She longed for him to come back and was willing to endure Jackal’s torture as long as Karaf’s decision was pending.

However, even after a day or two had passed, there was no sign of him.
Gradually, outside the dark window, thunder and lightning roared loudly, and heavy rain began to pour. Somehow, an ominous atmosphere invaded. The fact that he didn’t come to her made Aisha fearful for the first time.

In the sky, thunder roared as if a beast were tearing through the heavens with a fierce cry. Listening to that sound, a foreboding feeling, as if something unfortunate had happened to him, overwhelmed her.

It was the intuition of a butterfly seeking flowers.

Aisha, feeling unwell today, quietly called Duran, who was standing guard outside with a gloomy face.

“Duran, sir.”

Duran turned to her. His face was filled with concern. Aisha looked into his eyes and asked confidently.

“Where is His Majesty right now?”

Duran flinched, avoiding eye contact, and said hesitantly.

“…His Majesty has temporarily left the palace. He will return after organizing his thoughts for a few days. If you wait until then…”

“Lies.”

Duran was slightly surprised at Aisha’s words and turned to her again. With a serious expression, Aisha asked.

“Please tell me honestly. What’s happening to His Majesty now? Is that why he can’t come here?”

“…….”

Duran sighed softly and admitted the truth.

“Baroness, I mentioned it once before. After His Majesty received a curse, he has excruciatingly painful days once a month…”

Aisha remembered that and asked with a slightly stiff face.

“Is it the time now?”

Duran nodded.

“Originally, it overlapped with the ceremony, but he endured it by taking medicine until now.”

Duran turned his head with a grim expression. Aisha looked more serious and asked.

“Is it the timing now?”
He came outside with Aisha and headed towards the stable where his horse was located.

And soon, leading out his exclusive horse, a black horse, he said, “It’s not that I don’t trust Baron Bannet, but for safety, it would be better if both of you rode together.”

If the two of them rode separately, it would be difficult for him to protect Baron Bannet immediately in case of an unexpected crisis. Especially in the current situation with heavy rain pouring down, where visibility was already minimal.

Aisha agreed to his words and mounted the horse first. Duran followed behind her, ensuring a respectful distance to avoid physical contact while handling the horse.

The two of them rode swiftly, piercing through the intense raindrops.

In the forest not far from the royal palace, there was a small fortress. Although it hadn’t been standing for long, it was a secret place that no guest, except Duran, had entered. It was publicly known as a place where Karaf would visit once a month for recuperation purposes.

Aisha, who knew Duran enjoyed hunting from the past to the present, thought of it as a hunting ground where he went for a day and night of relaxation.

As they descended into the underground of the tightly closed fortress, dreadful screams echoed through the corridors. It was the sound of someone gasping in pain, as if a monster were tearing through their chest and screaming in agony.

Aisha, now even paler, ran after Duran. Soon, they arrived in front of a tightly locked room with iron chains.

It seemed like a prison cell for a heinous criminal.

As they descended, intermittent sounds of sobbing breaths could be heard from inside.

When Duran urgently tried to open the door, Karaf, from inside, shouted with a hoarse voice, “Who is it!”

“It’s me, Duran…”

“I told you not to come…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence and let out another dreadful scream.

Duran desperately shouted, “Your Majesty! Are you okay?”

“…Don’t open it.”

Duran hesitated at his words.

Karaf, with a beast-like hoarse voice, exhaled and muttered, “Don’t open it… I might kill you… I can handle it alone… so go back now… This is an order.”

At that moment, Aisha, with a distorted face, spoke from the side, “Hello.”

Upon hearing the clear voice, a hesitant movement could be felt from inside.

“Who else has come outside…?”

“Your Majesty, please forgive the disobedient me…”

As Duran opened the door, a shocking scene greeted Aisha’s widened eyes. In the middle of the room, Karaf, covered in blood, was sprawled on the floor, writhing. Crimson veins resembling rose vines spread from his heart, seeming to bind and inflict wounds all over his body.
As the iron door creaked open with a heavy sound, Aisha’s eyes widened, and she trembled at the sight that soon unfolded in the room.

In the center of the room, Karaf, bathed in blood, had collapsed and was writhing in agony.

Red veins, resembling rose vines, emanated from his heart, constraining his entire body and creating wounds as if binding him in crimson chains.

A crescent moon-like red pattern, as if supported by fire, had deeply penetrated into his chest, creating progressively deeper wounds.

It seemed as if a rose monster dormant inside his body was trying to engulf him, presenting a gruesome spectacle.

Like being pricked by his own thorns, Karaf writhed on the floor, moaning in agony.

Unable to bloom into a flower, he was already decaying from within…

Aisha, covering her mouth, involuntarily shed a single tear.

He lifted his sweat-soaked face, and upon noticing Aisha, his crimson eyes quivered.

“Aisha…?”