There was nothing special about the woman’s appearance. She looked like a commoner at best. If there was anything special about her, then it would be the cloak made of unknown material.

Nevertheless, the woman didn’t look humble or low-born in the lightest. No, the woman looked more noble and dignified than any other royal family members and nobles that Adelaide had seen before. 

Adelaide was staring intently at the woman because it was so strangely remarkable. 

Swish.

The woman felt Adelaide’s gaze and turned her head.

“Ah…”

The moment she met the woman’s gaze, Adelaide trembled as if she had been struck by lightning.

When she met that clear gaze, it felt like she had been thrown in front of people, stripped naked.

Adelaide wanted her head to turn and avoid that clear gaze, but even that wasn’t easy. No matter how much she tried, like a butterfly caught on a web, she couldn’t look away from the woman’s gaze. 

The woman’s lips parted.

“Did you say you wanted to be the Empress?”

It was a soft whisper, but to Adelaide, it was louder than thunder. 

“I, I…”

She had forgotten about the fugitives’ plight for a moment, but now she remembered it. Only then did Adelaide realize how she must look as she spoke of her ridiculous hopes and wishes in front of people. 

Her face burned with humiliation. If there was a mouse hole somewhere, she wanted to burrow into it and hide. 

“We do not mean to question you, so put your mind at ease.”

If it hadn’t been for the man belatedly jumping into the conversation, then Adelaide wouldn’t have been able to respond for a long time and only chewed on her lips. 

“Yes. I want to become the Empress.”

She barely managed to say those words before she closed her eyes tightly.

How could she have said she wanted to become the Empress so many times? Wasn’t it just like a little child throwing a tantrum about a toy?

Even she thought it was pathetic. 

However, the woman didn’t mock or ridicule her. As though looking through her, the woman merely continued to look at her with clear eyes. 

“Whoo.”

Adelaide took a deep breath, straightened her back, and looked at the woman. Even if it was late, she wanted to show the woman her dignity as a princess.

But before she could squeeze out the dignity of the royal family, it seemed like the woman’s eyes deepened, and the world in front of her seemed to collapse as a new world opened up. 

The magic mounts, that had been made to withstand even the most powerful magic and sword energy, were destroyed and scattered all over the place. The remnants of the magic mounts were sliced and melted – this sight of the beaten magic mounts was so unrealistic. 

What on earth…

Adelaide trembled as she saw the corpses of the Owner Knights lying horribly next to the piles of the wrecked magic mounts. 

At that moment, a huge aircraft fell from the sky.

It was the ‘Fortress of the Sky,’ an invincible battleship that the mages, who had participated in the production, guaranteed would never fall. 

She turned her head and followed the long firey trail of the Fortress of the Sky. Engulfed in flames, hundreds of airships were falling down. They were the aviation corps’ battleships that the Empire was so proud of.

It was hell.

Rain of fire fell from the sky and black smoke rose from the ground.

In a world where everything was destroyed, the only thing that remained intact was the throne on top of a pile of ruins. Even in the midst of this terrible destruction, the throne was shining brilliantly.

As if possessed, Adelaide moved towards it. 

She passed the tomb of the magic mounts and the tower of bones built from the citizens and soldiers. Pools of blood grabbed the hem of her long dress and the bones of the dead soldiers pierced the soles of her feet, but she did not stop moving.

She finally reached the throne but it was not empty. A man with disheveled black hair sat on the golden throne. 

After staring blankly at the limp and motionless man, she stretched out her hand.

Thud.

The man’s head fell and rolled. 

The separated head had an expression that was contorted like a demon and had eyes full of resentment. Red eyes stared straight at her.

“Adel…”

“Brother?”

Adelaide turned pale as she retreated.

“Is this the kind of Empire you wanted?”

A strident voice burrowed uncomfortably into her ears.

“I, I just wanted to end the war…”

But before she could even finish moaning out those words, the man’s head rotted away in an instant and soon became a skull.

Rattle. 

The white skull clacked its jaw and said something, but all she could hear was the horrific rattling of bones. 

The skull crumbled to dust and soon, even the rattling wasn’t heard anymore. 

Adelaide stared blankly where the skull had been before turning her head towards the throne. The throne that had shone brilliantly even in the ruins but now, that was nowhere to be found. 

The only thing in its place was a hideous seat of power dyed a ghastly red color.

***

“What have you done to the princess!”

Seeing Princess Adelaide become frozen stiff like a stone statue, Ingrid shouted frantically.

“I’ll say this again. I have no intention of harming a child of Adenstein.”

However, the man’s answer was too calm. It only made Ingrid angrier; she drew her sword. 

“Though she may be in this wretched state, she is still one who has inherited the blood of Adenstein! Who on earth are you that dare look upon the name of Adenstein as if it is worthless!”

Her sword energy hadn’t lost its vigor even in the midst of these hard days as they escaped and now, that energy was aiming at the man’s neck. 

At that moment, the man frowned at her.

That was all. He didn’t glare at her fiercely nor did he reach out and threaten her. Yet, Ingrid turned pale as she felt a terrible sensation. It was as if her entire body was being shredded into dozens of pieces.

“If it weren’t for your past relationship with her, I would never have allowed you to dare jump around imprudently in front of her.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the blade that had been full of sword energy cracked. Then, the sword instantaneously turned into dust and blew away.

Ingrid stared blankly at her sword. It had lost its entire blade.

“Despite time passing like flowing water, the House of Trail is still loyal. And I speak to you as one who acknowledges and respects that loyalty.”

The woman spoke when she saw that Ingrid was stunned. 

“Nothing has happened to the one you serve.”

Her identity was as unknown as the man’s was. But for some reason, the moment Ingrid heard those words, she lost her tension. 

“As a knight, it must have been tiring for you to have traveled with a pack of wild dogs. Now, you can rest easy and recover.”

Before the woman even finished speaking, Ingrid began to feel sleepy.

“An escorting knight must not fall asleep before the one they guard…”

She tried to say the escort knight’s creed, but she couldn’t win against her drowsiness. Before she realized it herself, Ingrid dropped down, asleep. 

***

“Tsk. She is exactly like Sir Trail in her artlessness.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok clicked his tongue as he looked at the lady knight who was still clutching her bladeless sword. Previously, he had looked disapproving but now, there was nothing but joy and nostalgia on his face. 

“Just as the Adenstein blood is still strong in that child, Sir Trail’s blood is just as strong and hasn’t weakened at all.”

Ophelia looked like she felt the same. It seemed like she was remembering Asha Trail, a knight who had once followed her. 

“What will you do?”

But, that was only momentary. Ophelia soon pushed aside her longing and looked sternly at her husband. 

“When I received the magic mount from Victorius, I promised that I would help out the Empire once. But I never thought I would give help in a situation like this.”

Ophelia sighed when Kim Seon-Hyeok babbled an excuse with a guilty look on his face. 

“Didn’t I tell you multiple times that he was a clever child who inherited the blood of his grandfather? I warned you repeatedly that you had to be careful if you wanted to avoid an awkward situation.”

“Rather than his grandfather, I think he took more after his mother…”

Ophelia glared at him when he spoke tactlessly; he began to feign innocence instead. 

“Adelaide’s name means ‘to be valuable and noble.’ Do you understand what that means?”

When Ophelia asked him that question, he naturally shook his head.

“For a princess to be given a name that means ‘valuable and noble’… it means that the Imperial Palace has lost its dignity to the point where the princess wouldn’t be acknowledged as precious without it.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s face hardened. He had heard about the discord between Adelaide and the knights on their way here from the Qeishas, so it wasn’t completely surprising.

“That damned Victor.”

He cursed his blameless child. But it was pointless since it had already been 400 years since Victorius had left this world. Although he had absorbed the Eternal Flower, Victorious hadn’t been able to experience its full benefit because of Akrich’s curse. 

“If you help that child, then the situation will be one where you will have to kill others with your own hands. However, if you do not help her, then you will be going against the vow observed by the Dragon. It has truly become a tricky situation.”

At Ophelia’s words, he peeked at Adelaide.

He felt complicated. While he had thought that eventually, the day would come where he kept his promise to Victor, he had never imagined a civil war. As of right now, he couldn’t decide how he should help his pitiful descendent.

“It will take at least one day for her to awaken from the Dream Test. Perhaps that child will realize exactly what her dream entails and give up herself. If that happens, you may be able to keep your promise to Victor in another way. However…”

“There is no way that child, who might as well be a copy of you, would give up on her dreams.”

Instead of being frustrated and falling into despair over the rough escape, she had dreamt of becoming the Empress. It didn’t seem like the child would give up on her dream after seeing a glimpse of the future’s hardships. 

“Unlike the way she looks, she is determined and firm.”

Once again, Ophelia agreed with his expectations. She was a woman with the ability of insight, there was no way her predictions would be wrong. 

“Whoo. I got one magic mount and now, I’m being led by my nose.”

No matter how much he cursed Victorius, he had been the one to take the bait, so he couldn’t complain now.

“Well, let’s go inside first. We can’t stay up all night out here.”

When Kim Seon-Hyeok raised his hand, the Qeishas, who had been hiding in the shadows of the forest and watching the situation, appeared. 

“Move those children into our house.”

“What shall we do with the dead bodies, sir?”

One of the Qeishas pointed at the corpses of the assassins and the knights.

“Remove their armor and weapons. Then, you can deal with the rest in the way of the Qeishas.”

“All life belongs in Mother’s arms.”

With that short answer, the Qeishas began tidying up their surroundings silently.

***

Adelaide’s consciousness had been lost and floating in an unknown place when it finally regained a sense of reality.

“Mm…”

Her dream had been so vivid that she laid there, staring blankly as she worked through the lingering feelings. She suddenly sat up.

She had finally looked around her surroundings, only to see an unfamiliar hut. 

However, It wasn’t a crude wooden house built by the commoners. Rather than being crude, it simply had minimalist furniture and appliances. 

Snore. Snore.

As she looked around, she heard someone snoring. It was Ingrid von Trail.

The loyal lady knight had stood firm even in their arduous journey, but now, she was knocked out cold. She didn’t even notice Adelaide had woken up.

“Of course she would be tired.”

Ingrid had been afraid that the sword-wielding ruffians, who didn’t have an ounce of loyalty in them, would harm the princess. Knowing that Ingrid hadn’t slept properly on the march over, Adelaide didn’t want to wake her up.

She sat up after momentarily staring at Ingrid. She felt so refreshed to the point it was strange. All the mental and physical fatigue that had accumulated while they had been fleeing disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with.

“It feels like I slept and woke up in my own room.”

The rough bedding and hard bed were crude and incomparable to that of Imperial Palace, but at this moment, Adelaide felt so at peace, both mentally and physically. 

It felt like a troublesome problem had disappeared. 

But she knew that the things she had seen in her dream most likely would happen, that it was something that would happen in the near future. 

This peaceful scenery that she was seeing now was the last bit of peace she would enjoy before she plunged into the fires of hell.

When she settled on a decision and cleared her head a bit, she began to become curious as to where this was.

After looking around the house a bit, she left the house. Adelaide walked out of the picturesque hut and strolled around outside as she enjoyed the vitality and richness of the forest.

But that only lasted until she saw a golden object jutting out from the thick trees behind the hut. 

“This is?”

It was a massive object that couldn’t be hidden by even the largest tree and it was something that was familiar to her.

It was a magic mount. It was an older model and it was impossible to guess the age of it. It had one knee bent as it silently slept.

“That’s Goldrachen.”