Isabel took advantage of the loosened security and infiltrated the castle.
“Mmm… I’m still not satisfied…”
“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”
She passed by the rooms of soldiers muttering nonsense in their sleep.
She slowly made her way to where the higher-ups were staying.
There were guards stationed at every passage leading to important facilities, but subduing them was no difficult task for her.
Thud! Wham!
“Ugh…”
After knocking out everyone she encountered, she walked toward the heavily guarded central area.
Several lit rooms came into view.
Isabel approached cautiously, making sure not to make a sound.
She decided to listen in on their conversation.
“It feels good to crush those arrogant imperial bastards who were drowning in peace.”
“Kehehe, indeed, Your Majesty. In the end, what he said was right. They were too preoccupied with demons and such, so it was easy to devour their empire.”
“If only Aldonia had joined us… Those fools deserve to die for going against the tide.”
Until now, it was believed that the leader of the allied forces that destroyed Aldonia and invaded the empire was the Kingdom of Vires, the largest power.
Drakan thought so too, and so did everyone on the continent.
They were the ones who incited other kingdoms to start the war.
But hearing this conversation, something felt off.
‘Him? Who is that?’
The person on the other side of the room was, by all appearances, the King of Vires, Vires de Remian.
The luxurious cloak adorned with a blue wolf and the sword revered as a national treasure of Vires confirmed it.
But why would someone like him use honorifics for another person?
‘No.’
At least not within the allied forces.
He was the one acting as the leader.
“Your Majesty, how about rewarding the soldiers who have worked hard?”
“Hmm… Yes. We’ll be in a lull for a while, so giving them small gifts should boost morale.”
Vires Remian.
He gulped down the wine from the glass on the table and spoke to what appeared to be a subordinate.
“Right, distribute the women and alcohol we collected from Aldonia and here.”
“Hehe, shall we bring the special ones to you, Your Majesty?”
“Do so. But it’s a shame. I heard the princess of Aldonia was a beauty.”
“Her personality was a mess, though.”
“It’s more thrilling to break those kinds of people.”
It was absurd.
Even though war is a fight to kill or be killed, it’s an unwritten rule not to harm civilians.
But they didn’t care.
They were insane to the point where it was hard to believe they were human.
They even lamented not being able to toy with Isabel.
‘Crazy bastards.’
There must be someone behind this. Not the Kingdom of Vires, but someone hidden.
To find out, she needed information.
Isabel no longer found value in their conversation and abruptly opened the door.
“Phew… Mars, before we head back, bring me that woman we captured earlier.”
“Who are you! How dare you barge in here!”
They hurriedly adjusted their clothes and reached for their weapons upon seeing her.
Isabel sneered at their bulging bellies and their improper grip on their swords.
To think that a kingdom, families, and civilians were brutally slaughtered by these scum.
“I don’t need your limbs to get the information.”
They were subdued before they could even scream.
Did it take a minute?
In that time, Isabel had incapacitated them, gagged them, and broken their limbs.
“Ugh…”
They wet themselves from the overwhelming pain.
She wanted to tear them apart, but that would cause them to bleed out, so she had to leave them for now.
“Ald… Aldonia…”
“Listen, I’ll only say this once. Answer my questions well, or I’ll make your death as painful as possible.”
“…..”
“The Answer?”
“Ugh…?”
Vires Remian nodded in agreement.
Isabel then slowly peeled off his skin with a rusty awl as she continued her interrogation.
After about 20 minutes, she finally got the information she wanted.
‘Amcheon? A prophet? What on earth…’
He said there was a group called Amcheon operating in secret, dreaming of overthrowing the empire.
A group of lunatics using unknown powers. Among them was one who called himself a prophet.
He had saved the Kingdom of Vires from despair.
A man who had revived the Kingdom of Vires, which was slowly collapsing due to famine and economic ruin, through prophecy.
It didn’t seem like he was lying.
After all, Remian, who spoke of prophets and such, soon had his head swell like a balloon and then burst.
“That doesn’t absolve you of your crimes.”
You believed in a prophecy? You just did as he said?
“Bullshit.”
Then what crime did the people of Aldonia, who died for no reason, commit?
She wasn’t entirely sure, but she also found out information about the person who led Aldonia to its downfall.
So there was no reason to keep these people alive anymore.
It didn’t take long to bring down a castle.
Drakan had taught her some useful techniques.
She destroyed the central pillar on the first floor, causing the foundation to collapse.
Then she created an artificial exit.
And she killed everyone who came out.
Whoever they were.
The only consolation was that there were no civilians in this castle.
“Ha, I thought it would feel satisfying… but it just feels dirty.”
She understood why they say revenge begets revenge.
Killing the target of your revenge doesn’t bring your emotions or situation back to what they were.
All that’s left is a blood-soaked body and an overwhelming sense of emptiness.
“…Let’s go.”
She had nowhere to return to.
So she decided to follow her heart.
First…
“Right, let’s go to him.”
Even while she was secluded in training, she had kept up with news of him.
He wasn’t hard to find.
He was wandering the frontlines with the Holy Maiden, Vanice, and the empire.
If she followed the Holy Maiden’s trail, finding him would be easy.
Just thinking of him, the strength returned to her body, which had been slumped just moments before.
‘What should I say?’
They had parted without a proper goodbye.
It had been two years, so she should probably ask how he’s been.
Or maybe she should explain why she left so suddenly.
‘Would he be surprised to know I’m alive?’
To the outside world, Isabel was a dead woman.
Officially, she was listed as missing, but she hadn’t shown herself for two years.
Most would think she was dead.
He might think so too.
It would be nice if he welcomed her warmly…
But that was just wishful thinking.
He might have forgotten her, thinking they were just passing acquaintances.
If that were the case, it would be a bit disappointing, but there was nothing she could do.
She was the one who disappeared without a word.
‘They say men keep growing even after becoming adults. I wonder if he’s grown taller.’
She was curious.
What had he been doing all this time?
What had happened to him, and how much stronger had he become?
With a heart full of anticipation, Isabel rushed to where he was.
But the moment she faced him, everything turned to dust.
“…Your Highness, the princess. You’re alive.”
He remembered her not as ‘Isabel,’ but as ‘the Princess of Aldonia.’
“Stop joking. Are you mad because I left without a word? It’s me. Your senior, Isabel.”
“Uh… You are my senior, but I don’t remember ever having a conversation with you.”
It wasn’t just the passage of time blurring his memory.
He didn’t remember a single moment they had spent together.
“W-what are you talking about? How can this be…”
Isabel desperately clung to him, recounting all the memories they had shared.
“…I’m sorry, but you must be mistaking me for someone else.”
His response was cold.
‘How can this be?’
It hadn’t been 20 years. Not even 10.
Just two years.
How could he have completely forgotten, as if those memories had been cut away?
She couldn’t believe it.
So she stayed by his side.
She followed him wherever he and the Holy Maiden went.
Whether the capital was under siege, the Black Field was on the verge of being breached, or the allied forces were making a desperate final push.
She didn’t leave his side.
And as she did, she gradually came to realize.
‘It’s true… He really has forgotten.’
His words were true.
But she couldn’t give up.
While staying by his side to uncover the truth, new memories with him began to pile up.
Of course, it wasn’t the same relationship as before—more like comrades who fought side by side.
‘But this is better than nothing.’
In a world on the brink of collapse, there was no room for her to express the feelings she held.
The future was too uncertain and despairing for that.