Chapter 36
Rufus curtly interrupted Sordid. However, Sordid did not meekly obey his words.
“Lord Rufus, how long will you keep thinking only of the dead? I am your living queen…”
Crack!
A small statue next to Sordid split in half. In Rufus’s hand was a sharp-edged sword.
“Do not.”
Rufus’s hand holding the sword trembled.
“So carelessly call my name.”
“…You truly are ruthless, a cold-blooded and heartless man until the end.”
Sordid shivered but advanced a step towards Rufus. Hidden behind her back was a dagger.
“…”
Rufus looked at Sordid with indifferent eyes.
Cold-blooded, indeed.
For the first time in a while, Sordid spoke the truth. He was truly a man with cold, congealed blood. He was a man who couldn’t find a reason to live anymore, yet still breathed, a man living without a purpose.
“Today is the anniversary of my father’s death. It was a year ago that your grandmother killed my father.”
Rufus clenched his teeth and glared at Sordid.
“Yes. And today is the anniversary of Sarubia’s death. Your father killed Sarubia.”
But Sordid was not paying attention to his words.
“You killed all my brothers. You took away everything precious to me.”
Sordid, as if possessed by a ghost, gnawed on her dry, torn lips.
“That’s not all. Disgustingly, you also took my father’s throne. And you abandoned me, turning me into the laughingstock of the commoners.”
Tears streamed down Sordid’s red, swollen eyes.
“You insulted my family and defiled my father’s position! Rufus, I curse you!”
Sordid, with a desperate scream, rushed towards Rufus. The dagger hidden behind her back was revealed in the moonlight.
However, Sordid’s dagger never reached Rufus. Rufus, who had sensed her intentions from the beginning, swung the sword he was holding.
With a sound, Sordid’s dagger rolled weakly onto the marble floor.
“You should have died on the battlefield! You should have been torn apart by the demons!”
Having lost her grip on the dagger, Sordid threw herself at Rufus like a convulsion. As they both fell to the ground, she grabbed Rufus’s neck and dug her nails in.
He felt suffocated.
Rufus instinctively gripped the sword tightly.
The half-mad woman screamed as if her vocal cords were scraping against metal.
“It’s all your fault! It’s because of you! I curse you even in death—”
Thunk.
Rufus’s sword pierced Sordid’s heart. Bright red blood gushed out.
That was Sordid’s end.
Sordid’s body collapsed onto the marble floor. With her last breath, she stared fiercely at Rufus.
Rufus pushed the lifeless woman away and stood up.
He had killed the princess who had once been his dream, and now the queen of this country. Yet, he felt no emotion, not even fear.
Everything seemed unreal. It was as if Rufus had died a long time ago, and his deceased body was now observing this surreal scene from the pool of blood.
He looked up.
Several shadows were hastily disappearing. From a distance, secretaries and knights who had been watching the scene were fleeing. They would probably think that the king, consumed by madness, had killed his queen.
Now they would once again seek a new king. The king they needed wouldn’t be an empty shell of a king.
So.
Let’s truly end this now.
Rufus moved his steps aimlessly.
Fresh blood from the unmourned queen flowed steadily over Rufus’s body. Those who witnessed this scene in the royal palace turned their heads, hastening to avoid the body.
In the dead of night, there was no one to stop the king who walked alone without an escort.
***
How long did he walk like that?
Rufus arrived at Sarubia’s tomb.
Sarubia’s body rested behind the royal palace. It was a tomb as well-kept as the royal family’s tomb.
It was ironic.
He had promised her a beautiful room in the mansion long ago, and yet, the promise was fulfilled like this.
He stood in front of Sarubia’s gravestone for a while without saying a word.
—Sarubia.
A place without you is truly like hell.
Even when I see beautiful things, my vision keeps getting blurry.
Even receiving praise from the people doesn’t bring joy to my heart.
The throne that everyone admires is also so lonely.
Sarubia.
A place without you is truly…
Shwaaa—
Late rain began to fall.
The cold raindrops penetrated Rufus’s silk clothes, stealing away his warmth.
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