The End of the Storm

Third-floor aide’s office.

Prince Regnum’s personal aide, Lady Bernel of the Marquis family, was giving orders with a cold face.

In the Prince’s absence, she was effectively the final decision-maker.

“Have you made contact with them?”

“Yes, Aide. They’ve conveyed that they will move as planned.”

“Good. How is the situation with the Inspection Corps active in the west?”

“According to intelligence, Enforcement Division Team 2 has finally withdrawn from the operation area.”

A faint smile crossed Bernel’s lips.

The plan was progressing smoothly.

The Empire was slowly being tinged with chaos.

‘At this rate, one by one we’ll eliminate those who protect the Empire—’

Bam.

Just then, an administrator burst into the office, gasping for breath.

His face was pale with terror.

“A-Aide Bernel! S-something terrible has happened! L-Loen Franz is leading inspectors and invading the Cabinet Palace right now!”

“What!?”

The smile disappeared from Bernel’s face, replaced by confusion and urgency.

Leading inspectors into the palace?

“Of all times, when His Highness isn’t here…”

A chilling thought suddenly crossed her mind.

The Prince’s personal guard had followed him to the Second Palace.

Most of the Imperial Guard remaining in the Cabinet Palace supported Princess Elia.

‘Could this have been their target from the beginning?’

A chill ran through her entire body. But there was no time to dwell on this.

Bernel’s brilliant mind began to race.

‘Think calmly. No matter how powerful Loen Franz is, she wouldn’t dare cut my neck over just some meddling in the south? I’m the Prince’s personal aide.’

Bernel glanced at the other aides standing nearby.

They too wore extremely anxious expressions.

‘Most likely she intends to purge some cabinet members and a few general aides to send us a warning. That would make sense.’

Having reached a sensible conclusion, Bernel suppressed her anxiety.

She thought that even Loen wouldn’t be able to touch someone of her position.

But in her ears…

Crack— Clang!

The desperate screams and metal clashing noises drawing ever closer shook Bernel’s heart.

If, contrary to her expectations, they were indeed coming for her head, then…

Finally, the noise outside the door stopped abruptly.

A suffocating silence followed.

“Aide…”

At someone’s worried words, Bernel raised her hand to signal for quiet.

Creak…

At last, the office door slowly opened, and a woman in a black uniform stained with blood appeared. It was Loen Franz, the owner of the vivid red eyes.

While Bernel silently glared at Loen.

Loen, holding a magic sword, approached Bernel one step at a time.

And swung her sword.

Slash—!

Second Palace. Prince Regnum’s personal office.

“How dare they…”

At the report from the Imperial Guard patrolling the palace, Regnum’s expression instantly hardened.

The finest crystal glass in his hand began to crack.

Crash!

Eventually, the glass, unable to withstand his grip strength, shattered into pieces.

Expensive wine spilled onto the floor, spreading like a bloodstain.

But he had no time to care about that.

“Do they know where they are!!”

Regnum jumped to his feet.

His face turned bright red with extreme anger, and his golden pupils boiled like lava.

‘Loen! You’re finally crossing the line!’

Honestly, he hadn’t anticipated this level of response at all.

‘As she had more to protect, I naturally thought she would be cautious and act prudently.’

Even if she were to counterattack, he expected her to stop at arresting some nobles and assembly members. Even that would be a high-risk decision involving direct confrontation with him, a member of the imperial family.

Loen had overturned all those expectations.

Instead of building justification, moving public opinion, or taking indirect and political methods, she had thrown them to the dogs.

She chose a relentless and cruel approach hard to find in anyone else.

It couldn’t be more characteristic of her.

On one hand, that made her more attractive,

and that’s why his anger rose even more intensely.

‘I will not overlook this incident. I’ll teach you exactly what the price is for daring to touch the Emperor’s first child!’

Regnum shouted.

“Summon my personal guard immediately! We’re going to the Cabinet Palace!”

No sooner had the Prince’s order been given than guard knights appeared like shadows and lined up beside him.

They were loyal swords and shields for the Prince alone, composed only of elites from among the Imperial Guard.

Regnum headed toward the Cabinet Palace through the downpour, imagining himself breaking that delicate neck beneath Loen’s cold face.

A moment later.

At the main entrance of the Cabinet Palace.

Prince Regnum’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Loen’s back came into his view.

The presence of others around her was already of no concern to the Prince.

Only one person filled his vision.

The Prince’s anger exploded.

He immediately drew his sword with his right hand.

“Lo-en!!”

A dazzling holy flame blazed fiercely.

The sacred flame that only those of imperial blood could wield.

That noble flame attached to the Prince’s sword, dyeing the entire blade platinum.

At his murderous cry, Loen slowly turned around.

She looked at the Prince with an utterly indifferent gaze, as if looking at a roadside stone, without any emotion.

Swish.

And Loen silently stepped aside.

The Prince’s eyes narrowed with puzzlement.

What’s her intention?

The moment the scene behind her entered the Prince’s view.

“!!”

The blood throughout his body turned cold as if flowing backward.

An overwhelming shock struck his mind to the point that he forgot to breathe.

There… his most trusted confidant, personal aide Bernel, was lying there in a miserable state.

But it wasn’t the woman he knew.

Purple skin contrasting with beauty, a sensual figure, snake-like vertically slit pupils, two horns bizarrely protruding from the top of her head.

It was undoubtedly the form of a demon.

“Be-Bernel?”

A groan close to a scream flowed from between the Prince’s lips.

For more than ten years, the identity of the one who had stayed by his side serving him loyally, whom he trusted most, was…

A demon?

‘Since when? How? Why didn’t I notice? Before that, Father couldn’t have not known… Ah, that’s right. I brought her in as an aide after Father entered seclusion…’

The Prince’s mind was entangled in confusion.

Among his personal guard who had followed him, exclamations of shock and gasps also erupted.

“Aide Bernel was a demon…?”

They too couldn’t escape from the shock.

At that moment.

“Y-Your Highness… please spare me.”

Using her one remaining left arm to prop herself on the wet floor, Bernel, transformed into a demon, began crawling desperately toward the Prince. Her purple pupils contained only desperate pleading for life.

The Prince could only stare blankly at the horrific scene, as if in a trance.

Just then, Princess Elia appeared at the scene, leading her own guard.

She too seemed to have rushed over after receiving the report.

Elia discovered the demon crawling on the floor and covered her mouth with a surprised expression.

“Oh my goodness!”

But in the depths of her eyes, undisguisable joy and delight flashed.

Although she didn’t know how a demon could have infiltrated the imperial palace, this was a golden opportunity.

“What is this? To think that the personal aide who received my brother’s favor… was actually such a, such a vulgar succubus!”

Elia deliberately shouted loudly as if for everyone to hear. Her intention was clear. She meant to exploit this fact as much as possible.

Kugh.

Regnum bit his lower lip so hard that blood burst forth.

His sister’s detestable acting.

Loen’s cold red gaze still staring at him as if piercing through.

And even Sigvalt, who had somehow appeared in the distance and was observing the situation.

There were far too many watching eyes.

Hiding this fact was impossible.

Then…

‘I must eliminate that demon immediately. If I don’t prove my innocence, I could be completely pushed back in the imperial succession competition.’

Regnum made a momentary decision and tightened his grip on the sword infused with holy flame.

He resolved to behead Bernel, no, that demon, right here and now.

Regnum, with a hardened expression, approached the demon crawling toward him.

Thud.

The demon’s cold left hand grabbed Regnum’s ankle.

As if squeezing out her last strength, she looked up at him with desperate eyes.

As the Prince, ignoring her gaze, was about to behead the demon.

Ka-ang!!

Loen, who had been watching silently, moved like lightning to block Regnum’s sword.

Gray magical power and pure white holy flame collided violently, pushing away the rainwater around them.

“What are you doing, Loen!!”

Regnum shouted.

“That filthy and hideous demoness who has mocked and deceived me for over ten years! I’m trying to execute her with my own hands! Why are you blocking me!”

His passionate cry resonated around. To anyone watching, he appeared overwhelmed with extreme betrayal.

Whether it was genuine or an act, no one could tell.

Then Loen replied.

“This demon disguised herself as Your Highness the Prince’s aide and infiltrated the imperial palace for a long time. Therefore, rather than simple execution, I believe it’s necessary to discover her background and purpose through thorough investigation.”

Loen added.

“Shouldn’t we also find out how she could hide her identity evading the eyes of the Imperial Guard?”

Regnum’s breath caught.

Loen’s words were so reasonable that he couldn’t refute them.

‘This viper of a woman..!’

It was a perfect checkmate with no escape.

Regnum trembled throughout his body.

Though his vision blurred with extreme humiliation and unbearable anger, he barely held onto his reason with superhuman patience.

Persisting further here would only make him look worse.

For the sake of preserving what remained of his dignity and face as a Prince, he had to retreat.

Regnum, about to hurl more words at Loen.

He merely moved his lips several times, but ultimately couldn’t say anything.

“…”

Regnum shot Loen one glance with bloodshot eyes, then abruptly turned around.

With everyone’s cold gazes at his back.

He desolately returned the way he had come.

As the Prince disappeared, all eyes now focused on Loen.

In the midst of a pressure she hadn’t felt in a long time, Loen looked up at the sky endlessly.

The downpour that had stopped without notice.

Now only faint dark clouds lingered in the sky.

The shocking fact that the Prince’s personal aide was a demon was strictly kept secret under the imperial family’s strict control.

It was obvious that if such a rumor spread during these chaotic times, uncontrollable confusion and a major decline in imperial authority would follow. Still, those who knew all knew.

But the Inspection Corps’ purge was not hidden.

The purge incident that occurred in the capital spread instantly among the central nobles.

The sudden downfall of the Prince faction’s core personnel.

Especially the direct bloodshed against the Prince’s close associates in the imperial palace caused tremendous shock and repercussions.

And that news also reached the Duchess of Franz.

“I haven’t misheard, have I?”

Karin’s voice trembled faintly as if she couldn’t believe it.

Prince faction, purge, execution, imperial palace, assault…

A parade of fierce words that made her whole body tremble just by hearing them.

And the unbelievable fact that her daughter, Loen, was at the center of all this bloodshed.

Karin doubted her ears at first.

In the midst of the mind-numbing shock, she repeated the same question to her butler several times.

Wondering if perhaps the information was exaggerated.

“I too… could hardly believe it and checked several times, but it seems… it’s all true.”

The butler’s answer remained unchanged.

Karin let out a long sigh.

“Oh my…”

Why on earth would she resort to bloodshed even in the imperial palace…

Fortunately, things turned out well in the end, but what if things had gone wrong?

How would you have dealt with the aftermath?

From Karin’s perspective, Loen’s actions were no different from a dangerous tightrope walk.

It was clear she would be swept away by a massive backlash the moment she faced failure.

As her thoughts reached that point, Karin’s head began to throb.

Stagger—.

Finally, Karin’s vision swam.

Her body fell back helplessly as all strength left her body.

“Madam!”

“My lady!!”

The butler and maids nearby rushed to support the falling Karin.

It was a crystal clear and bright autumn day, with winter not far away.