“Ugh…!”

I sat up from the table where I had been lying.

The magical lights around illuminated the room. Looking outside, it seemed to still be night, as I could see the moonlight.

“I must have dozed off for a moment.”

Rubbing my eyes as I got up, the jacket draped over my shoulders fell off. Ah, it belonged to Carlothian.

I picked up the clothes and looked around; he was sleeping in a chair with his arms crossed.

It was no wonder we were all tired after days of reading without rest. Both the Crown Prince and I had dark circles under our eyes.

I considered returning the outerwear to him but ended up putting it back on my shoulders and stepping out into the hallway.

Then I briefly went out to the garden to gaze at the large dome.

The dome had grown larger since I first saw it. It seemed like Dorothea had been using her power, as the sound of singing had floated through the wind almost all day, but it appeared she had failed to completely stop its growth.

“…There must be some way.”

I put on the jacket and began walking toward the dome. The palace we were staying in was not far from the emperor’s palace, so I easily arrived in front of the dome.

I could see the barracks where Dorothea stayed, along with the guards stationed in front.

The guards recognized me and greeted me.

“What brings you out at this hour?”

“Oh, I just came to observe the dome for a moment.”

“Be careful. It is dangerous to get too close.”

If you touch the dome, you will shatter and disappear. Because of this fact, the guards stood at a distance, guarding the dome.

I passed by them and approached the dome closely. I gazed at the enormous structure, which revealed nothing inside.

‘Something feels off…’

I felt a strong aura of evil. However, I was not afraid of it. I slowly approached the dome.

Two steps.

I stood there, leaving just two steps behind. It was close enough to reach out and touch. Gripping Carlothian’s jacket tightly, I looked up at the dome.

‘…My other half has grown too large.’

I recalled the words I had heard before my last regression.

“It is above your heads.”

As I slowly recited this, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

The dome that appeared in the imperial palace, where no evil could possibly exist.

In a class-based society, what is often said to be above one’s head is…

‘Could it be that the Emperor is linked to a demon, causing this to happen?’

I continued to think while gazing into the darkness.

‘If he is the cause, would eliminating him resolve this situation?’

I couldn’t know for sure.

‘What does it mean that my other half has grown too large?’

Now that I think about it, I also recall something about evil and good being the same as time. It was faint, like something I had heard in a dream, but it remained clearly in my memory.

‘What should I do…?’

Unable to hide my anxiety and confusion, I looked up at the sky. That was when something whispered in my ear.

It will be all alright.

I quickly glanced around. I saw nothing. But the voice in my ear spoke gently to me.

You can do it. It is my will.

The voice was faint, yet I could clearly hear it. It was as if it was responding to me just like when I prayed at the temple of Anrizé.

In the same voice as before.

The same voice?

The two swords that symbolize me and the child born from my will could achieve this.

Yes.

That voice was.

Just like mine.

I opened my eyes wide.

Reach out your hand.

Unknowingly, I extended my hand. My fingertips slowly approached the black dome.

And thus, overcome it.

Tap.

My hand touched the dome. But I did not crumble. Instead.

Swish—

My palm slipped inside the dome. My eyes widened once more. Then I heard the final voice.

My fragment will become your blessing…

But that voice was soon cut off, like a candle blown out by someone. And in that moment.

Thump.

The size of the dome suddenly expanded. I hurriedly stepped back. But like a flood breaking through a dam, the darkness began to grow slowly, threatening to engulf everything.

“Everyone, evacuate!”

I quickly turned and ran.

‘Dorothea is still inside the tent…!’

I hurriedly pushed aside the tent flap and shouted.

“Dorothea!”

“What’s going on?”

“The dome, the dome…!”

At the sound of my voice, Dorothea rushed out, her eyes widening as she saw the dome that had suddenly grown right in front of the tent.

“What is happening all of a sudden…!”

The speed at which the dome was approaching made it seem impossible to escape just by running.

“Ah—!”

One of the trailing court ladies touched the dome. Crack, splatter. The court lady’s body was helplessly shattered.

“Ugh…!”

Dorothea and I ran with all our might. We were out of breath. But the done did not stop and was closely pursuing us.

‘We’re going to be eaten…!’

As I despaired, a carriage appeared in the distance, speeding towards us. The sound of hooves was loud.

The carriage door opened urgently. Two men inside called out to us in frantic voices.

“Ariadeline!”

“Dorothea!”

Carlothian and Luciano reached out their hands toward us. We both grabbed their hands and climbed into the carriage.

We barely managed to load the remaining court ladies and knights and hurriedly set off. I leaned out of the carriage window, running at full speed.

Ah.

The dome was swallowing the entire imperial palace.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

The sky was blue. The Emperor looked up. A hawk was flying high in that blue sky. He knew well whose it was.

“It seems I must go hunting.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bow and arrow were ready. He stepped out into the garden of his palace and quietly gazed at the sky.

Time passed, and the hawk he had seen earlier soared into the sky once more. The Emperor nocked an arrow to his bow and pulled back the string.

With a ping, the arrow flew and struck the hawk soaring in the sky. The hawk’s final cry was not heard.

Only the afterimage of its wings remained. A courtier serving the emperor set out to find the hawk that had fallen somewhere.

But it was not the emperor’s courtier who returned with the hawk; it was someone else.

Atrapha. The Emperor looked at his only brother.

In his hand was the hawk that had fallen, struck by the Emperor’s arrow.

“Why did you do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“You knew it was a hawk I cherished, didn’t you?”

“Did I?”

The Emperor scoffed at Atrapha. Atrapha silently stared at him with an impassive expression.

As he said, the Emperor did know that the hawk was one that Atrapha had cherished and raised. That’s why he found it hard to look at.

“You have never loved anything, have you, Your Majesty?”

The Emperor found that statement quite strange. With everything in the world at his fingertips, why should he hold anything in particular as special?

“What is the reason for your words to me?”

“You speak as if I did something special for you.”

Atrapha frowned. The Emperor, seeing his face contort, smiled subtly.

Atrapha closed his mouth, as if to say he would no longer speak, and disappeared with the hawk’s corpse.

The Emperor watched his retreating figure intently, muttering while chewing on the words.

“Arrogant…”

The Emperor did not hide his aggression towards Atrapha. He did not consider where that aggression began.

Like a snake coiling and growing larger, the hatred towards Atrapha only expanded, never diminishing, as if it were engraved in his body from birth.

Thus, even when Atrapha safely became a duke and strolled with his wife in the imperial palace, the Emperor had his bow drawn.

Precisely aimed at the woman Atrapha was looking at and smiling with.

Thwack, thud!

The sound of the arrow piercing and the scream bursting forth.

“Brother!”

At the sound of his furious voice, the corners of the Emperor’s mouth lifted. The Emperor grinned and spoke to him.

“What a shame.”

“What have you done!”

“It’s because you were loitering in my hunting grounds.”

Atrapha, who had blocked the arrow aimed at his wife with his arm, was bleeding.

Red blood dripped down, staining the green grass.

“You need to be treated.”

Atrapha grimaced as he looked at the Emperor, but the Emperor’s smile did not fade.

The Emperor personally took him and his wife to the palace healer.

After calming his shocked wife, Atrapha seemed to shelter her in another room, as if to protect her from the Emperor.

“If the same thing happens again, I won’t be able to stay still, brother.”

The Emperor asked, “What will you do if I don’t stay still?”

“……”

“How dare you?”

What would you do? With that question, Atrapha could only look at the Emperor with cold eyes.

The Emperor had the thought of wanting to gouge out Atrapha’s eyes. He wanted to ensure that Atrapha would never look at him with such eyes again.

“……Your Majesty will never be able to love.”

“Here we go again.”

That tiresome talk of love from that guy.

“You don’t understand what it means to truly cherish someone or to hold them dear.”

“Even if I don’t understand that, would it be a problem for me?”

The Emperor was arrogant and self-assured. Everything was beneath his feet. Atrapha could only quietly warn him.

A warning? How laughable.

In the end, who would be left? The Emperor, himself.

Atrapha, his foolish brother, received the cursed sword he had delivered and died.

He killed someone who claimed to love him and foolishly threw himself from the terrace.

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction as he gazed upon the scenes of the past that the darkness revealed.

Even with Atrapha gone, his thirst did not disappear. The fact that that guy’s bloodline remained gnawed at his nerves.

The very existence of a relative who looked just like him standing on this land was disgusting.

It shall be as you wish.

The evil whispered. It touched the malice he harbored and amplified his emotions. Thus, it fed on that and grew larger.

Including that—everything.

The whispering voice was like his daughter’s. His daughter, who resembled him so horrifically.

He will disappear from this land.

The Emperor forgot everything and fell into the whisper of evil.

Unaware that his mind, his very self, was being consumed by darkness.