Chapter 99

Chapter 99 – A  Trust Broken (1)

Translator: Lunarise

Editor: Larkspur

Lustian lifted Viola’s chin. Despite the heat they exchanged, she could not shake off the feeling that he was still angry. He still cast her a cold look.

“Listen to me carefully. Those three people are hostages. You must remember that their lives depend on how you act.”

“They did nothing wrong.”

Viola bit her lip. It’s not like he was kind, but his bitterness made her wonder where his old self had gone.

“The spot of Empress belongs to you. The road to forgiveness from me is through paying your dues as you stay by my side for life.”

Lustian summoned someone and a group of familiar-looking maids rushed inside at once. There were so many faces that she hadn’t seen in such a long time, including the head maid of the imperial villa. They greeted the empress according to imperial etiquette.

“We must be sure that the return of the empress is as glamorous as possible. She must be groomed in the most beautiful way.”

Lustian left the room without looking back. Soon after, he came to Viola’s side to approach the head maid with a smile and bow his head.

According to the instructions of the maids, the empress put on a dress and jewelry befitting her stature. She applied light makeup, did her hair, and then donned a crown – a symbol of sovereignty. Studded with hundreds of jewels, this golden crown was quite heavy.

Viola, who was garbed shabbily only recently, now stood glamorously before the mirror.  Wearing not a king’s crown but an empress’s, she and the beautiful emperor were quite the fitting pair. The head maid gave a satisfied smile and bowed to them in a greeting once again.

“We welcome you back, Your Imperial Highness.”

♛

As Viola stepped outside, she saw Kyle. Just like before, he didn’t mask the intense caution he held against her in his eyes.

“His Imperial Majesty prepared this.”

She followed him into a slightly more open space. There, the dead bodies of her knights were stacked atop branches. Their limbs were not dismembered but intact, which brought her to tears. Her guilt over not being able to protect them accumulated.

“The prayer time is 10 minutes. Do not test His Majesty’s patience.”

“All right.”

What expenses should I put down for their last journey to the afterlife? Then, she took out a dagger. It was all so foolish, she chuckled as she looked at the dagger.

What’s so special about this dagger… Did I really want to be king…

Viola neatly gathered the hands of one of the knights and placed the dagger given to her by the King of Koronis on top.

“Sir Callum… Send word to Edward that since this is his dagger…. I’m sorry. And thank you…. for sacrificing your life for me. I will not forget this….”

Her throat stung. Viola kissed the back of the knights’ hands and shed tears. And lastly, she prayed that God would bless them on their last way out. Although she could not stop the tears from falling, she tried to force herself to swallow them.

As Kyle handed her the torch, Viola tossed it onto the branches. The grand, burning flames engulfed their bodies.

“If they had surrendered, His Imperial Majesty would have withdrawn the sword.”

“——”

“They have chosen an honorable death.”

“They gave up their lives for my sake… I will never forget their loyalty,” Viola eyed the commander squarely as she spoke.

If they had surrendered in the face of the last battle with Lustian, they wouldn’t have gone so far as to give up their lives. They would’ve at least had a chance to stand trial. However, they chose to fight to the end.

‘The most honorable death for a knight is to protect their king until the end.’ Sir Callum always told me so.

Viola decided to continue living to her fullest, as long as it meant that their deaths weren’t in vain. She had to take a firm stand, regardless of the fate that awaited her whenever she would return to the castle that was caught up in a storm. She did not want to see any more vain deaths.  Rather than have someone protect me, I will protect them instead.

Viola fiercely bit her lip. Now I’m setting off on a quest to protect my people instead of becoming King.

♛

When she came down from the open space, she saw that the campsite was burned up beyond recognition. Lustian had scraped out all her traces.

Ahead, there were two coaches. But one of them had muntins. How could a noblewoman have muntins on her coach…. Perhaps Viola would be the one to ride the coach. She sighed in relief when she looked through the muntin to see who was sitting inside.

“Princess….”

Rosha’s tear-stained face, her hands joined together as if she was praying came into view. Then Viola’s eyes turned to the other person, staring at Paul who was in chains on the floor of the coach.

“We stopped the bleeding. It’s not a scar big enough to worry about.”

“It’s a relief that it stopped.”

If even Paul died, she wouldn’t have been able to take it.

“And also… Princess Wendy is also safe.”

At last, a small child peeked out from beside Rosha. Wendy’s eyes wore a vacant look. Even so, she was a valiant child. Given that she was captured by the terrifying Blood Army, Viola was far from a little worried that she would be traumatized….

As soon as she saw Wendy, her eyes softly came undone. When she smiled, Wendy also showed Viola a very pretty one in return.

“You’ve grown so much! Let’s meet again in a brighter place, Wendy—” “Yes, Empress.”

In the dark, her shining blue eyes were extremely pretty. With her round eyes, fair complexion, and lustrous black hair, Wendy was on her way to become a stunning woman.

Viola wanted to see the little girl’s face a little longer, but as Lustian grabbed her wrist, she knew she had to leave.

“Aren’t I also getting on the coach?” she asked.

“Any Empress that gets on a coach with booty in it will make a fool of herself.”

“Booty?”

“Yes, after the war was won, each person chose a part of the booty. The booty of the Kingdom of Koronis is that child.”