…Thud.
The Emperor left the cabin.
Screeak, screeak.
Through the wooden door, the sound of logs splitting could be heard immediately. Despite having caused such a scene, the emperor was, as if nothing had happened, chopping firewood.
I remained silent, listening. Then I felt slightly dizzy.
‘…Human evil…?’
The emperor is living proof of how dark the human soul can become. I, for my part, gave up being a complete god just to remain “a person.” And he is the exact opposite of that.
Not long after, the members of the Imperial Guard entered the cabin.
Surely the emperor had called them through Officer Garyeon, who likely sensed the situation with her superhuman strength.
‘What a cruel man… to the very end.’
The emperor wanted to humiliate Oscar to the fullest. Having his subordinates witness this love triangle was going to be a brutal blow for Oscar
And, as expected, they were left speechless.
“Y-you are…”
At first, seeing the Heavenly Sword standing there, on imperial territory, it was logical that the guards were on high alert.
However, that tension directed at me vanished entirely once they saw the second reason.
“…?!”
That’s right.
“Ar… Armin.”
Because of the presence of their captain and the queen.
The queen, covered in blood, and Oscar, murmuring her name as if out of his mind.
You didn’t need to be a genius to understand what kind of relationship the two shared.
Inside the cabin, only three sounds could be heard: the crackling of firewood in the fireplace, muffled sobs, and weeping.
“…Captain.”
Samseok, with his gentle expression, placed a hand on Oscar’s shoulder on behalf of everyone. The captain’s repressed emotion was conveyed through that gesture.
“…”
Samseok slowly and sorrowfully shook his head. The guards lowered their eyes in sadness.
Chaseok, his eyes usually half-closed, even opened them a bit.
“So this is what it was…”
Quick to grasp the context. Apparently, Chaseok was the brains of the Imperial Guard. He turned, giving his back to Oscar and the queen, and bowed to me.
“Thank you, Heavenly Sword.”
With a slight nod, he added.
“You were the one who saved our captain, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t save him. I just postponed it a little.”
“That’s more than enough. The simple fact that you allowed us time to say goodbye… on behalf of the entire Guard, we sincerely thank you.”
“If you put it that way, well…”
Something needed to be made clear.
“In any case, Captain Oscar must pay for his crimes. Not just for having an affair with the queen. I’m sure you understand what I mean.”
“…”
Chaseok took a moment to think and then nodded firmly.
“Yes. Not just the captain—the entire Guard will accept the punishment it deserves.”
“The Guard might be disbanded. Maybe even—”
I swallowed the last part, which would have been “executed entirely.”
“We’re prepared for that.”
At that moment, Samseok intervened. Although he seemed like someone with a weak character, he spoke with a dignified tone.
“Before heroes, we are soldiers. Giving our lives is part of our duty. If we’ve forgotten our essence as soldiers, then paying with our lives is not unfair. But…”
He paused before continuing.
“…We want to apologize. To you, Heavenly Sword, and to Princess Victoria. From the bottom of our hearts. If our captain was blinded by love, we were blinded by glory…”
“That’s enough.”
I replied flatly and opened the door.
Sigh…
Just as I was about to leave, I sighed involuntarily. I felt like the guards’ gazes were holding me back. As if I couldn’t move forward.
Maybe, after having shared battle, a kind of bond had formed between us? I’m not someone that sentimental.
I closed the door, which had opened about three fingers wide, and looked at them all. The Guard stiffened, aligned before me, and then I spoke.
“I’ll tell you how to avoid the worst ending.”
Everyone held their breath. I continued.
“Act the opposite of how you’ve done until now. I can’t promise I’ll do anything to save you, but at least I won’t say anything that harms you.”
“The opposite…? You mean… protect the princess?”
Chaseok, always sharp with his half-lidded gaze, caught on quickly.
“Not just you. Inside the palace, there must be other factions trying to attack the princess. And surely, they’ve already had contact with you. Am I wrong?”
“…”
Silence. But Chaseok and Samseok nodded with their eyes.
“Make moves to protect Victoria from those factions. That way, they’ll crawl out of their hiding places like cockroaches. I’ll take care of them. Use that to your advantage. That reduces the likelihood of the worst outcome. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…Will that be enough?”
“I don’t know what kind of person you think I am, but I’m more merciful than I appear.”
“Eh…?”
Chaseok quickly rebuked Samseok.
“Samseok, stop saying nonsense.”
“Ah… yes.”
But judging by how he said it, he too seemed a little confused by his own reaction.
Anyway.
“We’d better talk sitting down.”
As I headed toward the sofa, the members of the Guard stepped aside. Samseok, seeing the tea in the cup had cooled, set water to boil in the kettle.
Steam began to rise from the spout, gently warming the air.
“That’s right.”
I said, tapping my thumb against my nail with a dry tic.
“Until now, I’ve been rather violent. I thought it was for the best. After all, my enemies were demons.”
“…Once again, we thank you for saving humanity.”
“I’m not saying it to be thanked. It’s just that… when I argued with your captain, something changed inside me. I realized that, at the very least, I didn’t want to become that kind of person.”
Everyone’s expressions seemed as if words were stuck on the tips of their tongues, tickling.
And not just that—their eyes wavered between looking inside the cabin and out the window.
“So…”
I downed the tea Samseok served me in one gulp.
“From now on, if I judge that you’ve truly reflected, I’ll overlook some minor mistake.”
The Heavenly Sword is (almost) a god.
If I trust them, that’s enough.
The very meaning of the existence of Miracle Blessing M, which I loved without measure, is also a blessing. An outsider like me must approve of this world for it to continue.
The darker human evil becomes, the greater the value of goodness.
And I want to bet on that.
***
Before taking formal action, the members of the Imperial Guard held a meeting. The Heavenly Sword, calmly sipping his tea, gave them space to do so.
Samseok, as if trying to gauge his intentions, called out to him.
“Sub-chief…”
“Don’t make such a long face. At least we avoided the worst.”
“Yes, sir.”
A recruit, his lips completely pale, asked with a tremble:
“W-what… what’s going to happen to us, sub-chief?”
“We’ll be brought before a military tribunal. Prepare yourself mentally.”
“B-but this was a unilateral decision by the captain! I never imagined she had anything with the queen! Did you know, sub-chief?!”
“And do you think, with my temperament, I would’ve allowed it if I had known?”
Silnun shut it down immediately. The recruit, who had raised his voice in desperation, shrank back at once.
“No… sir.”
“And besides, now you want to save yourself as if you weren’t part of the Guard? Shameful. Do you think the concept of shared responsibility exists for no reason? The captain, before deciding to do this, called each of us one by one to ask if we wanted to participate. Those who didn’t want to, were discharged. If you’re here, it’s because you agreed, didn’t you, recruit?”
No words.
Not even ten mouths could’ve justified him.
An uncomfortable silence reigned. Samseok, in the middle, gave the recruit a small scolding and then spoke to Silnun.
“The important thing is that we avoided the worst outcome.”
“That’s right.”
“And that we already know what we have to do, thanks to the Heavenly Sword’s orders.”
“I know.”
Oscar was no longer in his right mind.
The heavy responsibility weighed on Silnun’s shoulders. It was the first time since his enlistment that he had to make a crucial decision for the fate of the entire Guard.
“What’s the first action principle of the Guard, Samseok?”
“Absolute obedience to the Voice of the Sun.”
Silnun nodded and spoke bluntly:
“From this moment on, yesterday’s sun has set. It’s time to welcome a new morning.”
“…”
“Do you all agree?”
The Imperial Guard was, indeed, a group of few words.
They simply removed their fur hats in silence, held them against their sides, and bowed their heads.
***
Oscar and the queen were quietly transferred to the hospital under Guard custody.
Both had their faces completely wrapped in blankets like cocoons. If the forces that wanted to kill them managed to identify them, the situation could quickly spiral.
The emperor, until the Guard left and I departed, did not stop chopping wood for even a second.
That made it clear there was no room for an intimate farewell between him and me. I returned immediately to my room to spend my last night in the imperial palace.
I found out later that Officer Garyeon didn’t sleep a wink for days. No wonder—the chaos nearly toppled the palace.
Anyway.
I didn’t even have breakfast. Since I had wrapped up my business at the palace, I quickly boarded the private jet with Victoria.
It was a rushed departure, so the farewell was modest. Only a few servants and Samseok from the Guard came to see us off.
I didn’t expect anyone to come.
Given how busy they were, it surprised me that they showed up. And to think we’d had a little “physical scuffle” just the day before!
I felt a bit nostalgic.
In a slightly scattered atmosphere, Victoria, Choi Seol-Ah, and I headed back to Korea.
We departed, but—
“Why are you coming with us, Shail…?”
“Seems I can’t let you go alone.”
“The young lady gave me a mission: accompany the Heavenly Sword until he returns home safely. Until then, I can’t leave.”
Shail shook her head and sighed, as if there were no alternative. A classy way of saying she was going to keep an eye on me.
“I think leaving the Sword Master in Karon’s care alone would be excessive. Since I’m doing fine, you should return peacefully.”
“No problem. I’m on vacation.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Karon and I were both granted leave.”
Choi Seol-Ah’s eyes widened at Shail’s statement.
“Eh? Maids get va-ca-tions too?!”
“We get ten days off every quarter.”
“Uwaaah, I’m so jealous! Ever since I became the director’s secretary at the academy, the longest break I’ve had is three days…!”
From the seat beside Seol-Ah, Victoria dropped a sharp line.
“As far as I know, the director hasn’t rested even one day. How is it possible that the secretary has rested two days more than her boss?”
A subordinate? That’s what she seemed to be implying.
Choi Seol-Ah responded as if a great injustice had been done to her.
“With all due respect, Your Highness… my salary is much lower than the director’s.”
“That’s only natural.”
“…?”
Well said.
Good one, Victoria.
“I don’t know if I’m in a position to say this, but please take good care of the director. If I were Instructor Kim, I would’ve given up even my days off for her.”
“…Yes…”
Choi Seol-Ah placed her hand behind her neck as if it were about to cramp. Then she muttered with a sour expression,
“Not even modern-day servants work like this…”
“Modern-day servants”? That outdated expression didn’t even register with me properly.
Also, I wasn’t familiar with that kind of meme. At that moment, I didn’t understand what it meant.
But I would soon.
After that hectic return trip, we finally made it home safe—the Joaquin Academy.
“Good job.”
“I missed you.”
“Blegh… I’m still not used to hearing the master say stuff like that…”
“Ryozo. Can you dock this girl’s pay?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Hey, hey!”
I received a warm welcome from Abel and Ryozo, and the fatigue of the journey melted away.
After witnessing the emperor’s evil, this simple, harmonious home felt even more precious.
But I saw something else too.
Something that surpassed even the emperor’s deeds. I saw it in Ryozo, whom I love.
“I think I’m going to start a graduate program.”
And that was only the second day after returning home.
____
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