Blake and I soon arrived at the Palace of Forens.

I entered my room first to change my clothes and Chelsea entered after knocking.

Most of the nobles attended Sir Ron's wedding, but Chelsea remained in the imperial palace to oversee the renovation of the Sephia Palace.

I told her she didn't have to do that, but she was stubborn, saying that they had to start repairing it and that she had to oversee the renovation herself.

I think she used the renovation as an excuse not to attend the wedding.

Chelsea isn't engaged yet, so if she went to the wedding, people would've nagged her about it.

Even though the wedding is about to end, she could go if she wanted to right now.

I heard that many of her friends and relatives that lived in rural areas traveled all the way here to attend Sir Ron's wedding.

Did she use this chance to avoid them?

"No, I have no intention of leaving the palace today."

She said firmly.

"More importantly, I heard something big happened at the Westin's residence."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

She heaved a sigh of relief. She seemed to be worried about me.

"Thank you for your concern."

"Of course."

"But what's that?"

I asked while staring at the vial in her hand. There was black powder in it.

"Oh, I was cleaning in the Sephia Palace when I found it in your office. I thought it was suspicious so I brought it here."

Since I haven't started my duties as the crown princess yet, I rarely used that office in the Sephia Palace.

But I've never seen it during the times I went there...

Did someone hide it there?

I took the bottle from Chelsea.

At that moment, my vision turned black and countless memories, scenes, and voices entered my mind.

"Richard, here you go! Here it is!"

The children from the orphanage shouted at Richard. Richard, who couldn't stand children, looked at Ser, who turned into me.

"Ancia...?"

He took Ser to his home, thinking it was me.

He then cast a brainwashing spell on her.

"Ancia, we have to kill the crown prince so we can be together."

Richard gave Ser a vial that contained poison.

"Don't worry. It's a perfect poison that neither the doctors nor the palace mage knows of. You'll never get caught."

"But I'm scared..."

"There's no need to be scared. If it was really dangerous, I wouldn't have told you to do it. I love you, Ancia."

The words he uttered sounded insincere.

Richard left and Ser burst into tears while clutching the vial in her hand.

Then I came back to my senses. I looked at the vial with black powder.

This was the poison Richard gave to Ser and Ser left some of her memories in this vial.

'Philip, why did you do that to me? You didn't have to do that.'

'Did you hate me? Was it a sin to die, to wish for your love?'

'Tell me you're sorry, please. That's all I need to hear.'

I felt the sincerity of her words in her memories.

Richard apologized to Ser and she forgave him. It was not because she still had some lingering feelings for him.

However, Richard used Ser to kill Blake in the end.

'I'll never forgive you.'

My hand tightened its hold on the vial.

I can't forgive him. He hadn't changed a bit since a thousand years ago.

He's still the same even when he didn't remember his past life.

I'll catch Richard for sure. I'll catch him and make him pay.

***

A wanted poster with Richard's face was posted throughout the empire.

He had committed numerous crimes, but the worst of them all was the attempted poisoning of the crown prince.

Richard was furious.

He was just a step away from taking the marquis' seat. Using his title as a stepping stone, he dreamed of taking over the society and becoming the emperor.

However, his dreams crumbled overnight and now he was a fugitive.

He never thought Ancia had the power of light.

It wasn't a small amount of mana she owned. She was also skillful enough to use the power of light freely.

It really was Ancia that lifted Blake's curse.

Ancia was indeed the blessed girl and not a delusion made up by foolish people. Lifting the goddess's curse that had lasted for a thousand years was enough proof.

Richard fell into endless remorse throughout his escape.

Where on earth did it go wrong? What was the problem?

He tried so hard, yet why did he end up as a fugitive?

He searched for a reason and found one answer.

His life started to go awry when he met her.

'Even though I was the first person that Ancia liked.'

As a child, whenever she went to a party with her father, she would always stare at Richard closely. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

If he had accepted her love back then, everything would've been different.

The power of light and the language skills Ancia had would've been in his possession. The curse of the goddess would've never been lifted as well.

The crown prince would have died miserably from the curse, and the Duke of Cassil's family would've never fallen.

Yes, that was how everything got messed up.

But there was no point in finding the cause.

Ancia was already Blake's wife, and Richard was a fugitive.

"Master, don't go that way. There are knights ahead."

Connin, who came back after analyzing the situation, reported quietly.

Richard and Karan's faces were posted all over the empire, so only Connin could move freely.

"Then where should I go?"

"That's... there are knights all over the place..." Connin trailed off.

"Who doesn't know that already? It's your job to find a way!"

Richard shouted in frustration. For now, getting out of the city is the top priority, but it was not easy to move because of the tight security.

"I'm sorry."

"Pathetic."

"There! There's a man who looks just like the criminal!"

"The woman is also with him!"

At that moment, he heard the voices of the knights that conversed urgently.

Damn it!

Instead of leaving the city, they nearly got caught by the knights.

Richard ran. Karan and Connin also used black magic to create a way for him to escape.

"This way, master."

Richard clenched his fist and continued running. The knights, however, were getting close to catching him.

Richard kept running.

He could hear Karan's screams, but he ignored them and ran.

Then suddenly, he came to a halt. A large river was in front of him.

Richard tried to find another way, but before he could do so, the knights had already surrounded him.

"Running away is futile, Richard Cassil. Do not add this to your crimes and let yourself get arrested!"

A knight shouted as soon as they encircled him.

Richard wore a cynical smile.

Do not add this to his crimes.

Richard cannot avoid the punishment for attempting to poison the crown prince. Whether his crimes increased or not, the only end that awaited him was death. There was no way out.

Richard looked at the river.

The water level was high and the current was strong, probably because of the heavy rain that went on for several days.

If he gets dragged by the knights now, he will be put on trial and sentenced to death. However, there was a chance for him to survive if he fell into the river. Of course, the probability of dying was great as well.

While Richard was agonizing, the knights rushed towards him. Richard spun around.

But when he saw the strong current, he couldn't dare himself to jump in.

At that moment, he saw a woman's figure in the water, like an illusion.

'It's her! It's that fake woman!'

She had no resemblance to Ancia, but in Richard's eyes, the woman seemed to be the fake Ancia that deceived him.

Richard forgot about his current situation and his fear of the strong current. He dove into the water to get to her.

The knights yelled in surprise at his unexpected action, but Richard couldn't hear anything.

His senses and mind were captivated by the visions of the woman.

The moment he fell into the cold river, a name came to Richard's mind.

'Serphania.'

That woman was Serphania, the goddess of light that gave him powers in the past.

Richard's memories of the past began to pour out one by one.

"You became an emperor thanks to Ser, and now you're going to throw it away?"

"Be careful of what you say. I became an emperor with my own power."

"Philip, what's with this stone plate? Are you crazy? You must be out of your mind! How could you do this? Are you still human? No, it's been a long time since you gave up being a human."

Richard was Philip.

He used the power of light to kill Rakshul, overthrew the Imperial Family of Zelcan, and established an empire with his power.

He was the emperor who founded the Asteric Empire.

"Hahahaha! That's it! I won! I won! It's my victory! Serphania, are you watching? You lost! No matter how many messages you leave, no one will know!"

He was the one who sealed the goddess and in turn, she cursed his descendants.

"The empress' seat is still vacant. Laontel, if you want to leave this place, be my wife."

And Laontel was his woman.

Ever since he was very young, no, from the moment he was born, he was always next to her. He loved her for a very long time.

"Laontel, no! Hang in there! I'll find a way to save you, so if you hang in there a little longer, I'll...!"

"Phillip..."

"Yes, Laontel, tell me. I'm listening."

"I hate you."

"...Laontel? Laontel...? Laontel! Laontel!!"

Philip mourned when Laontel died. Richard felt Philip's grief in his entire body.

No matter how much Phillip shouted, Laontel did not move.

Richard stared at her lifeless face. Then, as time went by, her face gradually became filled with life.

No, she wasn't Laontel.

The golden blonde hair, the sparkling pair of green eyes, and the soft and beautiful visage belonged to Ancia.

Laontel is Ancia. That meant Ancia is his woman.

Richard's eyes brightened at the realization.