Chapter 18 : Stop moving !

That day.

Since the incident at the party, Alios had been confined to her home.

It was only natural—she had lashed out at the Emperor.

While Viol herself begrudgingly forgave it because of Ceres, the fact that she had attacked him didn’t just disappear.

Her mother, the current Duchess and head of the Gravius family, flew into a rage when she heard the news.

She shouted at her daughter, asking if she’d lost her mind, told her to cool her head, and forbade her from going out.

But if cooling her head were that easy, she wouldn’t have lashed out in the first place.

“Ceres, what do you mean something happened to him?!”

Alios urgently questioned the woman who had snuck into her room.

That woman was the informant Alios had planted in the imperial palace.

Even while locked away, she had been receiving news about Ceres through her—
but today’s report was unbelievable.

“Ceres collapsed? Why?!”

Faced with the worst possible news, Alios grilled the informant.

“Tell me everything in detail!”

“I haven’t heard the cause, but the Emperor suddenly carried him off and summoned all the healers in the palace.”

“So—was he treated?”

“No.”

Hearing the informant speak so heavily, Alios’s expression darkened.

The people working in the palace were all highly competent—if even they couldn’t treat him?!

She instinctively sensed this was different from his previous illnesses.

‘Viol, you crazy woman!’

With no clear cause, Alios was convinced it had to be Viol.

‘She’d been strangely quiet toward Ceres for a while… so this is her crossing the line!’

In her mind, she imagined Viol beating Ceres until he collapsed.

How dare she, to my Ceres!

It was absolutely unforgivable.

Unable to contain her fury, she demanded their whereabouts from the informant.

“If he wasn’t treated, then what happened to Ceres? Where is Emperor Viol, and what is she doing?!”

“She summoned the archmage Sibellius and took Ceres to her residence.”

“She wouldn’t—she wouldn’t dare entrust Ceres to that dangerous woman?!”

Alios had heard all sorts of outrageous rumors about Sibellius.

She didn’t believe them all, but still remained cautious just in case.

And now, of all people, they had taken Ceres to her?

“Are they pretending to treat him, just to kill him?!”

“I-I don’t think that’s the case. If they meant to kill him, they wouldn’t have even tried to treat him. Besides… after Ceres collapsed, the Emperor nearly went mad…”

“Ceres!!”

Alios didn’t even wait for her to finish.

She ignored her mother’s order to stay put, packed what she could, and left the house.

***

“To kill you.”

She had come to Sibellius’s residence—just in time to spot Viol—and spat her killing words.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Viol’s face hardened as she looked at Alios pointing a sword at her.

“Does your mother know you’re doing this? She specifically told me she’d talk you down herself and asked me to forgive you just once.”

“If I kill you, there’s no need for that.”

“…I’m already losing my mind thanks to Ceres, and now this? You’re giving me a real headache.”

She sounded troubled at first, but soon wore a fierce smile.

“Fine. I’ll accept your challenge. Honestly, I’ve hated your guts for a long time anyway!”

She shouted loudly, then turned to Hames.

“You stay out of this!”

“I won’t interfere. You two handle it yourselves.”

Hames didn’t care whether the Emperor and the warrior tore each other apart.

Her eyes remained fixed with worry on the house Ceres had entered.

“You hate me? Well, I hate you too!”

Alios shouted back, fury lacing her voice, matching Viol’s aggression.

This wasn’t something from the original story.

The male versions of Viol and Alios, before they lost their minds, were relatively rational.

As a knight, the male Alios would never have casually talked about killing her own liege.

Viol also saw Alios as her most useful subordinate.

But the female versions of Alios and Viol were different.

Ceres believed this world was a gender-flipped version of the original, but it wasn’t perfectly reversed.

Due to biological differences between men and women, things couldn’t be completely identical.

The subtle personality differences from the original were likely because of that.

Because of this, the male versions were distant but polite, while the female versions outright disliked each other.

“Just because you’re the Emperor, don’t act all high and mighty when you’re worse than me! Don’t take my Ceres away!”

“Who said he’s yours? You’ve always acted polite and sweet, but you’re a joke. I’ve known you were rotten inside from the start!”

Can I believe this?

She glares at Sibellius, as if daring her to ever claim that Ceres would love her.

“Keep your word… never fall in love with me.”

“Of course.”

“Ahh, my lovely Ceres… don’t say crap like that…”

“Even if you begged me to love you, I wouldn’t!”

She spoke like she was exhausted, as if staring at a lunatic.

“I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never met a man so deluded as you.”

Even while annoyed, Sibellius brought over a number of magical tools and laid them beside me.

Soon, countless magic circles floated around me.

Even someone else would have found the situation terrifying.

But this time, I didn’t lash out. I stayed still.

Because I had decided to trust her—for now.

Thinking about it, Sibellius had no reason to do anything to me at this point.

If I didn’t get close to her like the original Ceres, she wouldn’t fall for me.

Especially not after I had sternly warned her and made myself clear.

“Alright, let’s begin the examination…”

I let out a breath, finally relaxed, as Sibellius approached to diagnose me—

when—

BOOM!

An explosion, as if a bomb went off, rang out from outside.

What the—?

Earlier, I did hear Viol yelling and smashing something out of anger…

But this was something else entirely.

This sounded like someone had made up their mind to destroy everything in order to take someone down.

“What now?!”

Sibellius waved her hand, and a magical projection lit up mid-air.

We could see what was happening outside.

And it was absurd.

Alios and Viol were fighting.

Why was Alios even here?!

She should have been at home!

But even more shocking—she was fighting Viol on equal footing.

Threatening with a sword wreathed in aura.

Even Viol had to take her seriously.

When Alios closed in, Viol flung a hidden dagger from her sleeve.

Aimed right for Alios’s eye.

Viol raised her guard to block the deadly shot—

—and Alios charged through the opening and thrust her sword toward the exposed area.

“You damned woman!”

Viol had no choice but to grab the blade barehanded to stop it.

Blood dripped down her palm, but she managed to stop the attack.

Just as she thought she had her—

Alios headbutted her right in the mouth.

“Guh!”

“Urgh!”

Blood ran down Alios’s forehead.

She got hurt worse than her opponent, but Viol staggered.

Alios took the chance, abandoned her sword, and kicked Viol away.

Viol was physically stronger, sure—but she still had a human body.

Without bracing herself, she went flying like a shot arrow, slammed into the house wall, and cracked it.

“My house!!”

Sibellius screamed.

“Why are they fighting like this in front of my house?!”

“How would I know… Wait, was Alios always this strong…?”

“She’s a sword master. Of course she’s strong.”

No, that’s not it.

I know she’s a master of the sword.

I’ve trained too, I can tell.

Her form was always clean and precise—something I admired.

But this? This was dirty, desperate fighting straight out of a back-alley brawl.

No question about it.

If the original male Alios fought the current female version—he’d lose.

He was a knight in every sense, for better or worse.

He’d never use such brutal tactics.

Even if they were equal in skill, the male version would lose to her ferocity.

Since when did she learn to fight like this? Why is she so full of bloodlust? I don’t get it.

“Damn it, you bastard!”

Meanwhile, Viol—unlike her original male version—was clearly weaker.

As the fight dragged on, she became more and more beastlike.

“Tch. What a waste of talent.”

“No kidding.”

Sibellius and I clicked our tongues.

Despite being cut by aura, she had no fatal wounds—showing just how resilient Viol was.

And what a waste that she was getting beat down like this.

“I hate royals, but I can’t let that bloodline die out while I’m still alive.”

Sibellius sighed and dispelled the magic circles around me.

“If she’d at least had a child, I’d let her die. Ceres, I’ll be right back. Wait here.”

“Wait.”

“What now?”

“Take me with you….”

“Are you insane? Do you not realize your current condition?”

“Still… they won’t listen to you either.”

I have to step in. That’s the only way to resolve this.

I forced my body to move.

Each step off the bed was agony, heat and pain radiating with every motion.

“You’re out of your mind! If you move like this, the pain the drugs suppressed will return!”

“Then help me!”

I shouted, and Sibellius scowled.

“Damn it.”

She cursed but came over and supported me.

We stepped outside—

And I shouted with everything I had.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

“Why are you out here?!”

Hames was the first to notice.

Wasn’t she supposed to stop this?!

She had been standing right by the door, watching, and now ran over.

“You! What about your treatment?!”

“Ceres!”

Viol and Alios, still locked in combat, noticed me a moment later and rushed over.

“What are you two thinking?!”

I screamed as they approached.

“Do you understand your positions? You’re the Emperor and the heir to a Duke’s house—also the Empire’s top knight!”

“She said she’d kill me first.”

“She’s the one who took you away and made you collapse!”

So it’s my fault now?

If either of them died, it would’ve started a civil war and thrown the Empire into chaos.

Ares, my mother, and everyone I’d saved—they’d all be caught up in it.

I’m already in pain. Don’t make me worry about this too!

“Never fight again. If one of you disappears while I’m not watching, I’ll never forgive the other. I’ll never see you again.”

I used myself as a hostage to deliver the clearest warning I could.

“If you don’t want to see me lose my mind, then don’t do this again. Got it?”

“…Fine.”

“All right.”

Viol and Alios reluctantly agreed.

I reached out and used my divine power to heal them.

And then—

“I’m gonna pass out now, so behave.”

I used up the last of my strength and lost consciousness.