“The king of the sea threw himself into the lake.

He could breathe underwater just as he could on land, without needing to surface for air.”

The Lupinus territory where Merche had lived almost her entire life was a land far from the sea.

There weren’t many lakes, big or small, either.

Perhaps that was why. In her life, she had never once been deeply submerged in water.

“……”

She should have been afraid, but she wasn’t.

Rather, the deeper she sank into the water, the more a sense of peace seeped into her body and mind.

Merche closed her eyes. And just like that, she pushed her whole body into the lake.

…che. ……Merche!

A faint, blurring noise tickled her ears.

At that moment, someone’s hands wrapped around her waist and surged upward, and her body, which had been submerged in the water for a long time, completely emerged onto land.

“You, what… what the hell were you thinking…!”

It didn’t take long to recognize the other person.

And before long, Merche realized that the man who had pulled her out of the lake was trembling so much that he looked like he might collapse at any moment.

Ah. Didn’t he say he hated water…

Although the memory had faded quite a bit, one scene stood out vividly.

The man who hated water so much that he refused to even take baths. The man who had been drugged with sleeping pills and submerged in the bathtub, then became extremely agitated and caused a scene…

“…Rude.”

He struggled to breathe, desperately. But his breathing became more and more ragged, and his body’s trembling grew more frequent.

What was the way to comfort a frightened child?

After pondering, she thought of a method.

There was a way she had comforted little Christine long ago, who was so afraid of spiders that she would cry as if she would faint just from seeing a spiderweb.

With each step soaked with water, drops of water fell.

A hint of worry arose that it might be unpleasant because it was damp, but she quickly suppressed it.

The man crouching before her eyes was in too serious a condition to worry about such things.

She reached out both arms and first covered his ears.

Then she pushed her arms in further to fully envelop his head and drew him into her embrace.

She put strength into it, not too forcefully but firmly. It was to make him feel secure.

“…It’s okay. Everything will be alright….”

She whispered continuously until the trembling of the body she held subsided.

Whether she was saying it to Rude or to herself. In fact, it was hard to even distinguish.

The only clear fact was that the mind that was gradually becoming clearer as her wet body dried was not pleasant.

She would rather have remained submerged in the water forever. She didn’t want to face the reality of the land upon which she stood.

How much time had passed? The panting sound slowed down, and soon firm hands pushed her away.

“Were you trying to die?”

Merche shook her head without a word.

“…Don’t lie to me! If you weren’t trying to die, who would stay submerged in the water like that for over an hour?”

Over an hour… Had she been sinking in the lake for that long?

Unable to hold back, she let out a hollow laugh. At this rate, how could she deny it? What could she even deny?

An ‘ordinary person’ couldn’t stay submerged in water for over an hour.

Even if they were submerged for just a few minutes, they would have to come up to the surface in between to catch their breath.

So she wasn’t an ‘ordinary person’.

“…Rude.”

Laughter escaped again. As if there was a hole in her chest, every time she exhaled, the sound of laughter kept flowing out.

Something that wasn’t human laughed.

“I think… I might be a monster.”

A monster? You think you’re a monster?

It was already absurd enough to hear such ridiculous nonsense, but seeing her calm face as she fell asleep on her own made it even more preposterous.

Perhaps it was because she had been in the water for too long, but her originally pale complexion was now as white as paper.

It would have been stranger not to be mistaken like this.

If it hadn’t been for the weak, gasping breaths, he really would have thought she had collapsed.

Sighing deeply, he shook his wet hair with one hand. Then he easily lifted the peacefully sleeping Merche into his arms.

…Was this holding a person or holding a small puppy?

Her body felt weightless.

Moreover, her skin was as cold as ice wherever he touched, not at all like a living person.

“…?”

It was the moment he was about to turn around with Merche in his arms.

Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

Merche’s reflection on the surface of the lake, which had no small ripples, looked somewhat strange.

To be exact, it was the center of the golden strands of hair flowing down his forearm.

It was clearly just filled with golden strands like wool, but in the reflection on the lake, there was something resting on top of her head.

A shimmering and neat… laurel wreath?

For a moment, a fierce wind blew. At the same time, waves crashed on the calm water surface, and Merche’s image that had been reflected like a mirror disappeared.

When the lake revealed Merche again, there was no laurel wreath.

Only after confirming that did Rude blame his eyes and quickly moved his steps.

“…A hidden royal? Does this make sense?”

Werner Fondo lowered the report he was reading midway.

The trusted subordinate standing before him immediately bowed his head respectfully. His master disliked making eye contact with his underlings.

Indeed, as if that was the right action, Werner’s voice that followed became much gentler.

“Which viscount submitted this report?”

“It’s from Ardor.”

“…If the viscount’s identity wasn’t exposed early on, then that branch family of Venenum is really royalty.”

Merche Venenum.

Until a year ago, she had been staying at Lupinus Castle as a potential successor, but then she suddenly emerged from somewhere else, an existence that couldn’t be grasped with just a few lines of information.

Werner stroked his beard-covered chin.

“We’ll need to inform Lena as well.”

Leaving the office, he entered the bedroom.

As he familiarly drew the bed curtains, a woman in a thin dressing gown and a naked man clinging to her feet were revealed.

As soon as Werner’s arrival was noticed, the naked man disappeared like an insect exposed to light, lowering his body.

The woman, with eyes that had lost interest, put a cigarette in her mouth.

“What, I was just starting to have fun.”

“Lena.”

“If it’s not a big deal, are you really going to get angry this time? The boy had a decent tongue technique for once.”

Lena Aquila. The woman with innocent eyes, unfitting for the head of a great family, grumbled but smiled coquettishly.

“My dear Werner. Judging by your expression, it seems you’ve brought something quite interesting? Oh my, this is making me excited…”

“What if, hypothetically, there was a hidden royal somewhere in this land? And what if that royal was a direct descendant?”

“A royal, and a direct descendant? The packaging is fancy?”

Lena curled her lips brightly.

“Of course we have to bring them in. However, on the condition that the royal is useful enough to keep alive.”

“There’s more. What if that royal made the Pegasus of Ardor kneel and hunted the Basilisk?”

“What?”

She immediately jumped up from her seat. Her eyes, sparkling as if stars were embedded in them, were filled with ecstatic anticipation.

“We must bring them in! Where and who is this child? I want to go and bring them right away, I’ll definitely make them mine…!”

Her voice was sticky with greed. Werner skillfully soothed and comforted her.

Under a sinister smile, he whispered.

“You’ll meet them soon. At the upcoming gathering.”

The trusted subordinate who had finished reporting to Werner left the palace-like court of Fondo.

He changed his clothes as naturally as breathing and got on the waiting carriage, heading towards the royal palace.

He crossed the hall where colorful gems that shone silently were laid out.

Eventually, he entered a secluded chamber and prostrated himself in a posture of submission.

“Welcome. You must be working hard, doing double duty, Stefan?”

Another Fondo and one who inherited the royal blood. His true master.

Magnus Fondo opened his arms to welcome Stefan.

On his wide open palms, an unknown person’s red liquid dripped.

“I leaked the information to Werner Fondo as instructed.”

“Yes. How did our family head react?”

“He immediately shared the information with Lena Aquila. It seems he intends to use some means to secure Merche Venenum at this gathering.”

“Those two get along so well. Someone might think they’re lovers…”

Magnus, trailing off his words, caressed the bright red ruby ring on his little finger.

The originally red gem touched his hand and shone even redder with the sticky liquid.

If only that crown and sword were added here, it would be perfect.

Stretching languidly, he trampled on the numerous swords scattered at his feet one by one.

Clang, clang-! The countless blades, unable to withstand the pressure, broke helplessly, and their fragments flew here and there.

“……”

The face that had been laughing joyfully until just now darkened.

He silently recalled the face of a woman he had met sometime before.

Merche Ashtad. Now Merche Venenum again.

-…I won’t make that choice.

-From the beginning, it wasn’t my place. If I had known the truth, it would have been right to step down.

Every word she uttered had grated on him.

That woman whom he thought would live with that weak attitude and just die like that, the woman named Merche with blue eyes who was endlessly insignificant, was becoming more and more of an eyesore as time passed.

Not only the divine beast of Lupinus but also the divine beast of Ardor. Moreover, the fact that it was none other than Merche who had even brought down the Basilisk was still hard to believe.

Where did she come from? Which damned royal shared the royal blood with you?

If it were a half-blood like me, I might have been lenient once, but if not.

Crunch-.

He stepped on the already broken blades, crushing them again and again.

The pleasure of something that was once strong being crushed and crumpled under his feet slowly seeped into his body, simmering.

Even if you’re royalty, I don’t care. If I kill you and become the only royal, that’s all that matters.

The last prophecy of Widentia is mine. I won’t let anyone take that prophecy away from me.