IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 123

[CHAPTER 123]

Biterion, who had been standing with his face turned to the side, quickly turned his back.

Meyna’s hand, which had been reaching out to him, remained hanging in the air.

“Your Highness…”

Meyna called out to Biterion once more as he stood with his back turned.

His wet eyes, fixed on the lake.

Was he crying?

But he made no sound, and his broad back did not move at all.

His black-robed figure looked like a shadow.

A shadow that could never reveal itself to others for a lifetime.

“On the day we destroyed the dungeon and returned to the hotel, Sir Lenox came to see me right away.”

After a long silence, he finally spoke, as if he had regained his composure.

“We had a brief conversation, just the two of us.”

“What did you talk about?”

At Meyna’s worried question, Biterion answered with a sigh mixed in.

“He said he had decided to exclude you from the training.”

……

“He asked for my opinion.”

……

“Since you and I participated in the training together, I think he wanted to hear my thoughts.”

Meyna lowered her head.

Somehow, she felt she could guess his answer.

“As you probably expected, I told him I agreed.”

“I see. In the end…”

Falling into despair, Meyna could not say anything.

Biterion slowly turned back toward her after delivering his answer in a dry, emotionless tone.

Contrary to his words, his face looked deeply sorrowful.

“Along with excluding you from the training, Sir Lenox told me one more thing.”

Meyna could not ask what it was.

It seemed her response no longer mattered to him.

As if confessing something he had to say, his pained yet resolute expression revealed everything.

A heavy voice flowed from between his distorted lips.

“The sealed gates are opening, monsters are pouring out and attacking civilians, and the peaceful empire is in danger. Everyone knows that.”

……

“Sir Lenox said that the mastermind behind all of this might be the imperial family.”

……!

“The Parker imperial family, descendants of those who unified the great Farman Empire.”

Meyna inhaled sharply in shock.

“Especially the Emperor, Dan Parker.”

……

“My father.”

After finally revealing the truth, Biterion’s gaze fell into despair.

His unfocused purple eyes looked like dust-covered amethyst.

“Did Sir Lenox really say that?”

It was the first question Meyna asked after整理ing her chaotic thoughts.

It was unlike Caliph.

He was not someone who would casually voice unconfirmed speculation.

Especially not about something this serious.

Especially when it targeted the Crown Prince’s father.

“You think it wasn’t like him.”

Biterion seemed to read her mind.

“Yes.”

When Meyna answered, he nodded slowly in agreement.

“There must have been a reason he told me something that was only speculation.”

“What kind of reason?”

“It seems he’s suspected the Emperor for a long time. He only shared it with me now.”

“Since when…?”

Confused, Meyna quickly reviewed the past seven years she had spent with Caliph.

But she could not recall a single moment when he hinted at suspecting the Emperor.

All he ever said were trivial things.

Complaints about incompatible drinking tastes, or about not wanting imperial praise so he avoided ranking first.

The most serious thing he ever said was that the palace should rebuild ruined plazas instead of wasting money.

Of course, Caliph never revealed his true feelings to others.

Still…

“If it were something like this, wouldn’t he have told me before His Highness?”

Even if their relationship had changed, it was still closer than with others.

Why had he gone to Biterion first without even hinting to her?

“It was a long-standing suspicion, and it seemed he had gained some confidence now.”

Biterion added, recalling the conversation.

“The reason was probably what happened in the dungeon.”

The citizens of Hiscarn, burned to death by the Emperor for unknown reasons.

When she recalled Amali’s terrible scream, pain shot through Meyna’s palm.

She clenched her skirt unconsciously, and Biterion’s gaze fell on her hand.

“Then… do you know where Sir Lenox is now?”

Pretending to be calm, Meyna changed the subject and watched his expression.

Fortunately, he withdrew his gaze casually.

“No. I don’t know that much.”

Disappointed, Meyna lowered her head.

“One more thing. The reason Sir Lenox told this to me.”

When she looked up, Biterion gave a bitter smile.

“I think it was a kind of declaration of war.”

“A declaration of war…?”

For once, Meyna could not grasp his meaning.

Biterion’s face twisted in pain.

It was the face of someone about to make his most difficult confession.

“Caliph Lenox is a holy knight with a mission to save the nation.”

……

“If the Emperor truly is behind all this…”

He trailed off and steadied his breathing.

Realizing what he meant, Meyna gasped and pressed her hand to her chest.

“Wouldn’t Sir Lenox have to kill my father and his bloodline?”

Emperor Dan Parker and his descendants.

Biterion and Sera as well…

All color drained from Meyna’s face under the moonlight.

“Because that is Caliph Lenox’s calling.”

In a calm, lake-like voice, Biterion looked at her silently.

His gentle eyes curved into a warm smile.

Seeing her confusion, he added,

“It’s cold, so don’t stay outside too long.”

With his hood pulled low, he walked away.

His steps were neat as always, but his broad back looked dangerously fragile.

It did not take long for her to understand what he meant by stepping aside.

“You’re completely selfish.”

Because Caliph appeared.

He walked toward her in a neat suit, unseen for days.

He was holding something wrapped in expensive cloth.

“Is this how you act just because you got dropped from training?”

Stopping right in front of her, he scolded her in a flat tone.

“What did I tell you about wandering without your partner?”

Only then did she understand his complaint.

He was right.

Even if the hotel was nearby, going out alone violated his instructions.

Normally, she would never have done this.

But she was too confused to realize her mistake even while facing him.

Biterion’s words were rolling through her mind like sharp stones.

Caliph, who had been watching her closely, finally opened his lips.

“So you weren’t alone.”

His voice was cold and emotionless.

His gaze shifted past her toward the grass Biterion had walked over.