“What did I hide?”

Charlotte brushed her nape. Her dark red curly hair was tangled.

“Is there nothing you’re hiding?”

“I’ve never intentionally hidden anything with lies.”

She never intended to hide anything. However, she also never spoke about it directly.

‘Then did I hide it?’

Everything began with her death, and if she wasn’t going to say ‘I died once,’ it was right to remain silent.

Benjamin placed his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder and bent his waist.

“Your breathing has slowed a bit.”

“Ah… has it?”

“And your body lacks energy.”

“I’m a bit drained. The medicine is quite strong.”

“You mean the sedative given by the imperial physician?”

Aaron had provided a breathing stabilizer, and thanks to its effects, her breathing became much more comfortable.

“The medicine is potent, but effective.”

“I didn’t know the human body could be this weak.”

Benjamin gently caressed the delicate shoulder. It was a fragile body that seemed it would crumble if grasped too tightly.

“Is the investigation over now?”

“Just a few more things.”

“…”

“When you were young, did you ever visit the Southern Continent?”

“No.”

“Or did the head of the family frequently travel to the Southern Continent?”

“That’s also a no. My father considered the Southern Continent uncivilized.”

I understand why he’s bringing this up.

The Luphartic disease.

He discussed it with Aaron outside.

“Did the head of the family often leave his post when you were young?”

“Yes. He wasn’t around.”

“Then, during that time, you…”

“I was mostly alone.”

His arm tensed.

“You look a bit bitter.”

“I wished for normality, but my normality is difficult even in this life.”

Not much has changed since my last death.

“You always seem to traverse between the past and present.”

“How so?”

“Your tenses are mixed. I think that’s why our perspectives are misaligned.”

Charlotte swallowed her breath. A groan was buried beneath her throat.

A past now forgotten as if it never happened.

A previous life I alone remember while others have forgotten.

“Charlotte.”

He pressed his lips against Charlotte’s collarbone. His hot breath tickled her skin.

“Charlotte.”

Benjamin repeated her name, savoring it.

No. What he was savoring wasn’t just her name.

Benjamin gently bit her skin. A stinging pain spread across her collarbone.

“Mmm.”

Charlotte groaned as if scratching her throat.

A sensation rose from her waist. Her muscles tensed rigidly.

He firmly supported her side. His large hand held her waist, supporting her body.

“Why do you keep trying to slip away?”

“My body feels a bit stiff.”

“You, who kissed me and tangled your breath with mine in your sleep…”

Charlotte reached out and covered his mouth.

“How can you still be awkward and tense?”

He took Charlotte’s wrist.

He gently bit her palm again, then pressed it firmly with his lips. The sensation was hot and soft.

“Your pulse, like you, is small and delicate.”

He bit the skin of her wrist again.

“I’ll be away for a few days.”

“Because of the monster activity period?”

“Most likely. I’ll be gone for about three days, but don’t skip meals just because I’m not here.”

Soon after, there was a knock on the bedroom door. At that moment, their conversation ceased.

“Your Majesty, it’s Rosquella. The Captain of the Knights has arrived at the office.”

After that.

The next day, Benjamin left his post.

[This is the timeline separator]

Poputa Border Zone 1.

The monster Kraken stretched out its legs.

“Don’t touch the Kraken’s ink!”

The Poputa commander shouted.

“When their ink sacs swell, keep your distance!”

The Kraken’s ink was dense poison in itself. Even touching it would corrode the skin.

As their ink splattered, the warship’s deck was stained black.

“These creatures’ legs are too tough.”

“Cut them off well. If you’re caught by those legs, you’ll be dragged into the sea… Hey, you! What are you standing there for!”

The Kraken tightly gripped a low-ranking soldier’s waist. His body soared into the air, and dozens of Kraken legs surged up from beneath the sea.

Simultaneously, Kraken legs fell onto the deck with a thud.

‘Eek!’

The soldier who fell onto the deck, crushed by those legs, struggled and crawled out from under the monster’s corpse.

A man in a robe stood beside him.

An, an officer?

The shadows were thick due to the dark clouds.

“…Is this your first assignment?”

“Ah, yes! I was just assigned here!”

“It must be tough. Don’t turn your back on the deck. They’ll drag you down into the sea and feed you to their young.”

Benjamin said as he took off his robe.

“My advisor almost died when he was first dispatched, getting dragged into the sea.”

“Your Majesty. Is that incident still talked about? It hasn’t happened since that first dispatch.”

Rosquella complained, feeling wronged, but the intelligence officers of the Information Department cut off the advisor’s words.

“They’re hiding below. At this rate, it’ll be endless. It would be better to use explosives to bring them up all at once.”

“Take out the explosives and help the soldiers.”

The soldier felt like he was going to die.

“You may go now.”

At those words, the soldier quickly fled. Hastily grabbing his sword and rushing towards the monsters, it was typical of a Poputa member.

A moment later, the Poputa commander approached.

“Have you directly confirmed any results?”

“I’m not sure yet. However, the poison is too dense.”

“It’s common for this area to be contaminated with poison during the active period.”

The sea route was entirely black with poison.

It was just pitch dark.

Benjamin asked, lifting his gaze from below the deck.

“How is the internal state of the subjugation unit?”

“We’re short on manpower. The active period is just beginning.”

“Soon, an additional subjugation unit from the Imperial 3rd Knights will be dispatched. For anything else needed for subjugation, send a telegram to the imperial palace. We’ll provide supplies without shortage.”

It was the navy that commanded the monster subjugation unit, and they were the air-raid shelters of the border zone.

Even if the imperial family dispatched the subjugation unit, the core was formed by the Poputa navy.

“How is it?”

“The command of the subjugation unit is the commander’s role, so why are you asking me?”

“Until now, Your Majesty directly commanded, didn’t you? You laid the foundation and basis for subjugation, and also established the current system of the subjugation unit.”

“There’s no need to be grateful for something so obvious.”

“It was so obvious that it was forgotten, wasn’t it?”

“Just because it’s forgotten doesn’t mean it ceases to exist.”

Poputa territory.

Poputa Border Zone 1 located there.

It was the duty of the Poputa commander to protect Poputa and subjugate monsters.

“Everyone forgot, so they naturally assumed it was forgotten.”

“It’s not that it was forgotten, but that they didn’t want to give power to Poputa. Those with greed would dislike seeing that power divided.”

Because the border zone was stably guarded, everyone forgot about that danger.

If it was the past Benjamin who established the subjugation system and commanded the subjugation unit,

Then it was the current Poputa commander, the Count of Poputa, who inherited that system.

“We’ve completed preparations for collecting monster corpses. Since you came directly for this, would you like to collect them yourself?”

Benjamin placed his hand on the scabbard.

“Bring the gunpowder.”

“We’ve already taken it all out.”

The officers took out explosives from the cargo.

“Detonate it.”

The explosives detonated underwater. Below, the Kraken quickly surged up.

Benjamin drew his sword from the scabbard.

He thrust the sword into the creature’s mouth and slashed horizontally.

“Put this one’s head in the storage container.”

Benjamin sheathed his sword while looking at the sky heavy with dark clouds.

The subjugation unit finished by stabbing their swords into the mouth of the last Kraken.

The Kraken clashed its teeth outside its mouth. It slowly sank into the water, spewing foam.

“Isn’t it fascinating? The border zone is buried under this vast sea, but what’s down there keeps leaking poison, doesn’t it? And this poison doesn’t spread outside through the seawater, it only spreads within.”

“We don’t know what’s buried down there.”

“Yes. Sometimes I want to go down there and see.”

The waves were unusually rough, as if a storm was coming.

[This is the timeline separator]

It’s not quite right.

‘The grave of monsters…’

A grave experienced when monsters and death are closely connected.

I have no connection to it.

What did you go through, Charlotte?

‘Kweeng.’

A white ball of fur sat down next to Charlotte.

‘Your name is Ran. No other name suits you besides this one.’

Ran, meaning ‘white soul’ in ancient language.

Other than that, no other name seemed suitable.

When called by its name, Ran would sit down and lay flat on its belly.

As if that was its place.

It found its way to Charlotte’s side familiarly.

“Your Majesty, were you here?”

The maids approached Charlotte.

“Dark clouds are gathering. Please move to shelter.”

Charlotte was on her way back from the imperial document archive.

Pitter-patter. Soon after, rain began to pour.

“I’ll bring something for you to use. Please stay under the eaves!”

Thus, she took shelter from the rain under the eaves.

The damp stickiness of the mud seemed to grab at her ankles.

The shadows were unusually thick, and Charlotte felt as if she was stepping right into those shadows.

It held her ankles in place.

“Ran, stop it.”

Ran pressed its white front paws firmly into the mud. After fiercely stamping the ground, its white paws quickly turned black.

It would be better to go back now.

“Your Majesty! We’ll escort you to the palace!”

The maids who had left to fetch something returned.

“The weather is getting worse.”

“Was the earth’s scent always this strong?”

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. It felt like her body was being dragged down.

“Ran, come here.”

It’s too dark even though the sun hasn’t set yet.

It would be better to leave this place.

“Oh my! Your Majesty!”

The items they were carrying flipped and floated into the air.

The wind and rain swept in from the side. Her breath slowly stopped.

The reason was close at hand.

“Oh my, this father has chosen the wrong time.”

A presence approached and stood near.

Pyotr approached, leaning on a cane.

The scent of wet earth.

A dense, eerie energy brushed her nape.

Their steps coincidentally met.

“Ah, this father has been absent due to evident illness.”

Pyotr’s complexion was somewhat dark. His hands were black, and his eyes were yellow with jaundice.

“You’re using a cane.”

“Ah, it’s just that the time has come.”

Pyotr tightly gripped the cane handle.

His eyes, filled with madness, emitted a bright yellow light. A murky energy swelled around him as if about to swallow him whole.

Crunch.

He ground his molars.

“The time is coming soon.”

Pyotr took Charlotte’s hand.

His hand was full of dark soot.

This too was originally worse, but now it remained like a nearly faded scar.

“I will reclaim you. It’s not over yet.”

He was somewhat off-kilter.

His eyes narrowed. His mouth and eyes thinned slightly.

If in the past he seemed like someone suffering from unfathomable hostility and disgust.

‘Now he seems to have regained his balance.’

As if,

This was how he was meant to be all along.

“You, who never even touched dirt considering it beneath you, to end up like this…”

“It’s just a trivial matter.”

Pyotr narrowed his eyes.

It’s dark. Everything sank into darkness.

The shadows were thick, and this wasn’t just a feeling.

The dusky shade opened its maw wide, and it was then that he took a shallow breath.

“What brings you here?”

Someone interrupted that breath.