[CHE] 011. THE RED BATTLEFIELD (2)

The change on the battlefield happened suddenly. It was not yet noon, so it was a clear day without a single cloud.

The sun disappeared from the sky before they knew it, and a red light began to spread from over the horizon. It was a strange sight, as if blood was seeping into the air.

In the sky that suddenly became unrealistically dark, the spirit of the clashing soldiers gradually faded. In the air that seemed to be weighing down heavily, strength was gradually drained from the weapons facing each other. The agitation that started like that quickly spread throughout the plains, and the battle was greeted with a lull like a lie.

Under the red sky, the Holy Emperor was standing.

He appeared in the middle of the battlefield before anyone knew it and was walking slowly. Wearing short silver armor and a long robe like a mantle, he held his favorite sword, the Nutcracker, in his right hand, and a severed human head in his left.

The bloodstains splattered here and there on the shimmering white robe were particularly frightening.

The knights, who were engaged in a defensive battle surrounding Amelia and Morres, hesitated and retreated as the Holy Emperor approached. At the same time, Morres’ body collapsed to the side with a thud. He has already lost his breath.

“……!”

Morres. Morres. Morres!

Amelia barely rolled her eyes, staring intently at the face of her little brother lying on her side. Instead of his name, she vomited up bloody water.

The Holy Emperor approached them and slowly bent his knees.

Thud. The head was thrown carelessly to the side, the long silver hair coiled around it as it rolled around.

He stretched out his hand and slowly stroked her blood-soaked head.

Father, Father. Morres……!

Seeing the desperate appeal in Amelia’s eyes, the Holy Emperor shook his head.

“I am a little late.”

Until then, the knights who had been guarding the side with nervous faces fell to their knees.

“This can’t be……!”

Those who simply shed tears in dismay, those who wept on the floor, and those who stared into the sky in a daze. It was a sight that clearly showed how much they cared for the crown prince.

The Holy Emperor looked at them for a moment, then put his hand on the handle of the dagger stuck in Amelia’s chest. For treatment, the blade had to be pulled out first.

Then Amelia gritted her teeth and shook her head from side to side.

She can never live like this. Sacrificing her brother, living a life alone. She was in pain until now, but she had no confidence to endure such a life that would have left only the pain she had to endure in the future.

Even if it is the worst sin of turning away from a father who has to remain alone.

It was then. A small pendant hanging from her neck protruded from the side.

It was a necklace with a drop-shaped jewel that Amelia never took off from her body as a keepsake from her mother.

The white and clean jewel rolls over the blood-soaked dress and emits a brilliant light.

The Holy Emperor was startled and picked up the jewel. For an instant, a colorful light passed from his eyes, whose expression did not change at all. Questioning and understanding. Then, relief and sadness.

He looked back and forth between the small pendant and Amelia’s earnest eyes, then closed his eyes.

“Your Majesty, the princess’ condition……”

An inferior knight urged him, but the Holy Emperor, leaving the dagger stuck in her chest, held Amelia’s hand with one hand and began gently stroking her forehead with the other.

Amelia closed her eyes when the Holy Emperor’s hand touched her, but when she realized that there was no light on her hand, she was relieved and surrendered herself.

His father’s hand, which she held for the first time in a long time, felt very warm even without divine power.

Father, I’m sorry.

“You have suffered a lot so far. Amelia.”

Father, thank you.

“Rest in peace now. Daughter.”

Slowly, her vision began to blur.

The sky gradually sinks into a heavy red light. As if blood would drip at any moment. No it’s already falling. Her vision soon becomes dark.

The muffled noise around her is getting farther and farther away.

What is this? What’s in the sky? What the hell is going on? Agh! Aaaaaaagh!

And her father’s last voice.

“Don’t worry, Amelia. This is something you don’t have to go through.”

Amelia, the First Princess of Delcross, met her death like that.

* * *

Amelia, who carelessly rubbed her eyes in the beating morning sun, blinked blankly for a moment as she lay down.

‘What? Morning? Didn’t I just die? Why am I still lying in bed……’

Her face turned blue with the sudden fear.

I’m still alive!

“Ah… No! I don’t want to live like this again! I am! I am!”

“Princess? Why are you like that?”

“Aah! Morres… Morres! Father! Father! Father!”

“Miss Amelia!”

Since morning, there has been a great uproar in the Silver Rose Labyrinth. It was because the First Princess, Amelia, suddenly burst into tears and had a seizure.

The princess cried and screamed, exhausted herself, got up and cried for a long time, and after a few hours she lost her energy and lay quietly on the bed.

The servants were taken aback by the normally calm princess’ eccentricity and hurriedly called the imperial palace councilor.

“Whew. Your beautiful eyes are so swollen. Did you have a nightmare?”

Mirabelle, the exclusive lady-in-waiting, asked kindly, wiping the lukewarm wet towel from Amelia’s forehead.

“Mirabelle……”

Amelia repeated her name weakly, and Mirabelle smiled and brushed back her hair that was disheveled on her forehead.

“Yes. Our pretty princess. Why do you keep calling my name today?”

‘That’s because you already died by Leonard’s hand before I was imprisoned in the tower.’

Mirabelle was a handmaid with a warm impression who had taken care of Amelia ever since she entered the imperial palace. The princess, who was shy and pretty like a doll, was cherished and loved with all her heart from the beginning.

In the end, she followed Amelia to Rohan, where she met a gruesome death in the dungeon due to Leonard’s severe torture. She remembers that there was no particular reason. Leonard did it purely to annoy Amelia.

Years had already passed in Amelia’s mind. Now, when I think about it, grains of sand will flow instead of tears.

She closed her eyes, feeling Mirabel’s touch as if it were a dream.

It was a bit late, but Amelia was gradually realizing her current condition.

It wasn’t the hair that had been cut messily, but the glossy, rosy hair that wavy to the waist. Not rough and skinny hands, but healthy white and soft hands.

And Mirabelle, smiling kindly with a younger face than before.

She was clearly back in the past.

“Lie down for a bit. Miss Amelia. An imperial councilor will arrive soon. I don’t know where it hurts, but you’ll get better soon.”

– Father will come. Hold on for a moment, Amelia. If you endure a little longer……

On top of Mirabelle’s voice, the voice of her younger brother, who couldn’t be heard, overlapped.

Tears began to flow from Amelia’s eyes again. Mirabelle clicked her tongue and wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.

“Oops. What’s going on here? Not too long ago, the Third Prince collapsed, and the whole palace was in an uproar. Now, it’s scary to imagine what a commotion would happen if even the princess said she was sick.”

Amelia murmured in surprise.

“The Third Prince?”

“Yes. Prince Morres.”

“Not… the Crown Prince?”

“Yes? What do you mean? Sir Morres? The Crown Prince?”

Mirabelle’s face softened as if she had heard the most absurd thing in the world, but it didn’t matter too much to Amelia. She jumped up from her bed.

Morres.

“… Morres is alive!”

Yes, then did you wish he would die while sick?

That pig trash harassed the princess quite severely, but that’s probably not the case, is it? My kind-hearted princess?

Irrespective of Mirabel’s confused face, Amelia was already putting the towel aside and getting out of bed.

“I’m going to the Pearl Palace. Get ready, Mirabelle. I need to meet him.”

“Yes? However, the imperial palace……”

Mirabelle, who hurriedly followed the princess as she walked into the dressing room and tried to dissuade her, hesitated momentarily and took a step back.

He felt a strange sense of intimidation from the princess, who spoke clearly with a determined gaze like never before.

“I need to meet Morres right now!”

That’s why we’ve come to this situation.

The two of them, who were normally incompatible, sat face-to-face on the sofa in the living room and kept an awkward silence.

Amelia, who had burst into tears as she hugged Morres in a fit of emotion the moment she saw Morres’ face, was now blushing and sipping bitter tea.

Seongjin, who has an unexpected refreshment time, doesn’t know what to say, so he just rolls his eyes.

“I… So, you had a nightmare about me dying……”

“Ye… Yeah. That’s right. So I don’t know.”

Amelia bowed her head in embarrassment.

She returned to the past from death, but that didn’t mean she could tell the truth outright. That she, well, she had nightmares wasn’t a very convincing explanation.

Look. Isn’t Morres also tilting his head, perhaps a little puzzled?

However, Seongjin’s situation was a little different from Amelia’s. He was working hard on the demon king in his head.

‘Hey, how did this happen? Are the two of them really bad? Why does she look like an ordinary older sister who is worried about her sick younger brother? Huh?’

[This is what people, no, demon lords are! You met her in the garden the day before you collapsed and cursed at her? A lowly woman, a disgrace to the Holy Imperial Family, a lowly bitch, and… Should I do more?]

‘……’

Wow, Mores you son of a bitch.

The idiot who gets the most swearing in the imperial palace, but who are you calling the shame of the Holy Imperial Family?

Seongjin cleared his throat and scratched his head.

“Ahem! Uh, thanks anyway, sister. Um… So, you were worried about the fever?”

First of all, let’s say thank you for worrying. Seongjin’s thoughts were simple.

But what Amelia paid attention to was something else.

“You’re calling me sister now.”

Seongjin averted his gaze in surprise, but Amelia touched the teacup for a moment and smiled gently. She smiled vaguely, as if reminiscing about the distant past.

“That’s right. Come to think of it, I think it was around this time.”

The trash, who was a disgrace to the Holy Imperial Family, seemed to come to his senses at some point, lose weight and learn swordsmanship……

And at the same time, his attitude toward Amelia also became very docile, but she hadn’t readily accepted this change in her previous life.

It was because the face of Morres, who had been hostile to her with a ferocious face since childhood, was embedded in her mind.

If Morres was sometimes spoken to first, he would turn his head away or walk away. In the end, the two never had a chance to reconcile properly, and soon after, she fell in love with Leonard and left for Rohan.

Amelia smiled bitterly.

“If I had been a little more open-minded and approached at that time, our relationship would have made a huge difference.”

The family I longed for was not far away.

And only then did she meet Morres and say what she really wanted to say.

“I’m sorry for neglecting you until now, Morres. I wanted to say that.”

“Uh……”

Seongjin was very embarrassed.

What? Is this person an angel?

Morres did the bad thing, so why is she apologizing?

The demon king whispered.

[Hey, is the atmosphere okay right now? Now that this has happened, how about trying to improve the relationship?]

‘How?’

[You apologize too! You’ve been wrong so far. When will you have an opportunity like this again?]

‘That’s right.’

It was the perfect timing even for Seongjin. Not seeing his chance to pass up, he bowed her head to Amelia and quickly issued her apologetic words.

“No, rather, I’m sorry, sister! I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I can’t remember well after I was sick. However, I know that I gave you a hard time while being immature. I really want to apologize!”

Amelia stared blankly at Morres. She looked at her little brother’s round crown as he bowed his head, a little embarrassed.

She could still see the bloody sight of that soft pale blonde hair.

The still plump body and round, dry face overlapped with the young man’s face, which had cooled down while being an arrow holder.

– I’d like to apologize a bit. I’m sorry that I recklessly talked to you and bullied you when we were young.

‘Ah……’

She cried so much that she felt like all the water in my body was drained today, and even then, there were still tears left to shed. Amelia’s eyes widened, and she started to shed tears again.

As if the demon king was dumbfounded, he reprimanded Seongjin.

[Hey, you said you apologized. Why are you making the child cry again?]

‘No, what did I do!’

Seongjin didn’t know what to do, so he stood up awkwardly and apologized again.

“I am really, really sorry. Sister.”

“It’s okay, Morres.”

Her tear-soaked cheeks glowed white.

“You already apologized to me.”

She was laughing through tears.

It was a smile brighter than anything else in the world.

T/N:
The way I stopped crying after I uploaded the previous chapter only to cry again when editing this one T_T Seriously when the emperor held Amelia’s hand and stroked her head as she died T___T