Chapter 98
“You don’t mean the reason the former Empress passed away was…”
“I only found out after I was already an adult when a physician confessed. I tried to do something, even belatedly, but the Noble Council was already in the Empress’s hands, and the physician who would have been a witness disappeared for some reason.”
Euclid stood with his back to the bright garden. With the bright world behind him, his face was cast in shadow.
“That’s probably when it started. When the Empress began trying to kill me in earnest. The only consolation was that thanks to my divine power, her poison doesn’t work on me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me until now…?”
“Because learning the truth means becoming the Empress’s target. I didn’t want to expose you to danger.”
Euclid walked slowly toward Sylaria. As he drew closer, the shadows cast over his features gradually lifted. When she finally met his intense blue eyes, he spoke.
“But now that things have come to this, I can’t stay silent any longer. Since the Empress tried to reach out to you, I won’t stand by anymore. I need to act.”
Euclid’s hand cupped Sylaria’s cheek. He caressed her cheek with his thumb as he spoke.
“In the past, going out on subjugation campaigns was far more comfortable for me than staying in the palace. The uncertainty of when I might die was the same either way, but at least dying while fighting monsters wouldn’t be miserable.”
At his calm voice, Sylaria’s eyes contorted.
Even though he must have worried about the overdrive of divine power every time he went on an expedition. Even though he must have lived anxiously day by day.
To say that was better.
Had staying in the imperial palace with the Empress been so painful for him that he thought that was preferable?
“What about now? Is it still like that now?”
“Now I have you. As long as I have you, I’m not afraid of anything.”
Sylaria’s heart swelled at Euclid’s words. She reached out to him. And she embraced the man who must have been the loneliest in the world.
“It’s the same for me. Because you’re here, I’m not afraid.”
Euclid, embracing Sylaria in return, exhaled a hot breath. His arms tightened around his beloved in the bright light.
* * *
Damp, cold, and dark.
Grizelle, confined in the underground prison, wrapped her arms around herself. With every breath, the musty smell of mold filled her lungs. Grizelle grimaced and bit her rolled-up lip.
How long had she been locked up here?
In a place where not a ray of sunlight entered, it was difficult to gauge the time.
‘To lock up an imperial prince’s consort in a place like this.’
Grizelle glared at the rusted iron bars. She was Arendtert’s princess consort. Yet to confine her in such a place without permission. Wasn’t the First Prince afraid of future consequences?
‘Just wait. Once I get out of here, I won’t let this go.’
Once Arendtert or the Empress found out, once they learned Grizelle was locked up here, they would immediately get her out.
Grizelle intended to properly crush Sylaria when that time came. Falsely accusing her and imprisoning her was a serious crime.
Besides, Grizelle hadn’t even done anything wrong.
Elenia was fine, not a hair on her head harmed. Her breathing had become a bit unstable, but that alone wasn’t enough to lock up Grizelle like this.
‘When on earth is Aren coming?’
Grizelle anxiously gripped the iron bars. And she shouted toward the guard.
“Did you tell His Highness the Second Prince that I’m here? Did you tell him to come rescue me right away!”
“Shut up!”
The guard yelled and struck the iron bars. Grizelle flinched and stepped back.
“Do you know who I am!”
“How laughable. No matter how important you were outside, you’re all the same prisoners here. You should crouch down quietly instead of yapping.”
“When I get out, I’ll punish you first, just wait!”
It was when Grizelle was screaming in fury. The iron door of the underground prison slowly opened with a loud noise.
The moment the guard saw who appeared accompanied by escorts, he saluted. The one who received his greeting walked straight across the long corridor to the cell where Grizelle was confined.
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