~ Ellarick ~
The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly.
I had no idea how long I had been walking, nor how I found my way back to this chamber, once filled with our laughter and joy but now as cold as a tomb. All I knew was that when I finally stopped, my heart was already dead.
Selene's lies were like a poisoned dagger, precisely piercing the last of my hope. She didn't just conceal the truth—she wove a protective net for that man. Her gaze held no guilt or struggle of a lover, only the impatience and detachment of a queen dealing with an insensible subject.
I had lost. On the battlefield of emotions, I had suffered a complete and utter defeat.
My most steadfast ally, my most trusted friend, Barnaby, also chose to yield in the face of the Queen's unassailable will and Cairo's impeccable merits.
"Your Highness," he came to me that afternoon, weariness and helplessness plain on his face. "Stop this. Clashing head-on with Her Majesty now is like an egg trying to break a rock. Cairo's influence has already taken shape, and with the support of the Elder Council and allies, pushing further will only drive Her Majesty farther away from you."
"So, you mean I should stand idly by and watch as that serpent coils itself around the Queen until it devours all of us?" I scoffed bitterly.
"At least not for now," Barnaby said with difficulty. "Wait for the right opportunity, Your Highness. Wait for him to reveal his flaws himself."
Wait? How long must I wait? Until he becomes the Queen's most trusted commander? Until he commands the kingdom's elite forces? Or until the day he legitimately replaces me and stands by the Queen's side?
No. I could wait no longer.
Barnaby's words jolted me awake. The conventional methods—investigations, defenses, advice—had all utterly failed. I had been cornered, trapped by the walls Selene's partiality and Cairo's facade had built together.
With no retreat, I could only move forward.
If I couldn't prove him a schemer, then I would personally orchestrate his fall by forcing him to make an unforgivable mistake that would destroy his entire aura of glory.
A bold and insidious plan was beginning to take shape in my mind.
I still held command over the kingdom's regular military defenses and intelligence analysis—a sliver of authority left to me as the prince's consort, and it would become my only weapon.
The opportunity soon came. As winter descended, the northern barbarian tribes grew restless, frequently harassing our borders and plundering the villages of our vassal tribes. What used to be minor skirmishes now presented the perfect chessboard for my maneuver.
I personally drafted an intelligence report on the barbarians' movements. In this report, I deliberately and greatly exaggerated the scale and threat level of their gathering, painting it as the precursor to a large-scale invasion. Simultaneously, I deftly and inconspicuously withheld the existence of a secret mountain passage known to only a few high-ranking officials—a safe escape route.
I submitted this report under the pretext of urgent military intelligence, directly to Cairo, the newly appointed and eager-to-prove-himself commander of the Royal Blade Guard.
I knew how he would react.
A tragic hero, an avenger, the Queen's sharpest blade—when faced with the threat of a large-scale invasion and the massacre of citizens, he would not retreat. Like a proud lion, he would unhesitatingly lead his equally ambitious troops straight into the trap I had set for him.
My goal was not to annihilate his entire force—that loss would be too great for me to bear. I simply wanted him to make a critical error based on my false intelligence, leading his troops into the barbarians' encirclement and causing unnecessary casualties due to his recklessness and arrogance.
A moderately-sized defeat would suffice to shatter his aura before the Queen, enough to make Selene realize that her blade was not as reliable as she had imagined.
I sat in my study, waiting calmly for the news. My heart was as still as stagnant water. I understood that by playing this dangerous game, my hands would be stained with the filth of conspiracy, and I would become the kind of person I had once despised the most.
But for Selene, for reclaiming my lover, I had no choice. Even if it meant descending into hell, I would not hesitate.
The plan proceeded smoothly. As expected, Cairo reacted exactly as I had anticipated. Upon receiving the intelligence, he launched an immediate offensive with the Royal Blade Guard, aiming to intercept the supposed barbarian vanguard at the border before any thorough reconnaissance could be done.
He took the bait.
However, amidst all my calculations, I overlooked one thing.
I underestimated the madness of a true desperado.
Two days later, just as I thought the news of his defeat would reach me, my door was violently flung open.
Barnaby burst in, his face pale, his lips trembling, his eyes filled with a terror and despair I had never seen before.
"Your Highness, this is disastrous!" His voice was choked, as if a hand had gripped his throat.
"Speak," I demanded, my heart suddenly pounding.
"Cairo's forces did indeed fall into the barbarians' trap. But… but…" Barnaby panted heavily, unable to complete a single sentence.
"But what?!" I snapped.
"But upon realizing the intelligence was flawed and that he was surrounded by a barbarian force far larger than anticipated, he made a completely insane decision!" Barnaby's voice was filled with disbelief.
"He ordered his deputy to lead the main force, along with all the vassal villagers caught in the warzone, to safety through a hidden path he discovered—a path none of us even knew existed, behind a waterfall!"
"And as for himself," Barnaby's eyes bore into mine, as if staring at a demon. "He used himself as bait, taking fewer than a hundred of his most loyal warriors to launch a charge against the barbarian main force, leading thousands of barbarian troops into the death trap known as Despair Canyon!"
"He is now trapped in Despair Canyon, surrounded by thousands of barbarians, with no supplies and his fate unknown!"
My mind went blank, a resounding hum deafening my thoughts. The world spun before me, and all sound drifted away.
What had I done?
I had intended for him to lose a battle, but he had turned it into a martyr's gambit, transforming himself into a savior for the masses!
Barnaby's next words were like the final judgment, pinning me irrevocably to the pillar of shame.
"Her Majesty, upon hearing the news, shattered the armrest of her throne before all the elders," Barnaby's voice was soft as the wind, yet as heavy as a mountain.
"She has donned the Golden Armor, symbolic of The Emperor's Campaign, which she hasn't worn since ascending the throne."
"She has issued the highest level of war mobilization and will personally lead the entire royal guard, at all costs…"
Barnaby paused, his gaze a mixture of sorrow, fear, and condemnation as he uttered the final words.
"To rescue him."
I felt as if I had fallen into an icy abyss, my blood freezing solid in that instant.
I staggered backward, knocking over the chair behind me. I stared at my trembling hands—once used to review documents for Selene, to fasten necklaces around her neck, to smooth the furrow between her brows.
Now, these hands had personally crafted the most tragic, grand, and radiant stage—a stage that would drive my Queen to war for that man.