“A few days ago, you briefly left without a word. Why was that?”
Eliya asked nonchalantly, and Hermis scratched her head.
“Uh? Umm… I’m sorry, miss, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Eliya nodded slowly.
The other person hadn’t taken the bait.
It could be a lie or the truth.
In fact, there was no evidence from the start.
She couldn’t possibly know Hermis’s schedule.
She had been cooped up in this room the whole time.
Just that she felt a little suspicious.
Or perhaps it was just childish jealousy that didn’t sit well with her.
The last woman she spoke with was Hermis.
“…I understand. You can go now.”
Hermis hesitated before bowing her head and leaving the room.
She almost impulsively relayed Judas’s last words.
Even though she knew she shouldn’t meddle in someone else’s affairs.
She just felt pity for their relationship.
After Hermis left, Eliya hugged the lunar orb tightly.
‘This is my karma.’
She had pushed him away.
She had told him to die.
Judas had merely followed that request.
‘Should I go find him or not?’
She had thought about it thousands of times in the weeks since he left.
She had been alone, hugging that thought.
Even after sending him away, she wanted to find him somehow.
She wanted to see him again.
She wanted to keep him locked in a cage so he couldn’t go far.
She’d bear it herself.
She hoped he wouldn’t be in a place she didn’t know.
Still, she wished he’d wait somewhere she could reach.
Such a selfish desire.
Finally, she resolved it.
‘…I’ll let you go.’
Although she wanted desperately to find him, she decided to hold back.
How shameless of her.
He probably wouldn’t want to see her anyway.
It was a one-sided feeling, so she would endure it alone.
Today, she realized, understood, and accepted it firmly.
‘As long as he’s alive somewhere, I’ll be satisfied with that.’
Eliya pulled the lunar orb deep against her chest.
It was all her doing.
She had caused it.
She had wished he would die.
Daringly, she said it to him directly.
And he did just that.
Whatever his true intentions were, she didn’t know.
‘If this is your greeting… I’ll accept it. I’ll take all the blame and bear it.’
She placed a long kiss on the doorknob he used to touch often.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, moistening her lips.
‘Goodbye.’
She saw her weak self that had to be killed someday.
A child curled up in a cage.
Unlike then, she smiled brightly.
Touching the flowers blooming in the garden.
Looking at the moon hanging in the sky.
The flowers had wilted, and the moon had sought light.
Unaware that both had perished, she laughed foolishly.
Disgusting.
So much so that she wanted to tear her skin and carve out her insides.
She had killed him, yet she didn’t even know she was laughing.
Another side of herself that had tried to kill him when faced with Sardis, yet was still alive thanks to Judas.
No longer needed.
Eliya willingly took up a knife.
She plunged it into her caged self.
Stabbing and twisting, she severed her own neck.
Red blood sprouted like a fountain.
Bursting open like a blooming flower.
Thick blood seeped into the roots of the red anemone.
*
“Eliya!”
Miguel rushed to find her just as she was about to gather everyone for an announcement.
Tying her hair back, she asked in a dry voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Miguel flinched at her.
Something had changed.
Unlike before, when she felt lifeless as a corpse, there was now a strong resolve.
Yet she still seemed lifeless.
She still looked like a corpse or a doll.
Like when she was very young.
As if seeing Eliya before meeting Judas.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Narcissi Duchess has been murdered!”
Eliya hurried towards the underground prison.
Three bodies were left behind at the preserved scene.
Narcissi, Aghan, Sara.
“What happened?”
Bolse hurriedly explained.
“While you were away for a moment, someone used magic in this prison. I followed the wave, and lo and behold, these three were dead.”
Eliya’s rational mind did its job better than ever.
No emotion was left in her head now.
‘An opportunity was taken for a teleportation and murder before fleeing.’
She checked the stab wounds.
‘The shape of the sword is different from my soldiers’.’
That meant the enemy was not inside.
In other words, it was a meticulously planned murder scheme.
‘With this level of cunning, the information is likely already with the Bevel side. They’ll get the justification first. I was going to strike first…’
Now it didn’t matter.
She would kill them all anyway.
Anyone who opposed her.
Anyone using the Bevel name. Not one would be spared.
“Summon all the soldiers.”
*
In the front yard of Eliya’s Mansion.
The military working for her had all gathered.
From ordinary soldiers to knights with superhuman strength.
And even the elite guards.
An impressive number for one person to command.
Those who were loyal under the banner of the rebirth of the mythical era.
Many ministers of the alliance gathered to oppose the Empire also participated.
Eliya stood looking down from the platform in front of them.
A light rain was drizzling, but she didn’t care.
Her red scarf fluttered in the wind.
“I am.”
She opened her mouth.
“I am Eliya de Bevel.”
Eliya declared.
“The direct child of Duke Balak, a bastard, and a wizard known as the rebirth of the mythical era.”
“Our enemy, the Empire, unleashed monsters in the capital to threaten civilians, flaunting their power. They have continued the war with the demon race, solidifying their wealth with the blood and sweat of the innocent.”
“Furthermore, the Bevel family, in cooperation with the Empire and the Molsin Church, attempted to kill me, the cornerstone of a new era.”
Her master spoke.
“Under this sky, where the sun oversees all fairly, it is a grave offense to commit such acts, an affront to God and a blasphemy against sacred faith.”
The sun, twisted and shining dimly, clasped its hands as if in prayer and closed its eyes.
“As the one who inherits the power of the sun, I will judge all who disturb the order in His stead.”
She spoke with a resolute voice.
“That is the will of the God.”
When she finally opened her eyes, they burned like the sun.
“…!”
A quiet fervor bubbled among the crowd.
“Worship and obey. Then, in the name of the sun, I shall give you…”
A mad lord of fire.
Eliya raised the lunar orb she held high and struck the ground.
“I shall grant you infinite victories.”
Everyone on the estate shouted in unison.
“To Lady Eliya, loyalty-!”
Watching those who knelt as if they were united in will, Eliya nodded expressionlessly.
“Ensure that each of you fulfills your duties without fail.”
The soldiers and knights scattered in all directions.
The alliance troops briefly greeted Eliya before galloping off to relay the news.
Eliya watched them disappear for a moment, then turned her gaze.
In one corner of the estate.
A garden full of red flowers.
After a long pause, Eliya finally remembered the name of that flower.
‘…Anemone?’
Why had so many of those been planted here?
She had no idea.
Why that flower alone had color in this space, remained a mystery.
With a colorless expression.
Seeing Eliya’s face, which seemed to have lost its soul, Ria swallowed her tears.
*
“Ah….”
A letter arrived addressed to Balak.
A declaration of war from the anti-Empire faction centered around Eliya de Bevel.
At the same time, news of the murder of Narcissi, Aghan, and Sara.
He had tried to strike first against the Empire.
He couldn’t let his own children fight each other.
With the army unable to move, he had intended to handle it alone, but it was too late.
In that brief moment of careful attention, the war had begun.
“Aah….”
Where did it begin to go wrong?
What mistake needed correcting to prevent such a thing from happening?
No matter how he looked back, he couldn’t understand.
He simply had the conviction.
The price of allowing things to fester, as an incompetent father, was approaching.
*
Crack, crack.
Gawain was polishing his sword.
Being Balak’s sword, he had to stand with Bevel.
Now, he faced the young lady he had served for a brief time.
And the knight he had taught and fought alongside was here to face him.
He would not hesitate.
No matter who stood in his way.
‘…Judas.’
The disciple who had gone to Bethany without notice.
It was a bit of a relief that he wasn’t among the enemy.
*
Judas swiftly exited the forest on horseback.
‘They should have discovered the decoy body by now. Hermis took care of that, so they must think I’m dead.’
He had faked his death.
Hermis had prepared a body similar to his own, and he left the lunar orb beside it.
He had ensured it appeared that the condemned prisoner’s body had died due to Ramek’s deadly poison.
Using Bethany’s geographical features, he had burned that body.
So it wouldn’t be easy to identify.
With this, Eliya wouldn’t have reason to look for him, nor would a second tragedy unfold.
What would Eliya think when she found that body?
Humorously, he worried that she might not be shocked or hurt.
Despite everything, foolish lingering feelings remained in his heart.
But he quickly shook them off.
He knew how irrational and unlikely that was.
‘She’ll live well. Even if a war breaks out, Eliya is strong.’
As he moved forward, he suddenly looked back.
In that moment, he felt a strange sensation as if Eliya had called him.
He couldn’t help but chuckle.
That was impossible.
‘What a fool I am.’
Judas laughed at himself and continued to push through the darkness.
Now, he had to live a new life.
There was a place ready to start.
Jericho.
He headed to the place where he had bought land and built a house through the information guild.
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