The Emperor personally escorted me out through the secret passageway to the exit leading outside as a commotion arose outside the imperial palace.

Justin, who blocked my way as if he couldn’t bear to part, blushed and gave a shy smile.

“Solas. Why didn’t you tell me? My cravat that wrapped your wounded foot. You said you cherished it more than a military medal? I heard from the woman named Sharon who took care of your household chores. You said you put it in a jewelry box and took it out to look at it often?”

Seeing his blue eyes, sweet as if steeped in honey, crinkle charmingly under long golden lashes, I sighed despite myself.

“Do you know how much my heart ached seeing that cravat? My heart… felt like it was being ripped apart by iron claws. You thought so preciously of me. And I… killed you. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

“That’s enough.”

“Solas. I just wanted to give you the best I could offer. A place by my side. I thought the position of the empire’s empress would suit you.”

“Your Majesty, I don’t desire anything from you. Just answer one thing. Flama, did you create it?”

“I can even hand over the emperor’s position if you wish. I mean it. Or should I pass the throne to Lewis? Is that what you want, Solas?”

The emperor’s eyes brimming with transparent tears sparkled with a strange fervor.

“Yes. That would be good. If only you return to me. If we can go back to how we used to be, I need nothing else. We can avoid the troublesome power struggles and bloody wars, so you’d like that too. The people you care about also won’t have to die.”

“Your Majesty, you’re surprisingly and consistently selfish, aren’t you? After killing me and ruining my sacred sword, isn’t it proper manners to at least give an answer?”

At my sarcasm, the emperor burst out laughing as if he heard something truly amusing.

“Solas. Solas. If we only consider people who are as clueless, would there be another like you?”

“What?”

“You always only look straight ahead on a single path. The loyalty you must dedicate so your lord can walk the righteous way. Your noble blood, sweat, and tears sprinkled on that path. Solas, that’s all you see.”

“I can’t agree with you calling me selfish. But I regret the blood and sweat I shed for you, Your Majesty. You were not a lord worthy of that.”

Justin laughed, shaking his shoulders as if he couldn’t bear it.

“Solas. Oh, my Solas. You will end up driving Frost mad.”

Justin continued in a singsong voice, eyes crinkling.

“Time and time again, knowing it’s dangerous, you will throw yourself into the jaws of death. By choosing to protect rather than be protected, you will drive your elder brother insane. Your elder brother will grow tired of a wife who pledges loyalty rather than love. Just as I did with you.”

“I’ll take good care of my own love and loyalty, so mind your own business.”

Justin approached, took my hand, and drew it close to his lips as if to kiss the back of it.

“It’s so peculiar. Whether your eyes are green or red. When you were Solas, or after becoming Yuriella. Even when wearing the mask of this unsightly attendant. You are you. Because you are you, even when you despise me, ridicule me, and pick only hateful words, you shine so enchantingly like this.”

His lips descended precisely on the illusion magic tool ring Lord Matap had made.

“Still, my taste is, as expected, you, Solas.”

Crack.

The sound of the gem fracturing was heard. And the illusion magic Lord Matap had cast was undone.

The gnarled hand of the male attendant disappeared and a long, slender woman’s hand was revealed.

But this was not… Yuriella’s hand.

The long hair fluttering in the wind caught in my sight was a fiery red.

The woman fully reflected in the emperor’s eyes was Solas Moretti with deep green eyes.

This is not the real Solas. It’s an illusion of Solas.

“How…?”

How is this possible?

The emperor shattered the illusion magic cast by the 10th circle grand mage Lord Matap, and placed an even more powerful illusion magic on me. In the form he desired most.

“That is my answer to your earlier question.”

Justin grasped the end of my red hair cascading to my waist and kissed it. Then he gently rubbed between my furrowed brows with his finger. The touch was terribly gentle.

“Each time I had to send you off to the battlefield alone. Each time I felt like I would go mad wanting to run to your side. I had to endure it. And I thought. The reason I can’t go to you is not because I am the revered emperor, but because I am weak.”

I swatted Justin’s hand away like brushing off a bug and took a big step back.

Justin gazed at me with a bitter smile.

“Even if I followed you to the battlefield, I would pathetically just become baggage you’d have to protect. That Frost bastard has the sacred sword Ielo and protects you time and time again. So.”

Justin seemed to stretch out his two hands, palms up, towards me.

“So. Because I couldn’t go to you, I had to find a way to get to you. I too… had to become strong. I had to grow my abilities. Mustering all my strength. Enduring pain worse than death.”

Dark magic rose above the emperor’s hands.

I took another step away from him.

“I wanted to go to you. I wanted to reach you. I absolutely could not lose you to that Frost bastard.”

Even with undeniable proof before my eyes, I was confused.

Cassandra had said the dark magic talent of the Figueira family was passed down only to the women for generations.

How was this possible for the emperor? Moreover, he seemed to possess power far surpassing his mother and aunt.

“Solas. You don’t have to shy away like that. I can never, ever harm you.”

Justin gathered the billowing dark energy in his hands and approached me. And as he kissed the magic tool ring again, the illusion of Solas disappeared and I returned to Yuriella’s appearance.

“Mother is waiting, so I can only see you off up to here. See you again, Solas. I’ll formally invite you next time, so don’t go through the trouble of sneaking in. And don’t change into the appearance of an ugly attendant either.”

“Flama being turned into a demonic sword… was it really you?”

Justin, who was returning to the secret passageway entrance, turned his head and smiled brightly.

“I’ll give you the answer the next time we meet. If I tell you now, you won’t come looking for me, right?”

“Why…”

I glared at Justin with an uncomprehending expression.

“Why did you show me? Why…?”

Despite clearly knowing I would immediately inform His Grace that he is a contaminated piece of the god and the one who turned Flama into a demonic sword. Why on earth?

What gave him such confidence?

“For you.”

“What?”

“I never want to lose you again, Solas. I don’t want to kill your precious people either. Because it would make you sad. So just… come to me.”

“Wake up from your delusions. Your Solas is already dead. And the power you possess will ultimately destroy you. This is advice from someone who once served you as lord.”

“Solas. Solas. You know nothing. The reason this world is still intact is because you are in front of me. If I lose you once more, I will… smash, tear apart, and burn everything that exists in this world that goes on peacefully without you. I will create a bottomless abyss of darkness with nothing in it, just like my heart.”

It was clearly absurd nonsense. But it didn’t sound like nonsense, making it all the more spine-chilling.

After walking some distance while unconsciously rubbing my goosebump-covered arms…

A pair of strong arms pulled me into an embrace from behind. A familiar scent rushed in.

“Your Grace…?”

Looking up, I saw His Grace’s face, pale as a sheet.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

His gaze examining me from head to toe seemed quite anxious and impatient. The trembling of his two hands tightly gripping me was palpable. Just like when my carriage was attacked by undead mercenaries.

[You will end up driving Frost mad.]

The emperor’s words rang in my ears.

“What are these clothes? Did you attempt to infiltrate the imperial palace disguised as an attendant? With Lord Matap’s help?”

His Grace’s gaze immediately went to the magic tool ring on my finger. His expression darkened fiercely seeing the broken gem.

“Your Grace. Earlier, the emperor, this ring-”

But I could not continue. His Grace hugged me tightly and buried his face in my shoulder.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

My body, pressed against his rough heartbeat, felt like it was shaking along with it.

[Time and time again, knowing it’s dangerous, you will throw yourself into the jaws of death. By choosing to protect rather than be protected, you will drive your elder brother insane. Your elder brother will grow tired of a wife who pledges loyalty rather than love.]

I looked up at His Grace. His deeply furrowed brows appeared extremely anguished.

My shoulders drooped without me realizing it.

“I’m sorry. For causing you hardship.”

“Pardon?”

His Grace slightly pulled away and looked down at me with a puzzled face.

“I’m a simple person, so I can only see one thing. I’m someone who protects, so I’m not used to being protected. Pain and injury are always my lot… I may continue to dry up your blood and drive you mad in the future too.”

His Grace narrowed his eyes as he examined my gloomy expression.

“I’d rather hope the reason for your sudden self-reflection isn’t that accursed emperor?”

When I looked at him with wide eyes, His Grace let out a loud snort.

“Whatever you heard, ignore the barking of a mad dog.”

“But I-”

This too could not continue.

As if to swallow up all the emperor’s words that ate at my heart like a curse, His Grace’s kiss was long and persistent.

It felt like his clear and refreshing breath, reminiscent of mint, was filling my entire body.

Only now could I breathe.

*

The steps returning to the residence were heavy.

Frost, who had Yuriella sit in front of the saddle, was briefly at a loss for words and fell silent at her revelation that the emperor was a contaminated piece of the god.

The fact that the emperor was a dark mage with abilities surpassing Lord Matap was shocking enough, but him personally mentioning his secret was something impossible without considerable confidence.

Heaving a big sigh, Frost carefully broached the subject while gauging Yuriella’s reaction.

“I’m sorry. I… lost Nero.”

“Pardon?”

“I was definitely holding him when we left the residence…”

The moment he realized his wife was at the imperial palace, his mind went blank. And now, seeing Yuriella safe like this, he became aware of the emptiness in his arms.

“Why did you bring Nero to the imperial palace?”

Frost explained how Nero had suddenly burst into flames. And that the flames enveloping Nero were not hot at all.

“The color and sensation were very familiar to me. The exact same pure flames Flama emitted.”

To Yuriella who looked back at him in confusion, Frost reminded her of a memory that could be a clue.

“The place you first met Nero was the Red Hill of Colina Rosa, right?”

“Yes…”

The place she had fought her last battle as the commander-in-chief of the northern subjugation army in her previous life.

And the place where the spirit of the sacred sword Flama had vanished without a trace.

There, Yuriella encountered a black cat that jumped into her arms without hesitation.

“Did you happen to see Flama at the imperial palace?”

“Yes. It seemed to recognize me. When I approached… the flames flared up inside the trapped blade as if welcoming me. Although it quickly subsided, unable to last long…”

As Yuriella trailed off, Frost nodded. Now it all made sense.

“I think that’s when it happened. The flames enveloping Nero also suddenly lost strength and died down.”

“Could it be…?”

Yuriella gripped Frost’s shirt tightly with a confused look.

“So I thought I should show him to you and took him along.”

“But… Nero is an ordinary cat. Flama’s small spirit is a fire lizard called a salamander…?”

“My guess is that Flama took some measures in Colina Rosa before becoming a demonic sword. We’ll know the details if we ask Aeri and Popo.”

“Aeri and Popo?”

“Even if you didn’t know, those two must have known Nero’s identity long ago. There’s no way they wouldn’t recognize the energy of a fellow spirit.”

Frost lifted one eyebrow fiercely and twisted the corner of his mouth.

“That Lord Matap bastard must have known and hidden it too.”

Curses starting from “cunning jerk” continued for a while. Still looking disgruntled, Frost glanced at Yuriella with a start.

Tears filled Yuriella’s eyes, wetting her pale cheeks as they flowed.

“I had no idea. He came looking for me… Recognized me at first sight and ran into my arms…”

Yuriella’s hand hurriedly reached for the horse’s reins.

“Let’s go back. We have to find Nero. We can’t leave him at the imperial palace. What if the emperor discovers him?”