TPOP 100

Chapter 100

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Once, Felix genuinely desired that prostitute's death. So he collected her final moments in his own way.

But Diana's death held no appeal whatsoever. He wanted Diana's life. To him, that difference was everything.

It took Eisen a moment to grasp the full meaning of his words. Eisen's eyes slowly widened.

"...You... killed her? My... mother?"

"That woman is also hanging in the studio you so desperately wanted to see. Shall I give it to you as a gift?"

A servant was bringing in a painting wrapped in cloth. Felix took it with his left hand and tossed it at the feet of the soldiers surrounding Eisen. The cloth covering the painting fell away, revealing the top of the canvas in the rain.

Count Montagne, who caught a glimpse of part of the painting first, hurriedly pushed the cloth aside with his foot. The corner of the painting that flashed into view was red.

The Count hastily covered Eisen's eyes.

"Do not be swayed, Your Highness! There is no need to listen to the devil's whisperings."

No, he must listen. Eisen instinctively felt he knew what painting lay within.

Eisen pushed past the Count and stepped forward. Shoving aside soldiers who tried to stop him, warning of danger, he reached the very front and collapsed onto the grass. With trembling hands, he pulled away the cloth.

The moment the painting was revealed, his mind went completely blank.

His mother was stuffed and mounted on a rectangular canvas.

It was a painting of the dead woman, viewed upside down. The nearly naked blonde woman arched her back like a hook, her posture and expression looking as if she were writhing in ecstatic climax. Her lips were parted wide, as if ready to utter a lewd moan at any moment. Despite the crimson mass of blood gushing from her shattered left breast.

That thing, with veins bulging out, was a heart. A heart torn raw from her chest while she was still alive.

Blood flowing from the dead woman drenched the canvas from its center to the bottom. It was beyond vulgar, bordering on insulting. The entire story of this woman's short life—what she had done and how she had met her end—was contained within a single painting.

"Ugh."

Eisen retched. Heavy rain pounded the painting. As it soaked, the oil paint began to lift from the canvas.

Even if she was a woman who never once gave her son a warm glance in life, she was still his biological mother. A deep blue flame flared in his heart, then burst into laughter. 

Eisen threw his head back and laughed like a madman.

So this is how it is, ah, yes. This is your way, brother. 

The unknown, horrific portrait delivered to Count Montaigne's mansion last year was indeed the artist's work. The metallic stench of blood boiled from Eisen's throat as he laughed himself hoarse.

"No one will remain by your side, Brother."

"......"

"Ha ha, ha. No one, no one! Who could possibly love someone like you? How could they!"

Ripples formed in Felix's pupils. A voice, fragile and on the verge of breaking, overlapped Eisen's screams.

"You are a terrible person."

"But I'm so glad it won't end there, brother."

Eisen stared straight at him.

More precisely, at Felix's right hand. Staring piercingly at the crooked knuckles, Eisen chuckled.

"Now you have nothing. You won't be able to draw anything."

'You won't be able to draw anything.' It sounded like a curse.

Felix slowly lowered his gaze to his right hand. Several fingers hung limply at bizarre angles.

He had heard something snap again in his wrist when he drew his bow toward Eisen. A faint ache seemed to linger, but it wasn't severe. Perhaps it took time for the pain to reach his brain.

He possessed nothing…

That too was laughable. The emperor, who had been little more than a figurehead, was dead. Now he was the master of this land. He possessed everything already, without even seeking it.

He understood this fact intellectually, yet Felix couldn't bring himself to scoff lightly. The last touch of that wheat-colored hair slipping through his fingers still lingered on his palm.

"So you can understand nothing. You will never know the world."

Eisen clutched the blood-soaked canvas to his chest. His eyes, bloodshot and wild, brimmed with hatred and madness.

"Diana will never again—."

The impulse to silence that mouth transformed into murderous intent.

The sword blade moved like a flash of lightning. The soldiers guarding Eisen's back didn't even have time to react.

Felix's sword shattered the canvas Eisen clutched and sliced through chest. He aimed for the uselessly long-tongued mouth but missed.

"Your Highness!"

Count Montagne's scream rang in his ears. A moment too late, the swords of the rebellious soldiers and the knights guarding the Crown Prince clashed violently.

Felix pushed aside the unknown figures blocking his path and advanced toward Eisen. He raised his sword toward the back of his half-brother, who was collapsing, choking on blood. Just as he was about to thrust it in, the hallucination pounded his eardrums once more.

"You are a terrible—"

His left hand, gripping the sword, froze. His heart pounded uneasily. Irregular breathing sounds came from somewhere. They were coming from his own mouth.

Felix flung the sword aside and pressed his hand to his forehead. His entire face was damp with moisture—rainwater or cold sweat, he couldn't tell. The blood Eisen had vomited flowed in a winding trail to Felix's feet.

"Yaaaaaah! Dieeeee!"

Count Montagne, his eyes rolled back, swung the sword he gripped with both hands with all his might. Agile knights leapt behind Felix and deflected the Count's sword high into the air.

While the knights forced him to his knees and bound his limbs, Felix shook his head several times, trying to shake off the ringing in his ears. Bloodstains splattered everywhere.

Blood—he truly loved this beautiful color. The only crimson he did not love was that which flowed from Diana. A horrific vision dominated his mind: the valley below where she fell must now be a sea of blood, just like this scene.

Suddenly, Felix felt strangely out of place standing in the heart of the imperial palace.

What am I doing here?

"...Diana."

Why was he wasting time here instead of going to find her immediately?

Felix turned, still holding his bloodstained sword. His knights, who had already subdued all the rebels, knelt in unison.

"Show them no mercy. Kill them all."

Those few words barely scraped his throat.

Hugo, who had been observing the situation, stepped forward urgently. The Crown Prince's hand looked unnatural.

"Your Highness, please return to the palace first. Your physician awaits. If not treated immediately, your hand..."

Felix pushed him away with his left hand and turned back. He couldn't even be bothered to say "Get out of the way."

Valley, mist, and gorge. Only those words swirled endlessly in his mind.

***

News of the coup that had unfolded overnight in the imperial palace spread throughout the capital as soon as dawn broke.

The Emperor was dead, yet the Crown Prince, the rightful heir, had failed to guard the Emperor's coffin. The sound of clashing blades echoed through the palace all night, mingled with the pungent smell of blood.

Prince Eisen, leader of the rebels, was executed on the spot by the Crown Prince's hand, while Count Montagne was dragged off to prison. Most of the remaining rebels were slaughtered outright. The few survivors fled outside the palace, but they too were mostly captured and imprisoned.

The state of emergency lasted all day. The rebel reinforcements advancing on the capital under cover of dawn realized the uprising had failed and hastily turned their horses around, only to find the Imperial Knights already encircling the entire perimeter of the capital.

The Knights immediately pursued the rebels, annihilating them at Taran, the small town closest to the capital. It all happened within a single day.

The Crown Prince did not show himself until the following day. Even after the situation calmed and the Imperial Knights of Taran returned to the capital, no official edict came from the palace.

It was only natural that ominous rumors spread among the people, who knew nothing of what had transpired in the palace on the day the Emperor passed away.

Some rumors held a grain of truth. A fratricidal conflict erupted over the Emperor's death. Prince Eisen attempted to exploit the imperial chaos to eliminate the weak Crown Prince and seize the throne, but failed. The Crown Prince was gravely wounded and could barely move…

However, on the third day, an event occurred that turned public opinion upside down.