Raphine exhaled a small breath and called out his name.

"Zerkan...."

There was so much light that it was difficult to look at him. I blinked slowly and saw a white sphere behind Zerkan's back.

It was as if a large moon was right in front of it, and the brilliance it emitted was enormous.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

said Zerkan. It was only then that Raphine realized that Zerkan's heart was beating at a tremendous speed.

All the strength was released all over my body. Even though I had no strength, I was relieved, and it was hard to even stand on my two legs.

The knights passed by the two of them, and it caught my eye as they entered the mansion.

The light of the gigantic sphere disappeared, and Zerkan bent one knee in front of Raffine, who had collapsed from lack of strength.

Raphine, who was trying to explain what caused her, showed Zerkan the restraint device.

"Jeong, the spirits...."

Maybe it was because I met Zerkan, and I was suddenly filled with sorrow. I was afraid that I would never meet the spirits again.

"What is this?"

Zerkan asked. Raphine stuttered explaining.

"So, Geralt Tedler... I don't know how, but this is blocking my magic. So the spirits suddenly disappeared...."

"...."

"Ruby and Orfana... The two, the medium between them turned into powder and disappeared."

Raphine said in a trembling voice. Zerkan held Raffine's hand tightly.

"What if we never meet again?"

Raphine asked while crying.

"I'll do something for you."

"... Uh, how?"

"Somehow. lest you be sad."

Zerkan pulled out a dagger from within. As one of the treasures of the royal family, it was a treasured sword made by a great spirit in the distant past.

"... Isn't that so precious?"

"I'm not worth more than you."

After saying that, Zerkan pulled Raphine's wrist and lowered it to the floor.

Raphine blinked her eyes. Are you going to break the restraint ball with that dagger now?

... Then my wrist is cut off, isn't it?

"I turn my head and close my eyes. It won't hurt."

"That, but...."

Zerkan directly returned Raphine's head. Raphine had no choice but to close her eyes tightly.

bang! bang! bang! Zerkan held the dagger in both hands and cut down the restraint ball with tremendous force. The ground around it vibrated loudly, and dust rose.

Raphine endured the vibrations, and she turned her head and closed her eyes tightly.

Every once in a while, with each loud noise, Raphine imagined cutting off her fingers or wrists.

bang! bang! bang!

However, during dozens of more terrifying sounds, Raphine didn't feel the slightest pain.

As a result, Zerkan began to worry.

No matter how strong it is, it keeps hitting it with such a strong force, but I thought that Zerkan might be having a hard time or getting hurt.

Then for a while.

"Stay there."

With Zerkan's soft voice, the vibration stopped, and the surroundings became quiet as if doing something else.

Raphine flinched in fear.

"Okay, it will be soon."

With Zerkan's reassuring sound, Raphine nodded her head.

Immediately, I heard a loud bang again, and my body began to tremble at the vibration.

Do it again dozens of times.

Quajiic!

It was when Zerkan lowered his dagger a few more times.

Surprisingly, the sound of the restraint ball breaking was heard. Raphine opened her tightly closed eyes and turned her head.

"Break, broken!"

Raphine exclaimed with a bright expression.

The brick-shaped restraints that wrapped around both wrists were splitting into four exactly like a lie.

The cracked cut surface was very clean. It was the result of hitting the same spot hundreds of times without any error.

A dark light could be seen flowing through the split restraint ball. It seemed to be golden magic.

However, without Raffine having a chance to look closely, the restraint ball began to scatter like dust.

At the same time, the bracelet on his wrist returned and he felt the touch of the teddy bear he had hidden in his arms.

"The spirit is back! I'm so glad...."

Raphine, who was about to say that she was lucky, only then discovered Zerkan's condition.

"...."

Raphine kept her mouth open and didn't make a sound. It felt like time had stopped.

The dagger used by Zerkan was a treasured sword with an imperial legend.

However, the handle, which had been studded with colorful jewels, was missing and fell to the floor.

"Uh, what...."

Raphine blinked slowly and looked at Zerkan. He was taking off the bandages on his hands with a nonchalant expression.

When the handle of the dagger came off while striking the restraint ball, Zerkan fixed the dagger with only the blade remaining in his hand and repeated the action again.

The real power of this dagger was not in the handle, but in the blade.

Thanks to that, of course, Zerkan's palm was mangled with a knife.

Tears welled up from Raphine's eyes. My eyes clouded so much that I couldn't control it.

"... No need to cry."

Zerkan frowned at Raffine like that. As I was wiping away my tears, I noticed the condition of my hand and let out a short sigh.

He tore off his white shirt from the inside and wrapped it around his hand like a bandage.

Raphine couldn't do anything and just cried. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do.

"Uh, how are you.... Cow, hand...."

"I'm fine."

Zerkan groaned in a nonsensical way, trying to calm Raphine.

But Raphine's crying showed no sign of stopping. Zerkan pulled Raffine and hugged her in her arms.

Raphine closed her eyes tightly and hugged Zerkan to face her.

for a long time like that

"majesty! Inside, they found Empress Rebecca and her maid, Saint Celestina. And...."

The knight who came closer looked at the two people who were hugging each other and froze and blurted his words.

"And?"

When Zerkan asked, the knight said, 'Ah!' answered.

"I found Gerrol Tedler, and it was...."

"Why?"

"I'm already dead...."

"...."

"His whole body was cut in pieces with a knife."

When Zerkan nodded instead of answering, the knight moved immediately.

The real Raphine, who barely stopped crying, said as if she remembered something important, suddenly fell from his arms.

"Gerol Tedler intended to dedicate his empire to the kingdom of Themion by making Antonio emperor."

In response to the sudden words, Zerkan just stared at Raphine without answering.

"Themion Kingdoms are planning to devour the Empire!"

Raphine said as if frustrated.

It was the same in the original. It's not that Antonio sold the country, it's that they control everything.

The clues to the unidentified incident began to unravel at last.

"So you were trying to kill me?"

In response to Zerkan's question, Raphine realized that the explanation was insufficient.

"Their purpose is to destroy the charge."

"...."

"He killed me and tried to shake you, Zerkan. In the past, the weakness of your majesty was the empress's majesty, but... They seem to think they are me now."

Still, Zerkan was silent. Raphine added awkwardly to the strange feeling.

"Tea, I may be mistaken... Anyway."

"It's not an illusion."

"...."

Raphine opened her eyes wide and looked at Zerkan. His red eyes were staring at Raphine without a single move.

"They were right. My biggest weakness is... It's you, Raphine."

"... what."

"If anything happened to you according to their plan, I would be crazy."

"...."

"It's the first time I've been this angry. really... If you were dead, I would be crazy."

Raphine opened her mouth in embarrassment. Zerkan continued with a harsh hoarse voice.

"I must have come to my senses when I was the only life left on this continent."

"...."

"I'm really happy. You weren't hurt, so...."

Zerkan still looked at Raphine with an unwavering gaze.

But his pupils were full of fear.

Tears of relief began to drip from Zerkan's eyes. Seeing his tears, Raphine was enveloped in an unknown emotion.

No words were able to express my current feelings.

* * *

On the way back to the Imperial Castle, Raphine lost her mind.

When Raphine wakes up after a few days. The capital was literally turned upside down.

Raphine opened her eyes slowly and realized that this place was on the bed.

"Baby!"

"master! Whoops, my lord... Oops!?

As soon as I opened my eyes, Ruby and Orpana's voices were the first to be heard. Raphine was relieved to see the doll placed next to the pillow and the bracelet on her wrist.

'thank god....'

"What the hell happened? Time suddenly stopped!"

"That's right! How scared... Sobbing."

The spirits sobbed.