Chapter 27
5 years ago, at the border where Ravanta and Heilan met.
It was when the war between Ravanta and Heilan had just begun.
“What is this again?”
Cheron clicked her tongue upon discovering Artius collapsed in her secret place.
“…Don’t tell me this dimwit is the emperor of Ravanta.”
This place was a forest spanning the border.
The path to this forest was steep and complex, so ordinary soldiers didn’t set foot here, making it Cheron’s new secret place that only she had discovered.
So whenever Cheron finished her day, she always came here to train privately or immerse herself in thought while gazing at the moon.
But of all days, today, she didn’t know that the emperor of the enemy nation would be hit by an attack she had randomly unleashed for the first time to relieve stress.
It seemed he had tried to defend himself, but no matter how much of a Sword Master he was, it was insufficient to block all of her magic while off guard.
In the first place, she had never even considered that someone like the emperor would enter this forest alone.
‘…Should I kill him?’
If she killed this bastard like this, she could easily achieve victory.
But she didn’t want to commit the disgrace of cowardly assassinating the enemy emperor in this secluded forest at dawn, not during battle.
“…Since I’m the one who injured him, I should at least heal him.”
From that day when she had nearly killed Artius and saved him, a small change occurred in Cheron’s life.
“You’re here again, leisurely as always.”
That bastard had begun to invade her territory.
In fact, she had discovered this place first.
After a month passed and then a year, it had now become a routine to encounter him at dawn when she occasionally came to the forest.
“Hey, you were seriously trying to send me to hell today.”
“Then hurry up and end the war, why are you dragging it out?”
“Even though you’re weaker than me.”
“But my soldiers are all strong and loyal.”
“…Annoying bastard.”
At first, they had growled at each other to get out of their territory, but now they had become accustomed to sitting far apart.
Artius and Cheron designated this forest as a temporary ceasefire zone.
Until sunset, they fought to kill each other.
And when they met at dawn, they began a second battle of words.
Under the moonlight seeping through the leaves, whenever she engaged in pointless arguments with the enemy emperor, uneasiness rushed in like waves.
She had to quickly end the war and return.
Olivia and Simon were waiting.
To do that, she had to kill that emperor who was letting his guard down in front of the war demon, but her hand wouldn’t move.
Perhaps it was because he was the first person to see through her.
“The war demon princess of Heilan is different from the rumors.”
“Different how?”
“…What the hell are you fighting for? You don’t seem to be mad with bloodlust like the rumors say.”
Artius was the first to realize that Cheron was being forced to fight, so perhaps she wanted to ask him for help.
‘Even if he did, there’s nothing he can do to help.’
Because he and I are enemies.
But why did she feel so at ease only when standing next to him?
It definitely wasn’t love.
If she had to put it into words, well.
‘An acquaintance on bad terms. …To put it more affectionately, a bitter friend.’
When crossing swords with Artius, it felt like she wasn’t a war demon.
Artius was the first to parry her sword magic to this extent.
She even had the thought that he might defeat her and end this hellish life.
But even if this life was hellish, she couldn’t easily die because she had her mother’s will and things to protect.
But she couldn’t easily kill Artius either.
‘If I win, I’ll lose the worthy opponent who appeared at last to kill me, and if I lose, my young siblings whom I must protect will die.’
Because Cheron had no will to end the war, the war showed no signs of ending either.
As Cheron dragged out the war aimlessly, during the ceasefire of the fourth winter.
News reached that the empress of Ravanta was pregnant.
And as soon as spring arrived, the war began again.
“I heard you became a father?”
“Yes. …I have to quickly end the war and return. I need to be by my wife’s side.”
“Can you defeat me?”
“I have to win.”
Artius, whom she was seeing again after a season, had a face filled with determination.
Cheron mocked Artius.
But at the same time, she was envious.
The more she fought with Artius, the more envious she was of their child who hadn’t even been born yet.
‘A child raised by loving parents will surely receive overflowing love and become an equally kind emperor.’
Artius now had a desperate reason to end the war before the child was born, but Cheron still hesitated.
‘I can neither win nor lose.’
She didn’t want to destroy with her own hands the harmonious family they would form.
And before the fifth winter’s ceasefire arrived, in autumn.
It was the day Cheron had secretly visited the Heilan royal castle.
“By the way, Cheron, why is her dragging this out so much?”
“She probably realized that her life would end when this war ends. She takes after her lowly mother, so sharp-witted, what a headache, Father.”
Cheron felt like she had been hit on the head.
She had thought she was killing people to survive at first, but now she was fighting to protect her siblings and the innocent weak.
But it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘What have I… been fighting for?’
Suddenly, Artius’s question came to mind.
That question of what she was fighting for.
Cheron could finally answer that question now.
For the first time since being forcibly pushed into her first war, the fear of death found Cheron.
The fear that had returned after a long time suffocated Cheron.
A livestock tamed with a whip and fear cannot rebel against its masters no matter how much power it possesses.
But she didn’t want to live like this, doing only what they wanted and dying a dog’s death without even trying to rebel once.
What they ultimately wanted was to conquer Ravanta and become the ruler of the continent.
‘I… don’t want to live according to Heilan’s will until the end.’
Cheron finally made a decision.
Before Heilan took everything from her, she would decide at least where she would die herself.
At that moment, not even the existence of her young siblings could stop Cheron.
Because she was selfish and cowardly.
Because the fundamental reason she was fighting was solely to take care of her own life herself.
Because she didn’t want to die meaninglessly like her mother.
Cheron immediately ran to the forest at dawn.
And as always, she found Artius there, relieving his fatigue, and begged him.
“Kill me, kill me.”
“What is this all of a sudden—”
Artius was flustered as expected.
But Cheron had no time.
She pushed Artius.
“Kill me as cruelly as possible. Kill me boastfully, as if bragging that you had subdued the war demon who had raised Heilan this much so easily. I don’t care what happens to my corpse as long as it doesn’t remain, you can burn it or feed it to wild dogs. Please, somehow!”
“Calm down!”
At Artius’s shout, Cheron had no choice but to stop talking.
She wanted to argue, but as soon as she met Artius’s eyes, she felt an indescribable feeling.
“Why…”
I’m giving you the victory you so desired, so why do you have that face?
Cheron wanted to ask.
But Artius took the initiative and asked with a distorted face.
“You wouldn’t die when I tried to kill you, so what wind blew for you to suddenly change your mind?”
“…I can’t say.”
She had no intention of revealing her weakness or Heilan’s ugliness to the enemy.
Cheron lowered her head, avoiding an answer.
Above Cheron’s head, Artius spat out as if chewing each word.
“No matter how much of an enemy you were, I never intended to humiliate you. Even if by some chance I could kill you, I had intended to promise you the most honorable death possible. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
At Artius’s flowery words, Cheron mocked him.
“Come to your senses. I’m the war demon. I’m the one who killed the most of the Ravantans you love!”
“Cheron Heilan Princess!”
“Yes! I’m a Heilan human. I’m the main culprit of the 10-year continental war!”
Cheron ended up shouting.
The main culprit of the war was Heilan.
But if Cheron had lived quietly from the beginning without revealing her power, the war wouldn’t have happened.
Cheron recalled her mother’s will from 9 years ago when she had died.
“Never let your power be discovered, Cheron. And run away. Only you must survive until the end!”
Her mother, who had never hugged her and only looked at her with resentment, had looked at her properly for the first time and prayed for her safety.
Cheron had not properly kept that will.
If only she had kept that will, she wouldn’t have had to stain her hands with blood to this extent.
With trembling hands, Cheron grabbed Artius’s collar.
“If only I die, the continent will become peaceful. Those good-for-nothing Heilan bastards won’t be able to run rampant anymore!”
“Still, I—!”
“It’s a good deal for you too, as the emperor, you can’t let more of your people die!”
“…You had a chance to kill me 5 years ago, but you spared my life. How can I kill you, forgetting that gratitude?”
“Come to your senses. You’re the emperor of Ravanta. What are you trying to do by sympathizing with the princess of an enemy nation?”
“…!”
“The reason I couldn’t kill you was because I was foolish back then. And if you consider my foolishness a favor, you have to kill me.”
Artius’s face contorted in pain.
Cheron slowly let go of Artius’s collar.
And she lowered her head and squeezed out her voice as if crying.
“It’s my first and last wish in life. Please, please grant it. Whether I win or lose… If I’m going to die either way, I’d rather have you kill me. It’s the conclusion I reached myself for the first time!”
“…Princess Cheron.”
“Emperor Artius, I beg you. I have no one else to ask…”
For the first time, Cheron shouted her emotions to another person.
And the floodgates of emotion finally collapsed.
Cheron had always been forced to suppress her emotions.
Her own emotions were not important, so she had always killed them.
But in front of Artius, it felt like she could be unreasonable like this.
Because in the end, he would try to protect what was most precious to him, his family.
Because he was a sage king who put his country before the war demon.
In the end, as Cheron expected, Artius nodded.
And he asked in a subdued voice.
“I will kill you with as little pain as possible.”
“What are you going to do with the corpse? I don’t want a single piece of my corpse to remain in this world. So that it doesn’t fall into Heilan’s hands.”
“…I will have the corpse cremated immediately.”
“No, that’s not enough.”
“What?”
To the stupidly questioning Artius, Cheron raised her head and told him one by one how to handle her death.
“First, cut off my head and behead me. Heilan despises beheading the most. The head of Heilan’s prized war demon being cut off will be a huge humiliation for Heilan. And it would be good to cut off my hands and hang them next to it. It may not be enough, but as a sign of repentance for the people I killed…”
In the quiet forest, Cheron’s demands continued as if chanting a spell.
“Even if you only hang my head and hands, Heilan will surrender. And feed the remaining corpse to wild beasts so that not even a trace remains. You must make sure my corpse disappears. Heilan is not in their right mind. No one knows how they will use my corpse—”
“Stop!”
Artius pleaded in a trembling voice, as if it was painful to listen.
Artius lowered his head, then soon met Cheron’s turquoise eyes again and spat out in the calmest voice possible.
“I will only display the head and hands for a very short time. And after announcing Heilan’s defeat, I will immediately gather your corpse in one place, so that it doesn’t fall into Heilan’s hands, so that no one driven by hatred can touch it… I won’t hand it over to anyone, I will… I will personally cremate it. It’s woefully insufficient to call it a royal funeral, no, it’s not even at the level of a funeral, but still—”
“You’re really kind as always.”
Cheron interrupted Artius’s words and showed a smile.
And she expressed her sincere gratitude to him.
“Thank you.”
“…How can you smile like that while making me do such a cruel thing to you?”
That was something Cheron should have asked.
The hero who would now return home with victory shouldn’t have that expression.
Cheron called her bitter friend’s name for the first time.
“You should go home now, Artius.”
You should go home.
With those words, Artius burst into tears.
Cheron would have usually teased him for being a crybaby, but at that moment, she was grateful that he cried for her.
At least her death wouldn’t be lonely.
And thanks to him promising to fulfill her will, Cheron was able to fall asleep really comfortably.
For a moment, it felt like she was liberated from all of this.
Cheron referred to Artius as a bitter friend, but in fact, at that moment.
Artius was Cheron’s savior.