“You’re pitifully rolling on the ground, aren’t you? Just like an insect… Actually, it’s not just today. You resemble me, you see. That’s how you were when you loved, wasn’t it?”
Hm, hm.
Sien was gasping for breath while slightly avoiding Ceria’s gaze.
Frankly speaking, she was afraid.
This woman is mad. Her status as an Imperial Princess would be no shield. The current Ceria was the type who could twist the neck of an Imperial Princess at any moment without it being strange.
Unpredictable.
The more intelligent a person is, the more they pathologically avoid such individuals. An entity that cannot be calculated can’t help but be an exception to any plan.
And so, Sien’s spirit was crushed. She couldn’t even properly meet eyes, merely avoiding the gaze.
Into the ear of the coward crept the murmurs of the maiden.
“Every day, you were only consumed by jealousy. But you feared revealing it, and on the other hand, you were afraid of being rejected… So, while buried in a corner, you realized that your love had gone far away.”
“…Je, jealousy.”
Was this an instinct trying to prolong life?
Or perhaps it was the last remnants of self-respect. Sien subconsciously moved her lips, swallowing the rising moan along with her tears.
“Ah, ah… Jealousy? No, someone like me could never…”
“Aha, those words.”
Thus, Ceria erupted in an empty exclamation. Then, with a lightning-fast motion, she pulled the sword lodged in Sien’s thigh.
There was no time for Sien to prepare herself against this move.
The sensation of her overly contracted muscles tearing was once again striking the princess’s mind.
“Ah, gaaahhhhh!”
“You’re revoltingly similar to me. His Highness can spend his life crying in a corner.”
And then, Ceria licked the blood off the blade. Like a cat cleaning its paws, meticulously.
That was the end.
Already, the blue eyes were silently looking down on the Imperial Princess. The gaze of a judge contemplating the verdict.
Should I kill her?
Or might she be useful? It could be a misunderstanding, but Sien couldn’t shake the feeling that the other was thinking this.
And thus, Sien felt even more distressed.
After all, she was pushed to the brink. Survival was unlikely, and yet, even begging for her life would be beyond the dignity of someone who’d lived as royalty.
How dare you.
Look down on the Fifth Imperial Princess, Sien?
The anger and resentment against the one who had subjected her to unimaginable pain twisted into a distorted rage that heated her mind. The driving force behind the maiden’s roar was solely based on that irrational emotion.
“Isn’t that horribly wrong?!”
To that retort, Ceria let out a thoughtful hum.
A hint of contemplation was visible in the slightly narrowed eyes. Under normal circumstances, the princess would have measured her words carefully to increase her chances of survival.
Of course, this was only under ‘normal’ circumstances.
Already furious beyond limits, Sien had no room for such considerations.
“I am, a criminal you say… How can someone like you understand my heart?! The regret, the regret that changes nothing no matter how much I have it?! And if he thought I was presumptuous? Arrogant?!”
Was this a last-ditch effort, or perhaps an outburst?
It was a truth without any deceit, and even Ceria couldn’t easily ignore it, letting out another deep sigh.
“Hm…”
“Why not! Rather than getting hated, I’d rather just stay by without interfering! That’s… that’s not wrong, is it?!”
These were words long buried.
It was from long ago.
The whole world hated the girl. Therefore, the girl resolved to hate the world as well.
There was only one person who truly cared for the girl. Even so, she had sinned against him, receiving much condemnation. The nightmares of childhood intertwined with these wounds, leaving deep scars in the girl’s heart.
Sien wasn’t sane.
She hadn’t gone through a normal growth process, and the series of events on a life-threatening day were enough to shatter her mind.
Everyone around blamed the princess.
She knew the reality—it was just a case of shifting blame. To avoid acknowledging past faults of accusing innocent people, someone else is faulted.
Isn’t this a common story?
But the problem was that she was a princess.
True invalids often don’t realize they’re sick.
Had Sien not been placed in such extreme circumstances, she would never have voiced the words she’d harbored. She herself wouldn’t have been aware of the identity of the stake driven into her heart.
The deranged princess was not even aware of this fact, merely raising her voice as her emotions dictated.
The cold blue eyes met the bloodshot gray ones as they clashed in the void.
The silence was not long. Eventually, Ceria began to nod in agreement.
“That’s correct, it’s not bad. The thought of not hurting anyone and in return not getting hurt yourself… That consideration, who could call it bad?”
“Yes, so…!”
But the princess’s words weren’t even finished.
With a deep sound.
Ceria’s sword pierced through Sien’s remaining thigh.
It was like an anesthetic injection. The fever of anger cooled down quickly, and it didn’t take long for raw pain to swell up.
The feeling was hotter than flames, sharper than electricity, colder than ice.
The closed vocal cords began to scream again.
“Ah, ah, gaaaahhhhhh!”
“Merely foolish. Living like that your whole life, so what? A life where you gain none of what you desire… Hehe, royalty isn’t much, is it? You boast about the blood of dragons yet end up being nothing but foolish, cowardly fools…”
It was a cold, and even more so merciless, mockery.
Upon hearing those words, the princess showed an immediate and intense reaction. Specifically, there was one word that particularly offended her.
“Royalty.”
As soon as this word was spoken, Sien’s eyes widened to their limit. Her anger was so intense that the grinding of her teeth could be heard.
“Take that back…! How dare you insult the Imperial House of the Empire?! For hundreds of years, our family has never lost its honor and dignity! Our father and our grandfather were never meant to be mocked by someone like you…!”
She had spent her entire life as a member of the Imperial House.
Naturally, her pride as someone from the royal family was unsurpassed. Had she not been nurtured under a kind father and the strongest grandfather?
Sien’s anger was justified.
Insulting the royal family was tantamount to insulting all the elders of the royal house.
Only the battlefield was a place where societal norms didn’t apply.
“The fault of having a fool for a daughter, I suppose.”
Sien tried her best to struggle, but the advantage had already slipped away.
With a smack, Ceria’s blade back struck Sien’s jaw.
Few could withstand the shock of the brain being rattled. In the end, the princess couldn’t put up any more resistance and fell flat.
Her vision was blurred.
Her mind was hazy, and it was difficult to lift her eyelids. The shaken focus was unable to return to its place.
There were only tears streaming down from sheer frustration. Had she ever felt this piercing helplessness in her entire life?
Suddenly, such thoughts crossed her mind.
Yes, actually, Ceria’s words were right.
A person who only ran away and negotiated could never truly possess what they desired—wasn’t that a truth she’d learned from early childhood?
Yet, she was still afraid.
Afraid of losing everything while gaining one thing.
Perhaps I didn’t have the necessary resolve.
And so, was my life ending like this?
So stupid, so stupid.
Tears flowed but there was no strength in her body. Merely her trembling limbs were undergoing the last convulsions of life.
Ceria’s hand slowly raised the blade. With an indifferent gaze, as though finishing an old assignment.
“Then, rest for a moment… Your blood will be useful, so I’ll make good use of it…”
Right at that moment.
A roar shattered the silence, and Ceria’s blade flew through the air. The startled blue eyes turned back to her hand that had been holding the blade.
Something had struck it.
Was it a flash of light… no, was it an axe?
Yet, despite the incredible speed, Ceria’s hand remained unharmed. It was an amazing resilience, but even so, her eyes inevitably widened to the limit.
Surely not.
Just at this moment?
However, throughout the entire continent, it was rare to find someone wielding an axe with such ghost-like prowess. Even rarer was someone who could throw it, and what’s more, the incredible skill of it spinning in the air and returning.
Ceria froze where she stood, and the labored breathing of some man broke through the silence.
“Hey, Ceria.”
Black hair, golden eyes.
There could be no denying it.
Ian Fercurus had arrived here.
