IWJACM Chapter 4

Even without drinking that poison right now, Elise had more than enough ways to die. It wouldn't even be difficult. She could simply press the magic circle on her ankle while calling for her brother and disappear into dust.

Which meant there was no reason to choose suicide right this moment.

More than two weeks still remained before they would reach the Van Yela border.

She had stayed up all last night with her eyes wide open, making her decision.

She would survive to the very end, no matter what mire she found herself in. Whatever she had to do, whatever she had to endure.

Rezet Kyrstan remained horrifyingly composed as ever.

"That concludes His Imperial Majesty's message."

"Must I choose now?"

"If you need time to think, I will give it to you."

"..."

"I shall return tomorrow morning."

A full day remained until tomorrow morning.

The Grand Duke truly seemed ready to withdraw after saying only that. But Elise did not take her eyes off his mineral-like eyes that looked as if sapphires had been set into them.

The strongest man in this encampment, with the highest position.

She'd heard that if he spoke a word, the Emperor would even pluck stars from the sky for him.

He was a power holder with status second only to Van Yela's imperial family.

Elise could not ignore the lifeline dangling right before her eyes. Even if it was a rotten rope, she had to grab it first.

There was exactly one hope.

The fact that he was a strict adherent to principles.

He would keep his word. Just as Andrei had.

"Lord Kyrstan."

The Grand Duke, who had been about to turn away without delay after bowing to Elise, stopped his movement.

Elise took large strides to approach him closely. She looked straight up at the man from close range.

She deliberately raised her voice to hide her trembling.

"If I don't commit suicide here, will you take me to Van Yela?"

"I shall have to. Suicide, or execution in the capital. Those are the only two choices."

The Grand Duke answered in a voice neither fast nor slow.

"If you do not choose suicide, I will escort Your Highness to Ophel, Van Yela's capital."

"Unharmed, you mean?"

The Grand Duke's gaze touched Elise, then moved to the letter bearing the imperial command. Soon he gave a dry affirmation.

"Yes. Unharmed."

Every word spoken as the Empire's Supreme Commander carried weight.

Especially words spoken in this setting, conveying the Emperor's message, could never be dismissed lightly as empty promises or slips of the tongue.

Elise had to die in Van Yela as Argan's princess.

Which meant that on the journey there, Van Yela's forces would treat her as a princess.

'No, that alone isn't enough.'

Rezet Kyrstan hadn't shown his face to her even once during the past five days. He would likely do the same throughout the remaining journey to Van Yela.

Elise's goal wasn't to reach Van Yela safely. Her objective was to somehow win this man to her side before arriving in Van Yela.

By any means necessary.

All Elise had to use was her own body.

Fortunately, separate from her life being a candle in the wind, the value of her body as Argan's princess was supreme anywhere, anytime.

What an absurd fact.

Elise finally opened her mouth.

"I won't commit suicide. And I understand that you have a duty to bring me to Van Yela's capital unharmed, without even a scratch on my fingertips. You promise this, yes?"

The man's eyes remained calm as ever. He merely substituted a bow for his answer.

But won't you waver even when I come at you like this? Elise desperately bit her trembling lips.

Let's see about that.

Just before the Grand Duke could turn around completely, she grabbed his arm.

"Why are you..."

And the moment he called to her in a puzzled tone, she reached for the dagger he'd been holding. She gripped the sword hilt firmly and pulled—the blade slid free.

The draw was chillingly smooth.

Elise drove it into her left shoulder blade. The blade she plunged down with all her strength tore through skin and embedded itself nearly two finger-widths deep.

Huk—a sound of breath cutting off escaped involuntarily.

"...!"

For the first time, shock flashed through the Grand Duke's brilliant blue eyes. He cried out fiercely.

"Your Highness!"

Finally, urgency mixed into the voice calling Elise's name.

Only then did she smile with satisfaction. The pain of flesh tearing was a drop in the bucket compared to that satisfaction.

But her body couldn't follow her mind. Sway—her flickering vision tilted. The man reached out and quickly caught her collapsing form.

Elise forced out words in fragments.

"You... promised to bring me safely to Van Yela."

"What is this? What are you doing?!"

"You clearly promised, Grand Duke Kyrstan."

Her vision blurred from the terrible pain like her living flesh catching fire. Elise confirmed the man hurriedly examining her wound while holding her close, then smiled with relief.

This man would now absolutely never be able to leave her alone on the journey to Van Yela.

The princess had driven a dagger into her own shoulder. Rezet was left speechless witnessing that absurd situation.

His two hands that had stanched the princess's shoulder were soaked thoroughly in blood.

"You promised to bring me safely to Van Yela. You clearly promised."

He hadn't known she would interpret those words this way. Only then did Rezet clearly penetrate the princess's intent.

The princess had not the slightest intention of meeting a noble death.

Not only did she have no intention of dying, she actually planned to win him over. With her body.

"With her body..."

That expression fit perfectly.

In the days after the princess harmed herself, she tried almost compulsively to injure her own body. So Rezet couldn't leave her alone even for a moment.

The Emperor's order was to drag her to the capital if the princess didn't commit suicide. It came with the condition to 'be careful that her body not be greatly harmed.'

He didn't know why such a condition was attached when she'd mount the execution platform upon reaching the capital, but a knight need not question imperial commands. He simply had to obey.

But even so, to share a barracks with the princess—it was shocking.

Argan. The imperial family of Argan, no less.

On the Grendel continent, Argan's name carried meaning beyond just being a great power.

Rezet also had no personal grudge against Argan's imperials.

If he had to categorize his feelings, they would be closer to favorable.

Rezet recalled Argan, which he'd visited leading a goodwill delegation several years ago. Though its power had declined compared to its golden age, it was still an empire maintaining elegant dignity.

The emperor leading Argan, Arzeika III, had been nineteen at the time. The first greeting that the emperor, just shedding his boyishness, had offered him with a welcoming smile still remained in his memory.

"So you are Van Yela's hero. Welcome to Argan, Grand Duke Kyrstan."

The young emperor showed not a trace of fear even seeing the slaughterer all the continent feared. Though he couldn't have been unaware of what kind of being Rezet Kyrstan was.

'Hero.' How absurd.

Rezet also remembered his twin sister, Princess Elizabetha.

Though he'd seen her from across the banquet hall, the memory was vivid. Not so much because he'd observed her carefully, but more due to his naturally excellent memory.

But truly, anyone who'd seen such a beauty couldn't have forgotten her easily.

The harmony of silver-white hair flowing to her waist and golden eyes like the symbol of Argan's imperial family was breathtakingly beautiful.

Though the Emperor was also remarkably handsome, he couldn't compare to the princess. She didn't look at all like someone who shared the same air as ordinary people. She seemed almost sacred, as if wandering alone through a dreamscape.

There probably weren't two women in this world who made viewers feel something close to religious devotion. So it was no wonder Rezet had recognized the princess's identity the moment he saw her.

The princess who'd fled to his barracks as if escaping was unchanged. Delicate and slender like a butterfly with torn wings, and still inhumanly beautiful.

Only the innocent purity of her girlhood was nowhere to be found. The princess's entire face was deeply steeped in the despair and precariousness particular to those who'd felt the burden of life.

Yet even that poignancy was noble in her. At that point, it was in her birth.

Rezet sighed and looked down at the princess lying on the cot.

Her eyes were closed, but he knew she wasn't sleeping. The princess kept all her senses on high alert all day, afraid he might leave her side even briefly.

Then when he tried to step away for a moment, she would unwind the bandages wrapped around her shoulder and dig at the wound. The injury that couldn't heal was on the verge of becoming infected, so naturally he couldn't leave her side either.

But Rezet only went that far. He never spoke to the princess privately.

Yet she spoke to him.

"Are you always this taciturn, my lord?"

And Rezet had to answer the questions she asked. He couldn't dare ignore the princess's words.

"Yes."

But the answer didn't need to be long.

The princess let out what seemed like an exasperated laugh and opened her eyes to look at him. Rezet didn't look directly at the golden eyes turning toward him and lowered his gaze.

Elizabetha's eyes widened at that sight.

"Do I need to carve one more wound into my body before I can have a proper conversation with you?"

"..."

The last princess of Argan was, in a certain sense, more formidable than he was.

Rezet had no choice but to open his mouth.

"Your Highness should learn to cherish her body."

"When I'll die the moment we reach Van Yela, why cherish it? I should use it while I can."

The tone was scathing, completely opposite to her elegant voice. The princess braced herself with one hand on the bed and sat up.

Truly without even a hair's worth of intention to cherish her body, her movements were careless.

In the end, blood stained the bandages that had been changed just an hour ago.

A crack formed between Rezet's brows.