Chapter 240: What He Should Have Asked

Drip, drip, drip.

Hot, feverish blood flowed out like spilled paint. The tip of the blade that had pierced diagonally through his chest cavity jutted out above his heart. On the edge of that blue blade, Ragniel’s distorted face was reflected. Without giving even the slightest glance either to the blade that had pierced his body or to the child who had rushed in holding that sword, he grabbed Giselle’s frozen arm.

“Your Majesty?”

“......Giselle.”

Holding back the pain between his teeth, Ragniel called Giselle in a powerless voice. The light in Ragniel’s eyes was gradually fading. The cluster of light from the shattered golden button circled near Ragniel’s heart, then disappeared. But Giselle was too occupied looking into his eyes.

“You said you would not resent me.”

“.......”

Ragniel put strength into his eyes so he would not shed tears. His clear gaze stared at Giselle.

It was a different look from usual. He was not the young king who always seemed frightened of something.

“You won’t...... resent me, will you?”

Ragniel squeezed his eyes shut. Then he reached a hand behind his back and pulled the sword out in one motion.

The sword bounced against the floor and fell onto the stone stairs, filling the watchtower with a violent sound.

Blood surged upward, and Ragniel plunged toward the floor.

Everything seemed to move very slowly.

Giselle could not understand what was happening before his eyes, but he caught the collapsing Ragniel and covered his heart and back with his hands.

Blood continued to burst out in thick pulses. His hands were quickly stained red, and drops of blood also formed on Giselle’s face. The blood spreading from Ragniel’s abdomen dyed his upper body.

Ra. Ersi. Ether. El.......

Words carrying authority flowed from Giselle’s mouth.

The language shattered against Ragniel’s heart and seeped in. But the blood showed no sign of stopping.

Giselle repeated the same words.

Ra. Ersi. Ether. El.......

Ragniel’s eyelashes did not move even slightly. His fingertips were cold as though he was already dead, and his face was whiter than a corpse.

Ra. Ersi. Ether. El.......

Giselle sensed a small presence moving farther away, but he could not think of catching the one fleeing.

The breath he was barely holding in his grasp had to be kept attached.

Through vision reddened by all the burst capillaries, Giselle endlessly raised his authority.

Ra. Ersi. Ether. El.......

“......Ragniel.”

Gasping faintly for breath, Giselle continued speaking. His voice was terribly hoarse, like someone who had been asleep for a long time. For the first time, Giselle showed emotion.

“If you die like this, I will come to resent you. Without a doubt. I will resent you for the rest of my remaining life.”

Tears gathered in eyes that had not blinked even once.

Bloody tears flowed from Giselle’s eyes. The tears that fell embroidered red lines onto Ragniel’s cheek.

Ra. Ersi. Ether. El.......

About a month earlier, on the castle wall.

Ragniel and Giselle spoke about Ren.

“I want that child to be free.”

“Understood.”

“Can the magic laid over this land truly erase that child? While avoiding the eyes of the Heroes?”

Ragniel smiled bitterly. He looked down below the castle wall. A desolate land greeted him. But Ragniel’s heart was split open even more desolately than that land. Like land that had not seen a single drop of rain through all four seasons, he was drying up.

The flesh had fallen from his face, leaving his cheeks hollow, and his complexion hidden beneath makeup was pale.

“It is a very old magic, and also a ritual. A great ritual that no one born on this land can resist.”

Giselle spoke calmly. There was a trustworthy strength in his voice.

Ragniel let out a faint laugh. It was a laugh closer to self-mockery. It was not because he did not trust Giselle’s words. His own hypocrisy was laughable.

“I am a hypocrite, Giselle. Do you know that?”

Ragniel turned his head. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Giselle.

“I see. That is all right.”

His tone asked what problem there could possibly be with that.

Ragniel felt relieved by Giselle’s reaction, and yet suffered because of it.

The reason he could answer like that was likely because the relationship between the two of them was not personal.

The king of a nation and the Seven Stars for that king. Among them, the one who acted most for the king was Giselle.

The certainty that Giselle would be by his side in any moment warmed his heart for an instant, but that was all. Ragniel soon became lonely.

“May I...... trust your loyalty?”

Ragniel asked with a sneer.

It meant that he doubted their loyalty.

Giselle seemed somewhat surprised, but answered as though there was no problem at all.

“Of course, Your Majesty. Every use of the Seven Stars is beneath Your Majesty’s eyes, beneath Your Majesty’s feet, and inside Your Majesty’s grasp.”

As if making an oath, Giselle knelt and took Ragniel’s hand.

Smack!

Ragniel shook off his hand and turned his head. What Giselle could see was only his cheek, frozen white.

“I do not want to see that child.”

“Do you mean Ren?”

“Stop. Do you intend to torment me too?”

Ragniel’s eyelashes were wet.

“There is no possibility of that. Ragniel.”

Giselle rose and stood beside Ragniel. When Ragniel grabbed Giselle’s long hair, Giselle bent his waist for him. Their faces came closer, and the gazes of the two became deeply tangled.

“When I see that child, it hurts. It feels as though my heart is being torn apart, and I am afraid. It feels as though everything will go wrong.”

The sneer did not leave Ragniel’s face. It was directed at himself.

It feels as though everyone will leave and I will remain alone in this high castle.

I will lose all the stars, and then my end will be the guillotine. I can endure that. But if there is no one to watch the neck that falls, then is that not too miserable an ending?

Ragniel could not bring himself to say even the thoughts hidden inside him.

He only confessed as much sincerity as he could manage.

“Temar, of course, and even Luman are wavering. I can tell. That their hearts are wavering.”

If they had been ordinary knights, he would not have stopped such feelings.

But they were the kingdom’s Heroes, and they had to be used solely for the King. The moment personal feelings dwelled within them, they would no longer be Heroes.

“Or would it be right for me to give all of you up?”

“Ragniel. The oath that I will always remain by your side is an unbreakable pact and a language carved into my heart. So please do not doubt it.”

Softly.

Giselle’s lips touched the back of Ragniel’s hand.

“If you wish it, I can send that child away as much as needed.”

Giselle lowered Ragniel’s hand and spoke. His attitude was businesslike, as though the kiss on the back of his hand had never happened. But his gaze was still affectionate, and his voice was warm.

Ragniel felt the sharp thorn that had risen in his heart settle down.

Tell him to kill that child. That is the most certain way.

Did you not want liberation? Liberation! Liberation!

For liberation, he must be killed!

The voice struck him as though beating his head with a blunt weapon again and again.

“Ugh.”

Ragniel’s body staggered. Giselle held his shoulder.

“What is wrong?”

Purple eyes examined Ragniel in detail.

“Does your head hurt?”

“No...... it is nothing.”

Answering with difficulty, Ragniel pulled himself out of Giselle’s arms. Giselle studied his expression with a persistent gaze.

A silver thread that emerged from Giselle’s fingertip tangled around Ragniel’s sleeve, then disappeared without a trace.

Ragniel stared at Giselle quietly. Because Giselle knew what that gaze meant, he opened his mouth.

“I will prepare it as soon as possible. I will arrange a suitable life so he can live anew even after he disappears. Give him a name, Your Majesty. If you, the master of this land, show mercy, everyone will be grateful.”

“You answer as though you knew I would say something like that. You...... seem to know everything about me.”

But even someone like you does not know something.

As though he was not expecting an answer, Ragniel turned his head.

He looked down at the desolate space below the castle wall, at the torches lighting the wall, at the night sky, at the moonlight half-covered by clouds, and at Giselle’s eyes staring at him without wavering.

Ragniel’s eyes brightened a little as he parted his lips. With eyes filled full of light, he stared at Giselle and opened his mouth as though he himself had become Ren.

“I shall grant you a new name. On behalf of all the people of this land.”

Ragniel let out a breath.

“You shall live gloriously and beautifully.”

You will live bright as light, sparkling as a star, comfortably and without any pain.

“Lucia.”

Beneath the dark night, it seemed as though a clear birdsong faintly brushed past his ears.

“I shall carry out your command.”

Giselle knelt before him and accepted Ren’s new name.

Ragniel’s eyes, which had seemed bright, sank again, and his complexion darkened.

He had made his decision, but it seemed the conflict deep inside his heart still had not been resolved. However, Ragniel would never show that worry to Giselle.

Because it was likely personal. Giselle did not question him.

“Giselle, there is one thing I am curious about.”

Because when he waited like this, Ragniel would throw him a clue.

“Ask me, Ragniel.”

“Have I made the wrong choice?”

“How could that possibly be?”

“Giselle. They will not resent me, will they?”

“That resentment will never reach Your Majesty. Because they and I are stars for the former king.”

Ragniel parted his lips, then closed them again.

A chilling feeling came over him. It felt as though if he spoke it aloud, that thing would be revealed as truth, like magic.

Ragniel closed his mouth without even knowing what he feared.

That child is the unrevealed star.

The very first star.

If that star comes to shine brightest, our place will vanish forever.

All the loyalty directed toward you will also turn toward the very first star.

So send that child far away, no, kill him! He must be killed!

Again.

Again that voice tormented Ragniel.

His damp inner mind pulled out his most naked thoughts.

Holding back the nausea rising inside him, Ragniel smiled.

“Thank you, Giselle.”