Anyone who discovered the state of the Queen’s Palace undoubtedly entered it with a dazed expression, as if captivated by the purple energy, and then stepped inside the dreadful Queen’s Palace. After that, no one could leave the Queen’s Palace.

In that horrendously tragic place, the only one moving and alive was Yustia.

Yustia, with a pale face, wandered around the Queen’s Palace desperately searching for something.

“My dear, my only son, Riurian.”

“…”

“Where are you, our son? Come out quickly and embrace your mother.”

Her murmurs, wandering around here and there, resembled those of a grieving person. Perhaps she had gone mad.

Even though Yustia, who was convinced that Riurian, the current Crown Prince, was already dead, searched every nook and cranny of the Queen’s Palace for him for several days.
Not only Riurian, but no one else was visible. For over a day, not a single person visited her palace.

Upon realizing this fact belatedly, Yustia widened her eyes, raising her eyebrows. It was a gruesome sight that could not be expressed with any words other than grotesque.

However, Yustia, oblivious to the grotesque transformation in her appearance, slowly turned her head without noticing it in her dreams. Every time, a terrifying sound echoed from Yustia’s throat.

Though it sounded remarkably similar to the breaking of bones, Yustia, as if not feeling any pain, continuously turned her head in search of something.

What reflected in her eyes each time was the half-open door of the Queen’s Palace. Although the door, which had not been closed for several days, was already strange, Yustia’s lips twisted weirdly as if she had discovered something interesting.

“Is he coming…?”

Muttering briefly, she soon turned decisively toward the open door. Then she walked at a quick pace.

The condensed ominous aura also moved along with Yustia’s movements. When they emerged from the building, the strength of the power increased even more.

Every step Yustia took caused the once-yellowed grass to turn pitch black. The bizarre phenomenon did not stop at just one occurrence; it continued to happen as Yustia kept moving.

Footprints appeared step by step along the path she was heading. And when the footprints stopped as if lying, Yustia couldn’t help but pull up the corners of her mouth even more.

“Father?”

Yustia’s gaze was directed at Dwayne, who was cowering between the bushes. Despite Yustia’s call, Dwayne only trembled, lying flat on the ground without responding.

In that sight, Yustia felt a strange pleasure. The Duke Garnet, renowned throughout the land, flattened on the ground and shivering before her.

With an unerasable smile, Yustia stopped her halted steps. As she approached Dwayne step by step, the old man’s body shook even more like a willow tree.

Somehow, Dwayne seemed pitiful for the first time. Clearly, it was because of this fear that he had become like this. But Yustia couldn’t just pass by pretending not to know him.

She had a question she had to ask him.

“Father, why are you like this?”

Yustia bent her knees and sat in front of Dwayne. Then, with a puzzled look, she asked.

“S-S-Save me…”

“Lift your head. This is the path where I greeted you gladly because I had something to ask you.”

“P-Please, ple-please, s-s-save me. Save me, please.”

Yustia chuckled. She had only greeted Dwayne because she had something to ask him, but to save him?

However, the momentary confusion was soon replaced by an inexplicable anger boiling up in Yustia.
Why are you clinging to me, begging for your life? I haven’t done anything wrong. I even greeted you with a welcome, saying it was the path I gladly came out for. But seeing you beg for your life like this, did I commit something worthy of death with my own hands?

“Come to think of it, from some point, Father suddenly began to favor and support the Crown Prince.”

“Y-Yustia, please, pl-please spare me. I was wrong. I’ve made too many mistakes. I repent like this. So, please, at least spare my life…!”

Dwayne, who was confessing his sins incoherently, suddenly lifted his head without realizing it. At that moment, his eyes, which had turned red, met the crazed eyes of Yustia.

What reflected in Dwayne’s pupils was not just that. It was an appearance resembling the form of a monster that could only exist in imagination—blue-tinted cold complexion, lips stained with a blood-like red, and disheveled hair.

Everything seemed to resemble the shape of a monster that could only exist in one’s imagination. It was a moment that could not be restrained by amazement.

Yustia, who had been laughing while looking at Dwayne, suddenly changed her expression. She grabbed Dwayne’s neck with one hand.

“Father knew about it, didn’t he? The fact that the current Crown Prince is not my son Riurian. Could it be that you kept alive another child taken from me back then for this purpose?”