Chapter 284
The lights went out, and darkness descended once again.
Screams and wails of the Imperial Army echoed from all directions.
Though nothing was visible, it was clear. A one-sided massacre had begun under William’s command.
Having witnessed William’s descent into corruption firsthand, I could understand him.
He had lost Kyle, the people of the Roelgreen family, and even Kyle’s child, his last hope. He wept tears of blood, consumed by despair.
The “Autumn Tragedy” was not an event caused by the invasion of demons. It was a massacre of the castle’s residents and the Roelgreen family by the Imperial Army sent by the previous Emperor.
“How… how could you do such a thing…?”
Wendy was sobbing, covering her mouth. Though I had shielded her eyes, she had heard everything about the atrocities committed by the Imperial Army. Having witnessed such a cruel truth, she wept uncontrollably.
“Answer me, Your Majesty.”
Ariel, who had realized the truth, was half out of her mind. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She staggered toward Luna, looking like a ghost.
“Why did Kyle have to die like that…?”
“Ariel…”
“Why did my child have to burn to death…?”
Ariel’s gaze was so heart-wrenching that Luna was left speechless.
“Did Kyle… deserve to die like that?”
“No…”
“What crime did that child commit…!!”
Forgetting that she was addressing the Emperor, Ariel was furious. No… she must have known. It wasn’t the Ruelberta family that took everything from her, but this nation, the Empire.
“What crime did they commit to kill everyone… my loved ones!”
Ariel grabbed Luna’s shoulders and screamed, her heart bleeding.
“Rebellion? Rebellion?! After all Kyle had done for this country…! Is this the reward for his loyalty?!”
“I…”
Luna tried to say something but closed her mouth.
Given her demeanor so far, it was likely that she, too, had been unaware of these facts. Having ascended the throne at a young age and with Maxime’s sudden death, she couldn’t have known anything.
But even if she didn’t know, Luna couldn’t escape responsibility. Her father, Maxime, had framed Kyle, a loyal hero of the Empire, and his family, and even slaughtered innocent citizens.
This put Luna in a difficult position.
Like any empire, the Meikhael Empire was built on the trust of nobles who swore absolute loyalty to the Emperor.
If it became known that the previous Emperor had framed and killed a loyal vassal who guarded the borders, the trust of those who had been loyal to the royal family would crumble.
Immediately, Ariel, who had been pro-royal, turned her back on the royal family. No, she didn’t just turn her back—she became hostile.
“Answer me!”
Enraged, Ariel finally drew her staff and pointed it at Luna. A clear act of hostility toward the Emperor, a crime punishable by immediate execution, but Ariel didn’t hesitate.
“Are you going to kill me like Kyle?”
“……”
“Kill me if you must, Your Majesty. Burn me alive like you did my son!”
“That’s a lie…”
Luna’s voice trembled as she spoke.
“Something’s wrong. This can’t be…”
“What did you say?”
“My father… my father couldn’t have done such a thing! No matter what anyone says, my father was a great Emperor, praised by all… a benevolent ruler the likes of which we’ll never see again.”
Luna looked at Ariel with trembling eyes.
“But that vile man… William Ruelberta insulted my father and drove him to his death. I saw it with my own eyes!”
Could she still be denying reality even in this situation? No… thinking about it, she had no choice.
Luna, the daughter of Maxime Meikhael, had defined the Ruelberta family, which threatened the survival of the royal family, as absolute evil and worked to strengthen the authority of the royal family.
This was possible because the Ruelberta family had indeed committed evil deeds. But now that it was revealed that the royal family had committed atrocities no less than the Ruelberta family, that justification itself had crumbled.
Moreover, unlike Lucy, Luna was a person who wouldn’t have been born without William and the Ruelberta family. Her very existence was to avenge Maxime’s wrongful death by destroying the evil Ruelberta family. That’s why she couldn’t accept this truth.
“Unfair… you say?”
Ariel muttered softly.
“Your Majesty… are you saying that even after seeing my family burn to death before your eyes?”
Anger filled her gaze.
No sooner had she spoken than her staff began to emit an ominous light.
Finally, I stepped in.
“Count…?!”
I grabbed Ariel’s staff before the spell could complete. The staff, heated by magic, smoked and cooled.
But I didn’t feel the heat. My resonance had already soared to 90%, and my body and mind were utterly exhausted.
I had endured as much as I could with “Patience,” but it was practically full resonance. Barely holding onto my sanity, I was still being gnawed at by William’s dark emotions.
What scared me was that when the resonance reached 90%, I felt something inside me snap.
Perhaps because of that, my body was changing. If I didn’t activate “Patience,” I might have gone mad.
“Let… let go!”
I silently shook my head.
I wanted to say something to Ariel, but I had neither the energy nor the time.
“Ugh…”
Under my silent pressure, Ariel finally dropped her staff and slumped to the ground. At the same time, her hostility toward Luna completely disappeared.
I sighed inwardly as I watched her.
‘Myohail…’
‘Hmm?’
The voice of Myohail, transmitted telepathically, was oddly calm, completely out of place with the current atmosphere. As a sage who had lived for centuries and a bystander who had witnessed history, he remained utterly composed even after witnessing such a tragedy.
Unless it concerned him directly, he wouldn’t bat an eye no matter what happened.
And I planned to make full use of that trait of his.
‘Do you remember the promise we made before?’
‘…Promise? Ah, of course. But why bring it up now?’
‘If you remember, that’s enough.’
I was nearing my limit.
After William’s fall, my condition had become unstable. If I didn’t use “Patience,” I felt like I would shatter into pieces. A sense of unease, as if I would no longer be myself, overwhelmed me.
If that happened, the worst-case scenario might unfold. I had prepared for that by making a deal with Myohail.
As a sage, he would have understood my intentions well enough.
‘It’s not in my nature to meddle unnecessarily…’
Myohail advised me quietly.
‘Knowing when to step back is also wise. I hope the situation you’re anticipating doesn’t come to pass.’
‘…I’ll keep that in mind.’
‘Haha… stubborn as ever, aren’t you? You won’t listen to a word I say.’
He hit the nail on the head.
Being a sage, he could read my thoughts clearly. Normally, I would have been annoyed, but in times like this, it was rather reassuring.
“……”
Luna, her legs giving out, slumped to the ground.
Beside her, Ariel burst into tears.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… for surviving… for shamelessly staying alive…”
Ariel, who had escaped the capital during the “Autumn Tragedy,” began apologizing to Kyle and the dead over and over.
But now, there was no one left to forgive her.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know… I… I resented you every day… William, I hated you to death…”
But her apology was unexpectedly directed at William.
Until now, Ariel must have thought that William, despite being close to Kyle, had turned a blind eye to his crisis.
But the delay in reinforcements from the Ruelberta family was a lie. In fact, William had rushed to Kyle’s aid with Aslan as soon as he was discharged. Moreover, William, the object of her resentment, had fought desperately to save Kyle and their child.
Realizing all this, Ariel was overwhelmed with guilt and remorse, blaming herself endlessly.
I silently watched her. There was nothing I could say. Seeing her cry, any thoughts of blaming her or questioning her past misunderstandings vanished. She, too, was a victim of the “Autumn Tragedy.”
“That’s why… that’s why…”
Suddenly, Ariel seemed to realize something and looked up.
“That’s why it happened…!”
Her gaze toward me was completely different from before. No, it wasn’t just different—it was filled with an indescribable tenderness.
“Because of Kyle’s request… William did that to you…”
Ariel tried to say something, but suddenly, the lights came on, illuminating a “space” in front of us.
“That place…”
Luna recognized it.
A castle with luxurious carpets and antique curtains. A place familiar to me as well—it was the Imperial Palace.
“Luna Meikhael.”
Luna, slumped on the ground, looked up at me.
Her once dignified appearance was gone, and her pale face showed fear.
“You said Maxime couldn’t have done it?”
I ignored her and stared straight ahead, steeling myself for the trial to come.
“We’ll see about that.”
*
Late at night, chaos unfolded in the dimly lit Imperial Palace.
“Your Majesty! You must evacuate immediately!”
“What… what is the meaning of this?!”
The Emperor of the Empire, Maxime Meikhael, was horrified by the scene before him.
After all, intruders had broken into the Emperor’s audience chamber, the heart of the heavily guarded Imperial Palace.
“Don’t touch His Majesty! You scoundrels!”
“Cut down all the intruders!”
The royal knights charged bravely at the sudden intruders.
“Your Majesty! Let’s go this way!”
Guarding Maxime were knights in red armor. Seeing their armor, I realized.
These were no ordinary knights.
After narrowly escaping assassination by the pirate Maible, Maxime had selected elite members from the royal knights to form his personal guard.
And that red armor was awarded only to the most elite of those guards. In other words, those guarding Maxime were the cream of the crop, the best of the best in the Empire.
“Could it be… pirates again?”
“Not pirates. Judging by their movements, they’re more like a well-trained regular army.”
“What? Then is there a rebellion?!”
“I’m not sure yet. They attacked under cover of darkness, so we couldn’t identify them…”
“Ugh… what a disgrace…!”
As the guard knight had judged, they were no pirate rabble. Untrained pirates couldn’t have breached the Imperial Palace’s defenses and reached this far.
Then it happened.
“Your Majesty… step back.”
Blocking their hurried escape was a group clad in black military coats.
“How… how did they get here…”
The guard knights, seeing the uninvited guests who had appeared without a sound, drew their swords, tense. They were drenched in blood, as if they had swum through a sea of it.
“Wait… that mask…”
One of the guard knights recognized the steel lion masks they wore.
“Aslan?!”
“Why are the Ruelberta family’s private soldiers here…”
“Aidan…! That bastard…!”
Maxime gritted his teeth, feeling betrayed. But his guess was wrong.
This memory wasn’t Aidan Ruelberta’s.
“Daring to target His Majesty’s life… insolent…!”
“Don’t be afraid! We’re not inferior in skill.”
The guard knights, hesitating at the sight of the blood-soaked figures, quickly formed ranks. Their discipline was indeed worthy of their elite status.
“Good!”
And leading them was a knight with an imposing presence—the Captain of the Guard.
“Cut down those traitors!”
“Yes!”
At the Captain’s command, the knights swung their swords at Aslan’s members. Confident in their skills, they didn’t hesitate to attack first.
But that only worked against opponents where skill mattered.
“What… what is this?!”
The guard knights’ faces filled with shock.
Aslan’s members didn’t dodge their sword strikes. They simply blocked the incoming blades with their gauntleted hands.
“Ugh?! Let go!”
“What… what kind of strength is this?!”
The guard knights tried to pull their swords free, but the blades held by Aslan’s members wouldn’t budge. The sheer strength, almost inhuman, left the knights bewildered.
But that was only for a moment…
Thud-!!
“Ha! Leaving an opening, how foolish!”
“Our swords aren’t the only ones!”
The guard knights simultaneously drew their daggers and stabbed at their opponents’ necks. A strike aimed at the neck would have been fatal to any ordinary human.
But something strange happened.
“What?!”
Despite having knives plunged into their necks, Aslan’s members didn’t writhe in pain or even scream.
As if they felt no pain.
“Ugh?!”
Aslan’s members, without removing the knives from their necks, grabbed the guard knights by their necks.
And then…
Crunch-!
“……Gasp?!”
“Ugh…”
The next moment, the Captain’s eyes widened.
Before him lay Aslan’s members, having torn through the red armor like paper, and the guard knights, pierced through the chest, their faces filled with despair.
“Your Majesty…! Run…!”
“Run… quickly…”
“No, no!”
Before the Captain could stop them, a mist of blood sprayed from all directions.
“Ugh… aaaah…!”
Maxime staggered at the carnage unfolding before his eyes.
Aslan’s members had torn apart the knights guarding Maxime alive.
“These… monsters!!”
The Captain, having lost his subordinates in an instant, swung his sword in rage.
His blade would once again be caught by an Aslan member. But…
“Ha! Think I’ll fall for that?”
The Captain quickly distanced himself and severed the Aslan member’s outstretched arm.
Splat!
Bright red blood gushed out, pooling on the floor. The Aslan member, now missing both arms, staggered. The Captain didn’t miss the opportunity.
“Die!!”
He plunged his sword into the Aslan member’s chest, where the heart was. Even a demon would have died from such a strike.
The Captain smiled triumphantly.
For exactly three seconds.
“You… bastard…?!”
The next moment, the Captain’s face froze. The Aslan member, who should have been dead after losing his arms and having his heart pierced, was still moving. Not only that, he grabbed the Captain in a bear hug.
“Ugh?! Let go!”
Struggling with all his might, the Captain noticed something glowing on the Aslan member’s pierced chest.
“A magic formula…?”
As strength surged into the Aslan member’s shoulders, the Captain realized his intent and his expression changed.
“Stop-!!”
A bone-crushing, chilling sound echoed. The Captain, writhing in unimaginable pain, soon went limp.
Thud.
“Ugh… aaaah?!”
The Captain’s body, bent in half along with his armor, was thrown to the ground, and Maxime screamed.
Then it happened.
“Do you want to live?”
A low voice came from the darkness.
Uncertain if it was friend or foe, Maxime tensed and asked, “Who… who are you?!”
“I know you, but you don’t know me.”
“What…?”
An answer that no one who knew Maxime was the Emperor would dare give.
“You… insolent…”
Perhaps out of pride as the Emperor, Maxime mustered the last of his courage and shouted, “I am the Emperor of this nation, Maxime! Reveal yourself…!”
“I am William.”
“?!”
From the shadows emerged a slender young man. But his eyes were so cold that it was hard to believe he was human. In an emotionless voice, he said to Maxime, “The next head of the Ruelberta family… and Kyle Roelgreen’s closest friend.”
