Carlisle did not hear anything that was said to him. It wasn’t just his hearing that failed to process—his eyes were open, but he couldn’t see, and his mind was numbly blank.
i
He was left alone in a world without Elena. It was an intolerable pain beyond endurance itself. A terrible cry tore from his throat.
“Raaaaagh!”
An inhumane scream roared from deep within his body. Zenard, who was running towards them from nearby, widened his eyes when he saw Carlisle’s transformation. He turned towards the frozen form of Derek and yelled at him.
“Lord Derek, get out of the way!”
“What?”
Derek’s head jerked towards Zenard, and at the same time, a Lunen enemy soldier ran towards Carlisle with a sword.
“Emperor Ruford! Take this!”
The soldier did not make it far. Carlisle caught the man’s neck with his black-scaled arm.
“Kkkkg!”
The soldier uselessly scrabbled at Carlisle’s hand in an attempt to escape, but Carlisle squeezed the man’s throat. The man’s eyes bulged grotesquely as he choked. After a hideous sound, the Lunen soldier finally went limp and died.
The sheer ruthlessness of the display caused those in the vicinity to fall into horrified silence. There was a dramatic difference between Carlisle earlier and Carlisle now. Even the air around him seemed to sink from the dark aura around him.
Carlisle snarled, and his eyes hardened as he stared down his other potential victims. It was terrifying. Even Derek was stunned to the point of immobility, and Zenard was forced to grab him and drag him away.
“You’ll die if you’re near him. We have to get away as much as possible.”
“What the hell was that…?”
“I’ll explain later. Everyone, get away from the Emperor!”
Paas!
His warning came too late—Carlisle darted forward, and in a single slash, another Lunen soldier died before he had the chance to raise his sword.
Not a single creature could stand in front of Carlisle and live. His wild blue eyes had already lost their reason.
“Aaaah! S-save me!”
Carlisle’s clawed hand ran straight through the fleeing soldier’s torso. He wrenched out his hand again, and the soldier’s body tumbled to the ground.
Carlisle grinned and licked the enemy’s blood off his arm. It was as if he were—enjoying himself. He was there, and not there at the same time.
Zenard had only seen him like this once before, when Elena almost died of a poisoned arrow.
‘His Majesty has gone mad with bloodlust again. But it’s worse this time.’
Carlisle’s monstrous mutation was easily visible from a distance. From Zenard’s experience, the greater the transformation, the stronger the power. This very moment was the greatest power Zenard had ever witnessed.
‘…No one can stop him. We have to get away now.’
Zenard yelled at any of the Ruford soldiers that could hear him.
“Get away from the Emperor!”
But his cry did not reach everyone. The Ruford soldiers stood frozen in stunned awe at Carlisle’s dragon-like appearance. Carlisle’s eyes slid towards them, and he growled and charged towards them. It did not matter to him whether the people in front of him were from Ruford or Lunen. He was driven by a mad obsession to kill anyone who blocked his path.
But at that moment.
“Caril, stop it!”
Somewhere, a clear voice rang in the air.
It was a voice that Carlisle knew. A voice that his heart pined for. He could cry just from hearing the sound.
But his charge did not stop.
‘Elena is dead. They took Elena from me. I’ll kill them all.’
His only desire was to kill. Kill everyone.
Even if he killed all the soldiers here, his anger would not be satiated. No, even if he burned the whole world, the chasm in his heart could never be filled. He would never be able to wake up from this anger and despair. His blood pumped hotly in his veins, and if he didn’t do anything right now, his whole body would burn.
The violent emotion had awakened the cursed blood of the dragon.
From a distance, Zenard’s voice rang out as he tried to stop someone.
“Stay away from him! Getting near him is suicidal!”
Carlisle raised his hand to strike the Ruford soldiers, when suddenly—
Walak!
A small, warm body held his back.
His instincts told him to immediately kill whoever was holding him, but a familiar scent caused him to stop.
“I’m here, Caril. That’s enough.”
Carlisle slowly turned his head towards the voice. The first thing he saw were long, blonde locks fluttering in the wind. Then he saw fair skin, crimson lips, a straight nose, and thick lashes. Beneath them were jewel-like red eyes that looked up at him.
He thought he would never see her again.
It was Elena.
For the first time, recognition flickered behind Carlisle’s rage-filled eyes.
“…E….lena?”
“Yes. I’m back, Caril.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears as she pressed herself more firmly against him.
Carlisle’s body stiffened. He was completely stunned. Derek clearly told him that she was dead. Was this an illusion? A dream?
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His head swirled in confusion. But soon he thought, what did it matter? Elena could be a ghost or a fantasy, but he was happy that she showed up in front of him.
Perhaps the grim reaper that came for Carlisle would leave him one last happy moment.
Carlisle turned around, and held Elena’s body so tightly that there was not a gap between them. He leaned his head against her shoulder.
“…Why are you so late?”
He was hell-bent on destroying the world that had taken Elena from him. He wanted to bring ruin to everything, and eventually even himself. It was suffering enough when Elena was kidnapped, and he couldn’t confirm for himself whether she was alive or dead. He couldn’t eat, sleep, sit down, or think. It was as if his lifeblood drained from him with every second of her absence.
Carlisle held her fragile body with all his might.
“I don’t care what you are right now. Don’t let go. Don’t ever leave my side again.”
“I won’t. I’ll stay by your side and never fall away.”
Elena looked up and looked into Carlisle’s face. She then touched his chin and smiled brightly.
“I missed you.”
Carlisle’s brow furrowed at her long-awaited appearance, and he once again locked her in his arms.
“…Me too. I would have died from missing you.”
The black scales began to recede from his body, leaving behind unblemished, pale skin.
Seueug—
Zenard sighed with relief, and lowered the sword he was pointing at Carlisle. He had worried that Carlisle would not recognize Elena in the midst of his bloodlust. This was a miracle. It was impossible to stop Carlisle’s madness, but this was the first time that his rage had evaporated so quickly.
Once again, Zenard realized how precious Elena was to Carlisle. He smiled at the pair of them. Today might have been the worst day…
But it was changed into the most triumphant moment.
***
After everything had settled, Elena and Carlisle returned to the barracks, and Elena explained how she had arrived here.
Kuhn was the main reason why. When he heard that Elena set out to save Alphord, Kuhn was just a step behind Derek’s unit. Derek arrived at the scene of the battle first, and he saw the medicine men and believed his father and sister to be dead.
Meanwhile, Kuhn’s unit came across the Ruford knights transporting Alphord, who was injured, but still very much alive. Kuhn arranged for the impatient Alphord to see a doctor in Lunen, then hurried to help Elena in her mission to kill Paveluc. Because of this, Alphord had not yet arrived, and was being treated secretly across the border.
Since Kuhn’s unit did not suffer large losses, and were able to track Elena’s group. It was why they were able to get to her quickly and save her from the flames.
Carlisle was initially confused by the story recounted to him, but after calming down and listening to Elena, understanding and reason gradually made its way back to his mind.
“I’ll be sure to reward Kuhn generously.”
“Yes. It was because of Sir Kasha that I was saved from the crisis.”
“But on the contrary…I have to reprimand you, my wife.”
Elena looked puzzled at Carlisle’s sudden change in tone. He continued on in a serious voice.
“Why did you go after Grand Duke Lunen when he was headed for Jenar? What if something went horribly wrong?”
“I had no choice. If I let Paveluc go, then everyone would be in danger.”
Even Carlisle could not reprimand Elena on her choice. But it was a dangerous one. It was terrible to think that he could have lost Elena in an unforeseen accident. He never wanted to experience the despair he just felt earlier.
“I know that was the best choice you could have made, my wife. But don’t make the same choice twice. From now on, your safety comes first.”
To Carlisle, Elena preceded himself, the Ruford Empire, the Blaise family, and the child in her belly. She was his first priority.
“Keep your promise to me. You decided you would live as my woman when you became empress. You cannot get hurt. You cannot get sick, and you cannot even die.”
Carlisle lifted his large hand to stroke Elena’s cheek.
“If something happens to you, I’ll die too.”
A glimpse of Carlisle’s change a little earlier enabled Elena to fully understand his meaning. She replied with a slight nod.
“I know. I won’t put myself in danger anymore.”
Carlisle lifted his eyebrows doubtfully at her, but he pulled her back into a tight embrace.
“…This is the last time I’ll believe you when you say that. If you do it again, I’ll have you tied to me.”
Elena burst into laughter. After a moment, she looked up at him and gave him a playful smile.
“Are you serious?”
“Do you think I’m joking?”
“No. But if I don’t like it, I won’t let you.”
“…”
Carlisle didn’t have an answer for that. He could never deny his beautiful wife anything she wished, and he had no choice but to lose to her. He scowled in disapproval.
“You know me too well.”
Elena couldn’t help but smile at his grumbling tone.
Soon after, she unwound her arms from his shoulders and laid a hand on her flat stomach. A child was growing inside there.
“I hadn’t had the chance to tell you, but I’m pregnant.”
“…I know. After you disappeared, I heard it from your lady-in-waiting.”
“Ah, that must have been Mary.”
Elena gave a nod of understanding. Carlisle stared at her stomach, then lifted his eyes back up to her face.
“Are you in pain? In truth, I don’t know much about children, but I will learn from now on. It’s our baby.”
Carlisle placed a careful hand on Elena’s stomach, and she felt his longing in his touch. She looked up at her husband with tender eyes.
“I was worried that you might hate children. But seeing you welcome the child makes me feel at ease.”
Carlisle despised the cursed blood flowing through this body, and if it weren’t for Elena, he hadn’t intended to leave behind another generation. Elena was deeply relieved that Carlisle was happy about her being pregnant. He smiled back at her.
“I don’t know if it’s because of you, but…I can’t deny a child born between you and me.”
His hand left her stomach, then slipped upwards to her graceful neck where he drew her close.
Carlisle’s lips touched Elena’s forehead. She looked up at him, and a genuine smile broadened across Carlisle’s mouth.
“I love you.”