The contents of Dylan's oath were as follows.
First, I respect Charlize's free will.
Second, do not harm Charlize and Alperier.
Third, I will support Alperier with all my might until the magic tower is destroyed.
It's a life-threatening oath. It was not just a sweet talk that would only end with words.
It carried the soul and was engraved on it.
'Contract.'
The contractor was Dylan Blade, the Emperor of the Empire.
And Charlize Ronan.
"For the time being, please let me stay in the capital outside the imperial palace."
"Yes. I'll order to leave an empty mansion on the island."
Dylan nodded immediately at Charlize's words.
Dylan kept his oath.
The mansion Dylan gave was spacious and splendid. She hasn't decided yet how long she will stay in the mansion. She entered with the members of Alperier.
The rebellion and Charlize's escape.
Even if everything went well.
It was still unreasonable to smile and treat each other as if nothing had happened since seeing Dylan's tears.
The Ronan family's disposition ended in dismissal.
This time, those who absolutely believed in the Emperor rose up rarely, but they could not help it.
Rapine returned with a complicated and strange face.
Now there were only Charlize and Alperier.
After being freed outside the Imperial Palace without Shadow's surveillance, Charlize finally realized Dylan's oath.
Dylan no longer forces Charlize. He respected Charlize's voluntarism only.
"The leader is Kiera, what does that mean?"
The members did not understand the situation.
Because the door was open, Alperier's conversation could be heard well by Charlize.
It was a conversation in front of everyone.
'Of course, I heard everything.'
"I also don't know why the leader calls herself Kiera."
Payne's face was like a lost child.
His eyes, shaking with confusion, were very different from the playful attitude that Payne usually showed, and the way he sometimes became serious enough to be sharp.
He just had a confused face.
Charlize lowered her gaze. It was not intentional, but Alperier was also caught up in Charlize's fate.
'I can't help it.'
Charlize released her evil spirit for a while.
The method was to be enlightened alone when the ancient gods controlled their energy.
The faces of the members who were talking to each other were hardened by an obvious evil spirit scattered across the marble floor.
They turned their heads back and looked at Charlize.
Charlize entered the room and closed the door. And then she opened her mouth.
"I can't explain it, but. In this world, no. Anywhere. I'm the most complete experimenter of the Kiera project."
"…Leader?"
"Yeah, so I tried to get revenge on the imperial family and the magic tower."
Payne thought he was out of breath.
'She's an evil spirit.'
The evil spirit has a similar feel to mana, but is distinctly different.
A colder and cooler feeling of darkness.
The other Alperiers did not know exactly what this energy was, but they finally realized that it was a quality that a human could never have.
But Payne said.
"I…! I haven't heard of such a thing."
"That's right. If there had been such an experiment, the magic tower would have been tracking it on its own right away."
Derian responded to Payne's words.
Even Charlize could not tell the story of turning back time. She pondered briefly how far she should be honest.
But she doesn't need to be specific.
"It's true. I was captured and tortured, tested, and forced to eat pieces by the magic tower."
At those words, silence fell everywhere.
Because everyone knows how ridiculous the pain in short sentences is abbreviated.
All of the Alperier members here were the only survivors of the Kiera Project in the magic tower.
"After going through all that, I became a different being than I was before."
"But the leader is a human?"
Payne was confused by the situation beyond common sense.
It's a project that turns a living human into metals and swords.
'Why did you say it was a success?'
Paying attention to the confused face of Payne, Charlize said indifferently.
"I can't say it. I have no intention of talking."
"…"
Charlize's words were absolute.
"If you want to leave, you can leave."
Charlize said with a sigh at the end of her words. Charlize's face with her eyes closed for the first time.
"It doesn't make sense for Alperier to follow Kiera."
The Alperier's corps commanders were silent. Charlize, who soon opened her eyes, gave the order.
"You guys haven't been free in a long time, so go and get some rest. Except for you, Payne."
"…Yes, leader."
At the gentle greeting, the members closed the door and went out with courtesy.
Payne, who was pointed out, stood vaguely, remaining.
A gloomy face. He felt like his head was about to explode with complicated thoughts.
It was an awkward atmosphere.
Charlize put on a protective shield with mana.
So that no one can hear it.
Payne raised his head.
"What happened?"
"Just like what you heard. It's all true."
Charlize replied indifferently.
'No way.'
It's nothing compared to Charlize and Dylan.
Payne was also a genius.
However, no matter how much he thinks about it, the Kiera project would never have succeeded, and if it had already been completed, there was no reason for the magic tower to try so persistently to make evil spirits.
'But just now, it was a pure concentration of evil that even the members of the magic tower did not have… Crap. What the hell is going on?'
Unlike Payne, who was emotionally shocked, Charlize thought coldly. She just judged everything rationally.
'Can Payne keep a secret?'
What kind of person is Payne?
If it's Payne that she has been watching all this time.
Charlize lowered her eyes. The long drooping eyelids were beautiful. Charlize opened her eyes right away.
"That's right, I'm Kiera. I'm not the real piece of Ehyrit you think of."
"But that can't be."
Payne stopped talking and looked into Charlize's eyes.
The eyes that he thought were dreamy were so cold.
He was speechless.
"Payne Veneus."
Charlize called out the unknown Payne's full name.
Payne's eyes widened.
'If it's Payne, whoever the real piece is.'
Even if it's Dylan.
'He'll protect it.'
There was a clear conviction.
"If you really want to protect the real piece of Ehyrit, the one you have to protect is Dylan."
"What?"
He must have understood at once because he was intelligent.
Payne asked as if the world he believed in had collapsed.
Charlize said firmly.
"Dylan is a real piece of Ehyrit."
A real piece that was flawless before and after.
Payne had a blank face for a while.
Contrary to Charlize's expectations, it took him a long time to understand this fact.
He doesn't know what the hell this is.
'Why am I convinced?'
He came to understand after the words were over. Certainly that man, among the people Payne saw, was the most perfect.
At the end of Dylan's boyhood. Payne wanted to see Charlize, and to check because he heard that the 13th Prince suddenly overtook the 1st Prince and received the emperor's attention. He had seen him from a distance.
Because Payne is a wizard. He can't explain it, but when Dylan became emperor, he had the impression that he was completely blackened.
'If he is a piece…'
It makes sense.
If Charlize is Kiera and Dylan is a piece. Its perfect control and genius were explainable.
Charlize told Payne, who was convinced of this fact.
"…Protect Dylan."
Payne let out a breath that had been held back by Charlize's words.
Charlize, who had always been cold, was a little softer at this moment.
It was so unfamiliar to him that he realized that it was true.
***
Three days after the oath.
Charlize went to meet Dylan.
She came here after receiving a polite invitation from Dylan to have dinner together at the Imperial Palace.
Only the emperor was sitting and waiting in the prestigious, high-end restaurant.
"…"
When their eyes met, Dylan stood up.
Of course, the mansion Dylan had provided also had servants, so Charlize was dressed up now.
It was a calm dress with no intense color. Just countless diamonds decorating the dress glistened enchantingly.
But maybe even better than Charlize.
It was Dylan who put more effort into decorating.
'Should I give you a compliment?'
"…You're handsome today, Your Majesty."
As Charlize spoke slowly, Dylan's expression was noticeably bright.
It's not wrong, right? She was glad he wasn't offended.
But it was sincere.
It is the one of the most handsome Dylan's she has ever seen.
Dylan and the dark blue uniform matched terribly well. His trimmed hair just looks so soft.
The bangs that properly covered the forehead were disheveled like a military dog.
A little confident smile hung over Dylan's mouth.
"I wanted to see you, Charlize."
"Didn't you see me a while ago?"
"…Did I? I'm curious too. I think my sense of time is broken."
Words that tickle her as if he didn't want to burden her.
Charlize sat on the chair opposite, slightly avoiding his gaze.
She could tell without hearing what Dylan would have swallowed.
Perhaps time flies too fast when he's with Charlize, and when he's not, he's like…
'Well. Let's stop.'
Charlize was probably a little less resistant to this ticklish atmosphere.
It wouldn't matter if it was sexual tension that openly implied a relationship.
Of course, it wasn't bad. Not quite true,
'I think it's good.'
Charlize looked at Dylan.
She remembered when she had her first date with Dylan three years ago.
At that time, they ate at the restaurant after watching the opera.
"I've only prepared foods that Master likes."
"…It's caviar."
The unique sour taste was her taste.
She doesn't look for it often, but she likes it because it's a delicacy if she eats it occasionally in her daily life.
It is a food ingredient that she used to eat unconsciously only on special days.
In fact, all the menus were luxurious. Of course, each one is Charlize's taste. From her favorite snail dish in olive oil to exotic food with basil.
"…Thank you for the food, Your Majesty."
Charlize wiped her hands neatly with a handkerchief and lifted her fork.
In fact, Dylan and his transparent tears kept overlapping in front of her. Somehow it was hard to make eye contact.
'I made Dylan cry.'
The afterimage of that time was still vivid.
'As I live, there will come a day when I make a man cry.'
Charlize thought.
She certainly felt that Dylan was a genius. Dylan knew all too well how he had to act to get Charlize.
Suddenly, Charlize realized.
'No matter how I hide a secret, Dylan just knows even if I try to keep it to myself.'
Or he will follow you in a direction closer to the correct answer.
It was meaningless to hide it.
There was no other conversation on the table throughout the meal.
Charlize was quiet in thought, and Dylan respected her for that.
Around the end of the meal.
It was Dylan who broke the silence.
"Why did you leave?"
"…"
She has heard this question many times.
She never answered.
'The result came back twisted.'
Charlize's inner side was numb on Dylan's hurt face. She had never seen it before.
Besides, didn't Dylan end up begging to risk his life to help Charlize?
Dylan's acting was so perfect that Charlize didn't even know it was a scheme that she had been fooled.
Dylan stared at Charlize's lips. It was a bit of a deep gaze.
But Charlize finally spoke.
"…Because I wanted to protect you."
Speaking informally just like the day Charlize first used it.
She pondered what to say, but Charlize had all she could say to Dylan, even though she spoke well.
Dylan's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Is it because you're afraid of my death?"
Dylan answered.
Charlize smiled bitterly.
"Yes. I was terribly afraid."
She was afraid of losing his one and only existence, Charlize added.
"Because I love you."
It's the first time she's telling Dylan directly.
Dylan and Charlize's eyes collided in the air.