Startled, I recoiled my hand.

The moment I did, Grimie’s eyes flashed open as he leaned in close.

“How is it? Do you see it?”

“Pardon?”

Grimie groaned, muttering to himself.

“Perhaps I was mistaken. They say the royal blood of Laontra possess special abilities.”

After the ancient realm fell to the “Storm,” Laontra was the first country to rise anew. Its First Emperor was Kumal the Second—literally descendants “directly created” by the ancients.

I stared at the relic with a grim expression.

“What exactly is this?”

“A relic once used by Inorax, one of the Apostles, during the height of the ancients’ power.”

“Inorax...?”

“My mother heard the future through this. I regret that after her passing it could no longer be used.”

She had seized Inorax’s spirit from my mother—but could not wield all of his power. Such was the limit of stolen might.

“How unfortunate,” I murmured.

Grimie rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Kumal the Second was a creation of Inorax. I had hoped someone of his blood and flesh could use it.”

“...”

“Well then, you may leave.”

“...”

“You understand this place must remain utterly secret.”

Grimie smiled faintly.

“You can trust me. We are allies, after all.”

“Yes.” I bowed my head and withdrew from the cave.

Walking through the forest toward home, I seethed.

“Allies? What nonsense!”

The moment I touched the relic, I felt all strength drain away. My heart still pounded painfully. Such artifacts exacted tremendous tolls—surely Grimie knew their danger. And yet he called me ally while letting me bear that burden?

Months passed in feigned cordiality toward Grimie—while, in that time, I grew ever closer to his half-brother Daimond.

“Was it you who left a chicken and horse by the gate?” I demanded, furious.

Daimond looked unconcerned. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know? I told you not to do that!”

Lately, Daimond often left things like that at our doorstep.

My foster father sneered, “You two are so close, Astra boy—why not introduce us to your friend? Meet Bella, and you’ll solve all your money troubles!”

He once lost our savings gambling and badgered me to get money from “the young lord.”

“I said I don’t want to! Why do you keep this up?”

“Then work fewer hours!” he snapped.

“In your dreams!”

“You work at the mine and the gambling house, yet I’m supposed to stand by idle when you’re still cash-strapped?”

“What business is that of yours?”

“Friends help each other, don’t they?”

“We’re not friends!”

“...”

“Stop offering useless help! I told you to quit it—why can’t you just obey?”

“...”

“Think my life’s some joke? Don’t like it? Too bad! I’m sick of this!”

Why persist in helping me? Why show me kindness? I serve Grimie’s orders to watch you—and to survive, I betray your every move. Yet you keep being good to me...

Unable to speak, I fled home, leaving Daimond frozen in place. Every kindness he showed made me feel dirtier. Though necessity bound me to this life, it did not excuse betraying his goodwill.

“I know I’m trash,” I thought, trudging on. “I know I’m the worst—just like Lisana, the Orcas, Grimie. Worse even! I know that well!”

My foster parents jeered.

“Was it Daimond who brought the horse?”

“If you’re so chummy, why not introduce us to your friend Bella? She’d be the perfect match. Then no more worries, right?”

I shouted refusal—and was struck. Bruised and aching, I could not sleep.

“Mimosa...” I whispered through tears.

Suddenly, a soft sound outside caught my attention. At the door lay an envelope.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you eat so well. Tastes good, doesn’t it?”

Inside were meringue cookies—just like those Daimond and I had shared at Astra Castle.

“You idiot...” I thought. If you’d been so cold, you wouldn’t have come.

Clutching the envelope tightly, I turned—and spotted Daimond darting off, ghostlike from behind the fence.

“Wait!”

“I found them on the road and left them at your door!”

“Stop running!”

He fled toward Grimie’s cave. If he discovered it... Grimie would kill him.

Panicked, I chased after him—only to find the mountain silent and empty. No sign of him.

“Has he found the cave?” I panted, racing toward it.

At the entrance, I heard voices murmuring. I slipped behind a tree to listen.

“Grimie-sama will... if we just... have it ready...”

I froze—one voice was all too familiar.

“It’s him.”

He had been one of the knights who stormed the Laontra palace with Mimosa.

“Run, Princess!”

“This brat dares...!”

“Run, quickly!”

He swung his sword at Mimosa as she held him back. I stifled a bitter laugh.

“Grimie and the late Duchess Astra were my ‘allies’?”

He had feigned loyalty to both Consort Lisana and the Empress—each with equal support. Whether they won or lost, he’d be allied to the victor: aiding Lisana’s forces to seize the palace, then spirit me away to the Empress.

“And he killed Mimosa.”

I hid there until dawn. After the men left, I pummeled the ground with my fists.

“Grimie, Grimie—GRIMIE—!!”

My small hand dripped crimson, yet I felt no pain—only that his name had been added to my list of vengeance.

Thereafter, I pretended to follow his orders, aiding Daimond.

“What? You want me to attend the academy?”

“If you refuse your kin’s education, then go.”

“No! Why should I!”

“You’ll waste your time otherwise.”

“Why are you talking so down to me?”

“Living idly is your revenge on your father, right?”

“...”

“Enroll. Make allies. So when Grimie turns on you, someone will stand with you.”

“Then you go too.”

“A commoner like me...?”

“I’ll arrange it for you. Go—or I won’t either.”

We both attended the academy—where I met them.

“The rules are a safety net—so the strong cannot oppress the weak!”

Strong and wise, Devon Roche.

“You saved Devon? He’s more than a pal... he’s been my brother since we were kids. Greetings.”

Fiery and athletic, Leo Taloff.

“Did you guard the lab? I won’t say thanks—but I’ll share potions.”

Mad for magic—and yet humane, Cainrod Madillo.

“If any of them stand with Daimond if things turn dire, I can trust you,” I thought—then flinched.

Daimond was my means to strike Grimie. My ally by convenience—but in action... it felt like...

“Have you eaten?”

“Why?”

“Probably nothing as usual. Here.”

“...”

I had denied it a thousand times—yet still...

“I told you not to go alone! I said we’d do everything together!”

“...”

“If anything happens to you, I’ll go mad—!”

I remember pulling him close—and the flash of lips nearly meeting.

His wide eyes, flushed cheeks, ragged breath...

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“If you hated it, you’d have dodged.”

“...If I said I hated it, you wouldn’t survive telling anyone I like boys. I just... I only like you. Understand?”

“I’m a girl.”

“What?”

“When you said ‘you’, you meant me. Want proof?”

As I reached for his shirt button, Daimond turned crimson, covering his face.

“D-don’t! I said don’t!”

“I was teasing.”

“...”

“Then why that look?”

“...If you tell anyone I looked that way, you’ll die.”

I had to admit it: being with him was the greatest joy. I wanted it forever.

‘I love you.’

His presence made me stronger—and yet more vulnerable. For daily life with him became more precious than vengeance.

News came from Laontra.

“Consort Lisana and the Orcas are defeated. We have triumphed, Princess!”

A letter from the Empress accompanied it:

Beloved Veltri,

I pray you are well. After the long war, His Majesty the Emperor and I have returned to the palace to restore order. I cannot fathom how much you have endured. Now those trials are over—you may come home as Princess once more.

I must also share grave tidings. To defeat Consort Lisana and the Orcas, we negotiated with the nobility for the next succession. With no direct heir of my own, any noble house could claim the throne. Driven by ambition, they chose our side—and so we prevailed. The Orcas lie annihilated. Yet even now, the nobles’ power remains, and thus your lineage cannot be proclaimed... (letter continues)

I felt no anguish at being unacknowledged. What angered me was—

‘Those who aided Lisana’s coup still live.’

They switched allegiances at war’s end to survive and retain power: Queen Kawez of the palace gates, Queen Anas who guided Grimie’s troops to my location... Those monsters who shattered my life.

Feigning illness, I returned to the capital, leaving the academy and Daimond behind.

“My lady, rumors say you hid among the people. You must have suffered greatly....”

Queen Anas pressed my hand with a shameless smile.

“Go, your blood still lives!”

I recalled her stripping my saintly guise and screaming, “Go!” after me. I remembered her fury lifting Mimosa’s corpse with her boot.

‘The war is not yet over,’ I resolved. I would never surrender the throne to them. Thus I returned to the Kalsoye Empire to settle my affairs. A battle raged there—by feigning death on that field, I could vanish cleanly.

While I waged another war in the Laontra palace, word reached me:

“Daimond hovers near death.”

“He seems cursed.”

I was jolted back to the past.

“May I borrow some of your blessing?”

“Why seek such a cursed power?”

“It might prove useful one day.”

‘My power,’ I realized. Grimie had used my power to condemn Daimond to death’s door!

Whatever reason drove me to the battlefield, I spent nights at his side, trying to reclaim that power—my final act for him.

Then...

“I’m with child, Your Highness.”

“I... what?”

Life bloomed within me. At first I felt revulsion. The Empress’s anguished tears as she sent her child away. Mimosa’s fierce defense. To the girl I had been, a child was an impediment.

Yet on weary days, I felt the stirrings of life. “You idiot...” I murmured to my belly, feeling a gentle warmth—an intimacy as if we alone existed.

I carefully chose nourishing foods—meats and vegetables—to ensure the fetus grew well. Where once I saw every arrival of arcane weapons as threat, I now saw opportunity to guard my child.

At five months, a prophecy came:

“One born in the fifth month with red eyes shall sacrifice flesh to save the continent.”

The royals toasted in triumph—but I shuddered.

‘In the fifth month the child will be born. If it bears those red eyes like Daimond...!’

The approaching birth terrified me.

‘You must not live as I have. You cannot be a tool of war in this palace of poison and daggers.’

I journeyed to Astra, battling assassins sent by queens and nobles. I expended blessings until my body nearly broke. Arriving at Astra, I was a wreck. The Duke gasped:

“You’re... are you Daimond’s—?”

“I am Veloster of Laontra, a royal hidden in your estate.”

“What?”

I dropped to my knees.

“In my womb rests your grandchild.”

“What are you—?”

“A prophecy has spoken: this child shall be the savior who sacrifices flesh.”

“...”

“Please raise the child in secrecy—no, protect them outwardly.”

“But—”

“Why must the child die? Born only to suffer like me? Swear you’ll not let them live as I have.”

“...”

“For the love of our house, my lord....”

Thus the child was born. In that moment, I knew:

‘It is you.’

All my trials led to you—my Erilot. My daughter.

“You alone must not live as I did.”

In Kalsoye’s imperial guest halls, the Princess of Veloster murmured. Her grip on her skirts was white-knuckled. Her eyes blazed:

No one would dare touch you—I would defend you with my life, from the darkest hands of Laontra and Grimie alike.

“Have you penetrated Grimie’s organization?” she asked. A figure stepped from ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the shadows.

“Because he trusted you completely, my lady, I succeeded undetected.”

“Once we have the proof, the world shall see his true face.”

And so I will protect you, my beloved Erilot.