Chapter 1:
“Gah….”
Charmaine coughed up blood from the tightened collar around her neck.
It was a shackle she had willingly given herself—as the loyal servant of Lakan, the Emperor of Rintvel.
Bound by chains shot by her own disciples, Charmaine thought to herself:
What was my mistake?
She had never looked up to the heavens and deceived her lord, nor had she ever acted in betrayal.
“Charmaine.”
“…Yes, my lord.”
Her voice, almost a whimpering beast’s, was twisted with pain.
“You’ve done well. I knew you’d bring me victory.”
Lakan bared his teeth in satisfaction.
But despite those words full of contentment, he tugged the thorned collar even harder.
The spiked shackle forged from Charmaine’s own magic—
She had the power to break it. But she couldn’t. That would be an act of betrayal against her lord.
But why? Why?
She had wallowed in the filth of the battlefield her whole life and gifted him the entire world.
She had eliminated his enemies and even destroyed Elium, a long-time rival they had failed to conquer for over a decade due to repeated interference from the Magic Tower.
As proof of her loyalty, she had even delivered his long-cherished dream—dominion over the entire continent.
And yet…
“You’ve served your purpose. Now die for me.”
“Why…?”
For the first time, Charmaine questioned him.
Lakan grinned again, baring his teeth.
“As long as you’re alive, I can’t be the strongest. That’s why you have to die.”
“…”
That’s it? That’s the reason I have to be erased?
The shock pierced her ears and swallowed all surrounding sound. Her ears rang in silence.
So that’s what he meant. That was the will of her lord.
Being the strongest—that was her only sin.
It was an unbelievably vile way of thinking.
Charmaine let her head drop in hollow despair.
With that single sentence, all the questions she had about her lord’s actions dissolved into emptiness.
Everything she had endured, every hardship she had borne—resigned in an instant.
“Charmaine Noël Kenders. I order you to die, for the last time.”
And so, she died.
