Floyd stared at her with wide eyes. He couldn’t even think to wipe away her tears.

The final fate of the Franche royal family, unbelievable even though he heard it directly from her. That miserable and cruel end, throwing them into a well and sealing it so they couldn’t even smell the scent of Adelia flowers.

‘I see.’

Lucas deliberately announced that ‘the Franche royal family was placed in Adelia coffins.’ He laughed it off, wondering if there was so little to boast about that he had to declare such an obvious thing.

It was no laughing matter. He should have thought about it more properly.

If he had, he could have prevented Roxiana from having to carry this cursed reality alone for so long.

−”If I die living like this, please don’t put my body in an Adelia coffin, but throw it away.”

−”If you throw it in the sea, please tie stones to it so no one can find it, and if you throw it on land, please bury it deep so no one will ever discover it.”

He shouldn’t have carelessly dismissed her desperate plea. He should have thought more deeply about the reason for that wish – not just to die, but not to be put in an Adelia coffin.

If only he had.

‘No, even if I had thought deeply, I wouldn’t have known.’

Throwing corpses into a well? Who could have imagined anyone would do such a thing?

Cracks formed and demonic energy invaded the bodies of the dead, making it natural to put corpses in Adelia coffins. Even the bodies of enemies and heathens deserved to be placed in Adelia coffins.

If a corpse was found, even strangers would not just pass by, but would cover it with at least a piece of Adelia wood.

Not because they were particularly considerate, but simply because it was the natural thing to do. Because it was what humans ought to do.

But a well? How could one expect such a thing?

Even now, hearing those words from Roxiana, it was unbelievable.

She was crying silently. The tears quietly flowing down her cheeks were more painful and bitter than a blood-curdling scream.

Floyd clenched his fists.

Something very unpleasant churned in his stomach. Imagining Lucas sleeping comfortably somewhere with his legs stretched out, his heart felt like it would burst.

While Roxiana had concluded she could never sleep with her legs stretched out no matter how much she pondered, the thought that Lucas, who had pushed her into such a situation, was doing well made him want to strangle the bastard right then and there.

“So, Your Highness.”

At last, Roxiana opened her mouth.

“Please let me be a useful woman to Your Highness. Please watch over me so that I can be of some help to this Torkan. Once my usefulness is proven and I have been of help…”

She no longer shed tears. Instead of crying, she knelt before Floyd’s feet and pleaded while kissing his instep.

“Please use Adelia’s weapons to retrieve my family’s bodies from that terrible darkness. So that they may finally return to God’s embrace.”

Floyd could not answer, nor could he raise her up. He just looked down at her back as she prostrated herself before him.

+++

“They killed her family! Threw them in a well! So they couldn’t even smell the scent of Adelia flowers! They threw them in a well and sealed it!”

At the cry bursting from the bedroom, the knight commanders in the reception room held their breath.

They had only come wondering if Roxiana had woken up. Just as Kirshan was about to knock on the door as their representative, an unbelievable cry was heard.

The knight commanders’ keen hearing could accurately pick up the voices coming from inside. The names of her father and mother, Roxiana’s siblings and their wives, even the children’s names were etched into the commanders’ ears.

At first they didn’t understand, then they went through a process of understanding but not accepting, before belatedly being shocked.

Adrian’s stiff lips parted.

“Uh…”

But no voice came out.

Adrian had traveled to many areas for subjugation, but except in cases of violent deaths where there was no one to help, he had never seen a corpse that wasn’t placed in an Adelia coffin.

Even after ending a terrible war with barbarians trying to invade eastern Torkan, they placed pieces of Adelia wood on each of their corpses. Because that was the natural thing to do.

“Uh…”

In place of Adrian, who was at a loss for words and could only groan, Cain muttered.

“Thrown in a well… I didn’t mishear, did I?”

Hexten frowned.

“Why go that far? Wasn’t Lucas the princess’s fiancé? What kind of grudge…”

“Even with a grudge, that’s not acceptable. It’s an absurd thing to do. Why did the princess hide it?”

Adrian, finally coming to his senses, lightly smacked the back of Cain’s head.

“Of course she’d hide it. It’s her family’s dishonor, why would she go around talking about it?”

“If it were me, I’d have told our lord first thing and asked for revenge.”

“That’s because it’s you. Canta is a colony of Gania now. It’s not a place we can freely search, so from the princess’s perspective, she probably thought she needed to be of equal help to Torkan before asking us to do something dangerous.”

“Ah…”

“But there was no need to risk her life.”

Kirshan nodded.

“That’s right. Anyway, Lucas really did something unthinkable. Why would he do such a crazy thing? It wouldn’t be good for him either if this fact became known.”

“He did it because he’s crazy. What, you think that idiot thought deeply about it?”

“There must be a reason. Because of a woman perhaps…”

Arsen was glaring intently at the bedroom door with his arms crossed. If anything, he thought the fact that they killed and threw a country’s monarch in a well was a bigger problem than the fact that the woman who occupied the Lily Palace was a slave.

It was an unforgivable sin and an atrocity deserving condemnation.

Even if one killed an enemy they harbored deep resentment for, it was human duty to place them in an Adelia coffin. But to throw an entire family, even young children, into a well? He thought someone who committed such a brutal act should not be allowed to live in this world.

And that thought escaped his lips.

“Lucas Pelur must die.”

The knight commanders thought his words were right.

+++

While the knight commanders were swept up in anger, plotting to tear Lucas apart, Floyd came to his senses.

He crouched down in front of Roxiana, who was still prostrated waiting for an answer. His hesitant fingertips brushed her shoulder. Floyd took a deep breath, then carefully raised her up.

Roxiana was no longer crying, but the tears she had shed still dampened her cheeks. Seeing her reddened, swollen eyes caused a sharp pain in his chest. Suppressing the anger spreading like flames, Floyd gently tucked the hair clinging to her face behind her ear.

He didn’t ask why she hadn’t said anything sooner.

How many people in the world could say their family had been thrown into a well? And they were royalty at that.

“You said you don’t know which well they were thrown into, right?”

Roxiana nodded.

“I understand. Then we’ll have to search all the wells in Ider Palace and the surrounding area.”

Roxiana’s eyes widened. An emotion other than despair and pain filled her green eyes.

Thinking it was fortunate, Floyd explained.

“The Holy Knight Order will be entering Canta soon. It will be difficult for us to approach until they deal with the demons and the priests finish the purification. Let’s think about how to find the Franche royal family without causing a big commotion from now on.”

“You’ll help?”

“Yes.”

“Even though I haven’t done anything?”

“Haven’t done anything? Princess, you underestimate what you’ve accomplished far too much. You saved people who were on the brink of death, revived the forest and returned homes to people who had lost their place. Torkan is deeply indebted to you, Princess, so of course we can do something like retrieving your family.”

“Entering Canta won’t be easy.”

“Yes, it won’t be easy. But what you’ve accomplished is worth that much. Or what exactly did you want in return for risking your life to revive the forest?”

Roxiana touched her own shoulder.

“To erase this brand.”

Floyd closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.

“Princess, I can erase that brand for you anytime. Without you having to do things like this.”

“I don’t want to just keep receiving from Your Grace.”

His mouth tightened. He stared intently at Roxiana for a moment before muttering as if to himself.

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know why those words make me angry right now. You only said what a person mindful of propriety should say, so why am I so enraged?”

Despite the content about being enraged, his voice was low and secretive. He carefully examined Roxiana’s face as if he truly didn’t know, and Roxiana also couldn’t understand why he said he was angry, so she just looked back at him.

After staring at Roxiana’s pretty face for a while, trying to find the source of his anger, Floyd finally gave up on the fruitless pondering and lifted her up in his arms.

“Ah!”

Roxiana let out a short cry and unconsciously clung to his neck. She didn’t see his stiff expression softening.

He carefully laid Roxiana on the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover her up to her neck. Then after gently pressing his palm to her forehead as if caressing it, he whispered.

“I’ll kiss you.”

“What?”

“It’s the fastest way.”