Crunch. The crisp sound of the door echoed through the village, announcing Cedric’s arrival. He threw the gasoline can he was holding to the ground and approached the woman who was lying there.

“Empress, what will you do if you fall like this?”

A sneering voice resonated inside, clearly mocking the woman who had fallen to the ground, entangled with a chair.

In response to the man’s words, the woman, who had been standing still, began to wriggle on the floor.

“Have you finally realized your situation?”

Cedric, sitting on his knees, asked softly as he lifted Cloe’s body.

“How does it feel to face death?”

“…I won’t die.”

“Is that so? Well, maybe your emperor will come to rescue you?”

Cedric, who had been ridiculing, burst into laughter. A scornful clap followed, urging to stop unrealistic thoughts.

Having set up the chair, he approached Cloe with the rope he had bought along with the gasoline and securely tied her.

Beside Cloe, who lay in the middle of the cabin, gasoline poured out. The nauseating smell of the spilled fuel wafted again.

Having completed all preparations, Cedric sat back on his chair.

Thump, thump, thump.

At the same time, the bell rang from across. Once again, it was the appointed hour in the relentless flow of time.

Cloe turned her head towards the direction where the sound came from. She, who had been calculating the alarms she had heard so far, bit her lips.

“It’s uncomfortable, so accept reality now. There’s barely less than three hours until your death.”

Three hours.

It was the time given to both of them. It could hardly be seen as a significant amount that could distinguish between life and death.

Silence lingered, and the clock tower rang once more after the bell stopped. After the bell’s sound ceased, Cedric’s humming echoed continuously.

Cedric, who had been checking the situation by wandering around the cabin, suddenly stopped in front of Cloe.

“You know, Cloe. How about I tell you an interesting story?”

It was probably another mocking story, but Cloe didn’t respond, glaring at him.

With a shrug, Cedric, as if acknowledging her cold gaze, sighed lightly and sat down on the wooden chair. Then, he shifted closer to Cloe.

“Even if sacrificed for the revenge of the emperor, it might be curious why. I’ll tell you about the reasons behind our twisted path, so that our journey won’t be boring.”

Regardless of what the story would be, she had no desire to hear it. Wanting to say it was unnecessary, she was about to speak, but he interrupted and began his story.

“Our emperor may have a dirty personality, but he’s not without flexibility. It’s not that he dislikes me just because I’m a simple half-brother.”

“…”

“Even if I were to kill that bastard’s parents.”
The respectful address directed towards Khun quickly changed to a derogatory one.

Cloe lifted her head at Cedric’s shocking confession. Perhaps pleased with the rare reaction, Cedric continued proudly with his story.

“In reality, I didn’t kill her, but it just happened that way. On a day that seemed lucky, I was told to leave, but on that very day, a typhoon hit, causing the ship to capsize. What can you do? I didn’t know it was supposed to be a lucky day.”

Cedric laughed heartily, holding onto the boat.

Cedric had been giving advance payments to the merchants from another country with whom the emperor had dealings, instructing the emperor to receive less money on the specified date.

Unaware of this, the emperor, trusting Cedric’s designated dates as genuinely auspicious, went along with the trades at odd hours, thinking it was a fortunate time.

As this happened repeatedly, the emperor unquestionably trusted Cedric’s words on trade dates.

On that day too, Cedric had persuaded the emperor to believe in his words alone. Despite the follower predicting bad weather, Cedric’s cunning talk about how this day was the only chance convinced the emperor to set sail.

The fact that Cedric had deliberately damaged a part of the ship the day before remained completely unknown.

Due to strict restrictions on access and the captain not checking the interior unless deliberately tampered with, there was no reason for it to break unless intentionally damaged.

Cedric’s long-planned scheme had successfully come to an end.

“Well, did I kill her because I planned everything on purpose? I don’t know.”

Cedric, speaking of intentional murder as if it were a historical tale, looked strangely satisfied.

“I actually thought our father would pass on a better legacy. As a son born between the empress and the emperor, strictly speaking, I have the qualifications to inherit. But, unexpectedly, he handed over the best position to that guy and told me to shut up and take care of useless property. I told that bastard to eat shit when he tried to pass on the poor inheritance to me…”

He muttered as if recalling that day.

“I almost died that day!”

Shortly afterward, he burst into laughter again.