TMLOP 92

Chapter 92

Dance in the Palm

“Ben, you might die.”

Clifford spoke, and the look on his face was utterly detestable.

It was nothing more than a farce being played out for the eyes of the many nobles watching.

But Venerucia didn’t take the bait.

Right now, he looked like a man to whom the Emperor’s words meant nothing at all.

“I won’t die.”

Venerucia said, looking toward Senelia as if to reassure her.

But Senelia could not possibly be reassured.
By saving herself, she was effectively sending Venerucia to his death.

She thought she had to stop him. She had to hold him back.

But he simply passed her by—heading straight toward Lucalina.

“Luna, protect Selly.”

And then, words fell from Venerucia’s mouth—cruel words that seemed impossible for him to say to her.

Lucalina’s eyes wavered like a ship battered by violent waves.

“Ben, you… are you asking me to protect her?”

“I’m sorry for always being in your debt.”

Yet even as he spoke, Venerucia finished his plea.

It wasn’t merely that he wanted Lucalina to protect Senelia from the monsters.

Right now, Lucalina was the only person here besides Venerucia capable of standing against Clifford.

While Venerucia was gone, the Emperor could do anything to Senelia.

So, Venerucia desperately needed someone who could protect her in his absence.

“But there’s no one else but you.”

At that moment, a collective gasp filled the air.

Venerucia had bowed deeply before Lucalina.

“Ben!”

Lucalina cried out, unable to believe what she was seeing.

But royal pride and dignity were luxuries Venerucia could no longer afford.

“Protect Selly, Luna.”

It was a cruel request to make of someone who loved him—someone whose love he could not return.

Even Senelia couldn’t bring herself to step closer to them.

And yet, ironically, that was the very moment Senelia could finally admit it:
Venerucia’s and Lucalina’s bond had truly ended.

Despite the danger surrounding them, despite her heart pounding in dread,
a strange peace settled somewhere deep inside her.

A bizarre peace—found in the midst of the most perilous moment of all.

Senelia realized then that her cruelty was not so different from Venerucia’s.
She hated herself for it.
Hated it with every fiber of her being.

But there was nothing she could do.

Even as she let him go, she had never really released him.
Eight years was far too long a time to forget how to let him go.

“Ben, you really are… a bastard.”

After a long silence, Lucalina spat the words through clenched teeth.

“…I know.”

Venerucia didn’t move.
It seemed he would not straighten his back until she accepted his request.

Thud.

“Urgh…!”

Lucalina’s fist slammed into Venerucia’s stomach.

He staggered but didn’t dodge, though he clearly could have.

Had he not been a Sword Master, that blow might have destroyed his organs.

“I’ll make sure to collect every debt, down to the last coin, Venerucia Afron,”
Lucalina ground out, her voice trembling with anger and resentment.

Yet even so, she didn’t refuse him.

Because she knew—she had always known—that she was his only true friend.
Venerucia Afron, who had never once lived without standing on thin ice since the day he was born.

“…Thank you, Luna.”

Venerucia said softly.

Then, after entrusting Senelia to Lucalina,
he left—without giving Senelia even a moment to stop him—and charged into the monsters.

✧ ✧ ✧

After Venerucia entered the torn barrier of the hunting grounds,
the number of monsters escaping outside dropped noticeably.

But Senelia couldn’t just sit still.

Venerucia might die.

That unbearable fear consumed her, making it impossible to stay put.

So she thought, again and again.

In the original story, Clifford never wanted to kill Venerucia—
he was the last shred of his humanity.

Even if someone had twisted the future and changed the story,
that part of the Emperor’s heart had been genuine.

Which meant…
Clifford’s heart had changed after seeing the future.

But why?
Why did he feel the need to seize Venerucia’s weakness—or kill him?

Suddenly, a thought flashed across Senelia’s mind.

Without hesitation, she pulled Lucalina aside.

“Sir Elihan, please make a barrier with your aura.”

“Lady Daphne, what are you suddenly talking about?”

“No one can overhear this conversation. Please, I’m begging you.”

Senelia clung to Lucalina, desperate.

The fact that Lucalina was the true protagonist of this world had always tormented Senelia.
But right now, that didn’t matter.

Lucalina stared hard at her, then drew her sword and formed a barrier of aura.

Even though imperial magicians were already creating protective shields around the people,
Lucalina’s additional aura barrier immediately drew everyone’s attention.

But Senelia didn’t care.
She spoke an incantation.

“Block it.”

Just four words—yet they were language magic, not a spell or formula.

Instantly, she felt her mana drain away.

A pale mist veiled Senelia and Lucalina,
their figures blurring as sound and sight were cut off from the outside.

Aura barriers blocked only the physical—
so Senelia had to block vision and sound separately.

People around them stared at the hazy outline of Senelia, bewildered.

An unknown language.
A mysterious phenomenon.
It could only be—sorcery.

“Did Lady Daphne just use… a curse?”

“She’s a sorceress?!”

“My god, has she been hiding that all this time?”

All sorts of eyes turned toward her—
astonishment, disbelief, betrayal for hiding something so important in such a crisis.

Normally, Senelia would have frozen under those gazes, suffocated by the pressure.

And now, she had exposed the secret Venerucia worked so hard to keep—
that she could use sorcery.

Her face went pale, her fingers trembling.

Yet she stood firm.

Because if she didn’t think fast, Venerucia would die.

Whatever she was about to say to Lucalina—
it was something the Emperor must never hear.

Clifford had too many eyes watching,
and even he couldn’t easily break through a Sword Master’s aura barrier.

A shadow fell over her.

Lucalina had instinctively moved to stand protectively in front of her, shielding her from those gazes.

Only then did Senelia exhale, her shoulders trembling.

“…Thank you, Sir Elihan.”

“What is this about?” Lucalina sighed.

From her perspective, Senelia was someone too fragile to hate—
someone who made it painfully clear why Venerucia had asked her to protect her.

“In the future you saw, Sir Elihan… did His Majesty the Emperor die?”

Senelia finally voiced her suspicion.

Lucalina’s eyes widened.
“How did you know that, Lady Daphne?”

Then Lucalina quickly explained,
“Venerucia and Clifford fought each other and died together.
The war was won, but I wanted to save Venerucia—
so I turned back time.”

Senelia swayed.

“Lady Daphne!”

Lucalina caught her as her knees gave out.

The future Senelia knew and the one Lucalina experienced shared one truth:
Venerucia would inevitably face Clifford.
And… Clifford would die trying to kill him.

When Senelia first began doubting Clifford’s intentions,
she had wondered—
if the Emperor truly had to kill Venerucia,
why hadn’t he done it earlier?

She had thought it was because, as in the original story,
he didn’t want to cross the final line of humanity.

But the original had already been broken.
If he truly intended to kill Venerucia,
he could have done so long ago.

And from Lucalina’s words, Senelia found her answer.

For some reason—
the Emperor could not kill Venerucia himself.

So instead, he kept sending him into danger,
trying to expose his weakness by any means possible.

That was what Clifford wanted.

And today, perhaps, the Emperor had already achieved his goal.

If Venerucia died here—
the only person Clifford had to fear would be gone.

But even if Venerucia survived—
it didn’t matter.

Because Venerucia had now proven, at the cost of his life,
that he truly loved Senelia.

For Clifford, that was the most perfect evidence imaginable—
irrefutable proof that Senelia was Venerucia’s one fatal weakness.