Grant me Your Grace Chapter 64

For a moment, Dahlia choked up, forcing back her tears as she asked,

 

“May I tidy it up for you?”

 

“How could I let you do such a thing? I’ll take care of it later, so please don’t trouble yourself, Your Highness.”

 

“I want to do it for you.”

 

Once again, Bertha hesitated, unsure what to do, but eventually relented and let Dahlia tend to her hair.

 

Dahlia carefully trimmed Bertha’s half-cut hair with scissors, then styled it as neatly as possible.

 

“I’m sorry. I never meant to leave you alone like that that day…”

 

As Dahlia wiped Bertha’s neck with a clean towel, Bertha’s eyes welled up, though she tried to smile.

 

“But you came back safely. If anything, I was the one who acted carelessly and caused trouble for Your Highness… I should’ve been more aware of my surroundings…”

 

“Don’t think like that. It wasn’t your fault at all.”

 

Dahlia wiped Bertha’s tear-streaked cheeks, repeatedly conveying her remorse.

 

Perhaps finally releasing the guilt and worry she had been holding in, Bertha nodded quietly, allowing herself to sniffle.

 

After wiping away the last of her tears, the girl quickly composed herself and asked,

 

“Oh, didn’t you have something to ask me earlier?”

 

At Bertha’s question, Dahlia belatedly recalled the commotion outside the window.

 

“Earlier, I saw soldiers moving outside. Have you heard anything about what’s happening?”

 

“Ah, the soldiers.”

 

Bertha glanced toward the window and lowered her voice.

 

“They say the Moon Lions appeared at dawn.”

 

“The Moon Lions? Don’t tell me Baran is…”

 

Startled, Dahlia began to speak but then shook her head.

 

The Moon Lions were an army of death, capable of toppling even the mightiest empire in mere days. 

 

It was said that not even a handful of ashes remained in their wake—earning them the name ‘Demonic Locusts.’

 

If they had appeared in Baran, I would have been killed or taken captive before morning.

But once again, her expectations were proven wrong.

 

“You are correct, Your Highness. Last night, the Moon’s Lions came near the borders of Baran.”

 

Dahlia’s heart sank, and she couldn’t easily close her mouth. No nation had ever survived facing the Moon’s Lions. So how could Baran remain unharmed?

 

The answer to her question soon came from Bertha.

 

“But they just turned back. They did nothing—just stared at the border for a long time. Yet, the lands they passed through, Posithia, were left in ruins.”

 

“They just… stared?”

 

Though she had heard countless stories about the Moon’s Lions, this was the first time she had heard of them turning back without waging war.

 

Hadn’t every nation they attacked fallen helplessly, unable to even detect their scouts?

 

Yet, Baran was merely observed from a distance.

 

Had they taken a wrong turn on their way to conquering Posithia? Or had someone’s whim disrupted their plans?

 

Though she felt an undeniable relief, an eerie unease lingered. Dahlia absentmindedly brushed her arm.

 

“So that’s why they’re sending troops to guard the border.”

 

“Yes. Since no one knows when they might return, they’re even mobilizing the private soldiers of the nobility.”

 

The fact that even the nobles’ private forces were being summoned meant Baran saw this as a crisis equivalent to war.

 

Were the Moon’s Lions, who had been conquering vassal states one by one, finally stretching their claws toward Baran? 

 

For Dahlia, who was already struggling just to hold off Saltar, the Moon’s Lions were a terrifying variable.

 

As Bertha tidied the bedding, she shared more of what she had heard.

 

“Still, General Abashi will be leading the defense himself, so I believe we can hold them off. I even heard they’re mobilizing prisoners from the underground dungeons…”

 

“What?”

 

Dahlia once again felt the ground beneath her feet grow distant.

 

Mobilizing prisoners from the underground dungeons—that could only mean using them as human shields on the front lines.

 

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. The High Priest will remain. I heard they’re only taking young prisoners under forty,” Bertha quickly added, trying to soothe Dahlia’s troubled thoughts. But her words only deepened Dahlia’s despair.

 

‘Then what about Hissin…?’

 

He was already imprisoned in the deepest part of the underground dungeon. 

 

Young, and with many who held grudges against him.

 

Dahlia looked down through the window again. The soldiers had already left the imperial palace and were marching swiftly beyond the capital.

 

Squinting, she could see men dressed differently from the regular soldiers in the distance—likely the prisoners from the underground dungeons.

 

‘Hissin…’

 

Dahlia pressed her fingernails into the marks on her right hand. An inexplicable restlessness and unease made it hard to stay still.

 

Was it worry? If so, what was she worried about?

 

The fear that the Moon’s Messengers might invade Baran? The dread that the only salvation capable of quelling the Blood Debt would disappear?

 

Or was it simply about… Hissin?

 

“…”

 

Dahlia shut her eyes tightly. She didn’t want her thoughts to spiral out of control.

 

That man had violated her without restraint, tried to deceive her with empty sweet words, and even after falling into the underground dungeon, he had dragged her into that horrific place.

 

He knew full well that she wouldn’t be able to reject him, unable to endure pain more agonizing than death.

 

[Just take me as you please.]

 

The look in his eyes when he vowed to offer his life had seemed so sincere that she couldn’t detect a hint of falsehood…

 

‘But in the end, it was just another filthy act.’

 

Dahlia forced herself to steady her trembling heart once again. 

 

Cursing the man only made her despise herself more, knowing she would eventually seek him out anyway.

 

So, she must not feel any pity for him. No worry, no sympathy, no understanding—she should take only his body, nothing more.

 

Only then, someday, when she could escape this horrific situation and hide the bloodstained existence…

 

‘Then I’ll be able to live without him.’

 

Dahlia averted her gaze from the soldiers trudging forward. Then, seizing the chaos, she prepared to send another letter to the nobles who would lend her their strength.

 

But in the end, she couldn’t even finish half of it, burying her face in her hands instead.

 

Even after leaving the imperial palace, that man refused to let her go easily.

 

Whoosh—

 

As evening approached, a biting northern wind swiftly began erasing the sun’s warmth.

 

Even the properly armored soldiers clenched their jaws against the cold, so the prisoners, dressed in nothing but tattered rags, stood no chance.

 

Days without proper rest or food had left them trembling like aspen leaves at the slightest gust.

 

“Stand straight!”

 

“Agh!”

 

One prisoner, unable to bear the cold, hunched over—only for a soldier to lash out with his whip. Already weakened from prolonged torture, the man collapsed completely from a single strike.

 

The soldier continued whipping him until he rose again. The more he struck, the smaller the prisoner curled up, yet the leather showed no mercy.

 

The soldier himself seemed half-mad with fear, knowing the Moon’s Lions were closing in.

 

‘Should I just wipe them all out?’

 

Listening to the savage cracks of the whip, Hissin gazed at the distant desert. The searing sunset had nearly vanished beyond the horizon.

 

The lunar warriors who conquered Positia last night must have dug out a hideout somewhere below by now, waiting for his command.

 

Just one signal. That’s all it would take for the soldiers here—no, the entire Baran Kingdom—to vanish without a trace.

 

“Tsk… drag this one away!”

 

“Yes.”

 

Meanwhile, a prisoner, now completely drenched in blood, was dragged away by the soldiers. The other prisoners gritted their teeth at the ghastly sight, fighting against the cold.

 

Only Hissin watched it all with an indifferent expression.

 

“Hey.”

 

Then, the eyes of a soldier who had just finished wielding his whip turned toward Hissin.

 

“What’s with that smug look of yours?”

 

As if terrified of standing still even for a moment, the soldier now seemed to target Hissin as his next prey.

 

Hissin silently stared back at the soldier. Unshaken, his demeanor only provoked the soldier’s mockery.

 

“Ahh, so you’re the one. The fake ‘Gift of God.’”

 

The soldier jabbed Hissin’s solar plexus repeatedly with the handle of his whip.

 

“Hey, did it feel good, deceiving the gullible citizens of the Empire? What kind of ‘Gift of God’ is this pathetic thing? Everyone’s gone mad over you.”

 

With each word, the soldier’s strikes grew harsher. When Hissin refused to budge no matter how hard he pushed, the enraged soldier swung the whip handle across his cheek.

 

“Useless bastard. If you wanted to keep being worshipped, why not work one of your precious miracles and cure the plague or something?”

 

Thud!

 

Hissin staggered as the soldier kicked him with all his might. 

 

Amused by the slight reaction, the soldier curled his lips and escalated his taunts.

 

“Damn bastard. The day you showed up was cursed, too. It was supposed to be the first time I got to see Her Highness the Princess up close!”

 

The Princess.

 

At that single word, Hissin’s dull crimson eyes flickered with a faint red glow for the first time.

 

“You have any idea how much I was looking forward to that day? I even tore up the portrait that was passed around during the Youth Ceremony, thinking I’d get a fresh new one to…!”

 

Just as the soldier raised his whip again—

 

Thud thud thud thud—

 

Suddenly, the vast desert began to tremble. The soldiers exchanged bewildered glances as the ground beneath them shook without warning.

 

And then, just as the last traces of twilight disappeared beyond the horizon—

 

“It’s… the Lunar Lions!!”

 

Amid someone’s horrified scream, the Lunar Lions surged forward from a distance like a sandstorm.