Chapter 94
Kaen, who had already witnessed the possessed crow flying to the Imperial Palace with the sleeping pills in its beak, seemed to have guessed the situation in the throne room. Without collapsing under the effects of the drug, he steadily walked further inside.
Zair glanced back at him over his shoulder and sneered. "You traitorous bastard. You cling to both sides so well despite being His Majesty’s attendant."
"I have never once betrayed anyone." Kaen’s deeply sunken eyes contained only the emperor from the moment he stepped into the throne room. “From the moment I was reborn until now, I have lived solely for His Majesty."
Born to two of the empress’s attendants, Kaen had been destined to serve the imperial family from the very start. Despite his young age, he understood his situation all too well. That was why he cherished and loved the empress, whom he was meant to serve for life, and was prepared to lay down his own life for her.
One day, while he was faithfully serving the empress, whom the highest sun adored, disaster struck.
When the empress faced an assassination attempt, Kaen threw himself in the way without hesitation, successfully stopping the attack. However, the price was a grave and fatal wound, leaving him teetering on the brink of death.
The imperial physician, hurriedly sent by the tearful empress, informed him that he had little time left to live.
Hearing those words, terror gripped him. He had always thought he wouldn’t mind dying as long as he could protect the empress, but deep in his heart, he realized that wasn’t true.
The psychological shock of impending death shook him more than the physical pain. His fellow attendants wept beside him, witnessing his final moments, yet he himself did not shed a tear. The reality of his fate hadn’t fully sunk in, leaving only one emotion behind while all others faded away.
A desperate desire to live.
That was all that remained.
Some praised him as an honorable attendant who had protected the empress, urging him to close his eyes in peace. If his long-deceased parents, who had also perished from overwork before reaching old age, had been present, they likely would have said the same.
What good was honor? He would already be dead.
Whose honor was this for, anyway?
As his yearning for life morphed into resentment toward the world—
"Do you wish to live?" The emperor, who had come to check on the empress’s safety, dismissed everyone and asked him those words for the first time. He did not say, ‘You’ve done well’, nor did he tell him to rest in peace. Instead, the emperor himself posed the very question Kaen had wished someone would ask him.
Though breathing was difficult, he immediately answered yes. Tears, which had refused to come earlier, finally spilled as he poured out his grievances. Why did he have to die? He wanted to live too. There were so many things he still wished to do…
That desperate wish at the brink of death granted Kaen a new life.
From that moment on, his master was no longer the empress but the emperor. The attendant who had once served the empress was considered dead, and as the emperor’s new attendant, he was given a new name. Since his former body had been declared deceased, he had to hide his face behind a mask for a long time.
At first, he had been purely overjoyed. He was grateful for his second chance at life and overwhelmed by the knowledge that as long as his master lived, he could recover from any injury or even death itself.
But that gratitude soon evolved into something deeper, something forbidden. Devotion turned into an emotion he should not have harbored.
That was why, at this moment, Kaen wished to be free alongside the emperor.
The emperor’s affection for him was no different from what he showed to the second prince, Zair. The only difference was that Kaen refused to receive the emperor’s vitality through direct bodily contact, so he had always absorbed it in other ways.
Every day, the emperor slit his own arm to let his blood flow for Zair. Because of that, the emperor’s withered and wrinkled arms bore countless scars even now.
Watching the emperor offer his life essence so freely to sustain his son, Kaen grew increasingly tormented. The emperor’s lifespan was already shortened by decades compared to ordinary people, as he had to sustain both Kaen and Zair.
The guilt of draining the life of the one he loved weighed heavier each day.
One day, while tasting the emperor’s food as usual, Kaen noticed something strange. The poison wasn’t in the food itself but on the handles of spoons and teacups, the rims of plates—subtle places. The emperor forbade him from speaking of it, but the poisoned utensils kept coming. Most of them were intercepted and replaced by Kaen, but he couldn’t sit idly by. He began investigating in secret.
What he eventually uncovered left him in shock. The poisoning attempts were orchestrated by all the emperor’s children—except Sethian.
And the emperor had known all along.
When Kaen rushed to the emperor, he was finally able to see the emperor’s sorrowful face. "You must be shocked. But I would still like you to keep it a secret."
The reason he hadn’t spoken of the poison was because of Zair. The emperor had realized Zair was using sorcery when, from some point on, he began feeling weak and as if his vitality were steadily draining away. What Zair believed to be his own power was actually all drawn from the emperor, reducing his lifespan even further.
Feigning ignorance, the emperor drank the poison, aged at an unnatural pace, and eventually fell ill. Kaen had watched it all unfold, powerless to stop it.
Because it was what his master wanted.
The emperor was trapped by his bond with Zair, regretting that he had soothed his desperate wish, yet unable to break free. Just like Kaen, he could do nothing but endure.
He bore his crown until the end, forcing himself to remain on the throne so that Zair would not disappear before his time. Though he had long wished to relinquish it, he could never show it.
Kaen pitied him. The emperor, who had swallowed his tears, his sorrow, and his words, had endured everything in silence. Watching him suffer, Kaen, too, sank deeper into despair each day.
Just as Kaen was bound to the emperor, so too was the emperor shackled, unable to escape the chain he himself had forged.
Once his master died, he too would disappear. But that, too, was freedom. The emperor’s release from suffering meant Kaen would vanish alongside him, liberated at last.
"Sethian will be a good Emperor," the Emperor said, smiling for the first time in years.
Kaen thought that now was the chance to break free of this chain, now that the cold prince—the only one who had never sent poison to his father—had come to covet the emperor’s seat.
As if sensing his thoughts, the bloodied Emperor met his gaze. His vision had already begun to blur, and he slumped weakly against the throne, blood trickling from his neck with each labored breath.
"I’m sorry…"
The voice was faint, yet Zair heard it clearly. Still, he turned away as if refusing to acknowledge it. His eyes were fixed instead on Sethian and the golden butterfly nestled in his arms.
‘There’s still the crow’s soul… If I can use that bastard well somehow…!’ While Zair clung to desperate thoughts, the Emperor’s heavy eyelids finally fell.
The moment his breathing stopped—
"What…?" Zair, about to lunge at Sethian, suddenly felt as if the ground beneath him had given way and collapsed to the floor. No one had grabbed him, and no pit had been dug—yet something that should have been there was gone.
"W-what is this…?!" Shock overtook his face. Below his ankles, nothing remained. His legs had vanished. From the severed ends, golden dust scattered like unraveling threads.
"Aaaagh!" Though painless, the sight of his own limbs disappearing was horrifying. He screamed, crawling backward, but could not stop the unraveling.
Drowning in fear he had never known before, Zair lifted his head to look at the emperor. As he looked at the emperor whose breath had stopped, his eyes grew wet, and self-mockery rose at the corners of his mouth.
The once-vibrant light in Zair’s eyes faded. The realization struck too late, stealing his senses and leaving him unable to think at all.
With eyes like a barren desert, Zair could not take his gaze off the bloodstained crown his dead father had been wearing, not even until the moment his lower half completely disappeared.
He had never been meant to be Emperor.
All the sacrifices he had made had led only to despair.
Zair glanced back at him over his shoulder and sneered. "You traitorous bastard. You cling to both sides so well despite being His Majesty’s attendant."
"I have never once betrayed anyone." Kaen’s deeply sunken eyes contained only the emperor from the moment he stepped into the throne room. “From the moment I was reborn until now, I have lived solely for His Majesty."
Born to two of the empress’s attendants, Kaen had been destined to serve the imperial family from the very start. Despite his young age, he understood his situation all too well. That was why he cherished and loved the empress, whom he was meant to serve for life, and was prepared to lay down his own life for her.
One day, while he was faithfully serving the empress, whom the highest sun adored, disaster struck.
When the empress faced an assassination attempt, Kaen threw himself in the way without hesitation, successfully stopping the attack. However, the price was a grave and fatal wound, leaving him teetering on the brink of death.
The imperial physician, hurriedly sent by the tearful empress, informed him that he had little time left to live.
Hearing those words, terror gripped him. He had always thought he wouldn’t mind dying as long as he could protect the empress, but deep in his heart, he realized that wasn’t true.
The psychological shock of impending death shook him more than the physical pain. His fellow attendants wept beside him, witnessing his final moments, yet he himself did not shed a tear. The reality of his fate hadn’t fully sunk in, leaving only one emotion behind while all others faded away.
A desperate desire to live.
That was all that remained.
Some praised him as an honorable attendant who had protected the empress, urging him to close his eyes in peace. If his long-deceased parents, who had also perished from overwork before reaching old age, had been present, they likely would have said the same.
What good was honor? He would already be dead.
Whose honor was this for, anyway?
As his yearning for life morphed into resentment toward the world—
"Do you wish to live?" The emperor, who had come to check on the empress’s safety, dismissed everyone and asked him those words for the first time. He did not say, ‘You’ve done well’, nor did he tell him to rest in peace. Instead, the emperor himself posed the very question Kaen had wished someone would ask him.
Though breathing was difficult, he immediately answered yes. Tears, which had refused to come earlier, finally spilled as he poured out his grievances. Why did he have to die? He wanted to live too. There were so many things he still wished to do…
That desperate wish at the brink of death granted Kaen a new life.
From that moment on, his master was no longer the empress but the emperor. The attendant who had once served the empress was considered dead, and as the emperor’s new attendant, he was given a new name. Since his former body had been declared deceased, he had to hide his face behind a mask for a long time.
At first, he had been purely overjoyed. He was grateful for his second chance at life and overwhelmed by the knowledge that as long as his master lived, he could recover from any injury or even death itself.
But that gratitude soon evolved into something deeper, something forbidden. Devotion turned into an emotion he should not have harbored.
That was why, at this moment, Kaen wished to be free alongside the emperor.
The emperor’s affection for him was no different from what he showed to the second prince, Zair. The only difference was that Kaen refused to receive the emperor’s vitality through direct bodily contact, so he had always absorbed it in other ways.
Every day, the emperor slit his own arm to let his blood flow for Zair. Because of that, the emperor’s withered and wrinkled arms bore countless scars even now.
Watching the emperor offer his life essence so freely to sustain his son, Kaen grew increasingly tormented. The emperor’s lifespan was already shortened by decades compared to ordinary people, as he had to sustain both Kaen and Zair.
The guilt of draining the life of the one he loved weighed heavier each day.
One day, while tasting the emperor’s food as usual, Kaen noticed something strange. The poison wasn’t in the food itself but on the handles of spoons and teacups, the rims of plates—subtle places. The emperor forbade him from speaking of it, but the poisoned utensils kept coming. Most of them were intercepted and replaced by Kaen, but he couldn’t sit idly by. He began investigating in secret.
What he eventually uncovered left him in shock. The poisoning attempts were orchestrated by all the emperor’s children—except Sethian.
And the emperor had known all along.
When Kaen rushed to the emperor, he was finally able to see the emperor’s sorrowful face. "You must be shocked. But I would still like you to keep it a secret."
The reason he hadn’t spoken of the poison was because of Zair. The emperor had realized Zair was using sorcery when, from some point on, he began feeling weak and as if his vitality were steadily draining away. What Zair believed to be his own power was actually all drawn from the emperor, reducing his lifespan even further.
Feigning ignorance, the emperor drank the poison, aged at an unnatural pace, and eventually fell ill. Kaen had watched it all unfold, powerless to stop it.
Because it was what his master wanted.
The emperor was trapped by his bond with Zair, regretting that he had soothed his desperate wish, yet unable to break free. Just like Kaen, he could do nothing but endure.
He bore his crown until the end, forcing himself to remain on the throne so that Zair would not disappear before his time. Though he had long wished to relinquish it, he could never show it.
Kaen pitied him. The emperor, who had swallowed his tears, his sorrow, and his words, had endured everything in silence. Watching him suffer, Kaen, too, sank deeper into despair each day.
Just as Kaen was bound to the emperor, so too was the emperor shackled, unable to escape the chain he himself had forged.
Once his master died, he too would disappear. But that, too, was freedom. The emperor’s release from suffering meant Kaen would vanish alongside him, liberated at last.
"Sethian will be a good Emperor," the Emperor said, smiling for the first time in years.
Kaen thought that now was the chance to break free of this chain, now that the cold prince—the only one who had never sent poison to his father—had come to covet the emperor’s seat.
As if sensing his thoughts, the bloodied Emperor met his gaze. His vision had already begun to blur, and he slumped weakly against the throne, blood trickling from his neck with each labored breath.
"I’m sorry…"
The voice was faint, yet Zair heard it clearly. Still, he turned away as if refusing to acknowledge it. His eyes were fixed instead on Sethian and the golden butterfly nestled in his arms.
‘There’s still the crow’s soul… If I can use that bastard well somehow…!’ While Zair clung to desperate thoughts, the Emperor’s heavy eyelids finally fell.
The moment his breathing stopped—
"What…?" Zair, about to lunge at Sethian, suddenly felt as if the ground beneath him had given way and collapsed to the floor. No one had grabbed him, and no pit had been dug—yet something that should have been there was gone.
"W-what is this…?!" Shock overtook his face. Below his ankles, nothing remained. His legs had vanished. From the severed ends, golden dust scattered like unraveling threads.
"Aaaagh!" Though painless, the sight of his own limbs disappearing was horrifying. He screamed, crawling backward, but could not stop the unraveling.
Drowning in fear he had never known before, Zair lifted his head to look at the emperor. As he looked at the emperor whose breath had stopped, his eyes grew wet, and self-mockery rose at the corners of his mouth.
The once-vibrant light in Zair’s eyes faded. The realization struck too late, stealing his senses and leaving him unable to think at all.
With eyes like a barren desert, Zair could not take his gaze off the bloodstained crown his dead father had been wearing, not even until the moment his lower half completely disappeared.
He had never been meant to be Emperor.
All the sacrifices he had made had led only to despair.
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