Chapter 81. Your tongue will be at my command
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When Ihedia opened her eyes, all she could see was darkness.
‘What the hell happened….?’
The last thing she remembered before blacking out was being tied to a chair and left in a cloud of smoke at Hashad's command.
Suddenly, her head hurt like it was going to crack.
"Ha."
Ihedia squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain to stop.
It must have been the incense Hashad had burned.
Ihedia groped in the darkness, her hand gripping the wall.
She took a slow step forward, and suddenly, something caught in her hand.
It was a doorknob.
She tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Ihedia knocked on the door and called out.
"Is anyone out there?"
She knocked on the door for a long time, but there was no answer.
It was clear that Hashad had locked her in on purpose.
Drained of energy, Ihedia sat down.
All the while, a severe headache continued to plague her intermittently.
What was the purpose of the incense, she wondered.
Then she heard Hashad's voice faintly in her head.
"You were planning to betray Kayan from the beginning."
What is this..................?
It was vague, but it sounded like Hashad was whispering something strange to her.
Pain stabbed through Ihedia's mind again, like a blade of wind.
It felt as if someone had placed a solid barrier in her mind to prevent her from delving into what had happened in her daze.
It forced her to stop searching for her memories.
How much time had passed?
She couldn't tell how much time had passed because she couldn't tell day from night.
Then, with a crack, the door swung open and white light flooded her blackened vision.
"You're awake now."
Hashad.
He strode over and stood before Ihedia.
He leaned down and peered into her confused face.
Hashad bared his teeth and smiled his trademark grin.
His clouded pupils were grotesque, as if they didn't belong to a human.
His cold hand gripped Ihedia's chin in a vicious grip.
"You seem to know quite a bit about Kayan's schemes, and to have gotten so close to the proportions of that poison, no wonder he’s so protective of you.”
Ihedia's eyes flickered uneasily at Hashad's calm voice.
Once, while examining the poison Bayate had used on the hut's corpse, Kayan had asked her how she would have formulated something similar.
Ihedia had answered to the best of her knowledge, and as it turned out, her help was crucial to what Kayan was trying to do.
'That's a secret that only Kayan and I know......'
Ihedia was about to say something to Hashad.
Her words were stuck, as if white paint had been poured over her head.
Like a child who hadn’t learned to speak yet, she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
She couldn't express the thoughts in her head in clear language.
As if her consciousness was being controlled by someone else.
'How is this.................'
Thoughts and actions played separately, as if they belonged to different people.
Hashad's eyes curved into bows as Ihedia moved her mouth, unable to articulate her thoughts.
"I wondered if I should have burned more incense for your rebellion, but I was wrong."
Ihedia could now guess what Hashad's incense was for.
So there was a magic relic in the world that could control a person's mind.
A deep sense of loss flashed across Ihedia's eyes.
"Queen Lena told me that you cared for your younger brother deeply, and that's why you've been their plaything for so many years. It's a shame that your life hasn't changed since you were brought to this far north."
"..."
"You're a clever girl, so I don't need to tell you what to do from now on, do I?"
The corners of Ihedia's eyes were instantly stained with water.
They were tears, fueled by every intense emotion that could not be expressed in a single word.
Seeing it, Hashad's lips curled up in a rather satisfied smile.
His fingers traced the scars that covered Ihedia's face.
Ihedia felt goosebumps crawl over her skin.
"For betraying Kayan, I must reward you greatly."
"...."
"I'll fix your face. Because unlike Kayan, I have the ability to do so."
At that moment, Ihedia's subconscious began to take over.
The words came out against her will.
"Thank you... Your Majesty."
She tried to resist it, but the pain in her head was excruciating, as if someone was torturing her.
The sharp sensation sent Ihedia into a cold sweat, and Hashad laughed maniacally.
"Don't bother, your tongue will always be at my disposal."
"..."
"You betrayed him, offered yourself to the Emperor, and begged to be his concubine. It’ll be interesting to see Kayan's eyes roll back in his head as he goes mad.”
He patted Ihedia on the cheek and walked away.
A moment later, imperial servants entered and grabbed her arms.
She tried to shake them off, but it was no use.
She followed them down the stairs.
The place where she was being held seemed to be a secret chamber attached to the imperial palace.
Outside, a bitter wind cut through her skin.
The moon in the sky had lost its light, trapped in clouds.
She was pushed by the servants to the front of a carriage parked at the entrance to the palace.
It was the emperor's carriage, painted with the red wolf emblem.
As soon as Ihedia and the servants were inside, the coachman began to move.
Around the carriage, the emperor's bodyguards on imperial steeds followed her.
'They even resorted to such vicious methods.'
Ihedia was still reeling from the shock that washed over her like a tidal wave.
Her mind and body had become puppets of Hashad's will.
In this state, even if Kayan returned, there would be no explanation.
She resented the fact that she was doomed to another miserable existence.
While Ihedia remained dazed, the carriage traveled for several minutes without stopping to reach its destination.
The servants led her out of the carriage, paying little attention to her despair.
As far as she could see, there was a small mountain full of barren trees.
At the base of the mountain stood a dense line of Red Wolf soldiers.
The servants led Ihedia into the clearing.
They followed the artificially cleared path upward until they came to a deep valley.
The lanterns placed along the edge of the path made it easy to see the entire way.
The fact that so many of these lights didn't falter in the strong winds suggested that they were also magical tools.
When she reached the end of the road, she saw a small palace with golden walls.
It was too small to be called a palace, but its exterior was as ornate as a scaled-down version of the palace of Anut.
She walked through the marble columns and entered the arched entrance, where the servants opened the door for her.
Like Kayan's mansion, it was built with magic stones, and the moment she stepped inside, she felt a warm glow.
In the center of the room, polished jade stones surrounded a large spring.
Ihedia's gaze fell on the water, its surface glowing blue.
'This is the spring water of Apeso......'
Ihedia had heard of it once.
There was a sacred spring in Anut that healed wounds.
No one knew exactly what it looked like, as only the most honored wolf warriors could actually access it.
When Ihedia stood motionless, a servant pushed her hard into the spring.
Then the blue light that had been spreading over the water gradually converged on her.
The light enveloped her entire body.
It gradually moved toward the scar on her face.
The warmth seemed to animate over her distorted skin.
The sensation lasted for a while, and as time passed, her heart beat unsteadily and her eyes became dizzy.
Then, as her body swayed in a fit of vertigo, they pulled her out of the water and wrapped her in a blanket they had prepared.
"I think we'll stop here for today. The scar is so old that you'll need to come here often to completely heal it."
As Ihedia stepped out of the spring and through the doorway, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass.
The scar that had followed her like a shadow had faded a bit.
Even as she stepped out of the water, she felt the energy drain from her body.
Perhaps being in there so long had taken its toll on her body.
She could barely walk, her heavy body threatening to collapse at any moment.
Exhausted, she was carried back to the chamber by their hands.
The servants left her there and disappeared.
She tried the door, but it was locked from the outside.
She sat down on the floor and hugged her knees, resigned to everything.
So here she was again.
A sob escaped Ihedia's lips.
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