TNKHC 77

Chapter 77 …

13 years ago.

“Mom, Mom….”

A girl was found at sea with no memory.

The pitiful child knew nothing except her own name.

Whether she had been abandoned by her mother—until she regained consciousness, she had reportedly called for her mother constantly from her hospital bed.

“Do you really not remember anything?”

The girl couldn’t speak, as if she had aphasia, and the doctor diagnosed that she had lost all her memories from the shock of being abandoned.

And so, the girl was admitted to an orphanage in a small seaside village.

“June 6. This must be your birthday, right?”

In the girl’s hand was a small letter wishing her a happy birthday.

Thanks to it, unlike the other children, she at least knew when she had been born.

“Elena must be your name. It’s pretty.”

That day, the girl was given a new name.

Elena Helios.

Since there was no family name written in the letter, they added the name of a god behind it.

“Elena Helios—how is it? Do you like it?”

After leaving the hospital, she was always alone.

Like a pretty doll, the girl always sat quietly in the corner.

She neither played with the other children nor ate properly.

“Hey, mute freak.”

“……”

“Your face is pretty, so why can’t you talk? Hey, say something.”

Even under the children’s contempt, the girl never responded.

The more she stayed silent, the worse the bullying became, yet she remained wordless.

“Why don’t you ever cry or laugh?”

The orphanage director named Larsa was a person worse than a beast.

She always carried a rod in her hand and ruled the children with violence.

But the girl showed no reaction, like an emotionless doll.

That only made Larsa angrier, and she tormented the girl even more.

“Speak! Speak! I said talk!”

Her small body became covered in bruises from the endless beatings.

But there was no one there to save her.

The only one she could rely on was herself.

“Tough little bitch.”

But after a few days, the girl had changed into someone else.

The child who wouldn’t even open her mouth began speaking like an adult and using strange words.

“I’m going to report you to the police, you crazy woman. Where’s my phone?!”

“W-What? Crazy woman?”

At first, everyone thought the girl had gone mad.

She blurted out bizarre words no one had ever heard before.

Her personality had turned eccentric—she even grabbed the director by the hair.

On top of that, she captivated the other children and strutted around like their leader. What a shocking sight.

“Before, I endured it. But not anymore.”

Life had returned to the girl’s dry eyes, now sharp with intelligence.

She was no longer the weak child who quietly suffered.

Confident and clever—

Elena Helios.

A cold, damp smell stabbed her nose.

The air was so frigid her body trembled.

Where… is this?

“Ugh….”

Elena let out a low groan and staggered.

Something hard clamped tightly around her wrists, preventing movement.

Cold seeped up from the floor into her knees.

“Where is this…?”

“So you’re finally awake.”

“Your Majesty… the Empress….”

Everything around her was pitch black.

Barely any light entered the space.

A musty smell of dust irritated her nose.

Still dazed, she couldn’t think straight.

“What is…?”

When she came to her senses and looked around, she realized she was kneeling on a cold stone floor.

Her wrists were bound in shackles with iron rings—Elena couldn’t do anything.

On either side, knights in golden armor held her down.

“Oh, don’t be so surprised. We simply came to have a little conversation.”

In front of her was a bathtub filled with water.

In the clear surface reflected a face filled with terror.

“Please let me go. What is the meaning of this—!”

“Shh. I absolutely hate noise.”

The Empress frowned, covering her ears as if annoyed.

A sinister premonition washed over Elena, and her whole body trembled like a leaf.

“Let—let go!!! Let me go!!!”

“You know struggling is useless, don’t you? Hmm?”

“Let go!!!”

“Hah… I suppose words aren’t enough.”

As the Empress raised her hand into the air, the soldiers grabbed the back of Elena’s head.

“What are you— mmph—!”

In an instant, a powerful force shoved her head into the tub.

The clear water swallowed her face completely.

She couldn’t open her eyes.

She couldn’t breathe.

The freezing temperature was dizzying, as if her skin might freeze solid.

“Gah—! Cough! Cough!!”

As she thrashed to survive, the crushing force holding her underwater loosened.

Elena coughed violently, spitting out the water she had swallowed.

Then she gasped desperately for air.

Drops—whether spit or water—dripped onto the floor.

Her soaked hair drenched her dress.

“Now you’re finally quiet.”

“Why… why are you doing this, Your Majesty…?”

She was terrified.

She wanted to escape this place immediately.

She was cold, and it felt like her head would split open.

Her body shivered uncontrollably, and she felt like vomiting.

“Curious, are you?”

When she barely managed to open her eyes, the Empress’s vicious face came into view.

She looked almost delighted by the situation.

“Now then, we’re going to play a very fun game.”

“What…?”

“Poor thing—you’ve lost your memory.”

“How do you…?”

The Empress curled her lips into a long smile and stepped closer.

Her steady footsteps, like a metronome, deepened the fear.

“Now, I’ll tell you a story. If you remember, I’ll spare you. But if you don’t… I’ll kill you. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Your Majesty, I don’t understand what you—”

The Empress cleared her throat and began.

“Once upon a very long time ago, in a splendid castle, there lived an Emperor, an Empress, and their lovely daughter.”

“……”

“That child had curly pink hair and blue eyes. And her name was Elena von Estina. The most precious child in the world. The one and only imperial princess of the Estel Empire.”

Her gentle voice sent chills down the spine.

It felt as if tiny larvae were wriggling across Elena’s entire body.

The Empress continued, smiling to the end.

“The mother cherished her daughter dearly. Afraid she might break, afraid the wind might carry her away—she raised her with utmost care.”

“……”

“But one day, a dreadful oracle came to the Empress. It said that the daughter would kill her mother. In other words, the imperial princess would devour the Empress.”

“……”

“From that moment on, the Empress trembled in fear. She couldn’t kill the beautiful daughter she had raised so carefully. But she was afraid. After all, how hard had she worked to reach the Empress’s throne? She couldn’t die yet.”

The Empress rolled her eyes wildly and stretched her arms into the air.

She looked like a dark sorceress summoning a demon.

“So she thought: send the child far away to the sea. Whether she lived or died would be the child’s fate.”

“……”

“And so, the Empress abandoned the child in the distant sea. It was sad, but it was an unavoidable choice.”

Elena’s mind spun in confusion.

At first, they said the child was lost at sea.

But now she was saying she threw the child away?

“Now then, question time. Who do you think this Empress and child are?”

The Empress approached with a bright smile in her eyes.

Her hand roughly grabbed Elena’s chin.

“Speak.”

“I—I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

Her pitiful lips trembled.

There was no way to know what the Empress wanted.

She racked her brain, but no answer came.

No—there was no answer to begin with.

“Dunk her.”

“Mmph—!”

Her head was shoved back into the tub.

Splash.

Her face, plunged into the icy water, lost all sensation.

This time she missed the timing—water rushed into her nose and mouth.

It felt like it filled her lungs past her airway.

“Ghk—! Cough! Cough!”

Water poured from her mouth as she coughed.

Elena panted like a beast, unable even to properly open her eyes.

“Why, why—why don’t you understand even when I spell it out for you, hmm? Are you this stupid because you take after your father, Elena?!”

The Empress screamed hysterically.

Her chilling glare looked ready to burst through her eyelids.

“I am… your mother, Elena.”

Her vicious face, like a venomous snake, came right up close.

Grinding her teeth, she spoke in a clipped, ventriloquist-like voice that stabbed into Elena’s ears.

Gasping for breath, Elena finally broke down and begged through tears.

“Please… please save me…”

“So remember, Elena. Remember!!! I am your mother!!!”

The Empress grabbed her face and screamed like a madwoman.

Like a mother bear that had lost her cub.

“Please… save me…”

Elena sobbed helplessly, tears pouring like a downpour.

Her mind was in complete disarray.

It felt like her brain had been thrown into a centrifuge and spun at high speed.

“You should have just died. Hmm? Why do you keep—why—why do you keep appearing before my eyes?!”

The Empress’s face twisted like crumpled paper. The harsh sound of her scratching her throat rang in Elena’s ears.

Elena couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

She only wanted to escape this place.

“Save… me…”

Creeeak—

At that moment, a chilling sound pierced the air.

The heavy iron door scraped across the floor.

Someone had arrived.

The knights quickly turned and drew their sharp swords.

“Your Majesty… what exactly are you doing?”

At the familiar voice echoing through the room, strength drained from Elena’s entire body.

Though it sounded angry, there was no mistaking the gentle tone.

“Aiden….”

“And how did the prince come here?”

The Empress raised one eyebrow, smiling strangely.

She looked like a wicked witch.

“Isn’t this a place full of our memories?”

Aiden let out a cold laugh and drew his sword from its sheath.

Even facing the two fearsome knights, he looked utterly unconcerned.

“I suspected something… but to think you’d go this far.”

With a few swift swings of his blade, the knights collapsed, vomiting blood.

In an instant, the water in the tub turned bright red.

“How disgusting.”

Aiden shattered the shackles and helped Elena to her feet.

Her body, collapsing into his arms, was still trembling.

“Take your hands off her.”

The Empress glared at him with murderous eyes.

Her clenched teeth showed her fury.

“I said let go, Prince.”

As if he were deaf, Aiden completely ignored her and lifted Elena in his arms, walking toward the door.

“Noah, you do understand what your actions mean.”

The Empress ground her teeth and glared.

Her expression looked ready to kill.

“Of course I do.”

Bang—