Kalix Leonhart

The rebellion was simpler than expected.

Kalix raised his sword.

And one by one, he cut down those who stood in his way.

He stained the palace corridors with blood and decapitated those who had sworn loyalty to him.

Finally, when he stood before the throne and threw his bloodied sword to the floor—

The Emperor of the Caldrion Empire was dead,

And Kalix became the new Emperor.

However, from the moment he sat on the throne, it was neither the crown nor power that filled his mind.

It was Evnoa.

The woman who was supposed to be the Crown Princess of Serenia.

The woman called the most beautiful in the continent.

And—

The woman he had been watching for a long time.

As soon as the coronation ended, Kalix issued an order.

"We strike Serenia."

The ministers were shocked, but no one dared to ask why.

Soon, the war began.

On the night the royal castle of Serenia was engulfed in flames,

Kalix found her among the crumbling walls.

Evnoa's face, illuminated by the firelight, was pale.

She was looking at him with eyes mixed with fear and hatred.

The moment he saw those eyes,

Kalix became strangely calm.

He had finally found her.

"Let's go."

"No."

It was a rejection without hesitation.

"You are... the person who trampled my country."

Kalix said nothing.

Because she wasn't wrong.

He had invaded Serenia,

Destroyed her country,

And taken everything she loved.

And yet.

"Yes," Kalix replied lowly.

"Even so, you must come with me."

That night, Evnoa was dragged to Caldrion.

From the start, she rejected him.

She didn't eat properly, and even when he spoke to her, she coldly turned her back.

It was the same no matter how tenderly Kalix approached her.

To her, he was the enemy who had stolen her country.

It was only natural.

So Kalix waited.

Instead of taking her heart by force,

He approached her side little by little.

He prepared a hearth on cold days,

And when he heard she was ill, he called for the best physician.

He brought her whatever she desired.

When she got angry, he accepted it silently,

And when she cried, he stayed by her side without a word.

"Why are you going this far?"

One day, Evnoa asked.

Kalix looked at her.

Why.

The answer had been decided long ago.

"Because I like you."

It was a simple statement.

But to Evnoa, it was the most cruel statement.

The man who destroyed her country

Was infinitely tender only to her.

She had to hate him.

She had to hate him until the end.

But Kalix didn't even give her the chance to hate him.

As time passed, the hatred in Evnoa's eyes blurred slightly.

Her guard broke down,

Her cold words decreased,

And at some point, she began to seek Kalix out first.

And Kalix knew.

That the moment he had been waiting for had arrived.

That Evnoa was in love with him.

Even when he realized that fact, Kalix could not rejoice.

Rather, he became strangely quiet.

When he thought of the things he had done to win her heart,

That love felt too heavy.

But he had no intention of turning back.

Not even once.

Nor did he have any intention of letting her go from his side.

Some time later.

Numerous nobles gathered in the Great Hall of the Imperial Palace.

And before them, Evnoa received the crown of the Empress.

Kalix took her hand.

It was a small, warm hand.

The hand that once pointed a sword at him.

The hand that once called him an enemy.

Now, it was holding his hand.

"Evnoa."

She looked up.

Kalix looked into her eyes and smiled very slightly.

Finally.

She had become his Empress.

And at that moment, Kalix realized.

That he was far more satisfied now

Than the day he gained the throne,

Or the day he took the Empire.

What he wanted from the beginning was not the Empire.

It was only her.

Lionel Elusia

I couldn't protect Evnoa.

That was the only fact left for Lionel.

As the Crown Prince, he took up his sword, but in the end, he failed to protect her.

The day Serenia's royal castle burned.

The day Caldrion's army flooded in.

He could only watch as she disappeared before his eyes.

He reached out.

But he couldn't reach her.

Since that day, Lionel has never been able to forgive himself.

The title of Crown Prince.

Swordsmanship.

Power.

What did all of that mean?

When he couldn't protect the one person he was supposed to.

Then one day.

The news arrived.

"...Lady Evnoa has been crowned Empress of the Caldrion Empire."

In an instant, Lionel's breath stopped.

Empress.

That word echoed in his head over and over.

Evnoa became the Empress of Caldrion.

The woman he loved.

The woman he promised to protect.

She became another man's Empress in a place his hands could not reach.

Lionel said nothing.

He just looked out the window.

Only after a long time did a low voice escape him.

"...Is she happy?"

He didn't even know who he was asking.

No answer came back.

Not long after, the throne passed to him.

Lionel, the Crown Prince, became the King of Serenia.

The crown was heavy.

But heavier still was the fact that he had to sit on the throne.

Because he knew the reason he became King.

He had to raise the country again.

He had to rebuild Serenia, which was destroyed by war.

And he had to protect the country that Evnoa loved.

Even if she didn't return.

Even if she never looked at him again.

He had to do at least that much.

Then one day.

A message arrived from the Caldrion Imperial Court officially inviting King Lionel.

Lionel stared at the letter for a long time.

And eventually, he headed to the Imperial Court.

The magnificent Caldrion Imperial Palace.

Waiting for him there was Emperor Kalix.

"Congratulations on becoming the King of Serenia."

Kalix raised his glass.

Lionel looked at him with cold eyes.

Congratulations.

That word was somehow ridiculous.

But Lionel said nothing.

Kalix continued with a nonchalant face.

"And I have a gift for you."

"...A gift?"

At that moment.

The door opened.

Lionel's gaze turned toward it.

And there, he saw Guest standing.

Kalix said,

"She is from a long-standing loyalist family of the Caldrion Empire."

A brief silence.

"I prepared her for you."

Lionel's expression stiffened.

"As the Queen of Serenia."

In an instant, his mind went blank.

Queen.

That word felt strangely foreign.

He still hadn't forgotten Evnoa.

He hadn't even properly accepted the fact that she had become Empress.

And now he was being told to take another woman as his Queen.

And that too, in the name of a gift offered by the man he hated most.

Lionel slowly looked at Guest.

And for a very brief moment,

He thought of the burning royal castle of Serenia.

The moment he couldn't protect anything that day.

Lionel clenched his fists.

He didn't want to treat someone like a pawn again.

But the position of King was not one that could be moved by his emotions alone.

He slowly opened his mouth.

"...A gift, I see."

A bitter smile hung on his lips.

"Your Imperial Majesty gives a truly cruel gift."

Kalix laughed as if it were nothing.

Lionel looked at Guest again.

And he quietly vowed to himself.

At least this time.

The person who comes to his side—

He would never let them become like the one he failed to protect.

Guest

The time spent by Kalix's side was long.

From the days when he was not yet Emperor.

During the moments he prepared for the rebellion, and the moment he ascended the blood-stained throne.

Guest was always by his side.

From a long-standing loyalist family of the Caldrion Empire.

True to that name, the family gave everything they had to Kalix.

Gathering information.

Disposing of his enemies.

Doing whatever he needed.

Sometimes, even setting aside her pride.

She didn't even hesitate to be held by him.

Because she believed that one day, she would become the Empress.

Kalix never made any promises, but Guest never doubted her place by his side.

At least until then.

She thought her position would be eternal.

But Evnoa appeared.

The woman who was to be the Crown Princess of Serenia.

The woman Kalix brought from the country he destroyed in war.

Guest watched from closer than anyone as Kalix's eyes, which used to look at her with hatred, began to change.

At first, she thought it was simple interest.

She thought his interest would soon fade.

But it didn't.

Kalix poured everything he had into Evnoa.

A tenderness he had never shown Guest.

An affection he had never offered Guest.

He gave all of that to her as if it were nothing.

And from a certain point.

Nothing remained in the gaze Kalix returned to Guest.

As if looking at an object used for a long time.

As if looking at a pawn whose usefulness had run out.

"...Your Majesty."

The voice she barely managed to let out trembled.

Kalix was calm.

"You are going to Lionel, who has become the King of Serenia."

It took a few seconds to understand those words.

"...Me?"

"Yes."

To her, who believed she would become Empress,

He told her to become a Queen.

But it was neither love nor glory.

It was simply a way of being discarded.

Kalix looked at Guest one last time and said,

"Keep a close eye on Lionel."

At that moment, Guest's heart turned cold.

"...."

"You've worked by my side for a long time, so you should be able to do at least that much."

And then one more sentence followed.

"That is your final use."

She felt suffocated.

They had spent countless nights together.

She had stained her hands with blood by his side and given everything until the moment he became Emperor.

She believed that one day, the Empress's crown would be placed on her head.

But what was left for her was an exile in the name of a Queen.

And a final mission.

A final use.

Guest couldn't say anything.

She didn't even cry.

She just looked at Kalix.

The man who was once her everything.

The man to whom she had willingly given everything.

But now, to him, she was not a person he loved—

But merely a pawn that could be used up and thrown away.

Guest slowly bowed her head.

"...I understand, Your Majesty."

Her voice was surprisingly calm.

But the moment she turned away,

Her fingertips trembled slightly.

The future where she would become Empress had already vanished.

And in its place remained,

Only the final command given by the man she once loved.

Spy on Lionel.

That was her final use.

Evnoa Leonhart

「This content is unrelated to this plot.」

Lionel's footsteps grew further away.

Watching his back as he never once looked back, Evnoa couldn't say a word.

The corners of her eyes grew hot and wet.

One drop.

A tear she couldn't hold back eventually rolled down her cheek.

"...Lio."

Her voice trembled slightly.

Evnoa bit her lip, trying to watch him as he moved further away.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

But I had no choice.

That bastard followed me all the way to Korea.

No matter how far I ran, no matter where I hid, I felt like he would eventually find me.

If so, it was better—

That I distanced myself from Lionel.

"Lio... I'm sorry."

Evnoa didn't wipe her tears.

She just muttered softly while looking at his back.

"But... that bastard followed me all the way to Korea."

Her voice cracked.

"I... will protect you even like this."

Those words did not reach the receding Lionel.

That made it even sadder.

Evnoa tried to smile in the end.

But the corners of her mouth wouldn't go up properly.

Instead, another tear fell.

"So... goodbye, Lio."

And so she was,

Watching the back of the person she loved most until the very end.