(For more context, read the events of "When Crows Weep").
Cold water droplets splashed against her face…
Sera slowly opened her eyes, her head pounding with a sharp ache as if a boulder had been slammed against her skull. Her blurred vision gradually cleared.
She found herself bound—her hands chained with glowing restraints, and her knees pressed against cold, dark marble.
Lifting her head with effort, she saw something she could barely comprehend:
The Throne.
And on it sat a man whose presence was suffocating—an aura not entirely human… The Emperor.
To her right, she saw him—
Nereus, lying on the ground, his head wrapped in bandages, his face pale, breath ragged.
And nearby stood Peter, Lucas, and Marcus, —all three of them restrained in glowing chains, their faces painted with anger and fear.
Then a familiar voice rang out:
"Ah… I didn't expect there to be five."
Ilarious, standing calmly beside Commander Darius, his expression amused, as if gazing at caged animals.
"There may be more… How did you find her?"
Darius asked, voice flat,
"I have my own ways~,"
Ilarious replied with his usual calm smile, tilting his head.
"What about you? How did you catch the rest?"
Before Darius could respond, the Emperor's deep voice suddenly thundered, beginning the trial.
"You are here for your crimes against the Empire,"
he began.
"Theft… Unauthorized use of magic… Trespassing on noble grounds… Assaulting knights…"
A pause.
Then in a colder, heavier voice:
"And murder."
Peter flinched, stepping forward against his restraints:
"That's a lie! We've never killed anyone!"
Marcus shouted, his voice strained:
"We stole, yes! Broke the law, yes! But we never killed!"
Lucas trembled, his voice barely audible:
"We never even got close to that kind of violence… I swear…"
Sera remained silent, barely able to breathe. Nereus, still unconscious, had yet to say a word.
Aqua stepped forward, composed as ever, and addressed the Emperor:
"Allow me to clarify the gravity of their actions."
He turned to the group and began listing names:
"Last week, the nobleman Galman was found completely burned in his estate.
A day later, Lady Linda—slain in her manor, her face mutilated.
Then came Sir Arkos, poisoned until death.
Are you sure none of this sounds familiar?"
Peter cried out:
"We weren't even near those places! We steal—yes! But kill? Never!"
Aqua narrowed his eyes, approaching them slowly:
"You are five. So tell me… who among you is the killer?"
Silence.
No one spoke.
Until Peter said in a strained voice:
"Please… believe us… We didn't kill anyone…"
Aqua sighed, then addressed the Emperor again:
"Your Majesty, may I be granted permission to read their thoughts?"
The Emperor nodded silently.
Aqua closed his eyes… and extended his hand toward them.
Seconds passed.
Then, slowly, he opened his eyes again, frowning slightly.
"They haven't killed anyone."
A few of the royal knights exchanged uneasy glances—but quickly masked them with stoic expressions.
"Some of them… thought about it, in anger.
But none of them ever acted on those thoughts."
The Emperor's gaze dropped in thought, clearly unsettled.
A heavy silence followed.
It was broken by Peter's desperate voice, turning toward Nereus:
"He's bleeding! He could die! Please—treat him!"
Aqua responded coldly:
"And why should we care? He's a thief like the rest."
The Emperor turned his head calmly toward a silent knight—a woman with short blond hair and piercing blue eyes.
Without a word, she stepped forward, knelt beside Nereus, and placed her hand gently over his head.
A soft light radiated from her palm.
She studied his face closely for a moment, then softly asked:
"Is he… blind?"
Then, without waiting for an answer, she began healing him, her magic pulsing in quiet waves, easing his wounds.
In that moment, even the royal knights—even the Emperor himself—seemed to feel it:
These weren't the murderers.
But then—
Who was?
The Emperor closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again with a colder gleam.
"Very well… Then let me decide your fate."
Everyone swallowed hard under the crushing silence…
Uneasy breaths, racing hearts, and eyes flickering between the guards and the towering throne…
The Emperor's voice rose — calm, but sharper than a blade:
"According to the reports…
One of you fought Commander Darius himself in direct combat.
Another — blind — managed to stop the Royal Guards entirely.
You withstood a battalion of twenty knights, trained under Darius' own hand.
And the girl… a poison expert… with a rare, even dangerous, mental ability."
He paused… staring at them with eyes void of mercy, then added:
"Had this been a different time… your fate would've been execution or eternal imprisonment."
His words stole the air from their lungs.
Peter glanced around nervously.
Sera's fingers turned cold.
Lucas and Marcus gasped under their breath.
But then, the Emperor raised his hand calmly and continued:
"But I… will not execute you."
"Nor will I throw you into the dungeons."
Their gazes shot up, stunned — a flicker of hope breaking through the heaviness.
"Instead… I will separate you."
He said it with a chilling stillness.
The group exchanged confused looks.
Separated?
What did he mean?
Before anyone could speak, the Emperor gave his final decree:
"Each of you… will atone for your crimes by serving the kingdom.
Under the command of one of my royal knights…
Each of you will be handed over to a different commander."
Their hands dropped in despair. Then came the protests:
"No! You can't do that!"
"We're not your soldiers!"
"We're a team! You can't just tear us apart!"
But the Emperor didn't flinch.
He simply gestured to Darius — who stepped forward with heavy, deliberate steps.
He glanced toward Marcus, then said with his deep, gravelly voice:
"I'll take the red-haired one.
I'll teach him what it truly means to be a man."
Marcus chuckled, even through the chains, and met his gaze with defiance:
"Maybe… I'll be the one to teach you what a real man is."
Without warning…
Darius raised his boot and slammed it down — straight into Nereus's head, the blind boy still bound on the ground.
The sound was sickening — the earth cracked beneath him.
Sera gasped.
Her eyes flared with light.
The chains around her trembled. A psychic glow surged out of her like a violent pulse.
She stared at Darius with a look that could set the world on fire…
He didn't blink.
He looked at her as if she were nothing more than a stubborn insect.
But before it could escalate further…
A familiar face appeared — with that ever-present, unreadable smile.
Ilarious.
He leaned in close to Sera and whispered in that smooth, devilish voice:
"And I… will take the girl with the pretty face~"
He smiled slowly, his voice turning playfully sinister:
"I have a feeling taming you… will be very, very fun, my little butterfly."
———
Her insides twisted — not from fear, but disgust.
Before she could respond, a firm voice echoed from the side.
A woman walked toward the throne with steady steps.
She wore a light set of armor with a white sash draped over her left shoulder. With short blonde , and her eyes gleamed with unwavering resolve.
Lorene.
She bowed before the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I request permission to take custody of the wounded boy."
The emperor stared at her silently, then gave a small nod.
At her signal, soldiers behind her moved to carefully lift Nereus's unconscious body.
But before the relief could settle, heavy footsteps echoed across the hall.
A towering figure approached, each step like a drum of doom.
Gerald.
A man built like a mountain, with a face cracked like a weathered wall… and eyes that had long forgotten how to feel.
He stopped and spoke in a gravelly voice:
"Which one of you… can change his appearance?"
A brief silence.
Then Lucas raised his hand.
"I can."
Gerald took one more step, then turned to the emperor.
"I request to take this boy under my command."
Sera gasped and stepped forward despite her chains.
"No! You can't send him with that man!"
Peter raised his voice too:
"That guy… he looks terrifying! I won't let Lucas go with him!"
Gerald said nothing. He simply looked at them with empty eyes.
Then, a soft chuckle broke the tension.
Eilarious.
He lifted his silver fan before his face and spoke to Sera with a mocking smile:
"Do you really think… he's scarier than me?"
Sera fell silent — not because she had an answer, but because even his tone made her skin crawl.
Before the tension could drop again, another figure stepped forward with quiet, controlled steps.
Valerian.
His white hair shimmered under the light. His voice was as cold as stone.
"Worry about yourself, little boy…
You'll be under my command."
Peter froze — not out of fear of Valerian, but of everything.
His mind, his heart, his body — all collapsed at once.
He snapped.
"Why are you doing this to us?!!"
His voice echoed across the hall, trembling with raw pain:
"All we did was steal! Does that deserve this hell?!"
He took a step forward, chains clinking:
"Do you know what it's like to sleep on cold ground? To watch your friend starve?! To steal just to survive?!"
He shouted, voice breaking:
"YOU built this misery!!! You — no one else!!"
A suffocating silence followed…
The emperor didn't flinch. He simply raised a hand and spoke in a voice calm as death — but heavier than any blade:
"And do you believe… that the poor have no choice?"
He locked eyes with Peter:
"If you stole, it was your choice. If you hurt others, it was your choice."
He stepped forward, eyes unblinking:
"This kingdom wasn't built on gold… but on sacrifice. Those who worked with their hands lived with dignity. Those who chose the easy road… are the ones who doomed themselves."
His voice rose just slightly:
"I ask for no loyalty… only that you pay for your choices. Nothing more."
Peter stood frozen.
His mind whispered he's right…
But his heart screamed.
And Sera?
She looked at Peter — eyes filled with tears.
She understood.
She understood that from here on…
there would be no more "us."