Chapter 43

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In the dream, I see my sister being killed.

The sister in this dream does not have silver hair and gentle aquamarine eyes. Her hair, though still silver, has a different shade. Her eyes are a deep blue. Yet, I think of her as my sister. She was a queen.

And I am the one who kills the queen.

I, who should have been mortally wounded by my brother, smile faintly as I lose the light of life, and place my hand on my brother's cheek as if to say, "Well done."

... That is the end.

My hand slides down weakly.

"Sister..."

I shake the cold, lifeless body. There is no response from my sister.

"Sister!"

My shaking only causes the dark silver hair, which she wore as a crown, to become disheveled.

"Why...? Why did you make me..."

I continue to shake her, even though it is a meaningless act, as if believing that the life I took can be revived by doing so.

But no miracle occurs.

-- Never.

"...!"

I embrace the body and bury my face in her hair.

"Congratulations, Your Highness. No, Your Majesty."

A man speaks to me. His appearance, stained red from the number of people he has cut down on his way here, tells a story. But I, too, am the same. My blue, the color my sister loved most, is stained with her blood, as if defiling the room she cherished.

"... I will never be a king."

"Are you going to disregard your sister's wish?"

I glare at him, and he lowers his blood-stained sword, bowing to me.

"... Stop it."

"I congratulate you on the birth of the new king. -- King Us."

"... Be silent, Alderton!"

-- King Us. In the dream, I am called by the same name as the once great king.

"Why should I be happy? What is there to celebrate?"

I spit out the words, overflowing with emotion.

"By killing my sister, what...!"

They say it is a cause for celebration.

"That is why you must take responsibility. You must correct the chaos in this country caused by the queen's ascension, as the next king."

Correct it, he says.

"Such a thing...!"

I grind my teeth.

I know my sister's wish. She was a queen until the end, loving the country and its people.

-- But.

I feel a dark, black thing rising from the depths of my stomach.

Why should I, who was the neglected prince, love this country?

This me, who was made to kill the only one who saved me, the country.

-- It's absurd.

I look down at the body in my arms, the lifeless form of my sister. A drop of blood clings to her pale face.

I think I should wipe it away. I wipe it with the pad of my finger. But as I do, the blood spreads further across her face. It is because my hand is stained with blood.

My face contorts.

-- I loved books. I would forget to eat and sleep, locking myself in the castle's library, often scolded by my sister.

I held ideals learned from books, ideals that would be laughed at as fairy tales. People can understand each other through dialogue. They can reconcile.

-- I hated fighting. I hated the color of blood.

That is why I also hated my sister's 'Vassal.' The 'Vassal' makes a living from fighting.

Yet now, fighting and the color of blood are close to me.

"Sister..."

Why did it come to this?

Why did I have to kill my sister?

A bright future was supposed to be waiting.

I would step down as a vassal and support my sister, who ascended as queen. If my sister loved Esphia, I thought I would support her.

-- It's easy to imagine.

The people, surprised and delighted by my ascension as King Us.

At my sister's coronation, the people cheered and rejoiced. The same people who praised the queen with their words turned their backs on her as if they had opposed her from the beginning.

She did not commit any misrule -- the people betrayed and cornered the ruler who loved them the most. Incited and manipulated, they continue to dance.

No matter how much love is poured into a fool, the fool remains a fool. They will never understand. Dialogue is impossible.

Is there any value in living for such a thing?

"... If only."

The words, spewed out with overflowing emotion, were hoarse.

Esphia should just be destroyed.

No, I should.

-- I will destroy it.

Definitely.

I place my hand on my forehead and shake my head multiple times.

Alexis frowned at the recurring dream.

However, this was the first time he had seen it as a daydream.

He felt terribly bad. After seeing this, he always felt an intense thirst.

He reached for the water pitcher, forgetting his manners, and drank directly from the spout. The water moistened his throat, and he felt a slight illusion that the thirst was somewhat quenched. But the thirst could not be satisfied by water.

Still holding the pitcher, he wiped his mouth with the back of his other hand.

"Sister..."

Without realizing it, Alexis called out to his sister, just like the 'I' in the dream.

Seeing the figure of his sister, Octavia, would make this thirst disappear.

The 'I' in the dream killed his sister. In the world after that dream, she does not exist anywhere.

In reality, Alexis's sister is alive. She exists.

This is a thirst for loss, dragged by the 'I' in the dream.

-- Why do I have such a dream?

At first, he was confused.

-- I never thought of hurting my sister.

The fact that the 'I' in the dream seems to be that 'King Us' only added to his confusion.

The content was also something that felt off. If the dream were to be believed, it was the moment of King Us's birth.

Killing the queen, my sister, and becoming king. There is a man called Alderton present. ... It was a clever mix of fact and fiction.

-- In actual history, King Us inherited the throne from his father. And he was the one who was rebelled against by Duke Alderton.

Duke Alderton was a brave noble. Young and already dissatisfied with the newly crowned King Us, he took up arms and demanded his abdication after a conflict of opinions.

The rebellion failed.

King Us showed leniency, distancing the duke from the center of power but not taking his life.

The duke's family continues to exist -- in the current generation, they provide a knight to guard Octavia, Clifford Alderton.

Alexis placed the pitcher roughly, the pottery groaning.

-- The dream and reality are completely different.

Most importantly, Esphia has not been destroyed. On the contrary, it has continued to flourish after the reign of King Us.

Yet, the King Us in the dream hated the country.

If the dream were the truth.

-- The fact that Esphia has not been destroyed would be strange.

Isn't reality the opposite?

The recorded image of King Us is that of a king who lived for the country. His governance tells the same story.

Therefore, it is difficult to say that the dream is the truth, even if the fragments of the dream where I am King Us are vivid.

There was a commonality between the King Us in the dream and Alexis.

The sister in the dream and Octavia are very similar in their existence to him.

The King Us in the dream was also someone who stood out in the royal family.

The only one he could call family was his sister. Yet, he did it with his own hands --.

"I will not be like King Us."

He murmured to himself, as if trying to convince himself.

The mistake of losing my sister, like the King Us in the dream.

-- The thirst does not subside.

He must return to the castle after completing his secret mission.

Alexis approached the window of his private room. According to the schedule, from tomorrow, they would be camping to reach the destination faster.

The destination -- Tahren.

He has been there in the dream. As King Us, he went to Tahren, the site of fierce battles. He did not achieve a decisive victory but signed a truce with Kangan.

Even in this fragment of the dream, King Us did not fight for Esphia. He had no such feelings at all.

-- To kill the sister's 'Vassal.'

Of course, the reason Alexis is going to Tahren is different.

"Go to Tahren for an inspection. Report what you see and hear with your own eyes and ears. Alexis."

"Instead of my brother, me?"

"Serious stands out too much."

"But, Father... Your Majesty."

"Your going will be for Octavia's benefit."

"-- I accept the secret mission, Your Majesty."

It was the first time his father had given him a major task.

He was happy. He wanted to meet expectations. If it would benefit his sister, even more so. If he could produce results -- perhaps the way his father looked at him would change.

But -- influenced by the dream of King Us, he whispers.

What other intentions does my father have? And.

Perhaps he should have refused. Now, away from the castle, his unease is growing.

The night sky, viewed from the window he leaned against, was dotted with stars.

The scene overlapped with the false night sky in the dream, adorned in blue.

Alexis closed his eyes.

"... I am uneasy because Sister is in the 'Heavenly Paradise.'"

At this moment, Octavia should be attending a semi-formal ball.

The venue is the 'Heavenly Paradise.'

There is no more suitable place for a noble to hold a semi-formal ball. The attention to detail is impeccable.

If Octavia decided to attend, there is no clear reason to stop her. If not for the secret mission, he would have wanted to escort Octavia. He is no longer a child who needs to be protected by his sister. It is his turn to protect her.

-- Under no circumstances should Octavia get close to there.

He had only entered that room once.

Once was enough. He felt unwell just being there.

If what is beyond that point is as in the dream -- he does not want to go. He does not want Octavia to go either.

He knows it is just the dream making him feel this way.

Even if nothing happens, he feels frustrated being in the inn.

The door was knocked, and Alexis opened his eyes.

"Who is it?"

He asked.

"Randall."

The voice was indeed that of Randall, the knight he had promoted. There was no unnatural disturbance in his manner of