#207

Cullen, whose night vision was good, though not as good as Kiyen’s, soon saw her clearly.

She had changed a lot in the three years he hadn’t seen her. Her purple eyes and slender face, which vaguely reminded him of his mother, were the same, but the blood-stained cloak, leather pants, and tightly bound hair made it hard to believe she was the Kihelene from the Imperial Palace.

Kihelene, approaching with a serious expression, was accompanied by knights. There was also a familiar face. It was Junon, who had been conspicuously absent for the past two days. He had thought Junon was avoiding him to escape an awkward situation, but it seemed he had disappeared to make contact with Kihelene.

“There, are you part of Ulrika’s party?”

As they drew closer, Kihelene called out first. Not seeing Kiyen, she shouted, but the moment the clouds passed and revealed the ground where Kiyen and he stood, she yanked hard on the reins.

Hiiing!

With the startled horse’s cry, the knights following her also hastily pulled back on their reins.

“Lady Kihelene, are you alright?”

The knights murmured, asking about Kihelene’s sudden action. Amidst the clanking of armor, Kihelene stopped, gripping the reins tightly. Only Junon beside her, as if guessing her thoughts, stared expressionlessly at Cullen and Kiyen.

“…Cullen-nim.”

Cullen clearly caught Kihelene’s softly spoken words. At the mention of Cullen, the knights looked ahead. Someone whispered.

“If it’s Cullen-nim, isn’t he the Crown Prince our lord spoke of?”

“There is no Empire now. The title of Crown Prince is disrespectful to our lord.”

Seeing that they knew his name, they were clearly not ordinary knights. As he speculated about who they were to be accompanying Kihelene, Kihelene dismounted.

She leaped off her horse with practiced ease and looked at him and Kiyen with an indescribable expression.

Cullen also observed Kiyen. Kihelene was the one who had inflicted unforgettable, terrible memories on Kiyen, more so than on himself.

Even though he couldn’t condone Kiyen being ordered to kill people, Cullen couldn’t blame Kihelene, who had lost Yurisis at the time. He felt he understood the desperate situation she was in.

But to Kiyen, Kihelene was the perpetrator in her entirety. Her actions, which had brought him back to nightmares after he had already shed so much blood due to the Larkan dynasty, could not be justified by any words.

Kiyen stared at Kihelene with a blank expression. The atmosphere grew so cold that Cullen could feel it.

Kihelene looked at Cullen, then slowly turned her gaze to Kiyen. A shadow fell over her face. Her face, starting to turn pale, trembled as she opened and closed her lips several times before letting go of the reins. Then, she began to walk towards them.

As Kihelene approached, the air grew heavier. Kiyen, who had been looking at him with a gentle expression just moments before, watched Kihelene approach with a chilling gaze.

The distance between them grew shorter until their faces were visible. Kihelene, with heavy, slow steps, stopped near Kiyen.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the knights slowly rode their horses, looking between them. Junon also moved slowly, following them. Soon, the knights stopped, forming a circle around Kihelene and Kiyen. One of them whispered something while looking at Kiyen’s wings.

Amidst the faint whispers, Kihelene bit her pale blue lips tightly. Hesitating, she suddenly knelt down, her knees hitting the ground, and bowed her head towards Kiyen. The knights, surprised by her sudden kneeling, called her name.

“Lady Kihelene!”

“What is happening!”

Ignoring their cries, Kihelene shouted, small but clear.

“I am truly sorry, Kiyen-nim.”

With trembling arms, Kihelene continued. Cullen watched her silently, then looked at Kiyen. He still had no expression.

“I am truly, truly sorry. I have never forgotten since that day. I thought about what I did every single day. I thought of the people I ordered to kill and then stood by, and I thought of you suffering. There were times when I wanted to die from the pain, but I endured it. Killing me…”

Kihelene raised her head and looked up at Kiyen. With purple eyes filled with tears, she whispered to Kiyen.

“Only Kiyen-nim can do it.”

At the word “death,” the knights all looked at Kiyen. In a confused voice, someone asked Kihelene.

“Lady Kihelene, what does that mean…?”

To the knight’s question, she reached her hand back and firmly stopped him.

“I beg you. No matter what happens, please do not interfere. This person before me was the Guardian Dragon of a fallen Empire, and at the same time, someone to whom I owe a deathly sin. This is between Kiyen-nim and me.”

Kihelene closed her mouth after saying that. Kiyen looked down at her silently as she waited. A long silence lingered like eternity. The air, heavier than darkness, pressed down on the surroundings. Everyone remained still under the weight of that pressure.

Just as beads of cold sweat formed on Kihelene’s pale forehead, Kiyen finally spoke.

“You used me, just like any other Larkan. No matter what you do now, no matter what you try to wash it away with, that will remain an eternal truth. You wanted to kill for your own sake. To save your lover, you stained my hands with blood again. You and Belarus are the same.”

At his words, Kihelene’s eyes reddened. Gritting her teeth, she bowed her head and accepted Kiyen’s words. Even Cullen, listening, felt a chill despite the dry tone.

“I have no intention of forgiving you.”

Kihelene nodded at that, as if she had expected it. Her fingers, pressed against the ground, dug into the dirt.

“However, I do not wish to kill you either. You are not worth it. My anger towards you has been buried and washed away by greater sorrow.”

Kiyen said that and looked at Cullen. Kiyen’s face, as their eyes met, looked more exhausted than ever. Just like he had looked on the day he chose death.

“So, you will carry your sins. Carry the blood of those you killed and my pain. Do not give me your death.”

That was all. Kiyen closed his mouth with cold eyes. Kihelene, as if she hadn’t expected that, looked up at Kiyen blankly.

“You… won’t kill me?”

Kiyen did not answer. Instead, he spread his wings. His massive wings moved, and a sandstorm swirled around the ground. He looked at Cullen and said.

“Since you didn’t want it that way, I will listen to you.”

Only then did Cullen realize that Kiyen was going to listen to his words from back then.

The moment he realized that, his heart felt heavy. He still remembered the great anger that had surrounded Kiyen. Some memories never fade, no matter how much time passes. For Kiyen, that day must have been one of the most terrible days of his life, yet he was willing to overlook it for him.

Kiyen now understood his own feelings, which he hadn’t understood back then.

“You don’t have to do it just because of me. That day, I didn’t fully understand you either. What you’ve been through, I…”

“But if I shed blood, you will be sad.”

He couldn’t deny that. Kiyen smiled faintly at Cullen, who looked at him.

“I hate seeing you sad. I’ve seen you cry, and I don’t want to see that anymore.”

He whispered tenderly and, after a few flaps of his wings, rose higher into the air.

“However, I find it difficult to look at that woman’s face right now. I will be watching, so don’t worry. I will return shortly.”

With that, Kiyen soared high into the sky. The swirling wind ruffled his hair, and Kihelene, who had been kneeling, watched the sky where Kiyen had disappeared with tear-filled eyes. For a long time, until the knights rushed to help her up.

Junon, supporting the silent Kihelene, headed towards the campsite with the knights. While Kiyen was still on his mind, Cullen also accompanied them. Considering Kihelene’s serious approach and Kiyen’s words about soon encountering Demonic Beasts, the situation seemed grim.

Seeing the knights arrive, the mercenaries must have alerted Ulli, as she was waiting for them at the entrance of the campsite. Lasano and the Young Dragons were also there.

“Helen, what’s wrong?”

Ulli asked, looking at Kihelene’s complexion. Cullen and Junon remained silent. Kihelene, as if snapping out of it at Ulli’s words, spoke with a pained expression.

“I encountered Kiyen-nim. I thought today was the day I would die… but he just left.”

After saying that, Kihelene made eye contact with Cullen.

“I am truly sorry to you, Cullen-nim as well. Kiyen-nim is the one I should apologize to first, so I didn’t say it earlier, but my actions caused so much harm. At the time, you took my side, and the two of you even parted ways.”

As Kihelene continued her apologies, holding back tears, Cullen shook his head.

“Rather than that, I want to know what happened first.”

At Cullen’s words, Kihelene flinched and took a breath. Then, Junon, who was beside her, finally broke his silence.

“A big one is coming through the passage that Helen has been watching. Dark Island is home to all sorts of nameless Demonic Beasts, but this one is different. A slaughterer that even preys on other Demonic Beasts there…”

Junon’s expression darkened.

“We called it Kaiiken. If that thing comes up, everything around it will melt away.”

Kihelene nodded, listening to Junon. Her voice, perhaps a little calmer, steadied as she continued.

“There is still time. Today, we need to close the passage before it comes through.”

Ulli, listening intently to Kihelene, asked her.

“You said you’d close the passage? Was it even possible to close it in the first place?”

“Until now, there was no way. It’s impossible with our human strength. But Junon…”

Kihelene cautiously glanced at the Young Dragons beside Lasano.

“Spoke of new Dragon stories. With Magic, there might be a way. It’s Akesis’s power, but that passage was also opened by Magic.”

At Kihelene’s words, everyone’s gaze shifted to the Young Dragons. The Young Dragons, receiving all the attention, blinked. They looked at each other, then exchanged glances, and Black spoke.

“Creating a link that connects spaces is impossible for humans, no matter what artifact they use. Whatever happened, Kiyen-nim didn’t tell us, but that passage must have involved divine power.”

Then Junon nodded.

“That’s right. Akesis’s will resides in many places on Dark Island. Iris probably borrowed that power to open the passage there.”

“Does the god Akesis still exist?”

“No. It’s just like a residual trace of power. And Kaiiken is the most terrifying monster created by the accumulation of such traces. It killed my family and many others… Now, there are no humans like people on Dark Island anymore…”

Junon trailed off. Cullen looked down at her hands, hidden by gloves. He had forgotten, but Junon was also a being similar to a Demonic Beast.

“If divine power is involved, won’t it be difficult?”

Ulli said, seemingly worried about the Young Dragons’ involvement. Cullen agreed. Apart from knowing they were Dragons, they were still children, literally.

“No, if the three of us combine our powers, it should be possible.”

Cat said with a confident voice.