CHAPTER 15
Late at night, Asilia sat face-to-face with Isaiah.
“So the land routes are blocked. What a headache. Well, I suppose it’s only natural—the Emperor wouldn’t let go of his prey so easily.”
Isaiah let out a long sigh.
When they were trapped, he’d been furious at not knowing anything about Moria, but the situation had since changed.
Now, he had a vague understanding of why Asilia hadn’t been able to resist and was simply dragged along.
Emperor Cretes was, quite literally, a being of unimaginable power.
The idea of someone ruling the sea itself defied logic—and some even claimed he could hear the voices of the dead.
“It may sound impudent… but perhaps the years-long war with Moria was part of the Emperor’s scheme.”
“A scheme?”
“Wasn’t the Emperor targeting you? Maybe he was waiting for you to join the war.”
Isaiah’s tone had changed from the earlier sarcastic “Your Majesty the Empress.” That likely meant he’d decided the situation was hopeless.
“Do you think we could… kill the Emperor with just the two of us?”
At Asilia’s question, Isaiah was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“If there was even a sliver of a chance, I’d say yes. But how could a human defeat a monster?”
An ordinary person, maybe—but this was someone whose abilities were near-divine.
No one knew the limits of that power. How could they easily take such a being’s life?
“Well, if there were a way, it’d be if the Emperor willingly offered up his life.”
“…”
“But… that doesn’t seem likely either.”
They both sighed at the same time.
Asilia and Isaiah had been raised with the doctrine that duty comes before life.
But when the odds were this close to zero, protocol dictated they abandon the mission and return home.
“…If we return home in failure, do you think His Majesty will accept us?”
Isaiah shrugged at Asilia’s question.
“Whether we’re accepted or not is up to His Majesty. Still, you never know. His Majesty did favor you.”
“Who knows. Like you said before, I’ve caused more than a few problems during missions.”
“That’s true. Wouldn’t this be your fourth failed mission?”
It was a bitterly ironic conversation.
They’d left Revilla long ago, and no one had come looking for them.
They knew they’d been abandoned—but pretended otherwise, talking as if they still had hope.
Maybe, just maybe, they’d be accepted if they succeeded now.
“…If we succeed, even this late, they might take us back.”
Asilia mumbled, lowering her eyes. She knew how unlikely that was, which only led to another sigh.
“In the end, we have no way out. And if we fail and return, Revilla won’t take us back. Either way, it’s death.”
“…Is there truly no way?”
“There are monsters in the sea. Even if we escape by ship, we’ll likely be attacked and die a pointless death. As for the Emperor of Moria…”
Isaiah trailed off. After collecting his thoughts, he continued.
“I didn’t have much time to look into it, but apparently, Moria used to have quite a few gods.”
That was news to Asilia.
“Quite a few? Then what happened to the rest?”
“They died. A long time ago. If you think about that, killing the Emperor might not be completely impossible. But I didn’t find anything useful. There’s barely any record left, and one surviving account mentions a god who died voluntarily.”
Leaning back like Asilia had earlier, Isaiah settled deeper into the sofa.
There was nothing they could do, even if they gathered information in frustration and anger.
So Isaiah, too, had stopped getting worked up.
“Hah… If only we could kill the Emperor of Moria, Revilla would be ours for the taking.”
While Isaiah grumbled, Asilia fell deep into thought.
Voluntary death.
Whether by choice or force, even gods could die.
That meant… Cretes could die, too.
“It might not be impossible.”
“What?”
“Whether it’s you or me, if we’re destined to die here in Moria, shouldn’t we at least repay the favor we owe Revilla?”
At Asilia’s words, Isaiah’s brow briefly furrowed. But it quickly returned to his usual expression.
“Do you have a plan?”
“We’ll have to find one. So far, we’ve been thinking in human terms.”
Poison, strangling, assassination—all human methods to kill humans.
But to kill a godlike monster, they’d need something more fitting.
“The temple.”
If there were gods and a temple, there might be information about Cretes there.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle. Right now, they knew neither their enemy nor themselves.
“It’s too soon to give up.”
Isaiah looked at her with surprise. Sitting upright, he adjusted his posture and said,
“That’s unexpected.”
“What is?”
“You seemed like you didn’t want to kill the Emperor of Moria.”
Asilia fell silent. She lowered her gaze and then spoke bitterly.
“I was just chasing a foolish dream.”
A hopeless dream.
That he had respected her as a person.
That he’d give her freedom with no ulterior motives.
“Did you ever ask him why?”
“…?”
“Why he acted that way. He seemed like the type who’d give you his heart and soul if you asked. He might’ve told you if you’d just asked.”
Asilia parted her lips but said nothing.
She hadn’t asked—because she thought she already knew.
He’d done it to keep her from leaving Moria…
“Well, choices can always be reversed.”
Isaiah spoke casually, then frowned slightly.
As if uncomfortable, or nauseous, he closed his eyes for a moment and stood up.
“If your choice is to keep digging, I’ll look into things too. Whether we die here or in Revilla… if we’re going to die anyway, we might as well do something.”
With that, Isaiah left the room with a long yawn. Asilia, watching him go, tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s with him…?”
That wasn’t like Isaiah.
Not like the Isaiah she knew.
The Isaiah she knew would’ve insisted that choices should never be reversed.
He’d have mocked her for speaking with two tongues, calling it unworthy of a Revillan.
And yet…
“Did he say… it’s okay to change your mind?”
Did she hear that right?
Just as she was about to question it, the door opened and a red-haired man entered.
“Did you two have a fight?”
“…Have you no concept of knocking?”
“I knocked at least ten times.”
Adrian replied nonchalantly, stepping into the room.
His question annoyed her a little, but she decided to let it slide.
Adrian was prone to nonsense anyway.
“So what brings you here?”
“The princess was worried. She asked me to check on you.”
“The princess?”
Asilia looked surprised.
It was a relationship of mutual use—so why show such concern?
“Well, it makes sense. You did send more supplies to the kingdom than originally promised.”
“…It’s not like we’d eat all of it if it sat in the granary. I just thought it better to give it to those who need it before it rots.”
And she’d also been angry at the Emperor’s actions.
But in the end, it seemed that gesture had earned Formilla’s gratitude.
“Actually, grain stored in Moria’s granary doesn’t rot.”
“…What?”
“That, too, is thanks to His Majesty… but saying that now would just make me sound tone-deaf, so let’s move on.”
“…”
“I heard from the princess—your goal is to escape Moria.”
Asilia’s brow furrowed slightly.
Judging by how he spoke, it seemed Formilla and Adrian had a strong connection. And they talked about such things so openly?
“Well… if I weren’t in such a hurry myself, I’d have waved it off and told you to give up…”
Trailing off, Adrian gave her a sidelong glance as if gauging her reaction, then finally spoke.
“I can help you.”
“…What?”
“In return, Your Majesty, I’d like you to help me first.”
