off.

How much time had passed?

When I vaguely regained consciousness, the night was already deep.

“Where’s the kid? You couldn’t catch the kid?”

A slight murmuring sound burrowed into my ears.

“Tsk! What do you want me to do when she ran away somewhere?”

“Ha, you mercenaries couldn’t even catch a woman and a brat?”

It was Celine.

When I came to my senses, my head was splitting, and I tasted a metallic blood in my mouth. I tried to move my body, but my arms and legs were tied, so I couldn’t move at all.

“Anyway, I’ve finished my job, so give me my money!”

I heard the sound of something metallic falling to the floor.

“You’re asking for money when you couldn’t even do the job properly.”

“Are you kidding me? Half of it is missing!”

“I told you to bring two of them, but you only brought one! It’s only right that you get half the money.”

“This really! Those knights were too strong, and I lost a lot of my men. So bring me more money. Otherwise, I’ll take this woman back with me.”

“Do you think I’d even blink an eye just because you’re threatening me with this woman?”

With Celine’s venomous voice, the sound of a money bag falling to the floor was heard again.

“Bring me the kid. Then I’ll give you double the money I promised. Well, I don’t care if you bring him back dead.”

At Celine’s words, I felt my blood run cold. Just then, the carriage door I was in suddenly swung open.

“Oh? She’s awake.”

I tried to say something, but as if my mouth was gagged, no sound came out, and I just kept tasting blood.

“Cha Seyoung.”

When the woman with Celine’s face uttered a near-perfect Korean pronunciation, chills ran down my entire body.

“I guess I’m right. Judging by your expression.”

“…”

“You’re a fake yourself, and you show up here and ruin my life. If it weren’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened. Why didn’t you give him that damn brand and cause all this?”

“Ugh!”

“Yeah, scream. Anyway, there’s no one here who can come to save you.”

Celine’s eyes were not normal.

She suddenly pulled down the gag in my mouth. Did it hit my teeth as it came out? I heard a cracking sound of teeth clashing. But for a moment, I was able to take a big breath.

“Don’t touch Leo, Celine.”

“Ah, if they can’t catch the kid, I’ll raise your brat well. But that will only be until I give birth to a child of my own.”

“You, what’s wrong with you? Are you really out of your mind?”

“Adrian would have loved me if it weren’t for you. Or maybe he still loves me now. You know, don’t you? How much that man wanted Celine. I don’t know what you did, but originally, Adrian and the dead Crown Prince were all mine.”

“Please, Celine. Come to your senses and untie this rope.”

“Am I crazy? Now everything will go back to the way it was. If you had been faithful to your role from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Nothing will change even if you do this.”

“Why not? You’ll be gone, so now the story will flow as it did in the original. Goodbye, villainess Claire Ianster.”

Celine laughed, and then put the gag, which had been on my neck, back in my mouth. I shook my head and resisted, but it was no use.

Celine looked at me for a moment, then smiled brightly like an angel and tried to close the door of the carriage I was in.

But at that moment, the sound of horseshoes that seemed to echo throughout the space began to be heard. From the sound of it, there was more than one or two.

“Claire!”

Soon after, a thunderous voice that seemed to shake the earth was heard.

“What… what is that!”

The man who was talking to Celine earlier shouted in a flustered voice.

“What do you mean! You guys hurry up and do the last thing you have to do. Got it? If you finish that, I’ll give you all the remaining money.”

When Celine’s words ended, the carriage started moving again. And before long, my body plummeted somewhere.

Immediately, the splashing sound of water. The heavy carriage, which began to get wet with water, fell into the water in an instant.

‘Adrian… save me…’

I should go and hug you quickly, but if I disappear, you’ll be sad again… Leo… my baby…

***

Adrian, who had not seen Claire return even in the evening, had completely lost the will to work. The documents fluttered in his hand but did not turn over.

As the sun began to set, he could not calm his mind, so he took only five or six elite knights and left the castle to meet Claire.

Lately, her outings were frequent, but it was the first time he felt so uneasy.

Now that they had confirmed their feelings for each other, his inexplicable anxiety did not get any better.

But when he thought of Claire’s voice that would scold him for being overly dramatic, he smiled unknowingly and entered the forest path leading to the city.

Claire said that time would solve all this anxiety.

He was fine when he passed the wide-open imperial castle. He thought the carriage carrying her and Leo would appear just ahead.

Just as he was thinking that the familiar smell of the forest and trees was fragrant, a sudden smell of blood stabbed his nose. To Adrian, who had lived on the battlefield for a long time, the smell was not unfamiliar at all.

Adrian started riding his horse without a moment’s thought. And the knights who saw the emperor’s appearance also got ready for battle, their eyes shining.

But at that moment, what appeared from inside the forest were not enemies but a heavily wounded Owen and Cedric.

“Your Majesty!”

Seeing them, Adrian felt all the blood drain from his body.

“What happened?”

“It’s an ambush. Didn’t you see the carriage carrying Lady Claire just now?”

“Where’s Leo?”

“He was in the carriage with her.”

Adrian took a breath for a moment and squeezed his eyes shut. He had a premonition that the moment he was most anxious about had come.

His eyes, which he opened again, were shining with a different light than before. He immediately went back into the forest.

“Are you not going after them?”

“There’s only one path. If I didn’t see it, they must have moved on another route. It’s faster to find their destination. Are there any survivors?”

“Yes, there are.”

After running for a while, he saw some soldiers lying on the ground, bleeding. Adrian approached them.

“Judging by their swordsmanship, they seem to be mercenaries.”

Most of them had fatal wounds and were dead, but there were some who were still alive.

The emperor chose the most unharmed one and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. And he made the mercenary sit leaning against a tree.

And soon, he brought another living soldier in front of the one leaning against the tree.

Adrian cut off the wrist of the man he brought without saying a word. The sound of flesh and bone being severed spread chillingly through the forest.

“Aaaargh!”

The soldier, who was almost dead, screamed like a madman. And the face of the man who was watching it instantly turned pale.

“Do you see? The next one is the other hand.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he cut off the other wrist without the slightest hesitation. The soldier’s blood splattered on Adrian’s face, and he wore a strange smile.

“Aargh, aaargh!”

The soldier with both hands cut off was in so much pain that he couldn’t even ask to be saved. The other man, who was sitting under the tree watching the scene, knelt down and pleaded.

“Pl… please save me.”

“Do you see, this time it’s the ankle.”

As if he couldn’t hear him, Adrian cut off the left ankle of the soldier who was spurting blood from his arms. He seemed to have fainted, and no more screams were heard.

“Now there’s one left. If even this disappears, you know what I’ll cut next, don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

“You’re doing something useless.”

At the kneeling soldier’s words, Adrian raised his sword and cut off the remaining ankle. He was already dead and didn’t move at all.

“I, I don’t know the name.”

The soldier, who was trembling with fear with his back against the tree, shook his head, tears streaming down his face. Adrian brought his sword to his wrist. At that moment.

“Sil… silver-gray hair! She had purple eyes.”

“Where did they take her?”

“Lake Cron. They said they would get rid of her there.”

When the words were finished, Adrian mercilessly cut off his neck.

“We’re going to Lake Cron.”

His voice was colder than ever. Just as Adrian was about to turn around, a child’s cry, which seemed to echo throughout the forest, was heard, and soon after, the sound of someone covering the child’s mouth followed.

Adrian ran frantically towards that direction. His expressionless face was now filled with unconcealed terror. As he frantically dug through the forest path that led up a hill, he saw Sally, who hadn’t run far, sitting down with Leo in her arms.

When she saw the emperor, she took a breath and took her hand off the child’s mouth.

“Leo…”

“Haa, Your Majesty…”

“Waaaah, Mom.”

Adrian tore off a piece of his shirt and meticulously wiped the blood from his face. And he slowly walked towards Leo and knelt down on one knee in front of the child.

“Son, I will find your mom, so don’t worry. You are Leonardo Quinze-Nouais, the one and only Crown Prince of this empire. So, no one in this world can harm you.”

The child, who had just woken up from a nap, seemed relieved to see his dad and wiped his tears, nodding his head. Leaving the sound of the sniffling child behind, Adrian rode his horse towards Lake Cron.

***

“Claire!”

I heard Adrian calling my name again, but my body was already sinking into the water.

I tried to twist my body, but I was tied up and couldn’t move even an inch. The happy moments of my life flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

The moment I first held my newborn child in my arms, the moment Leo took his first steps, the moment he said “Mom” for the first time… and Adrian’s hands, which constantly whispered “I love you” as he held me…

‘Leo… my son… Adrian…’

Thinking of my child, I thrashed my body to the very end. But as I was being sucked in with the carriage at a rapid speed, I saw a large rock.

I twisted my body to avoid it, but I couldn’t overcome the momentum, and my body hit the jagged part of the rock hard.

Along with the immense pain, I couldn’t breathe anymore, and my consciousness quickly faded.

But at that moment, a terrifying and absolutely unwelcome feeling was resurrected.

Just as I thought I was about to die, I felt a huge whirlpool pulling my consciousness.

‘No.’

I could clearly feel the water filling my face, making it impossible to breathe, but in a moment, that feeling disappeared.

Once again, that familiar sensation rushed over me like water. I couldn’t tell if I was losing consciousness or returning to it.

‘No… not this… I can’t go. Absolutely not.’

And then, an impenetrable darkness came, and soon everything ended.

But my consciousness began again from there.

First, the feeling of the ropes constricting my arms and legs disappeared. And then, light began to fill the space that had been as dark as the night sky.

The sensations I thought were gone began to dominate my body with renewed clarity.

A moment later, a huge breath, which I couldn’t take in the water, filled my chest.

“Gasp, huh!”

As hyperventilation surged through me, my breath caught again, and I instinctively ripped something off my mouth.

As it fell from my face, a mechanical noise, which I hadn’t heard in a very long time, pierced my ears.

“Beep—–.”

“Pant, pant.”

“Seyoung!”

The sound of a door being broken open and closed.

“Pant, pant.”

“Seyoung! Sihyuk, what’s wrong with Seyoung!”

A perfectly clear Korean voice shouting my name.

‘No, don’t say that name.’

“Seyoung! You can’t lose consciousness again. Huh? Please!”

But I fell back into the world of unconsciousness.

*** 

By the time Adrian arrived at the lakeside, the carriage had already sunk into the water without a trace.

Because of the dozens of knights approaching with a terrifying momentum, Celine, who hadn’t managed to escape, stood at the water’s edge, unable to gather her wits.

Adrian let out a roar and leapt from his horse, plunging straight into the water without stopping.

Celine tried to flee as she watched him, but she was already surrounded by knights. She was forced to kneel and be bound on the spot.

“You! Do you know who I am?”

Celine’s eyes were as red as blood. Her once beautiful appearance had already turned monstrous.

After swimming for a long time, Adrian’s eyes found the carriage, which had sunk to the bottom. He pushed through the water and quickly entered. The door, held shut by the water pressure, didn’t open easily.

Adrian thrashed in agony underwater. He screamed a silent scream and ripped the carriage door off.

And inside, he saw Claire, in a state he never wanted to imagine.

Adrian quickly approached Claire and tried to pull her out, but her limbs were tied and connected to the carriage seat with ropes. Without hesitation, he pulled out a dagger from his pants pocket and cut all the ropes.

He pulled her out of the carriage and swam straight up to the surface. Adrian held the limp Claire tightly, swimming towards the shore.

There was no delay, but Claire’s breathing had already stopped.

Adrian shook her body and shouted.

“Claire, Claire! Don’t do this to me, don’t do this!”

But she only hung limply in his arms, not moving at all. When she didn’t move no matter how much he shouted, Adrian just started to mumble, holding Claire close.

“Claire, let’s go. Let’s go home. Okay?”

But there was no answer from her.

“Let’s go. Leo is waiting. You have to get up. Huh? Please…”

Just then, Celine’s unpleasant laughter began to echo nearby.

“You got what you deserved, Claire. You coveted what belonged to others, and it’s a good sight to see.”

Adrian moved like a broken doll and turned his head toward the sound.

And there stood Celine Ianster, looking like a demon. Celine smiled widely at Adrian, who was looking at her, and whispered.

“Adrian, this is the way it’s supposed to be. This is the original story. She was supposed to die by your hands. Don’t you know that?”

Adrian very slowly laid Claire on the ground. Even seeing the emperor’s vacant expression, Celine wouldn’t stop.

“You should be grateful to me. I did what you were supposed to do.”

He walked towards the still babbling Celine. He picked up the sword he had thrown when he jumped off his horse. The sound of the sword being pulled from its scabbard, ‘Shling,’ echoed across Lake Cron.

And the sound of the sword’s tip scratching along the rocks by the lake made everyone around them shiver.

Adrian tilted his head and looked at Celine, who was bound by the knights. His expression looked almost grotesque.

He slowly raised his sword and, as if thrusting a fork into meat, he plunged it into Celine’s heart.

“Gasp! Adrian!”

“Why, does it hurt?”

“Adrian, I am Celine… Cough, Ianster. I am your eternal… Choke, love.”

He looked at the shape of Celine’s mouth as she spoke, then simply pulled the sword from her heart and sliced it across her throat.

“I told you not to say that name.”

There was no emotion in any of his actions.

And before the emperor’s sword could even return to its place, her head rolled on the ground.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Celine’s life ended right there, without even a scream.

And at the moment her head fell to the ground, Claire coughed up blood and her body twitched on the ground.

Adrian immediately dropped his sword and rushed to Claire, holding her tightly, but she never regained consciousness.