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“Isn’t this supposed to be a strategy game?”

“…My head feels like it’s ringing.”

Startled by that, Eden quickly checked Hagen’ti’s forehead, cautiously assessing his condition.

Given that it had been a fortnight already, Hagen’ti absolutely couldn’t overexert himself.

I still didn’t know why Hagen’ti suddenly went on a rampage; right now, he was like a ticking time bomb.

“You’ve caught yourself a magician with top-notch acting skills.”

As Asmun coldly mocked Hagen’ti, Eden looked at him with frustration.

Asmun had no clue. Treating Hagen’ti like this could lead to an explosive meltdown, risking everything.

Of course, I understood why Asmun was so angry.

“The fact that he suddenly vanished was entirely my fault. But Your Highness, you locked me up in the Great Temple without consulting me…!”

Eden had been ranting like a machine gun when she suddenly realized the knights and Chediak were nearby and quickly shut her mouth.

But that was enough for Asmun to grasp the rest of what Eden was implying.

He was resenting the fact that he had turned Eden into a saint and confined her without consulting her.

“It was for the safety of the Saint.”

“I can take care of my own safety!”

“While taking such risks? Do you even know how dangerous Mavellios is?”

“Sigh… You still don’t trust me.”

As the confrontation between Hagen’ti and Asmun quickly escalated into a verbal battle between Eden and Asmun, the knights looked on, unsure of what to do.

Even Chediak sensed something was off and held his breath, while only Hagen’ti, oblivious to the tension, leaned against Eden’s shoulder.

“Eden, I think I might be running a fever.”

At his words, Eden turned around in shock. At that moment, a vein popped on Asmun’s forehead.

“Uh, let me take a look.”

As Eden touched his forehead, those gray eyes, glowing with an odd sense of victory, glanced over at Asmun.

“Sigh…”

As that look caused a cold smile to escape Asmun’s lips, the tense knights shot resentful glares at Hagen’ti.

“You don’t seem to have a fever…”

Eden mumbled and then darted away from Hagen’ti to whisper softly to Asmun.

“Your Highness, I can’t explain right now, but Hagen’ti absolutely must not get hurt. He mustn’t be frightened either.”

As Eden whispered in a conspiring tone, winking one eye like she was sharing a top-secret mission, Asmun’s crimson gaze turned cold.

“…”

“…”

It seemed there was no convincing him at all.

Damn it, Eden swallowed her tears inwardly.

“I won’t just disappear without a word again, so please calm down. Okay?”

Asmun silently stared at Eden.

Eden misunderstood the real reason he was upset. It wasn’t only her disappearing silently or wandering fearlessly in that dangerous mine; it was simply the very existence of Hagen’ti that was the most unbearable.

Eden should have been just for herself. Just as Eden was unique to me, I needed to be unique to her.

Asmun loosened his stiff lips.

“Don’t nurture a disaster with shallow sympathy. The Saint isn’t someone who can handle this.”

“Your Highness! ‘Disaster’? That’s too harsh!”

“The Saint knows already, doesn’t she?”

Those words sent a jolt of discomfort through Eden, leaving her flustered.

What did he mean? Could it be that Asmun knew something?

“You should handle this first, Saint.”

Asmun quietly warned Eden, watching her frozen state.

“Before my thoughts change.”

What, what thoughts?

But Asmun simply turned around and walked away, leaving her in suspense.

As the air in the corridor turned as cold as the northern glaciers, the knights, who had been frozen in place, hurried to follow Asmun.

The corridor, once bustling like a war zone, instantly fell quiet, leaving only Eden, Hagen’ti, and Chediak behind.

“…”

Chediak glanced at the flustered Eden and the intensely staring Hagen’ti.

It was really strange. Why were the eyes of the prince looking at the Saint and the eyes of that exceedingly powerful magician so eerily similar?

Whatever it was, one thing was clear—the chemistry between the three was anything but normal.

“Oh dear, I left something in the room!”

With an uneasy shiver running down his spine, Chediak mumbled awkwardly and hurried back to the room.

With Chediak’s retreat, only the two remained in the corridor.

Hagen’ti slowly approached Eden, who was still gazing after Asmun, and gently wrapped his arms around her stiffened form.

Startled, Eden refocused her gaze away from the empty corridor Asmun had disappeared into.

“Hagen’ti…”

When Eden turned her head slightly, Hagen’ti buried his face in her shoulder.

“If that one becomes emperor, will he abandon me?”

At his quiet words, Eden’s pupils widened.

“W-What do you mean? Who would abandon whom?”

Even while speaking with a flustered tone, her heart throbbed like it had been pricked by a needle.

If they managed to prevent Hagen’ti’s rampage and clear the game, I wouldn’t just be leaving Asmun’s side. I couldn’t say I would abandon him, but what else would it be? Now I was confused myself.

Hagen’ti remained silent for a moment, his face still hidden, before quietly saying,

“Don’t forget that you promised to take responsibility for me.”

His words, laced with strange attachment, only made Eden feel even more sympathy for Hagen’ti.

It was clear where Hagen’ti’s attachment came from. After losing his memory and being alone for so long.

So this was really just blind affection, like a baby bird following a stranger as its mother.

Since Hagen’ti was still the Great Mage, he would surely leave once he reestablished his own worth.

It would make me a little sad when that tender gaze he only showed me disappeared.

“Yes, I will.”

Eden slowly turned and gently stroked Hagen’ti’s soft hair, quietly responding. Then she took his hand and tugged him along.

“Let’s go back and treat you.”

Hagen’ti stared intently at the hand Eden held as she led him forward. He could have easily teleported but decided against mentioning that.

Then, suddenly, the shocking acts of betrayal from Kiris spread like wildfire across the Empire, turning it upside down.

Everyone was in shock, not just at the 1st Prince conspiring with a Dark Sorcerer but also at his willingness to perform vile rituals against the Emperor.

Deeply impressed were they by Patriar, who had laid low for so long, skillfully uncovering Kiris’s schemes and eventually taking down his own bloodline.

“So he conspired with the Dark Sorcerer? The events that unfolded under the sun were all the 1st Prince’s doing. What a despicable fellow.”

“But you know, there are rumors saying the 1st Prince had been having his soul drained by the Dark Sorcerers for quite some time. Had no choice, apparently.”

“Patriar was said to have noticed from the start and was always keeping an eye on the 1st Prince. He supposedly has a divine ability to detect Dark Magic!”

“You two seemed pretty close, but how heart-wrenching it must have been to take down your brother with your own hands.”

“I never would have thought 2nd Prince had it in him. The most compassionate one among the three.”

All sorts of bizarre and outrageous rumors swept through the Empire, yet amidst them, Asmun’s name was rarely mentioned.

‘Seems like no one gives a hoot about the illegal mine…!’

Eden clenched her fists in fury, muttering inwardly.

Desperate to compensate for the opportunity lost to Patriar, she had gotten Chediak involved to expose the illegal mine, but there was no way that could match the impact of Patriar saving the Emperor’s life.

“Those exploited in the mines were mostly people who incurred debts to Milstain. They were kept locked up and forced to work until they paid off the debts, and if they got injured or became useless, they’d be moved elsewhere. No one seems to know where ‘elsewhere’ is, but we suspect they might have been used as sacrifices for Dark Magic.”

Milstain, having been swept up in all the accusations for illegal labor and extortion tied closely to Kiris, couldn’t escape the fate of extinction.

But that was all. Nobody had time to worry about some illegal mine, and everything that Eden, Chediak, and Hagen’ti suffered through had returned to nothing.

She even tried asking Lydia for help, thinking she might know something more, only to receive the response that Lydia knew nothing at all.

Lydia had moved to the Imperial Palace as a witness for this incident, leaving Eden with nothing more she could do.

‘Patriar, that creep…’

Recalling Patriar nonchalantly performing for the Emperor, she felt her anger surge only to be followed by a chill of despair inside.

It was clear that Patriar had been plotting to dismantle Kiris from long ago.

He had come up with more solid evidence than the illegal mines and added to Kiris’s charges, ensuring Kiris could never escape execution.

Ultimately, just two days ago, Kiris had met his fate on the guillotine. Yet even for Eden, who had longed for this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to smile.

‘So Patriar had used the Dark Sorcerer to trap Kiris. He was behind every incident related to Dark Magic.’

Kiris was undeniably a bad guy, but he wouldn’t have managed to rebel without Patriar’s interference from the shadows.

 

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