The King and Lee-Jae were traveling with the entirety of the 1st Order of Knights.
Their numbers reached nearly three hundred.
The knights rode with fierce momentum, and the sound of hooves pounding the ground echoed like thunder.
The King rode at the center of the formation, shielded on all sides by his men.
Mounted on a jet-black horse, as dark as his own hair, the King’s gaze was sharp and unyielding.
But if one looked closely, there was something unusual about him.
He was cloaked in a black robe—
and at his chest, something beneath it was shifting and squirming.
Trapped inside that robe, as dark as pitch, Lee-Jae cried out,
“Your Majesty! I can’t see anything from in here!”
“I can’t hear you,” he replied.
“You can hear me!”
“It’s too loud around us, I said.”
“Ugh! AAAAAH! Can you hear me now?!”
“I told you not to scream like that—it’s scary.”
“Oh, so you can hear me. And perfectly well, it seems!”
The King let out a breathless chuckle but still didn’t let her go.
Despite the urgency of the situation, the exchange between King and Queen made the knights nearby snort with laughter before quickly clearing their throats.
They were on their way to the presumed hideout of the Prince and Ilias.
This was only speculation, based on intelligence gathered by Jade and the 1st Order.
While a person’s identity could be disguised, Ilias’s distinct features were not easily forgotten once seen.
Just before leaving the palace, the King and Lee-Jae had a brief argument.
“Your Majesty, are you going in person?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If the Prince decides to do something drastic, I want to try persuading him.”
There were two possibilities:
Either the prince had fallen under the same dark magic that had afflicted the Western soldiers, or he was acting of his own free will.
The King and Lee-Jae hoped it was the former—but they suspected the latter was more likely.
When they last saw the prince at the palace, his mind had been perfectly lucid.
The only thing that had changed… was his appearance.
If the Prince resisted or made the worst possible choice, the King wanted to try one last time to talk him down.
“If you’re going, then I’m going too.”
“…Then should I just not go?”
He raked a hand through his hair, clearly troubled, but Lee-Jae shook her head.
No matter what state the Prince was in, if Ilias was present, then she must be there too.
After all, she was the only one who could see him.
“Your Majesty, a strong curse must be traced back to its caster to be broken. Same goes for possession. Otherwise, this will just keep happening.”
“Let me come with you. Honestly, I’d really hate to be left out and ignored.”
“What? Why do you always say it like that—”
And so, this was the result.
“Your Majesty, now that we’ve arrived, can you please let me out?”
Still holding her, the King jumped down from the horse in a single motion.
Lee-Jae, now standing on solid ground, fumbled around inside the robe in search of an exit.
Her round head could be seen shifting this way and that, her silhouette barely visible through the fabric.
The King used one hand to keep her waist steady and the other to press gently down on her head.
“It’s dangerous—just stay in there until I call for you.”
But Lee-Jae eventually shoved aside the robe and poked her head out.
She glared up at him.
The King scratched the corner of his brow and reluctantly let her go.
Roderick reached out to a nearby knight.
The knight handed him Lee-Jae’s rough wooden bow and quiver, which Roderick passed to her himself.
“Don’t leave my side. Stay right next to me.”
“Understood.”
Lee-Jae was fully aware that in the world of cold-hearted spirits, she was feared as a brutal killer.
But in the even crueler world of humans, she was nothing more than a speck.
With her quiver slung over her shoulder, she stood beside the King.
That was when Jade approached them.
“Your Majesty, we’ll handle the ambush. We’ll leave guards behind, so please remain here for now. We’ll report back the moment we assess the situation.”
“All right. Be careful.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Jade was about to turn and leave.
But just then, the King spoke again.
“Jade.”
“…Yes?”
Jade responded, puzzled.
But Roderick, for some reason, was looking at Lee-Jae.
She, too, stared back at him, confused.
Roderick spoke, his eyes full of caution.
“I’ve already told you, but the person with the Prince is using dark magic. At this point, we can consider it a fact.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I understand completely. I’ve informed the vice-commander as well. We’ll remain on high alert.”
“………”
“…Your Majesty?”
Still, Roderick kept his gaze fixed on Lee-Jae.
She thought for a moment—then suddenly realized what his eyes meant.
He was asking if it was all right to say what came next.
Without hesitation, Lee-Jae nodded.
Though her spiritual sight had sometimes been a source of pain, if it was something the King needed, she had no problem with him speaking of it.
That was why she’d come here, after all.
Roderick gave a small nod.
Then he spoke—and what he said wasn’t quite what she’d expected.
“The Queen is someone very rare and… precious. She can see things others can’t. That’s what Lee-Jae told me.”
His voice was quiet, but each word was spoken with deliberate weight.
Lee-Jae suddenly felt a strange emotion welling up, and lowered her head.
Roderick watched her for a moment, then chuckled.
“Our Queen values her privacy, so keep this to yourself for now.”
“…Yes, I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Go on, then. Report immediately if anything happens.”
As Lee-Jae watched part of the 1st Division rushing off into the distance, her gaze slowly dropped.
She knew the King treated her well, but she hadn’t expected him to speak about her like that.
Roderick glanced at her sideways and asked lightly,
“My lady, are you tearing up again?”
“…I’m not crying.”
“Then what’s with that face?”
“……”
“Should I not have said it? I just thought hiding it would be harder on you when you haven’t done anything wrong.”
Instead of replying, Lee-Jae simply held his hand tightly.
Roderick squeezed hers back even harder, and the knights soon closed in protectively around them.
The wait dragged on longer than expected.
For the King to move personally meant the intelligence they had was likely quite precise and detailed.
But before long, Lee-Jae started to feel something was off.
Do people usually hide out in places like this?
Though it was some distance from the capital, this place wasn’t exactly remote.
Blending into a crowd could be a method of hiding, but the Prince and Ilias were far too conspicuous for that.
And there was still no report from the knight-captain.
Given the time that had passed, there should’ve been at least some news—a skirmish, a chase, something.
Growing worried, Lee-Jae absentmindedly plucked at her bowstring—twang, twang—as she fell into thought.
Then she set her bow aside and began rolling the beads of her prayer bracelet between her fingers.
She wanted to focus and sense if there was any dark energy nearby.
As she murmured incantations under her breath, she furrowed her brows and tilted her head repeatedly in confusion.
Eventually, she stopped rolling the beads and looked over at Roderick.
A moment later, he voiced what she had been thinking.
“They’re not here, are they?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Jade returned with a few knights.
“Your Majesty. We may be too late.”
“Are you sure you searched thoroughly?”
At that, Jade, looking deeply apologetic, handed the King a single sheet of paper.
Roderick raised an eyebrow.
“What’s this?”
“This is a letter His Highness the Prince left behind at the place he was staying. It seems he anticipated the knights would come.”
The King snatched the letter with a hardened expression.
As he read, the chill in his blue eyes deepened.
He stood still for a while, the letter in hand, lost in thought.
As the silence dragged on, Lee-Jae began to feel anxious.
She gently tugged at his black robe.
He looked down at her wordlessly.
Then, as if to reassure her, he brushed her hair back and handed her the letter.
Lee-Jae’s expression, too, began to harden just like the King’s.
「Brother, this fight will only end when you stop.
That’s the only way to protect even a fraction of our land and people.
We’ve lost Melon and Russell. The balance of power has already tilted toward Daemon.
Next time, I won’t run. I’ll come to you myself.
–Edgar Compromito Blake」
Lee-Jae was momentarily speechless. The balance of power.
It was a phrase familiar to both her and the King.
Only now did they understand what it truly meant.
Ilias’s power was the summoning of spirits.
Melon’s matching power was spirit demise.
Schmidt’s power was barriers; Russell’s, counteraction.
Duncan’s foresight had no effect on the balance of power.
Melon and Russell had been wiped out as traitors four hundred years ago.
In the meantime, Ilias’s power had awakened—but the Royal family’s power had yet to manifest.
And so the balance of power had collapsed completely.
As a royal and a brilliant scholar, the Prince may have been the first to realize it: this was a battle the Cayenne Royal family could not win.
So… was it this compromise he chose?
“Send wanted posters to every checkpoint, and temporarily lock down the borders. The enemy uses sorcery to deceive minds. We’re short-handed. Reinforce the guard.”
The King gave his orders, then fell into thought again.
In truth, he doubted his commands would make much of a difference.
The enemy had no intention of fleeing or hiding.
They were confident of their victory already.
As Roderick continued to deliberate, Lee-Jae tugged at his sleeve once more.
He looked down at her.
“Your Majesty… are you all right?”
Her large eyes were filled with worry.
Her face looked as though she were the one betrayed, as if the pain were her own.
“What would I not be all right about?”
“……”
“Why the look? Did you have feelings for the Prince after all?”
He made an ill-timed joke.
He’d rather see her angry than crying.
But when her face twisted even more in sorrow, he gave a bitter smile.
“What is it? It’s all right. We all… expected this, didn’t we?”
“…It’s just too unfair.”
It hurts to see you like this.
You’ve fought the vengeful spirits alone all this time—and now, again, you must face another lonely battle.
But Your Majesty…
Perhaps the balance of power hasn’t collapsed completely.
Even if it’s just a speck of strength—I, too, can destroy a spirit.
“I’ll stay with you to the very end. I’ll stand on your side, no matter what.”
I will never betray you.
I’ll be the one who believes in you.
So please—don’t ever fall.
