Chapter 66
“Your Highness!”
Ilion, catching the smell of something burning, entered and witnessed the unusual sight of Calix losing control.
Black flames flickered around Calix like flowing water. The jet-black fire, which had consumed all the furniture, was about to spill out into the drawing room.
Ilion, realizing that if this continued, Calix’s abilities—which he’d worked so hard to keep secret—would be completely exposed, shouted loudly.
“Your Highness! If you keep going like this, it’ll be a disaster if Luna comes back!”
Much had changed over the past five years. Calix was no longer alone, and many nobles now supported him.
He’d grown enough to contend for power with the Empress, yet, paradoxically, the more powerful he became, the more he shut people out. Except for those who had always been with him, no one was allowed past his boundaries.
And of all those, the closest one to him wasn’t a human, but a beast. Only Luna was allowed to stay by his side.
“…Where is Luna.”
Ilion, seeing the black flames vanish in an instant, let out a sigh of relief.
“She’s late today, but we don’t know when she’ll come back, so it’s too dangerous.”
At Ilion’s brazen lie, Calix regained some of his composure.
“You’re right.”
He brushed back his hair, which had fallen over his eyes, and rubbed his face with both hands.
Just as Ilion said, it could have been disastrous. The black flames he wielded could have easily consumed a small animal without leaving a trace.
“It’s late, so I’ll come back tomorrow, Your Highness.”
“Alright.”
“My apologies…”
Ilion took a small box from his coat and handed it to him.
“It’s just a small gift, but please accept it.”
Calix stared at the small box for a moment before taking it. He’d been in such a foul mood all day that he hadn’t even held the usual gift-giving session with the nobles.
“Thank you.”
“Congratulations on your birthday.”
“…Yes.”
He was so shocked he’d forgotten it was even his birthday. After Ilion left and Daisy finished tidying up the room, Calix sat on the sofa in the drawing room, staring out at the balcony.
He kept his eyes on the small gap through which his little fox could slip in, thinking only of the fox who wasn’t coming back.
The truth was, it was a lie. The one filling his thoughts right now wasn’t Luna, but Lea.
That blood-soaked, snow-like back and those disheveled brown locks kept flickering before his eyes. He could vividly picture the red blood flowing down in streams.
Has she always been exposed to such violence? Just how much did Zion know? The endless stream of thoughts tormented him.
As he waited for the fox who never returned, he muttered in a self-deprecating voice,
“What a dreadful birthday.”
* * *
Lea was being tortured in her dreams. In endless pain, she screamed.
‘If only I could end my life here, I wouldn’t be greedy for anything more.’
Then it wouldn’t be so agonizing.
What scared her more than the pain of torture were those red eyes. His cold, unfeeling red eyes relentlessly followed her.
She wanted to run, but there were shackles around her ankles and she couldn’t escape.
‘It hurts…’
She thrashed her limbs, desperate to get away from that place by any means. At that moment, someone took her hand. Recognizing the familiar touch, she forced her eyes open—it was Zion.
“M-My lady… are you awake…?”
His face gaunt, Zion grasped Lea’s hand, mumbling with tears in his eyes. He looked unshaven, as if he hadn’t shaved in days.
“I… I can’t do this anymore…”
Zion could no longer bring himself to keep neglecting Lea just to deceive the Empress. After this incident, he was certain.
The only Guide he needed to protect and serve was Lea, and her alone.
So…
“To be honest, I wish you would give your guiding only to me, my lady…”
Zion continued, his heart overflowing.
“But, as long as I can protect you, I can bear anything else…”
Espers tended to possess an almost excessive possessiveness toward their dedicated Guide, but there was something they valued even more.
The instinct to protect their Guide.
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