Chapter 85

Etias, dressed in his imperial uniform, stepped into the luxurious royal carriage.

The newly reformed imperial guards raised their spears high as they escorted their emperor out of the palace.

Normally, Etias would ride a horse himself even for long distances, but the royal physician had insisted that he ride in the carriage this time.

“Your Majesty’s condition is serious. It wouldn’t be surprising if you passed away tomorrow.”

On the surface, his body seemed solid and strong. He possessed an overwhelming ability capable of rendering entire armies powerless.
But the physician had detected just how severe his mental illness had become.

The mind was just as important as the body—perhaps even more so.

If the mind breaks beyond repair, even a healthy body will lose its life force and collapse.

The royal physician diagnosed that Etias was standing at death’s door.

He could neither eat properly nor sleep. One thing was crushing Etias’ heart with unbearable weight.

“It’s longing, isn’t it?”

Inside the carriage, a single tear rolled down Etias’ cheek.

“Your yearning for someone is eating away at your mind, Your Majesty. I’ve seen similar cases before, but never this severe.”

Etias touched the tear with his dry hand.

“Perhaps the Shadow of Darkness is actively feeding on the fragments of Your Majesty’s heart, making the symptoms worse.”

The physician could only suggest one solution: find the person he longed for and keep her close.

The day before meeting Padelmon, Etias had whispered to his shadow.

He begged the primordial darkness, which had been with him since birth, to seek out her scent—even though he knew it had no will of its own.

One shadow had crept outward, stretching toward Quayden, the very direction Padelmon had mentioned.

Because of this, Etias decided to delay his other tasks.

“….”

It felt as though her voice was whispering in his ear.

“Then could you please move your wooden hands away?”

His tear-streaked hand felt dry.

Etias raised his piercing blue eyes to look out the window.

He didn’t care if she glared coldly at him.

He just wanted to see her wicked smile again.
He wanted to fill those shimmering violet eyes with nothing but himself.

“Next time, let’s make sure your eyes are filled only with me, Katrin.”

Recalling the one-sided promise he had once made to her, Etias pressed his hand over his heart.

It pounded heavily in his chest.

Even in the harshest conditions, it had never hurt this much.
Ever since he had lost sight of her, his heart burned as if it were on fire every single day.

“….”

His tightly clenched fist bulged with veins hardened by relentless battles and training.

In secret, the rumor that Katrin Ellemore had been captured in Quayden reached the imperial palace.

It was also said that a royal carriage would soon arrive to take Katrin away.

Katrin and Heros remained on guard.

There were many who wished for Katrin Ellemore’s death—not just Assembly nobles who bore grudges against Ellemore, but also the former royalist nobles who had suffered at her hands.

And there was someone else.

Aglia, who feared Katrin because she knew her most dangerous secrets.

“I should’ve sent the evidence when I deposited money in Sistina.”

I glanced at the documents hidden in Biyo’s inventory and muttered.

“You had to leave in a hurry,” Heros said, knocking out another assassin and binding him tightly.

“It couldn’t be helped.”

“Mmmph!”

He tightened the gag in the assassin’s mouth and dragged him by the neck into a crowded prison cell.

In the cell next to them, I saw a trembling Lucia.

When we spread the word that Katrin Ellemore was being held in this prison, four assassins had already come within two days.

“Ahh…!”

Lucia, who had already faced multiple death threats, rubbed her hands together in a desperate plea.

“Katrin, I was wrong. I overstepped. Please save me… I’m going to die like this!”

“Do you understand now, Lucia? The weight of the name you impersonated?”

I smirked darkly.

Lucia nodded her pale face.

But I didn’t offer her the hope she wanted.

“So I’ll be counting on you from now on. My stand-in.”

I remembered what Lucia had once said.

Even the assassins who had tried to kill me in Dobleton had only been sent to scare me.

“Don’t be too scared.”

“Katrin!”

I left her desperate scream behind and walked out of the prison with Heros.

“Ugh, my ears hurt. What should we eat for lunch, Heros?”

“How about roast duck? I know a good place.”

“Sounds good. Then after lunch…”

The wind blew between us, ruffling his brown hair.

I stopped and looked straight at him.

“You should return to the Scavengers now.”

Heros slowly turned to look at me.

“…My lady.”

“This is the end. Thank you for everything, Heros.”

I had heard that the royal carriage was already on its way.

“You know I can’t go to Montella. Prince Etias—no, Emperor Etias’ health has worsened, and I have to confirm it for myself.”

I planned to disguise myself as Lucia’s maid, after drugging her with a tongue-numbing potion so she couldn’t say a word, and then join the group heading back to the capital.

That way, I could safely enter the imperial palace…

…where Etias, with only four hearts left, was waiting for me.

I didn’t know if I could heal him, but it was better than staying in Montella and hearing the news of his death.

If worst comes to worst, I still have the potion from the Grand Duke of Montella. I can escape.

“I’m sorry. You’ve done so much, and I’m ruining it all.”

I lowered my eyebrows slightly and apologized.

Heros, who could have been angry at my decision, simply accepted it without a word.

He took a step closer and looked me in the eye.

Then he slowly raised his hand and cupped my cheek.

“Heros…”

“I will not leave your side.”

“…But!”

He shook his head, staring at me with deep eyes.

My chest ached as I looked at him.

“Think carefully. If things go well, I’ll be pardoned. But if they don’t… I’ll end up like the other royalist nobles hanging from the castle walls. Do you understand the risk you’re taking by staying with me?”