Chapter 101
“What—what in the world is going on here?!”
The Emperor shouted in shock. Behind him, Fernan’s knights who had burst into the audience chamber immediately assumed battle stances.
The Emperor’s own men, lined up on one side, hastily drew their swords.
Clang, clang!
The sound of metal clashing quickly turned the chamber into a scene of bloody slaughter.
The Emperor’s mouth dropped open as he watched. Trembling and pointing accusingly, he was approached by Fernan.
“If you had only harmed me, it wouldn’t have come to this,” Fernan said in a chilling voice, pointing his sword at the Emperor’s throat.
The sharp blade grazed the Emperor’s neck.
Fernan had been holding back for a very long time, all in the name of the empire or to prevent meaningless sacrifice.
But now, such pretenses no longer mattered.
The Emperor gritted his teeth and lifted his chin, his gaze wavering, when a calm but deadly voice spoke:
“You should never have touched my wife.”
Raising his sword as if to behead, Fernan’s blade descended mercilessly.
At the same moment, the Emperor fell backward from his throne, the chair crashing down with him.
The sword narrowly missed his neck but sliced through his white hair, scattering it on the floor.
“Ugh…”
The fallen Emperor felt his neck with trembling hands.
Fernan looked down coldly at the Emperor, who was shivering like a leaf.
Though he wanted to drive the sword through the Emperor’s throat immediately, now was not the time to kill him.
The Emperor was the most useful hostage in this battle.
Fernan handed the fallen Emperor to one of his knights nearby, then turned and strode across the chamber.
Leaving quickly, he ran down the hall.
Blood was everywhere: on the stairs he stepped on, the landings, the hallways. Outside the palace, knights were fiercely fighting.
Fernan walked with his gaze fixed straight ahead as if none of it concerned him.
Before the uproar in the central palace, an eerie silence hung in the villa.
Yulia quietly stared at the meal the maid had left on the table.
The food on the tray had been there for quite some time, untouched and cold.
She briefly recalled the glimpse of the outside she had caught through the door crack when the maid entered.
There had been guards standing outside even then.
But unlike yesterday, today there was only one guard.
‘If it’s just one, maybe…’
Yulia drew out the dagger she had carefully hidden in her bosom.
She slid off the sheath, and the small but sharp blade gleamed.
Biting her lip, she looked at the closed door.
Using the key Grayson had given her, she could open it and escape.
The guards would have shift changes, so late at night or early dawn the watch might slacken.
Yulia scanned the walls, which were tightly sealed with no windows. She couldn’t tell whether it was day or night, but the maid had said she’d bring dinner.
By her estimate, three to four hours had passed—so it was probably late at night.
Yulia moved quietly to the door, pressed her ear to listen, but heard nothing.
Straightening, she took a deep breath.
Delaying any longer would bring no solution. Enough time had passed, and she had thought over it considerably.
If she did nothing, the Crown Prince’s plans would succeed.
‘Yes.’
Determined, Yulia took the key, gripping the dagger tightly with her other hand.
Without hesitation, she inserted the key and heard the lock click open.
With a tense expression, she turned the doorknob.
“…”
She peered outside and saw a guard dozing off against the opposite wall.
Seeing his closed eyes, Yulia held her breath and stepped out quietly.
Her heart pounded loudly enough she worried it might be heard outside.
Suppressing a trembling breath, she hurried down the corridor.
Without once looking back, she reached a corner.
Facing the long, wide corridor ahead, she bit her lip but did not hesitate.
Her ankles ached from twisting as she ran, but she felt no pain.
At the corridor’s end, a circular staircase appeared.
Perhaps because it was night, no one was nearby.
Slightly relieved, Yulia hurried toward the stairs.
Glancing back, she saw the guard had not followed.
“Phew…”
Catching her breath, she looked up.
Just as she was about to descend, footsteps sounded from below.
Frozen, Yulia glanced down and saw three men ascending.
The Crown Prince and his retinue.
Seeing the Crown Prince leisurely climbing the stairs with knights, Yulia’s head went blank.
Instinctively, she stepped back and retraced her steps.
Running down the hall, she hastily opened the nearest door and slipped inside.
She stumbled and fell hard but barely felt the pain as she scrambled to her feet.
After locking the door, Yulia gasped sharply.
‘Did the Crown Prince see me?’
She did not know why he had come so late, but it surely wasn’t good news.
Anxiously lowering her gaze, the footsteps outside grew louder, and her eyes widened.
Heavy footsteps approached her room.
Desperately scanning, Yulia spotted a large cabinet and without thinking, dashed into it.
Sliding the door closed, she curled up inside, hands trembling.
Even if the Crown Prince hadn’t seen her, he’d soon know she was missing.
It was only a matter of time before she was discovered.
Her breathing grew ragged.
Tense and pressured, her insides twisted.
Amid the chaos and fear, a face appeared in Yulia’s mind.
Fernan, who had been like a dream these past months.
His refined face filled her thoughts.
She bit her fragile lips, wishing he hadn’t come looking for her.
Wishing he would pretend not to know and avoid losing anything to the Crown Prince.
She did not want to see Fernan harmed because of her.
If he fell as the Crown Prince predicted—if it was because of her…
Her hand tightened.
She knew she could not bear that.
Breathing quietly, Yulia recalled the past two years she had nearly forgotten.
Two years of marriage, the pain left by loving her husband foolishly, the days of brief happiness after fleeing and meeting new people.
Then that winter day when a man saved her from monsters.
Even when she foolishly misunderstood and resented him for dragging her back, he said nothing.
He silently bore all her emotions.
Knowing she was a burden, they thought it better not to be together.
So she left him again…
‘And now it has come to this. Again, I’ve ended up hurting him…’
Her vision blurred.
Why was she always like this? Why could she never move forward?
Tears she had stubbornly held back finally wet her cheeks.
Bang!
At that moment, something shattered.
Someone burst into the room.
Yulia opened her glossy eyes wide and froze.
Listening to footsteps searching back and forth, she covered her mouth with her hand.
The footsteps hurried closer and stopped right outside.
Yulia gripped the dagger in her bosom tightly.
Her pounding heart sounded loud in her ears.
‘I can’t hesitate.’
Steeling herself, the sliding door suddenly swung open.
Yulia raised her dagger high.
“…!”
But her raised hand froze in midair.
Her eyes began to waver as she saw who stood before her.
Not the Crown Prince.
“Yulia.”
The man she had hoped wouldn’t come was standing right there.
Fernan, his clothes soaked in blood, looked at her fiercely.
Out of breath from searching the villa, surprisingly rough.
Yulia gazed at him with wet eyes and murmured:
“…Your Highness.”
