Chapter 9

Heinz stood there in a daze, his strength drained away.

Still holding his hand, Elthia ran through the vast Imperial Palace for quite a while until they finally lost everyone chasing them.

Only then did she suddenly realize what she had done and quickly let go of their clasped hands.

“It’ll take some time before we reach my residence, so…”

Her voice trailed off.

She quietly knelt in front of Heinz and reached toward his injured leg.

The wound disappeared completely without leaving the slightest trace.

Heinz clenched his teeth.

It wasn’t help he welcomed.

A wound like this would have healed on its own within a few days.

The fact that he had received help from this woman only irritated him.

The brief tremble he had felt a moment ago…

He wanted to ignore it.

When Elthia reached toward the bruises on his arm, Heinz slapped her hand away and stepped back.

“…I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“It’s my fault, so I thought it was only right for me to heal you.”

Heinz silently watched as she reached toward his wounds once more.

“This is the only thing I can do.”

Elthia smiled weakly.

She truly seemed unaware of just how extraordinary her ability was.

Looking at her forcing herself to smile, Heinz answered with cold sarcasm.

“So the noble Empress is showing mercy to livestock that’s worth less than a human.”

“What an honor.”

He remembered it clearly.

He remembered exactly how someone from the Imperial Family had humiliated his parents before they died.

And you…

You’re no different.

The memories he had buried slowly began to crawl back into his mind.

His parents had been poor serfs.

But they had lived honest lives, never ashamed to look up at the heavens.

They were righteous.

Hardworking.

Kindhearted people.

The year Heinz turned seven, his father was taken away by the Imperial Family.

At the time, the local lords’ tyranny had made life unbearable for the serfs beneath them.

Unable to simply watch any longer, his father had stepped forward.

Fortunately…

He returned alive.

But the torture he suffered left him unable to speak for a long time.

By the time he finally regained his voice a few days later…

Their family’s situation had worsened drastically.

His mother worked not only in the fields but also cleaned and cooked for other households.

Though still a child, Heinz began helping with both the farming and the housework.

He also frequently helped at the butcher shop run by Hero’s family, a friend who lived a few villages away.

Even so…

He had never thought his life was unhappy.

His parents were always busy.

Yet they never failed to love him.

They always found time to care for him.

Even though they couldn’t move elsewhere without their lord’s permission…

He had been content.

At least until the day before Edwin ascended the throne.

When Edwin was chosen as the Imperial heir…

Half the nation despaired.

Even as a prince, he had been infamous for spending more time indulging himself than governing the country.

Few people welcomed the news that he would become Emperor.

Not long after Edwin’s coming-of-age ceremony and coronation…

The Black Plague spread through the villages.

It marked the beginning of the nation’s disasters.

As if the epidemic itself weren’t enough…

The Imperial Family squeezed even more taxes from the starving people.

His parents were no exception.

Most days they survived on dry pieces of bread or thin wheat porridge.

Sometimes…

They had nothing at all.

Then…

One snowy winter that same year…

His parents left him forever.

His father was forced into labor to strengthen the Imperial Palace gates.

He died there in an accident.

His mother waited for hours outside the palace gates in the freezing wind, hoping only to recover her husband’s body.

Just before she froze to death…

The Emperor finally appeared.

And without mercy…

He killed her.

That day…

For the first time in his life, Heinz disobeyed his mother’s final request not to follow her.

Worried about her, he ran to the palace gate.

There…

He saw his mother’s body lying on the ground, soaked in blood.

Edwin looked at the bloodstained sword as though it were filthy.

Frowning, he threw it onto the ground before looking down at the cold corpse with a smile.

“I hate dealing with creatures that refuse to understand reason.”

Those words pierced Heinz’s heart like a blade.

Even watching from a distance was unbearable.

He couldn’t even gather the courage to step closer.

“Get that filth out of my sight.”

Just as Heinz, half out of his mind, was about to charge at Edwin…

Hero grabbed him and stopped him.

“Let me go!”

“Get a hold of yourself.”

“Nothing will change if you rush over there now.”

Heinz clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his skin.

As frustrating as it was…

Hero was right.

His bloodshot eyes filled with tears.

The road had already become covered in fresh white snow.

Even the final traces of his mother’s blood were disappearing beneath it.

Who could ever understand the grief…

Of turning away with clenched teeth…

Without even being allowed to recover his parents’ bodies?

That day…

For the first time in his life…

Heinz cried until his voice gave out.

After that…

He never shed another tear.

“…I didn’t lie on purpose.”

Elthia, who had remained silent while healing him, carefully broke the silence.

Heinz simply looked away without answering.

“I know it too.”

She lowered her head while awkwardly touching the luxurious ornaments decorating her hair.

“I know someone like me…”

“…Doesn’t deserve to be Empress.”

She belittled herself far too much.

Heinz glanced at her as she rambled on about things he neither cared about nor wanted to hear.

Then he quietly picked up his belongings again.

“If I’d known from the beginning that you were the Empress…”

“I never would have let you into my home.”

“…”

His cold voice struck Elthia like a knife.

“I hope we never meet again.”

Even until the very end…

His attitude remained merciless.

He knew what the Imperial Family had done to his parents.

Still…

Part of him wondered what expression she was wearing now.

Did I hurt her?

But he convinced himself…

That feeling existed only because she had healed him.

Turning his back on the motionless Elthia…

He finally started walking home.

Then…

Someone stepped into his path.

“The Imperial Palace hasn’t been this noisy in quite some time.”

Elthia’s breath caught.

The Emperor stood before them with overwhelming authority.

Simply standing in front of him made her body shrink instinctively.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Empress dressed up like this.”

His twisted tone irritated Heinz for some reason.

Covering part of her face, Elthia spoke softly.

“…How are you here?”

“Didn’t you desperately try to get my attention since early this morning?”

Every sharp word pierced her heart.

“Empress.”

“…”

“I have very little interest in knowing where you go or what you do.”

Elthia bit her lip.

She was already used to the way Edwin looked at her…

As though she were nothing more than a stranger passing by.

She knew exactly what he thought of her.

Yet every time…

It still hurt.

“So don’t think spending time with someone like him will earn my attention.”

Heinz tightened his grip on the bag in his hand.

It felt as though he were holding onto the last thread of his self-control.

Not yet.

It wasn’t time to reveal his desire for revenge.

“I don’t know how close the two of you are…”

“But if he stays in the Imperial Palace any longer, nothing good will come of it.”

A gloomy, timid woman whom no one wanted to approach…

And a lowborn man with nothing to his name.

They make quite the pair.

Edwin was certain Elthia would spend her entire life looking only at him.

Because of that…

He almost pitied Heinz.

Looking down at Heinz, who was more than a head shorter than himself, Edwin’s eyes were filled with smug triumph.

He let out a mocking laugh.

He could have cut Heinz’s head off right then and there.

But he found it almost admirable that Elthia had gone this far just to earn even the slightest bit of his attention.

Even so…

Nothing she did would ever make him love her.

Not in any way.

So Edwin decided to show this insignificant woman one more act of “kindness.”

“I have something for you to do.”

“Come with me.”

He ordered Elthia with a slight tilt of his chin.

Heinz watched until the two of them disappeared from sight.

Only then did he continue on his way.

When Edwin said he had something for her to do…

Elthia’s heart had leaped with excitement.

Now…

As she looked at the countless soldiers gathered inside the warehouse before her…

That excitement had long since turned into fear.

“There’s still some time before the banquet.”

“So I think you should use your ability for the soldiers.”

They had only recently returned from a military expedition.

Elthia tightly shut her eyes.

Whenever she healed someone…

She experienced all of that person’s pain herself.

Healing many people at once always left her completely exhausted.

The more severe the wounds…

The more her own strength drained away…

And the weaker her healing ability became.

“But… there are far too many people…”

“I trust you can do at least this much for me.”

Hearing the Emperor’s gentle voice for the first time in a long while…

Elthia nodded without thinking.

He only ever spoke kindly to her at moments like this.

But…

Even that was enough for her.

“The pain will only last a moment.”

“So don’t worry.”

Bang!

The warehouse doors slammed shut.

From outside…

Edwin locked them.