The next morning, Lu watched as Imperial knights in uniforms brought in carts to carry the five corpses placed inside the tower.

The divine beasts carefully pulled carts covered in purple cloth. Priests entered quietly, greeted the tower master, and slowly began the funeral preparations. The embalming would be done in Chalea, but even leaving this place required proper procedures.

“Forty-seven are lost, and only six coffins returned.”

Rodric Keller muttered with a bitter expression.

“One coffin is empty.”

Garnet De Juel flinched as she peered into the horrific glass coffin.

“It seems His Majesty brought back one more.”

Lu muttered, glancing back at Rodric.

“Speaking of which, forty-seven? Exactly who were they?”

For a moment, Garnet’s eyes sparkled, and Rodric took a step back from her.

“Are you unaware of the major theft and treason committed by Carlos Arthur Ingram?”

“Ah, yes… embarrassingly, I’ve only been here for about ten days. I don’t know the details.”

So much had happened in just a few days.

“I did hear the people in the coffins were royalty.”

“Yes, exactly! You might not know! May I explain a bit?”

Rodric shook his head clearly behind Garnet, but failing to deter her fervor was difficult. Lu nodded.

“Just the story about the coffins, please.”

“Well, the grand theft by Carlos Arthur Ingram took place over seven nights and days. That brazen thief managed to steal the royal treasures of Ferzeta, symbols of the northern and western sages, and emptied the tower, but the most unforgivable act was the kidnapping.”

Garnet, without taking a breath, turned her head covered with fluttering purple cloth. Purple symbolized royalty, something the nobility couldn’t approach.

“He massacred the adult royals and kidnapped all the children. Of the 83 grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Ernest Larkin Frederick Vella, also known as Ernest II, 47 are relevant here.”

The number was clear, meaning that the corpses had been counted. Such a tragedy, the entire royal family dead.

“Killing is easy, kidnapping is hard. After the barrier was established, 430 years have passed, and the event has practically been forgotten.”

Lu gazed at a very small children’s coffin and hardened her expression. The corpses brought from that terrible lab looked to be the age of her sister Siana Bella. So young and so small.

“So, no one thought there would be any remains left.”

Garnet spoke and then bowed her head in sadness.

“Well, one person did come back.”

Rodric patted Garnet’s shoulder.

“Among the 47 kidnapped, one survivor, and five returned corpses. That’s how it will be recorded.”

The one survivor was Hayden. A survivor who returned after 430 years. Lu was lost in complex thoughts.

So, how old is Hayden really? She had seen Hayden several years ago, when she was in her late teens, and he looked younger than her. What had he been doing for 430 years?

Maybe he was asleep in a glass coffin, like those children.

“A terribly cold phrase for historians to write.”

“Can’t help it, the event itself was horrific.”

“That’s true. They were all children under fifteen. What happened to the rest?”

Garnet, who loved history, was rolling her eyes here and there, not missing this moment. The three people gathered here, all dressed in their finest, stood aside in the tower to send off the royals.

“Ah, His Majesty has arrived.”
Roderic stared at the top of the stairs. Dressed in a plain black dress with only the stars of the western sky as ornaments, Ophelia descended the stairs, wearing her Imperial attire alongside Hayden.

Her gaunt face, standing in front of the temporary coffin, was filled with ancient sorrow.

When she waved her hand, Garnet and Roderic, her two sole disciples of Matopju, hastily assisted her. Matopju himself would guide the royals on their return to Chalea.

“Your Grace.”

Lu, standing a step back in the shadow of a column during this solemn ritual, looked at Hayden in surprise. He held up his gloved hand.

“Come here.”

In an instant, the eyes of the Imperiale and the priests focused on Lu. Known thus far as the Calleta Ambassador in formal settings, she had tried to remain unseen, yet unexpectedly drew all attention to her.

“The one who contributed most to this event should be present.”

Hesitant for a moment, Lu obeyed Hayden’s additional words and walked to stand beside him.

The carriage door was already wide open, and a corpse carefully wrapped in purple velvet was quietly placed in a small coffin. It was time for the royals, who had died without sunlight while forcibly taken to Katat, to return to Chalea. The priest bowed to Hayden.

“To Chalea.”

On the Emperor’s command, the Imperiale drew their swords, and the priests joined hands.

Ophelia opened her mouth. In the wide hall of Matopju, not a spell, but a sorrowful and beautiful dirge echoed.

The survivor of a terrible tragedy sang, grieving the transformation of those he had known in life into corpses. The Imperiale began to carry the coffins one by one. The priest called the names of those lying in the coffins.