Chapter 66
To prove her power to Rasil, Grace had demanded he first procure the materials, and what she demonstrated was visiting the dream of his father, the king of the Taran Kingdom, to show him Phaelon’s invasion.
I couldn’t verify it myself, and I wondered if it was really anything special, but the next day, while dining with Rasil, the king brought up something like this for the first time.
“By any chance, has there been anything suspicious about Phaelon’s movements lately?”
For humans, even that level of suspicion was enough to set things in motion.
Rasil wore a satisfied smile as he went to find Grace. As if she had known it would turn out this way, Grace boldly demanded that he now hand over what she wanted.
“There must be something somewhere. A secret book that holds the method to regain my power.”
Rasil entered the secret archive of the Taran Kingdom for the first time, a place he had never been interested in. It had to be here too— a few books not permitted to see the light of day.
However, the place he had pinned his highest hopes on first did not have the book Grace was seeking. Far from black magic, it only held books deemed useless to the kingdom in terms of ideology, imprisoned there.
Afterward, Rasil offered Grace all sorts of books from the Taran Kingdom. He rummaged through antique shops and raided the libraries of prestigious families. He overturned the emperor’s personal library and even searched the home of a merchant who imported foreign books.
Yet, he couldn’t find what Grace desired, and by this point, he began to wonder if such a thing even existed in the world. It was when he was half-resigned that Rasil’s eyes caught the unusually pale face of the imperial librarian.
Lately, with Rasil’s frequent visits to the library, the librarian greeted him, but for no apparent reason, his face was one that made one’s hair stand on end. With a smirk, Rasil immediately held a sword to his throat.
The startled librarian dropped to his knees at once, begging for forgiveness. Aside from his knights, he was the only one who knew what Rasil was searching for. Rasil could be certain.
“Ah, found it.”
He must have been terrified after searching the library for a secret book that was dangerous even for Rasil to read. Adorably, he had hidden it in his own home. There were as many as five volumes.
Rasil gathered them all and, slicing open the librarian’s chest, took his heart as well. The heart of a living person was a precious ingredient Grace used when entering others’ dreams. If he brought it along with the books, she was sure to be overjoyed, her mouth splitting into a wide grin.
And finally, when Grace said she had found the method in the books Rasil brought her, Rasil was happier than she was.
It was done. Now, the day when the world would fall into his grasp was not far off.
But contrary to expectations, the results dragged on sluggishly. Even reaching the heart of that wench named Angela, which supposedly needed to be torn out and devoured, was not easy.
She was guarded by angels or something. It was nonsense that Rasil couldn’t understand.
“Does such a thing really exist?”
“You believe in my existence, but you can’t believe in that?”
“An angel attached to the child of a demon. It’s strange to believe it.”
“Isn’t it? It’s quite bothersome.”
After that, the attempts repeatedly ended in failure.
“Today, I visited Yvonne. I showed her the sight of my daughter shoving her own daughter into a closet the whole time. She’ll probably lose her mind and corner Angela.”
“Today, I visited Dominic. I showed him how much Angela resembles me, so he won’t just let it go.”
“Today, I finally killed one angel. It seems my daughter’s chest is being torn apart. Lucky, right?”
Even though she reported the results each time, Rasil couldn’t see them for himself, and since Grace hadn’t regained her power immediately, to him, it was all just failure.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, Rasil declared he would bring Angela directly to the Taran Kingdom himself. However, that too ended in failure. As if she had expected it, Grace mocked Rasil and ordered him to fetch more hearts.
Already, more than a hundred hearts had been used for this purpose. At this rate, it seemed he might lose his position as crown prince on murder charges before Grace regained her power.
“There must be plenty of people you want to kill. Line them up outside. If you want to regain my power quickly and wipe out Phaelon.”
“……”
“Or should I just rip out your heart and use it?”
At Grace’s words, Rasil shot up from his seat. Striding forward to Grace, he spread his left hand wide.
“Five. I’ll bring exactly up to here. I hope satisfactory results come within that.”
Having finished speaking, Rasil left the room. Grace stabbed the now-useless lump of blood with a dagger. Whatever heart it was, it twisted into something even more useless.
She had thought that by breaking Dominic and displaying him before Angela, she could easily burrow into her slightly weakened heart.
However, it was harder to approach than when those foolish angels were huddled together, insisting on watching over Angela. This time, it was like wasting an entire heart.
What had made it so solid? Surely she hadn’t already internalized her power and blocked access?
Grace shook her head, dismissing it as a ridiculous notion. She was a fool who hadn’t even realized what power she held after carrying it for over twenty years. So how could she?
Convinced there was no way, yet Grace felt a growing urgency. She blew out the short, melted candles and tossed them carelessly aside, then set up new ones in their place.
This time, she intended to use two hearts. If only that dim-witted Rasil would properly bring the hearts.
Grace cleared the center of the table for the offering and completed all preparations. Leaning back on the sofa, she waited for Rasil. As soon as he returned, she planned to delve into Angela’s consciousness.
If Angela started controlling the power even by chance, it would be irreversible. She had to seize it before then. She needed to absorb the stolen power back into herself.
She would tear out Angela’s heart while she was alive and devour it. What expression would Dominic make upon seeing his daughter devoured by a demon? Imagining Dominic’s face twisted in distortion, despair, and rage, Grace felt a bit better.
Once she regained her power, she would first shred to pieces the soul of that man who had never loved her even once.
Rasil returned at dawn. It was sooner than expected.
Perhaps drunk, the hand tossing the procured hearts was not delicate. Grace, frowning, looked at the fresh hearts as if they were appetizing and placed them on the table prepared with candles. As requested, there were two.
Grace immediately closed her eyes and sent her consciousness far away. Swimming through waterways, parting the veil of darkness, she arrived somewhere.
She knew at once where she had reached. It was inside Angela’s dream.
* * *
Lately, Angela tried her utmost to fall asleep peacefully at night. She knew that if she couldn’t sleep, Kalian would also spend the night wide awake.
For her, it didn’t matter if she dozed like a sickly chicken during the day—lately, she oddly didn’t even feel that fatigue—but it was different for Kalian.
Upon hearing that Kalian had returned to Lorne, the emperor was already impatient to summon him to the palace.
With Dominic out of his mind and holed up in the mansion, not leaving, he seemed even more anxious. It made sense, with the empire’s two heroes neglecting audiences at the same time.
Because of such circumstances, even staying by Angela’s side all the time wasn’t truly rest for Kalian. The thought that he had to lose sleep because of her was infuriating.
Angela stubbornly kept her eyes closed and endured. But Kalian, as if he knew everything, calmly stayed by the side of the sleepless Angela.
Feeling Kalian watching over her through the night like that, Angela always fell asleep around dawn. Today was no different.
Not wanting to wake from the sleep she had barely achieved thanks to Kalian, Angela was pushed by an intangible force and opened her eyes in the darkness. It was a darkness familiar like part of her own body.
Angela knew that soon something would emerge. Without a weapon, she glanced around, on guard in all directions. Even though she scanned so diligently, when she came to her senses, Grace was embracing her from behind.
“My pretty little darling, have you been well?”
The cold embrace was utterly different from Kalian’s, which had held her warmly as he wished her goodnight. In an embrace where no warmth could be found, Angela felt as if she were freezing solid. She struggled to shake off the chill piercing her skin.
The more she did, the tighter Grace constricted her. She could feel the embracing hands touching her chest. It seemed as if she would dig in with her nails just like that.
However, it didn’t seem to be that easy for Grace either. Her nails wouldn’t sink in, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged blue.
Angela drew strength from that sight and struggled even more fiercely, finally succeeding in breaking free from Grace’s embrace.
She glared sharply at Grace. Grace smiled with an unsettling brightness, as if Angela’s gaze meant nothing at all.
“I know you’re in the Taran Kingdom.”
At Angela’s words, Grace paused for a moment before breaking into a grin again. Her attitude was brazen, as if to say, “And what if you do know?”
“I’ll send an emissary to inform them that there’s a sinister presence within the Taran Kingdom.”
Angela held her ground, lifting her chin defiantly. At that instant, Grace burst into cackling laughter. The heightened sound sliced through the darkness like a blade.
“The most sinister presence right now isn’t me—it’s you, my dear.”
Her enlightening tone was followed by more cackling. Angela felt her ears ringing. Overwhelmed by frustration, she covered her ears and shook her head.
Seizing the moment of vulnerability, Grace swooped in front of Angela. Angela precisely grabbed the hand extending toward her. Her eyes, flushed red, fixed on Grace.
“If you can harm me here, that means I can do the same to you.”
With that speculation, Angela gripped Grace’s hand as if to crush it. Grace gritted her teeth.
Indeed. Convinced that she too could affect Grace in this space, Angela thrashed to shove her away.
But Grace, heedless of whether her hand shattered or not, reached out to pierce Angela’s chest.
In the end, Angela began to be overpowered. Even if an unintended power stolen from Grace resided within her—a power she herself didn’t understand—without knowing how to wield it, it was as good as nonexistent. It was only natural that the odds were against Angela.
“Ah…!”
Unable to withstand Grace’s force, Angela was flung backward and collapsed to the ground. Grace approached without giving her a chance to rise.
Whatever she had done, Angela’s entire body was immobilized, as if bound by invisible threads. She ground her teeth and stared at Grace.
“There’s no need to feel wronged. I’m merely reclaiming what was originally mine.”
Grace lunged at Angela like a beast baring its fangs at prey. It seemed she would devour her alive, not leaving a single strand of hair.
Angela bit down hard on her lip. The emotions boiling in her chest weren’t fear. It was the injustice Grace had forced her to suppress. It was anger, it was sorrow.
She recalled the angel who had preached about cultivating a garden of flowers in her heart. If it was an angel, it shouldn’t have been so harsh; it should have protected her to the end. It should have warned her to be cautious so she wouldn’t lose it to a woman like this.
“Those things, you see.”
As if reading her inner thoughts, Grace spoke, her nails half-embedded in Angela’s chest.
“They’re fools with strict rewards and punishments. Dull creatures who believe humans are beings that can realize and grow strong on their own. The one who gave you power without any conditions was actually this mother of yours, Angela.”
The moment Grace called her name, her hand plunged deep into Angela’s chest. Angela’s upper body heaved violently.
She expected pain to come. Her chest had been pierced, so it was only right. But what visited Angela was a peace she hadn’t felt even in death.
“Wh-what is this!”
Flower stems sprouting from Angela’s heart wrapped tightly around Grace’s hand. Grace struggled to shake them off, but the more she did, the stems coiled tighter, climbing up her arm.
Soon, the stems, blooming with vibrant flowers, began to wind around Grace’s neck. Grace tried to fling them away with a panicked expression, but it was futile.
Angela’s mind reeled at the unbelievable scene before her eyes. Could this really be the sprouts, flowers, and fruits those so-called angels had spoken of? She wanted to see more, but… her eyes slowly closed.
In the meantime, the tough stems, as if newly sprouted, gradually tightened around Grace’s throat. In the end, Grace was left with only one choice.
