She chose THAT over him?

The former emperor- Narendra was locked in a prison chamber. His hands were tied to the wall with chains. Remington ordered not to give him any food, but Narendra received a glass of water once a day. Though he was shot by an arrow in his heart, was tortured, and starved for two days, Narendra did not die. He wished to see Danyel saving the nation before his death. But he knew that he did not have much time left.

In the evening, Nimue visited him with Nimie. Narendra recognized them and wanted to shout at Nimue but he had no strength to do so.

“Look who we have here. Does he look like an Emperor to you, Nimie?” Nimue laughed wildly. Nimie silently stared at Narendra.

“NIMUE!! You traitor!! Why did you do this? Why?” Narendra spoke with all the energy he had.

“I told you to make me the empress, didn’t I? At least you should have made my daughter a princess. You’re just paying for your faults, Narendra. You deserve this.”

“How dare you say my name?! You filthy demon!”

Nimie, who did not utter a single word until then, could not bear to see her mother getting insulted. Her mother was the only person that Nimie loved and trusted. She was ready to go to any length to protect Nimue, just like Nimue loved her daughter. The two of them always believed that they only had each other.

“Shut your mouth before I smash it to pieces!” Nimie yelled.

Her voice echoed through the prison that the entire place went silent. Narendra was shocked. But he spoke to her calmly, hoping to persuade her to set him free.

“My daughter, don’t listen to your mother. If you free me now, I’ll make you a princess for sure. You’re my…eldest daughter, right? I can do anything for you, Nim…Nimu..uh…”

“Don’t call me your daughter when don’t even know my name. You’re waiting for your precious son, aren’t you? The mighty prince! He’s not going to come. He’s hiding somewhere like a coward.” Nimie glared at Narendra and stomped her foot violently.

Narendra did not want to believe that. He was waiting for his son to rescue him. And he regretted not developing a better bond with Nimie. Actually, he did not treat any of the concubines’ children well. He had no idea most of them existed. The reason that no concubine spoke up for Narendra was not that they were scared to oppose Remington. It was because they no longer cared about him.

“You’re a witch too, just like your mother.”

Upon hearing that, Nimue could not control herself. She slapped Narendra twice and kicked his chest. His wound began to bleed again.

“Don’t you dare insult my daughter!”

“When my son returns, he’ll get revenge. You all will have to suffer! Let’s see who wins. Hahahaha!” Narendra muttered and laughed as if he had gone into some kind of hallucination.

Then he suddenly started to struggle and made weird noises. He shouted at Nimue and asked for help. He even mentioned Empress Lalina and apologized as if she was standing near him. Tears were falling endlessly from his eyes. After minutes of shouting and struggling, Narendra finally stopped moving. His hands fell, his neck bent.

Emperor Narendra….died in the most non-kingly way. He had no one crying around him, no priests, no one praising his deeds…no one.

Nimie stared at Narendra for a moment and turned to her guards.

“Remove this trash.” She left with her mother.

***********************************************

Danyel and Yasvie were hurrying towards Sesiil. Much to Danyel’s wonder and relief, no one appeared in their way. But he could not avoid the guilty feeling that kept popping up in his mind for leaving Gianna.

Yasvie studied Danyel and understood his feelings. But she was satisfied that he chose to come with him.

“You’re worried about her, isn’t it, sire?” She asked calmly.

Danyel felt awkward that Yasvie had understood his feelings.

“N-no, I only thought if she was okay.”

Yasvie’s face turned pale.

“Why do I feel like I’m stealing you from her?” She was about to cry.

Danyel froze. Why did he feel the same way?? But he wanted to make Yasvie stop feeling like that. He grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

“There’s no one between us. I love you. Only you.” 

Yes, that was the right thing to do. He kept pressing Yasvie towards himself and tried to remove Gianna from his mind. He could not understand why he thought of that girl so much, whom once he hated the most.

When Danyel released Yasvie, she hugged him back. She did not let him go for a fairly long time as if she thought that she would never get another chance to hug him ever again. Danyel wondered what made her act so different but then he concluded that Yasvie might be feeling insecure and afraid.

“I’m sorry for everything, sire. For what I’ve done in the past and what I’ll do in the future.” She said out of the blue. Danyel rubbed her head.

“You’ve never done anything wrong to me, Yasvie. I’m the one who should apologize.”

After a moment, the couple began to hurry towards Sesiil.

********************************************

Gianna was leaning towards a tree; nowhere near the healing house. She could not walk nor crawl. The more she tried to move, the more she got hurt. She had managed to stop the bleeding. But Gianna constantly felt like she was dying. She spoke to the wind.

“Mother, I’m sorry for dying like this. I couldn’t save you. I couldn’t…be the one that you wanted. I couldn’t…” She could not finish her line.

Gianna instantly fell onto the ground. A teardrop rolled down on her face and fell to the ground from her right eye. Her pulse rate was lowering continuously. Her eyes were closed but she kept hugging her sword.

*************************************

After walking several miles, Danyel and Yasvie reached a rock which was called ‘The Moon Rock’. Both of them were slightly tired.

“Sire, shall we stop here for a bit?” Yasvie asked while panting. Danyel agreed. They sat near the Moon Rock.

Yasvie began to shiver after seeing something move. Danyel did not notice that.

“Can I…can I touch your sword, sire? I’ve never touched one.” Yasvie asked with a scared face. Danyel smiled and gave her the sword.

“No need to be afraid. I can give you anything.”

Yasvie stood and waved the sword. Danyel glanced at her and smiled dearly. But suddenly, a group of soldiers swiftly approached them from behind the Moon Rock. They were Lisdonians. Colonel Eswenth was the one who led them. Danyel stood up and covered Yasvie.

“Yasvie, stay behind me. Give me the sword.”

Before anything happened, Eswenth started to speak.

“Why are you covering her, Crown Princz? She brought you here for us.” He uttered while laughing devilishly.

Danyel could not believe what he just heard. He turned to Yasvie...

...only to see her slowly stepping away from him, carrying his sword.

She had a guilty look in her eyes and was shivering endlessly. But she was going away, towards the enemies. She finally handed over the sword to a Lisdonian soldier.

YASVIE TRAPPED HIM??? YASVIE??

“Darling, what are you doing? You’re supposed to give me the sword to fight with them. What are you…Yasvie, come to me!” Danyel still did not believe that Yasvie was betraying him. She was his lover. Lovers don’t do things like that, right?

“I’m sorry, sire. They threatened to…”

“Here’s the money we promised, girl.” Eswenth interrupted and threw a purse full of Semiis to Yasvie. Danyel was shocked.

“You-you betrayed me for money?” He asked with a quivering voice.

When Yasvie tried to reply to Danyel, Eswenth ordered the soldiers to take her back to Hesmia and give more rewards. Two soldiers dragged her while she struggled to say something to him.

Danyel did not see how she left. His vision was blurred with tears. At that moment, he could understand everything that seemed strange before. Yasvie rescuing herself, coming to Lisdonia without being caught, refusing to go with Gianna, suggesting going to Sesiil where they had many enemies, no one appearing on their way, taking his sword…everything could be explained.

“We won’t kill you here, bossz wanted to kill you with hisz own handsz,” Eswenth uttered.

Three soldiers approached him with pointing their swords at him. Though Danyel had a dagger with him, he forgot it. All his strength was washed away. He felt extremely weak. He surrendered easily.

Danyel no longer wanted to live. His whole world had fallen down and he had no reason to exist. A soldier kicked his legs and made him kneel. They tied his hands and blindfolded him. Danyel just stood still without stopping them. His focus was completely on the horrible moment that just passed on.

“It wasn’t her, it wasn’t her. There’s no way my Yasvie could ever do that to me. That was someone else who looked like her. Yasvie must be hiding somewhere. It wasn’t her. Please, be it someone else.”

But he could not deny that his precious sweetheart had deceived him as no one had ever done. Did not they love each other very much? Was he the only one in love? How could she exchange his life for money? Danyel had too many questions.

Danyel was on the way to Hesmia; to get killed by Remington. But inside, he was already dead.