Chapter 74
“The Rebel Prince Arrives”
Katrin did not appear.
1 minute… 2 minutes… then 5 passed.
The murmurs among the nobles grew louder.
Everyone looked around, but Katrin Ellemore was nowhere to be seen.
“She didn’t really skip the ceremony… right?”
“Come on, that greedy Katrin Ellemore wouldn’t miss her own title ceremony.”
“Then where did she go?”
As the restless chatter grew, the Emperor’s brows furrowed.
He didn’t know what was going on, but how dare someone make him, the Emperor, wait?
“Servants!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Go find out where Lady Katrin Ellemore is right now.”
Just as the servant was about to run out—
BOOM!
The ground trembled violently, dust falling from the ceiling.
Startled, everyone flinched and looked around, wide-eyed.
Even the Emperor, shocked, grabbed the servant’s arm and crouched slightly.
“What… what was that noise?”
At the far end of the red carpet leading to the grand entrance, a figure appeared.
The bright sunlight outside shone in, making it difficult to see the person clearly.
At first, everyone assumed it must be Katrin Ellemore finally arriving.
But those with sharp eyes realized something was off—it wasn’t her.
Katrin was shorter… and didn’t have broad shoulders like that.
The figure was clearly a man in a cape.
Step by step, he walked toward them with calm confidence.
The Emperor squinted, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
The crowd’s murmurs shifted into stunned silence.
A tall man in a crisp black uniform walked in, his black hair brushing gently with each step.
His blue cloak fluttered behind him, and his piercing blue eyes were cold as ice.
At his waist was Douglas’s sword, the imperial blade.
His uniform displayed medals—ones his father once wore.
“No one but the Emperor may wear the royal uniform.”
That was a rule declared by the current Emperor himself, meant to keep Etias, the prince, looking shabby and inferior.
But now…
Prince Etias stood proudly, clad in the forbidden royal attire—
And it fit him better than anyone.
This defiance alone signaled that something big was about to happen.
“You—you! How dare you?!”
The Emperor stood up, pointing furiously at Etias, caught off guard by his appearance.
Just then, a thunderous cheer erupted outside.
Armored soldiers burst into the hall.
“T-Traitors! Treason!”
“Aaaah!!”
Panic spread. Nobles screamed and scattered.
The imperial guards moved to apprehend Etias—
but the revolutionaries flooded in behind him, halting their advance.
The Emperor’s eyes shook violently.
Where did all these troops come from?!
He had kept his nephew in check, frozen his assets, given him low-level bureaucratic tasks, and crushed his spirit using nobles like Katrin.
He thought he had broken him.
But now—this army, that defiant gaze—it was like looking at his dead brother.
The clear, commanding eyes of a true ruler.
“Everyone listen!!”
The Emperor shouted desperately.
“That wretched traitor has invaded the sacred palace! Fight him off! Show them the strength of the imperial army!”
The imperial knights surged forward, clashing with Etius’s revolutionary troops.
The hall, once meant for Katrin Ellemore’s title ceremony, was now a battlefield.
“Please! Help!”
“Get out of the way! We have to escape!”
Ladies in dresses and noblemen in suits screamed and ran, breaking windows in their panic.
Meanwhile, the Emperor stumbled back, locked in a stare with Etias’s cold, unshaken gaze.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
Explosions echoed from deeper inside the palace.
Even reaching this hall meant Etias and his forces had fought through the royal guard.
Which could only mean—
The revolutionaries had overwhelmed the imperial forces.
The very heart of the palace had fallen to them.
“Ugh!”
Crushed by fear, the Emperor turned and fled.
“Fight with your lives! Show no mercy! Crush those rebels!”
He shouted hoarsely before slipping away in cowardly retreat.
As he fled, Etias stopped at the center of the red carpet.
Light from the entrance dimmed as shadows crept in.
Everyone sensed it—that powerful, suffocating aura.
Like wound-up toys, the nobles froze in place.
At Etias’s feet, a flood of dark shadows began to spread.
***
The rattling carriage followed a backroad along the city’s outskirts—one that Heros had instructed the coachman to take in advance.
He sat silently, watching Katrin as she slept with her head resting gently on his shoulder.
Her long eyelashes cast deep shadows across her clear skin.
Her small hand was stretched out, covering Piyo, who was sleeping on her lap, like a cozy blanket.
He lifted his hand and lightly brushed her pink hair, which rested softly against his chest.
The smooth texture at his fingertips made his chest tighten.
Her unique fragrance drifted to his nose—intoxicating and unmistakably hers.
“….”
After a while, Katrin slowly opened her eyes, lifting her long lashes. The sight of her soft, violet eyes made Heros’s chest ache with affection.
“You’re awake, my lady.”
He whispered gently, hiding the depth of his feelings.
Katrin flinched slightly and lifted her head off his shoulder.
“Ah…”
“You looked uncomfortable, so I let you lean on me.”
“…I see. Thank you.”
Katrin had managed to sleep for about four hours since dawn.
She rubbed her eyes, squinting at the light streaming through the window.
Despite her efforts, she hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before, anxious about leaving the Empire.
She must’ve dozed off just as morning came.
The sun was now high in the sky.
“They must be holding my title ceremony right about now.”
Thinking of the empty ceremony, and the Emperor’s likely scowl, Katrin twisted her lips in amusement.
Maybe he had even sent someone to bring her back to the Ellemore estate.
Not that they’d find her.
Dum…
As she stretched to ease her stiff body, a distant drumbeat-like sound reached her ears.
Her brow furrowed slightly. She looked out the window at the capital, now far in the distance.
Pillars of white smoke were rising here and there.
For a moment, Katrin was speechless.
Heros gave a small smile and softly said:
“The world has turned upside down. Looks like we made it out just in time.”
