33. Fall.

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.

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After being captured by Iliana and returning to the Imperial Palace, everything was already over.

The Baemgeunil she had painstakingly created were loyal to Aran, and even Soup, whom she had put so much effort into, was by Aran’s side.

 

 

And Cornelia was protecting him.

 

 

“You idiot….”

 

 

Iliana roughly forced her to kneel.

 

Kneeling before Aran. In front of everyone, no less.

Under normal circumstances, she would have thrown a fit, but Huana was quiet.

 

 

‘Why…why…why did you betray me? Narcissi….’

 

 

Now was not the time to worry about that.

The betrayal of Narcissi, no less.

 

After all that comforting and promises to live together, she sold her off to Iliana for a ransom.

And even when she was caught, she just smiled nonchalantly.

Without even a shred of regret or guilt….

 

 

If she had truly loved Huana, could she have really done that?

 

300 Stadia is an enormous sum of money.

It’s an amount that rivals a country’s annual budget, an amount that even a nation couldn’t move around privately.

 

 

Perhaps that huge sum of money moved her heart.

 

 

‘Still…still, how could you do this to me…!’

 

 

She was consumed with betrayal.

Rage welled up, and tears of blood streamed down.

 

 

Hatred enveloped her.

 

 

 

“Huana, do you admit your sins?”

 

At Cornelia’s quietly spoken words, she whipped her head up.

She didn’t say anything, but her face, red with exertion, and the bloodshot eyes betrayed her feelings.

 

 

“…Admit it. You borrowed evil power to kill your younger brother, Aran, and in the process, you stained the Imperial Palace with blood. Many nobles have been tainted by you, losing their humanity to the point where they can be called mere monsters, so how do you intend to repay this sin?”

 

Cornelia looked sad but also cold.

Huana gritted her teeth.

 

The fact that she had been betrayed by Narcissi and ended up like this was unbearable.

 

 

 

 

“Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

 

 

 

 

She went berserk, shaking off the soldiers holding her and charging at Aran.

The price for rebelling against her master, the excruciating pain, was meaningless at this moment.

 

 

“Die!!”

 

 

Her arm shot out, piercing the air.

A sonic boom-like sound *pang* exploded, unleashing an ultimate strike.

 

 

However,

 

 

It was blocked by Cornelia’s beloved sword, Slayer.

 

 

“…Are you still…still doing this?”

 

 

Cornelia sternly rebuked her and struck her abdomen with the bottom of the hilt.

 

 

“Keu…keueuk….”

 

 

Receiving her sorrowful gaze, Huana collapsed.

 

 

The price for opposing Aran was greater than being hit by Cornelia.

She had endured the pain for a moment, but daring to bare her fangs at her master was a heinous crime.

An unbearable sensation enveloped her entire body.

 

 

“Heueuk…eueuk….Sa..save….Aaaaaaack!!”

 

 

It was truly soul-wrenching pain.

There was no way even she could withstand it.

 

“….”

“You fool….”

 

 

Cornelia and Iliana watched with heavy hearts.

The sight of their daughter and sister writhing miserably on the floor was unbearable to watch.

 

 

“Tsk….”

 

 

Aran’s mood also soured for no reason.

He had been very pleased when he had just dealt with Huana, but seeing his wives’ expressions, that was all gone.

 

 

‘What the hell am I doing….’

 

 

A sense of futility, perhaps.

 

 

“Now, please get up.”

“Keueuk…..”

 

 

With just one word from Aran, that hellish pain disappeared.

 

“Aran….”

“Huana Nu-nim committed a grave sin, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. At least, not for us royals.”

“….”

“If it doesn’t leak to the outside, what could be better than this?”

 

 

All the nobles in the Imperial Palace had become Baemgeunil.

This could be a tremendous driving force in developing the country.

 

 

“But don’t Baemgeunil have to drink blood periodically? That could lead to bizarre incidents.”

“It’s okay. Baemgeunil are bound to obey their master’s words.”

“….”

 

 

The two women cast slightly dubious glances.

The fact that Huana was a Baemgeunil in the first place made it seem like it was somehow related to Aran, so it was understandable that they would look at him that way.

 

 

“Aran, could it be that you turned Huana into a Baemgeunil?”

“No.”

“…Then who the hell turned Huana into a Baemgeunil?”

“Well, I don’t know either.”

“….”

 

 

Aran flatly denied it, despite the two women’s suspicious glances.

There was no point in admitting it, as it wouldn’t do him any good.

 

 

“Well, alright. What are you going to do now?”

“For now, I’ll keep Nu-nim with me for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s a Baemgeunil.”

“….”

 

 

Cornelia looked even more suspicious.

Her eyes seemed to say, “Could you be the mastermind behind all of this?”

 

 

“Ahem. Mother, please give Iliana Nu-nim some explanations.”

“What kind of explanations, you rascal?”

“Shouldn’t Nu-nim become the Emperor now?”

“Sigh…how did this happen….”

 

 

She sighed deeply and disappeared with Iliana.

She seemed to need a little rest.

 

 

 

“…Kill you. You son of a bitch.”

 

Huana spat out in a still sharp voice.

She had lost everything because of him, so there was no greater enemy than him.

 

 

“Why would I kill you? Didn’t you hear what I said?”

 

Now that the onlookers were gone, there was no need for honorifics.

He took the helpless Huana to his room.

 

“You’re going to rape me again, aren’t you? You goddamn bastard!!”

 

Huana continued to curse all the way.

It seemed like she wasn’t thinking about her own faults at all, or even recognizing them.

 

 

‘Well, she’s always been like this.’

 

 

There was no need to be considerate.

She had never been considerate either.

 

 

 

Arriving at the room, Aran roughly threw her down and locked the door.

 

“You’re not the Emperor or anything anymore. You’re just a human.”

“Shut up!”

“Oh, that’s right, you’re not human. You’re a Baemgeunil, after all.”

“Hmph. I’m much better than a beast like you. A filthy bastard who only knows sexual pleasure! Even an earthworm is much more beneficial.”

“Is that so? But soon you’ll be begging me. Begging me to defile you.”

“Ha…why? Are you going to brainwash me or something? Bullshit!!”

“No, that wouldn’t be fun. More importantly, I heard you were betrayed by Narcissi?”

“…Shut up. Don’t bring that up with your dirty mouth.”

“Wow. You were betrayed, but you still like her?”

“….”

 

 

Huana turned her head away without a word.

She had no intention of talking to Aran any further.

Especially not about Narcissi.

 

 

“How about I call her for you?”

“Get lost! Don’t touch me!”

“Why? She’s the woman who sold you off anyway.”

“Shut up, you dirty bastard.”

 

She resisted fiercely, but tears were already streaming down her face.

 

 

She couldn’t kill Aran, and she had even lost Narcissi.

In the worst possible way, betrayal.

 

 

“That’s how people are. Who would like a woman with a twisted personality like you? She approached you with that intention from the beginning.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!! Narcissi loved me!! It’s all your fault! It’s all because of you!!”

“Hmm…well, it’s partly my fault.”

 

 

Because Narcissi is Aran.

 

 

“Anyway, I should look for that Narcissi too. I’ll bring her in front of you.”

“N-no!!”

 

 

She clung to Aran’s legs.

If a lecher like Aran brought a woman like Narcissi, what would his purpose be?

 

 

“N-Narcissi, no!”

“Why are you acting like this? Even after being betrayed?”

“There must have been some circumstances. Narcissi isn’t the type to do that!”

 

She clung to him, crying and pleading.

It seemed Narcissi was more important than what happened to herself.

She must have loved her a lot.

 

 

“Well, yeah, there might be some circumstances.”

“Y-yes. I’ll be good, so…Narcissi….”

“Do you like Narcissi that much? Even though she betrayed you and sold you off? Maybe even her love for you was all an act.”

“N-no. That can’t be.”

 

Logically, it was incomprehensible that she, with 7th-tier martial prowess, would sell off the woman she loved due to some circumstances, but Huana was not in her right mind right now.

 

 

Aran looked down at her for a moment and chuckled.

 

 

How could she be so pitiful and pathetic?

Could this really be that Huana?

 

 

But that was just a feeling he was having now.

Huana was Aran’s enemy, and the worst woman who tried to use and discard Soup.

 

On top of that, she tried to remove Iliana, her own sister, from the royal family just because she married Aran, and she tried to eliminate Ayla and Lera to solidify her own power.

 

 

Truly the epitome of selfishness.

 

Of course, many royals in history are like this.

Perhaps she was better for simply leaving her other sisters alone without killing them.

 

 

But to Aran, she was just an enemy.

 

 

 

 

 

Aran kicked her away.

She let out a short scream and crawled back.

An incredible tenacity.

 

“Don’t think this is the end, Huana. There’s a lot more left.”

 

 

Aran is Narcissi, no less.

 

She was already mentally broken by the incident of being sold off to him, and he was very much looking forward to seeing how she would react when she faced that fact.