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"Therefore, Your Highness will handle it accordingly."
"How could..."
The leader of The Nine was unable to continue, taken aback by Iana's unexpected reaction.
Then, a 9th Circle Archmage from The Nine, who was standing behind him, questioned him with a resentful voice.
"What is the reason you came here, Leader? Did you come to demoralize the soldiers?"
"Are you provoking me now?"
The leader became greatly angered.
The Archmage did not back down and confronted him.
"The leader of The Nine represents the mages. Shouldn't the first thing you do be to encourage the mages who risked their lives fighting yesterday?"
"..."
"How can you engage in a power struggle against the mages who must prepare for battle once again?"
"What?"
The two men's gazes clashed intensely.
"That's right!"
The mages gathered around began to agree one by one.
It was as if the accumulated dissatisfaction with The Nine had erupted all at once.
The leader glared at them with a displeased expression.
Iana could no longer stand by and watch the soldiers' morale plummet.
She approached the leader and whispered lowly.
"Isn't it time for a change in The Nine?"
"What?"
"I would like to succeed my father's position as the Archmage Leader."
"⋯⋯!"
The leader of The Nine's gaze, filled with anxiety, was fixed on Iana.
"Well then, please return safely."
Iana bowed her head briefly and turned to walk away.
At that moment, her eyes met Marcel's, but Marcel coldly averted his gaze.
As if to say that he had not helped her, but had acted for the sake of his family.
"Iana Archmage!"
The voice of The Nine's leader, filled with anger, was heard from behind her.
But Iana did not turn around and calmly walked through the crowd.
✦ ✦ ✦
Around that time, inside the underground prison of the Imperial Palace.
Thwack!
The Emperor's beating had continued for hours.
The Emperor, with blood splattered on his clothes and face, swung the whip like a madman.
"Ugh!"
Charles's eyeball burst, and blood flowed from his mouth. One of his shoulders seemed to be broken, as he could not move it well.
He felt extreme pain, but at some point, he lost touch with reality.
However, no one dared to stop the Emperor's cruel actions.
Thump!
Charles, who had been kneeling and enduring, finally collapsed to the side.
The Emperor roughly swept back his disheveled bangs and said.
"Charles, get up."
Charles looked up at the Emperor while lying on the ground.
A strange sense of superiority.
The Emperor seemed satisfied with Charles's collapse from the violence he had inflicted.
Charles knew it well.
If it weren't for Iana, he would have been executed immediately for disobeying the Imperial order.
But because Iana had to defend the capital, the Emperor was barely suppressing his desire to kill him.
'If even Iana is swayed here, I don't know how the Emperor will change.'
At that moment, Charles's eyes caught the phrase he had carved on the wall.
[The dignity of a human comes from a good will.]
Charles struggled to get up and knelt down. His body trembled, but he was as composed as he could be.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand and said coldly.
"Your Majesty has no dignity."
"What?"
The Emperor frowned deeply.
Charles looked up at the Emperor with bloodshot eyes.
It was not a fierce glare, nor an oppressive gaze that tried to suppress him.
He simply stared at the Emperor with a firm gaze.
"⋯⋯!"
The Emperor's eyes wavered slightly as Charles's spirit did not break despite the merciless violence.
A blank look, not knowing what to do.
Charles did not miss that moment and shouted as if roaring.
"Since you have neither good will nor concern for the people of the Empire, what dignity could Your Majesty possibly have?"
"I will kill you!"
The Emperor, his anger exploding, raised the whip high with both hands.
It was then.
"Stop it! Your Majesty."
The Empress entered the prison and stood in front of the Emperor.
"Empress, get out of the way."
The Emperor warned, glaring as if to kill, but the Empress did not waver.
"If Grand Duke Ervin is guilty, you can officially hold him accountable for his crimes and punish him severely."
The Emperor pointed at the Empress with the whip he was threateningly holding.
"Yes, the Empress has always been on Charles's side more than mine, hasn't she?"
"Does it look like I am taking Grand Duke Ervin's side right now? I am doing this for Your Majesty."
"⋯⋯."
"How will history remember an Emperor who beat his own brother to death?"
The Empress cried out in a voice mixed with tears.
"I will not forgive even the Empress if you disobey my orders."
The Emperor gave a cold warning without batting an eye.
But the Empress was also resolute.
"Do as you please. I have no regrets anymore."
"⋯⋯."
"Not for my insignificant life, nor for the empty title of Empress."
Bang!
At the sight of the Empress filled with despair, the Emperor threw the whip he was holding onto the floor and left the prison.
After that, Duke Havel, who had been watching from outside, followed him.
"Ugh!"
As soon as the Emperor disappeared from sight, Charles collapsed on the spot.
The Empress hugged Charles and said urgently.
"Grand Duke Ervin, try to come to your senses."
"⋯⋯."
"Healer! Healer!"
At the Empress's cry, a healer quickly entered through the iron gate.
Everything felt slow to Charles.
Memories of the time he spent with Iana flashed before his eyes like illusions.
And one memory stopped at the very end.
"Everyone. Abandoned me."
The face of Iana, who was collapsing and weeping bitterly in Ervin, flickered before him.
'So much weeping...'
Charles tried hard to regain his fading consciousness.
Because if something happened to him, it felt like Iana would be weeping like that somewhere.
✦ ✦ ✦
Three days had passed. Darkness had fallen on the outer castle.
Iana could not sleep and was standing on the castle walls.
The outer castle was so quiet that it was hard to believe there had been a fierce battle a few days ago.
Aden the Ascetic, who was supposed to arrive soon, had not even contacted her, perhaps due to an attack by monsters.
As she felt uneasy, the words of The Nine's leader echoed in her ears.
"Because of your wrongdoings, Grand Duke Ervin is being painfully tortured."
Those words made her feel like she was about to burst into tears. She was anxious and scared that something might happen to him.
'If I am swayed, Your Highness will be in danger.'
At least as long as she stood firm, the Emperor would not be able to kill Charles.
Iana steeled her heart once again.
"Can't you sleep?"
Turning around, a 9th Circle Archmage from The Nine was standing there with a gentle smile.
She hid her emotions and said calmly.
"Ah, you're on night duty today, aren't you?"
The two stood side by side, looking out over the outer castle.
Iana cautiously spoke.
"I didn't think you would take my side in front of the leader."
"Why would you think that?"
"To be honest, you went to the northern battlefield because of me, didn't you?"
At Iana's words, the 9th Circle Archmage let out a short sigh.
"Not all 9th Circle Archmages share the same thoughts as the leader."
"⋯⋯."
"Why wouldn't we know shame? It's just that we are bound together under the name of The Nine, so we haven't been able to express our honest opinions."
His eyes were filled with deep regret.
It was at that moment.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of hooves was heard in the distance.
The two people's gazes turned to the outside of the castle at the same time.
Upon closer inspection, the soldier riding alone was planting a blue flag.
The 9th Circle Archmage said with a tense expression.
"It seems a messenger is coming."
Thump, thump, thump.
As the messenger drew closer, the pattern on the flag became clearly visible in Iana's eyes.
It was a flag with the emblem of the Divine Palace.
'Aden the Ascetic sent it.'
Iana's eyes turned sharp.
"It seems the Ascetics are coming here."
Iana and the 9th Circle Archmage immediately went down below the castle walls.
Among the soldiers guarding the front gate, there were also knights from Duke Havel's family.
Creak-.
The castle gate slowly opened.
The messenger quickly entered the castle gate and jumped off his horse.
He gave Iana a small wink and said.
"A horde of monsters has appeared in Mikron Mountain. Refugees and the Divine Palace's forces are retreating and coming this way."
"If it's Mikron Mountain, they'll arrive in two hours."
Iana answered and fell into thought.
It seemed that Aden's rebel forces had encountered monsters in the mountains, delaying their arrival.
A small smile spread across her lips.
'Finally, the rebellion is beginning.'
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