Zion headed towards the main gate, the place in his dream, to find a clue.
As Cain had said, the appearance of the main gate where the meteorite had fallen was terrible. Part of the wall was damaged, and the road was deeply dug in places.
Not only that, but a thick wooden pillar was also broken and separated from the body, lying next to it.
“Ah, isn’t it His Majesty the Emperor!”
While looking around, a passing guard recognized Zion and greeted him.
“I came to see if the restoration is going well.”
“It seems that it will take a little more time to recover because the damage is significant.”
The guard said, looking at the gloomy state of the main gate. Zion, who was watching this, suddenly became curious.
The people who had the same dream as him were Royden, Bianca, and Lucas.
‘And Hills.’
He wasn’t sure about him. He seemed to know all the situations, but he didn’t intervene in anything.
At first, he was angry at his behavior of not saying anything even though he knew everything, but rather, he seemed to be angry at himself who couldn’t remember anything.
Thus he found out.
He wasn’t deliberately not speaking. It seemed like there was a restriction.
Then, the clues had to be found from Royden, Bianca, and Lucas.
‘What do they and I have in common?’
Zion, who was gathering his thoughts, suddenly became curious. Perhaps others did not have the same dream as me.
“Guard.”
“Yes! Your Majesty the Emperor!”
The guard answered with a lot of tension.
“Have you had any unusual dreams recently?”
At Zion’s vague question, the guard’s eyes widened.
“A dream…?”
The guard scratched his face and spoke as if embarrassed.
“When I get home, I’m always exhausted… haha.”
As expected. When Zion thought there was nothing more to gain and turned around, he heard a conversation from behind.
“Wow, how did they move that huge thing?”
“Bianca moved it with magic.”
“Bianca? The beautiful red-haired magician?”
“You know well.”
They exchanged secretive voices.
“The rumor is that she’s a fallen noble… from a rebellious family.”
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know? There was a big fuss last year.”
“Huh, was it real?”
The surprised man continued.
“But she has a connection with the Empress, so she was called back to the subjugation force. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. They brought a girl from a rebellious family into the imperial palace.”
Zion’s body stiffened for a moment.
And once again, the whirlpool of memories swept over him. As if to review, memories quickly flowed back into his head.
Royden, who was seriously injured protecting Irina from a demon.
Bianca, who ran away from the imperial city to save Irina.
Lucas, who looked at Irina with pitiful eyes.
‘Yes. Their relationship with her was a strong bond.’
Zion swallowed dry saliva. There was no other link he could guess.
Today, he had to talk directly with them.
Zion’s eyes sparkled as he found a clue.
As always, when evening came, the subjugation force members gathered and the meeting on the day’s report and strategy began.
“The dam was attacked and the village became a sea of water, it was not a joke.”
Royden delivered the situation in a tired voice.
“It was the same where I went. The land was devastated and all the crops withered.”
Bianca spoke, shaking her head.
Then suddenly, Hills slammed the table. His face was fierce.
“Damn it.”
At his strange attitude, the atmosphere in the meeting room quieted down for a moment.
Because he was the leader of the subjugation force, if he was angry with a sense of responsibility, they understood, but judging from his light attitude so far, everyone guessed that there was something else.
Suddenly, Hills looked at Zion and asked.
“You, don’t you remember anything yet?”
Hills stood up from his seat and slammed the table again.
“I told you to remember quickly.”
For a moment, their eyes met. Everyone swallowed at the low energy flowing from Hills.
“Stop it.”
Zion broke the silence that seemed to never end.
“I was going to talk about it anyway.”
Only then did Hills’ energy soften a bit. He sat down in his chair nervously.
“Everyone here had the same dream.”
Zion looked at Royden, Bianca, and Lucas in turn.
“A dream of a black dragon.”
Everyone slowly nodded their heads.
Seeing this, Zion felt nervous before speaking. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
It was that important to remember the dream.
“I must find the end of that dream.”
Desperation was evident in Zion’s voice.
“I would appreciate it if you could help me.”
Everyone exchanged glances, and Royden was the first to speak.
“In fact, I was the same. I was troubled because the dream kept lingering in my head.”
Then, Bianca, who gained courage, also opened her mouth.
“Me too… Recently, I’ve been feeling empty and void… I keep thinking it’s related to the dream.”
It seemed that Lucas felt the same way. He sighed softly and spoke.
“It seems we were all the same.”
With that, everyone’s opinions were combined.
For a moment, Zion felt like his strength was draining. It was because of the homogeneity that he was not the only one suffering this pain, and the relief that he had taken one step closer to the truth.
“Did you remember the dream, up to the point where six wings flew up to the sky?”
When Royden asked, Bianca nodded.
“Yes, I remembered up to the six wings, but no one could remember what it was.”
Then Lucas, who had been silent, interjected.
“Beings with six wings are not common.”
He stroked his chin in thought.
“One does come to mind…”
“What is it?”
Zion asked.
Anything was good. Even if it was absurd. After all, even this situation didn’t feel real.
At Zion’s question, Lucas raised his head and spoke.
“Arundel.”
At the unfamiliar word, Bianca made a curious expression.
“Arundel?”
“Yes. Arundel is the archangel I serve. She is symbolized by six wings and a silver spear.”
At Lucas’s explanation, Bianca nodded her head and said, “I see.”
“But… isn’t it too unfamiliar…? I didn’t even know about that existence.”
“I’m the same. It’s rare for an unknown being to appear in a dream.”
At Royden’s agreeing voice, Zion’s eyes widened.
‘Right.’
As Royden said, an unknown being does not appear in a dream.
Whether it’s an imaginary being or a real one, dreams contain the unconscious. Therefore, the things that appear in dreams should be known beings.
‘If… it’s not a dream.’
Zion set up another hypothesis.
If it’s not a dream but something he experienced directly, if he just forgot it.
“Let’s end it for today.”
Zion stood up from his seat.
Today’s harvest was enough.
Zion left the meeting room, feeling an excitement as if his blood was flowing fast.
But as if to pour cold water on such a high, a voice calling him was heard.
“Your Majesty the Emperor.”
As he came out of the door, Cain, who had been waiting, called Zion. His hesitant expression seemed to have unpleasant news.
“What is it?”
“Well… that is…”
“Speak.”
Cain stuttered and spoke.
“The Empress has collapsed.”
He was annoyed. Normally, he should have been worried first, but he already knew that she was not the woman he loved.
He thought about ignoring it, but there might still be clues to be gained from her, so he asked as a matter of course.
“Why did she collapse?”
“…The day Your Majesty visited…she was upset and crying… and today… she finally… collapsed.”
She’s really weak.
Zion, who was unknowingly frowning, spoke to Cain.
“She collapsed?”
“Yes. The doctor came and said it was just stress. Because of the prescribed medicine, she seems to be sleeping until tomorrow.”
Zion, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth.
“I’ll go to the Empress’s Palace now.”
“What?! Now? If you’re going, it would be better to go when she wakes up… Even if you go now, you won’t be able to see anything but her sleeping face.”
That’s why he was going now. He didn’t want to face her.
Even though he knew she was not at fault, his heart raced wildly when he saw her.
Nevertheless, the reason he wanted to go now was because he wanted to go to the garden of the Empress’s Palace.
If he recalled, he had spent a lot of time with her in the garden of the Empress’s Palace.
He felt hopeful that something might come to mind if he went there himself.
“You don’t have to follow me.”
Leaving a flustered Cain behind, Zion moved his steps towards the Empress’s Palace.
****
Zion, who was looking at Irina sleeping with her eyes closed, opened the door leading to the garden.
The brilliantly colorful garden of the Empress’s Palace was dyed in monochrome.
The bare branches and the snow that fell late at night covered the ground, making the scenery dry.
No, perhaps his empty heart was making the scenery that way.
Then, suddenly, a small glass building standing alone in the lifeless view caught his eye.
Zion approached the building and opened the door. As he entered, he felt momentarily warm despite the bleak temperature.
As he sat in the chair in the middle, a memory he didn’t want to recall came to mind.
[Don’t touch my body.]
Saying that, he had harshly pushed away her hand. When he remembered her expression, her eyes wide open like a startled deer, his mouth tasted bitter.
He had made so many mistakes in the past, he had put off telling her he loved her.
‘Love…?’
Suddenly, Zion’s expression hardened.
‘Have I ever told her I love her?’
Crack!
The crack in his memory came back again.
[I love you.]
[I love you, Ilina.]
[So… please don’t leave me.]
His head felt like it was going to explode.
He closed his eyes tightly, but rather, the vivid memories did not let him go.
He held his head tightly with the feeling that he was about to collapse,
Thud!
Unable to withstand the storm of memories, Zion finally collapsed.
