"Ardion! I'm fine." I desperately shook my head while eting his gaze.
Ardion's face twisted in sheer anger. "Laila, you didn't do it."
"Yes, I didn’t. That's why it's fine. I’m not at fault."
Suddenly, a scoff echoed. "That’s sothing the court will decide."
The commander of the knights gestured, and smoke began to rise at his feet. Ardion’s mana glowed and scattered black ash. The commander furrowed his brow and looked around. As soon as he saw Ardion, he stepped back. The knights surrounding us were also ready to rush at him at any mont.
Just as he raised his arm…
"Ardion, stop! If you use your mana here, I won’t see you again!" I shouted.
Ardion imdiately hesitated. He exhaled and looked at , his gaze seemingly losing its focus and trembling.
I turned toward the commander. "Let's go. Wasn’t it your intention to drag away when the situation escalated into this?"
The commander hastily gestured to the knights, and they dragged into the carriage. The carriage quickly took off. I couldn't bring myself to look out the window, a heavy sadness weighing down on .
❋ ❋ ❋
I was dragged into an interrogation room that reeked of mold and dampness. I saw soone was already sitting there on an out-of-place glossy chair and a clean red carpet. Rowell sat with his legs crossed, tapping the table.
When I was brought in by the knights, his hand stopped its motion. He looked at . "Laila."
His slow, dropping tone echoed in my ears more than usual. When Rowell t my gaze, a smirk ford on his lips. "It’s great to see you here."
He gestured to the knights. I twisted my body, but the knights forced to sit in the chair.
"Tie her tightly. I don’t want to lose her again," he said while flipping through papers on the table.
The knights bowed and left. The interrogation room was now just and Rowell.
"How did you manage to do that with my mana? I never went near the emperor, and now you’re saying I poisoned him. Are you daft?" I couldn't help but speak rudely, feeling so wronged.
Rowell slowly lifted his gaze. "That hurts, but I don’t mind hearing it."
"What?"
"You’ve got a talent for constantly irritating ." Rowell laughed, his eyes locking onto mine. "Serina was unable to kill you, but she reluctantly gave a vial filled with your mana."
"…"
He stared at before shaking the paper in his hand. "And after investigating, it seems you didn’t live as innocently as you claid."
"What investigation? I still…"
"A well-functioning wheel ca off from the carriage, hurting soone, and you even stalked soone persistently…"
Right, those had been Laila’s past actions. I bit my lip. The sharp taste of blood lingered in my mouth. I must have bitten too hard.
"But I didn’t poison the emperor."
"So what? The emperor's potion had your mana in it, along with a deadly poison."
"Poison?"
"Yes, your mana and poison were together."
"My mana? Again, I’m telling you I never went near the emperor!"
Rowell smirked. There was sothing unsettling about it.
Without aning to, my voice trembled. "Are you trying to pin everything on knowingly?"
"Well, should I confess that I’ve been putting poison in those magic potions all along?"
"…"
"Maybe if you had married earlier, we wouldn’t be in this ss. I was going to let you go after Ardion died, but now…"
I glared at Rowell. It seed he was finally losing it. I had always thought he was rotten ever since he started tornting his younger brother out of insecurity. To think he even killed his own father…
Moreover, it was treason.
"Do you really think you can get away with all this?"
"I didn’t stay here just to hear your nonsense."
Rowell now seed to show his true nature, his words sharp and unrestrained. His expression was no longer the controlled, smiling one he usually wore. His bright blue eyes, which appeared clear at first glance, now seed clouded, and his neatly ford lips looked only vile.
He stood up and touched my cheek. I turned my head, but he ignored it and kept smiling. "The world has taken so much from . They gave this worthless position as crown prince and told to survive on my own."
Rowell grabbed my chin, using his strength to force to look him in the eyes. "Soone once said… why not ignore the illegitimate brother and boldly take the position of crown prince, then the emperor's throne?"
"…"
"But that damn prophecy, you know? The one that the foolish citizens of the empire believe in, passed down from the temple.
"Don’t you believe it too? Isn’t that why you couldn’t kill Ardion yourself?
“If you kill the one blessed with mana, you cannot beco emperor.”
The prophecy passed down from the temple and the one blessed with mana was Ardion.
"I’ve never believed it, but the empire's citizens do. So what happens? If I kill Ardion, they’ll take down. I’m not foolish enough to risk that."
"Then what’s the reason behind all this? You even killed the emperor."
"I’m just doing my best, trying not to let them take everything from ." He gave a playful smirk, then learned forward that our faces almost touched.
"It’s strange. When I’m close to others, they sll repulsive and dirty. But you… you sll different."
I turned my head, but Rowell grabbed my chin again. He imdiately made eye contact with , still smiling. "What is it?"
"Don’t ask . I don’t know what it is."
"Then does Ardion know? What if I ask him?" Rowell smiled knowingly. When I looked at him doubtfully, he tilted his head slightly. "Oh, do you already know? That he can’t sll?"
A scene flashed through my mind. When I was young, Ardion seed to not be able to sll the cigars that Duke Orchid smoked. Whenever I covered my nose with my sleeve, he just stayed still, as if he couldn’t sll it.
But Ardion never showed any hints. He said that the scent of lilac flowers was nice… Was that all a lie?
“Oh, you didn’t know about it.” Rowell’s thumb slowly brushed my chin. I tried to turn my head away from the creepy sensation, but it was useless. His blue eyes flashed with light, forcing to look at him. It looked like an insurmountable madness.
“At first, I didn’t know. But Duke Orchid, who had a keen eye for observation, reported it. He’s dead now, but it’s true.”
I glared at Rowell. He was worse than Duke Orchid.
“I’ll use you as bait. Ardion will definitely co to this room to save, and when I release poison gas here, he won’t be able to sll it, so he’ll die in this room.”
“You crazy bastard! If you kill Ardion, you’ll never be the emperor.”
“I’m not going to be the one who kills him. This room will be.”
“But that’s the sa thing. Everything will happen at your command.”
“No, you’ll be the one ordering it.”
My mind went blank for a mont. “What?”
“You’re going to say you want Ardion killed. Want to repeat it?” Rowell said softly.
I shouted in anger, “Just let Ardion live his life! Do you really have to do this?!”
He laughed, unusually loud, which made it seem unreal. With a hardened face, Rowell stared at and said, "I've never been in my right mind since I heard that oracle at the temple. I hated that guy with his dirty commoner blood and the blessing of mana. I also hated that I couldn't beco the emperor comfortably because of him."
"So why do you have to do this?"
"My life has to be clean and unstained." His low voice rang in my ears. He snickered and slowly lowered his gaze to my eyes, nose, and mouth. "But I think it’ll be fun to leave you as a stain."
He lowered his head toward my lips, but I pushed my feet off the floor. The chair imdiately fell back. My head rang for a mont, but it was better than being close to Rowell.
I heard a low laugh. Rowell was looking down at with the corners of his lips raised. "If we do it moderately, you won't get hurt. Are you okay?"
He reached out his hand. I put my hands together, imagining sothing sharp. Before, my head would have been dizzy, but not anymore. It seed that Ardion’s mana had completely stabilized my mana.
At that mont, I finally caught sothing in my hand. It was a sword made of water, but I couldn’t guarantee it would hold well.
I quickly cut the rope binding my hands. In the anti, Rowell slowly straightened up. He turned around the table and approached step by step. I struggled with my feet and tried to get away from him. But it was difficult because my feet couldn’t touch the floor. Even so, my hands didn’t stop.
Hurry, please…
At first, a tingling sensation lingered in my hands, but I barely held it in. At the mont, getting out here was more important than my pain. Suddenly, my hands seed to loosen, and the rope wrapping around them ca loose. I instantly put my hands together and pointed the sword made of water at Rowell. He paused and looked at , his gaze cold and indifferent.
“You’re going to kill with that?” Rowell snickered and offered his neck instead. “If you want to kill so badly, I’ll give you a chance.”
“Don’t co near .” I hesitated and stepped back. Then I untied the rope wrapped around my body, and it soon loosened.
TN: And we have arrived at the climax. I still feel sothing will happen - sothing will explode. Since Laila's mana is stable enough, I wonder how they'll defeat Rowell. Do you guys have any idea? Leave us a comnt!
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