Chapter 127
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A few hours ago.
High Priest Amar had come to the Delo Empire to officiate at the national wedding, and upon entering the palace, he was invited to dine with Karzen. Knowing he'd already had his tail between his legs, the High Priest braced himself.
He thought there must be something, since even the other priests were invited to sit down. He thought the Emperor would come back with threats or appeasement, but.......
There was no warning.
A priest drank from the goblet of authority from Karzen and collapsed in a heap of blood. High Priest Amar stared in disbelief as the raw blood soaked the tablecloth red.
"That, High Priest Amarr. The priest must be weak."
"......Your Majesty."
"Even if I dare not harm the High Priest, the rest of the priests are no different, High Priest Amar."
"Your Majesty, what in the world is this......."
"High Priest Amar."
Cutting off the High Priest's trembling voice, Karzen swirled his goblet and asked.
"Why did you send the doll to my twin?"
"......."
"No, before that. Why did you send a physician named Harsel?"
For a moment, High Priest Amar felt his heart drop to his feet. His eyelids fluttered uncontrollably. The priests sitting at his side could barely breathe anymore.
It was like a nightmare.
"I was going to secretly take the Princess to the Holy Land......."
"Oh, you tried to take her, yes."
Karzen tilted his chin at an angle.
"And what did you intend to do in the Holy Land with Raha Delharsa?"
"......."
Karzen gestured straight ahead. Duke Blake clamped his hand over the mouth of a priest sitting to the immediate left of High Priest Amar. He poured the poison right into his mouth.
"Your Majesty!"
Another one gone, bleeding to death. Some red blood splashed on Karzen's face as well.
"You wanted an imperial bloodline in the Holy Land?"
Karzen looked at High Priest Amar with a relaxed expression.
In truth, it was obvious why he wanted to take Raha from the High Priest. It had to be those eyes. Whatever shenanigans he had planned with them.......
It didn't matter.
Soon Raha would be blind.
What Karzen really wanted to know was something else.
"Why did you send that damned doll again, High Priest Amar?"
"......Your Majesty."
Karzen's smile was languid, even in the face of a table strewn with blood, having taken the lives of two aide priests.
"You'll have to come clean, High Priest, if you don't want to lose the few remaining priests around you."
"......."
Truth be told, Karzen didn't think High Priest Amar would tell the truth. Nor did he expect it.
So this was just a mild taunt.
One by one, they would die until the High Priest told the truth. High Priest Amar would desperately lie, and all Karzen would have to do was kill his aides one by one.
Yes.
And then.......
"The Princess ....... wanted to die."
It was a moment.
For the first time, Karzen's hand, which had been relaxed the entire time, stiffened. So did Blake Duke, who was also present.
"......So we couldn't bring her to the Holy Land. The Princess has refused, and she has granted me permission to study the holy artifact on her behalf and take her life."
"......."
"That's why......we finished our research and sent the test subject to take the Princess’s life."
There was a deep silence. The silence was terrible, like a desert mire.
"Raha delharsa."
Raha, who had remained silent the entire time, slowly clasped her hands together in front of the crimson muck.
"Yes, Karzen."
"Is that the truth?"
There was no immediate answer. No one spoke, no one breathed properly. Karzen's long-suffering patience was about to cross a threshold.
Raha spoke up.
"It's true, Karzen."
"......ah."
Karzen repeated slowly.
"The truth."
"......."
He rose from his seat. No one moved as he strode briskly around the large table. Until he finally reached the other side and grabbed a priest seated farthest from High Priest Amar by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up.
It was a blink of an eye.
The aide-priest was too stunned to even scream. In an instant, the young emperor, whose label of tyrant was frighteningly appropriate, had reduced the unharmed priest to a puddle of blood. Blood mixed with bodily fluids dripped in a sticky stream. Broken teeth rolled to the floor, their pristine robes soaked with blood.
Two.
Three.
Four.......
The Emperor dragged High Priest Amar's aides to their deaths, his face expressionless. His movements, as befits the highest man in the Empire, were violent. There was an inexpressible madness in the silent punching.
In the blink of an eye. The beautifully decorated dining room was covered in blood. High Priest Amar's complexion was as pale as lead, and even Duke Blake's brow was finely furrowed.
Only Karzen and Raha were different.
The noble twins hadn't blinked an eye in all this horror.
They were like beautiful pieces of marble, deliberately made similar by a master craftsman. A harsh sense of otherness.
Dropping the body of the aide priest to the ground, Karzen slowly turned to face Raha. He growled lowly, seemingly more distraught at the sight of blood.
"Raha Delharsa."
"Yes, Karzen."
"That doll bastard must have had countless opportunities to kill you. How come you're still alive and well?"
"That doll saved me."
Raha's voice didn’t tremble a bit.
"Because I fell in love with it."
"So."
Karzen lifted Raha's chin with a bloodied hand.
"Did he say he couldn't kill you for loving him?"
"Yes."
The answer came out easily, but not as well as it should have. Like the red blood on her skin, she could feel the cracks in her heart. Karzen's words hurt her.
She spoke slowly, desperately trying to ignore the fact that something at the base of her neck was slowly cracking.
"That's what he said."
Karzen laughed slowly. His eyes bloodshot, he whispered.
"You are so very, very loved, Raha."
"......."
"And so I love you too, Raha Delharsa."
The voice speaking of love was tinged with cruelty. No one could easily tell if it was an expression of affection or hatred.
Raha couldn't smile as she usually did, but it didn't matter.
Karzen slowly released Raha's chin.
She, Raha Delharsa, should be very grateful for life. Fate, the gods, and even herself loved this twin so much that she was granted these eyes of the Eternal Expanse.
Karzen looked back at High Priest Amar, who was completely frozen.
"So my twin's wishes have not been fulfilled. So, is the Holy Land creating new experiments again, High Priest Amar?"
"......."
High Priest Amar now had only one assistant priest left.
"High Priest."
"......No, Your Majesty."
High Priest Amar barely managed to keep his voice steady.
"The Holy Land’s experiments....... is no longer ongoing and has been abandoned."
"Why?"
"Because the Princess said she would not die."
For a moment, Karzen felt as if he had been swallowed alive by thousands of shards of glass. He knew instinctively why Raha Delharsa, who had dared to kill herself, had said she wanted to live again.
"Raha Delharsa. Is that how you came to love the royal lord?"
"Yes."
The answer came slowly.
"That's how I came to love him."
Karzen finally burst out laughing. His shoulders shaking with laughter, he helped Raha to her feet. Setting her down lightly on the table, he stood in front of her.
"That's right. It's in your nature, Raha Delharsa. Your resolve and heart are as light as paper."
"......."
"Can't you see that you don't normally care about anything but your feelings?"
"Don't mock my heart."
"Mockery. Raha delharsa. You are the one who mocked me."
Karzen grabbed Raha's jaw in a crushing grip and lifted her up. The strong scent of blood stung Raha's nostrils.
"You dared to leave me to die?"
With each word, he felt a dull burning in his chest. He wanted to strangle her if he could. He wanted to kill her. In a moment of deep contemplation, he felt a damned force pushing his hand away.
The eyes of the Expanse.
The eyes of the insane heir.
You had this, and you were going to throw it away yourself?
You hated me enough to give it all up. You've come to love the royal lord to the point where you're willing to let go of your hatred for me?
"I can't even kill the High Priest."
"......."
"Nor can I kill you, my beloved."
"......."
"What can I do, Raha?”
Her eyes were completely still, unmoving. It was an abominably naive response. He wanted to tear her apart, crush her, make her never show this kind of innocence again. Karzen was beginning to be plagued by the desire to chew her up and swallow her whole.
"Huh? Raha delharsa. I asked."
His other hand was now gripping Raha's wrist as if he could break it. Karzen Delharsa would be the only one on the entire continent who could hurt her without killing her. Raha's arms shook in Karzen's grasp.
***
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