Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
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Arsene finally woke up from his long sleep.
Perhaps because he still was out of his mind, he couldn’t figure out where he was at first.
The pain and hardship he had to go through was so great that Arsene remained laying down for a while even after he opened his eyes.
‘I really am alive and well.’
He couldn’t believe that despite meeting with monsters in the middle of the ocean, he made it to land without a single injury.
Even now, when he closed his eyes, the scene in the ocean came alive vividly in his mind.
The red-eyed man who floated freely in the water as if he was flying in the sky, in the dark sea he held the brilliant rays of the sun….
Even though his shoulder was torn off by the teeth of a poisonous monster, his eyes had no fear of death.
‘I can’t believe he ripped the herpes apart with his bare hands.’
Thinking of that horrible scene made him feel like he was still having a horrible dream.
Arsene also encountered monsters a while back.
Only a few of them attacked the children, the Emperor and the Empress in a small building.
The Emperor fled trembling in front of them, and the brave Empress injured her leg saving them.
Otherworldly monsters came out of the ‘gap’……
Those monsters that break rocks, rot the ground, and tear up the sky.
And the man casually ripped them open with his bare hands………..
The red eyes that were shining brilliantly in the black water floated up.
When he reached out, Arsene couldn’t help but hesitate, knowing that it was the only option.
He was afraid that he might hold the devil’s hand to avoid the monster.
It was one thing that led Arsene.
Knock, knock.
Arsene stood up at the sound of knocking on the door.
Gently the door opened and the little girl came in.
“Let’s go, Arsene.”
Hannah casually held his hand.
Arsene held her hand with a strange ease.
The white-haired girl who had given Arsene the bread and pulled his hand to help him get out of his cage.
Was it because they had experienced the danger of dying together?
Arsene felt a strange trust towards Hannah. It was a vague feeling that he could not explain why. Hannah and Arsene followed the attendants who led them into a large room.
The two children sat side by side, waiting for someone to open the door and come in.
Hannah looked unconcerned, unlike the nervous Arsene. Neatly and nicely dressed, Hannah was very pretty, like a noblewoman of the house.
There was very little expression on her face, but her golden eyes that shone reverently under her white eyelashes had changed. Her hair, which was almost gray, was white with a hint of pink under the light.
She said her hair color was originally pink, but a series of events turned it white. She didn’t say what had happened, but it felt like it was a big enough incident to change the color.
So Arsene didn’t ask Hannah anymore.
Hannah was unique.
Sometimes she looked blank, but sometimes she looked impossibly perceptive, and sometimes she predicted what was going to happen next with a brilliant face.
Like now.
“She’s coming.” (Hannah)
“Who….?” (Arsene)
“She’s here.” (Hannah)
Hannah, who was staring blankly in the air, straightened her back.
And she glanced at Arsene and held his hand slightly. She looked mature.
The door opened a few seconds later.
And an incredible person appeared.
“Emp…” (Arsene)
“Shhh.” (Roselyn)
Just before Arsene’s words were completed, Roselyn lightly shook her head, hinting not to say anything.
In the reception room, besides Arsene and Hannah, were Jorge, Satin, and the twins.
Tamon watched for a moment and then instructed everyone to leave.
A stony silence descended.
The scene in the white parlor, with the sunlight shining bright, felt like a dream.
Arsene lifted his heavy eyelids and stared.
In the boy’s trembling eyes, he saw not Tanatos’ blizzard, but Amor’s silver hair reflecting the golden sun.
The purple eyes, so warm and emotional, showed a diverse light, unlike those days back then.
She looked like the empress Arsene knew, but so different that it was hard to believe it was the same person.
“How……?”
As far as the boy knew, the Empress was dead.
The whole nation thought so.
“Her Majesty is …………”
It was said that the Emperor, who killed her family and friends and even tortured her, had her banished to the cruel Kralturian Ice Mountains.
Did people even say that a snow wolf ate the Empress’s corpse?
An unconfirmed ghost story spread throughout the empire.
Even the slave traders who smuggled and kidnapped children also talked about the story.
“Arsene.”
“………….Your Majesty? Are you really Your Majesty?”
A mixture of squeal and surprise passed into a shudder. A wet voice gasped and confirmed it was really her.
Roselyn reached out and stroked Arsene’s cheek.
Tears welled up in Arsene’s eyes the moment her cool fingers touched his cheek.
‘Oh, she’s alive. She’s really alive.’
The young boy did not know what kind of feeling this was.
He was overwhelmed. The edges of his eyes were burning, and his heart felt like it was going to sink.
To Arsene, Roselyn was God.
She was the boy’s future and the most respected person. She was the one who had given him hope, floating in the sky like the moon, but always ready to hold his hand if he reached out.
When it was said that such a person had fallen under the severe hardship of the evil Emperor, the familiar darkness descended on Arsene’s world.
He became a knight for that person. The light of hope that he had when he made up his mind to do so disappeared and only melancholy and sadness remained.
“…..You suffered so much because of my request.”
But the light did not go out.
It reappeared in front of the boy miraculously.
“Your Majesty…….”
‘Thank you for being alive, and it’s an honor to see you again.’ Was what he wanted to say, but all he could do was burst into tears.
“You must have gone through a lot.”
Roselyn chuckled emotionally and patted Arsene’s eyes.
The boy’s reddened eyes with warmed tears wet her fingertips.
Many people had died because of her.
Someone to protect her, someone to take her place, someone to honor her. Maybe this boy also disappeared easily after adversity to do her a favor.
But Arsene came back alive, and that was the weight of her life she had to take responsibility for.
She would watch over him like the others, and she could not afford to lose him.
She would protect him, so that his life will not be in vain just because he followed her.
“For staying alive, for surviving.”
Roselyn reached out and embraced the boy’s stiff shoulders. The strong boy shuddered in her arms.
“Thank you, Arsene.”
***
Arsene finally calmed down and returned the thing on his wrist.
The bracelet became the necklace again in Roselyn’s hand. Just as she was about to put it around her neck, Tamon, who had been watching, came up to her.
“Let me do it.”
With a soft touch he took the chain from her hands. Then he casually wrapped the necklace around her neck.
It didn’t seem like a crude hand, but the hand that applied the chain was delicate.
Roselyn, who was waiting for the act to end with her hair raised to one side, trembled at Tamon’s lips kissing the back of her neck.
Giving him a warning glance to remind him that they were in front of the children, Tamon smiled shamelessly.
“It looks good on you.”
Arsene looked at the two of them blankly and quickly bowed his head.
The boy’s earlobes were red. Roselyn’s earlobes tickled for no reason, too.
The necklace spontaneously transformed itself into two necklaces, shaped to fit perfectly around her neck.
Strangely enough, it was similar in shape to the other necklaces worn in Tanatos.
Between the two chains that encircled her neck closely, Eternal Shine, the core of the holy relic, glittered.
“That necklace helped me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I fell into the sea, but the shine from the necklace made it easier for me to breathe. Then….”
Hesitantly, Arsene reiterated the situation at the time.
“It may have been my imagination, but…..I could feel that the monsters were scared.”
The basic property of Roselyn’s chain was protection. It was the role of this chain to protect its master and prevent any forced external pressure from passing through.
However, it could not do anything about the laws of physical force and could not protect him until he fell or was stabbed with a blade.
It had to defend itself with its own power.
The power of this holy relic was protection from magic, poison, power, or some other invisible pressure.
Since the monsters were also an alien force that had slipped through the ‘gap’, this chain of protection was able to protect its master.
That was why she was able to attack the monster last time in the nursery in Tanatos.
But there was nothing she could do about her ankle, which was pierced by a piece of wood on the crumbling platform.
Remembering that moment, Roselyn stroked the necklace once.
It was then that Hannah, who had been sitting like a stuffed animal by Arsene’s side, stood up and approached her.
She bent her knees slightly and introduced herself which made Roselyn startled.
“The young disciple of the Prophet Hartz sees the future of Tanatos.”
Roselyn held her breath.
Prophet Hartz.
Hannah came to Roselyn on her own.