4. Snow and butterfly.
Evren smiled bitterly.
He automatically remembered the second prince, Cale Taranidia, who was in the Imperial Palace.
Although Cale was more tactful, they were similar in that they were unnerving in the same way.
From the corner of his eye, Evren saw the knights who followed him supporting Lilian.
Lillian was in a miserable state.
Dom, dom...
His heart could still hear the drumbeats of hell.
Rameau Teilhard.
'How am I going to break it so it's fun?'
Shadows danced in his eyes, which lacked light.
The power of annihilation was whispering to him dangerously: ‘This bastard tried to destroy what belongs to us first. Let's try how far this human can break. Haven't we always wanted to try this on humans?'
No matter how much his body trembled, Efrain never gave in to that voice.
Isn't it funny to submit to an invisible entity?
“…Should I do that?”
This has been the case up to this point.
Al-Qudra beamed with joy: ‘Very wonderful! How long have we waited to destroy something! Live according to your nature, Efrain Taranidia. Crashing is a very exhilarating feeling.'
Dom —
While the drums of hell were beating in his heart again—
“…ah”
The rampage exploded.
A bright white space began to expand from the center where he stood.
The trees collapsed in a flash like powder snow.
It was pure, flawless hell.
Evren smiled with satisfaction.
It's very easy once you get to the bottom.
So why was I struggling and holding on with all my might not to do that?
'How am I going to entertain you?'
Evren began to reckon with the living creature he had captured in his hands.
But at that moment, a silhouette passed before his eyes.
It was an illusion that looked like a sparkling light pink butterfly.
'What is this?'
He extended both hands and surrounded that fantasy.
The butterfly exuded a pure, sweet, and transparent fragrance.
Even the ability that was intending to riot stopped in shock.
Where did that unbridled desire to destroy that claimed the smell was beautiful go?
The vision that had been tinted with white gradually began to clear.
And when he opened his eyes -
Efrain was holding both arms of a pink-haired woman.
“His Highness..the Prince”
“…Tillard?”
Lillian was in his arms.
Ramyo fell to the ground, and the world that had been dyed white returned to normal.
Lilian was panting and gritting her teeth: “That bastard, my brother... if you had killed Rameau Tillard here.”
Lillian, who was struggling to stand, suddenly collapsed.
“Who will really bear..the consequences...”
“Wait a minute, you.”
Efrain quickly grabbed Lilian.
Her body was burning like a piece of fire.
“Your Highness...I...”
"Tillard? Open your eyes-"
“I'll just pass out.”
As soon as she finished informing him, she closed her eyes completely.
* * *
After several hours -
All of Tillard's fainting knights, including Rameau, were tied up.
After gathering them in the middle of the camp, a memory-wiping magic was cast on them.
“You scum”
‘Phew’. Spitting sounds were heard from time to time.
Those voices were coming from the shadows.
It was Ramio who received the largest share of this discontent.
“Hui, did you hear what that bastard said?”
“I've never seen someone with two faces like that.”
“Tillard’s hypocritical bastards as usual...”
“That's why palace knights are also scum!”
Rameau Teilhard's reputation was very good.
A cheerful, courteous young knight, beloved by ladies and nobles alike.
He was known for his kindness towards Lillian as well.
'Indeed, Miss Lillian is a regrettable person. Even if she lacked ability, it would have been nice if she had tried a little harder.'
That's why Lillian Taillard always appeared as a "disgrace to the family." But through the piece of communication that was with him, the shadows heard part of the dialogue.
'Have you lost your mind because you wandered outside? Come here immediately!'
‘Why? To take me and enslave me as a servant again? Isn't the reason you're 'coming to get me' now because you have a backlog of work?'
‘This monster, isn’t it nice to see him after such a long absence? He loves you the most, my sister.
The Genesis Ruler had created those with abilities in order to annihilate monsters.
In our day, there are those who summon monsters as a form of entertainment in secret.
But for someone who held the position of knight in the Imperial Palace to do so, it was completely unacceptable.
And even using it against his cousin as well.
'If the youngest member of the family is like this—'
Doesn't this mean that the eldest son, Young Duke Quirn and Aerys are in cahoots with him?
Even the family knights did not hesitate to insult her like this.
Elias muttered, folding his hands: “She said he ran away from home.”
When he heard this while guarding the prince, he secretly mocked Lilian's words.
He thought she was just a person making a fuss to attract attention for doing such a bold act.
But that was not the case.
Maybe, really…
‘Escape was just an excuse, and she really intended to die…?’
Lillian's terrifying decision raises chills, but...
'His Highness the Prince's agitation has calmed down'
He couldn't have learned how to control it all of a sudden; The capacity of the yard does not allow this.
So, as expected.
“…Is it thanks to Lillian Taillard?”
That woman who still had a high fever was in the tent now.
* * *
Prince's tent -
The doctor accompanying this trip repeated Lillian's diagnosis again.
“This seems to be waking fever.”
“I'm not asking you because I don't know what it is.”
“A, I apologise, Your Highness.”
The prince's agitation calmed down.
It did not appear on his features, but his interior, which had been worn out, had recovered.
But there was no time to rest.
Evren listened quietly to the sounds coming from the next room behind the curtain.
The constant groan of pain could be clearly heard.
Waking fever.
It is the fever that people with powers and controllers go through when their powers awaken, literally.
It is usually around the age of three or four, and passes like a mild cold.
But…
“Isn't Tillard too old to have a waking fever? And it shouldn't normally be this painful.”
“Hasn't Miss Tillard been incapacitated for a long time?”
The fever she must have been experiencing when she was young remained suppressed and now exploded with full force.
So, the reaction will be equally violent, the doctor answered...
“Could something like this really happen?”
“Although rare, cases like this happen once every few decades, Your Highness.”
The doctor narrowed his eyes as he saw Evren's expression.
'This is really amazing'
He served the First Prince for a long time.
He was not cruel to his followers, but he was indifferent.
Because excessive attention makes the ability of annihilation incite it to destruction.
'But was his relationship with Lillian Taillard that close...?'
Anyway, this was not the time to wonder about such matters.
“Your Highness, I will first make sure that capable women take care of her.”
Since Awakening Fever results from excessive force, the possessor of the ability can absorb the power of control through contact.
But she couldn't let a man touch her without permission.
“Do it”
“Your order, Your Highness.”
The doctor felt relieved.
After the rampage, Evren's condition seemed much better than expected.
'He has always suffered because of his destructive power.'
Those voices attacking his mind must have disappeared.
After he answered, Evren merely looked silently at the curtain of the room in which Lilian lay.
.
.
Contrary to what the doctor thought, the voice of power did not disappear.
Rather, they became completely one.
The red spider web pattern flashed softly and then faded away.