Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
***
“Tamon.”
Roselyn called out to Tamon with a small voice.
She beckoned to Tamon, who stared at her as if to ask why.
Confidently, she said she was going in there.
Why?
He asked with his facial expression. His voice soundless but oozing with his incomprehensibility, Roselyn beckoned to Tamon again and whispered quietly in his ear as he approached.
“He’s someone I know.”
It was very tiny, but to Tamon’s ears, it sounded clear.
Tamon raised one eyebrow in surprise, and nodded in understanding.
Then he whispered.
”I will protect you.”
He meant she could open the door with confidence.
He patted her gently on the shoulder as if to disprove his intention.
Roselyn glanced at him involuntarily.
As she was about to enter, Tamon was paying attention with a different nervous face than before.
His eyes sank captive with a tension like he was about to attack and kill the enemy.
It was a really strange feeling.
Tamon glanced at her as if he felt her eyes on him. Roselyn quickly averted her gaze and took a deep breath.
Then she boldly opened the door.
Click!
“….!”
She didn’t open so violently, but the atmosphere was so quiet that the sound of the door opening rang heavily.
The people in the room were startled and stared at Roselyn and her group as they entered the room.
“Who are you?”
The man with the sword had a mask covering his face, just like Tamon and Roselyn were.
But as soon as Roselyn saw the man’s eyes, she knew at once that her guess was correct.
“Who are these again………..?”
The man on the bed, who appeared to be the master of the red octopus, stared at his new enemy with a blank face.
Roselyn took a further step towards the man with the sword.
The man glared at Roselyn with sharp eyes, but did not move carelessly.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” (Roselyn)
“…What?” (The swordsman)
“Have you forgotten about me already?” (Roselyn)
“What……”
Smiling lightly, Roselyn slowly removed her veil.
Her silvery hair, shining brightly even in the darkness, appeared.
The masked man’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Did you receive the letter I sent you?” (Roselyn)
“….!”
The startled man dropped his sword. His subordinates stared at Marquis Helio with an even more surprised expression.
It was the first time that the Marquis showed enough agitation to miss the sword.
“Is it really you?”
He asked back incredulously, and Roselyn murmured the singsong words of House of the Sunset.
“Yellow lilies are unbeatable even in winter.”
The man with the sword, Marquis Helio, squeezed his eyes shut.
His breath hitched, as if something incredible and unbelievable had just happened.
He knelt down in front of Roselyn without hesitation. In an emotional voice he whispered.
“I see the glory of winter.”
***
Tamon walked out of there, taking Roselyn with him. Of course, he didn’t forget to take the dagger before he left.
However, giving up a dagger did not mean that the owner of the red octopus was safe. If he let him be, bad things would happen.
Tamon quietly took care of the owner, not daring to inform Roselyn.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know about it, but neither of them dared to expose it.
“Let’s go to my house first.”
Tamon, who was in the lead, went around the back and gathered the Marquis’ men.
“Are these reliable people?”
At Tamon’s words, Roselyn and Helio’s eyes turned. The faces of the five who had been following them all stiffened at once .The sharp tension descended once again. Helio stood in front of his men, blocking Tamon’s gaze.
“They are no different from my other lives.”
At Helio’s decisive words, Tamon didn’t say anything else. He only nodded slightly as if to say he understood. Tamon led them all back to the company housing. Tamon’s men stayed behind and cleaned up the mess.
“…this place.”
“You look very tired. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a rest?”
Tamon gave the room to the Marquis and his men.
“You guys go ahead and first. I will talk to this person separately.”
“…Yes, Marquis.”
However, the men didn’t move easily as if they didn’t want to leave Helio by himself. Helio patted them on the shoulder to reassure them. Even though they saw the Marquis kneel in front of Roselyn, they still couldn’t move.
“Rest. It’s an order.”
When the Marquis gave the order decisively, the men went to their feet, as if they had no choice. Roselyn, who had been watching him, spoke quietly.
“They seem genuinely worried about you.”
“They’re all the ones I raised like sons. Maybe that’s why they worry too much.”
Helio looked at Roselyn with a nervous laugh. The veil had been removed and Roselyn was fully revealed. Dazzling silver hair, brilliant purple eyes that shone with intelligence.
Even her beautiful smile and gestures with grace. She was the Empress of Tanatos who no one else could imitate.
“It really is you.”
Helio murmured, still in disbelief, unable to hide his trembling.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“There have been many things that happened.”
Roselyn looked at Tamon, who stood beside her.
How could she describe all that has happened in a few words?
Death that had come close to life.
A foot that wasn’t going to live.
The obsession that he had said he would keep her alive until the end.
Even his blind attachment for her.
It was too much to say in one word.
So Roselyn decided to show, not tell.
She boldly cut herself in the arm with the dagger she was holding.
“…!”
It happened in a flash.
Both men were startled and woke up almost simultaneously.
But Tamon’s reaction was quicker.
Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed her arm and licked it.
A lot of blood spurted out from the wound, which was deeper than he expected.
Tamon licked every bit of it, as if it were sweet fruit juice.
Helio’s face twisted strangely at the weird and eerie sight.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, no, he couldn’t believe what that man had dared to do to the empress of a country.
But when the man started talking, something incredible happened in front of his eyes.
The wound….
The wound that had been cut so deep that he could see the red flesh disappeared without a trace.
All that could be seen was a thin white arm, as if nothing had happened.
Tamon, who was licking blood from his lips, said to Roselyn as if he were scolding her.
“I wouldn’t mind, but you shouldn’t cut it so deep…”
“I think I got unintentionally excited. I wasn’t able to adjust my strength.”
Roselyn smiled as if to say she was sorry.
Then she looked back at Helio, who was frozen in place like ice.
“If it is death that leads Tanatos, then it is this very power that has saved me and led me. It is life.” (Roselyn)
Life…!
It was the name of another forgotten ability.
Helio’s heart pulsed violently.
The most powerful power and name that the rampaging emperor had ever occupied on the throne!
That was the ability.
But before his very eyes, a new power had appeared that would overthrow it completely.
“Your Majesty!”
Hans knelt down, clutching his throbbing chest.
“Please come back, Tanatos needs you!”
Roselyn shook her head at the urgency in his voice.
She then helped him to his feet and corrected his words.
“I am no longer Your Majesty, nor do I intend to return to that position in the future. However, I do have the will to overthrow the Imperial House of Tanatos.”
“Ha…”
Shock seeped into the middle-aged man’s face. He stared at her, wide-eyed, as if he had just heard the unbelievable.
Roselyn smiled gently and said.
“And I hope you can lead it.”
“Your Majesty…………..”
“It’s Aranrosia.”
She interrupted Helio’s words.
She gave him her new name with a quiet smile.
“Aranrosia. That’s my new name.”
Helio bit his lips.
Did his Empress abandon Tanatos? Despair covered his eyes.
Who could not see how the Emperor had betrayed her?
Helio knew very well how she had been abandoned from all the pain, so he did not dare to blame her.
“You must think I abandoned Tanatos.”
“…… Didn’t you?”
“If I abandoned Tanatos, why am I now back to Tanatos again?”
“….”
“Is it simply to take revenge on Gillotti Tanatos?”
Helio’s eyes wavered.
“Of course, this journey is a journey of revenge, but I still love the cold country where I grew up.”
“Then, can’t you come back to us?”
Roselyn just smiled still.
“My role is to bring down Gillotti and disqualify him.”
Roselyn straightened her back.
“Marquis, do you have any idea why I seeked you out and told you all of my secrets?”
Helio’s eyebrows arched at her question. He was a clever man, so he had already grasped the significance implied in her words.
Helio stared at Roselyn with a pale face.
“You.” (Roselyn)
Then, as if to confirm his guess, she said in a calm and composed voice.
“Would you like to wear the Emperor’s crown?” (Roselyn)