The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 11 Part 5 - Memory

“Her Majesty the Empress summons you.”

At that moment, a servant appeared and led one of the candidates away through a passage reserved for the imperial family. It was someone who had lost in the first round of the tournament.

The servant’s voice was low—only the summoned candidate heard him.

‘Is the Empress calling them one by one to speak with them?’

After a few minutes, another servant crossed the ballroom and approached a different eliminated candidate.

“Her Majesty the Empress summons you.”

The first man had yet to return.

Something felt off—but Kirthalros found himself growing tense.

He had a feeling he would be called next.

Perhaps… he might be granted a private audience with Radiel—

No, Anais.

When yet another servant entered the ballroom, the same thing happened.

The man scanned the room once before spotting Kirthalros and approaching him.

“Her Majesty the Empress summons you.”

Kirthalros searched the servant’s eyes for fear—

But there was nothing.

Only the indifference of someone carrying out a repeated task.

The servant had already stepped half a pace ahead, assuming Kirthalros would follow.

The quiet arrogance of someone who served the imperial household.

And so, Kirthalros let go of his suspicion and followed after him.

His heart beating faster—

At the thought that he might finally stand face to face with Anais.

***

As Kirthalros followed the servant into the corridor, Anais drifted through a dream beside Rahil. It was a memory from long ago—something she had once remembered, but had long since forgotten.

“…Why can’t you understand something so simple?!”

Her mother’s harsh voice rang out as she shoved her shoulder. Though she was already past ten, her small frame made it easy for her to be pushed down onto the floor.

She was startled, but no tears came. It was nothing new.

She wasn’t being scolded because she had done something wrong. It was her mother’s mistake—she had misunderstood what she had asked her to do. Even after realizing it, her mother only lashed out at her more, blaming her for not speaking up sooner and for making her look like the bad one.

‘Why is my mom different from other moms?’

The mothers in dramas were nothing like hers. They scolded too, but not like this—they weren’t this cruel. And the fathers, though sometimes distant, were still gentle in their own way. They comforted their children’s wounds.

As she grew older, she came to understand that dramas were just that—fiction. Mothers like that didn’t really exist. But even compared to mothers in real life, her own was different.

She had long since given up expecting anything from her family, and once she started paying her own college tuition and living independently, she quickly began putting distance between herself and them.

She was sick of the way they showed no interest in how she was living, only to suddenly contact her out of the blue to tear her down, corner her, and demand money.

Maybe that was why she had abandoned that world and stepped into this one.

She didn’t regret not being able to return. She didn’t regret not meeting anyone from her past life again. Her life had ended in its own way, but there was no one she longed to see again.

All the more so because there had never been anyone she loved enough to want to meet again in that world, nor had she ever had a child.

“I’m scared. I don’t want to go back there.”

That was why she had been drawn to the small, cowering soul—because it looked like a wounded child. She had given up on family, but not on people.

She had once tried to be loved. She had even had lovers. But no one had ever loved her the way she wanted.

—…This child does not wish to be reborn. I would erase the traces left on her soul, but that is something that cannot be done.

A voice whispered softly. If she continued to reject reincarnation, her soul would eventually lose its form and scatter.

The child said that would be better.

“That thing is waiting for me there. I don’t want to go back.”

—…The world has changed. Humans can now resist it.

Someone tried to gently reassure the child, but she shook her head in fear.

Anais felt there had to be a reason she could see the child—and hear that voice.

So—

‘I asked what it wanted from me.’

Within the drifting consciousness of her dream, memories once erased by a god came flooding back.

***

The corridor of the imperial palace was wide, but dimmer than the ballroom. It was almost ironic, considering it was meant for the imperial family—yet Kirthalros had no way of knowing that.

He simply followed the servant. By a dragon’s standards, he didn’t even realize he was being led far away from the ballroom.

“This way.”

The servant opened the door, but the waiting room inside was empty. Kirthalros had expected the Empress to be waiting and felt a flicker of disappointment, though it wasn’t entirely strange.

‘She’ll come… won’t she? Anais…’

Though doubt lingered, the servant turned away after seeing him sit, saying he would bring tea. In truth, he was slightly irritated.

‘Why receive a guest in such a remote place? Even the kitchen is far… this alone will take over ten minutes.’

He was the only one assigned to this task. It felt odd, but he had been taught not to question his superiors.

As the servant hurried down the corridor, a soldier suddenly grabbed him and covered his mouth. Startled, he looked up—but recognizing the soldier, he obediently followed his instructions.

Meanwhile, Kirthalros sat on the sofa, slowly looking around. He had assumed the palace would always be filled with attendants and guards, yet now there was no one nearby.

Since the servant had left, not a single human presence could be felt.

‘No… someone’s coming.’

Two—

No.

Sixteen.

A group was approaching.

For a moment, he wondered if it was the Empress and her attendants, but there was no sign of Anais.

Instead, Kirthalros bared his teeth and rose to his feet. He considered waiting longer, but the presence of knights approaching this clearly couldn’t be ignored. The Emperor didn’t seem to be among them, but this was no longer an era where dragons ruled unchallenged.

Now, humans could kill dragons.

Just as he tried to release his magic and leave in one swift motion, his body faltered. He staggered back a few steps.

“…Insolent!”

A magic circle hidden beneath the floor reacted to his power, releasing counter-magic. From far below, he could sense multiple mages chanting in unison to maintain it—not the same floor, but at least two levels underground.

They had prepared this trap in advance.

Kirthalros bared his teeth in a grin.

“Good! Show me how far you can go! If you fail—I’ll devour every last one of you!”