“…Iserna Airvayne. Welcome back after three hundred years.”
Elhardt stared at me for a long while before finally speaking.
His voice was somewhat hoarse.
“As a member of the Bardia royal family, I express my respect and gratitude for your immeasurable sacrifices and hardships.”
He placed a hand over his chest and bowed respectfully.
It was the most profound gesture of respect a member of the royal family could show to a subject.
“……”
For some reason, my throat tightened.
Only now.
Only now did it truly sink in that I had returned.
I thought I had already accepted it, but the hollow sense of loss that came belatedly was pounding against my chest.
Had I been expecting this?
While wandering through the land of demons, there was a scene I often imagined.
It wasn’t some grand victory ceremony or lavish banquet.
I simply imagined the one person who would welcome me first.
The praise I wanted to hear…
It wasn’t from anyone else.
It was from Mikhail.
I wanted to brag to him endlessly.
I wanted to stay up for nights telling him about our adventures until he begged me to get some sleep.
How difficult it had been, how much we had suffered, and how well we had managed despite everything.
I wanted to tell it all to Mikhail, who surely would have been waiting for me.
To the person who would have been my place to return to, even though I had no family of my own.
I’m back, Mikhail.
The greeting I had prepared scattered into nothingness.
I had returned to keep my promise, but there was no one left who remembered that promise.
“Captain.”
Warmth suddenly settled against my back.
Only then did I realize that I had forgotten to breathe.
I let out the breath I had been holding for so long, then placed a hand over my chest in return.
“You’d better give us a proper victory ceremony. And the rewards had better be generous.”
As the expedition captain, I made my demands without hesitation.
“Once Bardia has reclaimed everything it lost and you’ve taken back your rightful place, we’ll disband only after enjoying several days and nights of lavish celebrations.”
“All right. I’ll prepare everything to the best of my ability.”
Firm resolve and determination filled his eyes.
“You promised, Elhardt.”
“I swear upon the name and honor of the royal family, and upon my life.”
You don’t have to stake your life on it…
Still, I was glad to have another promise to keep.
It’s not over yet.
The expedition’s journey would continue for a while longer.
It wasn’t time to stop walking yet.
So looking back at the past I had left behind could wait until later.
“Then we should discuss the specifics of what we’re going to do now, shouldn’t we?”
Now it was time to hear what Elhardt had in mind and whether he had already made any plans of his own.
***
Crown Prince Auriel was left alone in the garden.
The noisy cardinal and Count Bellow had been sent away long ago.
“…Ser.”
Standing where he had faced her, he closed his eyes.
The watery blue eyes that had looked at him surfaced in his mind.
So did his own reflection, captured wholly within those beautiful irises.
They had been close enough to feel each other’s breath.
For the first time, they had almost touched each other.
He unconsciously brushed his lips before letting out a hollow laugh.
“Iserna Airvayne.”
He softly spoke the name that could never be erased.
A woman as free as the wind could never be held in his hands.
Even after three hundred years.
Why did it have to be her?
There had been times when he denied it, and times when he raged against it.
But now, he understood completely.
He had fallen for her because she was who she was.
He had been able to endure the long, endless years because it was her.
“You won’t hide anymore.”
With people gathering around Iserna one by one, she would eventually be exposed to the world.
There was no way she could conceal a force of that magnitude.
“But you’re the only one I want.”
Even putting a woman who resembled her in her place as a stand-in had failed to provide him with even a moment of amusement.
It had only made his thirst worse.
“Everything else is nothing but an inconvenience.”
He rewound the painfully slow passage of time ever so slightly and whispered to the Iserna standing there.
“If you don’t want to lose what you have, kiss me, Iserna.”
The more a person had to protect, the easier it was for them to lose.
“If you want to protect them, then come into my arms.”
If she did that, he would leave everything else alone, even if it continued to irritate him like a thorn in his side.
Bardia or the hostage prince.
He wanted only her.
As long as she became his.
Rustle.
The sensation of strands of hair brushing between his fingers was so vivid.
But when he opened his eyes, Iserna was no longer there.
Auriel stared at his palm for a moment before turning around.
He left the garden and headed toward his private quarters.
His perceptive servants had already brought the princess there.
He walked past the kneeling princess and sat down on the bed.
“Bellonia.”
He didn’t feel particularly angry this time.
Her painfully obvious actions were merely pathetic and pitiful.
“Brother…”
“Yes, I’m your brother.”
The princess’s face began to brighten, but the Crown Prince narrowed his eyes and said,
“But I think we’ll need to draw up a new contract.”
“Wh-What…?”
The princess’s eyes trembled with anxiety.
“I need a younger sister, but it’s becoming troublesome when you keep trying to cross the line.”
For now, he needed to continue playing the part of a family.
But this greedy woman kept ruining everything.
“What more could you possibly need? I believe I’ve given you more than enough men.”
The Emperor had given the princess every man she wanted, regardless of whether they were royalty or nobility, and made them her slaves.
Even though he knew perfectly well what miserable ends they would eventually meet.
And yet it still wasn’t enough for her.
To a man who had spent such a long time looking at only one woman, such vulgarity was utterly incomprehensible.
“No, Brother…! I really did suspect that woman….”
“Another lie.”
Auriel spoke coldly.
The princess’s shoulders flinched.
“How long do I have to keep indulging you?”
The Crown Prince spoke with an expressionless face, not even wearing his habitual smile.
“You, who are completely useless and do nothing but disappoint me.”
“This time, I really mean it. I have a feeling that woman is going to hurt you eventually.”
The princess crawled forward on her knees and clung to his feet, pleading.
“Just once… Please believe me just this once.”
“All right. Perhaps you’re right.”
The princess’s eyes widened at his answer.
He had already given up so much because of Iserna.
Not only his throne and kingdom, but also countless disciples who followed him.
And perhaps from now on, he would continue giving up whatever she wanted.
Some of those things might even be no different from cutting away pieces of his own flesh.
“Even so.”
His fingertips touched the princess’s chin.
“She’s mine.”
He could never forgive anyone who dared interfere with this noble sacrifice and love.
His hand, cold as a corpse, slowly slid down and closed around her slender neck.
Fear filled the princess’s eyes.
“Br-Brother…”
“I won’t kill you. You’re the Emperor’s daughter, and he cares for you quite a lot.”
The Crown Prince pronounced his sentence in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Go to the Tower of Repentance and reflect on what you’ve done.”
“……!”
“I’m confiscating all your slaves as well. Your pointless antics end here.”
The princess’s face went deathly pale, and tears spilled from her eyes.
They were tears of fear and despair, not sadness.
“Bear this in mind. If you harbor such foolish thoughts again, no one will be able to protect you next time.”
Only after the princess struggled to nod did the Crown Prince release her neck.
His servants silently approached and took hold of the princess’s arms, pulling her to her feet.
Without putting up any meaningless resistance, the princess left the Crown Prince’s quarters.
Once the door closed, the Crown Prince was left alone and clicked his tongue softly.
To Iserna, it would probably look as though the princess had merely been confined to the tower for a few days as punishment.
She’ll be disappointed.
Given her nature, which demanded to repay whatever she received in kind, she might even try to take revenge herself.
She had no idea what kind of place the Tower of Repentance was.
I’ll have to cheer her up somehow.
He didn’t mind if she took revenge on the princess, but it would be troublesome if she became disappointed in him as well.
What should I give her?
For the first time in a very long while, the Crown Prince left his quarters lost in a pleasant dilemma, his servants quietly following behind him.
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