Episode 165

After hearing their conversation, I quickly realized it was connected to Ian’s rampage.

They said they made him lose control.

That creature had definitely said so.

Which meant Ian’s rampage had been artificially induced by them.

‘What exactly happened?’

But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. The memories were continuing to unfold before my eyes.

‘Thoughts later. Focus on what I’m seeing now.’

I forced myself to stay focused and stopped overthinking, concentrating on the Crown Prince’s memories instead.

Not long after, another memory set in the Black Forest appeared.

Once again, the Crown Prince was meeting with the man, or rather, the creature I had seen earlier.

〈The rampage was contained. Ian Blighton’s outburst didn’t spread beyond what we expected.〉

〈Divine power must have been used. You need divine power to stabilize magic.〉

The creature spoke with certainty.

〈I hear Lloydin Blighton is marrying Ayla Anaïs, and Noah Anaïs is a priest.〉

〈Oh, is that how things have played out?〉

The creature laughed, as if finding something amusing.

〈Do you plan to try again?〉

〈Things are getting interesting. Alright, I’ll wait for now and see how it plays out later.〉

The man’s eyes gleamed wickedly as he spoke.

With that, the scene began to blur and scatter again.

Amidst the shifting memories, another scene caught my attention.

At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but there was something specific that drew me in.

The Crown Prince was preparing tea with someone, secretly slipping a black pill into the cup.

More than that, it wasn’t just one occurrence. The same scene repeated several times.

That meant the Crown Prince had been feeding the pill he received from that creature to someone repeatedly.

‘Who was he giving it to?’

Curiosity surged within me, and I focused on one of the scenes.

It didn’t take long for me to identify the recipient.

The person sitting across from him was none other than Frederick Leteus, the Emperor and the Crown Prince’s father.

‘He’s been giving that to the Emperor?’

The creature in the Black Forest had said it—those pills were designed to slowly kill a person.

Feeding them to the Emperor meant the Crown Prince was behind the Emperor’s sudden collapse and inability to wake up.

The shock of that realization made my concentration waver again.

‘No, stay focused. Just a little longer.’

Based on everything I had learned about the Crown Prince’s heinous actions so far, I had a feeling there was more to uncover.

I had to see everything while I had the chance.

The memories continued to unfold in my mind, but for a while, nothing particularly unusual surfaced.

‘Is this it?’

I had expected to find more, but perhaps I was wrong.

And then, suddenly—

‘Wait…’

I recognized the setting and the people.

‘It’s me!’

What I was seeing now was from today.

From the Crown Prince’s perspective, I was sitting on the sofa in the parlor, dressed in my green dress, looking as uneasy and tense as always.

Which meant everything beyond this point was the future.

He had said he was going to the border, hadn’t he?

It wasn’t anything particularly unusual for a royal to visit the frontlines to boost morale among the troops. It happened from time to time.

But after everything I’d seen, I didn’t believe for a second that the Crown Prince was truly going to the frontlines for such a simple reason.

From the scenes I’d witnessed, it seemed he frequented the Black Forest for other reasons.

I couldn’t shake the suspicion that he had ulterior motives for this trip to the border as well.

‘What are you scheming this time?’

I didn’t know yet, but I figured that if I could uncover it now, it would only benefit me.

I quickly began sifting through the Crown Prince’s future memories.

Soon, I found a scene of him standing in the Black Forest once again.

And, just as before, the large creature was there too. But this time, they were standing quite far apart.

Oddly enough, the Crown Prince seemed to be observing the creature from a distance, as if spying on him.

As the Crown Prince moved closer, the gap between them slowly narrowed.

The creature still hadn’t noticed—or at least, wasn’t looking in the Crown Prince’s direction.

‘Is someone else there?’

Suddenly, the creature began speaking to someone else.

The Crown Prince shifted his gaze to see who it was.

And standing there, glaring fiercely at the creature, sword in hand, was someone I hadn’t expected.

It was Lloydin.

What was Lloydin doing with that creature?

Judging from the intensity of Lloydin’s aura and the oppressive atmosphere around him, it was clear that the situation was serious.

‘Did he come this deep into the forest during a battle? Is he here to kill that thing?’

But it seemed neither Lloydin nor the creature had noticed the Crown Prince’s presence yet.

No—that wasn’t right.

The creature already knew the Crown Prince was nearby.

I recalled how it had briefly glanced in the Crown Prince’s direction earlier, exchanging a knowing look before turning its attention back to Lloydin, smiling wickedly as if nothing had happened.

The tense standoff between them dragged on, yet neither seemed ready to attack first.

It seemed like they were speaking to each other, but the distance between them and the Crown Prince was too great for me to make out what they were saying.

As the standoff continued, the Crown Prince inched a few steps closer.

Still, Lloydin hadn’t seen him.

‘Something’s not right.’

The more I watched, the more it seemed strange.

‘Is the creature stalling for time?’

It felt like the creature was deliberately dragging things out, waiting for something.

Whatever it was, it was clear that it would not bode well for Lloydin.

‘Look over here. Please.’

I desperately wanted to shout at Lloydin to see who was nearby, but my voice would never reach him.

It all felt so real, as if what I was witnessing wasn’t just a memory but reality itself. Along with the urgency came a powerful sense of helplessness—there was nothing I could do.

As the Crown Prince took a couple more steps forward, I began to catch snippets of the conversation between the two.

Then, the Crown Prince stopped, no longer advancing.

〈So, you managed to follow me all the way here?〉

〈What exactly are you scheming?〉

〈Oh, you knew who I was, huh?〉

Despite the gravity of the situation, the man’s tone was playful. Lloydin didn’t respond.

〈Well, it doesn’t matter now. You won’t be able to do anything anyway.〉

〈What do you mean?〉

〈I mean, you’re about to die.〉

What?

Lloydin, about to die?

Before I could process the shock, the man lunged, swinging his sword at Lloydin.

But Lloydin swiftly dodged, and soon the clash of their swords echoed, over and over.

Dark auras began to emanate from both of their swords, swirling in a black haze.

‘Lloydin…!’

Fear and anxiety tightened in my chest, worried that something terrible would happen to him.

‘Please.’

There was no way for me to help him, so all I could do was pray that he would survive.

But my fears were unfounded. Lloydin gradually began to overpower the man.

As the man was pushed back, Lloydin relentlessly pursued him, pressing him with constant, powerful attacks.

The man’s sword was eventually knocked from his hand as he stumbled back.

Lloydin pointed his sword at the man’s neck and spoke.

〈If you agree to stop the war here, I won’t kill you.〉

〈Kill me? You think you can?〉

Even with death staring him in the face, the man didn’t seem intimidated at all.

Instead, he laughed, as if he found Lloydin’s words amusing.

〈You’ll never be able to kill me.〉

〈No, I will.〉

〈Will you now? Like I said earlier, it’s not me who will die. It’s you.〉

At that moment, the man glanced in my direction, locking eyes with me.

But no, it wasn’t me—it was the Crown Prince he was exchanging glances with.

And in that instant, the Crown Prince, who had been standing still the entire time, began moving again, stealthily.

He was heading straight for Lloydin’s back.