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Rebecca’s face quickly clouded over. She pressed her lips together as if she wanted to say something. However, she instead chose to cover her face with her hands before sighing. When she finally lowered her hand, her face returned to her usual haughty expression.

“No one has explained the details to you yet.”

“Yes. But I roughly know what’s going on. I’ve met Fleon.”

“You’ve already met? Then, this would be quick. The 6th Prince has been captured as the mastermind behind the coup. And the ones who captured him were the Duke of Aventa and I, Rebecca Eileen von Aventa.”

I looked back at her in surprise. No, it wasn’t just surprise I looked back at her with. Rebecca smiled as if she recognised my expression.

“Were you surprised? The Duke of Aventa has taken the emperor’s side this time to stop the coup.”

She was forcing her smile, pretending to be calm.

“The day the coup started. Hundreds of templars and knights stormed into the palace. The 6th Prince was the one who told me. To capture him.”

Rebecca closed her eyes. She seemed to be processing emotions she couldn’t possibly begin to describe.

“He was the one who told me that he didn’t want it to happen. He didn’t want all your power to be taken from you. The 7th Prince had already been cut out of the loop so he only had two choices. To be captured along with Dane or to be captured by himself.”

Rebecca then opened her eyes before telling me.

“You may blame me. I don’t regret my decision.”

I stared at her. She didn’t look remorseful. She spoke back at me proudly as if she had no regrets.

“I am your lady-in-waiting and your guide, Unica.”

She knelt before me and raised her hand.

“I have a duty to protect your palace in your absence. So, I have no regrets about my decision. I will take any punishment readily.”

I saw love when Rebecca entered Fleon’s cell. A fresh, pining and vague sense of love. I did say before that the only things one couldn’t hide was a cold and love. Love and his death penalty. What a miserable and unfortunate situation this was. I recalled how I had grabbed onto the one I loved in the past. I dared not imagine what she must be feeling right now.

“Why would you think I would blame you?”

Still, she chose me.

Everyone agreed that the emperor was not a good man. It was because of people’s discontent that they revolted. And she chose to stand by such an emperor.

Denying her love, denying all her hardships and denying her sense of justice. Anxious for my return, she kept the palace safe.

“I might not be the smartest but I am well aware what you had given up Rebecca. How could I blame you?”

For giving up everything she had tried to protect. So that I wouldn’t end up lonely in the palace she refused to abandon it and be humiliated.

“I’m sorry. For making you work this hard. For not being here.”

Rebecca remained unwavering. She closed her trembling eyes before pressing them tight.

“Thank you. Now that I’m here, it’ll be alright. Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”

Without even seeing my expression, Rebecca eventually lowered her head.

“It’s strange. The mistress shouldn’t be able to do anything as well. But why do I want to believe you…”

After nurturing and taming her, this was the sight I thought I would one day see. As I muttered under my breath, she lowered her head like a lie.

“Rebecca, look for Dane. If you use the templars in Aventa, you should be able to find him, right?”

“Whatever you wish for, mistress.”

My gut was telling me. My devastated palace, the imprisoned 2nd Prince and Fleon who was waiting for his execution. I was certain even Dane and Lord Ray could not be safe from this mess.

‘I hope I’m not too late.’

Rebecca rose. I had many questions to ask her but I held it in.

“This? This is the emblem that makes a successor which my mother handed me. It’s the Ring of Vulcanus and I’m so sick of seeing it.”

That was what Fleon said about it once. The annoyingly bothersome ring.

“What else can I do? I can’t toss it out so I have to wear it the whole time. I won’t give it to you even if you want it. I can’t give it to you. It’s my fiancee’s.”

And it was now hanging around Rebecca’s neck and swaying. I closed my eyes before turning away from the sign of sorrow. I was determined not to make this another tragedy.

“Call the patrolmen.”

“Yes.”

That evening, the patrol’s Ceres templars and Granius gathered before me.

“Princess, I’m glad to know that you’re alright.”

With a thud, Granius knelt on the ground. He held out his hand. Grabbing the hand that was as big as a bear’s, my hand rested in his and I couldn’t bring myself to speak for a long time.

“I had been really worried that even you wouldn’t be safe.”

“I’m alright, Granius. And, thank you.”

I then scanned the patrols.

“I’d like to thank the rest of the patrols too.”

They seemed to be experiencing a complicated mix of emotions.

Just like Granius’ nature, the patrols were meant to always take the side of justice. And seeking justice had brought them closer to the 2nd Prince.

Perhaps they too had to give something up and put up with me to protect me. But this was no time for sentimentality.

“The 2nd Prince has been detained in the northern tower. I know that the 5th Prince is with him. However, he has been seriously injured and has yet to wake up.”

“Even though His Majesty, the emperor, is known to be the weakest emperor in history, he overpowered them all. Using the Powers of the Lord. He probably did it using the artefacts, [The Crown of the Lord] and the [Promise Ring].”

“What are those?”

Soricks quickly explained.

“You are supposed to learn of this in your Coming-of-Age Ceremony but you haven’t been able to hold yours yet. They are the first artefacts of the Empire, ones only the emperor can use. And they’re also items the emperor hands over to his heir during the Succession Ceremony. It is known to be able to put any templar under their feet but… after the emperor from a few generations ago used it, it was said to be unusable.”

“But you’re saying that the emperor used it? So that he could turn the tide?”

“Yes.”

According to the novel, Julian’s coup had failed because of Castor. Because Julian had been overpowered by Castor’s overwhelming powers. Of course, now I knew that it wasn’t a novel.

‘Did things have to be like this?’

This was a question I’ve had for a long time. Was the future already decided? Did things eventually follow a general flow?

“What will happen to the templars who joined hands with the 2nd Prince? There must have been a considerable number of them.”

“They make up half the high-class Imperial templars. For most parts, only their leaders have been caught and detained. There most likely will be a bloodbath. Princess.”

A bloodbath. Granius then said that there was going to be a generation shift. There would be violence.

“If we don’t take them all in, things would get messy. Limbs are going to be torn off. Heads will be hanging at the gates. Women and children will be detained.”

Was it normal for countries like this to exist? No, it wasn’t. It had just been suppressed and those who tried to step forward and bring about justice had failed and been captured.

“Princess, what should we do now?”

My subjects who had been waiting for me asked honestly. My subordinates. What cringy words could I say? I thought about it for a while.

But I ultimately decided to shoulder everything.

“First things first, we’ll rescue Fleon, I mean, the 6th Prince, from his execution tomorrow.”

I calmly looked back at the surprised looks.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. I am not doing this on a whim. According to Fleon, some of the Templars of Vulcanus survived the coup. The Blessed Land of Vulcanus is a natural fortress. They seemed to have fortified their defences after the emperor attacked them a long time ago.”

“Right.”

Fleon once asked me to escape there. The Blessed Land of Vulcanus was so closed in and difficult to infiltrate that no one would find me if I chose to hide there.

“The emperor will never kill all the templars. Even if some of the Templars of Vulcanus are alive, he wouldn’t go after them.”

“If the emperor is weak, the empire is weak. Likewise, if templars disappear, the Empire will too be weakened.”

“You’re right, Soricks. In the Blessed Land of Vulcanus, there are many fortresses and defences that can hide many templars. That’s why we need to save Fleon. The survivors will only follow their living successor.”

Ioste, the 6th queen, had died in battle. The first news I heard about the rebellion was her death. I recalled her faint smile as she complimented me on how lovely I was.

What remained after death.

“The seeds of discontent will not disappear. The wind that had only just begun to blow had left scars, the flame will not die and only grow in our hearts.”

I pressed my chest. To convince them and strengthen my resolve.

“I will join hands with the Templars of Chaos.”

“Princess?”

“Don’t worry. They’ll follow me as their successor.”

Granius who was just about to interject changed his mind. Just as I expected, being an older templar, he understood what I was saying at once. He must also be familiar with what the Templars of Chaos really were.

Certainly, he had long looked at me, the princess, as any other prince. Before he finally chose me. He had shown me too much kindness for it to be considered sympathy. He reminded me of the Templars of Chaos who did not discriminate between women and men.

“We must save Fleon.”

I smiled brightly.

“This is where we would get the foothold we need to turn the tides.”

Everything seemed to be going fine.

That night, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep as I stared out the window. I was in my drawing room instead of my bedroom.

“You’re rescuing him?”

“Yes.”