By Zephyria 
※This work contains descriptions of violence, murder, and other elements that may cause discomfort. Please consider this before purchasing.
The first time I saw Khalifa was on a sweltering summer day, so hot it was hard to breathe.
“Kill them all.”
The world shimmered like a mirage in the blazing heat.
“Slaughter them all, leave not a single one alive. Sever their heads, tear open their bellies, and burn them in the fire.”
Black smoke billowed into the blue sky, and the mountains, rivers, and trees were all burned to ashes. When I turned my gaze, crimson blood flowed like a river, soaking the charred fragments of flesh.
Whether he was angry, sad, or simply devoid of all thought… I couldn’t fathom his feelings just by looking at him.
“Kill them all.”
The embrace I felt for the first time was slightly uncomfortable, smelled acrid, and was much warmer than I had imagined.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I thought I was surely going to die, but thankfully, I seemed to have survived. My whole body was wrapped in bandages, making it impossible to move properly. I could only blink my eyes when I heard someone’s voice.
“Your Highness, is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
I turned my gaze and saw a middle-aged woman I had never seen before. I opened my mouth to answer, but no sound came out. After moving my lips a few times, she said,
“The physician said that your throat was severely damaged, and it will be difficult for you to speak for a while. Please bear with it, even if it’s uncomfortable. Forcing yourself to make a sound may worsen your condition.”
At her calm voice, I nodded lightly.
Was it because my hazy mind was slowly clearing? The pain was becoming more intense. I tried to ignore it and slowly looked around.
I couldn’t turn my neck properly, so I couldn’t see clearly, but this was definitely an unfamiliar room.
“Sa Dillin.”
“…….”
As if reading my thoughts, she approached and said,
“I’m late with introductions. My name is Jia, and I will be taking care of Your Highness from now on. You can call me Nanny, or you can call me by my name. Please call me whatever Your Highness is comfortable with.”
The wrinkles around the eyes of the Nanny, who was kneeling under the bed and smiling, deepened slightly. I stared at them for a moment and moved my lips.
‘Are they all dead?’
Jia, who understood what I meant even though I didn’t make a sound, nodded lightly.
“If you’re referring to the Servants who used to serve Your Highness, then yes, that’s what I know.”
“…….”
Yes, that’s probably right. After all, there was poison…….
Who put poison in my food? Someone from the First Prince’s side? They must have won over one of the Servants. Stupid fools. They knew they would all die if something happened to me, yet they fell for such a trick.
But why did the Emperor come himself? He hadn’t shown any interest in me until now……. And Sa Dillin was the castle where the Emperor resided. Was it because the place I lived was burned down that they gave me temporary lodging?
But even if it wasn’t here, there would be many places for me to stay.
“…….”
Or was it that he was less busy now? So he had time to pay attention to me? It could also be that he felt sorry for me because I was badly injured.
Then, can I continue to live here from now on?
“Your Highness, I will call the physician.”
Jia said while I was lost in thought. When I turned my head, she gently wiped my eyes, cheeks, and temples with a handkerchief.
I must have been crying without realizing it. No wonder my eyes had been stinging and something kept flowing from them.
“…….”
In fact, it would have been strange if I hadn’t cried.
The Servants who took care of me were all dead. I was betrayed by those who had been watching me since I couldn’t speak or walk, and I was poisoned. I felt so pathetic. It was fortunate that I met the Emperor because of it, but my condition was like this…….
Above all, my whole body hurt so much that I couldn’t bear it. If I could have made a sound, I would have screamed several times already.
‘The culprit?’
I asked Jia, who was about to get up with the handkerchief stained with pus and blood in her arms. She paused for a moment before saying,
“They’re all dead, so I don’t know the details, but I heard it was one of the guards.”
“…….”
There were more than one or two guards, but somehow, I felt like I knew who it was.
Why did he fall for such a trick? What did he receive in return? He couldn’t have thought he wouldn’t get caught, so was it something so meaningful that he was willing to die for it?
In the midst of the intensifying pain, the face of the guard who told me that he had a younger sibling about my age came to mind. I think he said his sibling was sick, so did he receive something like medical expenses in return?
Even so, since he tried to assassinate a member of the Imperial Family, his family and relatives would have all died miserably. There’s no way someone working in the castle wouldn’t know this.
Or maybe they said they would protect his family well. To believe such a thing.
What a pathetic fool. He was so stupid that he was just used and killed.
While I was cursing inwardly, the physician came in. While he was removing the bandages, scraping away the inflammation, and removing the skin that was peeling off, I fainted several times.
Every time I regained consciousness, I wondered.
If I had offered to help him first, would he not have made that choice?
It was something I couldn’t know.
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Perhaps it was because I thought I would really die if I stayed like this, but eventually, a healing Wizard came. My condition was so severe that he immediately began treatment, but because I was still young and the side effects of healing magic were so pronounced, he somehow only managed to restore the surface.
Thanks to that, I was able to remove the bandages and my skin no longer festered. But I still had Internal injury.
“Please bear with it, even if it’s uncomfortable. But your legs have improved a lot.”
“When can I walk?”
“It’s possible to do it today, but you shouldn’t overdo it.”
I couldn’t stand being cooped up in the room any longer. If I couldn’t walk on my own, I wanted to be carried by someone and take a walk today, but my hopes were soon dashed.
“Raise your head.”
“…….”
It was because the Emperor had summoned me to his office. I, who had been kneeling and pressing my forehead to the floor, slowly raised my head.
I was planning to go and see him as soon as my body recovered, but I never expected the Emperor to call me first. I had always thought that he might not be looking for me because he was busy, but it seemed that was really the case.
But what should I call him? Should I say Your Majesty, or should I say Father…….
“What was your name again?”
While I was pondering, I decided not to say Father at the question that followed.
“Kyle.”
“Ah, yes. That was your name. I remember now that I hear it.”
I quietly examined the Emperor’s face.
His long, black hair was calmer than when I first saw him. When he was burning everything and telling people to kill, his eyes seemed strangely intense, but was that just because I was hallucinating because I was poisoned and on the verge of death?
“Do you know who I am?”
The Emperor, who had been looking at me silently with his mouth closed, asked again. I was momentarily flustered, but I didn’t show it and lowered my head.
“You are His Majesty, the Emperor of the great Actan Empire.”
“And.”
“You are the Incarnation of the Sun God.”
“Also.”
“……The Ruler of the Desert.”
Was that not it? No matter how hard I racked my brains, I couldn’t think of any more plausible titles. If he asked again, the only thing I could say was that he was the most wonderful person in the world.
I was very nervous, but fortunately, what came out of his mouth was not a question.
“You are my son.”
“…….”
At the word son, I finally realized what answer the Emperor wanted from me. I was so taken aback by the unexpected words that I moved my lips a few times and uttered words that I had never spoken before.
“Your Majesty is my father.”
“Then you must be a Prince.”
“Yes.”
“Mahir’s younger brother.”
What was Mahir? I was momentarily puzzled, but I immediately remembered that it was the name of the First Prince.
“But why are you living like that?”
“…….”
“I heard that you still can’t even read properly. And you can’t wield a sword either. Mahir went to the battlefield at your age. Did you know that?”
At his scolding tone, I couldn’t bring myself to look up and just stared at the floor. And I began to regret it.
Should I have looked for books and tried to read them? Should I have asked a Servant to teach me how to read? I sometimes saw picture books, but I wasn’t very interested in them, and the days when I didn’t look at them flashed by.
I clenched my fists tightly and thought about it for a while before saying,
“I’m sorry.”
“…….”
“I will learn when I return.”
Was this the right answer to say? The Emperor didn’t scold me any further and asked another question.
“How old are you this year?”
“Five years old.”
“Mahir?”
At that question, I raised my head with a puzzled expression. The Emperor, who was sitting on a high chair with his chin resting on his hand, was looking down at me with indifferent eyes.
Could this be some kind of test? I didn’t know what he was testing, but it was strange that he kept asking questions that I couldn’t understand. But I couldn’t lie, so I answered honestly.
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you even know that?”
“I’m sorry.”
My legs were starting to hurt, so I answered weakly, and Khalifa sighed.
“All you do is say you’re sorry when you open your mouth. Live here from now on and receive a proper education. Take care of your health instead of having a face that looks like you’re about to die. If you still can’t read when I call you again, I will cut off your fingers.”
“Yes.”
“If you have anything you want to ask, speak.”
I don’t have anything……. It felt like I couldn’t say I didn’t have anything, so I just asked something random.
“How old is the First Prince this year?”
“I don’t know. Is that all you have to ask?”
He seemed uncomfortable for some reason. At this rate, my fingers would be cut off before I even learned to read, so I asked again.
“That day, how did you know to come?”
My castle was located in the outskirts of the Imperial Palace, in the most deserted corner. It was a place where you couldn’t accidentally arrive unless you deliberately tried to find it.
“What day?”
I tilted my head and asked Khalifa, who was asking back, again.
“The day I drank the poison.”
Even as I asked, I felt puzzled. What day? Was there another day besides that day?
Khalifa looked at me quietly as if thinking about what happened at that time, and then opened his mouth.
“I don’t remember.”
“…….”
I wanted to ask if he had come to see me again, but in the end, I couldn’t open my mouth.