161
"If His Highness the Second Prince truly is a contractor of the demons, then there's only one thing he would want."
Enoch's voice carried the weight of certainty, as though he had grasped something instinctively.
Because the Empress had gone to every length imaginable to bind Arthur and the Gray Order together, Enoch had encountered Arthur far more than Cherrya had. Perhaps even more than his older brother, Aurelian.
That was why the words spilling from Enoch's lips carried such weight.
Cherrya and Aurelian swallowed hard at the same time, focusing on what Enoch would say next.
"To grant the Empress a perfect victory."
"…What does that mean?"
"What exactly do you mean by a perfect victory?"
Cherrya and the Crown Prince asked at once. Enoch furrowed his brow, briefly weighing whose question to answer, before finally replying.
"It means he'll take the path that will resolve the Empress's deep-rooted insecurities. After all, he's a son who loves his mother dearly."
At those words, Aurelian seemed to catch on, falling into thought.
Only Cherrya looked completely lost, staring intently at Enoch for clarification.
Enoch tilted his head slightly, as though to signal Cherrya to follow him outside. After giving his farewell bow to Aurelian, he said.
"I'll lead the Gray Order on the campaign against the Kratyn Forest, under Your Highness's command. I'll tell the knights I've received a personal mission from you and will be acting separately, so please go along with that."
"…Very well, Sir Enoch."
"Then, I'll see you at the engagement ceremony."
With a polite nod, Enoch left the Crown Prince's office. Cherrya, after glancing at Aurelian to gauge his reaction, hurried after him.
"Hey, what did you mean by the Empress's perfect victory? Do you know something about Prince Arthur?"
"No. But I've heard in great detail from my father about the Empress's obsessive nature."
Enoch continued as he walked.
"The Empress was raised from childhood to become Empress. She was brilliant, intelligent, the very embodiment of her family's hopes. She carried immense pride in herself."
"And then?"
"And then, what dealt her an irreparable blow was none other than His Majesty and the late former Empress."
The Empress still bore a grudge against Melsia Emblem, the Emperor's first love.
But when her own handmaid, the late Empress, fell in love with the Emperor and, despite harsh opposition, ascended to the throne, that was when the Empress completely lost her mind.
"The Empress cannot tolerate failure. If something slips from her grasp, she'll stop at nothing, by any means necessary, to make it hers."
That was how Enoch's father, Edward, described his older sister, the Empress.
'If someone stole away the dress she wanted, it didn't matter if you bought her the exact same dress afterward, or even something more expensive, she still wouldn't be satisfied. It wasn't enough just to take back what had been stolen. She needed to utterly ruin the thief so that they would never dare covet a dress again.'
'She held grudges too easily, so my father used to mete out punishments on her behalf, but even that didn't satisfy her. She had to take revenge herself, in her own way, before she felt at ease.'
'His Majesty managed to seat the woman he loved on the throne as Empress. That alone meant my sister had lost.'
In short, she had an utterly vicious temperament.
"Do you know how the late Empress died?"
"I heard… it was during childbirth, while giving birth to the Crown Prince."
"That's right. And the one who mourned that death second only to His Majesty was likely the Empress herself."
"…Wait. You mean because she wasn't the one who killed her?"
"Exactly. She couldn't take revenge in the way she wanted, couldn't return the sense of defeat in kind. For her, it must have felt like a cruel twist of fate. The late Empress became an eternal victor through her death."
At those words, Cherrya grimaced, her face twisted in disgust.
"That's why the Empress doesn't use demonic power to simply harm His Majesty or the Crown Prince. She realized that death is far too cheap and hollow a form of revenge."
"So instead, she wants to relish watching them suffer with regret and despair…"
"Most likely. I imagine she'd want to keep them alive as long as possible, watching as Prince Arthur ascends the throne and slowly ruins the empire the late Empress once loved so dearly."
"Ugh, that's terrifying."
Cherrya shivered, shaking her head as though to cast off the creeping chill.
"They say if you're going to go mad, you should at least do it gracefully. I guess that saying was made for the Empress."
"If Prince Arthur is truly a contractor of demons, then his top priority would've been to create the victory the Empress desired. But now, with the Empress fallen and the demons striking directly at His Majesty, it means Prince Arthur is moving on his own."
"That's a problem. You and I only awakened our powers recently, we're still unstable…"
"Then we need to buy time. We'll make her believe she's getting the very revenge she longed for."
"That's why you told His Highness to keep Prince Arthur close?"
"Exactly."
With the Emperor's presence fading, if Arthur were to stand proudly beside the Crown Prince, the empire's new center, the Empress would rise again in an instant.
And if that happened, then even as a contractor of demons, Arthur would still be forced to move according to her will.
By now, Cherrya seemed to grasp the situation. She placed her hand on the hilt at her side and said.
"We need to train."
"I expect to see improvement by the time I return from the Kratyn Forest."
"Since when was it my duty to live up to your expectations?"
"Then stay as you are. I don't mind."
"As if! Just wait until you're back. I'll be on a whole new level. You, on the other hand, don't go bawling your eyes out in the Kratyn Forest and end up late for the engagement ceremony. If you don't show, I'll cancel it right away."
"No matter what, I'll return before the engagement. But imagining you desperately waiting for me… I find myself wanting to enjoy that sight a little."
"You really have gone insane, haven't you?"
Cherrya growled, looking as though she might draw her sword and lunge at Enoch at any moment. Seeing her like that, Enoch curled one corner of his mouth upward, deliberately needling her as he always did.
"Haa… But seriously, what exactly do you want to confirm in the Kratyn Forest? Are you really not going to tell me until the end?"
"For now, I can't say for certain myself. But once I return, if I return, then I think I'll be able to explain it to you."
"…Fine. I'll leave it at that."
With a heavy sigh, Cherrya waved her hand dismissively, as though telling him to get lost.
That very evening, Enoch set out with the Gray Order toward the Kratyn Forest.
The Gray Order cut down the monsters of the Kratyn Forest with incredible speed, their reputation soaring higher with every victory. And just as that renown reached its peak.
[The Gray Knights, having successfully completed their subjugation mission in the Kratyn Forest, have returned. However, it is said that their commander, Enoch Gray, was nowhere to be seen in the procession. Despite the success of the operation, the Gray Order's atmosphere was heavy, and the Duke of Gray canceled all official engagements, shutting the manor doors and going into seclusion.
The Imperial Palace attempted to quell rumors by announcing that Commander Enoch Gray was merely attending to personal matters after the mission. However, multiple witnesses reported seeing Diana Gray heading toward the Kratyn Forest with Melsia Emblem at the same time the Order returned. Because of this, speculation is mounting that something has indeed happened to Enoch Gray.
All eyes are now on the engagement ceremony between the Emblem and Gray families, scheduled for next week. Many believe that whether the ceremony proceeds, or is suddenly canceled, will reveal the truth behind the rumors…]
News spread of Enoch Gray's disappearance.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments