Chapter 1070 The Man Behind the Iron Helmet (2)

"You... Aldric!?"

Elina’s eyes widened at the sight of the man. She had never imagined that the tall, burly man standing before her was Aldric.

A question immediately popped into her mind.

How could Aldric be fighting for the Holy Valtanir Empire?

Could he have joined them after being captured during the incident in Kalbar City?

Elina tried to make sense of it, but something still didn’t add up.

No matter how bad things got, a member of the Lorian family would never betray their own empire. Especially not Aldric, who had always been loyal to it.

Then why?

Why had he chosen to side with them?

While Elina was still trying to figure things out, Aldric roared in anger and charged at her.

Caught off guard, Elina quickly dodged his attack.

But Aldric didn’t stop. He swung his massive sword at her again and again, leaving her no chance to catch her breath.

Elina couldn’t bring herself to attack him. It wasn’t that she couldn’t fight back. She simply needed to know why Aldric had joined the enemy.

"Aldric!" she shouted. "What the hell is going on!? Why did you join the enemy!?"

But Aldric didn’t seem to hear her. His left eye burned with nothing but madness and rage.

Elina gritted her teeth and continued calling his name, but her words fell on deaf ears.

’It’s no use! He’s not listening to me!’ she grumbled in frustration.

She leaped backward, putting as much distance between them as possible.

Finally, Aldric began to tire, panting heavily. The pain in his right eye was also starting to affect his movements.

Elina breathed a sigh of relief. If Aldric kept this up, sooner or later, she’d have no choice but to fight back—even if it meant killing him.

She raised her sword and pointed it at Aldric, her expression turning serious.

"Aldric, tell me! What happened to you!? Why did you betray the empire!?" she demanded.

"Argh..." Aldric groaned, clutching his right eye. He tried to open his mouth to answer, but no words came out.

Seeing his reaction, Elina grew even more convinced that something was wrong with him.

’Was he being controlled?’

The moment the thought crossed her mind, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She couldn’t rule out the possibility.

Clap! Clap!

The sound of applause broke the silence.

Elina quickly turned to her right and got into a fighting stance when she saw Corvin approaching with a smile.

"You’re amazing, Your Highness Elina! I never expected you to push my pawn—ah, no, forgive me. That was rude of me. I mean, you actually managed to injure Prince Aldric. Incredible!" he said with genuine admiration.

Elina tightened her grip on her sword and pointed its tip at Corvin.

"What’s the meaning of all this!? Why did Aldric join you and the rebel forces!?" she demanded.

Corvin smiled faintly and stopped beside Aldric, who was still standing there with pain etched across his face.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

Elina didn’t answer, but Corvin didn’t seem bothered by it.

"Where should I begin?" He casually rubbed his chin. "Ah, right!"

He clapped his hands together.

"It all started when I fought Prince Aldric near Kalbar City."

At the mention of Kalbar, Elina’s breath caught in her throat.

Kalbar was the city that had been destroyed overnight by a mysterious Celestial Mage.

No, she already knew who the mage was. It was Draco, the traitor among the Seven Celestial Mages.

"At the time, my troops and I were defeated by Prince Aldric and his forces," Corvin continued calmly. "We had no choice but to retreat. But the truth is, we never actually ran away. I contacted someone from the Holy Valtanir Empire and requested reinforcements."

Elina’s eyes widened.

"Could it be—"

"Yes, you’re right."

Corvin burst into laughter.

"The rebel forces don’t actually exist. Well, saying they don’t exist might be a bit of an exaggeration. Their numbers are quite small—probably fewer than seven thousand. The rest are soldiers from the Holy Valtanir Empire disguised as rebels. Funny, isn’t it?"

Elina’s breathing quickened as she processed the shocking revelation. Everything Corvin had just told her went against what she’d been led to believe.

According to imperial intelligence reports, tens of thousands of people had joined the rebellion.

Who would have thought the whole thing was just a cover?

"What did you do to those who refused to join you?" Elina asked hoarsely.

Corvin’s smile widened.

"Isn’t it obvious? I killed them all! Hahaha!"

He spread his arms and threw his head back, laughing.

"They’re nothing but a bunch of stupid sheep! They still think their suffering is just bad luck. How pathetic!"

Corvin covered half his face with his palm, gritting his teeth in anger.

"They’re so naive! We’re not poor because of fate! It’s all because of you damn nobles! You deliberately keep us poor because you don’t want us to rise up, get rich, and live better lives! The royal family, the nobles—you’re all the same!"

His voice grew louder as his anger got the better of him.

Elina flinched at his outburst. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She didn’t know how to respond.

"You don’t know what it’s like to live in poverty, Your Highness," Corvin sneered, thrusting his sword toward her. "You’ve lived in the imperial palace since childhood, like a bird trapped in a cage. You have no idea how cruel this world really is."

Elina fell silent and lowered her head.

She couldn’t deny it. What Corvin said was true. She had lived a comfortable life ever since she was a child.

She’d always lived a comfortable life and never had to worry about a thing.

But that didn’t mean she’d just sit back and let Corvin do whatever he wanted, especially when it meant killing people who were still loyal to the empire!

Taking a deep breath, Elina raised her head and fixed him with a cold stare.

"I admit that what you said is true."

She stepped back with her right leg and assumed a fighting stance.

"I also admit that many nobles do whatever they please for their own benefit. But you’re making the same mistakes they do. You’ve let your selfishness and ambition drive you to kill anyone who disagrees with you!"

Corvin flinched at her words. A moment later, he gritted his teeth in anger.

"You have no right to say that!" he roared. "You have no idea what the poor and I have to endure every single day! We can’t even afford to eat! We’re starving, and we live in constant fear for our lives! What right do you have to judge us...!?"

Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Enough of this nonsense! People like you will never understand. So I’ll kill you and bring about a great change throughout the entire empire! Come on, Aldric Lorian!"

Just as Corvin was about to lunge at Elina, the sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out behind him.

His body stiffened.

Slowly, he lowered his gaze and saw a massive sword sticking out of his stomach, its blade stained with blood.

"W-What...?"