Chapter 101
Hestia never said that she wasn’t a witch. After all, she couldn’t even be certain of it herself.
No—if anything, her appearance and circumstances aligned far too closely with what the world called a witch.
In the end, what Hestia gave Terhan was simply the answer she wanted to give—the one she desperately wished he would believe.
“I already know that much.”
But to her anxious plea, Terhan’s reply came without the slightest hesitation.
“And it doesn’t matter.”
“No. It does matter.”
As he smiled gently as though everything would be fine, Hestia shook her head sharply, her voice firm.
“You’ll be in danger. Because of me.”
It wasn’t a guess but a certainty born of countless experiences in the past. Even so, Terhan kept his faint smile.
“In all my life, the only moments I’ve ever felt safe were the ones I spent with you.”
Indeed, Terhan’s entire life had been nothing but filth and danger.
And Hestia knew that well. Living in the palace meant she couldn’t help but hear of his past, whether she wanted to or not.
But this danger was different. This one, she herself had brought about.
“…It will only get more dangerous.”
Teo, because of me.
Her voice could no longer hide its trembling. Her eyes, locked onto his, surely reflected that same faint shiver.
“No. Please don’t say that. Any danger that comes because of you will mean nothing to me.”
His voice was almost a plea—begging her not to abandon him, not to turn away.
“All you need to do is stay as you are. Whatever the rumors, whatever the stares, none of that is your fault.”
Uneasy with her expression, Terhan rushed his words, desperate to turn her heart back.
But Hestia couldn’t accept them.
“How could it not be my fault?”
It was her fault—everything was.
Because of her selfish desire to tie a red string of fate with someone. Because of her arrogance, unable to let go until the end.
“No, it’s because I lack the strength.”
Yet Terhan claimed everything was his fault. With those unwaveringly righteous eyes of his, he made it so easy to want to believe him.
“……”
Hestia squeezed her eyes shut at last. She couldn’t look him in the eye and still say goodbye.
“So please, believe in me. Rumors are only rumors. I will believe only in the truth you speak, and I’ll make the world believe it too.”
Sensing what was in her heart, Terhan’s words tumbled out faster. With her eyes closed, listening only to his voice, she could hear the faint tremor of impatience.
He too must have already sensed their parting.
“Teo.”
Opening her eyes again, Hestia called his name firmly, like one who had steeled themselves to sever everything.
In that gaze, Terhan’s steadfast eyes crumbled in an instant.
“…I’m sorry. For breaking my promise.”
Yet Hestia kept pushing him deeper into despair.
“Hestia.”
He called her as if she were the last lifeline keeping him from plunging into the abyss.
“You’ll be a fine crown prince—no, a fine emperor.”
But he couldn’t stop her final words.
“Say no more. This walk ends here. Let’s return. Together.”
Terhan shot to his feet, urging her to go back with him, but Hestia quietly shook her head.
“Your name will be remembered for eternity as a holy emperor. I’m certain of it.”
Her words tried to sound bright, but tears soaked their edges.
Truthfully, Terhan had sensed this ending already. From the moment she had suggested this walk—no, from the moment rumors began to spread.
Hestia had worn the face of someone who might disappear at any moment.
Forcing a smile that looked as though it could shatter at the slightest touch.
“I won’t listen. That’s an order from your prince.”
Fear poured out of him, desperate to silence her.
He turned his back as if to flee, yet his feet froze at her voice.
“I won’t say it’s for your sake. It’s my choice—for me. Call me a coward, curse me as much as you like, but…”
Though that would hurt a little.
It was a whisper so faint that only Terhan, wholly focused on her, could have caught it.
“Haa… Hestia. If you don’t want to see me lose my mind, then please stop.”
He could not stop her. Standing with his back to her, Terhan bit his lip until it bled, anguish pouring out with his sigh.
Would it help to cover his ears? To close his eyes, and escape this nightmare?
Such useless thoughts shook his reason apart.
“The truth is… I’ve always been a coward.”
Yet contrary to his desperate wish, Hestia did not stop speaking.
Every word of hers became a sharpened blade, driving him mercilessly into despair.
Swish.
She rose to her feet, and with the motion, her familiar fragrance drifted around him.
“Six years ago, and even now… Every moment I was with you, I truly felt alive. For the first time in so long.”
Her farewell did not stop.
“Take care of yourself.”
At last, Hestia placed a full stop at the end.
A dot, no more than that—yet it crushed down on Terhan’s heart with unbearable weight.
“Hestia!”
He spun around, trying to seize her, but she was already gone.
Only her neatly folded garments lay on the ground. No trace of her remained.
“Hestia!!”
It felt like a dream he had once had. Even in that dream, he had screamed in anguish toward the woman who left him.
But reality was far crueler.
Overwhelmed by suffocating terror, Terhan began tearing through the garden aimlessly.
His heart felt ripped into shreds, pain obliterating all sense.
“Haa… Haa… Hestia. Hestia. Hestia.”
His ragged breaths strangled his throat, yet he could only call her name over and over.
The once-bright blue sky had already darkened, and Hestia’s name, cast upward, returned as white snowflakes, blanketing the empire.
Snow—cold, bitter, vanishing the moment it touched warmth. Just like Hestia.
Sudden snowfall draped even the resplendent palace in stark black and white.
“Where is Lady Reyna of House Berner?”
Through the snow, soldiers burst into the Second Prince’s palace.
“Lady Berner… has resigned her post, taking full responsibility for the rumors, and left the palace.”
At the entrance, Milan conveyed Terhan’s words.
“Before leaving, she shed blood by His Highness Prince Terhan Presto’s holy sword, proving she was no witch. Thus, His Highness declared that anyone who dares mention the matter again will be considered to have opposed the name of Presto itself—and charged with treason.”
With the august name of the imperial family invoked, there was only one choice left for the intruders.
“…We shall deliver this message as commanded.”
The holy sword was a token of the prince’s birth, a gift bestowed by the temple as a blessing.
If one were truly a witch, a single cut from the blade would sear the flesh black and leave a wound that could never heal. But if not, it would leave only an ordinary wound like any other human.
That was the surest method of identifying a witch. So with proof given under the name Presto, the gathered men could do nothing but bow and depart.
“Phew…”
Only after the soldiers left did Milan release his pent-up breath.
The firm look in his eyes quickly turned heavy with worry for someone else.
Earlier that dawn, Terhan had sought him out urgently—and Milan had been stunned.
Though the snow had been pouring down endlessly, Terhan’s hair and clothes were soaked through. His ragged breaths flared white-hot in the freezing air.
‘Lady Reyna Berner will not return.’
‘What? What do you mean…’
‘She was not a witch, nor did she ever cause harm. This was proven under the name of Presto.’
And that was all.
Never once had Terhan held the Presto name in high regard. He had never tried to use it, to enjoy its privileges, nor even to mention it proudly.
But now, for the first time, he had wielded its authority. Milan’s confusion was overwhelming. And afterward, Terhan had locked his chamber door, giving no further word.
“Your Highness now looks just like…”
Milan recalled an unwelcome past.
Years ago, after his disappearance, when Terhan returned to the palace to build his foundation—he had begun to search for her.
But no trace could be found.
The look in Terhan’s eyes at dawn had been exactly the same as back then—golden irises swirling with madness, dark flames burning deep within.
“The best I can do for His Highness now…”
All Milan could do was suppress the rumors until Terhan chose to emerge.
With Reyna Berner proven innocent of witchcraft, only one rumor remained:
That Artis Trading Company’s master, Reynold Berner, had murdered Hanna Gerstin.
“We’ve lost an ally’s strength… but perhaps this is the best outcome we could hope for.”
He felt sorry for Reyna, but now all arrows would turn toward House Berner.
For Terhan’s faction, the situation had improved. But Reyna’s sudden departure still weighed heavily on Milan’s mind.
He had even suggested multiple times that she prove her innocence with the holy sword, but for reasons unknown, Terhan had refused each time.
From his reaction, it seemed she had chosen to vanish on her own.
“…No, it can’t be.”
Could it be that Reyna Berner… truly was…
Milan’s pupils widened, trembling in shock.
