Ch.153For Elise (7)

“The ritual is almost complete. In the next fortnight, I will take all of the Second Princess’s curse. I will end my life within a year.”

The predetermined fate remained unchanged.

It was too late to sever the connected ritual now, after having come such a long way.

The Emperor already knew he was being consumed by the curse.

“It’s too late to live.”

The reality of facing death.

However.

My lies are not bound by mere reality.

After all, falsehoods are valuable precisely because they can overturn truth.

If someone speaks of damned fate.

“Do you truly believe that?”

“What use is belief in a predetermined fate?”

“From now on, you’ll need to believe in me.”

“Hmm?”

I will make this moment worthwhile.

“Because I will break both of your curses.”

“Break the curse…?”

The Emperor showed a puzzled reaction.

I speak with a relaxed smile.

“Didn’t I tell you before?”

That I could solve it.

I wanted to restore your rightful places.

Silence hung in the audience chamber for a while.

***

After our conversation in the audience chamber.

Without delay, we headed to the prepared infirmary.

Having clarified the questions that had puzzled us, there was no reason to delay treatment any longer.

At this very moment, the curse was gnawing at both their hearts.

Now was the time for a miracle.

“……”

The Rose and the Emperor each lying on hospital beds.

No particular words were exchanged.

Only Valkaros quietly asked a question.

His voice remained unwavering as ever.

“Is it really possible?”

“Of course.”

“Honestly, I find it hard to believe. Solving a task that the continent’s history couldn’t resolve.”

“We can’t remain stuck in the past forever.”

“Your words ring true.”

I calmly prepare for the treatment.

As I gather falsehoods at my fingertips, someone suddenly grabs my sleeve.

When I glance over, the red-haired girl is lying there.

None other than the Rose.

“Your Highness.”

“……”

Elise, who had remained silent all this time.

She must have been confused.

The truth she belatedly faced denied 10 years of resentment, and now suddenly turned to treating her illness.

In just two hours, the world that defined her was about to be turned upside down.

Such sudden change was enough to cause fear.

Her leaf-green eyes slowly waver.

Gently—

I slowly stroke the girl’s head.

To signify that everything will be alright.

“There’s no need to be afraid.”

“But…”

A gaze that seems ready to break at any moment.

I take the Rose’s hand.

“Do you remember? The promise I made to you.”

“……”

“You don’t need to worry. I’ll always be by your side, Your Highness.”

“…I’m sorry for being weak. I just feel scared for some reason.”

“Your Highness is plenty strong.”

It wasn’t an empty platitude.

Elise was much stronger than someone like me.

The scars on her arms and wrists proved it.

“Judas… I’ll believe in you.”

Judas.

Being called by name was a rare occurrence.

She must be psychologically shaken.

Nevertheless, since she said she believed in me, it would be right to respond in kind.

I smile as I gradually spread shadows around us.

“Well then.”

Clap!

I lightly clap my hands.

“Let’s begin.”

The next moment.

Pitch-black darkness envelops the entire infirmary.

I had blocked mana from the outside.

Inside, there was only the black-covered background and two hospital beds placed side by side.

I extend my hands toward the Emperor and the Rose lying on them.

My palms touch their lower abdomens.

“……”

All eyes focus on me.

Behind me, Sharlotte and Tanya were watching with anxious expressions.

Tension swirls like the pitch darkness. I calmly move my hands.

The undulating shadows soon coat my palms thinly.

Creeping—

The shadows that began seep into the patients.

I lift my eyelids.

‘Mana Stone Disease.’

A disease known to be incurable.

That wasn’t exactly wrong.

Even Astro, despite repeated research, never found the answer.

It was an unreasonable disease where death was certain from the moment of onset.

It was like an unavoidable fate or the natural order.

‘In that case…’

There was only one way.

To shatter such an unreasonable fate.

Once again, I needed to transcend the natural order.

‘Organize the tangled mana lines and reestablish them in the correct arrangement.’

According to theory.

Mana lines typically run right alongside blood vessels.

In other words, the branches of mana lines are as formidable as the blood vessels that extend throughout the body.

Especially in the abdomen where mana lines converge, the complexity of the structure surpasses even that of the heart.

I was planning to adjust each of these structures one by one.

Literally one by one.

‘Purify the curse that has seeped in.’

This wasn’t simple treatment.

It was closer to decomposition and reconstruction than recovery.

If I had to compare, it was no different from restoring a chimera back to its original form.

But this time, the conditions were even narrower. I had to treat two people simultaneously.

The curse, split between both sides, made the treatment even more difficult.

The ritual that had mixed in was also problematic.

‘This won’t be easy after all.’

I click my tongue but increase my output.

Divinity and stars fabricated from falsehood.

The two powers blend in an appropriate form, erasing the curses one by one from my fingertips.

The night that was filled with pitch darkness soon overflows with pure white light.

I keep my eyes wide open despite the dazzling view.

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 86.4%]

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 62.1%]

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 49.7%]

Output being depleted in chunks.

Indeed, transcending the natural order consecutively was no easy task.

If I used some of the vitality I had recovered, I thought I might barely succeed.

I was worried about my body being weak for a while, but there was no other way.

Besides, there were many ways to recover vitality, so the burden was less.

‘Fortunately I don’t have to use my lifespan.’

It was fortunate that I had enough output and vitality.

I wouldn’t have to break my vow to never use my lifespan again.

I silently continue the treatment.

Light drives away darkness.

Erasing curses, undoing rituals, correcting everything that went wrong.

As I chip away at my own vitality, a few thoughts cross my mind.

Questions I’ve heard countless times walking this path.

-Why do you.

The world always asked for reasons.

The reason I put myself at the forefront.

The reason I perform meager hypocrisy claiming to save others.

The reason I’m devoted to people who are practically strangers.

I always answered.

‘That’s not what I am.’

I wasn’t a good person.

At the same time, I was even less a righteous person.

‘The Usurpation War.’

The sinful year.

Even during the time when I was waging war from the bottom, I was covered in countless blood and evil.

By my own assessment, I was closer to a villain than a hero.

But.

‘I just… wanted to see it.’

Even at the risk of drowning in razor-sharp original sin.

There was a story I absolutely had to see.

None other than the happy ending of a world that had only repeated destruction.

I finally wanted to see happy protagonists.

‘So.’

Misunderstanding, sadness, despair.

I believed these weren’t the only words that defined the entirety of the world.

I believed that somewhere, salvation existed for them too.

‘If.’

If this damned world wouldn’t allow salvation.

If it insisted on pushing you into unhappiness.

I wanted to become your salvation myself.

That was why I remained here, continuing the struggle for an ending.

Perhaps it was lingering attachment or a sense of debt from the past.

I move my hands.

‘Almost finished now.’

Despite the brightness, my clear vision looks down at the Rose.

And then gazes at the Emperor.

Valkaros with his eyes closed.

The ritual entangled in his heart was no ordinary one.

To the point where I wondered how he had survived the past 10 years.

I deliver a faint monologue in starlight.

‘Valkaros Lantana von Staufen.’

Love.

Your devotion that completely burned your life.

I remember your desperate struggle.

You have fulfilled your duty as a father, so now I will take over the role.

I will ensure she no longer falls into a cursed fate.

“Vile curse.”

By now my lips were reciting the final incantation.

The shining stars soon cause fractures.

Crack, crack-!

The infirmary was filled with sacred light.

A background where stars surge like waves.

I snap my fingers along with the undulating pure white.

Blood flows back and spurts from my mouth.

Nevertheless, I continue the incantation.

“By the command of the star’s agent…”

All for my pitiful princess.

“Break.”

Yes.

For Elise.