Chapter 7
Emotions raged within him. If he hadn’t been caught, it would be one thing—but since he had been, there was no reason to endure any further.
“I no longer have any reason or worth to live. I do not wish to cling to life so shabbily.”
He couldn’t understand why he was still alive, failing to protect anything, without even paying for his crimes.
He had no will to live. What could he possibly accomplish with his mana core shattered?
He felt like a dragonfly caught by an innocent child. The cruel, innocent child would release the dragonfly but tear off its wings.
The dragonfly could no longer fly in the sky and would have to crawl on the ground like an insect. Even if alive, it was no life at all.
“Please have mercy and allow this.”
Crash. The ceramic vase adorned with flowers shattered.
He picked up the sharpest shard and pressed it to his neck, right over his carotid artery.
The princess remained unflustered once again.
“You cannot die.”
The reason soon became clear.
The tip of the ceramic shard grazed his neck but could not dig in further. His arm would not move, as if caught by something.
As if soothing his confusion, the princess explained.
“I commanded you to live.”
“No way….”
“Just as you suspect. It is a power passed down through the Magnaroad Imperial Family. I used it on you.”
For Regen, this was a threat he had never once considered.
He was a knight without equal. It was said that even the Radiant Emperor, who possessed an unprecedented divine power in history, could not guarantee he could bring Regen to his knees.
Having his will—a fundamental right of any human—taken from him was hardly pleasant. Disgust rising from the pit of his stomach seeped faintly into his voice.
“How merciless you are.”
“I am the Radiant Emperor’s daughter, after all.”
Despite her retort, the princess’s next words were strange.
“I want to have a conversation.”
“A conversation?”
“If you still wish to die after our conversation, I will allow it.”
He couldn’t get a read on her.
“Truly?”
“I swear it on my name.”
“……”
“Come here and sit down.”
The princess led him to a table in the center of the bedroom. Food was laid out upon it.
“Eat. You must be hungry.”
The only courtesy he could offer was to sit down. Eating was an act of survival. It was unnecessary for someone who wished to die.
The princess gazed at him intently. She seemed to be pondering what to do, so he offered a suggestion.
“If you truly wish to feed me, command me with your power.”
“I have already commanded as much as was necessary. From now on, I wish to maintain a conversational stance.”
Regen thought the princess would give up, but he was wrong.
She personally filled a cup with a beverage, portioned out food onto a plate for easy eating, and pushed it in front of him.
“Looking at you suddenly reminds me of a story my mother used to tell me when I was young.”
“……”
“Mother stopped eating when she was pregnant with me. Whether he found her defiance offensive, the Radiant Emperor tried every means to make her eat. He failed dozens of times, but the method that finally succeeded was highly effective.”
“……”
“The Radiant Emperor brought prisoners from Mother’s homeland. Whenever Mother refused his command to eat, he would behead one prisoner. Five died before Mother’s eyes, and just before the sixth, Mother emptied a whole bowl of soup in front of the Radiant Emperor.”
The story, delivered in her clear voice, was hardly pleasant for Regen to hear. His fists clenched, his nails digging into his palms.
“Are you not giving commands, but making threats?”
“Threats are better, aren’t they? At least they don’t turn people into puppets.”
The air grew cold and heavy. It was the kind of atmosphere where it wouldn’t be surprising if prisoners from the Lohengrin Kingdom were brought in and killed right now.
It was the princess who yielded first.
“If you truly don’t want to, you don’t have to eat. Mother said that as soon as the Radiant Emperor left satisfied, she vomited it all up anyway.”
“……”
“Hmm, perhaps I should have told a different story.”
Though it was absurd, Regen felt that she looked somewhat somber at this moment.
One moment like a tyrant’s daughter, the next like a victim—truly unpredictable.
“What are you trying to say?”
At Regen’s demand to get to the point, the princess stopped beating around the bush. She was remarkably honest and straightforward.
“I want you to live. If you live, you can plan for the future. Whether it’s revenge or a greater cause, I will create opportunities for you.”
“I do not have the strength to meet your Highness’s expectations. Even if I live, it would merely be a miserable existence.”
“What if I could fix your mana core?”
Regen’s mind snapped to attention.
“Is that possible?”
“Yes. Restoring a mana core is the fifth stage of the Imperial Family’s divine power. I have enough control for it.”
“……”
“Is there any reason to refuse?”
Light returned to Regen’s eyes, which had been devoid of strength until now.
The tyrant’s daughter before him was also the savior who could restore the wings he had lost.
The savior whispered sweetly.
“Live. If you live, opportunities will come. This helplessness you feel now… it’s only temporary.”
“……”
“Become my sword.”
The princess extended her right hand, as if requesting an escort.
All he had to do was respectfully take that hand and kiss it. It was a temptation he had no way to refuse.
✦
Watching those captivating golden eyes, I sensed it. He was almost won over.
Since there was no official seal to formalize an oath or contract, I intended to at least receive a kiss on the back of my hand.
But instead of taking my hand, he lightly grasped my fingertips and let go. When our eyes met again, there was a distinct sharpness in his gaze.
Given the situation, alertness in his eyes wasn’t a good sign. I tensed.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“I have no guarantee I can live up to your Highness’s expectations. Why go to such lengths? Wouldn’t another knight be better?”
The meaning behind the sharp glint in his eyes was clear.
He’s trying to gauge whether I know who he really is.
Investigation and wariness. And mixed in like an impurity was another emotion: fear.
It wasn’t simply because his life was at risk if his identity as the defeated prince was discovered. He was also feeling shame for being the sole survivor.
For a man who had lived his entire life honorably without shame beneath the deep blue sky, his current situation must feel like a humiliating existence.
In other words, his true identity was a secret not meant to be shared.
I have to pretend I don’t know.
After all, he didn’t remember the young princess he had saved back then. Moreover, we hadn’t even exchanged names at the time.
As long as I didn’t bring up that memory, the connection between us would remain non-existent.
The problem, however, lay elsewhere.
I needed to provide a different reason, one he would accept, for choosing him as my knight.
If my explanation was even slightly unconvincing, he would suspect my true intentions and withdraw. I couldn’t let him close himself off.
Think quickly, Rosacia. Quickly.
A reason that wouldn’t make all my efforts so far go to waste…
Ah.
I found it.
I fiddled with the handle of my teacup several times. Feeling his persistent observation, I let my gaze fall despondently into the cup.
“It’s because you… resemble my deceased elder brother.”
I had just offered up one of my sixty-seven deceased brothers.
“……”
I subtly glanced at him, rolling only my eyes. Sure enough, his gaze wavered.
He had a younger sister around my age. Confirming it was a valid point, my confidence grew.
“He was very kind to me. In this imperial palace, which was like a zoo, he was the only family I could rely on. Though years have passed since he left my side, I still miss him.”
“I see…”
“I don’t think I’m ready to accept my brother’s absence yet. But then I saw you today. So… even if it’s an illusion, even if it’s a lie… I would like you to fill my brother’s empty place by my side. At least until I’m ready to let him go.”
As I finished speaking, I turned my head to the side as if forlorn.
It would have been perfect if I could let a tear fall from my trembling lashes here, but unfortunately, as a dried-up human, that was beyond me.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
