Soa-na calmly declared the end.
"Knights who have already found rest, and knights who will soon find rest each have their own will, so my advice is not needed by them."
"You kept yourself by your side because other Dullahans relied on you."
"What they need now is not me, Captain."
Crack.
A slightly larger cracking sound than before emerged.
"Captain, you would know better."
"I am……."
"I apologize. I am a bit weary. Please understand the circumstances of this old knight."
What Soa-na desired was clear.
At a loss for words, I stood frozen before glancing down at my hand. In the darkness, the green light of divine power flickered exceptionally bright.
The divine power writhed on its own as if it were truly alive.
I slowly raised my arm and extended it toward Soa-na.
Even without direct contact, the writhing light of power extended its tendrils little by little. As if knowing exactly where to go, the direction was perfectly straight.
"You are gentle. Unlike the Captain of the past."
Soa-na, watching the power extending toward her, added in a low voice.
"I am glad that this gentleness is not for everyone."
The divine power reached Soa-na's fingertips. The slowly moving force rapidly drained away, and tendrils made of green light wrapped around Soa-na's body.
Soa-na, who surrendered her body to the tendrils without surprise, closed her eyes with a peaceful expression.
The tendrils instantly covered Soa-na's neck, jaw, mouth, and finally reached the top of her head.
Crack!
With an undeniably loud cracking sound, the massive stained glass split with a sharp crack.
A crack that clearly ran across the middle spread outward in all directions like tree branches.
"Soa-na……."
Finely shattered pieces of colorful glass fell downward. Perhaps due to the moonlight, the colorful glass fragments looked like pouring starlight.
Where the green divine power had disappeared, only pieces of stained glass piled up remained.
* * *
Unable to believe the scene before her eyes, the Duchess of Roam let out a dazed voice.
"……Lilia?"
At that call, the opponent before her slowly raised her head. Her hollow eyes held no trace of spirit.
Lilia looked at the Duchess of Roam with a vacant expression and blinked. Then, as if belatedly recognizing the person before her, her expression changed dramatically as she lunged forward.
"Mother!"
The Duchess of Roam, frozen from shock, reflexively stepped backward.
Lilia had been inside the prison cell anyway, blocked by bars and unable to reach her. Yet somehow feeling repulsed, the Duchess of Roam put a bit more distance between them.
That was how wretched Lilia's appearance was. She didn't seem to have been tortured separately, but having been confined for several days without proper washing, left to languish, she was dirty and smelled foul.
Her once smooth skin had become rough and flaky, and her bloodless lips were chapped.
Moreover, her sunken cheeks made her look exactly like a beggar on the street.
The Duchess of Roam discreetly covered her nose with her index finger.
Despite her clear look of aversion, Lilia clung to the bars with a desperate face.
"Mother, I believed you would come!"
At Lilia's tearful shouting, the Duchess of Roam frowned and surveyed her surroundings.
Lilia was imprisoned in the imperial prison as a criminal, and she had secretly entered to meet her now. Making a scene would bring nothing good.
"Lower your voice first."
"Moth……!"
"Did I say not to make noise?"
At the low, rapid rebuke, Lilia flinched and shrank her shoulders. Yet she persisted, looking up at the Duchess of Roam pleadingly.
"Mother, please help me. I must have fallen into a trap!"
"A trap?"
"It's the little sister's doing."
The Duchess of Roam's face, which had momentarily shown interest, turned cold.
However, Lilia failed to notice the Duchess's expression and continued speaking urgently.
"The little sister must be killed. She ruined everything."
"Lilia."
"Mother, if this continues, both I and Roam are finished. You must make a decision. I……."
"What about your foresight?"
Lilia, who had been speaking frantically, hesitated. Her blazing eyes wavered visibly enough for the Duchess of Roam to see.
"Lilia, have you lost your foresight ability again?"
"That's not it……."
Lilia's expression twisted. Though she was shaking her head, her voice held no certainty.
The Duchess of Roam, who had come this far with some hope, clicked her tongue briefly.
Thinking it might be of some help, seeing her in such a state, it was clear she would only be a hindrance.
Lilia, who noticed how the Duchess of Roam was looking at her, hurriedly spoke.
"It, it was stolen! More and more pages are being torn away day by day!"
"Stolen."
"It's because of the little sister. For me to regain my ability, the little sister must be……."
"If what you say is true, Lilia."
The Duchess of Roam, annoyingly cutting off Lilia's words, spoke in a cold tone.
"Then it sounds like the one I should be negotiating with now is not you but Anelli."
Lilia's face turned pale. The Duchess of Roam looked at her coldly before turning away decisively.
She wanted to leave this dirty, smelly prison quickly. She would have done so immediately if not for the words coming from behind her.
"Does the little sister know that you condoned it, Mother?"
The Duchess of Roam glanced at Lilia. Lilia was glaring at her with eyes full of venom.
"I know everything—that you knew the little sister's terminal diagnosis was actually a misdiagnosis and turned a blind eye."
"You……."
"Do you think I did such a thing without any certainty?"
Lilia's lips twisted.
"Did you really think Mother wouldn't appear even once in my foresight?"
At that moment, the Duchess of Roam narrowed her eyes.
"Shut your mouth."
"I knew you would choose me. I already knew that if I hinted to Frijian and found someone to persuade Father, it would be you!"
"You cunning thing!"
"Anyway, Mother cannot be with the little sister. You may not want to admit it, but Roam's value has fallen that far to the bottom."
If there hadn't been bars between these two people right now, the Duchess of Roam would have immediately slapped Lilia's cheek.
Clenching her fists, trembling, barely swallowing the scream threatening to burst out, the Duchess of Roam gritted her teeth.
Anelli's terminal diagnosis……. Yes, she had known it was a misdiagnosis.
She hadn't known from the beginning. She learned the truth around the time Anelli started losing her position to Lilia.
Having lost Maxel's favor, constantly showing only disappointing behavior—the neurotic second daughter. And the gentle young lady who smiled, saying she would repay Roam's grace using her foresight ability.
An ordinary mother would have surely taken her own daughter's side, but the Duchess of Roam was slightly different from 'ordinary mothers.'
"If she had quietly gone down to the countryside to recuperate, she would have safely recovered and returned to the capital. I didn't condone it—I merely intended to give her a different life."
Though Anelli stubbornly held her ground, escalated matters, and ultimately met a bad end on the execution platform…….
Originally, if Anelli hadn't insisted she loved Maxel, it wouldn't have come to this. What was so difficult about that?
While the position of Empress would be somewhat regrettable, with Roam's name, even with the stigma of a broken engagement, she could have obtained a marriage match anyone would envy.
She just needed to endure for a very brief moment. With that attitude that hadn't gone against teachings until then, if she had quietly followed her parents' will.
"Moreover, she gained the title of 'the resurrected one' from that incident, so I actually helped elevate her life even higher."
At the Duchess of Roam's words, Lilia let out a hollow laugh.
"Mother, you are truly remarkable."
"Since it seems unlikely you'll see Anelli again, you'd better keep those delusions to yourself."
"Ha, do you think you'll be able to avoid this, Mother?"
"Who is your mother? It's unpleasant to hear."
The Duchess of Roam, with a stern face, pointed out the address, but Lilia didn't bother to change it. Perhaps she thought all of it was meaningless now.
"More and more pages are being torn away each day, Mother. I once saw a foresight of Roam shining brilliantly in victory, but not anymore."
Finally, the Duchess of Roam turned her back as if she didn't want to hear any more. As she strode quickly toward the outside, Lilia's curse-like words clung to her back.
"Roam will be trampled, collapsed, and burned to ashes! Do you understand? Everything is finished!"
Because it was a prison where she had bribed in advance to clear the surroundings, as the distance between the Duchess of Roam and Lilia grew, only silence lingered.
Only after reaching a place where Lilia's voice couldn't reach did the Duchess of Roam finally come to her senses.
Pulling her hood deeper over her face, she took a deep breath. She had come all this way for nothing, only to hear ominous words.
She would have been more productive just sleeping during this time.
'I was too hasty.'
She needed to meet Frijian again. Frijian would at least be more reasonable than Lilia.
However, the Duchess of Roam, hurrying to leave the prison, failed to achieve her intention.
This was because a long spear suddenly shot out from the side, blocking her path.
"Stop!"
A look of dismay crossed the Duchess of Roam's face. She had certainly arranged for the entire passage to be cleared!
"Trying to help a criminal escape!"
"What? What kind of……."
"Caught in the act! Bind her immediately!"
Before the Duchess of Roam could even respond, soldiers sprang out from all directions. There were more than she expected.
Only then did she intuit that this was someone's trap, but there was nowhere to escape.
"Let go of me! How dare you, do you know who I am!"
She had come to say a final farewell since they were once family—that's what she would claim.
As she thought of answers to give them, shoving the soldier's hand away fiercely, someone caught the Duchess of Roam's eye.
A man of handsome appearance stood smiling at her with his hands clasped behind his back.
"What a pity. Duchess of Roam."
"First Imperial Prince……."
A suppressed groan escaped from the Duchess of Roam's clenched teeth.
She glared at Heinrich with trembling eyes and asked in a choked voice.
"Do you think the throne you'll gain by making Roam your enemy will be safe?"
At that question, Heinrich nodded with a brilliant smile.
"Of course."