Chapter 52
“Your Highness, the Second Prince.”
A masked man approached Franz. It was the assassin who had stabbed Aleisia.
Franz swallowed hard and tightened his arms around Aleisia. If the assassin was going to strike him next, he would accept it.
He hadn’t been there for her in life—so he wanted, at the very least, to die with her.
But the assassin did not attack Franz. Instead, he leaned in and whispered an unexpected message into his ear.
“Prince Crayton has instructed you to leave the palace. Take the Second Princess Consort’s body and leave. If you don’t go now, you won’t be able to take her body in one piece.”
Franz bit his lip at those words.
Flames blazed in his eyes, and his body trembled with fury. Mana surged through him in violent waves.
“Crayton…!”
Franz shouted as if Crayton were standing right before him.
He hadn’t staged this whole farce just to lose Aleisia in such a meaningless way.
He hadn’t brought her to the palace just to use her as a tool for threats.
He hadn’t married her just to see her die like this.
Franz jerked his head up.
To Crayton, Aleisia might have been a mere pawn, but to Franz, she was the love of his life.
That’s why he would make sure to kill Crayton. But first, he had something else to deal with.
The assassin who had stabbed Aleisia.
Franz glared at the masked man. His mana flared. The assassin froze in shock, unable to move.
“Ugh!”
“I’ll make you feel your body freezing from the inside out—down to your very bones. Your blood will harden, your heart will stop…”
Franz’s lips curled as curses spilled out.
“…Franz…”
A faint voice called out.
Franz quickly turned to Aleisia, leaving the assassin trapped in his mana.
Their eyes met.
Aleisia, soaked in blood, lifted a trembling hand and gently touched his cheek. It was the first time she had ever reached out to him first.
Franz trembled. His heart pounded wildly.
Desperately, he pleaded.
“Don’t die, Resa. Please, just hold on a little longer…”
It was a hopeless plea.
She didn’t have much time left. But Franz couldn’t help but cling to that sliver of hope.
Miracles exist in the world.
Aleisia herself was a miracle to Franz—so maybe, just maybe, a miracle would happen for her, too.
Even if it was a long shot.
“Fran…z.”
At the sound of her voice, Franz’s eyes widened.
A mix of overwhelming sorrow and joy enveloped him.
It was the first time she had ever said his name.
And it had to be at a time like this.
His eyes welled up. In his blurred vision, Aleisia gave him a faint smile.
Franz’s face contorted. He wanted to smile back—but he couldn’t.
“Resa.”
His voice caught in his throat.
It was a name he had wanted to call countless times.
But he had always held back—afraid that his love might be too obvious, afraid that it would betray the depth of his feelings.
“You don’t have to… force a smile.”
He said with a trembling voice. Perhaps she understood—her lips pressed into a line.
He looked down at her, his emotions in turmoil.
Every time he had snuck into her villa under the moonlight, he had wanted to see her smile.
Not her peaceful sleeping face—but her soft lips curved in a gentle arc.
Seeing that smile made him feel like he had the whole world.
But now, looking at her smile only filled him with despair.
“I’ll… call for a doctor. Please, just a little longer…”
Franz couldn’t finish.
Aleisia’s heart had been pierced by a blade.
The blood pouring from her chest formed a dark pool beneath her.
It was clear to anyone—her life was ending.
No doctor could save her now.
“I’ll be okay…”
But Franz denied reality. He lowered his head and pulled her into a tight embrace.
He was afraid she would crumble into nothing.
Afraid that she would disappear like smoke.
But he didn’t want to lose her.
He didn’t want it to end like this.
If he had to lose her, then at the very least, he wanted her to know his true feelings.
He didn’t want her to leave this world without knowing his love.
“Resa, I… I…”
“Haa…”
Her faint breath cut off his confession.
Franz closed his mouth and looked at her.
Her beautiful face was twisted in pain—more agony than he had ever seen.
The sight tore his heart apart.
He bit his lip. He strained to hear everything she had left in this world—even her fading breaths.
Aleisia’s dry lips moved.
“You’ll… be miserable. As much as I suffered while loving you.”
Franz nodded. He was prepared to be miserable. He was already falling into darkness.
“I love you.”
At that moment—when her final confession echoed in the air, when her mana suddenly brightened the room like daylight—
Franz realized that where he had been living until now wasn’t hell.
This was hell.
A hell without Aleisia.
Franz stared at her lifeless body in disbelief.
“Resa?”
He never got the chance to tell her he loved her.
She hadn’t allowed him even that.
That was the greatest punishment she had left him.
“This… can’t be happening…”
His vision blurred. His eyes burned. Franz’s face twisted.
He pulled Aleisia’s limp body tightly into his arms, sobbing.
“No… no, Resa…”
“Your Highness.”
A quiet voice called from behind his sobbing figure.
Franz opened his tightly shut eyes. As he did, the room filled with golden light.
At the same time, a wave of intense cold swept in.
“Ugh…!”
The assassin didn’t even have time to scream—he froze solid in an instant.
Franz had not even granted him the time to writhe in pain.
That would have been a luxury—for the man who killed Aleisia.
Franz held her tightly in his arms for a long time, motionless.
All of his focus was on her.
Even as frost settled on her body and her once-soft red hair froze solid, he did not move an inch.
The Second Prince’s bedchamber was freezing into winter.
“What are you doing?”
The windows rattled from the swirling snowstorm. A door from the side room burst open—Crayton entered.
He had been hiding nearby, waiting to see if the assassin completed his task.
But that no longer mattered to Franz. He didn’t even glance at Crayton.
Crayton looked around the frost-covered room, visibly stunned.
“You lost control of your mana over one dead woman? You’ll never be fit to be emperor—”
Before he could finish, a sharp flash of light pierced his heart—a golden arrow of mana.
“Gah!”
Crayton collapsed on the spot, his mouth gaping.
Only choking sounds came from the mouth that had hurled insults at Franz and belittled Aleisia.
“Y-you…”
“Die.”
The mana arrow that had pierced Crayton’s heart resonated in response to Franz’s command.
The light grew stronger—and Crayton let out a horrible scream.
The final cry of a dying beast.
Franz’s expression remained serene, as if he didn’t even hear it. He closed his eyes and waited for the scream to stop.
When it finally did, he slowly opened his eyes and smiled faintly.
It was the smile of a man ready to leave the world.
“I should’ve done this from the start.”
His eyes welled with tears as he looked down at Aleisia’s pale face. Surrounded by three corpses, Franz let out a hollow laugh.
“If I had a chance to atone… I’d make you happy.”
Then, a radiant light began to glow from Franz’s chest. The light grew stronger, and his face turned ghostly pale.
A clear tear traced down his cheek.
“But I won’t be greedy anymore.”
He began to gather all of his mana, offering his own heart as the sacrifice.
Mana that consumes its master’s heart defies the natural laws of the world—it creates miracles.
But no one had ever actually done it.
Because it required one’s life.
And even then, the chances of success were slim.
The ritual was only ever found in ancient texts—there were no stories of anyone surviving it.
No one knew what side effects it might bring.
Risking your life for a spell with unknown consequences—it was pure madness.
But to Franz, if it meant he could turn back Aleisia’s time, nothing else mattered.
This was his atonement.
Desperate and pitiful atonement.
“I’m sorry, Resa.”
Franz’s tears fell onto Aleisia’s cheek.
As his repentance was offered to the world, the brilliant light that filled the room spread across the entire imperial palace.
