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Riel's consciousness sank deep into her mind.
To around the time Iana was to be married, and the day Raul died.
Rumble, crash!
Fierce rain and wind, along with thunder and lightning, struck beyond the window of Raul's studio.
Raul aimed the chisel he had been using to sculpt marble at Riel's neck and shouted like a madman.
"Riel, you used my heart until the very end. I'm going to expose everything about you. You tried to kill the Rechelles family's daughter with Seulanka..."
"Go ahead and try. You'll be an accomplice anyway since you're the one who got the drug."
Riel pushed away the chisel he was aiming at her neck.
"I was just trying to help the Rechelles family's daughter escape because she was being cruelly tormented by you."
"..."
"But you can't stand the fact that the Rechelles family's daughter, whom you looked down on, is happy meeting the fiancé she's going to marry, can you?"
"That's not it."
Riel coldly retorted.
"So you thought I wouldn't know that you were giving up on your promise to marry me and going to work as a caregiver maid for the Dietrian family?"
"Raul, I'm telling you that's not it."
Riel's gaze was directed at a glass of water on the table.
"Does the Rechelles family know? That you tried to poison the Rechelles family's daughter several times before her wedding."
Riel approached and stroked Raul's face.
"Poor Raul."
"What?"
Raul flared up.
"Raul, I know why you're acting so violently right now. The Nirke family didn't acknowledge you, did they?"
Raul was born between Viscount Borbo, the son of Nirke, and a prostitute.
He was abandoned by both parents and went back and forth between the quarry as a sculptor's assistant until he got to know Riel, and they kept in touch even after Riel went to the Rechelles family.
An insecure and sensitive sculptor.
Raul needed a woman like a mother.
"Come here, I'll hug you."
"No."
Raul refused, but Riel approached and hugged him.
He looked anxious about being abandoned by the woman he believed to be his lover.
But he was no longer useful.
"You're too excited right now. Drink this and calm down."
Riel handed him the glass of water on the table.
Raul slowly drank the water. It was water that she had secretly laced with Seulanka.
Watching him, Riel thought.
'Raul, you're so stupid. Because you think I wouldn't do something like this to you.'
Rumble, crash!
Lightning struck fiercely outside the window.
✦ ✦ ✦
Inside the Imperial Palace's detached palace.
Riel, who had lost consciousness, slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the gilded, ornate ceiling and luxurious furniture.
"She's awake."
Someone who appeared to be a healer spoke to someone else while holding bandages.
At the healer's words, someone approached her.
It was none other than His Majesty the Emperor.
Riel, with bandages around her neck, struggled to sit up.
His Majesty the Emperor sat on a chair next to the bed. He then sent a signal with his eyes, and the healer went outside.
However, the elderly secretary stood in front of the door.
Like a shadow that didn't exist.
His Majesty the Emperor asked her as if throwing a stone.
"I hear it narrowly missed a vital point. Was that intentional?"
"Even if it missed a vital point, I would have died if you had left me alone. Why did you save me?"
Riel asked back.
His Majesty the Emperor said with a smile on his lips.
"Because I have to execute you."
"..."
"Come to think of it, didn't I publicly announce that I would execute you in front of everyone?"
His Majesty the Emperor threw out cruel words and observed the other person's reaction.
Enjoying playing with people's lives.
'If Your Majesty wishes, I must do as you please.'
Riel replied like a submissive woman.
"Then I will quietly wait until the execution."
At that moment, His Majesty the Emperor's eyes turned fierce, and he painfully grabbed Riel's chin.
"It's no fun if you wait quietly, is it?"
Madness dwelled in His Majesty the Emperor's clear eyes.
Riel, who was rarely afraid, felt a chill down her spine.
His Majesty the Emperor gripped Riel's chin even more painfully and spoke like a madman.
"You have to beg me to save you. You have to plead with me to spare your life because you'll do anything."
"Ugh!"
Riel felt a surge of pain because of the wound on her neck.
But His Majesty the Emperor didn't care.
"Beg me to save you as desperately as you did when I held a sword to your neck and you collapsed."
"Sa, save me. Please save me, I'll do anything."
Riel pitifully begged as His Majesty the Emperor ordered.
Satisfied with that reaction, His Majesty the Emperor slowly let go of her hand and slowly stroked Riel's short bobbed hair.
"Good. I'll postpone the execution date for a few days."
'Your Majesty wants to play with dolls.'
Riel could clearly see His Majesty the Emperor's intentions.
The desire to control people as he pleases, holding their lifelines.
It was impossible to know whether it was madness or twisted sadism.
But whatever it was, it wouldn't be bad for her.
Riel gave her greetings as if she had received grace.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
She resolved to become His Majesty the Emperor's doll.
To make His Majesty the Emperor believe that he was an absolute being.
✦ ✦ ✦
Late at night, Iana and Charles decided to stay for a day at the District 2 fortress, which housed a shelter, to treat the injured.
She toured the fortress with Charles and talked.
"Your Highness, don't you think it's a little strange?"
"What do you mean?"
Iana said with a puzzled look.
"I mean, we clearly removed the Arika Vine, but it's strange that so many vines are appearing."
"It may be a variant like the Krikan, or there may be another reason. But I'm worried because if we only defend against these monsters' attacks, we don't know when the war will end."
Charles' face darkened.
"I once read a passage in a book."
"…?"
"Every being in the world has a weakness. The Arika Vine must have a weakness too."
Iana comforted him, who was worried.
Charles stopped walking and spoke.
"In that sense, you are a very strong person. Because you turned your weakness into a strength."
"Me?"
Iana looked at him blankly, not knowing what he meant.
"Because you tried to bring out the memories of the black magic that tormented you and turn them into magic to protect people."
"It's a useless memory, so I'm trying to use it like that."
Iana was embarrassed by Charles' compliment and jokingly said it.
But Charles reacted seriously.
"I wish I could be like you too."
"Are you talking about His Majesty the Emperor?"
Iana cautiously asked.
Because she naturally believed that his weakness was His Majesty the Emperor.
But Charles hesitated for a moment and revealed his honest feelings.
"No. My real weakness is not His Majesty the Emperor, who is my brother, but..."
"..."
"My mother, the late Empress."
Iana was speechless for a moment at Charles' unexpected words.
She was about to ask a question because it seemed like he had something he wanted to say.
Rita and a group of artisan women approached them from the fortress entrance.
One of the women had a splint on her arm, as if she had been seriously injured in the recent accident.
A middle-aged woman cautiously spoke.
"That mage, no, Archmage..."
Looking at the woman's face, she was reminded of the women who had been gossiping in front of the workshop.
"I heard that Aden the Ascetic, Your Highness's brother, came here a while ago. In the end, he was abandoned because the Imperial Family opposed it."
"What are you doing? You said you wanted to apologize to the Archmage."
Rita urged the women.
"Did you do something wrong to the Archmage?"
Charles added, pretending to be surprised from the side.
"I heard that Your Highness already knows."
The middle-aged woman spoke sullenly and apologized to Iana.
"I, I'm sorry. Did you hear everything we said?"
"Yes, I heard everything."
Iana replied with a smile.
"This mouth! I was gossiping without knowing that you were the benefactor who would save me. We were careless."
Another woman pretended to slap her mouth as if blaming herself.
"If you do that again, I'll put up a barrier excluding only those who gossiped."
When Iana jokingly said that, the women repeatedly bowed.
"We won't do it again, Archmage."
As the women were about to greet and go to the fortress entrance, Iana suddenly had an idea and asked a question.
"By the way, were there originally many Arika Vines in District 3?"
The women stopped walking, and Rita replied.
"There were quite a few. But they told us to remove the vines, so we burned them all with fire."
"Fire?"
Iana was lost in thought for a moment.
"Yes, the mage who was here before told us to burn them with fire and get rid of them."
"…!"
At the middle-aged woman's words, Iana and Charles looked at each other as if they had both realized something at the same time.
"I understand. It's late, so go and rest."
At Charles' words, the women moved towards the fortress entrance.
"The Arika Vine turned black when burned with fire, and disappeared white like when it was removed with magical power. Then..."
Iana's eyes turned sharp.
"Maybe the Arika Vine doesn't burn in fire."
To around the time Iana was to be married, and the day Raul died.
Rumble, crash!
Fierce rain and wind, along with thunder and lightning, struck beyond the window of Raul's studio.
Raul aimed the chisel he had been using to sculpt marble at Riel's neck and shouted like a madman.
"Riel, you used my heart until the very end. I'm going to expose everything about you. You tried to kill the Rechelles family's daughter with Seulanka..."
"Go ahead and try. You'll be an accomplice anyway since you're the one who got the drug."
Riel pushed away the chisel he was aiming at her neck.
"I was just trying to help the Rechelles family's daughter escape because she was being cruelly tormented by you."
"..."
"But you can't stand the fact that the Rechelles family's daughter, whom you looked down on, is happy meeting the fiancé she's going to marry, can you?"
"That's not it."
Riel coldly retorted.
"So you thought I wouldn't know that you were giving up on your promise to marry me and going to work as a caregiver maid for the Dietrian family?"
"Raul, I'm telling you that's not it."
Riel's gaze was directed at a glass of water on the table.
"Does the Rechelles family know? That you tried to poison the Rechelles family's daughter several times before her wedding."
Riel approached and stroked Raul's face.
"Poor Raul."
"What?"
Raul flared up.
"Raul, I know why you're acting so violently right now. The Nirke family didn't acknowledge you, did they?"
Raul was born between Viscount Borbo, the son of Nirke, and a prostitute.
He was abandoned by both parents and went back and forth between the quarry as a sculptor's assistant until he got to know Riel, and they kept in touch even after Riel went to the Rechelles family.
An insecure and sensitive sculptor.
Raul needed a woman like a mother.
"Come here, I'll hug you."
"No."
Raul refused, but Riel approached and hugged him.
He looked anxious about being abandoned by the woman he believed to be his lover.
But he was no longer useful.
"You're too excited right now. Drink this and calm down."
Riel handed him the glass of water on the table.
Raul slowly drank the water. It was water that she had secretly laced with Seulanka.
Watching him, Riel thought.
'Raul, you're so stupid. Because you think I wouldn't do something like this to you.'
Rumble, crash!
Lightning struck fiercely outside the window.
✦ ✦ ✦
Inside the Imperial Palace's detached palace.
Riel, who had lost consciousness, slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the gilded, ornate ceiling and luxurious furniture.
"She's awake."
Someone who appeared to be a healer spoke to someone else while holding bandages.
At the healer's words, someone approached her.
It was none other than His Majesty the Emperor.
Riel, with bandages around her neck, struggled to sit up.
His Majesty the Emperor sat on a chair next to the bed. He then sent a signal with his eyes, and the healer went outside.
However, the elderly secretary stood in front of the door.
Like a shadow that didn't exist.
His Majesty the Emperor asked her as if throwing a stone.
"I hear it narrowly missed a vital point. Was that intentional?"
"Even if it missed a vital point, I would have died if you had left me alone. Why did you save me?"
Riel asked back.
His Majesty the Emperor said with a smile on his lips.
"Because I have to execute you."
"..."
"Come to think of it, didn't I publicly announce that I would execute you in front of everyone?"
His Majesty the Emperor threw out cruel words and observed the other person's reaction.
Enjoying playing with people's lives.
'If Your Majesty wishes, I must do as you please.'
Riel replied like a submissive woman.
"Then I will quietly wait until the execution."
At that moment, His Majesty the Emperor's eyes turned fierce, and he painfully grabbed Riel's chin.
"It's no fun if you wait quietly, is it?"
Madness dwelled in His Majesty the Emperor's clear eyes.
Riel, who was rarely afraid, felt a chill down her spine.
His Majesty the Emperor gripped Riel's chin even more painfully and spoke like a madman.
"You have to beg me to save you. You have to plead with me to spare your life because you'll do anything."
"Ugh!"
Riel felt a surge of pain because of the wound on her neck.
But His Majesty the Emperor didn't care.
"Beg me to save you as desperately as you did when I held a sword to your neck and you collapsed."
"Sa, save me. Please save me, I'll do anything."
Riel pitifully begged as His Majesty the Emperor ordered.
Satisfied with that reaction, His Majesty the Emperor slowly let go of her hand and slowly stroked Riel's short bobbed hair.
"Good. I'll postpone the execution date for a few days."
'Your Majesty wants to play with dolls.'
Riel could clearly see His Majesty the Emperor's intentions.
The desire to control people as he pleases, holding their lifelines.
It was impossible to know whether it was madness or twisted sadism.
But whatever it was, it wouldn't be bad for her.
Riel gave her greetings as if she had received grace.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
She resolved to become His Majesty the Emperor's doll.
To make His Majesty the Emperor believe that he was an absolute being.
✦ ✦ ✦
Late at night, Iana and Charles decided to stay for a day at the District 2 fortress, which housed a shelter, to treat the injured.
She toured the fortress with Charles and talked.
"Your Highness, don't you think it's a little strange?"
"What do you mean?"
Iana said with a puzzled look.
"I mean, we clearly removed the Arika Vine, but it's strange that so many vines are appearing."
"It may be a variant like the Krikan, or there may be another reason. But I'm worried because if we only defend against these monsters' attacks, we don't know when the war will end."
Charles' face darkened.
"I once read a passage in a book."
"…?"
"Every being in the world has a weakness. The Arika Vine must have a weakness too."
Iana comforted him, who was worried.
Charles stopped walking and spoke.
"In that sense, you are a very strong person. Because you turned your weakness into a strength."
"Me?"
Iana looked at him blankly, not knowing what he meant.
"Because you tried to bring out the memories of the black magic that tormented you and turn them into magic to protect people."
"It's a useless memory, so I'm trying to use it like that."
Iana was embarrassed by Charles' compliment and jokingly said it.
But Charles reacted seriously.
"I wish I could be like you too."
"Are you talking about His Majesty the Emperor?"
Iana cautiously asked.
Because she naturally believed that his weakness was His Majesty the Emperor.
But Charles hesitated for a moment and revealed his honest feelings.
"No. My real weakness is not His Majesty the Emperor, who is my brother, but..."
"..."
"My mother, the late Empress."
Iana was speechless for a moment at Charles' unexpected words.
She was about to ask a question because it seemed like he had something he wanted to say.
Rita and a group of artisan women approached them from the fortress entrance.
One of the women had a splint on her arm, as if she had been seriously injured in the recent accident.
A middle-aged woman cautiously spoke.
"That mage, no, Archmage..."
Looking at the woman's face, she was reminded of the women who had been gossiping in front of the workshop.
"I heard that Aden the Ascetic, Your Highness's brother, came here a while ago. In the end, he was abandoned because the Imperial Family opposed it."
"What are you doing? You said you wanted to apologize to the Archmage."
Rita urged the women.
"Did you do something wrong to the Archmage?"
Charles added, pretending to be surprised from the side.
"I heard that Your Highness already knows."
The middle-aged woman spoke sullenly and apologized to Iana.
"I, I'm sorry. Did you hear everything we said?"
"Yes, I heard everything."
Iana replied with a smile.
"This mouth! I was gossiping without knowing that you were the benefactor who would save me. We were careless."
Another woman pretended to slap her mouth as if blaming herself.
"If you do that again, I'll put up a barrier excluding only those who gossiped."
When Iana jokingly said that, the women repeatedly bowed.
"We won't do it again, Archmage."
As the women were about to greet and go to the fortress entrance, Iana suddenly had an idea and asked a question.
"By the way, were there originally many Arika Vines in District 3?"
The women stopped walking, and Rita replied.
"There were quite a few. But they told us to remove the vines, so we burned them all with fire."
"Fire?"
Iana was lost in thought for a moment.
"Yes, the mage who was here before told us to burn them with fire and get rid of them."
"…!"
At the middle-aged woman's words, Iana and Charles looked at each other as if they had both realized something at the same time.
"I understand. It's late, so go and rest."
At Charles' words, the women moved towards the fortress entrance.
"The Arika Vine turned black when burned with fire, and disappeared white like when it was removed with magical power. Then..."
Iana's eyes turned sharp.
"Maybe the Arika Vine doesn't burn in fire."
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