It was a perfect chance to officially escape from the suffocating royal palace.

To Aaron, the Stilraits’ royal palace was nothing but chaos.

A place where they served poisoned food with a smile as soft as sunlight.

A place where dark and profound greed resided between the beautiful melodies and dazzling gold decorations.

He had to suspect his own mother who gave birth to him and be on guard against his beloved older brother.

It was impossible to distinguish who was an enemy and who was an ally.

Compared to that, everything was clear on the battlefield.

Enemy and ally.

The clarity brought by the unmistakable boundary made Aaron smile.

Wherever he passed with a smile, blood flowed.

The king of Loieni called it the smile of the devil, and the king of Kirens named it the temptation of destruction.

Of course, the kings of both nations disappeared without even having the leisure to spread Aaron’s nickname.

The king of Loieni ended his life by suicide, and the king of Kirens was captured while fleeing and ended his life by execution.

Despite the cruel downfall of the two countries, the clear boundary between enemy and ally disappeared without a trace due to her.

Aaron lost his purpose and direction because of a single prisoner.

Aaron’s deep sigh, having lost his way, permeated between the lamps.

What should I do from now on?

He didn’t have a clue what he should do as a commander to recover the prisoner who was trying to escape, prepared to face death.

If he could never take in her soft breath again.

If he could never hear her clear voice again.

If he could never see her bright smile again.

Just the thought was enough to make his heart ache.

Aaron, who closed his eyes and pressed his forehead with his hand, sighed deeply.

Even in his confused mind, only one earnest wish was desperately engraved on Aaron.

You should be safe. Prisoner.

You shouldn’t be hurt anymore.

You must be alive until I find you.

Aaron, who had been murmuring in a soft voice, suddenly opened his eyes.

Tap, tap.

A small sound knocking on the tent.

The sound, which had started small and feeble, rang out loudly enough to shake the tent at some point.

Rain.

It was raining from the sky.

The wind created by Aaron hurrying to get up shook the lamp weakly.

There was a rush outside the tent due to the unexpected rain.

The desperate voices and shuffling footsteps of the soldiers pierced through the rain and clearly reached his ears.

A bad feeling pierced through Aaron’s back.

“Daik.”

Daik, who came to report the situation outside the tent, stood up straight.

Daik was already drenched, leaving deep water marks on the floor with every step.

“Yes. Commander.”

“We’re leaving now. We need to join the main force.”

The pupils of Daik, who was looking at Aaron, shook with anxiety.

A sudden order to move.

Moreover, in this dark night, with the downpour making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

Swallowing his dry saliva, Daik realized the situation.

“The night is dark and it’s raining, so moving is impossible.”

“No. We have to leave now.”

“But the mountain path is treacherous, and the rain makes it very slippery. The horse’s hooves will be pushed back on the muddy road, and it will be impossible to haul wagons carrying supplies.”

Despite Abel’s desperate persuasion, Aaron’s determination was firm.

He roughly wrapped his robe around his body.

“The infantry will clean up the camp and follow when the rain stops. Daik, you are in charge here.”

Daik’s face paled.

Despite his discouragement, the commander was trying to move through the downpour.

“But it’s dangerous to move rashly now.”

But it seemed that Daik’s advice was not heard.

“The cavaliers will depart with me now. Notify them immediately.”

Aaron, who gave the order firmly, stepped outside the tent.

The raindrops struck his body fiercely as if to awaken his blurred mind.

The rain that started at night didn’t stop until dawn.

Because of the rain, their pace was slow, and when they reached the vicinity of Eorenti’s capital, dawn was breaking.

Crossing the treacherous Tarens mountains in the rain was a considerably strenuous ordeal.

The soldiers were visibly exhausted from the grueling march that they had undergone without any rest.

Dawn’s faint light permeated Aaron’s tired eyes.

Silver droplets dripped from his rainsoaked hair.

His robe had absorbed the rain, making it heavy.

Even the horse seemed tired, its breathing was ragged as it labored.

The ominous feeling they had been doggedly pursuing hit its mark without any deviation.

Upon exiting the forest and being greeted by the open field, they became frozen in their tracks.

“Commander.”

The soldier calling the commander looked ahead as if he couldn’t believe it.

“How could this be?”

The heavy groans of the soldiers who couldn’t believe the reality they had come face to face with flowed into the soaked field.

Damn Del.

Aaron stared at the spectacle of the field with bloodfilled eyes.

The sight of the red field covered in bodies of the Imperial and Iorenti soldiers reflected in his ashcolored eyes.

Insane captive.

It was beyond imagination.

Delia’s obsession with Iorenti had surpassed Aaron’s guess and anticipation.

She had swallowed poison herself when they tried to take her to the Empire.

Even while on death’s door, she had been observing the weather and commanding attacks.

He had believed that he could confine such a woman within his fence.

He had believed that he could tear Iorenti away from such a woman.

He was dumbfounded at his own foolishness and burst out laughing.

The laughter, empty as an echo, resonated in the red field.

“Commander. Are you alright?”

The soldiers looked at him with anxious eyes, but Aaron couldn’t stop his laughter.

His laughter was mixed with emptiness and selfmockery, creating a strange atmosphere.

“Isn’t it truly incredible? She was thinking about Iorenti even as she was dying.”

A long while later, Aaron, who had finally stopped laughing, stared at the defeat she had bestowed upon him with deep eyes.

Aaron had no choice but to acknowledge it.

His captive was absolutely not an entity that could be tamed.

Realizing that fact, his mind cleared.

He felt like he now understood.

What he had to do to regain his captive.

His new purpose seeped into Aaron as clear as the red blood flowing with the rainwater.

“Now, we really have to go to war.”

Aaron’s low, deep voice permeated through the faint light of dawn.