“Get up.”

A tanned man with a stern expression extended his hand to Kasha.

After a moment’s hesitation, Kasha took his hand. Surprisingly, he helped her up with care and, upon examining her wounds, asked with a frown,

“You too… were victimized?”

Were you also victimized by Nigel?

Hearing his words, Kasha soon realized.

‘This man… he’s the family of someone who was sacrificed to Nigel’s lust in this room.’

Judging by his dark skin and eye-catching ornaments, he seemed to be a slave from the southern country. Perhaps he was one of the unfortunate souls who entered the imperial palace with his sister as part of the tribute offered from the south.

He must have been lingering around the palace, waiting for a chance to take revenge after learning that his sister had been abused as the crown prince’s sex slave and had finally died.

‘And today, at last, he succeeded.’

A faint smile bloomed on Kasha’s lips. She took his hand and shook it as if shaking hands.

“Congratulations on your successful revenge. Your sister… she must be happy too.”

She wasn’t sure if he understood, but the man nodded with a stern face. Kasha added in a low voice,

“I’m truly happy. That it was you, not someone else, who killed Nigel.”

So many victims who were used without any strength and perished without a name. She was genuinely glad that at least one of them seemed to have achieved righteous vengeance.

To the point where she didn’t feel the least bit of regret that she couldn’t grant Nigel his end with her own hands.

Just as she was smiling happily like that, the sound of several people’s hurried footsteps came from beyond the corridor, and soon the heavy door began to shake as if it would break.

“Kasha!”

“Kasha!! Are you alright?”

It was the voices of Leon, Count Lyuschino, and Daril. Perhaps because Nigel had locked the door before attacking Kasha, the door didn’t open right away, so they were ramming their bodies against it with enough force to really break it down.

Bang! Thud!

“Kasha!”

“Nigel, you bastard! If you laid a single finger on Kasha, do you think I’ll let you off easy? You’ll be xxx to the point where you’ll wish you xxx your xxx in xx!!”

As the loud noise continued, the man gripped his sword with a tense face.

Perhaps this person had rushed into this room prepared to die. He would think that those who would bring him that death were outside the room now.

“It’s alright.”

Kasha reassured the man with her gaze, then approached the entrance and opened the door wide without warning.

Crash!

With the sound of the door breaking, three men came tumbling and rolling at her feet.

“Kasha!”

“Are you okay?”

“Who’s that fellow?”

“He’s not a dangerous person! He killed Nigel and saved me!”

As Kasha said that while standing as if to protect the man, the three men looked puzzled. However, upon confirming Nigel’s corpse, they seemed relieved and approached Kasha.

At the same time, Daril and Count Lyuschino, who had rushed to hug her, realized that Kasha would get hurt if they did that and fidgeted anxiously while examining her.

“You… you’re not hurt…!”

“Are you really oka…!”

The flustered men suddenly shut their mouths.

Because Kasha, who had approached them first, hugged them tightly with both arms.

“…Kasha?”

The count’s hand, which was about to pat Kasha’s back, wandered in the air, unable to find a place to put his large palm on Kasha’s small back no matter how hard he looked.

“Thank you. This time too… for protecting me until the end.”

“This time too…? What do you mean by that, Kasha?”

Daril opened his mouth as if puzzled, but when Count Lyuschino glared at him as if telling him to shut up, he became quiet, rolling his eyes.

Kasha buried her face in the two men’s embrace like a little child.

How nice it would have been if she could have done this for a very long time.

“Thank you… Really.”

Seeing the elder brother who risked his life and took the crown prince’s head for his younger sister, Kasha realized anew. That she too had a stern but steadfast ‘family’ like that, and it was a very precious fortune.

These two were the only family who had watched over her death by her side before the regression.

And that remained unchanged in this life as well. She was truly, achingly grateful for that.

Kasha put more strength into her arms that were holding the two men who were awkwardly clinging to her like teddy bears, not knowing what to do.

After a while, Kasha released her arms and turned to the holy knight who had been silently watching her the whole time. And she extended her hand to him, meeting his eyes.

The violet eyes she loved,

Sometimes soft like a lavender thicket swaying in the wind, sometimes shining mysteriously like the most precious jewel in the world.

Those beautiful eyes were fixed only on her, filled with blind devotion and burning pure love that had given everything.

There was not the slightest impatience or resentment in his eyes, which simply waited silently for the moment when she would reach out her hand to him.

He silently bowed his head and knelt before Kasha. Then he kissed the back of her wounded hand.

His platinum hair tickled the back of her hand, and his warm breath seeped into the green blood vessels reflected on her pale skin. At the same time, the holy power he blew in slowly healed the wounds covering her hand.

Kasha wondered how many precepts and vows Leon had broken to protect her so far.

For Kasha, he had betrayed his family, brought the nation’s heir to his knees, and offered everything of himself at her feet, not God’s.

‘If it weren’t for you, could I have made it this far?’

Just as she thought that, the moment Leon slowly took his lips off the back of her hand, Kasha felt a hard object being pressed into her palm and opened her eyes wide.

‘This is…!’

When she opened her hand, a transparent demon stone was lying docilely inside as if sleeping. It looked very similar to the Onore taken from Nigel, but it was another demon stone with a slightly different shape.

‘Opus.’

Could it be that Anthony had handed this over to Leon himself?

Judging by the fact that the red energy of the demon stone had already dissipated, it was clear that Anthony had voluntarily given up the power of the demon stone.

‘Then, is Anthony enduring those severe injuries he just sustained with his originally frail body…? Even though he knows he might die?’

Kasha looked at Leon with trembling eyes. As if he knew what she was thinking, he slowly opened his mouth.

“It was Anthony’s choice. And I… intend to respect that choice.”

Even knowing that it might mean the death of his younger brother, Kasha held back the reddening of her eyes as she looked at the responsible man who said those words.

‘Not yet, not yet.’

It’s enough to cry when the real, final end comes.

Until then, she would have to do her best to the extent possible. Just as she had done every single day without fail since the regression.

Then, as if reading her thoughts, Leon spoke up. He still looked calm, but Kasha read the hidden urgency in his eyes.

“I’ll have them start searching the empress’s palace immediately.”

“…Alright.”

Kasha also tried to put on a smile on her lips to hide her tension.

‘Now there’s only one demon stone left. So… there’s still hope.’

The problem was that there wasn’t much time left.

The third demon stone, Cailum, appeared when there was barely an hour left until the promise with Gilroth.

When the demon stone was not found, Leon literally started destroying every corner of the empress’s palace like a madman. He brought a pickaxe and even ripped off the gold-plated walls and ceilings, to the point where fights broke out with the startled imperial palace servants.

However, even if three or four adult men rushed in, they could not stop Leon. He immediately shook off anyone who clung to him and silently continued wielding the pickaxe with reddened eyes.

Moreover, later on, even Count Lyuschino, Daril, and Margaret, who had learned the full story, each took tools and joined this reckless commotion.

‘Whatever they do, don’t stop them.’

Once the imperial princess’s order was issued, everyone didn’t even dare to try to stop them and could only watch what they were doing.

“Here…!”

When Leon, who had even broken through the ceiling of the empress’s ruined bedchamber, finally pulled out the demon stone wrapped in a handkerchief from a hidden space in the corner of the ceiling, everyone cheered with pale faces.

“Kasha…! Then, then it’s okay now? That demon god won’t do anything to you?”

As she hugged Margaret, who asked that with a pale face, Kasha silently nodded.

Princess Melissa, who heard the report that the demon stone had been found, reacted calmly.

“Then… I should go pay my respects to Mother now.”

In the unprecedented chaos where the emperor was assassinated followed by the crown prince, Melissa was in a situation where she was busy without a moment’s rest.

Nevertheless, she postponed all her schedules and rushed to the empress’s palace. She didn’t say a word even after seeing the empress’s palace that had been turned into a mess.

After giving a brief greeting to everyone, Melissa knelt by the empress’s bedside as if collapsing.

“Mom….”

Her face, which had been calm the whole time, finally contorted. Rubbing her cheek against the empress’s cheek that was no different from a corpse’s, she looked fragile as if she would break.

“I’m sorry… for making things so hard for you like this… for forcibly holding onto you so you can’t leave and making you see unsightly things… I thought that was for the best back then. So I ruined everything. I’m sorry, I’m sorry….”

Melissa’s graceful cheek and the empress’s blue discolored cheek became wet together.

“Now… I’ll let you go. And… I’ll take responsibility for all the wrongs my family and I have committed and set things right. So Mom… don’t worry and you can go now….”

She wailed for the last time as if pouring out everything.

When she finally wiped her tears and stood up, her expression had returned to that of the indifferent imperial princess.

Kasha read the sorrow and loneliness of an imperial family member who had decided to bear the weight of the crown on her face.

“It’s done now.”

Kasha asked Melissa, who spoke calmly.

“Shall I call for a priest?”

Anthony, who had voluntarily given up his power, was immediately cut off from the demon stone, but the empress could not do that in her state, so the connection had to be forcibly severed like in Nigel’s case.

And the moment that happened, the empress would probably die instantly. So she asked if she would summon a priest to attend to her last moments. However, Melissa shook her head.

“I heard there’s not much time left, so is there any need for that? When the holy knight is here.”

She said that while pointing to Leon, who had been looking this way the whole time with an anxious, stiff face.