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Chapter : 56
Sever the Grip
“That step becomes a shackle, that gesture oppresses them—thus I am the covenant itself, the notary who bears witness to oath and pact.”
The stench of blood spread thickly, soaking the continent.
The execution of punishment began.
Monsters writhed, bound in chains, and criminals were brought before the tribunal.
As the criminals’ bodies were cut apart, monsters poured out from within them.
The monsters re-stitched the criminals’ bodies, and hide was draped over bodies woven of monsters.
Lesser monsters swarmed around the criminals.
Monsters turned into evil spirits were bound to places of exile in fulfillment of the covenant,
and next remained the task of executing the Black Clan.
“Do you think it ends here? It is not over yet!”
“I will tear your living flesh apart and scatter it across this continent.”
“Clanmates! Cut down the executioner and stop the fulfillment of this covenant!”
The monsters tore into the executioner’s living flesh. Skin was ripped away and blood streamed down.
The hand gripping the sword was mangled. Flesh was torn, the tendons of the wrist severed.
The blade stabbed into the ground.
This was both covenant and punishment.
The executioner carved their own bones and fastened shackles to them,
and thus their soul became the notary who bears witness to the covenant’s fulfillment.
The shackles bound the criminals and locked them in a prison of the mind.
—Thud.
The fulfillment of the covenant tore at the executioner’s soul as well.
The weight of punishment was hung upon that soul.
“Damn it! A proclamation of forbidden ground—do you think weaving taboos to block sorcery will end it?”
“Even if countless eons pass, I will break these shackles and come for you! Even if you are dead, I will trample your grave, find your body, and tear it apart!”
“We shall see the day our clan treads this forbidden ground again.”
The executioner exhaled softly.
A quiet breath.
Everything was coming to an end.
The soul was torn, the body at its limit. Everything blurred.
Was that weeping? Or screaming?
“O being destined to be torn apart, trampled, and forgotten in the haze.”
Now, this was the end.
The Empress collapsed unconscious. The imperial palace allowed no rumors over the matter, and the turmoil was buried.
The imperial family kept silent, yet ordered that the Empress be cared for without the slightest neglect. By imperial decree, all sealed their lips.
All except this child.
“……It’s time to give Her Majesty her medicine. What should we do?”
“Careful with your hands. You were bitten last time too—this happens every time at medicine hour.”
Snarling, Rian bared its teeth, warning them not to reach out.
A white ball of fur prowled beside the bed, rejecting other hands, baring red-rimmed eyes in hostility.
Since the Empress had been brought back unconscious, it had been even worse.
The fact that it kept its claws sheathed and lowered its body as much as it could showed it was pouring out the last of its patience.
“It’s worrying. She collapsed while away, and it’s already been four days. As the days pass, everyone feels the Empress’s absence.”
“Quiet. Noise is born of mouths, and those mouths are everywhere.”
The maid holding the medicine ladle choked back tears.
“This child, please—”
Rian bristled its white fur. If those teeth tore into flesh, skin would be ripped away.
Yet they couldn’t drive it off, because the snow-white little thing kept shedding tears.
“If you separate it, it’ll only panic more.”
They took the medicine at her side.
“Y-Your Majesty! Forgive me!”
“It’s just frightened. Leave it be and go.”
A small nose nudged the Empress’s cheek.
Her skin was pale and cold, drained of color—she looked as though death would not have been strange.
Yet her breathing was calm. Even breaths spread softly.
Her eyelids lay peacefully closed.
When fingertips brushed her long lashes, they fluttered.
She looks like she’ll wake soon.
Rian lay down beside Charl, tucking itself close.
“She needs to take her medicine. Come out.”
It was a tonic simmered long and double-boiled. Ingredients sent monthly from House Windsor, brewed to enhance their effects.
The process drew out bitterness until it tasted like steeped weeds, but they said this was the proper way to draw out its true efficacy.
“Kiiik!”
White fur was soaked through with tears.
“Showing your teeth won’t make you look scary with such a small body.”
Rian buried its nose in its forepaws. It wasn’t angry, just scared—the white fur trembled.
It hid its teeth, its soaked fur twitching as only its paws squirmed.
The little thing, like a lump of white cotton, scratched at its own nose and frowned—are baby spirit beasts all like this?
“Both you and the Empress, honestly.”
When he reached out his arm, her breath brushed his fingertips.
“Don’t worry. Her breathing is steady.”
Relief settled into his expression; her consciousness would return soon.
“They said she looked exhausted. Three days have passed, so she should recover soon. House Windsor is said to excel in both letters and arms, yet she’s physically frail. Perhaps she takes after her birth mother… With these fainting spells becoming more frequent, I can see why House Windsor wants to put some weight on her.”
“Keewng.”
“That’s me talking. My mind’s complicated too—comforting you would be strange, wouldn’t it?”
Rian burrowed into the blankets.
It’s not growing.
It looked exactly as it had when it first arrived—small body, pristine white fur. It lay beneath the blankets with only its snout poking out. It puffed out a breath—phoo—making the blanket rise and fall.
“Behave yourself.”
Benjamin perched by the bedside.
Soon, her eyelids lifted.
“Awake?”
“Haa……”
She pressed her forehead.
“You still have a slight fever.”
“Are we back at the palace?”
“That’s a late question.”
Her body sagged weakly; anemia made her head throb.
“The matter at Poputa Pyrote—”
“We cut all the monster traps in the area and tore down the web nests, so it should be fine. The villages will need more time to recover, but it’s been about three days—by now they should’ve gotten their bearings.”
The ground had collapsed over a wide area, so recovery wouldn’t be immediate. Still, Charlophe narrowed her eyes.
“……Three days have passed?”
“No. It was four.”
“W-Why?”
“They said it was fatigue. I told you not to get entangled with monsters. Every time you do, you act as though you’re bound by something.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
Charlophe looked down at her hands.
They were smooth and white. No calluses. No torn flesh. No bloodstains.
Because of that day?
The monster was almost forgotten.
Blood seeping into the ground, its milky eyes rising to mind. It bursting its own body—
“Tsk.”
A thick hand covered her eyes.
“Erase it.”
“Erase what?”
“That vile memory.”
“I fainted after that, so I don’t remember. What about the monster?”
“The body wasn’t there.”
The medicine gave off a bitter scent. He offered a spoonful—she wished she’d woken a little later.
Bitterness rose in her throat. He handed her a piece of dried fruit, which she let melt in her mouth.
“…Ugh.”
“You’re like a child.”
“Were there any other wounds on my hands? Torn skin, maybe?”
“Why?”
“I feel like I was holding a sword.”
“Ah—hands that have never held a blade gripping a real sword, swinging it to cut through the webs.”
The sensation lingered like an afterimage—her wrist going slack, as if the tendons had been severed.
Skin stripped away, calluses forming.
An illusion?
The afterimage in her hand faded.
“I don’t know where to begin. Whether I should first tell you to mind your own safety, or ask why you keep looking after others instead of yourself, why you held a blade, how you recognized a monster trap—right now, everything about you—!”
“Grrr!”
“It’s telling me not to scold you.”
Charlophe slipped a hand under the blankets.
“I’ll step out for now. I’ll call the palace physician—wait a moment.”
His eyes followed her.
Rian whimpered, its white fur soaked from crying. Crying again.
“Keep that child by your side. It’s timid—kept crying, thinking something had happened to you.”
It nudged her fingertips with its nose.
Wrapped in a large shawl, Charlophe stood along a corridor of the palace.
The day was mild.
Several palace physicians came and went to examine her, and with warnings to be careful outside the palace, the Emperor forbade her from going out.
He didn’t intend to bind her steps completely, so he allowed movement only within the Emperor’s Palace grounds. Charlophe paused at the palace corridor to steady her breath.
Afterward, her maternal grandfather also came to visit.
‘It wasn’t right to send you alone. It was my fault to let you go by yourself. I should have stayed by your side… No. I’ve grown old. I spoke of “later,” and then worried there might be no later at all.’
There was no serious illness. Recovery was simply slow; it wasn’t a disease.
Charlophe was constitutionally frail.
“I feel like I’ve done something terrible to my family.”
A presence approached.
“Being ill is not a terrible deed.”
The head maid came closer.
“Frailty is not a sin. How could it be? If you need to catch your breath from exhaustion, those beside you can slow their steps and match your pace.”
“You were bitten on the arm.”
“N-No.”
Charlophe glanced down at the spirit beast by her feet.
Rian plopped down beside her, then groomed its fur with a forepaw.
“I heard Rian caused trouble.”
“It seems it was anxious. It caused no harm, but like a guardian, it couldn’t leave Your Majesty’s side.”
Rian pressed its forepaws against the top of Charl’s foot, as if to say, I wasn’t trying to bite.
“Please don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”
“It has to be.”
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Seeing the guards approach, the head maid departed.
Katarina bowed deeply.
“I apologize. I failed to attend you properly.”
“I want to hear what happened after that day. No one around me will speak of it.”
Hearing the sigh beside her, Charlophe continued.
“Even if you slow your steps, it doesn’t mean the road I walk disappears. If you’re not telling me to stand still alone, then be honest with me too.”
“Monsters appeared. It’s said former devotees stitched their bodies together with monsters. Perhaps because of that, monsters were seen even near the elderly. Basilisks and their young. All were later exterminated.”
She narrowed her eyes and asked,
“Were there only two spider-web monster traps?”
“…Another monster trap was found. After that, the guard finished dismantling them. However, the guard only cut one; word has spread that Your Majesty cut the other. An explanation will likely be required.”
“What kind of explanation would that be?”
The hand that once held a sword was empty now.
“For some reason, it feels unfamiliar. My own body feels unfamiliar to me.”
Even I don’t quite know myself.
“It will be fine, as long as your mind finds peace. For now, it’s more important to let your body rest.”
Katarina steadied her breathing.
“Everyone was very worried.”
“I wasn’t gravely wounded.”
“Yes. The palace physicians said it was due to your frail constitution. Ah—however…”
Katarina trailed off.
“The High Priest visited the palace.”
“Because of the monster trap?”
“Yes. That day, he said it wasn’t the body that was exhausted, but the soul.”
That day, Hanelli, the High Priest who came to the palace, intoned—
“That the spirit needs time to rest.”
