Crown of Thorns

“I’m afraid you’re overdoing it.”

Ruadhan said as I looked up at him. His endlessly cool face was faltering. And with his hand shaking, quite different from his usual steady movements, he laid a candle in front of me. I was grateful for his sincere concern, and I answered in a slightly lighthearted voice.

“There’s not much time left. I can see the end now. I’m sure you’ve had a hard time helping me. Thank you very much.”

Ruadhan’s face faltered even more. It seemed as if there was a crack in his dry, cool face. He looked down at the floor with his brows furrowed and then opened his mouth again, looking back up at me.

“Nyx.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“…Can you…please, stop?”

“Ruadhan.”

“I understand your heart better than anyone else. I also know why you’re doing this and why you have to do it. But this is the end… Isn’t your life too precious to be discarded so?”

Ruadhan’s expression was quite shaken. His friendly gray-brown eyes deepened mournfully, as if they were about to shed tears. However, the coldness in his eyes prevailed in the end; thus, they didn’t really show tears. Nevertheless, he still looked unusually restless.

As he said, my life was very painful. It was a cursed life filled with a series of endless suffering. However, I am pretty happy now, before that end comes. I am happy to have met Evan. I am also grateful for having been able to find someone who sincerely cares for me stay by my side like Ruadhan. Besides, how can I be lonely and tired when there are people who walk with me until the end of my journey?

“I’m fine. If there’s anything to be worried about, it’s taking care of things after I go. I’m sure that if it’s you, Ruadhan, you would handle everything as I wish, but what about the others? Please take care of yourself and try to make sure that the world you and I wanted comes to be.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“I hope that you will also be happy, Ruadhan.”

With eyes filled with sadness, he stood there quietly for a long time. Then, he opened his mouth.

“I’m happy. I’m so happy that I got afraid of the future.”

When I looked at him with a bit of shock on my face, he continued with a tearful expression.

“I don’t want to see you suffer anymore, and I don’t want to see the world rebuilt at your own expense. Can’t you understand my feelings?”

“…”

“I hated the warrior, Evan, for the first time.”

“Don’t say that.”

I gently held my hands together around the burning candle in front of me. It was an object that glowed at the expense of its own body. Somehow, it looked like me and felt friendly for some reason. It was a pleasure for me just to give Evan the strength to shine his light. Driving darkness away everywhere, along with the witch, who only pushed people into pain, a witch who made their futures bleak.

“I’m very grateful that I can end my life. I always feel sorry for the victims of my selfish greed. So I hope that you will stop making any more sacrifices. That’s my last wish and dream.”

Ruadhan stood silent for a while, then got up after bowing deeply. After fixing the glasses on his nose, he left the room without a sound. His back looked very lonely. My selfishness and greed did not only harm the people of the world. I didn’t know how to pay for this crime.

May it end with my death. May everything be over soon.

*

Because of the rebels, Evan became more and more difficult to see. The more they dug around the palace, the more Evan could not fall away from the emperor’s side. Perhaps the Emperor noticed that he was a warrior, the only hope to kill the witch.

Princess Heleina did not show up at all after moving her residence to the palace. I was frustrated because I didn’t know what was going on there where I couldn’t get in.

As Evan was not able to come to the tower and was confined to the palace, I turned my eyes to the world. I followed the aristocrats who sought work to help Evan. I also followed Neriano who was sticking to Yohan and treating him. The latter was unable to run to the battlefield due to his previous deep wound. And so, he stuck to running things from behind.

It was only a matter of time before Phyletto had swallowed the palace. Of course, I wasn’t worried because I would escape all this chaos in the end, even if I stirred them up too much.

As I roamed around the battlefield, I found Yohan wielding a sword in his barracks and moving slowly. It was obvious that he would be the enemy’s goal again once he appeared on the battleground so I was hoping he would slow down a little more. Yohan got on the horse and headed for the battlefield. He was the man who would be the biggest strength and the most reliable fence for Evan, so he had to follow and help him, not risk killing himself.

Screams and cries that had been heard from afar began to grow louder. Some were running while followed by the sharp tip of a fast arrow. I couldn’t hide my confusion when I saw people screaming painfully on the floor.

When he reached the battlefield, Yohan immediately dug into the cracks and swung his sword. As the fast and powerful man passed on his horse, the people in front of him collapsed in a flash and died without much resistance.

The enemies lost their fighting spirit and retreated helplessly. However, some of the enemy forces shouted and attacked, jumping in with their swords. In the distance, arrows flew incessantly and threatened him.

As usual, I protected him by grabbing the attacker’s feet and striking out arrows and anything that would make him lose his balance or endanger his life. After fighting for a long time, I looked around and found that Yohan stood in the lead and defended the palace more strongly than anyone else. Their disheveled ranks gradually took shape, and the energy of the Knights and trainees who saw that their leader had come was clearly restored. His presence alone changed the mood dramatically.

It was then that Yohan, who had been leading the way in dealing with enemies boldly, called me.

“Witch.”

I looked at him in astonishment. Did he notice the Shadow buried in the dark? But he was still wielding his sword and destroying the enemy without giving a look to the side where the Shadow was. His voice continued as I tried to calm myself, even though I was deeply shaken.

“Witch. I know you’re here.”

I was so surprised that I stopped breathing. It was natural that the Shadow could not breathe anyway, but my body was connected to it through my consciousness, and so it stopped breathing. I almost broke off from the Shadow and came back to the tower. That’s how much my mind was shaken.

I wondered if it was just a question, so I stopped for a minute and pondered.

“Come to my barracks when the night gets deeper. I’ll wait.”

I had no choice but to realize that he had finally noticed my presence at the end of the day by the time his next words were uttered. However, doubts could not be easily erased. How? Did someone see the Shadow move? Or did you just guess? If that’s not it…

“Please come. I’m sure you’ll come. It’s about Evan.”

Did he hear my whispering voice? I must have been losing my mind. I wasn’t able to recover in such a short time.

I was worried about what to do. Now that everything is running toward the end, what effect will this have?

If Evan finds out the truth now, will there be any difference?

I quietly glanced at Yohan to try and read his thoughts, but he was busy swinging his sword with a cold face. Only his taut mouth and his firm eyes showed that he had no doubts that I had heard him.

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