The god who was recorded as dead made him his follower that day.

However, Netepel lived for quite a long time dismissing the god’s revelations as his own madness. It was natural, as it had been a very long time since the god disappeared from the continent.

Nevertheless, the god of Runtalis did not try to instill faith in him. The god said that he would someday seek him out.

[I am the well of those who have nothing.]

The formless god whispered, brushing against his arms and neck.

[You cannot quench your thirst anywhere but from me.]

There was a power in that whispering voice that made one want to lean on it because of human nature.

But Netepel did not trust him. By then, he had already hardened his heart to live without trusting anyone.

Meanwhile, Ophelia’s happiness reached him from afar and shook him. Netepel had to endure those times, which must have been like spring sunshine for her, becoming waves of despair crashing over him.

The fact that Ophelia was happy without him gradually turned him into a scarred and stubborn person. It dulled his humanity and consideration, making his longing fiercer than his consideration.

I wish Ophelia would come back to me.

The more he suffered from the harassment of his half-brothers and father, the more he wished for that. It seemed that if Ophelia were by his side again, all of this wouldn’t be so difficult.

When the deep part of his heart was burning black with that longing, news came that the Rakmata family’s ship was heading to Tesendot.

They said it was the first trade of such scale. With a ship so large and luxurious that it was valuable in itself, loaded with plenty of wealth, people said only the Rakmatas could launch such a ship.

Hearing this news, Netepel unconsciously recalled what Ophelia had said.

“My elder brother engaged me to Haslen for money.”

This meant that if the Rakmata family lost everything, that engagement would also lose its purpose.

Because Ophelia had been honest with him about everything, Netepel knew how materialistic her elder brother Mahanas was.

If Haslen Rakmata had nothing to inherit, Mahanas would gladly break off his younger sister’s engagement.

For the first time that day, Netepel asked the god.

“What can you accomplish for me?”

The god responded as if he had been waiting.

[Anything, as long as your heart is hot enough to offer a burnt offering.]

So Netepel prayed to the god for the Rakmata’s ship to sink. The god said it was not a difficult thing, but there was one thing he had to prepare.

[To petition the god, you must first offer a sacrifice.]

But Netepel had nothing.

When he confessed this, enduring the shame, the god laughed as if it was an amusing sound. The god whispered in a still unfamiliar voice. Gold and silver are of no use to me. How could things that melt unable to withstand even man-made fire be meaningful to a god?

The god demanded something he couldn’t imagine.

[Give me half of your heart. Offer me half of the flames burning within it.]

People would say it’s wise to run away when hearing such words.

But Netepel accepted the god’s offer that day. When he nodded, the god laughed out loud and settled in his chest.

Not long after, news reached the imperial palace that the Rakmata’s ship had encountered a storm.

From that day on, Netepel constantly petitioned the god. Each time, the god set a new sacrifice for him. When his right eye and left eye were taken, the Rakmata family completely declined. When he gave his left arm, wealth and status came to him, and when he gave his tongue, Haslen Rakmata died.

Despite selling everything like this, nothing unusual happened to his body.

One day when asked about this, the god answered.

[I didn’t demand your body to destroy you. You wouldn’t know since there are no apostles in this era, but apostles originally offer their own bodies to the god they serve first.]

After offering all of their body, they offer other lives as burnt offerings.

[So don’t worry. You have a lot now, don’t you?]

As those words said, despite having a lot, he couldn’t become Ophelia’s betrothed.

When he heard that the Duke of Aglante had sent a proposal to the Princess of Reden, Netepel hurriedly sought the god, but the god didn’t set a sacrifice for him.

[It’s not time yet.]

The god, who had gradually become coercive while receiving many sacrifices, didn’t raise his hand this time.

[Your heart is not enough yet.]

Netepel couldn’t understand such words from the god.

If his heart wasn’t enough, what would be enough? He had been longing for Ophelia for over ten years. If that thirst really dried up a person, he would have turned to ashes long ago.

But the god, who knew this best, denied his words.

[You are a vessel that can desire more intensely than this.]

So Netepel had to let Ophelia slip away before his eyes.

Seeing a man who hadn’t received help from any god take her away, Netepel felt deep despair for the first time in a long while. He had barely climbed to this position by giving up parts of his body. Yet the Duke of Aglante gained Ophelia with just one rebellion.

Seeing Ophelia off on the Manos River, Netepel felt deep jealousy for the first time. It was jealousy he had never felt even for Haslen Rakmata.

Mahanas, who decided his sister’s marriage, said he chose a man who wore a crown instead because he wasn’t a king. On the day he returned after being mocked by the foolish Prince of Reden, the god said to him.

[If you wear a crown too, that prince will no longer be able to wag his tongue.]

Netepel didn’t respond to the whisper coming from his heart. Even if he didn’t speak, the god would know the answer. They had become like that since the day he offered the first sacrifice.

That night, the god set a new condition for him.

[Bring me my blood. Then I will set your next sacrifice.]

Netepel knew what the god meant.

After the fall of the divine age, three sacred objects remained in the world. The Blood of Desire, the Tears of Patience, and the Kiss of Hope were those.

The god wanted the first of these.

However, the sacred object of Runtalis is with the Emperor. The red jewel embedded in the scepter that the Emperor holds in the audience chamber was exactly that.

And only a very few people can approach the Emperor’s scepter.

Of course, he has loyal ones like Bahamal, but Netepel knew he didn’t have the ability to touch the jewel embedded in the Emperor’s scepter.

So he was staying in the capital to find a way… but he was getting more anxious as there was no contact from Ophelia.

Nervously tapping on the desk, Netepel spotted a familiar name on a silver tray and picked up the letter. The envelope bore the name of a southern duke of Aglante whom he had known along with the former Duke of Rohos.

After reading it for a moment, Netepel stood up. He took off the red ring he was wearing on his left ring finger, put it in a box, and said.

“I think I need to visit Ophelia. I’ll go to the imperial palace to get permission to leave the country.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Rahelika Runtalis often thought it would be nice if all the men in the imperial palace just died.

“We greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Her mother, Iris, the Empress of the Empire, bowed her head to her husband before her. It was a respectful and cold attitude that one could not imagine was the same person who had been smiling brightly while having tea time with her daughter just moments ago.

Rahelika followed her mother, who was deliberately acting this way, and bowed to her father. We greet Your Majesty the Emperor. It was a greeting as identical as their faces.

Levenen spoke to them like a loving husband and father.

“Raise your head, Empress. You don’t need to do that. Rahelika, you too, raise your head.”

It was a line she already knew, like a play she had memorized from seeing it so many times. Following those words, Rahelika raised her head and saw what expression her father was making. The red eyes, exactly like Orien’s, were flickering longingly.

I wish he would just die rather than act like this. Looking at her father’s affectionate face, Rahelika thought inwardly. If the person in question knew, he would have beheaded her even if she was his favorite daughter.

No, would our mother protect me?

It was already a widespread rumor throughout the imperial palace that Empress Iris doted on her eldest daughter. They say she treats her twenty-six-year-old daughter like she’s sixteen. It was an affection that seemed to have developed as if taking sides after learning of her husband’s infidelity.

As the subject of the rumor, Rahelika somewhat agreed with that statement. Indeed, her mother had an aspect of being generous only to her.

The more Iris acted this way, the more Levenen tried to act like a good father to the daughter his wife cherished.

Because he could use her appropriately when needed.

“It seems you were having tea with Rahel. Would you let me join?”

Speaking in a voice too gentle for an emperor with absolute power within the imperial palace, Levenen then looked at his daughter, not his wife. Swallowing the urge to overturn the table and leave at the red eyes filled with unspoken demands, Rahelika fawned on her mother, who was wearing a dress made of the same fabric as hers.

“Mother, please give your seat to Father.”

Iris frowned as if she didn’t like this situation, but she didn’t refuse outright. It seemed she couldn’t easily say no to the daughter she had raised so indulgently.

Rahelika pretended not to notice and clung to her mother again.

“Father must be busy with state affairs, so he won’t be able to stay long. Tea time is more enjoyable with more people, isn’t it?”