‘As opposed to saying that my anger went away, it would be more accurate to say that I randomly got brought back.’
‘Am I too young or is Mom too sly? She admitted her faults right as soon as she appeared, leaving me speechless. She then named my faults, causing me to lose momentum. She then forcefully brought me back to the outer court, and then put me under house arrest. My guard unit got sent to stay at the Valkyries’ station to go and flirt with them…’
‘They thought my relationship with Mom had gone back to the positive way it was before and felt relieved. As soon as they heard they could leave, they really left… They really did…’
‘Though I’m under house arrest, Her Majesty didn’t have her Valkyries protect me. It looks as though Mommy Elizabeth pays a lot of attention to the Valkyries now after that incident. She didn’t arrange for any guards to protect me. Instead, she had Philes and Shusia bring a few others to stay with me under the pretext of protecting me.’
‘So why did I say I was under house arrest you ask? That’s because my horse is missing! I went to the stables to look for my horse, but there wasn’t a single one there. That’s Mom’s trick to keep me here. I’m now wondering if she’s going to take my shoes away, too. I could just leave and look for a horse to leave this place; however, I do want to have a proper talk with Mom, too. Therefore, I decided to stay here for a while longer.’
‘We still need to make some preparations to transport Luna home. I can’t just carry her back the whole way. Of course, if that’s what I must resort to, then so be it. I need to prepare a better casket for her. and then transport her back to Troy City via horse carriage. She’s gone through so much, so I want to let her, at least, be able to relax on her last journey.’
I gently held Luna’s freezing hands in my hands. I sat next to the bed that she was lying on and looked at her cheeks.
‘Luna still looks so beautiful and pitiful. I’ve already done my very best to give Luna the just treatment she deserves. Besides not being able to personally avenge her, I’ve done everything that I can. But despite that, the immense guilt and sadness I feel when I hold her hands hasn’t reduced at all.’
‘It’s as though everything I did was meaningless.’
“Luna… Luna… Was I worth it…? Was I worth you throwing your life away for…?”
I wiped my tears off my face and tightened my grip on Luna’s hand. Luna, however, couldn’t hold my hand again. Her expression didn’t even change. I looked at her smile and gently stroked her lips.
‘If I could’ve let Luna depart with this expression, I wouldn’t be feeling so sad right now.’
‘Luna died for me. She died because of me. If I was strong enough, Luna wouldn’t have met with this sort of fate. If I was strong enough, I wouldn’t have had to return here, and I wouldn’t have to succeed Her Majesty’s throne. I could establish my own empire. Succeeding Her Majesty’s empire will only attract more and more and more schemes and sinister plots ‘
‘I’m sick of it already. I am honestly sick of it already. I’ve tried so hard already, yet Castor still ended up swimming in their own blood. I did what I did to protect them. But humans always like to do things they themselves perceive to be correct.’
‘I can’t protect others nor can I conquer others. My kindness is meaningless to these people; meanwhile, they can take everyone I love from me.’
‘I don’t want Mom’s empire. Her presence has been engraved deeply into this empire. Mom shines too brightly. I believe that even more people would be stating that I’m unworthy of succeeding this empire had I not gone all out to save it once. I really don’t want to fight with Mom’s supporters. I don’t want to get into a political war. I want my own country. I want my own empire. I want my on loyal people and my own power.’
‘Troy City is too small for me. I’m not longer after a city, but a region with my power. I want a grand empire similar to Mom’s. I don’t want to succeed hers. That way, everybody will change their opinion of me.’
‘If I could have done that, Luna wouldn’t have died. She’d still by my side right now.’
‘If possible, I really want kiss Luna’s lips again, hold her hands again and hold her beautiful, yet weak body again.’
‘Unfortunately, it’s impossible now.’
“Luna, let’s go home. I’ll take you home. I think that the sea of flowers suits you more. I’ll take you to the sea of flowers in the village that you were born in and grew up in. I’ll always come to see you and the flowers bloom.”
I gently stroked Luna’s forehead and struggled to my feet as though I exited my memories in the past and my love for Luna. I let go and returned her hand to her chest.
‘This isn’t all that I can do for Luna. Since Alice fought so hard for the Valkyries, I’ll ruin what she worked so hard to create.’
‘I said it before. I couldn’t kill Alice, so I’ll destroy her, instead. I want to make it so that nobody will remember her in the future. I want her to vanish from this world without a trace.’
‘My next step is to destroy the Valkyries. Such a squad shouldn’t continue to exist. The Valkyries have gained too much power. They’ve gained so much power that they can bring harm to anyone in the Empress’ absence. I must change them into a simple guard unit from now on. I won’t let another Alice appear.’
‘Further, I want Alice to know that I, personally, destroyed the Valkyries that she worked so hard all her life nurturing!’
‘I’m not angry with Her Majesty’s faults, but I will forever remember what you did Alice. I’ll remember it for life. I’ll never go to visit your grave, and I won’t touch anything you were involved with. My descendants will never be named Alice. ‘
‘Once I’m dead, I’ll go to where you are and personally kill you again!’
‘I’ll never forget this grudge.’
Philes walked in and made a small bow to me, “Your Majesty, Miss Luna’s new casket is ready. Do you want to put Miss Luna inside now?”
“Ah, I’ll do it myself.”
I nodded then carried Luna up and headed outside. The guards in charge of transporting her stood on both sides of the corridor and solemnly welcomed Luna and I who came out. They wore formal robes and stood next to us. They were silent as the forest that guards us. The black horse carriage was parked at the entrance with an open casket set on an incline behind it, revealing the soft-looking cloth inside.
I gently placed Luna inside, and then adjusted her posture. I then gave them my order, “Don’t place any bouquets. The bouquets here are completely meaningless to her. I will personally fill it up with flowers. You just need to put the lid on properly first.”
“Understood!”
“So, Your Majesty, when are we heading out? Are we leaving first?”
“I can’t go even if I want to right now. I need to speak to Her Majesty one last time. We’re leaving together for sure. As I mentioned, I want to personally bring Luna home.”
I touched the black casket then turned around and walked toward the inner court.
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