”It’s not your fault, Your Majesty,” I[1] said.

”You don’t need to comfort me. There was nothing we could do,” Charlotte told me.

”No. It’s not a matter of justifying it as being inevitable. There could have been many other ways. We should have looked for other ways. Yes, we should have done that,” I expressed.

”The decision was made for the people. The innocent citizens were killed by my hands because of those people,” she said.

“More people would’ve died if we didn’t do that. The knights and soldiers who are protecting the empire and the many innocent people who look up to you would have all died. That plague—” I paused.

“I know. I know it very well. We need to take care of it before the symptoms start to show. We didn’t have any other choice because it was airborne, and there was no other way to save the contaminated land. But Count Kim, they haven’t turned into the Undead yet. I’m certain they were still humans. Their painful cries weren’t the cries the Undead makes. It sounded like the cries of children, I’m certain of it,” she explained.

”What are you…”

“I heard them talking to me. The citizens who died because they had been betrayed by a stupid empress like me, they were criticizing me,” she added.

“You seem exhausted, Your Majesty.” I pointed out.

“No, I’m not. I’m certain I’m fine,” she argued.

“Your Majesty…”

“When I was young…” Charlotte started.

“Yes?”

‘When I was young… before my mother passed away, I recall her telling me this.’

“...”

“She told me not to be a difficult person and enjoy every moment of my life while living quietly and ordinarily. She told me to live peacefully like the others on the outskirts and away from the imperial castle. I recall her telling me something similar when she passed away, but I was very young back then,” she confessed.

“Your Majesty…”

“I’ve been watching the kind of hardship my mother had experienced in this place. I know deep within me how those with no power are treated. That’s why I wanted to change the empire by becoming the empress. I brought down my sister with my own hands, betrayed my father’s expectations, and even got blood on my hands. I’ve fought the Vatican and foreigners like you. That’s how I became the ruler of this empire,” she continued.

“...”

“After being in this position, I realized I was no different than them. No, I was no different from them from the start. To protect my position, I got blood on my hands once again and lived that way for a few years. I lived like that because… because I was afraid of losing power. My oath to create an empire for the people was suppressed by exhaustion and burden. The dream I had since I was little was torn to pieces by reality. When I suddenly looked at myself in the mirror, the face of my older sister, whom I hate a lot, was reflected in the mirror,” she added.

“That’s not true, Your Majesty.”

“This position doesn’t fit me, and I realized that now. I’m not capable of bearing the crown, and I won’t be able to wash away my sins. It’s hard. Yes… I’m very exhausted. As my older sister had said back then… In the end, a commoner’s blood couldn’t bear this burden,” she went on.

“Your Majesty…”

“If I were reborn… if I could, then I would want to live the life my mother told me to live. I want to try living like others. Like others… I want to meet the love of my life, laugh, and have a lot of children and a family… That’s how I want to live,” she admitted.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to,” I commented.

“Haha. It’s not that I haven’t thought about marriage, and if it’s with someone like you, I’m sure I’ll live a very happy life. Anyway, let’s stop the small talk. We need to get up,” she said.

“It’ll be better if you rest. There’s no need for you to take charge,” I suggested.

“I’m fine. We need to wrap up the remaining tasks. We need to burn the people and protect the empire,” she reminded.

“Your Majesty.”

“Today… tomorrow… and the next day, we need to kill the people and… like that… Ha… Hahaha. We need to protect them.” She laughed.

I opened my eyes and grabbed the sand on the ground. I was certain this was the place. This was where I had that conversation with Charlotte and killed innocent people. This was the ground zero of the plague that turned ordinary people into the Undead and killed a quarter of the continent’s population.

When I opened my hand, the wind started blowing the sand off of my hand, and as I stared at it absentmindedly, I saw people before me. I realized that I had spent too much time immersed in my emotions.

“H-How are you…”

“So you know me...” I pointed out.

“...”

“The rumors must have reached this place. I’m sure ordinary people won’t recognize me,” I added.

“No, no. H-How could people like us not notice such an important person like you? B-By the way… what brings you… here? Do you have business with this small village?” the villager asked.

“I came out to investigate. I received a report about an organization that used forbidden magic, so I came out to check… Based on your reaction and the current situation, I guess the report was right. Who would have imagined a place like this existed underground?” I said.

“I-I apologize, but I-I don’t quite understand what you’re saying,” they said.

“Secret organization, Saladan. A union of black mages within the empire. It was founded twenty-four years ago with about 670 members, and they are evenly spread out in the outskirts of the empire. The purpose of this union was to grant eternal life to the organization's members. Am I wrong?” I questioned.

“W-We don’t really understand… what you’re saying,” they said.

“I’ll ask a few questions,” I told them.

“Yes?”

“Have you met a man and a woman wearing masks?” I asked.

“What… do you mean?” they asked.

“It’s a black mask with no expression. A spell was cast on the mask, and only a high-ranking mage can dispel it. The man’s height is average, and the woman is small. They call each other best friends, and they’re actually close. Ah, the man is also a black mage, like all of you. If he came here, I’m sure you would have noticed him. He might have joined Saladan as well,” I described.

“A black mage?”

“Yes, a black mage. If you have seen him—”

“I’ve never heard of them. W-We don’t know what you’re t-talking about,” they stuttered.

“It doesn’t look like you’re lying,” I commented.

“Of course, we’re not lying. We don’t know anything about Saladan or b-black magic, sir,” they answered.

“It’s fine. I made that comment because it seemed like you didn't know anything about the masked people. I have already confirmed that the people gathered here are black mages, so there’s no need to hide it. I have also met other black mages from Saladan. Gartell of the north, Valla of the south, Hebel of the east, and this is the fourth place,” I revealed.

“You… crazy…”

“Let me change my question. If you have never seen a masked man… where’s your clan master?” I asked.

The room was silent, and even though they still looked like they didn’t know anything, I heard the sound of a spell being manifested when I was about to talk again.

“D-Die!”

Black and green spheres, as well as arrows instantly flew toward me, and when I swung my sword as I lowered my body, a sphere was cut in half.

‘Poison.’

It was an uncommon spell. When the substance from the sphere fragment landed on my clothes, I heard a sizzling sound as smoke started rising. I instantly held my breath using magic and started moving my feet. The moment I ran with my sword out, a large monster jumped out from a summoning circle and attacked me. I had seen this low-ranked demon before. After inserting mana into my sword, I swung it and killed the monster. Then, I severed a black mage’s arm and killed a black mage about to cast a curse spell.

‘One demon summoner and one necromancer.’

Soldiers made out of bones appeared everywhere, but when I swung my sword in a wide motion, the soldiers crumbled and the necromancer collapsed while spitting out blood. It was the same as last time.

‘Their ranks are low.’

It wasn’t too strong. Compared to my past life, they had definitely gotten weaker, and it was hard to believe that they were the same Saladans who had instilled fear in the entire continent. They didn’t have a demon summoner who could summon named demons, and they could only summon low to mid-ranked demons. It was also difficult to find those who had undergone a fourth job change among them.

‘Did something happen?’

The masked man who would claim himself as their leader a few years later was probably behind it.

‘They haven’t met yet...’

I didn’t know exactly when the man started making his move, but I figured that he still hadn’t made a move. Since he still hadn’t made a move even though the fight over the throne was already underway, it meant that he wouldn’t start until way later. This wasn’t the right time for that man to make a move, and since I wasn’t really looking for him in the first place, it wasn’t really easy to him find.

However, it was kind of difficult for me to understand why the woman still hadn’t shown herself. At this point, I could remember her making her move within the castle. In my past life, I had no reason to visit the castle, but when I visited the capital, I could recall her moving with the influential nobles in Charlotte’s faction.

‘Is she hiding? Or did the future change? If she’s planning something, there’s no reason for her to hide…’

Even when the second princess was politically threatened, the woman still hadn’t shown herself, so it was possible that something had changed the future. Since the masked woman had spent a long time with the Murder Brigade along with the magic swordsman, Jung Jin-Ho, it was possible that she didn’t have a place to settle down since Jung Jin-Ho was dead. If my assumption was correct, then luring out the masked woman by cornering the second princess had never been guaranteed in the first place. The masked woman was still nowhere to be found in this second life of mine, and Jung Jin-Ho’s death in the tutorial dungeon may have caused this positive butterfly effect.

When I slowly walked underground, I started seeing Saladan’s research results. I couldn’t recognize many of the things here, but after considering the fact that these results had started the plague, they were items that shouldn’t exist on this continent. As expected, they were still in the early stages of their research.

When I cast a spell in my hand, a fire appeared, and the fire that landed on their research materials burned brightly. I kept recalling the citizens screaming in pain as they burned alive, as well as Charlotte’s face as she went crazy, so I shook my head to get rid of those bad memories. However, I kept on hearing her voice.

“I want to wake up listening to the birds singing in a quiet forest. It may be hard, but I want to try living a life without maids, and I want to listen to a wandering minstrel’s song at the bar. Yes, I want to live that kind of life. I think I liked you a little bit. Now that I think about it, I think I did. I have never loved anyone, so I don’t really know my feelings, but I’m certain it’s similar to the feeling my mother mentioned. Please be happy, Count Kim. In the next life, let’s meet in a more ordinary situation. Let’s meet while smiling,” Charlotte requested.

I bit my lips lightly and immediately turned away. After exiting the big underground area, I saw a village that wasn’t any different from before.

‘Huh?’

I saw a very familiar face on one side of the village square.

‘What the?’

The figure had tried to disguise himself using magic, but he couldn’t hide his big frame. The person was one of the Blue Guild’s original members.

‘Mr. Deok-Gu?’

I had no idea why Park Deok-Gu was here since this place was on the outskirts of the continent and was far from Lindel and the capital, but I was certain that Mr. Ki-Young had asked him to run an errand for him. And that had to be the case because he was probably busy calming down the public opinion at this point.

‘I wonder what’s going on…’

I was naturally curious. The fact that they were on the outskirts meant that they had received an order.

The crowd nodded and were cheering for the big man’s speech. I walked over out of curiosity and used mana on my ears. The information I heard from the voice that was strangely drawing me in was something I hadn’t expected at all.

“By the people! By the people of the empire! A country for the people! The empire’s owner is not the imperial family! It’s the people!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

“W-What’s… going on…”

This definitely didn’t happen in my past life.

“With a burning hunger! With a burning hunger! Long live democracy!” he exclaimed.

“What the…”

1. Kim Hyun-Sung’s POV ☜