Crown of Thorns

But alas, I could not find Margarita.

As Ruadhan said, the palace where Evan was staying at had extremely tight security. As I was unnoticeable as a shadow, I slipped through the cracks and searched every nook and cranny. However, I did not find anything. Neither Margarita nor Evan were in the palace. Only the maids, who were under investigation, were present. Their screams filled the room. As they were being interrogated, the easiest way to get the truth was through the use of fear and pain.

“We- we know nothing!”

“It’s true, please believe us!”

One of them was already reduced to a pitiful state and could only barely open her eyes. It didn’t take much time for me to identify her as the woman going in and out of Evan’s bed-chamber. Her beautiful and delicate face was a mess. She seemed to have been the prime suspect since she was the woman to have spent the most time with Evan.

“I… nothing… no… thing…”

I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She had to be punished even though she did nothing wrong. How was I any different from these people?

“But I did… nothing… wrong…”

The tears in her eyes streamed down her cheeks. These people did nothing wrong, and so the investigation would end here because there wasn’t anything to be learned from them, but my heart felt so heavy that I could not bring myself to move. My sins only grew as time went by. The thought that this might not just end with my death tormented me.

After not being able to take my eyes off these innocent victims for a long while, I hurriedly left the place.

Evan, Neriano, and Margarita were nowhere to be seen in the Central Palace. That means they must be in the Heavenly Palace. I circled the Heavenly Palace, searching, but it was fruitless. If the emperor had said that he wanted to see Evan himself, then he had probably stayed closer to the emperor.

I spent days surrounding the palace to confirm if my prediction was right, but I could not even confirm if Evan was unharmed, let alone the whole account of the story. As my heart burned black with worry until only ashes remained, I saw someone step out from the Heavenly Palace. It was Evan and Neriano. His face had become so emaciated in that short period of time. His expression was dark, and his gaze was fierce. He looked so alien that I could not go any closer to him.

He seemed to know everything. His stay was not short, so I thought he’d have heard it all. Margarita was a human, after all. She was also a human, weak to pain and fear. No matter how great her hatred was, she could not have withstood the threat of death.

How much had she said? The fortunate thing was that all the members were not well-informed on the entirety of my plans, Margarita included. Except for the fact that the witch had appeared, and that the witch had asked the Shadows to lend her their powers. The witch propelled the nobles to start the war. And the reason for it? For revenge. Those were people who knew that the witch hated the world.

I deliberately had them only reveal their faces to me and not to each other and made it so that I was the only one who acted on the outside. All that was done so that if things go wrong, no, even if things go right, the arrows would all be directed at me alone.

I wanted to hear details about how things went, but those two only walked on silently. In the hallway, only the footsteps of the servants who guided Evan and Neriano resounded.

The silence which seemed to have stretched endlessly was cut short with Neriano’s voice.

“Evan, perhaps you already know, but I plan to go meet Yohan. Will you go along with me?”

“No. If it’s that same story, then I don’t want to talk about it any further. I don’t want to think about it.”

“Alright. I understand how you feel. I was careless because I didn’t expect that they would come all the way to the palace. You must’ve been very surprised by this, weren’t you? But still, it was very fortunate. That they came after you when you weren’t there…”

“Neriano, sir.”

“Ahem ahem. It seems that I started spouting useless things in my old age.”

He looked around him cautiously, as if he were monitoring his surroundings. Then, Neriano spoke again.

“If you stay in the Heavenly Palace, things like this won’t ever happen again. The Son of Heaven probably thinks along these lines as well. But you never know, so make sure to make a powerful magic circle so that no one could approach you.”

“I understand.”

The emperor’s response wasn’t unexpected. The witch is after the warrior, for obvious reasons. As I was looking for Evan, I picked up bits and pieces and got the gist of what had happened here. As Evan was chasing Margarita, he used the power of Light to attack her. Those who witnessed it were unable to conceal their amazement.

Perhaps the emperor has heard of that and decided to keep Evan by his side, Realizing that he’d be of great help to him. He would be less neglectful of him now, unlike before.

“Speaking of which, I never thought he’d let you stay at the Heavenly Palace. It seems that the Son of Heaven plans to rely on you. He must’ve been surprised by your skills. Not even that. Especially that healing magic that could be called the power of God. It heals both wounds and scars to perfection, and if that wasn’t enough, it also clears the mind and soul, so how could he not find you incredible? Anyone would not be able to help but crave that power.”

Evan made no reaction to his words. His back looked sturdy and cold. It was impossible to read his mind like that. I couldn’t figure out how he was feeling or if he would go visit the witch again.

As Evan continued to be unresponsive, Neriano went on about his power. When they had finally arrived at their destination, their guide pointed to the room at the right corner and said it was the place for Evan to stay.

“Evan…”

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to rest a little.”

“All… alright. I’m sorry, you must’ve been so tired. Make sure to rest well. I’ll be off now then.”

“Yes, Have a safe trip.”

Neriano looked at Evan, lying in bed, with worried eyes, and soon left the room quietly. He got ready to leave immediately and hopped onto the carriage. It seemed that the emperor had already finished talking.

Evan must have been really tired, he lay on the bed and seemed to fall asleep. I was worried about him because he had never missed washing up even after being exhausted from training. So I couldn’t take my eyes off him for a long time, and his eyes suddenly opened.

Even though I knew that I couldn’t be seen, I was momentarily shocked. So I hurriedly hid under the bed. Evan got up and walked a few steps away from his bed. And then, light enveloped him. I’ve seen it many times already, so I knew that he was teleporting somewhere. However, it was his destination that I ignored…

“Nyx.”

I doubted my ears. I thought that maybe I had been hearing hallucinations.

“Nyx.”

I heard his voice again. Following that, I felt something pressing down on my body. As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw something white fluttering before them. And I heard the sound of breathing by my ear. Something was leaning on my shoulder.

Evan came to see me. And he was hugging me tightly.

He put his long legs on the ground and bent his back to hug me as I was leaning against the wall. His arms were around my neck, stroking my black hair, and I could feel his breaths as he laid his head on his arm, breathing right into my neck. His warm breaths tickled both my ear and neck.

“… Evan.”

“… Let’s stay like this for a moment.”

I couldn’t understand what Evan’s action meant, so my mind went completely blank. With his skin touching mine, I could feel his pain; that’s why I couldn’t hide my miserable expression. I was glad that he couldn’t see my face now because it was hard for me to control my expression. His body, holding me, felt lighter and more powerless than ever. My shoulders, which were carrying some of his weight, did not feel heavy at all. Instead, the heaviness in my heart was intolerable, as if I had carried him in my heart.

I lifted my weak arms up, meaning to pat Evan on the back, but quickly changed my mind. I was the one who shook Evan so hard that he became this sad.

I did not deserve to comfort him. Whether or not he knew the truth.

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