Chapter 5
“I’m going to the real world now. Everyone’s there.”
“Why are you going to the real world?”
“Because there’s a secret passage to…”
The more I listened, the more I didn’t understand. I wanted to ask more questions, but I bit my tongue and followed Harrison’s brisk pace.
Dozens of soldiers were assembled in front of the alcove, and they remained vigilant as they cleared a path for us.
“Alicia, you’re home.”
As soon as I walked in, I saw my mother, who looked nervously back and forth between me and Harrison.
“I wasn’t sure about sending someone downstairs to fetch Alicia, but I’m glad you were willing to come, Harrison. You’ve put my mind at ease.”
“Well, just in case, she’s dull and sleeping soundly when I sell her alone.”
“Harrison. Didn’t I tell you that if you’re ashamed of something, you’d better keep your mouth shut?”
“… I’ll go to His Majesty.”
I glanced wistfully at the back of Harrison’s head as he walked briskly toward the throne like a child who’d been spanked, then at my father and Fadel, who were in serious conversation.
They were dressed in armor, like men preparing for something. For some reason, all of their aides and entourage nobles were dressed similarly.
“Mother. What’s going on?”
“Alicia…”
I gingerly took my mother’s hands in mine as she hesitated, unsure of what to say.
“It’s okay, I’m here too, which means we should know.”
“Yeah, but… Why now.”
My mother’s voice trailed off as she tried to explain with a mixture of sighs and sobs. Her hand trembled slightly as she held my hand in hers.
“I’m glad you’ve finally woken up… I just wanted to make sure that only good things happen to you from now on… I’m sorry.”
A pit throbbed in my stomach; I wasn’t the daughter you’d been waiting for.
I lowered my eyes, avoiding my mother’s gaze.
“Alicia. Maybe I should go into hiding for a long time.”
“Hiding?”
“There’s been an alert. The Pordian Imperial Army is coming.”
Hmph, my eyes widened.
I’d thought it was just a rumor, maybe something far in the future, but it had become a reality so quickly.
“Alicia. Come here.”
I turned my shaky gaze to my father. My mother squeezed one of my hands and led me toward the throne.
“Your Majesty, the Podia Empire is strong. Please do not confront them directly!”
“Even if we had the power of the spirits, we can do nothing but hold our ground against the Emperor of Podia.”
“That is the sea Guo Yin wishes for. The Emperor’s mistake has put his people in danger, and we must at least buy them time to escape.”
“Your Majesty!”
“The hour is urgent, so let us cease this unnecessary idle talk.”
He raised a hand sternly at the fidgeters and turned away.
I stared far away into his calm face as he moved toward me.
“Empress, please follow these knights with Alicia.”
As he spoke, a section of the wall behind the throne opened with a heavy thud.
I stared into the darkness of the secret passage, then quickly glanced back at my family.
“Is it just my mother and I going?”
“We’ll follow, given the circumstances, but you go first.”
Fadel, who had been standing in silence, said in a soft voice as he walked over to me. Even Harrison, who was now standing beside him, chuckled and nodded.
‘Lie.’
They all pretend to be calm, but they can’t hide the tension in their eyes. My mother’s grip on my hand tightened.
‘I’m not the real Alicia…. Oh, my conscience is pricked.’
Click, click, click, it was like a needle piercing my chest. I grimaced at the throbbing pain and bit my lower lip.
“Empress, Princess. You must hurry.”
A knight approached us and politely pointed to a secret passage.
I glanced at my family, then at the passage, then narrowed my eyes. Then I was about to take a heavy step, following my mother, who was pulling my hand strongly.
-Quang!
At that moment, with a tremendous sound, the door to the real world opened.
“Flee, enemy soldiers, ka-chuck!”
With an indescribably brutal sound, I saw the tip of a sword pierce the chest of the knight who had rushed through the door.
I was too stunned to scream. The unreal sight flashed before my eyes like a slow motion movie.
‘That’s…’
The knight’s body leaned forward, the sword still in his chest, revealing the face of the man standing behind him.
There was a thud, and I couldn’t tell if it was the knight falling or my heart dropping.
‘You’re the owner of that wolf from yesterday!’
A man with blood-red eyes, blood-gray armor, and a red cloak appeared, one lip twisted, as if to match his red eyes. As if driven to madness.
“Stop him!”
The clot started in the first hour. No, I wouldn’t call it a clash, more like a one-sided massacre.
The difference was so overwhelming that I suddenly understood how they had gotten past the boundary and into the palace. I was dazed and disoriented as the scenes unfolded before me like something out of a movie. Eventually, I made my way to the passageway, almost dragging myself along, leaving the falling knights behind.
“Stop.”
But then, a man’s gravelly voice echoed inside. It wasn’t a particularly loud voice, but it had an irresistible force that drew my attention.
“If I catch one of you leaving this place, I will burn the palace to the ground.”
Before the man could finish his sentence, a raging fire erupted from within the secret passage. The only nearby light came from the candles on the walls, and the flames grew enormous, reaching out to consume us.
“They know I can do it. I burned down my own palace, why shouldn’t I burn theirs?”
We staggered out of the passageway and back into the real world, where the knight himself had to close the door to the secret passage he’d opened for fear of the fire spreading inside the palace.
‘Burning the palace? And ‘my’ palace?’
I stared at the man, horrified. His cold face, showing no mercy, seemed unreal.
“Emperor Podia, what are you doing!”
My breath caught in my throat at his outraged words.
‘Emperor…?’
At the title, I stared blankly at the red eyes that glowed cruelly beneath the jet-black hair.
‘The Emperor of Podia, you mean Thierry? No, no, he doesn’t have the same eyes. Surely Thierry’s eyes were gray…’
I was so startled that I forgot to breathe. I exhaled sharply and covered my mouth with a trembling hand.
‘There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize Thierry, even if I hadn’t seen him since he was a kid, there’s no way I’d forget the way his eyes looked…’
I scanned his face as if in denial.
Dark eyebrows beneath a neat forehead, slightly raised eyes, and a lower lip that was slightly thicker than his upper lip. I kept telling myself that it didn’t look like him at all, but the more I looked, the more I saw the face of a younger Thierry strangely superimposed.
“… Is that you, Thierry Rainerio, right?”
I was suddenly in my mother’s arms. I asked in a small, hoarse voice, and she nodded and patted me on the back.
I felt like I’d been slapped in the back of the head.
‘That scary guy was Thierry?’
It’s one thing to hear it, but quite another to see it. Thierry hadn’t just changed in appearance, he’d changed into a completely different person.
“There is nothing the Emperor can gain by coming all this way.”
As soon as his father’s harsh words were out of his mouth, a surge of energy swept through the room, and the light blue spirit from earlier puffed itself up.
“No. There is.”
His father and then his brothers called upon their elemental powers, but Thierry just smirked, as if it were a small matter.
“With so much to protect, war was the last option for Ashtad. We are not the first to strike,” he said arrogantly, as if he knew we would never strike first.
“I have changed my mind. I changed my offer. Send the Princess to me.”
Thierry’s gaze landed squarely on me.
“…?”
I didn’t even have time to recover from the shock of seeing Thierry again.
As I muttered, “Am I hearing this right?” The knights quickly moved in front of me, blocking my view.
“What?”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
“Your Majesty, you need not hear any more! I will wash away the insult you have just spoken, even if it takes my life.”
One by one, they exploded in anger. The brothers, the courtiers, and the servants all looked as if they would pounce on him at a moment’s notice.
“Of course, the penalty for refusal is death.”
Thierry stammered. Harrison’s face fell.
“I’m not afraid of death!”
Harrison leapt forward with incredible speed, his sword pointed at Thierry’s throat. It was a quick strike.
The Podia knights behind Thierry were about to move swiftly, but Thierry raised a hand to halt them. Then, with a rather leisurely stride, he stepped closer to the point of his sword.
Harrison’s sword was about to cut Thierry’s throat, but he pushed the side of the blade away with his fingertips. It happened in an instant, but Thierry’s movements seemed so relaxed.
“Your courage is admirable, but do others feel the same way?”
There was a short silence.
Harrison’s once angry expression became complicated. Thoughts were racing through his mind. More and more people were looking at each other, and the small ripple soon turned into chaos.
“… I’m sorry, Prince, and Your Highness, but this is not the time to think of our pride. We need to keep a cool head and think about what’s going on out there.”
Someone out of the corner of my eye mustered up the courage to speak up.
“Count Silveron, what a fool you are!”
“I agree with the Count. If our deaths were the end of it all, then we could fight to the death, but that’s not the case, and the powerless people will lose their country and their lives!”
He was like a candle before the wind.
