Episode 62

I looked at Aiden, caught in a dilemma, and after a long pause, I finally managed to deliver a gentle rejection.

“I don’t have the luxury to think about marriage right now.”

“I will wait until Your Majesty’s heart finds that space. I am used to waiting.”

Aiden proudly claimed that he was a dog trained to wait.

In his own way, he was just as persistent as Lian, though for different reasons.

I didn’t have the energy or time to argue with him, so I simply nodded.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Aiden looked satisfied.

As he glanced around at the books scattered on the floor, he asked.

“What were you doing?”

“I was researching the Serpent’s power.”

I answered as I sat down in front of the book I had been reading before Aiden’s intrusion.

I was about to tell him that it was late and he should go, but before I knew it, Aiden had settled down in front of me.

“You were looking into the Serpent’s power?”

I considered sending him away, but then thought it might be better to keep him here. Even though he claimed not to know about the powers of the other beasts, he was still a beast himself, so he might know more than I did.

I decided to ask him about the part that had been bothering me the most.

“Aiden, I’m sorry to bring up painful memories, but I have something to ask.”

“Please, ask me anything.”

“You mentioned before that the Empire’s Dog isn’t weak.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I told you that using the dog’s power twice doesn’t necessarily turn someone into a shell, like it did my father.”

“So there’s no set number of times it can be used? Then, how many times could you use that power at the maximum?”

“It depends on how long the berserker state is maintained… but I would say up to three times is safe. Perhaps four, at most.”

“So the duration of power usage matters? Then, if you only use it briefly each time, is it possible to use it more than four times?”

Aiden tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. His eyes momentarily gleamed, but then returned to their usual look as he shook his head.

“I think more than four times would be difficult, Your Majesty.”

Judging by his response, even saying four times was likely pushing the limit.

So, on average, three times…

Could the other beasts be the same as the Dog?

As I pondered this, another question came to mind.

“Aiden, what happens if you use the power more than four times?”

“You die.”

I had asked lightly, but the answer was terrifying.

Aiden looked at my shocked face and seemed to realize why I was asking these questions.

“Are you wondering if Duke Zernia can use his power again, and how many times he has used it so far?”

When I nodded, he stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

If someone said a person had four years left to live, that would be an incredibly short time. But when you consider that the Serpent pays for its power with lifespan, it raises many questions.

How did they calculate that number?

Is it even possible to calculate how much life someone has left?

And how many years of life does one use when invoking that power?

After pondering these questions for a while, Aiden finally gave his answer.

“The Dog’s rampage can be stopped if the situation ends early or if the master commands it. That’s why I said up to four times. But let’s assume the Serpent doesn’t work that way. If it’s true that Duke Zernia has only three or four years left, then he must have used his power at least twice.”

“Then he might be able to use it one more time.”

“If he does, it will likely kill him instantly.”

Aiden added this ominous warning, but it brought no comfort at all.

The opponent is a mad Serpent.

If he’s resolved to die, he might devise a plan to kill countless people, including Aiden and Vitrain.

The most terrifying scenario I could imagine was him controlling me.

As the acting Emperor of the Great Empire, and with the kind Lothania likely to applaud anything I say, it could be disastrous.

The same went for Aiden, who was sitting in front of me with a serious expression.

Surely he wouldn’t actually die if I told him to, right?

Even using that power on Lothania would cause endless trouble.

And if, by some chance, Aiden were to fall under the Serpent’s curse and become a berserker…

Just imagining it was terrifying.

I had been trying to find a way to prevent anyone from dying, but my head was already starting to ache.

He said it was his last wish—should I just close my eyes for four years and marry him?

Or should I blindfold him and lock him away somewhere?

Thinking of Lian’s threatening words made me want to lock him up in a dungeon somewhere.

But it felt wrong to treat someone so harshly, especially when he was trying to help Lothania and me, even though he had little time left to live.

Besides, how could I explain this to Lothania and Melbrid?

Melbrid, who was always so worried about his brother, unlike the heartless Lian—it would be cruel to him.

In the end, it seemed the only option was to persuade him and find a compromise.

Last time, he was unusually agitated, but maybe if we met again and discussed things calmly…

Would a conversation, which had never worked before, actually work this time?

I felt uneasy.

As I threw the book I was holding aside and clutched my head, I noticed Aiden’s expression had turned grave.

“Aiden? What’s wrong?”

“Who else could he have used it on?”

“Used what?”

“The Serpent’s power. If one time was on Marchioness Senwood, who was the other time used on…?”

“Couldn’t it have been while His Majesty was still alive?”

“His Majesty hasn’t used the beasts’ power since my father’s time.”

A chill ran down my spine at Aiden’s reply.

They said the Serpent’s power could stir the hidden desires in someone’s heart, making them act in ways they normally wouldn’t.

And yet, no one—not even those under the Serpent’s curse—realized they were being controlled.

It’s a terrifying power, capable of making someone kill their own beloved wife and child.

If someone other than Marchioness Senwood had also fallen victim to the Serpent…

A figure flashed through my mind.

No matter how much I shook my head, the same face kept appearing before my eyes.

No, it couldn’t be. Surely not.

Even as I desperately tried to deny it, the suspicion kept resurfacing. Aiden muttered in a voice filled with despair.

“Minster…”

“Minster?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. He wasn’t the type to betray the White Shadow just for money. I always thought it was strange that he was supposedly bribed by Marchioness Senwood.”

Yes, that’s possible.

Lian could have resorted to such measures out of frustration since he couldn’t arrest Bonita based solely on the suspicion that she had assassinated the Emperor.

Weren’t Aiden and the former Duke Tilender the ones who handpicked and personally trained the members of the White Shadow?

Unless it was the Serpent’s curse, they wouldn’t have betrayed so easily.

Hoping Aiden’s suspicions were correct, I nodded vigorously.

But Aiden, who had been doubting his traitorous subordinate, soon tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“If he was trying to create a witness, then why…? And wasn’t it Duke Zernia who insisted Minster was useless as a witness?”

Seeing Aiden’s eyes swirling in confusion, seemingly chasing the truth that was about to be revealed, I closed my eyes.

The muttering of “It can’t be” continued, and I heard Aiden grinding his teeth.

“Your Majesty.”

“Don’t say it.”

“But, Your Majesty—”

“It’s just speculation. Don’t say it out loud.”

I needed time.

Time to accept that this unthinkable suspicion might actually be true.

Aiden, understanding the plea in my voice, remained silent, waiting.

His face, too, was filled with conflicting emotions.

Last summer, the day after I married Emperor Nerian, he died.

And not long ago, Princess Bonita, who had killed the Emperor and tried to usurp the throne from her niece, also died.

Lothania mentioned it.

How Aunt Bonita, who had been so kind and filled the void left by her mother, suddenly started acting strangely last autumn.

Even the old chamberlain, who had witnessed Bonita and Nerian’s childhood, said so.

Though Bonita coveted the power of the pact, there was no way she could have killed the brother she had been so close to since childhood.

Yet, despite there being no concrete proof, all the evidence inexplicably pointed to Bonita.

The act of regicide is treason, and traitors must die. The one who loudly proclaimed this, and ultimately strangled her to death, was the Empire’s Serpent.

When Emperor Nerian, the master of the beasts, died, someone told me that among the three beasts of the Empire, there was one who had committed the regicide.

Another person said that as long as the power of the pact enforced their loyalty, the beasts could never harm the Emperor.

When did I start missing the signs?

The pact. The leash of the pact.

It was the very thing the beasts had been desperate to escape from.

And it was the beginning of all this.