Chapter 155

‘It’s a failure.’

When the temple knights bound him, the prince finally realized the situation. The outcome was more horrifying than he had imagined. Originally, even if the coup failed, the empire should have captured him, not the temple. If they had kept him alive, he could have been used to shake the empire.

‘And it’s a complete failure.’

The church forces had captured him and presented him to the imperial palace? How did it come to this? The prince, like a broken man, was captured without resistance.

Personal martial prowess wasn’t a necessary virtue for royalty, but having something was better than nothing. At least, if it were Ardein, escaping alone wouldn’t have been difficult.

He had trained in martial arts, but his skills didn’t even reach expert level. Breaking through this many people alone was impossible.

But then, hope appeared.

Hope with black wings.

*Splat.*

The blood pool soaked his buttocks. Prince Edmund, even as he fell on his backside, raised his hand and wiped his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Even to someone as ignorant of the world of the strong as he was, the opponent’s aura was beyond that of an ordinary master.

“Y-you… did you come to save me?”

The prince, who had been grinding his teeth at the temple’s betrayal, asked with a glimmer of hope. Honestly, it was just a throwaway question. If he had such a subordinate, Edmund would have known.

If he had someone with such power under him, he would have not only made them a close aide but might have even offered his own body. Whether they would have wanted it was another matter.

Neither knew who the other was. Yanid didn’t even glance at him. She had saved him only because he didn’t possess Hilrae’s divine power—nothing more.

To Yanid, the prince was as good as a nobody. This girl had no ulterior motives.

Whether the person before her was the emperor’s son or a woodcutter’s son, if she had to kill, she would kill. If there was no reason, she wouldn’t.

“Wait, if you have no affiliation, how about joining me? What do you want? Money, power, or a title? If someone like you helps me, I can give you anything.”

Whether the prince’s words were empty or genuine didn’t matter. Even if it were all true, it meant nothing to Yanid.

The girl was now one of the strongest in the world. She had never desired such power, yet here she was. At least among humans, only the top masters could rival her. But even with such power, she didn’t know what to do next.

Revenge was over. She no longer held any attachments. After smashing all those hateful faces, her grudge against the Hilrae Church was settled. She had no desire to seek out and kill some saint she didn’t even know.

First, she didn’t know the saint of the Hilrae Church, Sestine, and there was no direct grudge between them.

-Should I just kill the saint too? To show Hilrae what’s what?

And second, because even if that voice was right, she didn’t want to listen to it.

Once her grudges had somewhat subsided, the girl calmed down. Oberta, inwardly disappointed, tried hard to persuade her but was ignored.

If she ignored the evil god’s voice, what was so special about the prince’s? Edmund grew desperate. Without the help of such a strong person, his life was in danger.

As his head cooled and he thought more slowly, he grew even more afraid. He was still in his prime and didn’t want to die. But having done such things, he shouldn’t hope to live.

Even if he escaped alone, if the empire and temple united to find him, could someone as mediocre as him fly away into the sky or disappear into the ground?

Fleeing to another country was the most realistic option, but escape wasn’t as simple as packing a bag and running. Preparation was needed.

‘Damn Armata! Damn Arice! Damn Halonen!’

If the temple had prepared for this, it wouldn’t be the temple. They knew that even if they lost, their lives wouldn’t be threatened.

In fact, they didn’t even consider the possibility of defeat. Well, the temple wasn’t wrong. The one in danger wasn’t the temple people but Prince Edmund.

Once captured, even if the emperor tried to save him through underhanded means, countless people would tear him apart.

Other princes and princesses aside, the self-proclaimed heavy ministers of the empire would seize this opportunity to prove their loyalty by attacking him.

Proving loyalty with one’s own life was hard, but proving it with someone else’s life wasn’t. Once the opportunity arose, there were plenty who would greedily tear the prince apart.

Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine. He had to survive. Somehow, he had to survive. The prince even closed his eyes and shouted.

“…Evil god, Oberta! Is it her you serve? If so, tell her! I will gladly worship her. If she can guarantee my safety, I will gladly devote myself to Goddess Oberta!”

He hadn’t been entirely clean while in this position. Occasionally, he had dealings with the underworld and met some of Oberta’s followers.

The unique divine power of Oberta, distinctly different from the Three Divine Gods, was occasionally felt in that girl.

But no matter what he said, Yanid wasn’t interested. She just spread her wings and flew away. The evil god heard Edmund’s words but didn’t respond.

A prince who betrayed the empire and was abandoned by the temple. What use was there in taking him in? It would only provoke both the empire and the temple.

She had no reason to become the enemy of both forces now. In fact, she had no room for it. Having already suffered great losses, she needed to lay low for a while.

“Haha…”

The prince, abandoned even by the evil god, slumped into the blood pool. What should he do now? Should he run? But if he ran, what then? Would he have to hide forever, evading pursuit?

There was no next chance for him. He had used everything he could in this one attempt. The temple had betrayed him because it had no choice. In the end, his father had won. The prince had lost the greatest gamble of his life, and now it was time to pay the price.

“I lost.”

The startled prince turned around. A woman, without even a maid, walked through the blood pool, her skirt soaked, and sat beside her son. In her hands were two blackened silver cups.

“Mother…”

“It’s over. We’ve already lost. There’s no way for us to survive, so let’s have one last drink together, shall we?”

Edmund stared blankly at the Third Empress’s face, then burst into tears. He wept loudly. The empress closed her eyes and sighed.

“Now, neither the empire, the temple, nor the so-called ministers will let us go. In the end, His Majesty has won, and the ministers, sensing the wind, will side with him, using any pretext. The only way to escape is to die.”

There was nothing good left in living. If he delayed, he might not even be able to die when he wanted to.

There were many ways to make a person’s death as painful and cruel as possible. Humans were unnecessarily creative in such things. It was better to drink a cup of wine and leave peacefully.

While her son was busy making plans, the empress had prepared a bottle of poisoned wine. And two silver cups.

She had hoped there would be no need to use them, but things don’t always go as planned. In the end, this one preparation proved more useful than all the prince’s schemes.

In this final moment, it shone brightly.

“It’s all my fault. My incompetence has cost even you, Mother, your life.”

The prince bowed his head and wailed. Only now did he regret the past, but it was far too late to turn back. So much blood had been shed, and yet he hadn’t won.

He couldn’t blame the temple. He was the one who had orchestrated all this. The prince, with trembling hands, took the cup. He shared a final toast with his mother. Only then did he realize he lacked courage.

He didn’t have the courage to live through all the humiliation and shame. Sometimes, living was much harder than dying. They emptied their cups, and the empress embraced her son.

“Now, let’s sleep soundly with Mother.”

A short while later, when the temple knights of Elysia found the prince and empress, the two were already embracing each other, having departed for a dreamland from which they would never return.

Such is the emptiness of wealth and glory. The temple knights, without realizing it, felt a chill. Even though they had driven this mother and son to their deaths, they clasped their hands and prayed for their souls.

This long, drawn-out struggle had finally ended. Everyone sensed it…