CHAPTER 06
A terrible sound tore through the air as the blade dug deep, and blood sprayed everywhere. The onlookers’ eyes and mouths flew wide open. They couldn’t help it.
“Your Majesty!”
Rosellina’s dagger had not pierced her own throat, but Dantes’ arm. It happened in an instant. While the others faltered in confusion at Rosellina’s swift movement, Dantes had acted on instinct.
He could not allow Roberto—whom he had finally found—to be killed. Rosellina looked at Dantes, who had shoved her aside and blocked the blade with his arm. Her sky-blue eyes rippled with shock like waves on water.
For the first time in six years, Dantes realized that the man he had been searching for stood before him. Those eyes that were usually calm like a blue river, clear as white snow, yet sharp as hard ice when angered—those were eyes only Roberto Brida possessed.
He had missed them. And at the same time, a desire to destroy them with his own hands welled up inside him. Dantes had long believed that what he felt was rage—the urge to punish Roberto Brida, the traitor who had betrayed him and fled, by killing him himself.
But that wasn’t it. Now that he imagined those eyes flickering out of existence, he found he could think of nothing at all. Not the empire’s future. Not even his own life.
I’ve gone mad.
He reflected briefly that it was a relief—truly a relief—that he had spared him. Blood was gushing from his arm like a fountain. The slash was so deep that it was clear she had meant to end his life in one blow.
“Protect His Majesty at once! Seize the criminal Roberto Brida!”
At Cesario’s sharp command, the stunned onlookers finally snapped back into action. Gunter and Marco seized Rosellina by both arms and hauled her upright. Dantes, supported by Cesario, rose to his feet.
Dantes looked toward Roberto. But Roberto lowered his head, avoiding his gaze. In an instant, Dantes was surrounded by soldiers.
“Your Majesty, your wound is severe.”
“Wait—just wait. Roberto!”
“Your Majesty! You must think of your body!”
Cesario’s stern voice cracked like a whip. Dantes met his friend’s gaze. Blood was flowing heavily from his arm, soaking through his tunic, yet Cesario disregarded it and held his eyes firmly.
“You can see Roberto after you’ve received treatment. He’s in custody now. Marco, Gunter, and I will keep him under constant watch. Please—put your life first. Have you forgotten that Your Majesty is Delion itself?”
Dantes nodded. There was no excuse against such words. Surrounded by soldiers, he vanished from sight.
“Don’t even think about running.”
Gunter accepted a heavy iron ball from a soldier and clamped it to Roberto’s ankle. It was a shackle for criminals, so weighty that even walking was difficult for most men. But Roberto was so formidable that only this much could restrain him.
“Your face still looks like a boy’s, Roberto. Seems like we’re the only ones who’ve aged.”
Marco gave a crooked grin as he spoke. Roberto—that name, spoken once more in place of Rosellina. Hearing it again, Rosellina let out a sigh.
“Marco’s right. It’s been a long time, but you haven’t changed at all. Still small, still skinny.”
“……”
Gunter touched Rosellina’s arm—thin and frail despite the lean muscle beneath. Marco, seeing how easily Rosellina moved without resistance, spoke with exasperation.
“If you were going to be this obedient, why run away at all? Damn it. You idiot. Betraying the crown wasn’t enough—you really tried to stab Dantes? What were you thinking? We can’t cover for you anymore. He’s the Emperor now! The Emperor of Delion! Do you really have a death wish?”
Marco grumbled about what would happen now. Roberto might be a traitor, but none of the trio wanted him dead. Even though Dantes had been furious, none believed he truly meant to kill Roberto once he found him.
It was regrettable that the misunderstandings between them had grown so vast. Yet, it couldn’t be helped. Dantes had always held Roberto in special regard. Boys might grow up fighting, but this bond was different. The closer you were, the harder it was to punish. And of all people, Dantes himself cherished him most.
After all, they were still only twenty-four, while Roberto was twenty-two. Though Roberto had always seemed more mature for his age.
Even in his teens, he had looked like an eighty-year-old man—quiet, thoughtful, endlessly considerate, always working in silence.
But now, instead of that brilliance, only frailty and weariness remained. As Rosellina was dragged along, she spoke quietly.
“Marco, Gunter.”
“Still got that feeble voice, I see. But I’m touched you haven’t forgotten our names.”
Gunter rubbed his nose sheepishly, while Marco scoffed as if to scold him.
“Roberto was never the stupid type. Not like you.”
“What? You were just as dumb as me! You failed every written exam too!”
“That was because I didn’t care. You just didn’t know anything, you blockhead!”
“Yeah, but in the last knight promotion test, I scored one point higher than you!”
“That damn one point! One point! Ugh, I shouldn’t even bother talking!”
The two bickered on, forgetting that Rosellina had called their names. The quarrel was so familiar that she couldn’t help but let out a faint laugh. At that sound, their fight died away as if by magic. It was a laugh tinged with weariness, but it was still a laugh.
“What’s with that smile? Still like an old man of eighty.”
Marco rubbed his forehead, but the truth was, their situations now were nothing like before.
Two of them were the empire’s most promising knights. The other—Delion’s most infamous criminal. The clanking iron ball rolling across the dirt kept the truth before their eyes.
“Who brought such a ridiculously huge shackle? You, Gunter?”
“Not me. Dantes chose it.”
“That guy…”
At the mention of Dantes, both glanced at Rosellina. Her eyes remained cast downward.
“Hold your head up. You made even Delion’s knights, the best of the best, quake in their boots. You can at least walk with dignity.”
“Yeah, exactly. You’re no ordinary man!”
“But still, you’re a criminal.”
“Yeah, well—that’s true. Or maybe… no, not exactly….”
Gunter trailed off, and Marco shook his head. Rosellina lifted her gaze to the sky. The clouds were gathering. Rain was coming. She could already smell it in the air.
“Gunter. Marco.”
“What now?”
Marco sounded uninterested, but glanced over anyway. Rosellina stopped walking, eyes fixed on the sky.
“Kill me. Without Dantes knowing.”
The first drops of rain began to fall. Marco and Gunter froze, speechless at her words. Facing the rain, Rosellina continued.
“Let’s end this wretched game of hide-and-seek.”
Raindrops spattered across her weary face. She bore sins that could never be washed away. And soon enough, her secret—that she was a woman—would be exposed.
Before everyone comes to hate me, if only I could die by the hands of those who still remember me as their old friend…
Gunter, watching her sorrowful profile, clenched his fists and shouted.
“Idiot! Don’t say something that stupid!”
“……”
Rosellina opened her eyes and looked at him. He stormed ahead angrily, footsteps heavy. Marco, still holding her, called after him.
“Hey, hey! You can’t just leave! What if Roberto escapes—!”
“Damn it!”
Gunter came striding back in huge steps. Marco grumbled at him for being reckless, then resumed walking. Rosellina, realizing that her only wish would never be granted by her friends, fell silent.
“But Gunter’s not wrong. We’re not going to kill you.”
“……”
“That includes Dantes.”
“Marco.”
“Honestly, the biggest fool among us might be you, Roberto.”
With that, Marco said no more. The rain poured harder. The iron ball rolled more sluggishly across the muddy ground.
The imperial knights made their way to Baron Aventurine’s estate. The baron was utterly flustered at the emperor’s sudden arrival. To see his son return alive after being thought dead was shock enough—but when the emperor, gravely wounded, appeared with the infamous Roberto Brida in tow, the baroness fainted on the spot.
The baron spared no expense, spending the entire bounty money he had set aside to prepare the finest food and summon physicians. The household only knew that the baron’s son had been rescued by a mercenary company. The emperor’s presence was kept an absolute secret.
Dantes was given the innermost chamber. Though he had received swift treatment, the wound was vast and deep. Unfortunately, the medicine here lagged far behind what was available in the capital.
“Until we reach the imperial palace, all we can do is prevent the wound from festering.”
Cesario, who had some knowledge of medicine, tended Dantes’ injuries more carefully than the physicians themselves. Dantes stared out at the rain lashing the window. He had finally caught Roberto, yet didn’t know what to say. At last, he forced out words.
“What is Roberto doing now?”
“Nothing.”
“Still refusing to eat?”
“Yes.”
Dantes sighed. Propping his chin with his left hand, he murmured softly.
“Does he hate me more than death itself?”
“Your Majesty…”
“How much worse is something than death?”
He hadn’t asked expecting an answer. His hollow gaze drifted into the rain outside. Cesario quietly packed away the supplies and left him alone.
The rain only fell harder.
