Chapter 66

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Several men who were hiding their identities with black clothes and masks rushed inside with the cold wind.

“Take her out!”

There was no strength in her legs. Kathleen forcefully pressed her back against the wall of the carriage. She instinctively deduced that she should not be taken by them.

‘Please.’

She tried to call on her icicles with all her might, but she failed miserably. A hand violently grabbed her arm and pulled her out. Kathleen was led by them and dismounted the carriage.

The coachman was already dead on the ground. It seemed that the assassins were waiting to ambush them atop a beautiful tree, then jumped down and attacked them.

“You’re right, it’s the Duchess of Walten.

The person who appeared to be the boss grabbed Kathleen’s chin and lifted it up, scanning her face.

“She looks creepy, but still pretty. Isn’t it a waste to take her like this?”

“Don’t. Weren’t we ordered to bring her alive?”

“When did I say I was going to kill her? I’m just saying let’s have a little fun. I think she would like it more if the Duchess was humiliated.”

Even as his men tried to stop him, he grinned and tried to stroke her cheek. Kathleen shouted, hitting his hand hard.

“Who told you to bring me?”

“This b***h!”

The foul-mouthed man’s face contorted and slapped Kathleen on the cheek. Her head turned and she felt a burning sensation in her earlobe. Her earring fell off and it felt like her lobe had been torn.

“I was going to take your body intact, but I don’t think I need to be that considerate. Hey! Bring my sword here!”

The man who shoved Kathleen’s shoulder hard glared at her then turned behind him to retrieve his sword. Kathleen’s back touched the wagon. She had no path to escape. Feeling like she was grabbing on straws, Kathleen once again reached out her hand towards them.

‘Just once…!’

The men clad in black who had surrounded the carriage, held up their swords and approached. Thin icicles as sharp as harpoons shot out of Kathleen’s hand.

“Ack!”

Those who were hit in the face by the long, sharp pieces of ice staggered momentarily and took a few steps back. They seemed bewildered by the unexpected counterattack but the one who was surprised the most was Kathleen.

Her power wasn’t as strong as before but it seemed to have returned to some extent. Kathleen hesitated then stepped back.

“Do not come any closer.”

However, the icicles did not deal a fatal blow to the assassins. The assassins, who hesitated for a moment, raised their swords and rushed at her again.

“We’ll just cut off your limbs!”

Kathleen screamed and fled to the side of the open carriage door. The blade of the sword flying towards her smashed the door of the carriage.

Crack.

She thought she heard the sound of the door shattering, but then the shattered bits turned into sharp pieces of wood, facing the assassins.

“Euk!”

“Duck! There are magic stones embedded in the carriage!”

When the door was completely broken, the carriage began to crumble. In an instant, the form collapsed and sharp pieces hit the assassins who had been surrounding it. Some fell in agony as the bits of wood got stuck in their eyes.

Kathleen frantically dropped on all fours and crawled into the bushes. Shortly thereafter, the carriage exploded with a loud sound.

‘Magic stones? Weren’t those used by alchemists, so why are they…….’

Who put them on a Walten carriage?

She had no idea who in the world would do something like this.

The assassins scattered all over the place groaned and were unable to move. It was as if they could not avoid the pieces of wood that had flown from the collapsed carriage. Others had already died.

As she looked around her, trembling, Kathleen rubbed her throbbing ear. One of the earrings Alexis had given her had disappeared, and the other pair seemed to have been broken at the joint. She carefully pulled out the other earring and held it in her hand, wanting to take it off altogether.

“This foreign b***h!”

The man who appeared to be the boss earlier ran towards her screaming. Unknowingly, an icicle erupted from one of Kathleen’s outstretched hands.

“Euak!”

The piece of ice sharp like a spike pierced his heart and the assassin fell to the ground and died. The blood that flowed from his heart painted the ice red.

Kathleen took a deep breath. Her whole body trembled at the cold feeling in her hands but she managed to step away from the corpse.

She had trouble breathing properly. She had no sense of reality to the point that she wondered if this was a dream; seeing the lifeless bodies in front of her. Besides, one of them was someone she had killed…

‘I didn’t know that the power would come back so suddenly.’

Just a while ago, only a thin piece about the size of a harpoon appeared, so why did the ice suddenly get bigger?

Her ability returned after almost half a year. She was glad that she was able to save her life but found it suspicious. The ability that disappeared suddenly came back.

She then opened her hand at the pain she felt in her palm. The broken earring.

‘Is it…’

She recalled when she began to lose her ability of making ice crystals.

‘It was around the time I was brought back to the Duke of Walten’s residence.’

She couldn’t even make simple ice at all…

‘When I received this earring as a gift.’

A self-mocking laugh came out. She wanted to believe that it wasn’t, but the timing was too perfect. And if the person who placed the magic crystal in the carriage was not an external force…

Numerous hypotheses and doubts floated in her head. The assassins who had been groaning quieted down and no longer moved.

How long has she been hiding in the bushes?

Dawn had come and the sun began to rise. Faint clopping sounds could be heard in the distance. One seemed to lead and several followed. Kathleen gave strength to her weak legs and stood up.

“Kathleen!”

The man’s desperate voice resounded. He was the person she didn’t want to meet at this moment and also the person she had been waiting for the most.

Eventually, the man appeared in front of her, his face blue with worry. His eyes still hadn’t changed as he urgently checked to see if she had been hurt anywhere.

He spread his arms out without any doubt and Kathleen clenched her teeth. She slowly walked towards him.

***

“My mother fainted? Since when?”

“It was after she left the banquet hall. She headed straight to the Imperial Palace and then suddenly passed out in His Majesty’s bedroom.”

“First of all, crack down on the news so that it doesn’t leak outside.”

Didn’t she say she just had a headache?

Peter almost ran with worry. She didn’t care this time because she thought that she was faking it like always. But if she knew that she was really sick, she would have paid attention sooner. She regretted not taking her mother seriously.

From the entrance of the Imperial Palace, there was tight security as usual, however, a strange tension filled the air. To say that it was because of her mother’s fainting, the knights were moving in an unusually orderly manner.

“It feels like there’s going to be a war.”

Count Schenberg, who was following her from behind, murmured. Only then did Peter realize that she had brought her aide to the imperial palace.

“You should go back.”

“Are you going in alone? Still, I’m Your Highness’ aide, so please let me stay with you.”

“I have no intention of repeating my words. This is a matter within the imperial family so don’t cross the line.”

Just as he was about to enter the Emperor’s bedroom, Count Schenberg was stopped by Peter. The knights who had rough expressions joined in to open the door and block him. Peter entered the bedroom, leaving the resigned Count Schenberg outside.

“Your Highness.”

The imperial doctor, standing by the door, greeted her tremblingly. She couldn’t understand why the doctor who was supposed to be looking at her mother was there.

“What are you doing here and not with my mother?”

Peter raised her voice but was then surprised.

“Come here.”

The empress’ clear voice resounded. She wondered if she had come here after fainting, so Peter hurriedly approached the bed where the emperor was lying.

“Mother, I heard you collapsed. Are you feeling better now…”

As she walked inside the opaque veil, Peter saw the Empress looking back at her with a perfect posture. She looked fine.

“Mother?”

“Don’t make a fuss. Come here and sit down.”

An ominous feeling engulfed her when she heard the low but calm voice. Peter sat down on the chair next to the bed just as her mother had commanded. The emperor, whose illness had worsened and spent little time awake during the day, was asleep.

“Today is your coming-of-age ceremony so I thought I couldn’t postpone it any longer. So I told His Majesty.”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why you can’t be the Crown Prince.”

At the rather sudden remark, Peter looked down at the emperor in bewilderment. His eyelids did not move.

“……What did he say?”

“What else is there to say?”

“What do you mean? His Majesty must have said something.”

The fact that Peter was a woman was a secret that was thoroughly hidden from her father, the Emperor. Moreover, he was the one who was so proud of the imperial prince. And now he found out but did not say anything? She couldn’t understand it. 

Even if it was the Empress and the Crown Prince, he would have had them dragged out and their necks cut off, he would never have let it slide…

Peter’s face mixed with curiosity and dread contorted as she waited for her mother’s answer.

Her mother, wearing the empress’ crown, was smiling.

“Don’t tell me….!”

Peter got up quickly. Thanks to this, the chair fell backward and made a loud noise, but the Empress did not bat an eye.

She put her hand under the emperor’s nose but couldn’t feel his breath. She hurriedly removed the blanket and tried to check for his heartbeat, but the moment she touched his stiff body, she knew.

The emperor has died.

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