“No one told me, and I couldn’t ask, but now I need to know. Something seems to be dwelling in Carlos. And there’s a way to solve it, right?”

Skylar didn’t know how to answer.

Whether to say that you have to die, she couldn’t choose an answer.

Facing such a Skylar, Mercedes spoke firmly.

“I will save Carlos. Betting my life on it. Prioritizing it over my own life.”

The eyes of Mercedes saying this were so beautiful that.

Skylar felt pity and compassion for this lover.

“They say you become like the one you love.”

She smiled bitterly and looked at Mercedes.

Mercedes was sending a firm gaze as if it wasn’t difficult to be determined to save Carlos by any means.

“Do you know that both Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress are fools? Damn it. Life isn’t some dog’s name… Why are you so eager to bet each other’s lives?”

“Prioritizing Carlos over my life. Of course, I’m scared too. But still, for Carlos, I can do it. Because Carlos has already done it for me.”

Mercedes answered sincerely.

Skylar’s heart became more and more complicated.

Honestly, she was leaning towards the thought that Mercedes should be killed. Of course, it was an uncomfortable thought and she felt it shouldn’t be done, but still… because she was a person who served the Emperor.

But when Mercedes asked to be told anything, if there was a way, it felt like her breath was suddenly cut off.

Skylar wanted Carlos to go down a happy path. But if Mercedes dies, he wouldn’t be happy.

She looked at Carlos with a feeling of ‘wishing he would give an answer’. But Carlos had no answer.

In fact, with his heart barely saved, he might not wake up in the future. He could die like this.

So in the current situation, ‘explaining’ to Mercedes and making a cold judgment became her responsibility.

She scratched her head and sighed irritably.

‘Damn fools.’

Skylar even felt wronged.

Not because she had to worry, but because she pitied them.

Why should these upright and just people bear the sins, the curse, the punishment committed by people of the past?

Mercedes, observing Skylar’s worried expression, grabbed her hand tightly and began to plead.

“Lady Skylar. If you’re the key, open the door. There’s definitely something I need to know, right?”

“…Hah. Damn it. It seems I’ve chosen the wrong superior.”

Skylar messed up her hair frantically and then sighed.

“Do you really want to know?”

“If knowing will solve it.”

Determined eyes.

She couldn’t lie in front of them. Skylar finally opened her mouth.

Yes. Mercedes also has the right to know.

No, maybe she cowardly wants to pass on the burden of worry. Anyway, she decided to tell the truth.

“…His Majesty must kill you.”

“What?”

“Hah. This is His Majesty’s curse that only I have discovered. So no one could have told you, and Her Highness couldn’t have known either. His Majesty is under a curse.”

“Who, who cast such a curse? Why me of all people? I hadn’t even met Carlos before… Could it be because I was brought from Shame?”

“His Majesty’s curse was from before that. This isn’t just a story about His Majesty and Her Highness.”

Skylar finally began to reveal the secret she had heard fighting with Carlos when they were young, a story from a very long time ago.

Throughout the listening, Mercedes’ face gradually hardened. Although she couldn’t know what she was thinking, Skylar was certain of one thing.

That Mercedes was prepared to grip a dagger and stab her own heart right away.

“Carlos himself has to kill me, right?”

“Sadly, it’s such a damn curse.”

“I didn’t know I’d literally have to bet my life… Alright. Then I’ll put a sword in this person’s hand and let him pierce my heart. That would be the easiest way.”

“Your Majesty the Empress, wait a moment. Shamefully, I haven’t not thought of that either, but it’s uncertain whether that method meets the condition of ‘killing directly.’ And… aren’t you afraid at all?”

“I am afraid. During the time I was kidnapped, for the first time in my life I wanted to live and felt a burning desire to be with Carlos. But without Carlos, none of that matters. And even if this method is uncertain, I think we need to use it right away. Because Carlos… is dying.”

Mercedes spoke firmly. Skylar fell silent.

“Besides, Carlos can’t stab me. I believe you know that too, Lady Skylar. This, I have to do it. That will increase the probability of meeting the curse’s conditions as much as possible.”

Is this really, indeed, the right thing to do?

As Skylar made a complicated face, Mercedes calmly persuaded her.

“Isn’t Lady Skylar a loyal subject who follows Carlos? You said he’ll live if I die. Why are you stopping me?”

“…Nevertheless, it’s because His Majesty gave up on killing you. He even found a decent successor from a collateral line.”

This time Mercedes was left speechless at Skylar’s words.

She quietly looked at Carlos’ unconscious face, sweating coldly. She liked those thick eyebrows, that always gentle smile full of composure, that face with sharp yet thick lines.

His touch, his voice. Especially his laughter, she seemed to like it. She was grateful for the world he showed her. Grateful that he saw it with her.

During that time, how hard must this person have been?

Carlos loves her. Now she could be certain of that too.

‘I, without knowing anything…’

Carlos was a person who went to the front lines to minimize casualties among the soldiers. He was an emperor who made compasses for them and tried to look after the lowest places.

He must have been so burdened and heavy, yet he was someone who somehow endured.

Because he was born righteous and kind.

To think that such a person had to weigh the life of his loved one against the fate of the country.

And to think that he decided to save her, finally abandoning that burden.

The agony must have been unimaginably deep.

‘I… I can’t kill you, no matter what.’

‘Mel. I won’t kill you.’

‘I can’t, kill you.’

How difficult must that confession have been for him that day.

He chose her.

Giving up his own life.

“Now I understand the saying that you become like the one you love.”

Mercedes smiled faintly.

She too, could now resolve to give up the life she had just grasped for the first time.

Carlos had to live.

Of course, not because Mercedes was a person without value to live as before. She could have lived on, shining sufficiently.

However, it was because Carlos living on was what she wanted that she willingly gave up her life. Like Carlos who chose her in the end, despite the burden on his shoulders and her.

Even without her, Carlos would become a good emperor and could live a wonderful life.

Also, they might be able to meet and embrace each other in the afterlife that might exist in the distant future. Yes, that would be enough.

“Lady Skylar. Do you have a dagger? Carlos’ greatsword is too big.”

Skylar absentmindedly fingered the dagger Carlos had thrown and left in her bosom.

Yes, it’s rather fortunate that she’s stepping up like this. This is right. Nevertheless…

“…Your Highness. If you are dead when His Majesty wakes up, will he be alright?”

Skylar couldn’t help but add one more word.

What kind of face would Carlos make in a world without Mercedes? She couldn’t even imagine.

It seemed she would see an expression she had never seen in all those long years as a close friend.

“That’s…”

Mercedes, who had been resolute, showed a hesitant attitude for the first time.

She wiped away Carlos’ cold sweat and smiled faintly. It was also a face that looked like she might cry a little.

“Carlos will do well. Because he’s a strong person. Please convey my message to him. Tell him that I met you and knew happiness for the first time, and that I left this world gladly because I could save you. So tell him to enjoy life to the fullest and come back.”

“Your Highness, just a little more… time. Please give me time. If it really doesn’t meet the conditions, then I…”

Skylar frowned, blaming her own incompetence.

“Skylar is not at fault for anything. And I can feel that Carlos has no time left right now, that he’s barely breathing. If we leave him like this, it seems he’ll die without any means to save him.”

“…”

Skylar couldn’t answer this time either. Mercedes smiled faintly.

“Lady Skylar has tried hard enough. I can tell even more because the power I feel from Carlos is familiar. What Skylar has been doing is not breaking the curse, but forcibly containing it. It’s right that it can’t go on any longer. Because a prison will eventually break before a strong force.”

Mercedes extended her white hand.

It was a delicate hand, but it looked like the largest hand in the world. That’s how upright and overwhelming Mercedes appeared.

“Let’s make Carlos comfortable.”

“…Lady Mercedes.”

“I think it’s the first time I’ve heard my name from Lady Skylar. It sounds nice.”

How can they be people who even say such similar things? Skylar closed her eyes, thinking of her lord who had left with a final greeting.

“I can’t do it.”

No matter how much Mercedes said, Skylar couldn’t give her the sword.

Because her friend would suffer.

‘Will she try to stop me?’

Mercedes looked at Skylar, quietly pondering, and then calculated how much power remained within her.

“Skylar. Let’s sleep for a while.”

“…What are you saying?”

“When you wake up, it will all be over.”

Her white hand touched Skylar’s forehead. Skylar instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Now it was quiet. In the center of a deep forest.

The only one left breathing with open eyes now was Mercedes.