Chapter 32
Amidst the fierce battle between Pelei and Kraush,
Prince Siphon Ephania, sitting in the best viewpoint in the arena, was clapping his hands.
“Haha! You really prepared well! Indeed, that’s what a Night Crow should be like!”
Completely convinced that Kraush was indeed the Night Crow, Siphon was beaming with delight, enjoying the tournament.
Next to him was Ebelasque, who he had forcibly brought along.
Dragged out by the second prince, Ebelasque wore a displeased expression, biting her lips.
She didn’t want to be in such a crowded place.
“I went out of my way to compliment you! Is it too much to expect a response?”
At that moment, Siphon glared disapprovingly at Ebelasque, swaying like a boat.
“Ah, um, I was concentrating on moving the corpse! I’m really delighted to please you, Prince!”
“Haha, that’s right. The royal family’s dog fits you perfectly.”
In Sigrid’s plan, Ebelasque’s heart was supposed to be with the second prince. So, when she fumbled her response, Siphon felt pleased.
“Hmm, I should’ve brought some champagne too. What’s a joyous spectacle without a drink?”
Siphon grinned with greed. If he could flaunt the strength of the Night Crow to recruit nobles, he could very well become the emperor.
Just as he was having such a fun time, sounds suddenly echoed from the corridor connected to his private room.
“Wha-who goes there?! This is—”
“Black Dragon Knights. Step aside. It’s an incident.”
“B-Black Dragon?!”
The panicked voices of maids and servants echoed outside.
“What’s going on?”
Siphon turned his head back, his eyes wide with confusion.
At that moment, the door swung open with a bang.
There stood knights clad entirely in black uniforms.
The Empire’s Black Dragon Knights.
Unlike the Empire’s prominent three knight orders—the White Dragon, the Heaven Dragon, and the Yellow Dragon—this order primarily managed incidents and accidents occurring within the Empire.
One reason for their infamous reputation was that they never let a criminal go free.
Their appearance meant there was a criminal present.
“What are you doing right now? Don’t you know who’s here?!”
With a furious expression, the second prince sprang from his chair.
How dare they barge in on a royal?!
“Siphon Ephania, the Second Prince.”
At that moment, a figure who called his name stepped forward slowly.
Dressed differently from the black uniforms, she had a curvaceous figure that caught the eye.
It was enough for Siphon’s upper lip to subconsciously twitch downwards for a moment.
She was none other than Mary Diana.
Caught off guard by the sight of a lady for a split second, Siphon quickly regained his composure and erupted in anger.
“How dare you call my name without addressing me properly! Are you out of your mind?!”
“I’m here to arrest you on charges of murdering the Fourth Princess, Sizelry Ephania.”
“Wha-what? Sizelry?!”
Siphon’s face turned incredulous at Mary’s declaration.
Why in the world would he murder Sizelry?
What would he gain from killing that fool who can only act mischievously?
However, the Black Dragon Knights were slowly approaching to apprehend him, following Mary’s orders.
Seeing their expressions, Siphon grimaced fiercely.
“Have they all lost their minds?! I did not kill Sizelry!”
“A direct order from the Night Crow to kill the Fourth Princess has been discovered.”
“No way! Don’t spout such nonsense! I’ve never written such an order!”
Yet, the Black Dragon Knights remained silent.
“Ebelasque! Kill these fools immediately! How dare you try to arrest royalty over baseless claims?!”
“Uh, um, th-that is…”
Ebelasque, looking flustered, glanced around while several thoughts crossed her mind.
“Who was murdered?”
At that moment, a mocking voice echoed through.
As the Black Dragon Knights and Mary paused,
*Clip-clop—
The sound of high heels echoed as someone emerged from the door where the Black Dragon Knights had come in.
And there she was, her blue hair fluttering, a bewitching smile on her lips.
None other than Sizelry Ephania, accompanied by her attendant Sera Betella.
Facing the rigid expressions of Mary and the Black Dragon Knights, she looked utterly bewildered.
“Did you just say I was murdered?”
Sizelry began patting her arms and body.
“Strange. Sera, am I dead?”
“No, you’re perfectly fine. There’s not a single assassin in sight.”
“Hmm, Sera says I’m fine, but what if I died without either of you knowing? That’s suspicious.”
She said that as her smile slowly faded.
“Deputy Commander Jencal of the Black Dragon Knights.”
In that moment, as she pointed at one of the Black Dragon Knights, Sera vanished from her side.
“Seize her!”
Wham!
“What?!”
With a loud sound of a fist connecting, the deputy commander crumpled to the ground.
Sera, originally part of the Yellow Dragon Knights, was a deputy commander.
With superior skills, there was no way for the deputy commander, taken aback by Sizelry’s unexpected appearance, to react accordingly.
And he was none other than one of Mary and Sigrid’s hidden pawns within the Black Dragon Knights.
‘How?!’
Mary’s mind spun in shock as she tried to maintain a poker face.
She couldn’t comprehend the situation.
Sera had certainly been killed by her own hands.
And Ebelasque was supposed to have turned Sizelry into a corpse.
Yet, both Sizelry and Sera remained completely unscathed.
It was a situation that was utterly incomprehensible.
At that moment, Sizelry’s eyes met Mary’s.
Snicker—
Sizelry let out a brief, mocking laugh.
Mary realized what it meant.
The Fourth Princess knew everything.
She possessed an intelligence far superior to most.
That’s precisely why Sigrid tried to eliminate her beforehand.
If she had maneuvered the situation despite knowing the full plan, she would surely become a significant obstacle ahead.
Furthermore, if this continued, Mary would have failed her mission given by Sigrid.
As a knight serving Sigrid, fulfilling her lord’s orders was paramount.
‘I have to kill her.’
Mary’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
But she couldn’t do it with her own hands.
Then,
‘Betrayer.’
No matter how Sera had survived, it was undoubtedly Ebelasque’s doing.
Daring to betray Sigrid, she would use Ebelasque against her.
In that instant, Mary tightly gripped Ebelasque’s heart in her pocket.
“Ugh?!”
At that moment, Ebelasque opened her eyes wide, clutching her chest.
Mary had embedded a command in her heart.
“Ah, no…”
Ebelasque’s face turned pale as cold sweat dripped down, losing control of her body.
Kraush had merely set up the mechanism for the Black Hood to activate at that time; he hadn’t used it.
If her heart was gone, both Mary and Sizelry would definitely notice something was amiss.
Thus, her heart still belonged to Mary.
It was clear that Mary intended to use her to kill Sizelry and then kill herself in the process.
“Gah, ha!”
She struggled against the command, trying to break free.
But she couldn’t escape the command etched into her heart.
“AAAAAAAH!”
Boom-
Her scream echoed, reverberating like an earthquake.
The Black Dragon Knights, late to draw their swords, and Siphon, confused, watched as corpses rose beneath her.
Mary’s eyes lit up.
This is it.
“What in the—Ebelasque! What are you doing?!”
“A monster! Kill her! Protect the prince and princess!”
As the Black Dragon Knights shouted, just as they were about to collide with the corpses, all the rising bodies suddenly froze in place.
The knights’ wild swings came to a halt as well.
“What?”
A moment of panic escaped Mary’s lips.
When she looked up, there was Ebelasque, hunkered down with tears streaming down her face, realizing the pain had vanished.
She was supposed to have been given the command to kill Sizelry.
But how did it stop?
Mary quickly reached for Ebelasque’s heart again.
It was then that she realized her pocket was empty.
‘H-Her heart is gone?!’
The heart that she had been holding was suddenly missing.
Caught off guard, Mary’s eyes widened.
Then her thoughts rapidly accelerated.
Failure to kill Sizelry.
Failure to dethrone Siphon.
Loss of Ebelasque’s heart.
The three intersecting events abruptly shook her mind.
And this led back to her bad habit.
When a situation goes awry, she tends to act without thinking.
That tendency prompted her to prioritize killing Sizelry above all else.
At that moment, Sera, who had activated her frenzy, was dashing toward Sizelry.
Sizelry was now alone.
She was too weak to stop her.
bam!
With a stomp, Mary’s figure staggered as an explosive aura erupted from her.
Her formidable force, once labeled as the strongest spear, cracked the ground and she leaped forward.
‘Acceleration.’
In that instant, her speed intensified once more.
With the fastest speed in the world added to her power,
In an instant, the world seemed to slow down before her eyes.
Sizelry, sensing the danger too late, attempted to dodge, but her reaction appeared slower than a worm crawling to Mary.
Divine Spear
Like proof of the nickname she was once known by,
‘Die, Sizelry Ephania.’
With a flash of light converging from her spear, she charged toward Sizelry’s neck.
Tap!
The follow-up sound was accompanied by a torrent of swirling dust.
Amidst the dust cloud, confusion flickered in Mary’s wide-open eyes.
What she felt from her spear was not the sensation of slicing flesh.
For the sound echoing was that of metal clashing with metal.
Mary’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Though her mastery had diminished over time, her spear had once killed even masters.
But now someone had blocked it right in front of her.
A boy exhaling a black flame from his sword, with squinty eyes: the very same corpse that Ebelasque controlled.
In that moment, the boy slowly opened his mouth.
“Your simplistic head never seems to change.”
He sneered at Mary while locking eyes with her.
“Just as stupid as ever.”
Yet, despite the boy’s composure, his body was trembling violently.
A clear indication he had pushed himself too hard to block her spear.
As Mary instantly pulled back her weapon to strike again,
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SEIZE HER NOW!”
Sizelry’s bellowing voice was loud and commanding.
In the midst of chaos, Sera, having triggered her frenzy, rushed in explosively.
Behind her, the Black Dragon Knights followed suit.
Caught off guard, Mary bit her lip.
She had made a mistake.
Regardless if her plans were exposed, she should’ve retreated.
But in her panic, her thoughts narrowed.
Should she kill them all? That was madness.
Even if she went through with it, the Empire’s knights would soon chase after her.
Well, later should have been fine, but with her current abilities, she knew she would surely perish at their hands.
‘Escaping is—’
That seemed impossible.
If she fled now, she would never set foot in the academy.
This incident needed careful management if she were to escape.
But if she ran, she would be banned from the Empire and the academy forever.
In the end, she gave up the fight and dropped her spear.
The Black Dragon Knights quickly bound her.
‘Sigrid, Arthur.’
With her head hung, Mary was dragged away by the Black Dragon Knights while grinding her teeth in frustration.
‘Ebelasque, Sizelry Ephania.’
In her mind, she vowed she would be sure to kill the two who interfered with her plans.
‘Stupid girl.’
Kraush clicked his tongue as he watched Mary being taken away.
That girl likely had no clue about his true identity, and had left her grudges only against Ebelasque.
‘No wonder.’
She would never think that he had replaced Arthur in his reincarnation.
Her perception of him had likely been erased long ago.
In her memory, he remained a mere tool for stealing her curse.
“Are you alright?”
At that moment, Sizelry called out to Kraush.
Seeing her expression, Kraush let out a light sigh.
“I’m in excruciating pain.”
Kraush’s arms were a mess.
That careless girl had summoned the power of deadly poison, resulting in him destroying his own arms just to block it.
It was barely a stop.
Moreover, the sword he cherished had bent out of shape.
An appropriate title—Divine Spear.
It fit like a glove.
If he’d been the target from the beginning, he would’ve definitely died.
This meant he still had quite the distance to cover before reaching her.
“Seriously, why did you do something so reckless?!”
Sizelry admonished Kraush as she steadied her racing heart.
“I was wearing the protective necklace handed down from the royal family, after all!”
Kraush belatedly noticed the necklace adorning Sizelry’s neck.
She must’ve been secretly looking for that while doing something clandestine.
‘Such preparedness.’
Though he thought it was foolish to charge blindly, Kraush lowered his arms.
“As long as you’re alive, that’s all that matters.”
At that, Sizelry’s eyes widened for a moment.
“Ebelasque!”
The instant Kraush called out Ebelasque’s name, a black liquid began to rise beneath her feet.
Recognizing that he was about to leave, Sizelry hastily shouted,
“Wait, at least for treatment!”
She understood.
If they lingered here, both Ebelasque and Kraush would be captured and interrogated.
But her mouth didn’t cooperate.
“Don’t worry. I’m used to pain.”
However, Kraush vanished along with the black liquid that had reached his shoulder while perched on a crow.
As Ebelasque disappeared in an instant, Sizelry’s expression turned completely vacant.
“What kind of nonsense was that…?”
He left without so much as an appropriate farewell.
Surely, at least a parting remark would have been in order.
Feeling exasperated, Sizelry took a deep breath.
Beside her was Sera, who looked genuinely guilty.
Her attendant’s shortcomings in protecting her during the crisis showed on her face.
“Sera.”
Looking at her, Sizelry gazed out the window.
“I suppose I’ll have to enroll in Rahern Academy.”
“I’ll prepare for it.”
Realizing Kraush intended to head to Rahern Academy, Sizelry smiled gently for the first time in a while.
“By the way, shouldn’t you help me as I’m in pain?”
As she said that, she turned, leaving to await her next encounter with Kraush.
“E-Ebelasque? W-What’s going on here?!”
Only Siphon, who was completely in the dark, screamed out in confusion.
