Chapter 1. The One Person Who Can Save Me
The Demonkin.
A race said to have been created by demons.
No one knew when or how those grotesque, savage creatures had come into existence. The only thing anyone knew was that they had been humanity’s sworn enemy since time immemorial.
That was why the Saint’s safety was of the utmost importance.
The ancient prophecy had made it clear.
Only if the Saint succeeded could humanity triumph.
If the Saint were slain instead, the world would come to an end.
How terrifying a fate that was.
“And she dared to harm the Saint?”
“That crazy bitch! They say she even practiced dark magic!”
Although the heresy trial had long since ended, the spectators continued pointing at the prisoner, showering her with jeers.
They said that when the monster’s residence had been searched, forbidden grimoires, poison, talismans, and even goat’s blood had been found in abundance.
“And wasn’t it the Saint herself who protected that wretch simply because she was her little sister?”
“Exactly! She doesn’t know her place—or gratitude!”
Dressed in a coarse brown prison uniform and dragged toward the underground cells by the guards, Astir suddenly caught sight of a man.
From head to toe, he was dressed in black—the color that symbolized House de Nuxieike.
“G-Grandfather…!”
The Duke of Nuxieike.
The moment she met his black eyes, Astir tore herself free from the guards and ran toward him.
“Please… just believe me this once…!”
Clinging desperately to his feet, she cried out.
“I was your granddaughter too…!”
The sudden commotion froze the air into silence as her desperate voice echoed through the hall.
“I really was Father’s daughter!”
“I was the real Alexei…!”
It’s a miracle.
The head of House Nuxieike raised a hand, stopping the guards rushing toward me.
He simply stared at me in silence, hesitation flickering across his face.
It was the same expression he used to wear whenever he gave me ginger cookies.
He hated ginger cookies.
So did Sei.
Whenever some happened to come their way, they would give them to me instead.
As though they thought giving them to me was preferable to throwing them away.
There was hope.
I knew it instinctively.
After spending my entire life groveling at his feet, I could tell.
“G-Grandfather… p-please… s-save—”
Just as I was about to beg through my tears—
“Grandfather!”
A frightened, crystal-clear voice rang out.
The scent of lilies filled the air.
Sei rushed forward and clung to the Duke’s arm.
“Grandfather… I’m scared…”
The instant her trembling words faded…
I felt something beneath my hands.
A faint vibration.
The blood dripping from my face splashed directly onto his finely crafted leather shoe.
The crimson droplet instantly seeped into the leather before drying into a dark stain.
“Ah…”
My heart stopped.
My breathing stopped.
Drool trickled helplessly from my lips.
Panic.
Complete panic.
“N-No…!”
I frantically tried to wipe the blood away with my bound hands.
Too late.
“You filthy…”
Even with my poor eyesight, I could clearly see the disgust boiling inside his black eyes.
He wasn’t looking at me.
He was staring at the bloodstain on his shoe.
The tiny hesitation he’d shown toward me vanished without a trace.
Overwhelmed by his anger that my blood had ruined his precious shoes.
Ptui!
Something wet struck me.
The Duke spat before roughly kicking me away while shielding the Saint behind him.
Thud!
The guards immediately followed, stomping the troublesome prisoner who had caused such a disturbance.
“AAAAAH!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“I was wrong! I was wrong about everything!”
“I’ll never do it again!”
“Grandfather—!”
“N-No… Lord Patriarch!”
“Your Grace!”
“Please!”
“Please!”
“Please… just spare my life…!”
Even though the Duke had already turned his back on me, protecting Sei.
Even though I knew it was all over.
I couldn’t stop begging.
I promised I would never again make the foolish mistake of letting filthy blood like mine stain anything.
Please…
Please change your mind.
Please…
Just let me live.
BANG! BANG!
I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard.
I wanted to hide inside my shallow sleep.
But if I ignored them, all I’d earn was another bucket of freezing water.
Groaning, I forced myself upright as a guard pounded irritably against the bars.
“Leave her.”
“!”
The unfamiliar voice instantly cleared my mind.
Even the burning pain in every joint disappeared.
“B-But, Your Excellency…”
“It’s fine. Just keep watch. I merely stopped by because there’s something I wished to ask. Strictly speaking, this interrogation isn’t my responsibility.”
“O-Of course, Your Excellency. Just shout if anything happens. We’ve drained most of her strength, but she’s a poisonous witch after all…”
Creak.
The cell door shut.
A tall figure strode toward the bars.
The flickering torchlight illuminated the man as he lowered his hood.
Golden hair that seemed untouched even by firelight.
Brilliant emerald eyes.
Hekteilr de Onyxblood.
After he became Vice Minister, we’d lost contact.
But once…
He had been someone very dear to me.
My heart tightened.
It wasn’t the same fear I felt when I saw the branding iron.
It was different.
Would he suspect me too?
Would disgust appear in those green eyes as well?
I stared blankly ahead, just as I had when my death sentence was pronounced.
Then a single word pierced my heart.
“…Tir.”
“…!”
“T-Tir… I’m sorry I came so late.”
“I… I couldn’t do anything for you all this time…”
Everything about him felt unfamiliar.
Everything except his voice.
This filthy prison did not suit someone as noble as him.
The eloquent man I remembered now stumbled over every word.
Yet…
He still called me Tir.
The nickname known only to the two of us.
“Hic…!”
My breathing hitched beneath my tears.
“I didn’t do it…”
“I never did anything…!”
“I know.”
“Ah, Tir… please…”
“Hector…”
“Y-Yes.”
He was the sole heir of his ducal house.
A collateral member of the imperial family with a legitimate claim to the throne—the third closest person to the Imperial Crown.
Someone so important that he should never have stepped foot inside a place as filthy as this.
Few nobles even dared to call him by his nickname.
Yet…
He had allowed me to.
One of my most precious memories.
“Please don’t cry…”
He reached an arm through the bars.
Slowly, I crawled closer and rested my head against his hand.
“Ah…”
Like his voice, his fingertips trembled.
He gently caressed my bruised, swollen face with extraordinary care.
Though we had finally reunited after an entire year…
I understood his heart without a single word.
I’ve missed you so much.
“Tir! Just endure a little longer.”
Suddenly withdrawing his arm, Hector whispered urgently.
“I found good medicine.”
“I’ll make sure you never have to suffer again.”
“So hold on.”
“Just a little longer.”
“All right?”
“Y-Your Excellency?”
He immediately stood, pulled his hood back over his head, and at that very moment the guard returned.
“Yes.”
“It seems our time is up.”
“As expected, I learned nothing.”
Boom.
“Just as I thought,” the guard muttered.
“Stubborn bitch.”
The iron door to the corridor slammed shut behind them.
I closed my eyes, desperately trying not to forget the feeling of Hector’s hand.
At least that…
I would never lose.
Not until my very last moment.
BANG!
“!”
A sudden commotion shattered the silence.
“You can’t do this, Your Excellency!”
“Oh, relax! I just want to take a quick look! I’m going in alone!”
Blinding torchlight flooded the corridor, forcing me to squint.
“So this is her?”
“The infamous witch everyone’s been talking about.”
“…!”
The familiar voice made my eyes snap open.
No…
It couldn’t be.
He wouldn’t come here.
And even if he did…
He wouldn’t speak to me like that.
“Your Excellency, you may be the Supreme Commander and a Grandmaster, but this is dangerous!”
Yet once again…
I was abandoned.
The word surely had betrayed me far too many times.
“Stop making such a fuss.”
“My head’s starting to ache.”
“How am I supposed to enjoy the show with all this noise?”
A tall brown-haired man stepped before the bars.
His eyes reflected the torchlight like those of a hunting beast.
“Tch.”
“Nothing special.”
“Hey.”
“Can you hear me?”
The men surrounding him wore uniforms I’d never seen before.
Military uniforms, perhaps.
But I paid them no attention.
My gaze remained fixed on those dazzling, multicolored eyes.
Chilles Snowelse.
The Empire’s Supreme Commander.
A Grandmaster.
And…
Before the war began…
My friend.
I didn’t call out his name.
I didn’t ask how he could treat me this way.
No one would have believed me anyway.
Not only that…
I wasn’t shameless enough to put him in such an awkward position.
At the very least, he had once shown me kindness.
Without asking for anything in return, he had shared food with me.
Conversations.
Warm smiles.
If Hector had been the sunshine in my miserable life…
Then Chilles had been its warmth.
Though that was all in the past now.
“She looks awfully young.”
“Why is she chained up so tightly?”
“Please be careful, Your Excellency. She’s nothing like she appears. She’s mastered the Demonkin’s dark magic. She may curse you.”
“A curse?”
“If she could do that, I’d have been cursed long ago.”
“The most annoying thing those bastards ever throw is rocks.”
“As for humans… well… getting hit by them only leaves you in a foul mood.”
“It doesn’t really hurt.”
“Ahem.”
The soldiers merely coughed awkwardly.
Even they couldn’t answer such blunt sarcasm.
“Hey.”
“Witch.”
“…”
“What a disappointment.”
“You idiot.”
“Who’d bother saving a filthy witch like you?”
“Tch.”
“What a waste of time.”
“I’m bored.”
He yawned lazily and waved a hand.
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
“Let’s leave immediately!”
The soldiers hurried to escort their superior out of the filthy underground prison.
Tap.
“…?”
A faint vibration echoed through the bars.
My heart, which had only just begun to calm, suddenly raced again.
I instinctively lifted my head.
His eyes…
They shone with an intensity completely unlike his indifferent expression.
He was staring directly at me.
As if he had something to say.
One hand covered his mouth.
Yet unlike someone genuinely yawning…
His eyes never narrowed.
“There are hand signals,” he had once told me.
“Adventurers use them all the time.”
“Pretend you’re yawning… or crying… and cover your mouth with your hand.”
“Show your palm while looking straight at the other person.”
“It’s a signal.”
“It means: Everything I’m saying is a lie.”
“Reverse my words, just as you would turn over the palm of your hand.”
Whenever he came to see me…
He always looked directly into my eyes.
Because my poor eyesight made it difficult for me to see him otherwise.
‘Ast.’
“!”
And he always called me by that name.
Just as his lips silently formed now.
The nickname he had made up for me because House Nuxieike had never given me one.
‘…You understand, Ast?’
“…!”
Ast.
It’s all a lie.
Everything I said was a lie.
Wait for me.
I’ll save you.
No matter what.
Bang.
“Ugh…!”
“Waaaah…!”
As the iron door slammed shut…
I could no longer hold back my sobs.
