Yustia tightened her grip on Dwayne’s neck. Dwayne, looking at Yustia with eyes full of terror, clung to the hand holding his neck.

He felt his breath being cut off. The threat of actually dying from this crossed his mind.

It was a path he took just to understand the unsettling atmosphere that had descended over the entire palace. Rumors had been circulating for days that not only the emperor but also the courtiers who were supposed to watch over him and Yustia were disappearing one by one. However, there was no one who accurately understood the situation.

So, he thought he should find out through Yustia. Since Yustia was at the center of the rumors, he believed he could grasp the situation to some extent by going through her.

However, it turned out to be Yustia of all people who would take his breath away.

Moreover, sparing another child for Yustia, Dwayne could not comprehend her words at all.

“Ugh, sp-spare, spare the other child.”

Dwayne initially intended to respond that he didn’t know, but as Yustia’s grip on his neck tightened, he found it increasingly difficult to articulate his words.

Still, he made an effort to speak. Otherwise, he felt like he might really die this way.

“I do-not-know, anything. I do not know.”

He conveyed his intentions with great difficulty. Yet, Yustia did not release Dwayne’s neck. Instead, her eerie smile became even more vivid.

“It seems Father knows something too. He’s not unaware; he’s just pretending not to know.”

“Pretend-not-to-know…! Ugh, no, no. I, I truly, do not know!”

Dwayne, while struggling to break free from Yustia, shouted as if to express his unfairness. The more he resisted, the tighter Yustia’s grip on his neck became. Not only that, but she lifted the hand holding Dwayne.

While Dwayne struggled, he began to rise into the air in agony. He seemed to be about to flip his eyes open painfully at any moment.

Yustia watched Dwayne with an expression that seemed to find it amusing. The remarkable Garnet Duke, who tried to rule as the queen without knowing the subject matter, was now struggling to live, caught in the grip of her hand. Wasn’t it a rather amusing and entertaining sight?

“Then, what happened to the child I sent to Father at that time?”

“Th-that… of course, so-oon… cut off the airway…!”

“You cut off the airway of my child. It’s what Father is doing to you now.”

Without listening to Dwayne’s words to the end, Yustia spoke her own words. She had no patience left to wait for him to finish speaking.

With every sound of his voice, the anger that had already been building up rapidly intensified.

It was all Dwayne’s fault. If, on that day, Dwayne hadn’t taken one of the two children from her, hadn’t pressured her like that. If only he hadn’t done that, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.
It was certain that neither Liurian nor Terot would meet a miserable end.

“Pl-please… please, spare me.”

“To beg so desperately for your life, while easily snuffing out the life of my child. You truly plead to live, even after that.”

“If you spare me… whatever you ask, ugh!”

Yustia, as if displeased, raised the hand gripping Dwayne’s neck even higher. Dwayne writhed in agony.

“In that case, can you revive my children? Liurian, of course, and even the child I cradled to Father that night.”

“Ugh!”

“Indeed, you won’t be able to do that. Then is there another way? It seems that’s the only way for Father as well.”

“P-please…!”

With eyes starting to turn, Dwayne gazed at Yustia imploringly. Yustia’s eyes, momentarily tinged with a shade of sympathy, briefly met Dwayne’s.

But it was just for a moment. While sporting a creepy smile, Yustia mercilessly blocked Dwayne’s airway.

“Don’t bother trying. Whatever Father says, I will eventually, just like Father did to my child, kill you with my own hands.”

As Yustia spoke, her pupils began to swirl. The eyes that had started to flash emitted an eerie energy, starting to devour Dwayne’s soul.

A transparent energy began to flow out along Dwayne’s silhouette. It happened entirely unrelated to Dwayne’s will.

Dwayne moaned in pain, resisting harshly. But that didn’t last long. The struggling that had started to weaken gradually came to a complete stop.

Only then did Yustia release the grip on Dwayne’s neck. Dwayne’s body fell to the ground like a heavy lump.

Dwayne’s lifeless form was profoundly dismal. It was as grotesque as a skeleton, but Yustia, watching Dwayne, raised a cheerful smile as if finding it amusing.

“Don’t be too resentful. I’ve had countless moments when I wanted to kill Father. I’ve endured it all this time only because of my discretion.”

So, it’s all thanks to my discretion that I’ve managed to preserve my life until now.

Yustia muttered in a faint voice. Suddenly, she turned her head towards somewhere as if she didn’t want to hear it. Her thinly opened eyes cautiously scrutinized something, as if by instinct.

“I still need more power.”

Yustia murmured to herself again. Then, she took steps towards somewhere.