Late at night, Terot moved secretly. He had to bypass the knights guarding the Empress’s palace under the order of the Crown Prince.

Although there was a strict order to detain him, after a few days, it seemed that the tension among the knights was gradually easing. Terot didn’t miss that opportunity.

He secretly communicated with the people outside the Empress’s palace and made arrangements for tonight.

And so, keeping an eye on the chance for a long time, suddenly, there was a small disturbance outside the entrance of the Empress’s palace, and the tightly closed door opened.

Terot looked through the opening with great tension. The face of the person he had been waiting for appeared.

“Hurry, let’s go.”

The person with a reversed mask spoke, and Terot stepped forward, frightened by the sound of the voice. It was unclear how long it had been since he last left the Empress’s palace.

After deeply inhaling the fresh air, she turned back before leaving the Empress’s palace. Then, looking at Ustia’s lit bedroom, she bowed her head with a boiling heart.

Would there be a day when she could see her again?

Thinking about it endlessly made her heart ache, but Terot forced himself to walk. He wanted to grant Ustia’s last wish.

He ran until his breath reached the tip of his chin. Although he had to hide multiple times to avoid the eyes of the palace guards and couldn’t release the tension in his body, Terot moved quickly.

Finally, he saw a small door far away from outside the palace. It didn’t seem to be heavily used, and there was no sign of people, especially at midnight.

Still, just in case, after hiding for a while and carefully examining the surroundings, he exchanged signals with the knight hiding with him and stood up.

He ran with all his might towards the seemingly last gateway that was no different from the entrance gate of the palace, which was almost like the gate to life or death.

It was really within reach. His breath was about to explode, but he gritted his teeth and ran. And when the knight finally opened the closed entrance gate of the palace, Terot had to sit down as if his legs gave out.

A chilling coldness was felt at the neck. Trembling, when he lowered his gaze, he saw a sharp blade at the end of his vision.

He closed his eyes dumbfoundedly. Feeling the pounding heartbeat as if it would burst, when he opened his eyes again, the person with a masked face, who had been guarding in front of him, was now bound and kneeling.

Only then did Terot realize it. He could no longer fulfill Ustia’s last wish.

The imagined death was right in front of him.

Ustia guarded the bedroom with an undisguised anxious face. Her chest trembled too much. She couldn’t calm her shaking body for even a moment.

Struggling to control her breathing and narrowing down the time, if there were no major issues, Terot should have left the palace by now.

Ustia fervently wished that Terot had safely escaped the palace. Maybe she would have to wait for quite some time before hearing news about Terot, but if he was safe, she felt she could endure it.

“Haah.”
With anxious eyes, Ustia looked beyond the window and let out a sigh. Then, she fervently prayed while gazing at the dazzling rising moon.

Please help him to escape without any trouble. Please, let him be the only one to be safe, please…

“Ah!”

Ustia, who was earnestly praying, suddenly opened her eyes wide. A freshly screamed sound echoed loudly from outside the bedroom.

Forgetting to firmly hold her ground, she quickly rose. Hurriedly approaching the bedroom door, just as she was about to open it, the door opened from the outside first.

Surprised, Ustia stepped back a few steps. With eyes filled with despair, she could only stare at one place.

“…Terot.”

What Ustia’s gaze reached was Terot, bound and being held by the knights.

Ustia covered her mouth with trembling hands. It was indescribably despairing. It felt like the ground was collapsing, and her whole body was sinking.

Terot, who was captured by the knights, was dragged into the bedroom helplessly.

“What is this! Let him go! Quickly, release Terot!”

“Your Majesty, fortunately, it was before you retired to bed.”

Ustia, who was shouting at the knights, stiffened for a moment, then turned to look at the source of the sound with a stiff expression.

“…Your Majesty.”

In Ustia’s pupils, there reflected Guardro. Ustia’s body started trembling, much more than a while ago.

Observing her quietly, Guardro eventually walked past Ustia and entered the bedroom. When he reached the center of the room and stopped, Guardro commanded the knights.

“Bring the criminal forward.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The knights immediately took steps again at Guardro’s command. Terot, who had been standing still, was once again dragged by the knights and made to kneel in front of Guardro.

With her head bowed, she waited calmly for the decision that would soon fall upon her. Perhaps because the situation was not as unexpected as she thought, it wasn’t as terrifying as she had imagined.