Chapter 118

He asked a question he couldn’t ask when he was Ante.

“Would you prefer me to hate you?”

“……”

“Then give me a reason to hate you.”

“Reasons to hate me…!”

He had given plenty. Isn’t the very fact that he’s standing here wearing a mask reason enough to hate and resent him?

But she says that’s not it. Whether she truly doesn’t hate him or is just pretending not to.

“Aesi is being too harsh. I’d need a reason to even try hating you, but without one, how can I just hate you? It’s too difficult.”

No matter how he thinks about it, it’s strange that she doesn’t hate him, but her nonchalant expression seems so natural that it makes him believe she’s sincere.

“What do you like so much about me?”

Aesi asked again, sounding somewhat frustrated.

“Do you need a reason to like someone?”

Angelina didn’t know whether he was asking this question as ‘Aesi’ or as the ‘Ante’ hiding inside him. And it didn’t matter either way.

Aesi couldn’t answer.

The night crickets chirped mournfully. How many times had the clouds covered and revealed the moon?

“Kyu?”

Pudding, who had been looking back and forth between them, was the first to make a sound. He trotted over and settled on Angelina’s thigh.

“Oh, did you know? He’s not a magical beast but a divine beast?”

“…Really?”

“What? Did Aesi already know that?”

“There’s no magical beast in this world that I don’t know about.”

“I see.”

Angelina paused from scratching Pudding’s chin and gave Aesi a reproachful look.

“Then you should have told me earlier. I was so surprised.”

“I thought it wouldn’t matter much to you either way.”

“That’s true. Whether divine or magical, as long as he’s Pudding, that’s all that matters.”

“Kyu?”

“Yes, you’re cute.”

“Kyu! Kyu-!”

Pudding stretched his shoulders and happily cried out, pleased with Angelina’s forced compliment.

“I have something I want to ask.”

“I also have something I want to ask.”

“Aesi, you go first.”

“Let me hear your question first.”

At Aesi’s concession, Angelina didn’t refuse.

“Today, my brother went to meet the Empress.”

“…Yes, I know.”

“Do you know why he met her?”

“……”

“After meeting the Empress, he broke his promise with me. That’s not something my brother does often. So I’m worried.”

“There’s probably nothing to worry about.”

“That’s a lie.”

“……”

“You know I went to Kuns Village with Duke Kadenhart, right?”

“I know.”

“The village chief there was kidnapped by some mercenary group, and those mercenaries handed the chief over to the Order. But then the Order handed the chief over to the Imperial knights.”

“……”

This was a story Aesi had already received reports about through Laura and Haley.

It was also an issue where he had reproached himself for his complacency upon learning that the Empress was operating in multiple ways without his knowledge.

“The Empress is connected to the Order.”

“…I know.”

“But why does my brother keep the Empress close?”

She needed to know the reason so she could act accordingly.

She didn’t want to make hasty judgments and actions that might put her brother in danger too.

“Probably because he’s stupid.”

Aesi spoke rather sharply.

Angelina, who had hoped he might answer if she asked as Aesi, let out a deep sigh.

‘At least he’s not cooperating because he likes it.’

Judging by that reaction, at least she could confirm that his feelings weren’t favorable.

‘Perhaps…’

Seeing his sharp response, one possibility came to mind.

“Has Aesi ever met the Empress?”

The possibility that the Empress knows her brother is the Magic Tower Master and is holding that over him.

One thing Angelina had clearly understood so far was that her brother was desperately trying to hide the fact that he was the Magic Tower Master. Even in a situation where he was already exposed, he tried not to admit it.

There must be something he absolutely needs to hide, and if the Empress knows about it?

If so, both her brother’s cooperation with the Empress and this negative reaction would make sense.

After a moment of silence, Aesi opened his mouth.

“Yes.”

That resolved many of the questions Angelina had been harboring. And it allowed her to determine one thing with certainty.

The Empress was definitely an enemy who must be brought down.

“Now it’s my turn to ask a question.”

“What is it?”

“What did you do with the Crown Prince?”

“Boating.”

“Just that?”

“And conversation?”

“What kind of conversation?”

“Something about how true freedom begins with autonomous daily life, so I support the existence of the next Emperor—just ordinary conversation like that.”

Angelina spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal, but there was no way Aesi wouldn’t catch the meaning behind it.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

Could the Crown Prince, who had lived his entire life under the Empress’s wing, suddenly become independent now?

“It will be. The Crown Prince may be immature and petty, but he does care about the Empire.”

Aesi didn’t respond. So Angelina continued with what she wanted to say.

“Aesi, if your questions are done, can I ask you for one favor?”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to see the sacred object.”

“Why that all of a sudden?”

His voice mixed with doubt and concern.

“There’s something I want to confirm.”

She was going to leave this world in a year anyway, and she didn’t particularly want to be revered as a Saint.

She just wondered if she could see that scene again, the one she saw when she retrieved the Crimson Thorn.

The memory of a space different from her own memories. That scene with dragon wings and a black sword looked different after visiting Kuns Village.

It couldn’t be dismissed as mere illusion.

Aesi, who seemed to be considering, drew a magic circle in the air. A door resembling a mini teleport opened, and Aesi reached his hand into the subspace.

It wasn’t magic that just anyone could do. Even Haley, known to be talented, had never properly succeeded with subspace magic.

Aesi handed over the object he took out from there.

“This is…”

It was something she had never seen before.

“Is this the one from the Black Land?”

“Didn’t you already know about it?”

“I didn’t know what it looked like. I also didn’t know you had already retrieved it.”

“It’s not difficult when you know both the method and location.”

Angelina took a deep breath and reached out her hand. It was the moment she grasped the broken winter.

As expected, with a musty smell, the power of the sun enveloped her, and her surroundings turned black.

Unlike the bright scene last time, this place was dark. She could hear water dripping somewhere, perhaps in a cave.

Angelina wanted to look around. But she couldn’t move freely, like secretly peeking into someone else’s dream.

“There’s a limit to how long he can keep them trapped in the forest.”

A deep male voice was heard from beside her, and only then could she turn her gaze to check beside her.

A small island that could be circled in about ten steps. In the center was a small tree that seemed to be about the height of an adult.

The small island was surrounded by a large puddle that looked like a lake, and there were only two people there: the subject of this ‘memory’ and the owner of the voice she had just heard.

The man, covered in wounds all over his body, was in the middle of bandaging his arm. After tying it all up, he bit one end with his mouth and pulled it tight to secure it firmly.

The bandage wrapped around his abdomen showed bloodstains as blood seeped through from inside. It seemed he had been driven here after many battles.

His face was blurry, visible yet not quite clear.

“I will defend this place.”

Saying that, he pulled out the sword he had stuck in the ground.

A black sword.

Angelina’s eyes widened as she properly took in the sword she had only glimpsed at the tomb.

A sword with decorations that rippled in purple, a mixture of red and blue light.

‘That sword…!’

As the man gripped the sword and loosened his wrist, sounds began to come from the end of the cave. Shouts like ‘Kill her,’ ‘Catch the witch.’

“Stupid fools. They’ve come all the way here.”

The man who had murmured softly stepped forward. Electricity began to surge from the sword as he swung it down to the side.

Crackle. Zap.

“In the name of the Sun, I command you, as your sword, I shall surely punish the traitors.”

At the same time, he lunged forward with a swoosh-!

Crash-!

Lightning struck from the tip of the sword he swung.

“Huh-!”

Angelina opened her eyes with a deep breath.

The world had returned to reality.

“…na! Are you okay?”

Aesi was holding her shoulders. A surprised expression was visible beneath his mask.

“Why did you suddenly react like that?”

From Aesi’s perspective, he couldn’t help but be surprised when Angelina took the sacred object, became dazed for a moment, and then suddenly startled.

He barely caught her as she almost fell over the railing in shock.

In his urgency, he even used the form of address from when he was Ante, but Angelina didn’t seem to notice as she took shallow breaths and pressed her temple firmly.

“The sword…”

“Sword?”

“The Sun was protected by a knight.”