~Chapter 50~
Do What You Can Right Now
“I wanted the most ideal Empress, more than anyone else.”
“…”
“Because you appeared in front of me, I was able to grab the opportunity.”
“I’m not such a great person.”
“If the head of the Permang Empire’s Magic Division isn’t great, then who is?”
Regina wanted to say that she was just a loser who couldn’t get what she wanted, was tricked, and ran away, but she couldn’t say it out loud.
Regina bit her lip and stared at Conrad.
“If the idiots of Permang hadn’t existed, you wouldn’t have become my Empress.”
“Conrad.”
“Isn’t that right?”
When Conrad looked straight at her, Regina closed her mouth tightly.
Her heart felt uneasy.
Regina still cared about the Permang Empire. She didn’t want to deny everything she had done for the empire.
But deep inside, a new thought was growing.
Even if she took revenge on Hereis and the other royals who betrayed her, would she still be able to love the Permang Empire?
‘The empire where I was born and raised, that shared all of my life.’
Now that she was in the Fredericks Empire and had met its people, she couldn’t ignore the sting in her heart.
The knights and soldiers who had to go fight monsters again and again because of the magic barrier she created, and Conrad too.
It was Hereis who ordered the barrier, but Regina couldn’t refuse in the end.
‘If I hadn’t come here, I never would have known so many people died because of the barrier.’
It wasn’t just people from Fredericks. Many in Regina’s Magic Division had died too. The magic barrier, built on their blood, was still causing death in Fredericks.
‘But an ideal Empress…’
If someone heard Conrad say that, they might think he was crazy.
Regina still smiled bitterly.
“In the end, I’ll never be welcomed by the people of Fredericks.”
“No, that’s not true.”
Conrad disagreed, but Regina replied with sarcasm.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? I’m the one who created that terrible barrier.”
“You’re also the only one who can get rid of it.”
“But…!”
No one knew when that would be.
Conrad’s hand touched the top of Regina’s head as she bowed deeply. He gently stroked her hair, and Regina held her breath.
“You don’t have to be impatient.”
“Conrad.”
“If you get back financial authority and help the knights and soldiers stop dying, you’re already doing enough.”
“But the barrier…!”
“For now, you don’t have to think about that yet.”
Conrad held Regina’s delicate hand and kissed the back of it.
“Do what you can right now.”
Regina snapped to attention at Conrad’s words.
She remembered what the late Empress of Permang once told her.
Back when Regina was sad from losing her subordinates because her magic wasn’t strong enough yet.
She tried high-level magic but failed over and over, and her magic power didn’t increase. While Regina was depressed, the late Empress came to her and said:
“Do what you can right now, Regina. The people who follow you will be more anxious if they see you discouraged. If you do things step by step, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.”
After that day, those words became Regina’s motto.
Do what you can now.
Even if she died tomorrow to monsters, if she did what she had to do today, the future could change.
For Regina, who was always on the edge of life and death, the most important thing was to live today, not to worry about an uncertain future.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Regina let out a soft breath.
“I should do what I have to do now.”
“That’s it. That’s the Regina Permang I know.”
Conrad gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Her ear turned red, but Conrad pretended not to notice and kissed her again and again.
It was a gentle summer night.
In the palace of the Permang Empire, Hereis’s palace was the grandest after the Emperor’s.
For most people, the grandeur was overwhelming, but if you looked closely, you could see it was full of flaws.
It was big, but inside, everything was just flashy. Hereis liked things that glittered, so for him it was the perfect palace.
The most luxurious and expensive reception room in the palace was open.
“Did you bring it?”
“Yes, Crown Prince.”
Daniel handed Hereis a bloodstained robe.
It was torn and dirty, but Hereis knew right away it was Regina’s robe.
“What about the body?”
“There was only the robe. She must have been eaten by monsters.”
“So you didn’t actually see her dead.”
“That’s right, but with her magic sealed, she couldn’t survive outside the barrier.”
“Even you knights survived. Why would Regina be different?”
Daniel wanted to say that the knights had magic tools, but he held his tongue.
Hereis pretended to be gentle with others, but was different with Regina.
Daniel knew well why Hereis hated Regina so much, so he just waited quietly for the next order.
“You did well, for now.”
“Is there anything else you wish, Crown Prince?”
Even after throwing Regina outside the magic barrier, Hereis couldn’t sleep easily.
He worried that something would go wrong with the barrier and monsters would come into Permang. Or maybe Regina would break the seal and come to kill him.
‘The bloodstained robe.’
It was the robe Regina never took off.
It was covered in many layers of magic, but Hereis removed the spells when he sealed Regina’s magic.
Now, it was just a normal robe. But why did he feel so uneasy looking at it?
Hereis clenched his fist. He looked down at the people waiting for orders, but didn’t feel any better.
If Regina was here, he could relieve his anxiety by tormenting her—but now, she was gone.
“Damn it.”
Everyone in the room heard him curse, but no one moved. They just waited for his next order.
“Count.”
“Yes, Crown Prince.”
“Is Regina Permang really dead?”
He wasn’t really asking Daniel, but more like talking to himself.
Still, Daniel gave the answer Hereis wanted.
“Of course.”
“Are you sure?”
“A weak body without magic almost never survives a monster wave.”
“…What if someone saved her?”
“That’s impossible. You know that.”
Hereis had locked up all the mages who followed Regina in magic prisons.
He caught them off guard just before Regina’s exile, so it was easy.
Now, they lived as energy sources for magic tools—neither alive nor dead.
Hereis was the one who did this to the mages.
‘Some ran away, but they’re so few it doesn’t matter.’
He made sure none of Regina’s followers could save her.
“That’s right.”
No one could save Regina. He had made it that way himself.
“There’s no way she’s alive.”
No way.
Even if Regina was alive, her magic was sealed—she couldn’t get through the barrier and come back.
