Adrian broke the silence with his calm voice. "That's right… A bound person cannot survive the monsters."
He smiled coldly, his eyes glimmering with a sinister light. "Isn't that what you're thinking?"
The Empress laughed with terrifying calmness. "That's right. If you were bound, you wouldn't survive. So… can you explain to us how you survived?"
Adrian chuckled lightly, then looked at her with cold cunning. "Did you not know before… that I am a demon?"
She spoke with hatred. "And do you think that's an answer? We all know you're human, and weak as well. And if we assume you were bound, that means you could never have survived… Should I assume that you actually died?" She smiled maliciously and continued, "Then… how does a dead person come back to life?"
Silence filled the hall as everyone waited for Adrian's answer.
"Haaah… Hahaha… Haaaha…"
Adrian burst into a mocking, insane laugh, then abruptly stopped and said, "Why did you assume I died? And why were you so certain that I was bound? Also… why do you think I'm weak?"
The Empress stammered, "That's because—"
He interrupted her. "That's because you know I was bound… and you know the monsters caught me. So you assumed I was dead."
She shouted angrily, "That's not true!! I—"
He interrupted her again. "But… there's something you don't know. The person who took me there… untied me before leaving."
She laughed mockingly in disbelief. "Impossible! And why would he do that after receiving money for his work? Doesn't that make no sense?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise. "Oh? Did he actually receive money? I thought he was one of your subordinates."
Whispers spread throughout the hall:
"Did you hear that?"
"How did she know he received money?"
"Why did she assume he was a hired killer?"
The Emperor rose from his seat, his voice sharp and commanding. "Guards! Arrest the Empress immediately!"
The Empress screamed in panic and fury. "What are you doing, Your Majesty!! I told you I did nothing—!"
The Emperor interrupted her sharply. "Have you still not had enough of your pathetic acting? You were the one who assumed the man was a hired killer, while we thought he was an accomplice of the mastermind! Even Adrian himself never once mentioned that the man was a hired killer!"
The Empress shouted, desperately trying to cling to any excuse. "No! It was simply obvious!"
But Adrian spoke in a cold, calm voice. "By the way… I found something interesting before coming here."
He took a few sheets of paper from his robe, then added, "These papers contain some truly interesting information. I'll read them to you."
Then he began reading in a steady voice. "To my brother… Set fires at the locations marked on the map every day for an entire week. After that, start a massive blaze that consumes everything around it, until it looks as though the very air itself has caught fire. If you carry out what I've asked of you, I will guarantee you a high-ranking position…"
He raised his eyes toward the Emperor. "And this is a map clearly marking the locations of the fires… The Empress's seal is on it."
Then he turned toward the audience and addressed them coldly. "Diana… was never a criminal. The real criminal… is the Empress, and no one else."
The audience began speaking up:
"Does this mean Diana wasn't the one who started the fires?"
"Impossible! Are you saying she died unjustly?"
"If Diana was innocent, that means the criminal is still free!"
"This is unacceptable! Where is the justice?"
"The Empress and everyone involved must be put on trial!"
"The Empress tried to kill His Highness and framed the former Crown Princess, Diana!"
"Your Majesty, we demand a fair trial, please!"
The Emperor remained silent, staring at Adrian as he thought to himself, You've truly grown up, Adrian… I never expected to get rid of the Empress this way.
The Emperor raised his hand and gestured to the general, who stepped forward and bowed. Then he spoke in a clear voice. "Guards! Arrest the Empress immediately!"
The Empress screamed as she glared viciously at the guards around her. "Don't you dare! If you so much as touch me, I'll kill every last one of you!!"
The guards hesitated for a moment… then seized her despite her continuous screams.
Kieran stood in shock, stricken with panic. His mother, whom he had believed loved him, had destroyed all his happiness. He walked toward Adrian with trembling steps, afraid that Adrian would hate him.
He stammered as he spoke, his head lowered. "I… I'm sorry, even if you're going to hate me, but I… loved you all, my siblings, you and my older sister… I was happy that we played together when we were little, but now Sister Diana is gone… It was because of my mother. I truly wish I could have—"
Adrian reached out and gently placed his hand on Kieran's head. "I don't hate you. You've also… suffered a lot."
Kieran raised his head and looked at Adrian, sorrowful, with tears in his eyes.
Adrian turned toward the Emperor and said firmly, "Your Majesty, declare Kieran the Crown Prince now."
The Emperor furrowed his brows in slight displeasure. "Since you, the First Prince, have returned, Kieran should not be the Crown Prince… You should be—"
Adrian interrupted him coldly and firmly. "No, I will never become the Crown Prince. That's why I'm telling you to declare Kieran now, because I won't be staying in the palace."
Amid the noise in the hall, the Emperor watched Adrian, trying to understand what was going through his mind.
He whispered inwardly, "In any case, the Empress is finished, so there's no problem with appointing Kieran…"
Then he announced his decree in a steady voice. "Very well, then. I hereby declare Kieran Jonathan the Crown Prince of the Aetheris Empire."
Kieran hesitated for a moment as he looked at Adrian. Adrian turned toward him with a gentle smile and said in a steady voice, "I trust you… Kieran."
Kieran's eyes suddenly glimmered with warmth, and a faint, trembling word escaped his lips. "Brother…"
Adrian walked past him without looking back and left the hall with steady steps, leaving the Emperor drowning in countless questions.
After the fires case was reinvestigated, the evidence incriminating the Empress was confirmed to be genuine. Her brother was also cornered in his own lands and eliminated.
On the day the fallen Empress was to be sentenced, Adrian went to visit her in prison.
He entered with measured, steady steps, their echoes reverberating through the dark, damp corridor.
He stopped in front of her cell bars and said with cold mockery, "I thought you'd die just from staying in a filthy place like this."
The Empress raised her head toward him, her eyes filled with explosive hatred. "I'm not that weak… Don't you think so?" Then she gave a faint, malicious smile and added, "After all, I'm the one who committed those crimes."
Adrian fell silent for a moment… then placed a hand on his head and let out a low, gloating laugh. "Haaah… Do you think you're special?"
He stepped forward and gripped the bars with both hands, staring at her with a cold gaze devoid of any regard. "You're stupid… so stupid that bringing you down wasn't even enjoyable. I thought you were a dangerous person… but now I feel disgusted. How kind my sister Diana was… to die because of someone as insignificant as you."
He released the bars and straightened his posture, then spoke in a decisive tone devoid of mercy. "You never deserved my attention in the first place."
He turned around and began walking away from her, waving his hand without looking back. "Goodbye… Kieran. Make sure you say that… when you die."
Her eyes widened with furious madness, and she began striking the bars violently as she screamed, "You insolent brat!! How dare you!! Come back here!!—"
But Adrian did not turn around. He left without the slightest concern and headed straight for his late mother's palace… the place where Diana had lived before her death.
When he arrived, he found the palace closed, guarded by several guards.
He said in a cold, commanding voice, "Open the gate."
One of the guards stepped forward cautiously and said, "We apologize, Your Highness, but the palace has been closed by order of His Majesty the Emperor. Without his permission… we cannot allow you to enter."
Adrian looked at him with a sharp, murderous gaze, until the guard felt as though the air around him had frozen.
He said in a cold, cutting voice, "My word alone counts as permission to enter. Do you intend to disobey the orders of the Empire's First Prince now?"
The guard grew flustered and stammered, trying to cling to the rules. "W-we apologize, Your Highness… but His Majesty the Emperor must approve first—"
Adrian cut him off sharply. "Then if the Emperor approves… you'll pay for your stubbornness with your life."
His smile widened with terrifying coldness as he added, "What do you say now? Will you open the gate?"
Overcome by terror, the guard gave in and bowed slightly before shouting the orders. The main gate slowly opened, and Adrian entered the palace with steady, unwavering steps.
Adrian headed toward the back garden at a slow pace. When he arrived, he clenched his fist tightly, and tears glimmered in his eyes without falling. The garden was devoid of life; most of the flowers had withered, and the grass had been left untended.
This place had truly been abandoned.
He stared at the paintings scattered across the ground and said with suppressed pain, "Here… you always painted, didn't you, Sister?"
He took a few steps forward and sat on the ground, then reached out to pick up the paintings, looking at them one by one. Most of them were of Adrian… while others depicted the family together. With each painting, the pain in his chest grew stronger, and every glance weighed more heavily on his silent sobs. He had seen Diana's heart and soul in these paintings.
"Sister… you were always alone, weren't you?"
"I didn't know… Do I truly deserve the love you gave me?"
He stood up and headed toward the final painting. He had not noticed it at first, but the family Diana had portrayed as complete in her paintings… had never been perfect.
The final painting, hanging in the studio, shattered what little remained inside him. How could he not fall apart… when all her paintings had been devoid of the Emperor's image? Yet in her unfinished painting, she had painted him in it, and despite that… he had betrayed her feelings and had her executed.
He whispered in a broken voice, "How did you feel back then? Did you cry? Did you laugh? Were you shocked?"
He continued with a broken smile, tears flooding his eyes. "Or did you stand firm… and show no sign of weakness?"
He laughed mockingly, his laughter mingled with pain, then spoke in a quiet, anguished voice. "To die at the hands of someone whose love you wished for… is worse than being stabbed a hundred times by an enemy."
Long moments passed in silence. He wiped away his tears, which had already dried, and left the palace with a cold, murderous expression.
He was thinking of only one thing:
"I will avenge you… I promise."