Translator – Yue“Oh, you didn’t know? Your sister is currently in prison for attempting to assassinate you.”Alicia looked at him, perplexed. Honestly speaking, this was the first time she was hearing about this.“Judging from your expression, you didn’t know any of this, did you? You recently called some merchants into your Palace for your birthday celebration, right? Patricia disguised herself as a merchant and tried to kill you. The King had her arrested and placed in prison.”“How could she…”“The King had issued an order of arrest for both Count Clovis and Patricia. That woman barely managed to escape alive thanks to me and became a fugitive. She wanted her revenge, so I used that in my favor. While the guards were busy arresting her, we managed to place a few Arc Stones around your Palace. That’s why the King immediately sent you away, just like we anticipated.”So… that’s why Ivan sent her off. For her own security. But… why didn’t he say anything? If he had told her why, then
Translator – YueThe announcement of her death. She’d die today.In spite of the fear, Alicia stared at him in the eye with loathing.“If I die by the hands of someone from Coulson, I fail to see how you’d by any better.”“I’ll make sure if looks like you were abducted by Ehrlich citizens. A few poor, starving farmers saw the expensive clothes and accessories you were wearing and simply couldn’t help themselves… then things got out of control and, well, they made a mistake.”Only then did Alicia notice that all the accessories she was wearing were gone. Even the coat Mrs. Cessly had given her had disappeared.“I’m thinking of burning this place. I’ll leave some of your things here and then I’ll give the rest to those starving idiots. Once they try selling your stuff in the market, the Palace Guards will surely catch wind and follow their trace. They’ll be judged, imprisoTed and executed in the end, and everything will go on according to my plans.”Danil looked at Alicia with his silve
Translator – Yue“My Duke, it’s time.”With the signal, Danil himself tensed his bow, ready to shoot the arrow. By this time, the Queen must have already drank the poison, so she should be dead by now. Danil knew that people on the verge of death always chose the less painful method to go.“Ignite the arrow head.”As soon as he said his order, the cloth imbued with oil that was tied around the arrow head quickly caught fire. The cabin was made of wood, but they’d taken the precaution of spreading oil around the area, anyways. The second the arrow landed anywhere near the cabin…It would be quick.Danil wished Alicia had indeed taken the poison he’d offered her. It would be foolish of her to hope for a way out, and besides, he’d been honest when he said he didn’t want her to suffer.Danil incliTed his head as a last farewell. He aimed nervously at the cabin, ready to let the arrow why when…A knife came flying towards him, stabbing his hand. At the same time, many voices around screame
Translator – YueThe man who caused such commotion was Basil. Ivan realized the strangeness of the situation as Basil threateTed the royal guards, who were approaching him with swords in hand.Shouldn’t his Grand Chamberlain be among the people by his side as soon as he opened his eyes? Why were they trying to block him from entering the room?“Basil, what’s all this…?”“Ivan!” Basil started crying when he saw him. He threw his sword and quickly went to Ivan’s side.“So you are really awake. The Queen is…”“Basil!”The Queen Mother yelled with rage.“What are you trying to tell someone who’d just regained consciousness? Don’t say useless things and leave, now!”“Your Majesty, Queen Dowager! You can’t do that. I need to tell His Majesty the truth immediately!”“You dare oppose my orders? I’ve been to indulgent with you for too long, and now you dare talk back to me? Guards! Take him!”Upon the Queen Mother’s orders, the guards approached Basil. However, they were stopped by Ivan.“Back
Translator – YueThis time, he called her name again in real life, not in his past life memories. His eyes moved in the dark but couldn’t see anything. Since there was no response, Ivan’s faith started vanishing.He was too late, again. Did he repeat his past life mistakes? Was it foolish to bring her back to life again, just to let her die again with the same anguish…?Creak…Ivan heard something behind him and quickly turned around. The faint light that was coming from the opened door allowed him to faintly see. When his eyes finished adjusting to the dark, he could tell that there was a pile of something, possibly wood, on the floor. He could also see the silhouette of a person sitting against the wall. It was Alicia.“…”He was looking at her with his own eyes, but he couldn’t believe it. He had pictured her lying on the floor, dead, too many times, so seeing her alive felt like an hallucination.“Alicia?”He approached her, stunTed. He could see that there were scratches on her h
Translator – YueOnce back in the Palace, Mrs. Cessly burst into tears upon welcoming Alicia back. She sobbed loudly while hugging her.“my Queen, I’m so happy you’re alright. I’m so happy… I was very worried thinking of what could have happened to you. Oh, God, what happened to your hands?”The sight of Mrs. Cessly, whose eyes were swollen and red from crying so much, made Alicia tear up as well. Once more, she realized the importance of having someone like Mrs. Cessly by her side.Mrs. Cessly immediately went to call for a doctor so he could check Alicia’s wounds. The treatment was simple. The doctor carefully removed the wood shards from Alicia’s hands and then proceeded to clean and disinfect the area. Mrs. Cessly would anxiously look at the doctor from time to time, and only when he assured her that both mother and child were safe did she let out a relieved sigh.“In any case, my Queen, you must be exhausted after what happened today. You should go to bed early, rest and…”“Actua
Translator – YueT/N: These are memories from Ivan’s past life.“Why?! Why did you do it?!” After leaving Alicia’s cold corpse, Ivan ran off to find his mother. He was furious. “She just lost her baby but you didn’t care! You didn’t show her any mercy and simply threw her in prison! Why?! I’m asking you, why did you do it?!”To anyone it would seem that Alicia had just witnessed her husband being unfaithful to her. Immediately afterwards she lost her baby in an accident. That would be enough to scar her for life. However, the Queen Mother did not show her any pity nor mercy and had her put in jail.Ivan couldn’t believe that his own mother would do such thing.“I’m asking you, why did you do it?”Ivan grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. He could barely hold back the urge of strangling her.“You did that! You caused this!” the Queen Mother pushed Ivan’s hands away and screamed at him. “It was you who forced mi into it. You put me on that spot, and you cut off all possible escap
Translator – YueIvan took out the dagger from her stomach. Blood poured everywhere, staining the floor. The Queen Mother let out a paiTed gasp and collapsed.Looking at her lying on the floor, impotent, Ivan simply stared at her with no emotion on his face. He whispered “you and I are the same type of person, mother. We can’t forgive anyone who dares take what we desperately want. You wanted the right to the throne and I wanted her. I wanted Alicia, and you took her from me.”The Queen Mother had not always been blinded by power. On her days as princess, she was brilliant and smart. However, to keep the peace in Ehrlich, she surrendered her crown to Ivan. The fact that she could never yield power on her own right ate her from within her mind until she finally went mad.Ivan knew that he carried the same madness in him. Once Alicia died, it all lost meaning. Even when he stared at his hand drenched in his mother’s blood, he didn’t feel any emotion in particular. It was as though he’d
Epilogue (1) – DimitriTranslator – YueYears later.“…and Elheim truly loved his human woman. But he was a God, pure and divine, so he could not remain too much longer on earth. If he stayed in the human world for too long, he’d lose all his divine powers…”The man who was reading the book out loud paused for a while and looked at a particular direction in his audience. There, there was a little girl with the same hair color as him. He saw her yawning while little eyes narrowed with displeasure, as though wondering why he’d stopped. The man resumed reading the book.“In the end, Eiheim had no choice but to leave the woman he loved and to go back on earth. However, he wept for the love he had to leave behind on the human world and those tears turned into rain. At the same time, a baby was growing inside his woman’s womb, a baby created from their union. This baby was born strong and healthy, and she had an incredible power. She had the power to turn himself into a bird. In the human w
Translator – YueT/N: This is the end, so extra-long chapter for today?Ivan irrupted into the room, sword in hand and a murderous look in his eye… to see Alicia licking her fingers. In front of her there was a huge plate filled with food. There was an abundance of seafood. Next to her was a worker who looked at Ivan with widened eyes.“Ivan?”Alicia quickly took her finger out of her mouth and looked at him. She asked again, nervous.“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”The inn worker looked alternated glances between Ivan and the sword in his hand, his legs shaking.“Oh… it’s just… it looked like your wife was pregnant, so I was only asking if there was anything she disliked so I could bring something else…”Since Alicia had taken her robe and coat off, she was wearing a light dress that showed her bulging belly clearly. It seemed that the inn boy had noticed it and was only asking whether she liked the food.Ivan felt ridiculous for getting angry over something like this.No, more
Translator – Yue“Salerno Inn”Alicia read the old sign that was hanging atop a building. It was an inn, so it definitely offered food and shelter to travelers.“It would take us around two hours to reach your mother’s mansion. It might be faster if we rode my horse together, but you can’t while pregnant… if you don’t want to spend the night in a place like this, then I’ll find another way…”Ivan murmured while trying to assess Alicia’s reaction. He knew that the inn was old and gloomy. He’d spent some nights here before himself but he knew that it was different for Alicia, who’d only lived in mansions and palaces. She might even find this place repulsive.He did not want the news of them here to spread too much, which was why he’d chosen this place as he could keep their identities hidden. But… perhaps he should have thought of Alicia more. Maybe it would be best to go to someone else’s house and reveal their identity so they could spend the night somewhere more comfortable.As he ke
Translator – YueAfter listening to Mrs. Cessly’s words, Ivan immediately hopped on a horse and sprang to port. This time there was no Basil by his side, it was just him. While he galloped top speed, the events from these past six years came to his mind.When he arrived, the ship had already sailed. He was too late, again.He felt an empty space in his heart. He got down his exhausted horse and slowly walked to the edge of the beach. He had a desperate expression on his face.He stood there looking at the horizon when he felt something hot. There were hot tears trailing down his face. All the tears he’d held back all this time suddenly broke free.Despair and desolation surged from inside him. He sobbed and cried.Six years ago, when he’d missed her just like this, he’d managed to hold back his tears since there was still hope of seeing her again in the future. Instead of desolation, he turned his back to this very sea with the hopes of seeing her again soon.However, this time it was
Translator – YueThe Port of Salerno remained unchanged. Tall, imposing walls surrounded the beach. There were numerous houses with scarlet-colored rooftops everywhere. A seemingly endless turquois-colored. Everything was as calm and beautiful as before.There was only one ship resting on the shores. A white, modern, elegant ship.When the Queen’s carriage arrived to port, the usually hectic port city suddenly turned tranquil. The carriage’s door opened and the Queen descended from her vehicle surrounded by her guards. She was wearing a thick coat, hat and gloves all made of silver fox fur, as though she was planning on going somewhere far colder than Ehrlich. A little while later, the ship’s captain approached her.He took out his cap and bowed to the Queen of Ehrlich.“Greetings to the most honorable woman in Ehrlich, Your Majesty the Queen. May Elheim’s light always shine upon you.”A smile came up to Alicia’s lips.“Greetings, captain. I’ll be under your care.”The captain pointed
Translator – YueT/N: The chapter we’ve been waiting for?Mrs. Cessly wailed and started savagely criticizing Ivan.“This is all Your Majesty’s fault. It’s because you allowed the Queen leave for Coulson. Why did you do that?”“All I did was give her a choice.”“A choice?”“I told her to choose. To stay here, or to leave with the baby.”“Why on earth did you tell her that?!”“There’s a reason behind my marriage to Alicia. I lied to her and forced her to come here.”“Ah, I remember the Queen told me something like that. That Your Majesty did not wish to marry her, but Princess Helen. Is it related to that?”Ivan nodded.“Yes. I had no choice. If I had proposed to Alicia, she would have run away from as fast as she could.”Mrs. Cessly looked at Ivan intently with a complex look in her eyes. Seeing that Mrs. Cessly’s head was spinning top speed to find out what could possibly make Alicia want to run away from Ivan, he added in a slow voice.“She definitely didn’t owe me money nor anythin
“Alright. Go ahead, do it. Call me if you need any help as well.”“I will.”When their conversation came to an end, Ivan slowly rose from his seat. Alicia got up as well. Just when he was about to turn around, Alicia spoke.“I wish for you to stop feeling guilty of all that’s happened to me.”Ivan’s eyes focused intently on Alicia. For some reason, she found it hard to look him back in the eye, so she averted her gaze.“I don’t dislike you anymore, Ivan. I’m grateful to you for letting me live my life again and leave this place with my baby.”“Grateful…uh.”While he bitterly mumbled to himself, Alicia nodded her head.“After all, you did put in a lot of effort in saving my life. I’ll make sure I do everything in my power to live a happy life from now on. I’m not completely alone anymore, after all.”Alicia placed a hand on her belly.“Once this baby is born, I’ll only let him see and listen to the most wonderful things. I know I can’t stop the darkness of this world to reach him, but
Translator – YueAlicia’s jaw slowly opened.“When you say, ‘a chance to end this marriage’…”“You never wanted to marry me in the first place. You were forced into it because the Crown Prince threatened to kill your cousin if you didn’t.”“But why are you giving me this? This marriage will automatically end in a year, anyways.”Their contractual marriage had a time period clearly stipulated. Alicia couldn’t understand why he was giving her a choice right now.“If you want to end this marriage, then you don’t need to wait for the time to be up to do so. I’ll make sure you leave this country safely first thing tomorrow if you so wish it.”“Then… what will happen to the baby I’m carrying…?”Alicia’s voice faded. Her eyes darted to the contract clauses. There, she herself agreed on leaving all rights concerning the child to Ivan if she were to get pregnant. With the opportunity he was giving her, she’d be able to flee and hide somewhere far, far away, and he’d never be able to claim his
Translator – YuePatricia’s execution took place the following morning.In spite of being very early, many people gathered around the execution place. People gathered there to insult her for killing her own father, her benefactor and even trying to assassinate her own sister and Queen. She was seen as a true villain, an evil rarely seen before.Patricia listeTed to their insults and taunts until her very last moment.Even though Alicia had said that she’d no longer show any consideration towards Patricia, she did make sure that the most skilled executioner was selected to carry out her punishment. She’d heard of previous rare cases in which the neck was not cleanly cut off in one single strike, forcing the executioner to hack at the neck, which caused lots of pain and anguish before dying.After Patricia’s death, Alicia passed her days in a state of continuous astonishment. She rarely went outside and spent most of her time in her room. However, she did make sure of eating and resting