Prologue

“I knew this would happen someday.”

Yulif saw Deltinus rising from his throne. The wall behind the throne, where Deltinus was sitting, was decorated with two pairs of wings that reflected in his eyes. It was at that moment where his eyes, which had been cool and calm, began to burn with a form of livid light.

As if it had just been torn off and hung on the wall, drops of blood dripped from the tip of the wings, creating a stain on the wall.

Yulif looked around. None of the Hwira people caught by the guards had the face he was looking for.

It wouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. Never, those wings on the wall should not belong to her.

“How dare you stand on your own two feet in the audience on the subject of being a traitor? What an arrogant traitor!”

It was a sin that he had been forced to cover up. Deltinus knew better than anyone that Yulif was a person incapable of causing treason. But Yulif was not upset. As Deltinus said, he knew it was going to be like this one day, and it was supposed to be like this.

Instead of protesting that it was unfair, Yulif asked quietly.

“Where is Canaren?”

“Yulif, my younger brother. Pointing a sword at the Emperor is not the only sign of rebellion. It is also treason to dare to covet the Emperor’s woman.”

“Did you kill her?”

“No way. She is a girl who dared to choose you even after being favored by me. I left her in a better state than death. To show you.”

Deltinus raised his finger. Soldiers dragged out a cart with a cage on it.

The woman Yulif desperately was looking for was lying down in a cage as if she was dead. Her whole body was covered with blood due to the wounds from her back.

Yulif’s face was painfully distorted. Mana gathered around him and soon scattered uselessly.

It was easy to save the Hwira people taken hostage and kill Deltinus and all of the royal guards.

Unless someone intentionally blocked the flow of mana.

The obstruction, which began as soon as he entered the Imperial Palace, was now suppressing Yulif’s body beyond mana. The mana was a special kind of magic triggered along with an oath. A magic that Yulif could never shake off as long as the oath flowed in his blood.

Eventually, Yulif was forced to kneel down on one knee.

“It seems like your mana is out of your control. The Wizard of the Continent has all the magicians with him, so it should do this much.”

Deltinus, who smiled in satisfaction, opened the door of the cage. Unable to move, Yulif watched as he grabbed Canaren’s hair and forced her to raise herself up.

“Argh!”

“You must have thought Yulif was your savior. But you were wrong. It’s Yulif’s fault that you’ve become like this.”

“…The villagers… Please, release them….”

“Don’t worry. As Emperor, I will save them.”

Deltinus put a small glass medicine vial and dagger in Canaren’s hand. He whispered into her ear.

“Feed Yulif this yourself or put a sword in his heart. Then I will save the villagers. One life to save dozens of lives. It’s the last mercy of this Emperor. Now. Go.”

Canaren approached Yulif with precarious steps that seemed as if she would collapse at any moment. She held the medicine vial and dagger tightly.

The feeling of helplessness Yulif had never tasted in his life was painful. His heart was fluttering like a sharp knife. The cost of realizing his heart so late must have been this high.

A vein burst from Yulif’s eyes. In the meantime, Canaren took a difficult step and finally appeared in front of him.

“Yulif….”

Tears flowed down Canaren’s eyes, over her cheeks, and dripped off her face. She seemed to have so much to say. The same was true for Yulif. There were so many things he wanted to say to her and yet he couldn’t say.

‘I love you. I’m sorry I realized it too late. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.’

Nevertheless, he was happy with the time he spent with her. He was sorry that he was the only one who was happy.

But he knew what he had to say.

“It’s okay. Hurry up and feed me the poison.”

“…I’m so sorry.”

Something warm and soft touched his lips. It was Canaren’s lips.

When her eyes met his, Canaren smiled broadly as if flowers were blooming. It was Yulif’s favorite smile, first seen one day under the bright sunlight and clear sky.

「Please, the villagers. You could do it, Yulif.」

“I love you.”

Canaren whispered in the Hwira language that only Yulif could understand and then drank the poison herself.

The bottle and dagger fell from her hands as red blood flowed out of her mouth, Deltinus, with his face burning red, roared in anger as the soldiers pulled out their swords.

All the shouts and moving chaos around him seemed to move very slowly to Yulif.

Yulif held Canaren as she fell helplessly into his arms. He thought she would break even with a little force. Only after feeling the weak warmth in his hands and chest did he realize how much he wanted her. How cowardly he was.

Love, it was his first time. So he didn’t even know it was love.

When he realized it belatedly, everything was already too late. She was trapped in the cage of a mad emperor, dying day by day.

He was afraid that he would never see her again.

He didn’t want to admit his inability to do anything against the emperor because he was bound by an oath.

So he deceived himself and tried hard to dismiss her as a light interest, saying he was satisfied just by looking at her from afar.

His love was so big and desperate, but he didn’t have the courage to support it.

“No, Canaren. Please.”

Yulif did not just turn a blind eye to his own mind. He betrayed Canaren’s heart for loving him at the risk of her life.

He didn’t expect this. He didn’t want her to die. At least, he wanted her to be happy.

Was he the one who did the wrong thing? He had to be the one who had to bear a terrible price. But why did she have to die?

“…..Yul…..”

Canaren’s last breath was cut off. At that moment, even something broke inside Yulif. It was all his reason, a faded oath that tied him up for a long time, and his cowardice that killed Canaren.

“Argh!”

The arms and legs of the soldiers who were trying to insert a knife into the Hwira people flew away. There were agonizing screams here and there.

“How can he use magic?!?!”

Deltinus looked at the wilting Canaren in Yulif’s arms and stepped back to avoid the approaching Yulif.  His foot tripped over the stairs and he fell down violently.

With his hands on the floor, his legs that were crawling like beasts’ were grabbed by Yulif’s magic and he was lifted up into the air.

“Hahaha, yes. Even if you can use magic, you can’t kill me. Because there’s an oath in your freaking blood! You haven’t forgotten your promise to Mother, have you?”

Deltinus, hanging in the air, exploded in madness. Below, the guards were falling one by one under Yulif’s magic.

It didn’t matter how many of those bastards died. Those were consumables that could be used and thrown away.  After all, only Deltinus needed to be alive as Yulif is his twin brother…!

“It’s too late.”

He should have killed Deltinus earlier. Ignoring old promises. Even if he could not ignore it, he should have risked his life to do so.

If he did, then Canaren would not have died.

A blue flame engulfed Deltinus. Deltinus screamed in agony as his body twitched in horrifying pain.

Yulif sent the trembling Hwira people out of the middle of their hell with magic.

Was regret so painful? It was so terrifying and horrendous.

Yulif hugged the cold Canaren and cried out. It was the sound of an animal, not a human. Tears of blood flowed from his bloodied eyes.

After a while, the howling stopped, and a huge magic circle was drawn in the audience hall surrounded by corpses.

“Your death is wrong. I will correct it. With certainty.”

‘At any cost, only for you.’

The magic circle absorbed many souls and emitted an ominous light. Finally, the light from the magic circle created a huge door. Yulif held Canaren and melted into the dazzling light through the door.

He was the first and last human to cross the gates of time by his own will in life.

*******

“Agh….”

His head hurt like it was going to break. He woke up feeling an excruciating pain. Yulif looked around and quickly grasped the situation.

It was the barracks where he was sitting. A blizzard blew in outside the small hole in the window. It was left on the desk, but at the top of the report, <Report on the subjugation of barbarians> was written.

‘Come to the North.’

After making the decision, Yulif immediately left the barracks.

“Your Excellency, have you finished the report already? If you are resting, I can go pick it up…”

“Withdraw.”

“What?”

“Withdraw to our territory. I will not say it three times.”

“What? Yes, Your Excellency. I thought…!”

The lieutenant stood still and blinked for a moment. His superior who spoke incomprehensible words had already disappeared.

The lieutenant stood blankly with his mouth open until even the footprints left by Yulif were erased from the snow. His face turned white as he shouted.

“Withdraw troops, prepare for withdrawal!”

*******

As soon as he saw the ornately decorated walls of the Imperial Palace, his anger surged. He wanted to smash it right now and take Canaren with him.

Yulif suppressed the rising vulgarities from his throat. Instead of throwing a spell, he clenched his fist and hit the wall. The wall cracked with a loud bang.

Just then, he saw a servant go down the stairs.

“Where is His Majesty?”

“Greetings, Your Excellency! His Majesty is now in the banquet hall. I heard that the banquet had just begun.”

It was not difficult to find a banquet related to the Northern Subjugation celebration among the randomly entangled memories.

It was a banquet he hadn’t been able to attend in his previous life, no, he wasn’t even invited. Canaren must have been harshly treated by Deltinus at this banquet.

‘But this time, it will be different. Not only today’s banquet, but everything will be different. It has to be different!’

Yulif went to his room, which was used as a bedroom and office, and changed his clothes. She would be surprised if he showed up in leather armor with wolf fur around him. He carefully chose formal wear that was not too flashy, but elegant.

His fingers trembled as he fastened the gold buttons. It was because of the sight of Canaren spitting up blood over and over again turned in front of his eyes.

I love you.

Her voice was so clear and unshakable that it was hard to believe that she was prepared for her death. As if she had practiced countless times during that period, it was a very clear pronunciation.

Yulif took a deep breath. It was as if his chest was choked by a stone, and he couldn’t breathe properly. He had to calm his shaking heart and cool himself by covering it with thick ice.

So that emotions that should not be shown to Deltinus and Canaren would not leak out.

The shaking of his fingers finally ceased. Yulif did a final check of his appearance and headed to the banquet hall.

“Duke Rubius?”

The guard guarding the banquet hall was very surprised to see him. His pale expression was as if he had seen a ghost. It was a natural reaction because there was only one person in the North who was supposed to be dealing with barbarians.

Yulif grabbed the doorknob.

“Your Excellency, please show us your invitation. You can’t go in without an invitation!”

In Yulif’s ear, there were no shouts from the guards. His whole senses were focused on Canaren on the other side of the door.

Beyond this, there would be Canaren. A living woman, with warm blood flowing, still breathing, and a gentle smile.

That was enough.

Yulif opened the door with a blood-stained hand. The luxurious chandelier lights colored the view in white.