When I woke up after fainting, the first thing I always saw was Martin’s face.

He was the one who nursed me most diligently and for the longest time when I collapsed.

So the first thing I would see after regaining consciousness was always his worried expression, but not this time.

I saw a completely different person in front of me as soon as I opened my eyes.

“Ernant.”

It was Ernant, not Martin, who was examining me.

So I quickly realized that I was still trapped in the world of hallucinations.

Seeing my despair, Ernant repeated what he had said before.

“I’m sorry.”

“…What do you mean?”

“For deceiving you.”

I stared blankly at him as I brushed aside the fine hair covering my face.

Without avoiding my gaze, he looked back at me.

“You’re right. I can’t kill you. Saying I would kill you was a lie I told as a temporary measure.”

“…”

“I intend to save you somehow, my precious knight and friend. Even if it means forcibly confining and watching over you.”

Ernant was indeed Ernant after all.

He pretended to be kind, but when things didn’t go his way, he finally revealed his true nature by saying he would ‘forcibly’ keep me.

I replied to him without holding back a scornful laugh.

“If you do that, I’ll be unhappy. Because this whole world is fake to me.”

“Yes, that might be true. It really could be fake, as you say.”

I was a bit surprised that he acknowledged for the first time that this world could be fake.

He moistened his lips with the cold water on the bedside table next to my bed and spoke again.

“Actually, I’ve been having the same dream for the past few days. A dream where I deceive and use you.”

“…”

“In that dream, you eventually came to hate me and married my younger brother. I, who loved you, was left alone in pain.”

“…”

“At first I thought it was just a nightmare. But as I kept having the same dream, I started to think.”

He put down the glass of water he had drunk on the bedside table with a thud and looked at me straight on.

“Maybe this whole world really is fake, just as you say.”

“Then right now—”

“But I still can’t let you go from here.”

He firmly expressed his refusal before I could finish speaking.

Then he added emphatically.

“Even if this really is a fake world as you say, I can’t let you go.”

“…”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Whether this world is fake or real, if we can be happy together. That’s not really important.”

“…I told you I can’t be happy here, didn’t I?”

“You haven’t even tried, Yulia.”

Ernant slowly shook his head and looked at me straight on again.

“You haven’t even tried to be happy here. You’ve always only thought about leaving.”

“…”

“If this world is fake as you say and there’s a real world elsewhere, then I’m a person who has already failed miserably there. I didn’t even realize my own feelings and only made you suffer.”

“…”

“Give me one more chance. I want to start everything anew here.”

“…”

“Let’s forget everything about that terrible past, whether it was a horrible nightmare or horrible reality. Once we forget, once we erase it, we can both be happy.”

His persuasion brought many thoughts to my mind.

And many emotions came rushing in as well.

After organizing those thoughts and emotions with difficulty, I carefully asked him.

“May I dare to say something?”

“…Go ahead.”

“Even if we forget everything as Your Majesty says, we won’t be able to be happy.”

“…”

“Even if I forget everything about my husband and child I left behind in the real world, even if I come to see this place as the real world, it’s impossible to be happy. Do you know why?”

I smiled gently at him as he remained silent as if he didn’t know.

Then I uttered words as cold and sharp as a blade, completely different from the gentle smile I held.

“Because you are a terribly selfish person even in this world, Ernant.”

As he stiffened for a moment, I quickly reached out my arm.

Towards the water bottle on the bedside table.

I grabbed its thin neck and slammed it hard against the edge of the table.

Thwack!

The glass bottle shattered sharply, turning into an excellent weapon.

Having thus obtained a weapon, I brought it close to Ernant’s nape.

Just then, the imperial guards who sensed the commotion burst into the bedroom.

“Your Majesty!!”

The guards shouted in surprise when they saw me holding the broken bottle shard to Ernant’s nape.

At the same time, they aimed their crossbows at me.

Ernant immediately commanded.

“Don’t fire! By imperial decree! Anyone who harms Yulia will be summarily executed!”

It was quite touching that he protected me even though I was threatening him, but it wasn’t a very welcome action at the moment.

My plan was to be shot dead by the guards while threatening to kill Ernant.

Fortunately, the captain of the guards seemed to choose to check me instead of meekly following the imperial order.

“But Your Majesty! We cannot allow someone threatening Your Majesty to live—!”

“I said it’s an imperial decree! Lower your weapons, all of you!”

The soldiers just stood there, unable to do this or that, with bewildered faces.

It seemed like I needed to give a little stimulation, so I brought the glass shard even closer to Ernant’s neck.

Blood began to soak his clothes as his skin was torn.

The guards’ faces became increasingly distorted accordingly.

Now’s the time.

Judging so, I pushed Ernant away.

As expected, the soldiers didn’t miss that opportunity and fired their crossbows.

One shot. Two shots.

The bolts fired from the crossbows pierced my shoulder and side in succession.

I quietly waited for the attack that would follow.

Believing that one of the fired bolts would crush my skull and end my life.

But not everything went smoothly according to my plan.

I had overlooked the fact that Ernant’s feelings for me were somewhat sincere.

“…!”

I watched what was happening before my eyes without even being able to utter a short scream.

The sight of Ernant, who had been pushed away, running back towards me, and then embracing me to block the bolts.

It happened in an instant without time to react.

By the time I barely came to my senses, one of the bolts was already deeply embedded in Ernant’s back.

“Ernant!”

When I called out his name in surprise, he twitched his fingertips while collapsed.

I quickly bent down to lift him up and examined his wound.

The bolt that had penetrated his back seemed to have pierced his heart.

In other words, it meant that he had at most 1 minute left.

It would be impossible to utter lengthy lamentations or resentments during that short time.

So I asked a short and concise question.

“…Why.”

Why would someone as selfish as you, someone who wanted to possess me even by trapping me in a dream, do such a selfless thing?

Someone who seemed like they would never do something like throwing their body to protect others in their lifetime.

Ernant answered well to that short question I asked with such doubts, even in his difficult state.

“I wanted to create a different ending from reality.”

“…”

“We… had a bad ending in reality, didn’t we?”

I wanted to ask him.

Is this ending where you throw your body to protect me and lose your life a happy ending?

Is this the happy ending you wanted?

But before I could inquire, his breath was quickly cut off, and I muttered while holding his corpse that had become damp with blood.

“I guess we were destined to end up like this. In reality and in dreams.”

Ernant had said before, “It seems reality sometimes ends in tragedy.”

I didn’t know well then with what feelings he had muttered those words.

Now I seemed to understand. The sorrow contained in the word tragedy.

Meanwhile, the guards who had approached confirmed Ernant’s condition.

Now that they knew the emperor was dead, their job was set.

They drew their swords, and with them instantly cut off my head.

“My lady!”

A familiar voice was heard in my ears.

My hazy consciousness gradually became clearer.

I barely opened my eyes that wouldn’t open well and looked around.

The first thing I saw was Martin’s face.

So I could tell.

“It seems I’ve finally returned to reality.”

It seemed I had finally returned to reality, escaping from the false world created by hallucinations.

To the real world where my husband and my child exist.

I silently caressed Martin’s face.

Although nearly a week had passed in the dream, not much time seemed to have passed here.

Judging by Martin’s face being exactly the same as when I last saw it.

While I was examining him, he also examined me and asked with a frown.

“Why are you here? I told you to wait outside…”

“I just couldn’t let you go alone. Although I came in boldly, I wasn’t of much help in the end.”

He embraced me with a pained expression.

It seems I only caused worry, even though I wanted to rescue him splendidly.

When I hugged his nape and lightly kissed his ear, he suddenly reached out and lifted me up.

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

“Now? But we haven’t removed the strange sphere that was surrounding the palace yet…”

“I’ve taken care of that.”

While holding me, he nodded to indicate our surroundings.

“In a somewhat violent way.”

Only then did the scenery around us come into view.

Black flames were burning everywhere except near us.