~Chapter 99~
“Right now, you’re not what’s important to me.”
“……”
Adrian hesitated, unsure how to respond. Then, Regiana Troxia spoke.
“You seem to want to kill your mother.”
“……!”
His face stiffened at her words.
“Isn’t this your chance?”
Chance.
Adrian rolled the word in his mouth.
“A chance to kill my mother.”
It felt like Regiana Lohelo Troxia knew exactly what he desired. The way she immediately brought up “a chance,” as though she had been waiting to tempt him, made suspicion rise in his chest.
He glanced at her again, cautious. Judging from her attitude, she didn’t seem like she was about to kill the Emperor herself.
Why? Out of everyone here, she must hate the Emperor most.
The answer came to him quickly.
“You’re waiting for me to kill my mother, aren’t you?”
“Oh my.”
Regiana widened her eyes and covered her mouth.
“You found out.”
“……”
Adrian realized—she was trying to use him as the tool to kill the Emperor.
With a face twisted in humiliation, he snapped,
“So you want to sit back and get what you want without lifting a finger.”
“Wouldn’t it be a good thing for you as well, Your Highness?”
He let out a bitter laugh, his fists trembling with anger.
“It would only benefit you.”
“……”
The polite tone she once used with him was long gone.
Adrian knew this was exactly when he shouldn’t trust her. If she truly intended to make him her weapon against the Emperor, he had to be on guard all the more. Especially since he couldn’t see through her real intentions.
‘But still…’
Even through the pain, her words echoed clearly in his head.
“A chance.”
Maybe this really was the last chance, just as Regiana Lohelo Troxia said.
If Renia didn’t act… if she failed… then it had to be him. From the moment he came here, he had thought the same: his mother must disappear from this land.
Adrian groaned and held his wounded shoulder, his face twisting.
“…And what guarantee do I have that you won’t turn against me afterward?”
“Did you have such a guarantee when you worked with Renia?”
Adrian fell silent.
Regiana tilted her head slightly.
“I’m really not interested in you, Your Highness.”
“……”
“You’re not what matters to me right now.”
“I’d sooner trust the words of a stray dog.”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
Her voice showed no trace of panic.
“No matter what you say… you won’t forget me.”
“How self-absorbed you are.”
“……”
Adrian bit his lip. He hated this woman—the way she didn’t flinch, her boldness, her sharp tongue.
She reminded him of Renia.
A childish desire rose in him: to wound her pride. Fortunately, he knew her weakness.
“That ‘important person’ to you—he’s Calix Hertorio, isn’t he?”
Her face froze instantly, turning icy cold.
“Seems you still don’t understand the situation.”
“……”
Though she didn’t falter, he knew he had struck a nerve. Satisfaction curled in Adrian’s chest as he sneered.
Regiana Troxia looked down at him coldly.
“I’m not keeping you alive because I like you.”
“Well, that’s such a shocking revelation.”
“Don’t forget—you owe me your life.”
She held back her anger but still spat out the words.
“Your life belongs to me.”
“You’ll have to live the rest of your days remembering that fact. Unless, of course, you’d like to die silently in your sleep one night.”
Adrian’s eyes shook with rage. His teeth ground together.
“…What if I seize the dragon?”
Regiana let out a short laugh.
“As if.”
“……”
He had no words left, and she continued coldly,
“Either way, if you want to kill the Emperor, you’d better go now.”
“Who knows what’s happening down there already.”
Adrian realized at once—this was her final warning.
“……”
He clenched his fist tight.
After sending Prince Adrian away, I immediately went to find Calix.
He wasn’t far. He sat leaning against a tree, waiting for me.
“Calix…!”
“Rena.”
His face lit up with relief when he saw me. I could feel his eyes scanning my face and body, checking me all over.
‘Who’s worrying about who right now?’
The sudden surge of emotion made my eyes sting, but I held it back.
“Are you alright?”
I rushed forward to him. But strangely, instead of answering, he looked uneasy when our eyes met.
“…Why?”
Anxious dread rose in me.
The way he avoided my eyes—like a puppy that had done something wrong—made me nervous.
‘What is it?’
Then I noticed—he hadn’t stood up, still sitting there with his hand pressed to his waist.
A sharp cry escaped me.
“You’re hurt?!”
“…Mm.”
“You are hurt!”
His vague answer told me everything. Grabbing his arm, I pulled at him, and a suppressed groan escaped his lips.
I froze and quickly let go.
“Is it bad?”
“No. Just a scratch.”
“Let me see.”
“……”
But Calix didn’t remove his hand from the wound.
“Take your hand away!”
Only after I shouted with blazing eyes did he reluctantly move his arm.
“……”
The wound was nothing like “just a scratch.” His side was torn apart, ripped like claws had shredded it.
Calix avoided my gaze. I swallowed back the scream rising in my throat and spoke in a trembling voice.
“…This is what you call ‘a scratch’?”
“I’m fine.”
“This is ‘fine’ to you?”
I clamped my mouth shut, unable to continue. If I said more, I’d burst into tears.
Instinctively, I called on my magic. Now that the barrier was broken, it answered me faithfully. In an instant, the bleeding stopped and the flesh knit together. But strangely, I still felt restless. I pressed harder, pouring out more and more magic.
Even after the wound fully closed and his torn clothes were restored, I kept channeling everything I had into him.
“Rena.”
At last, Calix reached out, stopping me. He lowered his head to meet my eyes.
His hand gently covered mine, and only then did I realize—I was trembling.
“I’m really alright.”
“……”
His words carried certainty.
“Because you’ll heal me.”
“…Yes.”
My reply came out nasal, but I nodded anyway.
“And you already healed me perfectly.”
Calix glanced down at his restored waist.
“…What if I had found you too late?”
“But you didn’t. You found me.”
“Even if you were a little late—”
“You’d never be late.”
Calix’s unwavering faith in me finally made me smile back at him.
“Where’s Renia?”
“…She’s gone.”
My heart sank with a thud.
Renia had gone to find the dragon. Which meant she must have already gone down to the basement—and met the Emperor.
She had the seal ring I gave her. Even without Troxia blood, she could have opened the door.
‘And the knights guarding the entrance…’
I remembered the prince’s face, as if he had already passed by them.
‘Adrian must have taken care of them.’
Even though I had half expected this outcome, a bitter taste filled my mouth.
“Did Renia kill the Emperor?”
“Not yet.”
I answered Calix’s question.
“She must know by now that Adrian failed to kill me.”
What would she feel, standing before the dragon yet unable to claim its magic? Would she panic? Or curse Adrian for his incompetence?
Either way, we’d soon find out.
We soon left the forest. Near the basement entrance, we found imperial knights collapsed on the ground.
Beside them were a few men in plain clothes—they must have been the ones Adrian brought with him.
They were all in bad shape, but it was enough to guess what had happened.
Calix’s knights were nowhere in sight. When I asked about them, he answered casually,
“They must be resting nearby. I told them to hide if the prince showed up.”
‘I see.’
Thanks to that, Adrian had easily dealt with the Emperor’s knights, and Renia had slipped into the basement without difficulty.
The entrance still stood intact, its presence heavy, the door firmly shut.
With one hand gripping Calix’s, I pressed my other hand to the door. A magic circle appeared, and the door opened smoothly.
Calix had been shocked when I first told him I could open it even without Troxia’s seal ring.
‘Then why did you need the ring before?’ he had asked.
My answer was simple:
“Because I had never tried opening the door before.”
My parents must have left me that ring to help me when I was too young to understand how the door worked.
Once I had opened it with the ring, I understood its mechanism—after that, I no longer needed it.
That was why I could even give the ring to Renia.
As the dark stairway stretched open, lanterns lit up one by one, as if to welcome us.
I took a step inside.
“Then, shall we go?”
