Rina turned toward Ellie slowly, her breath caught in her throat. The command Ellie had given was not a mistake. Not a joke. Not an emotional outburst.
Ellie truly intended to kill the knights—simply because they had spoken against Aeren.
Rina felt her limbs stiffen. She was Ellie's shadow. Her blade. Her loyal servant. She could advise. She could warn. But she could not disobey. Yet killing knights from another empire would ignite a war instantly—and she had to speak before Ellie committed to irreversible bloodshed.
"Your Highness, I—" Rina began, voice tight. She didn't get to finish.
Ellie turned her head, and her glare cut through Rina like a blade. Cold. Sharp. Irritated. A warning: Speak faster—or suffer my irritation.
Behind them, the knights collapsed onto their knees, the weight of fear crushing them into the ground.
"Princess Ellie, please—we apologise!" one knight shouted desperately, bowing so low his forehead cracked against the floor. "We were only joking about Prince Aeren!"
"We didn't mean it, Your Highness! We were just talking among ourselves!"
Another echoed, hands shaking violently.
Ellie didn't even glance at them. Not once. Not a flicker of interest. Her attention stayed on Rina—waiting for her to move. Waiting for obedience.
Rina's fingers twitched. She understood the knights' fear better than anyone—she too is chained by royalty. They had families, children, parents depending on them. They were fools who made a mistake, but they weren't monsters or traitors.
Yet to Ellie, that didn't matter. They insulted Aeren. That was enough.
Rina hesitated a heartbeat too long. And Ellie's voice fell over the hall like the drop in temperature before a blizzard:
"Kill them now," Ellie said flatly. "Or I'll have to dirty my hands with filth."
The words struck Rina like a hammer. The knights turned pale as corpses. Rina swallowed, her heart pounding with dread—fear of Ellie, fear of war, fear of disobedience.
She realized then: Ellie was not playing. Ellie was not bluffing. She would kill every one of them with her own hands if Rina didn't. And the worst part? She wouldn't feel a thing while doing it.
Rina stepped forward. Her feet felt heavier than iron, but she moved anyway—because Ellie had commanded it. Because she was her shadow. Because refusal was not an option.
The knights knelt before her, shaking violently. Some had their hands pressed together. Some sobbed. All of them begged. Rina's fingers tightened around her sword hilt. She raised the blade. And swung.
SHLICK—
The sword cleaved through flesh and bone as easily as slicing through wet paper. One knight's head hit the ground with a dull thud. Blood sprayed across the marble. The others screamed.
"AHHHH! P-Please! Please don't kill us—we'll follow every command—please—" Their voices cracked with terror. The second knight looked up just in time to see the blade flash again.
SWISH—
His head rolled across the floor, eyes frozen in horror. Rina's heart trembled. No tears came to her eyes, but she was crying inside—crying for them, crying for herself, crying for the heavy chain of obedience she could never break.
She killed them because she had to. Because Ellie ordered it. Because she was the princess's shadow. But with each death, something inside her cracked.
She turned toward the third knight—Only to see him sprinting away, screaming, not even daring to look back. A coward. A deserter. A traitor to his comrades.
Rina's grip tightened.
She could reach him in an instant. One step—One swing—And his head would join the others. She was about to move when Ellie's cold voice stopped her.
"Leave him be."
Rina froze.
Ellie stood calmly behind her, staring at the fleeing knight's back. Not angry. Not offended. Just… indifferent.
Rina's expression tightened. Inside her chest, confusion twisted like a blade. Why spare that one? Why save the coward, and not the ones who begged on their knees?
It made no sense. It made killing the others hurt even more. But she swallowed everything—anger, guilt, questions—and hid it all behind a perfect, obedient mask.
"As you wish, my Highness," Rina said softly. Her voice was calm. Her heart was not.
Silence settled over the gate—heavy, suffocating, absolute. The air still smelled dense, metallic, and fresh with blood.
Ellie turned away first, stepping toward the path leading out of the palace. Without looking back. Without remorse. And Rina followed her. Her blade still dripping red. Her hands still shaking. Her soul still cracking quietly beneath her calm expression.
Rina wiped the blood from her blade, then slid the sword back into its sheath with a soft click. When she lifted her eyes, Ellie was no longer looking at the corpses. She was looking up. Toward the upper windows of the palace.
And there—Ellie saw them. Two pairs of eyes.
Viktor Vorthis.
Darius Vorthis.
Her older brothers, fully awake, staring down at the scene with wide, frozen expressions…
Yet not stepping out of their chambers. Not stopping her. Not interfering. Not protecting the knights they commanded. They simply watched.
Another set of eyes glinted behind a different window.
Sinn Sacaler.
Her fiancé. His gaze was motionless. Silent. Detached. Watching his own knights die without lifting a finger to stop it.
Ellie's face didn't change. No anger. No shock. No shame. Just a cold, hollow glance directed upward—letting them know she had noticed everything. She had seen their silence. Their cowardice. Their complicity.
Then she turned her back on them all. Without a word. Without hesitation.
***
"Rina, let's leave this place," Ellie said quietly, walking toward the open gate. "We're going to Aeren. I need to clean him from here." Her tone was soft. But the meaning behind it was sharp enough to peel flesh from bone.
Rina followed instantly, her heart heavy, her steps unsteady. "Yes, my highness."
The reason those knights died…Was Aeren.And now Ellie wished to kill that reason.
Rina understood. She did not question Ellie's intent. She did not doubt that Ellie would do it.
Ellie loved Aeren. Ellie hated Aeren. Ellie wanted Aeren alive. Ellie wanted Aeren dead. But most importantly—Ellie wanted to be the one to choose which.
***
As they walked toward the shopping district, Rina swallowed and finally mustered the courage to speak.
"My highness…" she began softly, guilt gnawing her insides, "why did you spare the last knight…?" She hated herself for letting that traitor live. She hated herself for killing the others. She hated the contradiction.
She needed an answer—any answer—to ease the weight crushing her chest.
Ellie walked ahead, her long black hair swaying like a shadow behind her. She didn't slow. She didn't look back.
"He wanted to live," Ellie said simply. "He chose his life over loyalty. Not like the other two, who didn't even think of attacking me or you. Though if they had attacked me, the result would have been the same anyway."
Her voice carried no judgment. No warmth. No anger. Just cold, emotionless logic—echoing quietly through the night air as she walked ahead without looking back.
Rina's steps faltered. Her eyes widened, her breath hitched, and guilt slammed into her harder than any blade ever had.
What…?
Ellie's words sounded like nonsense at first—careless, random. But the meaning? The meaning hit Rina like a collapsing mountain.
Because Ellie was not talking about the knights anymore. Not really. She was revealing something deeper:
Loyalty meant nothing to her.
The two knights who stayed were loyal. They died. The one who ran was not loyal. He lived. And Ellie didn't care.
Which meant—All my loyalty… all these years… all the blood I spilled… all the people I killed for her… all the protection I gave her…Was worth nothing in her eyes.
A cold shiver tore through Rina's spine. For the first time since becoming Ellie's shadow, she felt something break inside her. Her heart twisted with a sharp, hollow ache—as if every murder she committed, every order she followed, every life she ended, every night she spent guarding Ellie's sleep...had suddenly become meaningless. Empty. A weightless void.
Her voice trembled before she could stop it.
"My highness… does that mean my loyalty is empty?"
It was a rare thing—Rina showing emotion. A rarer thing—her questioning Ellie. But Ellie did not slow. Did not turn. Did not soften.
"Not really," Ellie answered calmly. "You're like a friend to me. I respect your words."
For a moment—for a heartbeat—Rina felt relieved. But then Ellie continued.
"But in the end, it's up to you whether you want to be loyal or not." Her steps were light, unhurried, almost casual. "And if you decide to betray me…do it perfectly." Ellie's voice lowered, colder than steel. "Otherwise, you won't see another day."
Rina stopped breathing.
So that was it. To Ellie—friendship was not trust. Loyalty was not valued. Devotion was not rewarded.
She accepted Rina as a "friend." But she expected betrayal. Prepared for it. Welcomed it even—As long as it was done flawlessly.
Rina looked at Ellie's back, walking ahead with the same calmness as if discussing weather.
And Rina realized:
Ellie would kill Aeren. Ellie would kill her. Ellie would kill anyone—without hesitation, without remorse, without care—as long as it aligned with her desire.
And somehow…Somehow, that frightened Rina more than Aeren ever could.