Chapter 45

“The chef is better at enduring torture than I thought.”

Of course, Roman had lightly poked himself in the head.

He was not a man who had always been friendly to strangers. It was Roman’s spiritual magic that played a role in his transformation into such an extreme, self-believing person.

It was very easy to reverse his feelings of hostility towards the Pernen royal family with magic.

The moment he met his silver hair and  purple eyes, the old man bowed his head in trepidation.

‘I wouldn’t mind confiding my true identity to the First Emperor… He’s changed his beliefs with magic, but *he’s too faithful.’ (*he=*Kwanach)

I’ve fixed your beliefs with magic, but you’re overly faithful.’

The beliefs that were turned upside down by the magic must have made the last remaining prince keep his faith.

However, Roman rather hoped that his existence would flow into Kwanach. Thus, Kwanach would blame himself and be angry at the fact that he failed to annihilate Pernen’s veins.

He (Kwanach) would look around for the last prince (Roman). But he (Kwanach) wouldn’t be able to find him (Roman) anywhere.

Roman wanted to see Kwanach exhaust his energy in vain. Then, when the experiment was perfect, he (Roman) was going to break the transformation spell, appear, and give Kwanach a shot.

‘Just thinking about it makes me excited.’

Roman was certain that his true identity would not be discovered until then. He believed that his magic was so powerful that even the gods were jealous.

But there was no such thing as an eternal secret in this world. Unaware of this fact, Roman began to move his fingers and formulate a new plan.

‘Anyway, it’s a waste of time for me to be stuck here like this. I have to use some method within the next few days.’

* * * *

Many memories were broken and united.

Blood. Screams. Dead bodies. Body parts. White birches. A telegram announcing the Princess’ death. Silvery forest. Mother. Wedding. White dress. Red blood. Crimson eyes……..

My memory was so messed up that I couldn’t make out the before and after.

I was trapped. I was lost in the mess of scenes that emerged in my memory.

As I did so, some of the scenes that had been changing at a dizzying pace disappeared. Darkness came in all directions for a while.

It was a pitch-black void with no discernible direction or position. As I struggled in the air, I heard a low voice from afar.

<You have to do it.>

It was an unfamiliar voice. Low and resonant, a woman’s voice.

But I instinctively knew the opponent’s identity. I didn’t need any proof, I just knew in my soul.

The owner of this voice whispering to me in the emptiness was indeed the Goddess Fahar.

<Usphere. You must. >

I tried to move my limbs to get closer to where the voice was coming from, but my body didn’t move an inch. No matter how hard I strained my vocal cords, I could not speak.

“What do you want from me?”

I was confused.

I wanted to ask the Goddess if she was going to send me back to the past, and what I should do next.

<Protect me.>

Protect me how? From what?

There were so many questions. But the voice of the Goddess soon disappeared and the surrounding landscape changed drastically.

The sharp, dry air touched my skin as if it were real. It was the smell of thick winter wood that reached deep into my head.

My vision, which had been pitch black, began to turn white and silver.

I was now in the middle of the Silver forest.

It was said to be the end of the world.

This was the forest that gave me my strength.

It was the mysterious place where King Achaia came through the gust of wind and prayed for one wish of his life, and it was granted.

It was the guardian land of my homeland.

But I could not find myself in this landscape. I could only observe the place as if I were a ghost permeated into the air.

Then, in the middle of the desolate Silver forest, I saw a familiar back.

<Please…..>

It was just his back, but there was no way I couldn’t recognize it.

It was definitely Kwanach.

He was covered in blood. It was difficult to see what color the cape on the armor originally was. His hair was much longer and messier than I knew.

His back, which twitched finely, looked terribly tired.

<Please ……>

His voice was cracked, as if he was about to snap.

‘Is it really Kwanach ? Why is he here?’

I didn’t even know if the scene was from a time period that actually existed. Is this an afterimage created by my dream, or is Goddess Fahar using her own powers to show me something…?

Just as I was in a state of deep confusion, a voice, even more vivid than the voice of the silvery forest, rang in my ears.

<Please……>

It seemed to come from right beside me.

<If I am guilty, why don’t you just punish me? She’s innocent.>

The voice sounded angry and guilty at the same time.

I was also used to this. It was Kwanach.

It was the moment I recognized it as his voice. Suddenly, the surrounding scenery began to distort. The branches of the tree that had been shining silvery broke like shards of glass.

Little by little, they scattered and broke, and the Silver forest scenery disappeared.

(*she just saw the scene of her previous life when Kwanach was in the silver forest wishing to bring her back to life.)

“Ah…”

Then the familiar ceiling started to come into view. My body, which had been as light as a ghost, became heavier and I could feel a distinct sense of reality.

My head felt foggy and heavy, and my throat tingled. Above all, there was no part of my body that didn’t hurt.

The eyes seemed to have been closed up for a long time, and it was throbbing and aching, unable to withstand the shining light.

“Usphere?”

A rough voice penetrated my foggy mind. Only then did I gradually grasp the current situation.

‘This is my bedroom ……. It’s the Imperial Palace.’

‘I’m not dead.’

I still couldn’t move a finger, but somehow my body seemed to have overcome the toxicity.

It seemed that my last attempt at controlling my magic worked.

It was a half-gamble attempt, but fortunately it seemed to have worked.

The poison I ate was a substance that only reacts to magic, like sclerosis, and by severely limiting my magic, I slowed the spread of the poison to my body.

That was how I woke up, and the first thing that came into my vision was Kwanach’s face.

With tears in his eyes, Kwanach screamed for the doctor. Then he stroked my forehead and cheek again with his firm hand.

“Do you know who I am? Are you awake? Oh, Goddess. …….”

He sighed and wept. It was just like the gentle, caring Kwanach I knew.

‘It’s a relief. I didn’t die.’

I gathered my strength and tried to speak.

“Kwa…nach.”

It was a voice that trembled and cracked badly. But I think Kwanach heard it. He gasped and began to shed heavy tears.

I didn’t know the man who scared the entire continent could be so easily moved to tears. It was unexpected, but I didn’t hate to see it.

It was quite nice to see Kwanach’s face, which looked so grim and hard in our first encounter, revealed his vivid emotions. I wanted to wipe away his tears, but instead of moving my hand, I quickly fell asleep again. I could faintly hear the doctor coming into the room. I also heard Kwanach’s voice mixed with tears calling out for me.

I couldn’t know what happened next, but I could clearly feel that Kwanach’s hand was very firm and hot as he grasped me.

* * * *

Fortunately, I woke up again within hours.

Simon told me that my body had entered a somewhat stable phase. I lay there for a long time, feeling sluggish and stiff all over, but my fever had gone down. And that unpleasant sensation of tightness in my heart.

The period of time I was unconscious was half a month. Fortunately, it was not that long.

As soon as Simon left the office, I told Kwanach that I wanted to be alone with him.

After Marianne left the room, Kwanach stared at me. His eyes were still red.

“Kwanach.”

I was feeling much better than before because I had taken a few sips of the medicine that restored my energy. Still, I had to stay in bed.

Kwanach was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at me. From the moment I woke up until now, he hadn’t left my side once.

“What happened to you during the last half month? My mind…kakkak”

As I was speaking, a cough escaped me. Kwanach held my shoulder lightly.

“Don’t say anything, just rest. I’ll bring you some soup.”

“But I have to tell you. Have you caught the culprit?”

Kwanach’s face instantly darkened.

“One of them turned himself in. It was the Imperial Chef. I am the guilty one, not noticing such a person and being so close to you.” (Kwanach)

“No, you don’t have to think that way. Of course you don’t know him.” (Usphere)

“Still, all those who attended the banquet are detained in the Imperial Palace. I’ve sent all the investigators, but they haven’t been able to find any clues, so tomorrow I’ll start questioning them myself……”

“What…..? Kakkak….”

As soon as I spoke loudly, I felt my throat ripping open and I coughed sporadically.

Kwanach shouted with a pained expression on his face.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just my throat….”

“You almost died and came back to life. Please, don’t worry about anything, just lie down and rest comfortably. I’m going to find out who did such a diabolical thing, even if I have to torture them thoroughly one by one.”

At that moment, Kwanach’s face was stricken with a cruel madness.

It was an expression he had never shown when he had been with me before. Everything he said was also extremely perplexing.

The number of nobles who attended the banquet was quite large. Many of them were accompanied by their family’s knights and soldiers. If Kwanach interrogates them like that…… there might be a civil war.

He looked at me warmly, and the hand that was touching me was as gentle as it usually was, but what was going on? Now what he was saying wasn’t rational at all.

I had to calm Kwanach down. I spoke urgently.

“Kwanach, please calm down. You don’t need to do that. I think I know who did this.”