“Then let’s move and find a way. We can’t stay here…”

At that moment.

Crash! The sound of something breaking echoed. The source of the noise was outside the shadow.

Startled, Lowell looked in the direction of the sound and saw Peter. He was smashing a lamp in the middle of the garden with one hand. Broken glass pieces fell noisily to the ground, but Peter seemed indifferent as he pulled out the light source from inside the lamp. No, he ripped it out.

What Peter extracted was a glowing magical stone. He stared at the stone, which filled his hand, then clenched his fist.

Crack.

The magical stone, unable to withstand his grip, shattered, losing its light. Simultaneously, the result became immediately visible.

‘The garden is…’

Beginning to wither.

The moment Lowell believed she saw him. The moment he uttered her name.

Ridiculously, only upon hearing his own voice did Peter come to his senses.

He realized then that he had been hallucinating.

‘Lowell does not exist here.’

She can’t, and she shouldn’t. How could he have forgotten her? How had he erased his longing? He didn’t want to remember her like this. Peter knew too well that the moment he indulged in memories of Lowell, he would inevitably crumble.

The horror of not even being able to properly reminisce was terrifying. Remembering the dead, cherishing affection was not permitted for him. The feeling of needing to experience such emotions was profoundly unpleasant.

Peter suppressed his rising anger and thought of the cause of all this.

‘Annette Martinec.’

The very person who brought back Lowell into his life. Had she not been there, he wouldn’t have ended up like this again.

‘Starting to hallucinate already.’

He felt the madness consuming him. The moment he saw and heard illusions, the madness had already begun. All that was left was to slowly lose his sanity without even realizing it.
Then, what could he remember? Would he even have anything left to remember?

Other emperors who had gone mad at least retained their memories, but Peter’s power could easily erase even his own memories.

Maybe even intentionally.

The uncontrollable, inevitable tragedy was exasperating.

‘I can’t use this place anymore.’

He came here to control his madness, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Thinking back, it was seeing Annette that brought back memories of Lowell. Currently, anything that reminded him of Lowell would have an adverse effect.

At least until Peter decides to bring back his longing for Lowell himself.

But Peter had no such intention yet. How could he acknowledge his yearning for the memories he had erased, for Lowell whom he had forgotten?

The moment he fails to endure, his collapse is inevitable. He could feel that moment was not far off.

Powdered magical stones fell through his fingers. In the gaze that watched this scene, a sense of regret colored his eyes.

Everything was tiresome.

“……I’m tired.”

As the magical stone supplying power to the garden was destroyed, the plants began to wither rapidly around the lamp.

The sight of a garden blooming with flowers suddenly turning desolate as if struck by winter was surreal, even eerie.

Peter’s face briefly contorted.

The sensation of tearing a part of his own body. Every time he buried his longing for Lowell, he always experienced a similar pain.

Peter turned away before the entire garden withered. He couldn’t bear to see the garden completely dead.

“Seal it off completely. It will never be opened again.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The thick doors closed again with a rumble, and darkness quickly enveloped the garden. Winter came with it.

However, Peter was unaware of one fact.

Amidst the rapidly withering flowers rooted in life, a red petal, already severed and unable to wither further, lay at his feet. An intruder had preceded his memories.

“……Peter.”

The memories he destroyed weren’t solely his own.