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Chapter 55
“Is dying still the only way out?”
The walls of Oz remained just as high as ever.
Unlike back when he had powerlessly watched his mother slip away, Leschel had grown taller, older—but the walls had not changed.
“But if I can’t get out… then neither can Lilith…”
He remembered calling his mother over and over, yet she never rose. He still carried with him the feelings from a week later, when the imperial knights arrived to collect her corpse.
What was more miserable than the situation itself was the truth that only in death had his mother finally been freed.
Leschel didn’t want to let Lilith end up the same way. He didn’t want her to die.
Strange.
In his life, Lilith had been nothing more than a passerby. It was only that her wish resembled his mother’s.
If he thought about it, she wasn’t even someone particularly important to him. And yet, somehow, her presence had become part of his everyday life.
Without her, the space felt unbearably empty. The vastness he had once taken for granted now seemed too wide, too lonely. Even when he spoke aloud, all that returned was a hollow echo.
I want to get out.
I want to tear down these walls, smash them apart, erase the very being that imprisoned us.
For the first time in his life, he longed to leave this place.
Then—
A sharp shattering sound pierced his ears. Black powder, like fragments of glass, scattered around him like constellations.
They fell from the heavens in torrents, like stars breaking apart in the night sky. Explosions resounded endlessly, filling Oz.
The walls he had thought insurmountable for a lifetime crumbled miserably. The outside world, once suffocating and hopeless, revealed itself as dazzling and beautiful—like a dream.
Everyone who witnessed it said the same: such a thing was impossible. To manifest one’s Estella so close to adulthood was nothing less than a miracle bestowed by the gods.
And so, both nobles and the emperor sided with Leschel, whose Estella was so overwhelmingly powerful.
When the abandoned palace of the second prince was cleared out, and Leschel appeared holding Lilith’s hand—he still remembered vividly the stunned, vacant look on his elder brother’s face.
“I’m only standing here because of you…”
Sleeping in fine rooms, eating the best foods, being hailed as the most promising heir to the throne—all of it was thanks to her.
Now completely freed from his childhood, Leschel pressed his hand against the wall of Oz once more.
The rebuilt walls were still tall, but they no longer felt suffocating.
“That’s why I need to keep my head straight.”
It wasn’t merely because of some promise made in childhood that he clung to her so desperately.
Was it because she reminded him of his mother?
Or was it guilt, for having forced upon her the foolish oracle that chained her freedom?
No, it’s not just that.
It was because he loved her. Because he loved her, he wanted to give her everything.
He didn’t know when it had begun, but the feeling only grew stronger with time.
He had never once been loved, so he couldn’t define it clearly.
But if such blind devotion wasn’t love, then what in this world could possibly deserve the name?
Perhaps I take after my father.
Who was it that said, “Blood cannot be deceived”?
Just as the emperor had defied countless objections to build a lake as vast as the sea in the palace for the woman he loved—
Just as he had stubbornly imprisoned Leschel and his mother in this hell—
So too had Leschel failed to escape the shadow of affection, no different from his father.
Night deepened over Oz. And Leschel hoped that after tonight, he would never again have to come back here.
“Wow…”
This wasn’t an exclamation of joy, but more like a sigh of disbelief.
Never thought I’d live to see myself in the imperial palace.
The emperor’s palace glittered on an entirely different scale than any other. Its sheer grandeur weighed down on me, pressing the breath from my body.
So why was I here?
The reason was simple: the imperial family had sent a carriage straight to my estate.
At first, I thought it must have been from Leschel or Calix. But when I saw the accompanying parchment, I nearly fainted.
Why in the world does the emperor want to see me?!
It would have been nice if he’d explained the reason, but apparently, the emperor had no such courtesy.
And so, here I was, waiting endlessly in front of the audience chamber without knowing why.
It was the emperor who ordered Lilith’s execution.
I reminded myself of what I already knew.
He wasn’t about to kill me outright, but the unease gnawed at me.
…And it was the emperor who first locked little Lilith inside the palace.
That was the real root of my fear. What if he told me to return to the palace?
At long last, the doors of the audience chamber creaked open. No chamberlain, no knights to guide me.
I walked in alone, the sound of my heels echoing through the silence.
At the end of the crimson carpet, tall steps rose to a dais. Upon it, sprawled across a seat more like a bed than a throne, sat the emperor.
“I greet the noble Sun of the Empire.”
I lifted my skirts and bent in a graceful, dignified bow. More than ever, I paid attention to every gesture, down to my fingertips.
Courtesy aside, I had to prove that I was no longer the foolish, insolent Lilith he once knew.
After all, the emperor had seen her worst behavior up close.
The emperor gazed down at me with clouded eyes, phlegm rattling in his chest as he drew ragged breaths. Clearly, he wasn’t in good health.
He muttered something, but I couldn’t make sense of a word.
“His Majesty says your manners have improved greatly since he last saw you.”
A thin, reedy voice saved me.
Only then did I notice a secretary standing right beside the emperor, translating his words for me.
“I am still so lacking, yet you honor me with such praise. I am unworthy,” I replied softly, eager to stress how different I had become.
“The reason His Majesty summoned you…”
The emperor mumbled again, and the secretary relayed it:
“…is because he received a petition from Abel Crescent.”
Abel… sent a petition?
The words jolted me to my core. A bad premonition washed over me.
“He says you’ve been trying to run away lately, and asked His Majesty to prevent it.”
I froze on the spot like a statue.
Did I hear that right?
First came denial.
That bastard Abel!
Then came fury.
Not to a duke, but straight to the emperor?!
If Abel had been standing before me, I would have ripped out every last hair from his head.
“Do you find the outside world so suffocating? If you dislike it, why not return to the palace?”
I couldn’t hear the emperor’s tone through the secretary, but I sensed a coercion in the words.
“I believe… my brother must have misunderstood.”
A chill ran through me—if I brushed this off carelessly, my freedom would be gone.
“The reason I left the palace was to broaden my understanding of the world. Only then, when I return as a crown princess, can I truly fulfill my duties.”
I spun a noble-sounding excuse and prayed desperately inside.
If I was trapped in the palace again, that would be the end. No escape, no chance of fleeing the Empire. I’d get caught in court intrigue and lose my life.
And hadn’t I already died once by an assassin’s blade meant for Calix? That would happen again!
Cold sweat slid down my back. I had worked too hard this life to start all over again.
The emperor shifted, and a rough, wheezing sound followed—yet I realized he was laughing.
“I understand. Since you’re here, at least greet the princes before you go.”
“Thank you for your gracious understanding.”
Relief flooded me, and I pressed a hand to my chest.
“I shall await the day you return.”
Please don’t.
I mouthed the words silently.
As long as I don’t get trapped here again, I’ll happily meet those two idiots.
I snorted as I left the audience chamber.
Not nearly as bad as I imagined.
Last night, I had even feared the emperor might forcibly lock me back inside.
I’ll have to be more careful.
It was sheer luck this ended as a suggestion.
Abel had no proof, so I could deny it—but I had been planning to escape.
If that ever got out? The emperor would lock me away for good.
All because of that damned oracle…
I clicked my tongue.
Leschel was still in a meeting with the nobles, so I decided not to wait for him. Instead, I thought to find Calix. Yet no one seemed to know where he was.
Typical. He’s always wandering about.
Leschel I had only ever seen outside the palace when we’d arranged to meet, but Calix had a habit of popping up everywhere.
I was given a few likely places he might be and went to search them one by one.
After striking out at three, I was on my way to the last when a loud, grating voice rang out behind me:
“Oh! Look who it is!”
The voice felt familiar, but I didn’t want to place it.
“Lady Crescent!”
At that, I had no choice but to turn my head.
A man shorter than me, a face that brought no joy to see, gaudy jewels covering him head to toe, and a greedy curl to his lips.
“…Taine?”
My eyes flew wide. A chill swept over my skin, goosebumps breaking out as if I’d seen a ghost.
