TPOP 94

Chapter 94

****

"Huh, ah, hmph..."

Diana clamped her hands over her mouth, desperately stifling her breath.

Rain poured down in torrents, soaking her entire body. As the moisture ran down her skin, every sense except sight sharpened to its limit. Diana could detect every sound and smell in the world.

The sound of soil being crushed beneath her feet, the distant roar of a waterfall, the hoofbeats of pursuers following her path, and even the faint, distant scent of blood.

A soft, squishy liquid cushioned Diana as she stumbled over a tree root. The water surrounding her formed a large mass, acting as a cushion. The spirits diligently erased Diana's footprints as they followed.

"Haah, haah..."

Even after running for what felt like ages, the waterfall remained far away. No matter how much she borrowed the spirits' power, she couldn't outpace the speed of horses pounding the ground on all fours. While the spirits could erase her scent, they couldn't hide her form from the pursuers' sight.

Eventually, her retreating figure darting between the trees caught their eyes.

"There's someone. Ten o'clock. Pursuit!"

The forest grew denser the further they advanced. Finally, the assassins dismounted and began chasing Diana on foot. But suddenly, a barren clearing appeared.

The spot where the trees that had concealed her body had all been burned away was now a charred, empty patch of ground. Diana instinctively knew her position had been discovered by her pursuers.

A powerful grip slammed into Diana's nape. Her shirt collar was yanked back, her throat constricted.

"Gah...!"

"Got her! Looks like it's her."

"Tie her up. Just secure the bitch!"

Chains fell over Diana's limbs. The force tightening the chains was immense, as if intent on breaking her bones. Her eyes burned with heat.

"Cover her face first. Then lift her clothes!"

The hands handling Diana were rough. Then they couldn't be Felix's knights. It might be a foolish assumption, but that man would never permit them to treat her like this.

Diana remembered his voice, kissing her cheek as he promised he'd return soon. Regardless of her trust in him, the emotion in that weary voice had been unmistakable.

He wouldn't hurt her. Because—.

The assailant who had abruptly pulled up Diana's coat scanned her outfit, the suspenders tightly cinched around her waist and abdomen. Then he raised his voice and shouted.

"She doesn't seem pregnant. Looks like she really did miscarry!"

Huh?

Confusion washed over her at the sound of those words. Diana was dazed even as her body was jerked along by the chains.

Did she hear that correctly? There seemed to be a strange word mixed in. Must have misheard it?

No. That wasn't important now. Whatever nonsense they were spouting, these men were clearly Eisen's henchmen. Getting caught here meant a miserable death.

As Diana, who had been dragged along weakly, suddenly stopped moving and resisted, the assassin raised a hand as big as a pot lid and swung it down toward her cheek. But just before the rough palm struck her cheek, a powerful jet of water erupted from the ground.

"Wh-what?!"

A water column thicker than a grown man's forearm burst explosively through the black earth. The man screamed and recoiled at the immense rigidity. His left arm, struck by the water column, was bent at a grotesque angle.

"Hey, what's going on? What happened...!"

Another assassin who had run over screaming froze stiff. An unbelievable scene unfolded before his eyes.

A water column erupted from the water-logged ground, piercing the center of his comrade's torso. Immediately, water columns began erupting from all directions. There was no time to count them.

"Hey! Ahhh! Ugh...!"

Over five or six water columns simultaneously pierced the assailant's body. The man, pierced through the shoulder and abdomen, collapsed like a rotten log. It was a death so simple and clean it felt hollow.

Those who narrowly avoided the water pillars screamed and ran toward the horses, but they couldn't escape their foretold deaths. Water was everywhere. Especially on a day like this, when the rain poured down.

"Guh!"

The last assassin fleeing was pierced through the abdomen by the water column.

In the dying man's final vision, a woman staggered to her feet. The chains binding her hands and feet shattered into pieces on the ground.

The woman, now as pale as a corpse, turned and began to run.

The black forest swallowed her in an instant. As if embracing her protectively with its arms.

When the tiny woman's figure vanished from sight, the light completely faded from the five assassins' eyes.

***

"Emile... where is she now?"

Hugo repeated the question several times, unable to believe it. He had just stepped out from among the nobles near the entrance to the Imperial Church to hear the news about the situation at the secondary palace.

"Taken away by the guards? Who... is dead? Tell me everything!"

A servant who had barely escaped the palace panted as he reported.

"Spies from the Prince's faction infiltrated. Lord Arnold has vanished somewhere, and Steward Lunok is dead. Lady Emile injured her shoulder, but her life is not immediately in danger."

“Did you capture them?”

“All spies have been apprehended. We were forced to kill about half, while the rest had their tendons severed to keep them barely alive. Fifteen in total, including the dead. The Deputy Knight Commander requests His Majesty issue orders immediately.”

Though the Guard Captain was absent, this was a knightly order composed solely of the most capable and skilled individuals selected from across the entire empire. Those guarding the secondary palace immediately leapt into the building and dragged out the intruders. The disturbance at the secondary palace was thus temporarily resolved, but the problem lay elsewhere.

"That child, Diana?"

"Lady Catherine, the head maid, took her to the forest. She is definitely not in the palace."

"How did the assassins infiltrate? Where did they enter?"

"From the north. It seems they had been lying in wait for quite some time in a civilian house near the North Gate and infiltrated the palace grounds the moment the bell tolled. There appears to have been a traitor among the knights guarding the North Gate."

“Eisen is insane!"

This was a coup. Madness. Even if the Emperor passed away suddenly, his death had been a foregone conclusion for months. The timing was merely a week early; everything from the funeral rites to the subsequent schedule had been meticulously planned. Raising an army at this point was tantamount to suicide.

"At least that child is outside the secondary palace. Though I hadn't anticipated this situation..."

Hugo glanced sideways into the chapel. The late emperor's body lay in state within the coffin. Felix, clad in black funeral attire, stood at the front, observing the scene impassively. His back was as cold and solid as black quartz.

"The personnel stationed at the secondary palace—are they under His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince's direct command?"

"Yes... they are."

"Prevent them from reporting to His Highness. At least until dawn. And Diana, pursue that child. We must retrieve her first. It would be disastrous if she fell into Prince Eisen's hands."

Hugo dared not imagine how his nephew would react upon learning that Diana had vanished while his half-brother was turning the palace upside down. Moreover, he was no longer the Crown Prince, but the new Emperor. Hugo could no longer interfere under the pretext of being his uncle. He was now the supreme ruler of this empire.

"First, reinforce the northern defenses..."

Hugo, who had been issuing orders while glancing repeatedly toward the chapel, startled. Felix had tilted his head back, gazing up at the church's stained glass.

The sound of rain pounded on his eardrums. The entire chapel was filled with the sound of rain.

After staring at the rainwater streaming down the window for a while, Felix slowly lowered his head. His gaze moved toward the late emperor, dressed in burial robes and laid to rest in his coffin, then swiftly swept past the empty space and shifted to the left.

Exactly where Hugo was standing.

"……!"

Goosebumps rose from the small of his back to the crown of his head.

"Damn it."

Hugo muttered the curse again. Seriously!

Felix, with his back to the emperor's coffin, began striding out of the chapel. Hugo bit his lip and followed his nephew.

***

The rain fell like mad. In the dawn when dark clouds hid the moon, heavy footsteps echoed through the palace turned into a battlefield. A man, as if wrapped in the night's cloak, stomped across the marble floor, radiating presence.

Servants, pale as ghosts, who had been rushing about trying to manage the situation, froze in place, unable to move an inch.

His pale blue eyes scanned the chaotic mess of the first-floor hall.

Felix bent down himself and pulled back the cloth. The head steward lay dead, eyes wide open, with deep stab wounds to his neck and abdomen. Felix confirmed rigor mortis had already set in and let the cloth fall. The cloth fell softly, covering the steward's face.

Felix's pace quickened as he passed through the hall.

There was no need to go to the bedroom. Corpses littered the living room. Felix kicked the fallen bodies with his foot, rolling them upright to check their faces. One woman in a maid's uniform was crouched. His heart sank.

Ah, looking again, her hair color was completely different. Her build was also larger compared to Diana's. Felix clutched his own jaw with his large hand. His own breathing was rough.

"Where is Diana?"