In the northern citadel of the royal palace were Yudina’s handmaidens, her nanny, and the servants who attended to her. Thirty-four people were there, lifeless and with glass eyeballs inserted to them.

Observers were required when royalty entered into marriages, both to prevent plots to kill them and to prevent any foul play that might occur.

But instead of an observer, Elio always had a human taxidermist from his collection— once a member of Yudina’s entourage— sitting in a chair, sometimes on the same bed. The faces were all made to look like they were smiling, with threads used to force their stiff lips up.

He said he could only do it if there is such a special observer.

Husbands had the right to discipline their wives, and this was no exception for royalty. Sometimes violence was used against the Crown Princess because she moved too much.

The slightest voluntary movement, or even a tear, would result in an unrelenting beating. He wanted her to be the perfect doll.

Ragnar was staggered by the absurdity of it all. At first he hoped it was a lie, then a rage that quickly spread like wildfire burned through his body. It was as if he had swallowed hot charcoal.

He wanted to scream, if he could, to howl out loud, but he wasn’t allowed to. He could barely hold back the sobs that threatened to escape.

And now, after he had expelled his bitter, sore breath, all he wanted to do was plead.

To the unseen gods, to fate, to their parents who had left them, to anyone who could save them now. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

There was nowhere else to turn. There is no rest for the sinners. It was all his fault, a yoke he would carry for the rest of his life.

Some days Yudina was fine, and other days she was terrible. Every chance she got, she would grab something sharp and try to stab herself in the neck, and some days she would lie in bed all day and then jump out of the window.

Her water broke and she didn’t have the stamina to carry this child. Three out of ten healthy mothers died in childbirth, and her sister was not one of them.

If Elio came here, he would choose to keep the child alive, even if it meant cutting open her belly. The royal family’s blood were that precious.

As the crown prince passed through each northern gate, Yudina grew thinner by the day. In her panic, she blurted out nonsense and fainted repeatedly.

All the while, Ragnar’s heart crumbled to pieces. Just when he thought there was nothing left for her to break, she finds a new piece to inflict a new wound.

Her grief was like an inexhaustible spring as her heart was always bottomless. When the flames of her wrath were extinguished, her insides were still alive and functioning, albeit with ragged burn marks here and there.

His sister was dying, and she had not a shred of life left in her. To him, death was a contradiction in terms, but it was a hope, and so he never stopped sprinting toward his only resting place.

As his sister dried up, the life inside her survived with uncanny tenacity. Despite the fact that its mother’s life was at stake, the filthy seed continued to struggle for life.

Sometimes he wondered if it was devouring his sister, because it was the seed of that filthy bastard. It was eating her. Ragnar could not stop his hatred for his unborn nephew.

“Wouldn’t you rather kill the fetus?”

He asked Kenneth, and he shook his head quietly.

“Her due date is too close, and even if the fetus is stillborn now, she’ll still go through the same pain as a normal birth…….”

He said he’d rather she recover somehow and give birth.

“Come up with something.”

But they already knew there was no way, and if he’d known sooner, he would have given up the baby and saved his sister’s life.

That’s why Tristan had hidden her pregnancy. His uncle used the child to make a deal with the crown prince. There was something he was promised by the crown prince.

It was neither the southern jade nor gold and silver mines. Ragnar received the report and felt dizzy with a strange sensation.

“Has this really happened…….”

What he was to receive from the crown prince was Alisar, the relic of Saint Jenava. It was an ancient artifact commonly referred to as the Holy Sword.

“Come to think of it, my uncle told me about the sword.”

He was going to take over the North for a sword like that. Ragnar couldn’t believe it, so he went back to the dungeon to meet with Tristan.

When he told Tristan about the holy sword, his face lit up. Both of his hands were now round and rotting with no fingers left.

He looked as if he had been withered by years of imprisonment. His eyes were already half-closed, and filthy saliva dripped from his toothless mouth along with gunk.

“If only I had that sword……. I could have united the heavens and earth. I…… I!”

“Is that your answer?”

Listening to the words of a man who could be considered practically insane made him feel weak. To have entrusted the fate of the North to a madman like this, to have sent his sister to the side of a man like this. Self-doubt washed over him like a tidal wave.

“I can take it back now, right now, if only I had that thing!”

Ragnar’s mouth twisted at the mention of reversal. If he could, he would do anything to do it, but he was not foolish enough to believe such a hollow tale.

When someone’s been tortured this long, they often see people go crazy. But he never thought it would be his uncle who would tell him that he saw an angel from heaven or accepted God.

“It’s too late to turn back.”

He incontinently waved his chained hands.

“They say the first Northern King lived twelve lives, and so could I!”

“…….”

There was no need to listen to the madman any longer. Ragnar turned on his heel. Behind him, Tristan screamed at the top of his lungs, his chains creaking with every movement.

“You may kill me. But you will not dare harm your aunt! I spared your sister’s life, so you must not forget that. So you promise me!”

He spat out a blood-curdling voice.

“Promise me, even if I die, my child in Dorthe’s womb will accomplish the task!”

Ragnar could bear it no longer and turned and fled the dungeon. Tristan howled in the dungeon, rattling his chains relentlessly. Until Ragnar was completely gone.

For a long time, the sound of the chains and Tristan’s maddened voice rang in his ears.

* * *

It had been three days since Yudina had stopped eating and drinking, and she was so weak that she could barely pass the honey water between her teeth.

“Yudina…….”

Now blind, she simply stared into space and hummed an unintelligible tune. Sometimes she laughed.