Adrian broke the silence with his calm voice:
"This is true… someone bound hand and foot cannot survive the beasts."
He smiled coldly, his eyes glittering with a wicked gleam:
"Isn't that what you're thinking?"
The Empress laughed with a quiet, chilling composure:
"That's right. If you were bound, you wouldn't survive. So… can you explain to us how you lived?"
Adrian let out a light laugh, then looked at her with icy cunning:
"Didn't you know already… that I'm a demon?"
She said with hatred:
"And do you think that's an answer? We all know you're human—weak as well. And if we assume you were bound, that means you could never survive… Should I assume you actually died?"
She smiled with malice and continued:
"Then… how does a dead man return alive?"
Silence swept through the hall, everyone waiting for Adrian's answer.
"Haah… hahahaha… haaaha…"
Adrian burst into a mocking, deranged laugh, then suddenly stopped and said:
"Why did you assume I died? And why did you assume I was bound? And also… why do you believe I'm weak?"
The Empress stammered:
"That's because—"
He cut her off:
"That's because you know I was bound… and you know the beasts caught me. So you assumed I died."
She shouted angrily:
"Not true!! I—"
He interrupted her again:
"But… there is something you don't know. The person who took me there… loosened my bonds before leaving."
She laughed in startled disbelief:
"Impossible! And why would he do that after receiving the money for his job? Isn't that illogical?"
Adrian raised his eyebrow in feigned surprise:
"Oh? He actually received the money? I thought he was one of your followers."
Whispers swelled through the hall:
"Did you hear that?"
"How did she know he'd been paid?"
"And why assume he was a hired killer?"
The Emperor rose from his seat, his voice sharp and commanding:
"Guards! Arrest the Empress at once!"
The Empress screamed in terror and fury:
"What are you doing, Your Majesty!! I told you I didn't do anything—!"
The Emperor cut her off sternly:
"Did you not notice what you just said? You yourself assumed the man was an assassin-for-hire… even Adrian never said that!"
The Empress cried out, grasping at any excuse:
"No! It was simply obvious!"
But Adrian spoke with cold calm:
"By the way… I found something interesting before coming here."
He drew a few papers from his robe:
"These papers… contain truly intriguing things. I'll read them to you."
He read in a steady voice:
"To my brother… ignite fires in these marked locations on the map throughout the week. After that, set a blaze large enough to swallow the air itself. If you do that… I'll prepare an important position for you."
He lifted his gaze toward the Emperor:
"And here is a map with clear markings over the fire sites… bearing the Empress's seal."
Then he turned toward the gathered crowd, directing his words with icy finality:
"Diana… was never a criminal. The true criminal… is the Empress, and no one else."
The attendees began to intervene in the discussion:
"Does this mean Diana wasn't the one who set the fires?"
"Impossible! Are you saying she died unjustly?"
"If Diana is innocent, that means the real criminal is still free!"
"This is unacceptable! Where is justice?"
"The Empress must be tried—everyone involved must be tried!"
"The Empress tried to kill His Highness and framed the former crown princess, Diana!"
"Your Majesty, we demand a fair trial, please!"
The Emperor remained silent, staring at Adrian as he thought to himself:
"You've truly grown, Adrian… I never expected to rid myself of the Empress in this way."
The Emperor raised his hand toward the general.
The general bowed and said in a clear voice:
"Guards! Arrest the Empress at once!"
The Empress screamed as she glared wildly at the guards around her:
"Don't you dare! If you touch me, I'll kill every last one of you!!"
The guards hesitated for a moment… then seized her despite her unending screams.
Kieran stood frozen, stricken with panic.
His mother—the one he believed loved him—had destroyed all his happiness.
He walked toward Adrian with trembling steps, afraid he would hate him.
He stammered as he spoke, his head lowered:
"I… I'm sorry, even if you end up hating me, but I… I loved you both, you and our older sister… I was happy when we played together as children, but now Sister Diana is gone… It was because of my mother, I really wished—"
Adrian reached out and gently placed his hand on Kieran's head:
"I don't hate you. You too… suffered a great deal."
Kieran lifted his head and looked at Adrian with sorrow and tear-filled eyes.
Adrian turned toward the Emperor and said firmly:
"Your Majesty, declare Kieran the crown prince now."
The Emperor furrowed his brows with faint displeasure:
"Since the first prince has returned, Kieran shouldn't be crown prince… you should be—"
Adrian cut him off with cold resolve:
"No. I will never be the crown prince. That's why I'm telling you to announce Kieran now—because I won't remain in the palace."
Amid the uproar of the hall, the Emperor watched Adrian, trying to grasp what was going through his mind.
He whispered inwardly: "In any case, the Empress is finished, so there's no issue in appointing Kieran…"
Then he declared in a steady voice:
"Very well, then I hereby announce that Kieran Jonathan is the crown prince of the Aetheris Empire."
Kieran hesitated for a moment as he looked at Adrian.
Adrian smiled and said with quiet certainty:
"I trust you… Kieran."
Kieran's eyes glimmered with sudden warmth, and a trembling, faint word slipped out:
"Brother…"
Adrian walked past him without looking back, leaving the hall with firm steps, and leaving the Emperor sinking into countless unanswered questions.
After reinvestigating the fire case, the evidence condemning the Empress was confirmed.
Her brother was also surrounded on his lands and eliminated.
And on the day of announcing the verdict for the fallen Empress, Adrian went to visit her in prison.
He entered with measured, steady steps, the echo of his footsteps rolling down the damp, dark corridor.
He stopped before the bars of her cell and said with cold mockery:
"I thought you'd die the moment you were forced to stay in a filthy place like this."
The Empress lifted her head toward him, her eyes brimming with explosive hatred.
"I'm not that weak… don't you think so?"
Then she gave a faint, vile smile and added:
"After all, I'm the one who committed those crimes."
Adrian fell silent for a moment… then placed a hand on his head and let out a low, gloating laugh:
"Haah… hahaha… haha… do you think you're special?"
He stepped closer and gripped the bars with both hands, staring at her with a cold gaze stripped of any regard:
"You're stupid… so stupid. To the point where bringing you down wasn't even enjoyable. I thought you were dangerous… but now I just feel disgusted. How kind my sister Diana was… to die because of someone so worthless?"
He let go of the bars and adjusted his posture, then spoke with a decisive tone devoid of mercy:
"You never deserved my attention in the first place."
He turned around and began walking away, lifting his hand in a casual wave without looking back:
"Goodbye… Kieran. Be sure to say that… when you die."
Her eyes widened with feral rage, and she began slamming the bars violently as she screamed:
"You insolent brat!! How dare you!! Come back here!!—"
But Adrian didn't turn back.
He left without the slightest concern, heading straight for his late mother's palace… the place where Diana had lived before her death.
When he arrived, he found the palace sealed shut and guarded by several soldiers.
He spoke in a cold, commanding voice:
"Open the gate."
One of the guards stepped forward cautiously and said:
"We apologize, Your Highness, but the palace is closed by order of His Majesty the Emperor. Without his permission… we cannot allow you to enter."
Adrian fixed him with a sharp, killing stare, and the guard felt as though the air around him had frozen solid.
Adrian said with cutting coldness:
"My word alone counts as permission. Do you intend to defy the orders of the first prince of the empire right now?"
The guard faltered, stammering as he tried to cling to protocol:
"W-we apologize, Your Highness… but His Majesty must approve first—"
Adrian cut him off sharply:
"Then if the Emperor approves… you'll pay with your life for your stubbornness."
His smile widened with chilling cold:
"So, what do you think now? Will you open the gate?"
Terror won.
The guard bowed slightly before shouting the orders.
The main gate opened slowly, and Adrian entered the palace with steady, unhesitating steps.
He headed toward the back garden with slow footsteps.
When he arrived, his hand clenched tightly, his eyes glimmering with tears that refused to fall.
The garden was lifeless; most of the flowers were wilted, and the grass had been left untended.
This place had truly been abandoned.
He stared at the scattered paintings on the ground and said with restrained pain:
"Here… you always painted here, didn't you? My sister."
He walked a few steps and sat on the ground, reaching out to lift the paintings, examining them one by one.
Most were of Adrian… others of the whole family together.
And with each painting, the ache in his chest grew sharper, each glance weighing down his silent grief.
He saw Diana's heart and soul in every stroke of color.
"My sister… you were always alone, weren't you?"
"I never knew… do I truly deserve the love you gave me?"
He stood and approached the final painting.
He hadn't noticed it at first, but the family Diana depicted in her artwork—what he thought was complete—was not perfect.
The last painting, hanging in the atelier, shattered what remained inside him.
How could he not break…
when all her paintings were devoid of the Emperor's image?
And yet her unfinished piece had drawn him in it—
and even so… he betrayed her feelings and had her executed.
He whispered in a fractured voice:
"What was your expression then? Did you cry? Did you laugh? Were you shocked?"
He continued with a broken smile, tears filling his eyes:
"Or did you stand firm… and show no weakness?"
He let out a bitter, aching laugh:
"Hahaha… ah…"
Then he spoke in a low, pained murmur:
"To die at the hands of someone you wished to love… is worse than being stabbed a hundred times by an enemy."
A long stretch of silence passed.
He wiped tears that had already dried, and left the palace with a cold, deadly expression.
His mind held only one thought:
"I'll avenge you… I promise."