Chapter: 07
The one thing that was certain was that all five Great Gods were dead. The one who had been called a youngster had risen to power, while Matthias was unconscious.
Countless possibilities flashed through Aine’s mind.
Although they were at war, communication with the royal palace had not been completely cut off. Yet she had no idea what had happened in the palace over the past five years. Was something like this even possible?
Her gaze fell upon the only part of the letter’s ending that she could make out.
[If this letter should come into the possession of Commander Aine Kleine, I ask you to do me this favor. Protect Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness the Prince.]
At least, Raycy had still been alive when he wrote this letter.
Aine fixed her gaze on the words asking her to protect them.
The person mentioned here and the person mentioned in the quest both made her think of the same individual.
What on earth was she supposed to protect them from? And, moreover, whom did the enemy displayed above the quest refer to?
That person was none other than…
‘Did you do all of this, Vinet?’
As she tucked the fully read letter into her clothes, Aine fell into thought.
If everything in this letter was true, what judgment should she make?
If Vinet truly was the mastermind behind the current situation…
“Why would he do something like this now?”
But there was one thing she couldn’t understand.
There was no way someone who loved Raycy that much would harm her son.
Aine found it unpleasant to admit, but Vinet had loved Raycy until the very moment Aine left.
He had even gone so far as to suggest that they abandon everything they had and leave together.
Even now, Wilhelm looked so much like Raycy that Aine sometimes wondered whether he wasn’t her clone.
Yet Wilhelm had been poisoned. There was no way Vinet, who loved Raycy more than life itself, could have failed to notice Wilhelm’s condition.
“For now, saving Raycy’s child is the top priority.”
Aine suddenly remembered her former self.
The Aine of the past would never have gone through all this trouble for the sake of one little child.
But as she had seen during the state council meeting, the tide had already turned toward Vinet.
She could tell from the fact that even when she had openly opposed him, no one had moved to follow her.
She admitted that supporting Vinet and going with the flow would be the easiest path, but she owed Raycy far too much for that.
Just as Raycy had desperately tried to save her, Aine intended to do everything in her power to save Wilhelm.
‘If we escape right now, the timing should be perfect.’
After glancing toward the window one more time, Aine started walking.
The royal capital was no longer a safe place. She intended to take Wilhelm and escape under the cover of night.
Before they could make their move first.
“Commander! We have a serious problem!”
But war never waited for the other side.
“Fires have broken out throughout the building!”
Seeing flames rising everywhere with her own eyes, Aine thought there was no way they could put them out.
If they had intended to extinguish the fires, an enormous number of people would already have been mobilized.
But unfortunately, the palace was eerily silent, with nothing to be heard except the sound of rain.
“Commander. The Royal Guard has surrounded the palace.”
“They’ve already made their move?”
The one fortunate thing was that the people she had brought with her had not fallen into a panic.
They were soldiers who had followed Aine through every kind of hardship during the war against the Empire.
For people who had come close to death countless times, the current situation was not enough to cause serious panic.
Especially with Aine beside them, they could remain calm.
She was someone who had turned impossible situations into possible ones time and time again.
“We’re surrounded by several layers, but fortunately, Marco has already identified a place where we can escape.”
“Marco’s family is the Benos family, located in the capital. The other nobles from the capital may be cooperating with them as well.”
“Don’t worry about that, Commander. Not a single person among those who followed you has betrayed us.”
“I believe I told you to always be wary of certainty.”
“I’ll correct myself.”
Her subordinates already placed limitless trust in Aine.
Aine gave a bitter smile at their reaction before speaking.
“If you ever find yourselves in danger of dying, surrender at any time.”
“Commander.”
“You’re all valuable resources of the kingdom, and you’re nobles. They’re not Imperials we’re at war with, so I doubt they’ll go as far as killing you.”
There was only one person they were after.
Wilhelm.
If that child were eliminated, no one could object to Vinet ascending the throne.
Because he would become the only person with a legitimate claim to the throne.
“What did you do with His Highness the Prince?”
Aine was worried about whether Wilhelm was safe.
Even if she hadn’t said anything, she was certain that capable people like them would have placed Wilhelm somewhere safe.
The man she had questioned was just about to answer when—
“It’s terrible! The room where His Highness the Prince was staying has collapsed in the flames!”
“Commander!”
The moment she heard those words, Aine ran toward Wilhelm’s room without hesitation.
‘As expected. This is who they were after.’
The corridor leading to Wilhelm’s room was already engulfed in fierce flames.
“Commander. I apologize.”
“Mane.”
“I should have stayed with His Highness the Prince until the very end. It happened during that brief moment when I left.”
Mane’s face bore burn marks, as though he had desperately tried to save Wilhelm.
A few officers had managed to clear away some of the debris, but the situation was so terrible that they couldn’t even imagine entering.
“Commander. You must leave before the Royal Guard gets inside.”
“We don’t know how long the few men, including Ante, can hold the main entrance.”
The officers had already concluded that Wilhelm must be dead.
Even Aine couldn’t imagine that a child could have survived inside those flames.
But Aine remembered Raycy reaching out her hand to her until the very end.
“I can’t abandon His Highness the Prince.”
“Commander!”
Immediately after pouring the water from the flowerpot right in front of her over herself, Aine leaped into the flames before her subordinates could stop her.
She could feel the scorching heat throughout her body, but she stubbornly continued forward.
She had to see it with her own eyes.
Whether Raycy’s only remaining child was alive or dead.
‘If he’s really dead, I’ll destroy this country.’
She had no patriotism whatsoever.
With Raycy dead, her desire to protect this kingdom—and any reason to protect it—had completely disappeared.
If Wilhelm died here as well, she intended to survive somehow and personally wipe out the rebels with her own army.
She moved as quickly as she could, and eventually reached Wilhelm’s door.
‘This is as far as I can go.’
She was struggling to breathe, and the water she had poured over her body was already drying.
Just as she began to think that she might be engulfed by the flames and die as well—
“I’m sor… ry… Ma.”
It was faint, but she heard it clearly.
Wilhelm’s voice came from inside the room.
“Commander! Come out quickly!”
“Damn it, Commander!”
Her subordinates shouted at her to come out immediately, but their voices failed to reach Aine’s ears.
“Ha. I wish I had an axe.”
She reached for the doorknob.
She knew she shouldn’t touch a handle heated by fire, but Aine wasn’t some monster capable of breaking down a door with her bare hands.
She draped her jacket over the handle and immediately pulled.
“Ugh!”
Wilhelm was gasping for breath.
‘Am I going to die like this?’
When he opened his eyes because of the intense heat, the ceiling was already filled with thick, acrid black smoke.
His instincts were telling the young boy that if this continued, he might die just like his parents.
‘I… can’t find any strength.’
He tried with all his remaining strength to lift himself up, but he couldn’t muster any strength at all.
In the end, Wilhelm gave up and began to cry.
That day had also been filled with black smoke that made it difficult to breathe, just like now.
Everything around him had been bright red, as though the sun had risen right before his eyes. His mother had covered his eyes so that he wouldn’t see, but through the gaps between her fingers, he had seen many people lying motionless on the floor.
Wilhelm had been terrified.
Were they going to die too, after his father?
But his mother hid him inside a wardrobe and whispered—
‘Please, at least let me live.’
Not long afterward, soldiers arrived and killed his mother as well.
He wanted to crawl out of the wardrobe and run to her, but his body had gone stiff, and he couldn’t do anything.
From that moment on, Wilhelm’s top priority had been survival.
Every day was painful and lonely, and there were times when he wanted to follow his mother and father to the other side, but he couldn’t disobey the words his mother had left him.
From then on, Wilhelm desperately tried to survive.
‘But even that is over now.’
Wilhelm knew it too.
His uncle, Vinet, had no intention of letting him live.
There was nothing a child who had lost everything could do to defeat an adult.
“I’m sor… ry… Mom.”
So he decided to accept it.
Although he had failed to fulfill his mother’s wishes, he had done his best, and he believed she would understand.
He sensed someone’s presence near the door.
Thinking that the person had come to kill him, Wilhelm closed his eyes.
He desperately wished for one thing.
He didn’t want it to hurt, so he hoped they would kill him as painlessly as possible.
“Commander! Come out quickly!”
“Damn it, Commander!”
But the person who had come to find Wilhelm was neither an assassin nor Vinet, nor the parents who had left him behind and gone away first.
“Fortunately, he’s still breathing.”
The person standing before him looked exactly like the person he had heard about from his mother countless times.
A person with silver hair and red eyes.
Wilhelm wanted to look at her until the very end, but his eyes slowly closed.
Yet he heard her clearly with both ears.
“You absolutely cannot die here. So please, try your best to stay alive, Your Highness.”
Those were the last words she said to him.
