Chapter 76
The knight order returned to the Empire. After stopping by a nearby village and taking a day of rest, the Yusupov Knight Order came back, and the citizens of the Empire cheered passionately at their return.
‘As expected of the Yusupov Knight Order!’
‘Exactly. Without the Yusupov Ducal House, this Empire might have fallen long ago.’
The Yusupov Knight Order returned proudly. Their return further elevated the already high prestige of the Yusupov Ducal House.
And inside the Emperor’s audience chamber, two people stood in silence. Both of their faces were pale with shock.
‘The Yusupov young duke returned alive.’
This fact tormented the Emperor. The Yusupov young duke must have realized the identities of the assassins.
‘…To think things would turn out like this, making the Yusupov Ducal House our enemy.’
The Emperor’s mind grew complicated. What should he do now?
The Emperor shot a glare at Marquis Rominav, who stood before him. Even though he had followed that shameless marquis’s plan, everything had ended in failure.
“Marquis.”
“……”
“Marquis!!!”
Only after the Emperor suddenly shouted did Marquis Rominav lift his head and look at him.
“Yes, Your Majesty. You called?”
“I followed your words, and now my position has become awkward. I’m worried about how the Yusupov Ducal House will respond from now on!”
“…Ha.”
Looking at the pathetic man sitting before him, Marquis Rominav felt as though he might die from frustration. Trusting that foolish bastard had been his greatest mistake.
‘I should have hired mercenaries separately instead of trusting the Emperor.’
He failed to capture Hamilton, that mad bastard, and also failed to kill the Yusupov young duke. Not a single thing had succeeded.
Marquis Rominav grew increasingly anxious. The situation he had created was tightening around his own neck.
“Come up with a solution immediately, immediately!!”
“…Your Majesty. For now, it would be best to pretend ignorance. At least until proof appears that the Imperial Family was involved. And forgive me, but I am busy, so I must take my leave.”
Marquis Rominav quickly turned around. The Emperor’s flustered voice repeatedly calling his name echoed behind him, but that was not what mattered to him right now.
‘Hamilton.’
He had to bring that bastard back under his control before he revealed everything.
Hamilton had been brought in by the Yusupov Knight Order and was now imprisoned in the Imperial underground dungeon. No one knew what he might say.
As Marquis Rominav left the audience chamber, his snake-like, sharply slit eyes gleamed coldly.
A good idea—one that could overturn everything—came to his mind.
‘Sophia.’
Yes, Sophia Rominav.
He had a half-sister, Sophia Rominav.
Sophia, who was always obedient and listened well to his words.
If Sophia spoke directly to Hamilton—
Hamilton would have died if she told him to.
A vile smile spread across Marquis Rominav’s face.
‘Convincing naïve Sophia won’t be difficult.’
All she needed to do was persuade Hamilton.
‘Even when the sky collapses, there is always a way out.’
“Hahahahaha.”
Marquis Rominav’s steps became light once more.
Hamilton dreamed.
‘Sophia. Are you giving it to me again today?’
‘Yes, Hamilton. You have to eat well. Let’s eat together.’
Sophia, with black hair and beautiful red eyes, when she was still a young girl.
The small piece of bread she shared with him when he was hungry.
That bread had tasted incredibly good. Enough to bring tears.
Sophia and Hamilton, both abandoned even by their parents, were precious friends who always relied on each other.
They were lonely, yet not lonely—as long as Sophia was with him.
They wandered the streets to survive, but that was fine. Sophia protected him.
One day, Sophia was almost captured by human traffickers.
In front of him, frozen and helpless, Sophia struggled desperately not to be taken away, but no one paid attention to orphaned children like them.
Just as she was being dragged away, Sophia was rescued by a passing boy. As Hamilton treated her wounds, he made a vow.
He decided to protect Sophia. No matter what happened, he would protect her.
‘Sophia. From now on, I’ll definitely protect you.’
‘Okay.’
Even when he learned that Sophia was the lost daughter of a noble family, Hamilton thought the same thing.
‘I’ll protect you.’
He intended to keep those words even if it cost him his life.
Because even on the day she left, Sophia tightly held his hand and earnestly told him—
‘Wait for me, Hamilton. I’ll come back for you. Wait.’
He believed those words. He waited and waited again.
Through days of heavy snowfall, through unbearably hot summers, through chilly autumn winds and until flowers bloomed again.
Continuously.
He waited.
But Sophia never returned.
Hamilton dreamed.
A dream where Sophia came back.
“Is he waking up?”
“I’m not sure.”
Unfamiliar voices reached his ears. Hamilton slowly opened his eyes.
When his heavy eyelids lifted, he saw a dark ceiling.
A damp, dark place—familiar and not unfamiliar at the same time.
“He’s opened his eyes!”
“……”
As Hamilton slowly sat up, the Imperial Knight Order surrounding the Emperor immediately took defensive positions.
Even though thick iron bars of the underground prison stood firmly between them, they still feared him—a man who wielded dark magic.
‘They’re afraid.’
A weak laugh escaped him.
Even those who appeared noble were all the same.
They felt despair. They felt fear.
A sense of satisfaction arose from knowing he alone was not always the one afraid.
“Kh… kh… haha…”
Disgust appeared on the faces of those listening to his eerie laughter.
“What measures should we take?”
At the Emperor’s words, the nobles standing nearby with folded arms answered as if they had been waiting.
“We must interrogate him first and find out who is behind this. Then he must be severely punished.”
“That’s right. He is a traitor who threatened the Imperial Family of the Empire.”
At those words, Julius Belshkin nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Since Marquis Rominav had not yet provided a satisfying solution, Julius Belshkin planned to make full use of the dark mage. Although the Yusupov Knight Order had captured him, if the Emperor personally punished him severely and demonstrated the restoration of imperial authority, perhaps the citizens’ favor toward the Imperial Family would improve slightly.
That was why he had personally come down to this filthy, damp underground dungeon crawling with insects and rats.
‘I must respond quickly so the Yusupov Ducal House cannot challenge the Imperial Family.’
That was the only thing on his mind. Fortunately, the Yusupov Ducal House had not yet said anything, but no one knew when they might suddenly present evidence and spread rumors throughout the Empire that the Imperial Family had attempted to kill the future duke of the Yusupov House.
“Your Majesty, perhaps you should return now. There is nothing to gain from looking too long at such a lowly and vile creature.”
At the flattering noble’s words, Julius replied,
“Yes. You are right. Ah, I will personally conduct the interrogation. Once he recovers enough to speak, send him up. And bring a mage as well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
After speaking, the Emperor hurriedly left the foul-smelling underground dungeon as if fleeing. When all the nobles followed him out, Hamilton, now alone, lay back down in the empty dungeon.
‘A lowly and vile creature.’
That was how they described him.
Well, it was not entirely wrong. He had been born lowly, wandering the streets and begging to survive, so to powerful nobles he would indeed appear lowly.
But vile?
Hamilton’s lips twisted grotesquely.
‘Who is truly vile?’
Was it Marquis Rominav, who had hired him since childhood to assassinate the Empress? Or the Emperor who betrayed the Second Prince he once protected and seized the throne?
Of course, Hamilton himself was also vile. The moment he touched dark magic, that truth became undeniable. But they too were equally vile.
Hamilton pitied those who still failed to realize that fact.
Then he thought of the only reason he could endure this dreadful place—his sole salvation.
‘I just have to wait.’
This was the Imperial Palace. He was closer to Sophia than ever. Because of holy power—that cursed force—he had lost all his strength and now had nothing left but his body, yet he was finally in the same place as Sophia. As long as he did not abandon hope of meeting her, he would eventually gain at least one chance to see her while still alive.
Clank—
As Hamilton rejoiced at that thought, the door to the underground dungeon opened.
A figure slowly approached through the doorway.
The shadow cast by the torchlight on the dungeon wall looked elegant.
As the figure drew closer, the revealed face was…
Sophia Belshkin. The Empress of the Empire.
“Hamilton.”
The woman Hamilton had longed for and waited for with all his heart.
