‘As opposed to saying that my anger went away, it would be more accurate to say that I randomly got brought back . ’

‘Am I too young or is Mom too sly? She admitted her faults right as soon as she appeared, leaving me speechless . She then named my faults, causing me to lose momentum . She then forcefully brought me back to the outer court, and then put me under house arrest . My guard unit got sent to stay at the Valkyries’ station to go and flirt with them…’

‘They thought my relations.h.i.+p with Mom had gone back to the positive way it was before and felt relieved . As soon as they heard they could leave, they really left… They really did…’

‘Though I’m under house arrest, Her Majesty didn’t have her Valkyries protect me . It looks as though Mommy Elizabeth pays a lot of attention to the Valkyries now after that incident .   She didn’t arrange for any guards to protect me . Instead, she had Philes and Shusia bring a few others to stay with me under the pretext of protecting me . ’

‘So why did I say I was under house arrest you ask? That’s because my horse is missing! I went to the stables to look for my horse, but there wasn’t a single one there . That’s Mom’s trick to keep me here . I’m now wondering if she’s going to take my shoes away, too . I could just leave and look for a horse to leave this place; however, I do want to have a proper talk with Mom, too . Therefore, I decided to stay here for a while longer . ’

‘We

still need to make some preparations to transport Luna home . I can’t just carry her back the whole way . Of course, if that’s what I must resort to, then so be it . I need to prepare a better casket for her . and then transport her back to Troy City via horse carriage . She’s gone through so much, so I want to let her, at least, be able to relax on her last journey . ’

I gently held Luna’s freezing hands in my hands . I sat next to the bed that she was lying on and looked at her cheeks .

‘Luna still looks so beautiful and pitiful . I’ve already done my very best to give Luna the just treatment she deserves . Besides not being able to personally avenge her, I’ve done everything that I can . But despite that, the immense guilt and sadness I feel when I hold her hands hasn’t reduced at all . ’

‘It’s as though everything I did was meaningless . ’

“Luna… Luna… Was I worth it…? Was I worth you throwing your life away for…?”

I wiped my tears off my face and tightened my grip on Luna’s hand . Luna, however, couldn’t hold my hand again . Her expression didn’t even change . I looked at her smile and gently stroked her lips .

‘If I could’ve let Luna depart with this expression, I wouldn’t be feeling so sad right now . ’

‘Luna died for me . She died because of me . If I was strong enough, Luna wouldn’t have met with this sort of fate . If I was strong enough, I wouldn’t have had

had to return here, and I wouldn’t have to succeed Her Majesty’s throne . I could establish my own empire . Succeeding Her Majesty’s empire will only attract more and more and more schemes and sinister plots ‘

‘I’m sick of it already . I am honestly sick of it already . I’ve tried so hard already, yet Castor still ended up swimming in their own blood . I did what I did to protect them . But humans always like to do things they themselves perceive to be correct . ’

‘I can’t protect others nor can I conquer others . My kindness is meaningless to these people; meanwhile, they can take everyone I love from me . ’

‘I don’t want Mom’s empire . Her presence has been engraved deeply into this empire . Mom s.h.i.+nes too brightly . I believe that even more people would be stating that I’m unworthy of succeeding this empire had I not gone all out to save it once . I really don’t want to fight with Mom’s supporters . I don’t want to get into a political war . I want my own country . I want my own empire . I want my on loyal people and my own power . ’

‘Troy City is too small for me . I’m not longer after a city, but a region with my power . I want a grand empire similar to Mom’s . I don’t want to succeed hers . That way, everybody will change their opinion of me . ’

‘If I could have done that, Luna wouldn’t have died . She’d still by my side right now . ’

‘If possible,

’

‘If possible, I really want kiss Luna’s lips again, hold her hands again and hold her beautiful, yet weak body again . ’

‘Unfortunately, it’s impossible now . ’

“Luna, let’s go home . I’ll take you home . I think that the sea of flowers suits you more . I’ll take you to the sea of flowers in the village that you were born in and grew up in . I’ll always come to see you and the flowers bloom . ”

I gently stroked Luna’s forehead and struggled to my feet as though I exited my memories in the past and my love for Luna . I let go and returned her hand to her chest .

‘This isn’t all that I can do for Luna . Since Alice fought so hard for the Valkyries, I’ll ruin what she worked so hard to create . ’

‘I said it before . I couldn’t kill Alice, so I’ll destroy her, instead . I want to make it so that n.o.body will remember her in the future . I want her to vanish from this world without a trace . ’

‘My next step is to destroy the Valkyries . Such a squad shouldn’t continue to exist . The Valkyries have gained too much power . They’ve gained so much power that they can bring harm to anyone in the Empress’ absence . I must change them into a simple guard unit from now on . I won’t let another Alice appear . ’

‘Further, I want Alice to know that I, personally, destroyed the Valkyries that she worked so hard all her life nurturing!’

‘I’m not angry with Her Majesty’s faults, but I will forever remember what you did

what you did Alice . I’ll remember it for life . I’ll never go to visit your grave, and I won’t touch anything you were involved with . My descendants will never be named Alice . ‘

‘Once I’m dead, I’ll go to where you are and personally kill you again!’

‘I’ll never forget this grudge . ’

Philes walked in and made a small bow to me, “Your Majesty, Miss Luna’s new casket is ready . Do you want to put Miss Luna inside now?”

“Ah, I’ll do it myself . ”

I nodded then carried Luna up and headed outside . The guards in charge of transporting her stood on both sides of the corridor and solemnly welcomed Luna and I who came out . They wore formal robes and stood next to us . They were silent as the forest that guards us . The black horse carriage was parked at the entrance with an open casket set on an incline behind it, revealing the soft-looking cloth inside .

I gently placed Luna inside, and then adjusted her posture . I then gave them my order, “Don’t place any bouquets . The bouquets here are completely meaningless to her . I will personally fill it up with flowers . You just need to put the lid on properly first . ”

“Understood!”

“So, Your Majesty, when are we heading out? Are we leaving first?”

“I can’t go even if I want to right now . I need to speak to Her Majesty one last time . We’re leaving together for sure . As I mentioned, I want to personally bring Luna home . ”

I touched the black casket then turned around and walked toward the inner court .