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After adjusting his glasses, the Head Templar added.

“Now, it’ll only take us a week to get ready.”

A week. That was the amount of time our reinforcements would take to reach the west.

“Alright. You’re sure about that, right?”

“Yes.”

This would allow us to prevent Walter from invading so that we could regenerate the barrier from the inside. The operation was set now.

“I see. Try to finish this in a week as best you can.”

“Yes.”

The Templars of Vulcanus who spotted me from a distance quickly lowered their heads. There were more unfamiliar faces now.

‘The only one I recognise here was Rex.’

Most of them lived in the Temple of Vulcanus and were all the last surviving remnants of its templars. Rex, who used to be Fleon’s aide, had been leading them temporarily as their leader.

“We managed to hasten the process thanks to Vulcanus who have been giving up their meals and sleep to help.”

The moment he spotted them, the Head Templar of Wisdom whispered to me.

“I know. I also know how hard you’ve worked as well. And yet you’ve never tried to flaunt that fact to me.”

“What would you like me to do then? I had barely recovered from the coup and I am doing this so that I wouldn’t die. That is why I am expressing my admiration for those who are willing to do this for their noble causes.”

At first glance, it seemed like Dike was sharing his inner feelings calmly and nonchalantly. After living for the 2nd Prince for so long, he must have given a lot up himself too when he lost his aim.

“But what did you want to tell me when you said you had bad news? Did anything bad happen while preparing for the barrier?”

“Ah. That’s what you were wondering.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I was just being crabby.”

“What?”

I paused in my steps to stare at Dike. What did this man just say to his emperor?

“Please disregard what I just said as the whines of a man who has been working day and night.”

“Whining? Did you just say that with that face of yours?”

His expression was as businesslike as always.

“Of course, I am not complaining about anything.”

Where did this man come from? As I wondered, I was reminded of Julian. It was no wonder he could daringly call his own master a pushover…

“Your liver must be swollen.” (1)

“What?”

“Or did you have to stand down and act like a ghost in order to remain next to Julian?”

“Hm… I won’t deny anything.”

“Perhaps, are you related to Lord Ray?”

“Huh?”

No. I just thought they would get along well.

“It was nothing.”

I glanced to my side at Amor who was standing beside me.

‘Is this man always like this?’

Amor smiled and nodded.

‘He has always been like this.’

Amor’s refusal to stand up against him meant that nothing would change even if he were to point it out.

‘He’s just not right in the head.’

Whether he was interacting with Julian or the one on the throne, the person he was biassed towards was clear. I wondered how they met.

I was glad Rebecca headed to Vulcanus. I was sure she wouldn’t have stayed still if she had witnessed this.

“You’ve worked hard.”

I patted the Templars of Vulcanus on their shoulders before leaving the cavity.

It was just around the time when I entered the hallway. I spotted a soldier running in the distance. The hallway was buzzing. The air wasn’t as tense as it was during the Succession Ceremony but it did feel different.

It was at that moment. A gust of wind swept the tip of my nose forcing me to close my eyes. When the hand that covered my eyes fell, I found a familiar face.

“Your Majesty!”

“Abel? What are you doing here?”

It was Abel whose face looked white as a sheet.

“Forgive me for leaving my position without your permission.”

Upon my ascension to the throne, Abel, the 3rd Prince had gone to the Temple of Snow and the Sea in case we had to engage in battle with Castor. And just as the war broke out, he had been commanded to lead the army west. He should be heading west with an army of Templars of Chaos in Pontus’ place now. But why was he here?

“You, you’re supposed to be in the west!”

When I forgoed the formalities, he too followed suit.

“I know. I was the only one who flew here because it was urgent. I used all the divinity I had to deliver you this piece of news!”

I quickly came to my senses.

“And what is that?”

Abel handed me a letter.

“What is this? Why is there blood on this?”

The moment I realised the patches of red at the corner of the scroll was actually blood, my expression hardened.

“Read it. A messenger from Ephesus we had met on our way there was dying. He seemed to have wanted to deliver this to the Imperial Palace as quickly as he could.”

I quickly unravelled the scroll. Soon after, the scroll dropped to the floor.

“… This makes no sense.”

My head quickly shot up before grabbing Abel’s hand.

“Abel. You’re heading back no, right? Since you’re a Templar of the Winds, you can teleport.”

I made eye contact with the man nodding his head.

“Once you return, head west as fast as you can. Run as fast as you can and help them!”

“I understand.”

Abel had already read this letter. And he must understand how important this was.

“Amor. Is it because of this piece of news that it’s so noisy outside?”

“No.”

Amor, who had been standing as still as a shadow, closed his eyes. After listening to what his plants were telling him for a while, he spoke.

“A large army of men are coming from Walter as reinforcements. It’ll be troubling once they join the war. Parts of Walter’s army has already breached some parts of our borders”

“Ha…”

Abel sighed.

“Once the barrier is set up, will we be able to cut Walter off?”

“We wouldn’t be able to do anything about the ones who have already crossed the borders but we can stop more from entering.”

“Abel. Hurry back.”

“Yes.”

After he left, I turned around and ran. The doors to the cavity that I had just left from swung open once again.

Clang!

“Your Majesty?”

“Push it forward immediately.”

Everyone stopped working to stare at me. Dike, being their representative, asked.

“What do you mean?”

“The day we were supposed to set the barrier up.”

At my words, Dike furrowed his brows slightly before asking again calmly.

“When would you like to push it forward to?”

“Tomorrow.”

Everyone swallowed a gasp. They knew. That was ridiculous. But we had to do something.

“Castor will be heading here soon.”

Castor had appeared in the west.

“Dike, being the Head Templar of West, there’s no way you wouldn’t know this means.”

What did Castor’s appearance in the west signify?

“The west… Ah. There are artefacts of the God of the Winds in the west!”

“Yes.”

In the west, there were artefacts of the God of the Winds… A Templar of the Lord could use them.

‘He could recover his wounds and head to the Imperial Palace from the west.’

His goal was the Imperial Palace. Appearing in the west meant that he was going to begin his destruction from there.

If he was to completely annihilate the west before appearing in the palace, we would be helpless.

Considering how long Castor had disappeared for, I assumed he must have recovered to some extent. The stronger the templar, the faster their ability to heal was. So, he must now be looking for an opportunity. However, it was impossible to assume how much strength he had regained.

“The barrier, we have to set up the barrier.”

That would at least prevent Castor from entering, or delay his movements as much as we could.

Since we had the same ability to see the future, we could not see each other’s futures. That was because our futures were in fierce conflict.

As if the Goddess of Fate had woven our fates as tightly as threads in yarn, we continued to face each other. I could feel the thread pulling me into a strong whirlpool. I was the only one who could face Castor.

‘We had no choice but to face each other somehow.’

After going round and round, we were facing each other in the palace once again. The place where he killed me and the place where I had driven him out of. Again, we would meet in a place with a history of 200 years.

And finally.

I would wrap up his finale.

***

That very night–

The moon rose without casting a single shadow. The only difference was that it was no longer a full moon.

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

I looked away from the window to stare at Amor. In his arms, he swept my eyelids down with worry.

“You shouldn’t force yourself when you’re already so tired.”

“I’m a templar too. You know I can last for a day without sleep.”

“It’s because I know it hasn’t been just a day. You’ve been up for a few days now.”

I couldn’t find the words to answer him so I smiled bitterly.

“About that, everyone’s busy too. How could I sleep comfortably all by myself?”

“At this rate, you might be the first emperor to die from overwork.”

The problem was the moment I dealt with issues, more would come pouring in. Though Kaltanias was a country with well-established administrative agencies, the coup might have caused those foundations to collapse.

“I won’t let that happen.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’ll bury any person who brings you more work before that happens.”

He spat out uncomfortably. I burst out with laughter.

“Wow. You sounded so reliable. You’re planning on burying them so deep only their head poked out of the dirt, right?”

“That’s right.”

“That was the best escape I’ve ever had anyone offer me.”

As I giggled, his lips fell on my temple. I stroked his fluffy soft hair before letting them go.

“Once things become peaceful again, I should first re-elect the people in the administration.”

“That would be nice.”

“Would you like a position, Amor?”

Upon my playful tone, he looked down at me.

“Once it becomes peaceful again.”

At the end of his sentence, Amor murmured. I noticed the mood before grabbing his hand.

“Do you think peace would ever find us?”

After being locked up for all his life, peace must have felt so far from him. That was why he asked without any reservation.

“It will.”

“…..”

“I’ll make sure it will.”

I could hear him laugh like the wind. I thought I could feel his arm tightening about my waist and before I realised it, I was looking up at him from his lap.

“You’re so thin and fragile but you have so much hanging on your shoulders.”

“Amor.”

“I am constantly afraid you would collapse. Though I know that would never happen.”

He whispered as he kissed my shoulders.

“Sometimes when I stare at you, your eyes seem to have dried up from holding thousands of tears.”

I closed my eyes gently as his fingers landed on my eyes.

“You say that you’re ‘alright’ when you weren’t thousands of times as though it’s an afterthought.”

I knew a tower that wouldn’t collapse again even though it had collapsed hundreds of times before. He looked at me like a tower built by one who had gone through too much.

“Are you afraid of what’s to come tomorrow?”

Finally, I could feel a ripple from the question I uttered. I knew that he would be honest at night about what he had hidden during the day.

“Yes. I’m afraid.”

I wondered where that fear came from.

“There’s no way I’m not. I am still afraid of what tomorrow would be like, what the country would be like.”

Perhaps Amor’s feelings had passed onto me or perhaps my fears had spread to him.

“But I’m going to face the future as always. With determination”

Now, I could smile while looking back at my dust-gathering past.

“I’m afraid of tomorrow but at the same time, I’m not.

“The current me is different from the one from the past. And there’s people who weren’t with me in the past but with me now.”

I grabbed his cheek before pressing our lips together. It was a light kiss like a bird’s peck.

“Because I have you.”

The two who had been desperate to live, resigned and even fought back as they stood between the boundaries of survival and destruction. I whispered how I loved that he had been a peaceful shadow to me when I had decided to fight back.

“After this night, we will establish the barrier that will determine our fate. We wouldn’t know if we’d be able to set it up.”

At night, I could enjoy this feather-like peace and I loved it when he was beside me.

“I think I’ve always lived my life like every day was my last.”

I let loose the hair I tied into a high ponytail. The hair that cascaded down swept his cheek.

“I don’t know what snow was.”

“Amor?”

“Of course, I know what it is from books. It’s white, cold and turns into water when touched. But I don’t know what winter is like.”

My hand carefully swept through the back of his head as though I was stroking a precious piece of pottery.

“To see what winter’s like and what snow feels like. There are so many things I want to see with you.”

I closed my eyes with the back of my hand resting on his forehead.

“I want to be with you for all four seasons.”

“Which is your favourite season?”

“I like spring the most. I want to become a flower that blooms for you.”

“Flowers bloom in the middle of the year as well.”

“I can give you flowers that won’t wither. I want to show you all the seasons and stay with you forever.”

He caressed my hair and brought it to his lips.

“My Majesty, I want you.”

Slowly, our lips met. Just then, my vision flipped and I found myself staring at the ceiling. I could feel him digging into my lip as he held the back of my neck.

“Rosé.”

I placed my hand in his hair before pulling his neck down with the other. He seemed to have something to say. Creak. What did those lips want to say? I could not even begin to guess or assume what he wanted to say. Nevertheless, instead of hearing him out, I kissed him again.

Wet sounds filled the room. I stared at him before curling my eyes prettily.

“Rebecca won’t be suddenly barging in again today.”

As if I was speaking seductively on purpose, my voice was calm as my fingers tickled his neck. A low growl broke out of him. I smiled and hugged his neck.

“Embrace me.”

T/N:

(1): Liver is like the equivalent of guts in english. Basically, Ashley was saying that Dike had a lot of guts but in a formal setting, it was hard to translate so I left it as that.