Chapter 114 

“You mean you didn’t know that? Are you getting dumber by the day or what?”

Ysildus ignored Terrun’s sneering tone and walked past him. It wasn’t that he didn’t know. He was just pretending not to.

“Ysildus, you didn’t forget today’s meeting after leaving the Thersion gates open, did you?”

Just as Terrun said, it had been Ysildus’s decision to throw open the gates of Thersion and let the humans in. It wasn’t that he had forgotten. He’d simply holed himself up in the training grounds to avoid the stench of humans that made his nose twitch. He had brought it upon himself, but there was no helping how the smell grated on his nerves.

As Ysildus leapt into the air, leaving a trail of cold wind behind him, Terrun puffed out his cheeks and hurried after him. Jeremiah clucked his tongue.

It had already been five years since they came to Thersion. Much had changed in that time. Even with Alexa gone from the world, the world itself kept turning. If there was one thing that had changed as much as the political climate, it was the people. Ysildus was becoming more and more…

‘Is this what they call turning dark?’

Jeremiah clicked his tongue again. Ysildus had become quieter and more wolf-like. It was as though all traces of humanity had been wiped from him. He moved forward without hesitation and cut down anyone who stood in his way without batting an eye.

The Emperor had struck down with an iron mace on Thersion, who had betrayed him. Yet the gates of Thersion had not fallen. At the front lines were Ysildus and Terrun. As if released from a sacred restriction, they wielded their blades and bared their fangs and claws.

Even Jeremiah, who had grown close to them over time, felt a chill crawl up his spine. And Terrun… He had thought him a fox pretending to be a bear, but in truth, he was a wolf pretending to be a bear. Though his large frame made him seem clumsy, he was the most agile among the Thersion knights. 

Ysildus and Terrun had been the biggest contributors in protecting Thersion. Even now, the Imperial Court continued to point their blades at Thersion. The mages who had escaped from the Mage Tower took refuge in the Court’s shadows and moved like its servants. As Jeremiah scrambled to keep up with Ysildus and Terrun, Ysildus threw him a question.

“Have all the people who signed the Thersion charter gathered?”

“Yeah. Most of them. Should we wait a little longer for the no-shows?”

“No. Remove their names from the charter. If they can’t keep their word, it only means they weren’t that committed. Those still weighing Thersion and the Imperial Court on a scale could turn on us at any moment, couldn’t they?”

Ysildus paused, tilted his head slightly, and smiled faintly. He had become more chilling than even Carlisle. Carlisle smiled constantly while ruining others. Ysildus, in contrast, stayed expressionless and only smiled when he was thinking of something particularly cruel.

“Wouldn’t it feel like utter sh*t to play nice and then get stabbed in the back? If it were me, I’d be so upset I’d want to pay it back a hundredfold. And wouldn’t that… be a little dangerous?”

His white teeth glinted in the sunlight. Beneath his shirt, muscles honed through swordsmanship rippled with quiet fury. Jeremiah gave a nod.

“I get what you’re saying.”

A shiver ran down his spine. If Terrun was Ysildus’s shield, then Jeremiah had become his pen. Ysildus himself was so sharply forged that he needed no other blade. No one in Thersion possessed martial prowess on par with Ysildus.

“Keep an eye on the humans. Make sure they don’t wander off. The wolves are already riled up from all the recent fighting. If anyone takes the wrong path and ends up dead, I won’t take responsibility.”

“…I’ll make sure they’re warned.”

“Curiosity is a dangerous thing.”

Ysildus murmured, almost like he was singing. As he strode away with long strides, Terrun and Jeremiah quickly followed after him.

* * *

At the same time that Thersion opened its gates to the humans, a sudden emergency council was convened at the Imperial Palace. The Emperor had declared war on the insolent Thersion and gathered the nobles to hold them in check. But half the seats were empty.

“Where’s Viscount Sullivan?”

“…”

“And what about Germaine? What the hell is with all these empty seats?!”

The Emperor slammed his fist on the armrest. But no matter how furious he got, the seats didn’t fill as he wished. The moment Thersion turned its forces toward the capital, they had withdrawn everything that once safeguarded the Imperial Court. The Thersion knights who had been stationed in the capital to root out traitors returned, and even those who had remained to defend the palace disappeared.

Thersion had infiltrated the capital more deeply than anyone had thought. Law and order had crumbled to the point it was beyond repair, and just managing the chaos left the Emperor mentally drained. In the meantime, Thersion had slipped in among the nobility.

Drawn by the wealth Thersion had accumulated and their military strength, some nobles had taken their side. All facilitated through the Blue Moon Trading Company, which had rapidly risen to power in just a few years. The Emperor ground his teeth.

‘I knew it. Those ungrateful wolves have broken their promise and now aim for the throne!’

Had the blade he once directed at Thersion cut deeper, he wouldn’t be enduring such humiliation now. He would’ve been thumping his belly in peace, playing with Thersion as if on a whim. But not only had his attempts to use the Mage Tower and Spire to shake them failed. Even the informants he had planted had betrayed him.

“Those who once drew their blades for Temperchi have forgotten their glorious past and turned their backs.”

The Emperor muttered darkly.

“But in the end, they will come to realize that they made the wrong choice.”

He gestured to the chief chamberlain. The doors to the council hall swung wide open. A woman in chains, like a beast, was dragged in.

“This woman is our answer.”

“What… in the world…?”

The Emperor signaled to the knights who had brought her in. They removed the gag from her mouth.

“Ruella, speak the prophecy.”

Ruella’s blood-crusted eyes opened slowly. Light returned to her spirit, hollowed out by prolonged torture. In a cracked, rasping voice, she began to speak:

“…Children of the Red Clan, offer up the sacrifice. Carve out the heart of the offering with the claw of the wolf. When the red blood awakens Thersion’s madness, all curses shall be broken.”

Ruella whispered the prophecy, then exhaled in ragged breaths. It was the same prophecy recently delivered to all members of the Red Clan. And Ruella knew who the offering was. As did the Emperor.

“Is the curse… real?”

“Is the legend about Thersion inheriting the blood of wolves… true?”

“Your Majesty!”

“And even if it is, what changes? The Wolf God promised the throne to Temperchi, and it is Thersion who is breaking that promise. The justification is on our side. If the curse is lifted, the mages will regain their power. Once we unite the Red Clan and the mages against Thersion, we will reclaim victory.”

With hope in his eyes, the Emperor declared it aloud. To him, Ruella’s prophecy was a spark of salvation. If the mages and Red Clan regained their full strength, Thersion would be nothing. The nobles stirred anxiously. Seeing their reaction, the Emperor bared his teeth in a mad grin.

“Gentlemen, do you really think the Wolf God will forgive us? Have you forgotten why the Red Clan was cursed in the first place? The Wolf God hates humans! We’ve already betrayed the Wolf God!”

The nobles’ faces turned pale. The Wolf God, known for ending the chaos on the continent and establishing an empire led by humans, was also infamous for his cruelty. If the Wolf God turned his blade toward them… they would not survive.

* * *

Ysildus tilted his head. The very humans who had once hesitated to take Thersion’s side were now stumbling over each other to gather here.

A smirk tugged at Ysildus’s lips. As he gazed upon the humans barking like a pack of wild dogs, bloodlust surged within him. It was an instinct born of being a wolf, something he couldn’t suppress. He licked his lips. The dense scent of humans clinging to the air only urged him on.

“So what does Grand Duke Carlisle plan to do?”

“You’re telling me this brat is going to lead us at the front?! The Grand Duke must be mocking us! Bring him here at once!!”

Terrun puffed out his cheeks and muttered under his breath.

“Bring him, huh. It’s not like they’ve got a death wish or anything.”

Slouching in his chair, Terrun looked utterly disinterested, tapping the table with his fingers while casting a bored glance at the humans. Their cheeks trembled with barely-contained rage.

“The Grand Duke wouldn’t do this to us! We turned on the Emperor at his command!”

Ah, enough. Ysildus slowly began to rise. Just then, the tightly shut doors of the meeting room burst open. A maid burst in, panting, her pupils dilated with excitement. Ysildus turned his head toward her.

“L-Lord Y-Ysildus!!!!”

Her voice sliced through the meeting room like a blade. Ysildus frowned.

“Lady Alexa has awakened!! She’s asking for you right now, Lord Ysildus!!!”

The maid screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Ysildus!”

Jeremiah turned toward him, but Ysildus and Terrun were already gone from their seats.

Ah… These wind-like creatures.

But even Jeremiah could feel it. His weary heart had begun to beat once more.

‘Alexa… has awakened…’

It had been a long, long time.