The Princess Imprint A Traitor - Chapter 30: The One Awakened from the Dream within a Dream (10)

“I’ve already made my peace with the consequences. I’m not in the mood to play by the rules right now.”

The murderous look in Eve’s eyes made it clear she was serious. Whether through power or force, she was prepared to make Brigitte pay in full. As much as Brigitte didn’t want to admit it, Eve felt dangerous for the first time. Beads of cold sweat formed on her brow as she continued the conversation.

“How did a timid little girl like you end up like this?”

Eve swallowed her response. She couldn’t very well tell Brigitte to try going through a time loop herself. She decided to end the useless conversation and turned to Elijah.

“Sir Halsten, you know where Mikael is, don’t you?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“Lead the way. And Brigitte, you should start praying for Mikael’s safe return.”

“How dare you—”

Just then.

Click. There was an odd sound tapping against the window. As Eve turned her head, a glint of gold caught in her amber eyes.

“Amber?”

Her guardian golem had finally responded to her summons, flying to her side. Whether it brought good news or bad was still uncertain. The tense atmosphere was about to shift again.

Click! A second visitor arrived.

“…”

“…”

Their eyes met. The rain-soaked figure who had just entered looked at Eve and spoke.

“I’ve returned, Your Highness.”

“…”

He was alive. The moment she confirmed it, the icy tension that had filled Eve vanished like it had never been.

“Mikael…”

Her voice was heavy with emotion, nearly swallowed by the weight of her feelings. She was so overjoyed that she almost choked on her words.

“You’re safe.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Mikael bowed slightly and kissed Eve’s fingertips. Eve barely managed to suppress the urge to pull him into an embrace, whispering instead.

“I’m so glad, Mikael. Truly, I’m thankful you made it back alive.”

But not everyone was content with this reunion.

“You managed to come back…”

Brigitte’s gaze toward Mikael was like that of someone staring at a ghost that had brushed with death. In truth, Mikael’s presence was vastly different from that of an ordinary homunculus. The aura he exuded seemed to dominate the room, forcing everyone—except Eve—into submission.

And there was someone even more sensitive to Mikael’s overwhelming presence than Brigitte: Elijah, whose entire body trembled.

“H-haha… Brother, just what did you do…?”

He forced a strained smile, but his lemon-colored eyes betrayed sheer terror. Mikael lifted his gaze and stared directly at Brigitte.

When their purple eyes met, Brigitte had to reconsider her thoughts. This wasn’t some mere specter that had kissed death. No, what she was seeing was someone who had crushed death beneath his feet and returned alive.

***

The sealing stone greedily absorbed the mana from the homunculi, using it as sustenance to restart its functions. Most of the homunculi were collapsed on the ground, crushed under the pressure of the intense gravity. Some had already given up, their spirits broken long before their bodies succumbed.

‘At this rate, their organs will be crushed, and they’ll struggle to breathe. I need to act quickly.’

Even as these desperate thoughts raced through Mikael’s mind, mana continued to drain from his body. Many around him had already lost the color in their hair. Mikael managed to stand, taking a step toward the sealing stone.

Beside him, Derek lay motionless, having coughed up blood. Mikael swallowed hard as he stared at the obelisk section of the sealing stone, which was glowing with an overwhelming light.

‘It’s still absorbing, even beyond its limit.’

Rain began to fall. In the Hadelamide Empire, rain had long symbolized ill fortune. It was also an effective means to wash away all traces of misdeeds. Mikael gritted his teeth, thinking that even the heavens seemed to be siding with Brigitte. But then, something caught his eye.

‘What’s that?’

The magic circle above him was slightly distorted. It was a subtle change caused by the raindrops passing through it.

“Ah.”

A spark of realization flickered in his violet eyes.

‘It might be possible.’

Without hesitation, Mikael summoned every last ounce of his remaining mana.

“Commander?”

“What are you…?”

In a situation where mana was already being drained, using the remaining mana meant Mikael was risking everything in a final, desperate gamble. The surrounding punitive knights watched him in shock.

“Ghh…”

As Mikael manipulated the mana, the rain began to gather in the air. With the heavy downpour, there was plenty of moisture available, and the water quickly formed into a massive sphere. It grew larger and larger until it was as big as the moon itself.

Next, Mikael had to battle gravity. He raised the water sphere toward the magic circle in the sky. The enormous orb, with its dazzling reflection, rose high above. Every homunculus watched in stunned silence, their gazes fixed on the awe-inspiring sight.

“Ugh!”

A painful groan escaped Mikael’s lips. The sound drew the attention of the knights, who saw his black hair turning pink.

“Take my mana…!”

Though their offer was sincere, Mikael couldn’t afford to divert his focus to managing mana drain. He forced every bit of mana from his core. At last, the massive sphere of water engulfed the light-based magic circle.

Flash! The magic circle began to distort. Inside the water, the light of the magic circle warped like paint melting away.

“The mana drain stopped!”

“How… Could it be?!”

Some of the homunculi had already figured out the method. The light-based magic circle had been drawn using intricate coordinate calculations, where countless beams of light were gathered and fixed into a specific pattern by mana. However, light is heavily affected by its medium. The moment the medium changed from air to water, the entire coordinate plane shifted, and unless the coordinates were recalculated, the light would anchor in the wrong place. This caused the entire magic circle to collapse.

“To think that such a method existed…”

The punitive knights looked at Mikael with newfound admiration. Mikael silently gave credit to his mentor, Eve, who had taught him well. It appeared that the gravity magic and mana absorption had been part of an interconnected ritual. Now that the magic circle had been disrupted, the oppressive gravity returned to normal.

“We’re saved!”

But the relief was premature. Stopping such a powerful ritual by force always carried consequences. The sealing stone had absorbed far too much mana, and now it was reacting. It began to unleash the mana it had stored.

Ssssssh!

“Gasp!”

A torrent of raw, unrestrained mana surged outward. The sheer volume of mana was enough to disrupt the natural balance of the environment, and such energy could only lead to one result—an explosion. If left unchecked, the entire area would be devastated, as if struck by a meteor, eradicating all life within its range.

“Tch!”

Only Mikael could stop it. He immediately hurled himself toward the sealing stone, placing his hand on the obelisk and initiating a mana drain. His pink hair rapidly darkened back to black.

“Grrr…”

The mana from the sealing stone surged into Mikael’s core. His mana reserves, vast as an ocean, were quickly filled to the brim. The excess mana he couldn’t absorb began to radiate outwards, turning into blinding light and searing heat, which started to eat away at the surroundings.

Flash! A blinding light engulfed everything in sight, intense enough to burn retinas.

“Commander!”

A desperate cry echoed through the forest, reverberating like a distant echo. It wasn’t until the last of the sound faded that the violent light finally began to recede, revealing the world once more.

“Commander?”

“Commander! Sir Agnito!”

As their vision returned, the punitive knights immediately searched for Mikael. He was kneeling in front of the obelisk, completely still.

Had he died? As the ominous thought crossed their minds, they collectively held their breath. Then, thankfully, Mikael moved, proving he was still alive.

“…”

Slowly, Mikael stood up. Mana overflowed from his core, seeping out of his body. It draped around him like a regal cloak, reminiscent of the himation worn by those seated on a throne.

“Ah…”

When Mikael turned to face the punitive knights, they couldn’t help but gasp. His entire demeanor had changed. An overwhelming sense of authority radiated from him, making it hard to even breathe in his presence.

Driven by an instinctual reverence, the homunculi, one by one, began to kneel on one knee. Their gestures were far more respectful than what was required for a mere commander of knights.

“…”

Mikael walked straight past them, his steps leading him to where Derek lay collapsed. His cold gaze fell on the back of Derek’s golden head. At that moment, several presences emerged from the forest.

“Mikaelis Agnito.”

“Snolet Wint.”

Snolet appeared, accompanied by her fiery aura. Though her complexion looked worse than usual, she stood firm, speaking with difficulty.

“You truly are special.”

“…”

“I knew it… You always were.”

With those words, Snolet averted her gaze from Mikael’s expressionless face, as if she could no longer bear to look him in the eye. Bowing her head, she knelt on one knee, turning her back on the fallen Derek as if he didn’t even exist. She spoke again.

“Snolet Wint pays her respects to the king.”

Following her lead, the knights accompanying her moved with precision, kneeling in unison and offering their salutes.

“We pay our respects to the king.”

Both the Punitive Knights and the Knights of Flame bowed their heads and echoed in unison. Every homunculus there knelt in reverence to their newly born king.

The atmosphere was thick with awe and reverence as if an undeniable force had just manifested itself in the form of Mikaelis Agnito. There was no hesitation, no question of loyalty—only the instinctive submission to the presence of the one they now recognized as their ruler.

Mikael stood before them, his gaze calm but resolute, as all those around him pledged their silent allegiance to the king who had emerged from the chaos.

***

Eve retracted the silver threads of Arachne. Though it looked like the folding of pure white wings, her face evoked anything but the image of an angel.

“It seems your prayers for Sir Agnito’s safety reached the heavens, sister. Congratulations on keeping your life.”

“…”

“For now, at least.”

“…In the end, you cannot touch me, Eve.”

Brigitte’s low, decisive words didn’t sound like mere bravado. Eve studied her silently, as if measuring her, before Brigitte continued.

“Just as I could not touch you.”

“Ah.”

Eve understood immediately.

“Indeed, you aren’t the kind of person who would spare my life out of sisterly love.”

Since the summer festival, the political rivalry between Eve and Brigitte had become common knowledge. No matter how cleanly Brigitte might eliminate Eve, the tongues of the gossips would never be silenced. Such an act would deal a devastating blow to public sentiment.

“But that applies only to you, doesn’t it? Do you really think the people would turn against me if you were harmed? I doubt it.”

“Ah, I acknowledge that. My lack of public favor has always been a chronic weakness. That’s why I took some precautions for a situation like this.”

“Precautions?”

At Eve’s question, Brigitte glanced sideways. Following her gaze, Eve saw Mikael. He lowered his eyes, his face devoid of emotion, as he reported.

“I found the last sealing stone, but during an unfortunate accident, His Highness, the Sixth Prince, lost his life.”

“…”

It was sudden, shocking news. A tremor passed through Eve’s eyes, but after taking three deep breaths, she managed to speak with composure.

“How did he die?”

“His lungs were crushed. He suffocated.”

“And what is Lady Wint’s condition?”

“She seems to be in shock. I’ve ensured she’s resting.”

“I see.”

Eve straightened her posture and looked directly at Brigitte, whose lips curled into a sinister smile.

“Kinslaying… You’ve truly gone too far. Is this also part of your so-called ‘greater good’?”

“Such harsh words, Eve. Speaking of the greater good in the face of an accident?”

Brigitte’s words, delivered with her callous indifference, were as worthless to Eve as ever. Eve closed her eyes briefly in silent tribute. Suddenly, she recalled something Derek had once said. He had warned that Brigitte would betray even her allies—a remark that had now become his final words.