It hurts.
As his brain tried to process the damage caused by the stabbing, all of Ferzen's pain receptors flared up with reckless abandon.
His vision also became blurry and unfocused as he gradually kept losing more blood.
The beautiful dark starry sky now took a strange lavender shade in his eyes.
But the sole reason Ferzen stayed awake despite his grievous injury was that... his body was out of symmetry with only one side of his chest being stabbed.
In his deliriums, Ferzen even considered the idea of asking his doctor to stab the other side of his chest so that he would have symmetrical scars.
Ferzen turned his head and observed his surroundings as those useless thoughts bounced around in his mind.
And when he looked at the bright spot in the corner of his eyes...
The sight of Ciel Midford walking through the fire prison created by the old man Theor, almost made him burst into laughter.
'Euphemia...'
You warned Ciel Midford...
You thought that if he encountered a sturdy wall, he would succumb to his reality and give up.
But look at him...
Those who are the 'Main Characters' are all like this.
Even when faced with a situation that most, if not all people would despair and surrender.
They always try to defy fate, giving birth to miracles.
'But that's fine...'
Be it a happy ending.
Or a bad ending.
Independent of each ending the 'Main Character' achieves.
'The world is always....'
Waiting for the villain to die.
* * * * *
However, the Underworld rejects his death.
* * * * *
Kwoong!
Squeak...!
Against his will, the gates of the underworld descended in front of Ferzen and opened, and a tangled mess of vile chains squirmed inside it.
At the same time, the nameplate on top of the gate was frozen.
And from beyond the gates, something was being dragged out...
—-Meeeeeeh!
The thing devoured Ciel Midford's sword which was full of anti-magic properties, as it let out a satisfied goat cry.
Flap-Flap!
Flap-Flap!
Flap-Flap!
Accompanied by a distinct flapping sound, a bizarre book also appeared hovering in the air, while emanating a corrupted aura. The book opened to a specific page as if demanding that Ferzen read its contents.
ξμφφ...
An unknown language materialized in front of his eyes.
But Ferzen could naturally read it.
And as soon as Ferzen read it, the moon cried out a thick dark liquid, dripping its contents onto the gates of the Underworld.
At the same time, the thing continued to produce goat-like sounds, as it licked the darkness-infused moon tear and slowly exited the gate.
Although the thing produced sounds similar to that of a goat, there is no monster on the second floor of the underworld – Ruavara, that resembles a goat.
'In general, the way I met this monster seems rather odd...'
Usually, when a monster receives a name, it makes the monster be able to descend to the lower levels of the Underworld, and by performing transactions with various warlocks the monster can become stronger.
But when a monster is 'born' he can naturally grow to equal the strength of his parents.
This 'natural growth' period is a long one, so usually, these monsters don't respond to a warlock's call...
Flinch!
Ferzen is assaulted with an intense headache.
This knowledge is not something known to the world.
Something that no other warlock was aware of.
If that is the case, then why did he...
Instinctively knew that this monster was a 'born' monster.
He could recognize the monster's true nature as soon as he laid his eyes upon it.
But he didn't know about this.
He never once recalled learning this information...
In the end, his exhaustion won, as Ferzen closed his eyes.
In a situation where his body suffered a lethal wound, and was bleeding heavily.
And with his already depleting mana being consumed by the 'Gates of the Underworld,' Ferzen was exhausted.
So when Ferzen lost his consciousness, the 'Gates of the Underworld' closed, and the thing it had summoned disappeared just as its chain-like tentacles pierced Ciel Midford's body...
On May 7th, the Imperial banquet reached a chaotic end.
* * * * *
"Hmm..."
Looking at the chaos that had just happened in the banquet, Empress Gremory quietly tilted her head.
The Empress was already aware of the play being staged by Inas Del Prussian Roverium.
Because of this Gremory was amused to see the different ways Inas was making a fool of himself...
But when she saw the attempt on the life of the second son of Brutein, she couldn't help but question what Inas was trying to accomplish with that.
However, the moment Gremory witnessed Inas being dragged away by the Imperial Knights as he continued to plead his innocence, that question was answered.
This play was already discussed with Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg.
So this murder attempt must be something that the stupid Knight did on his own.
'If this is the truth...'
Assuming that the second son of Brutein lives.
This could become a boon for her.
And depending on how she played her cards, Empress Gremory should be able to achieve her goals rather well. Truly, a two birds with one stone situation.
* * * * *
"..."
The stench of his blood was everywhere.
She could smell it even after they took him to the surgery room.
And when she saw the Imperial doctors drawing blood from the people around her, Euphemia felt as if she didn't belong here, even when she was his wife.
When will the surgery end?
The sun is soon going to rise.
Even though Euphemia had no knowledge of the medical field, she could still discern that something was not right.
Stomp...
A clearly exhausted doctor, still clad in his surgical robes, walked out of the room.
His once pearl-white robe was now stained with blood, and his stone gaze now contained a desperate glint.
"It's your turn now..."
"What's the patient's status...?"
"You'll know when you go in."
A surgery so complicated and long, that even the Imperial doctors had to take turns at it.
And the stress only increased because their patient wasn't just any random person but the second son of Brutein...
Creeeak!
As soon as the new Doctor entered the surgery room, the one who came out took off his blood stained gloves, picked a pastry, and aggressively chewed it.
Consuming high-calorie foods is one of the best ways to recover one's vigor in a short period of time.
"We need more blood..."
"More? Didn't we collect enough already?"
"No, we can't stop his bleeding...The patient is still alive by some miracle. This is unheard of, no one should be able to lose that much blood and still manage to stay alive, this is driving me crazy."
Euphemia couldn't help but hear the doctor's whispers, as she settled down on a nearby bench,...
"I...!"
Jumping from her seat, Euphemia anxiously approached the doctors, rolled up her sleeve, and presented her immaculate arm to them.
"My blood….. Please….Take it."
"... My lady, do you even have the same blood type as the patient?"
"..."
The doctor couldn't help but be slightly irked by Euphemia, who, until now had stayed seated on the sole bench of the clinic in complete silence, and when he inquired about her blood type, she only answered with complete silence.
Because whether her blood type was the same of not...
It didn't matter, because the young woman had no idea what her husband's blood type was.
"Sigh... Lord Louerg's blood is a type B."
"Ah..."
At the doctor's words, Euphemia stiffly fixed her sleeves.
Then she robotically fumbled her way towards her lone seat and lowered her head.
Maybe the reason her heart was hurting so much was that she wasn't able to be of any use?
...Maybe it's because of her guilt.
Because the man she begged her husband to spare, was the one who tried to kill him.
But Euphemia...
'Ciel, Ciel, Ciel, Ciel, Ciel...'
I didn't know he would do that.
Why he would do something like this for me...
I didn't know he would try to kill Ferzen.
For Euphemia, Ciel Midford's sacrifice was...
She was not pleased in the slightest.
Right now, she only felt anger and sorrow.
What was the point of all of her choices then?
If in the end, both men were going to die?
Ciel Midford was locked in the Imperial Palace cells, awaiting his execution.
And Ferzen Von Schweig Brutien would probably meet his end in the surgery room.
And Euphemia El Lauren Louerg, could only helplessly watch it all go down.
Drip.
From her beautiful golden eyes, tears flowed freely.
'Ciel...'
I don't know what you tried to give me.
But...
If this is the price I have to pay...
I'd rather...
Live a life chained to Ferzen.
The young woman continued to silently shed tears as her heart was entangled in sorrow.
* * * * *
At the crack of dawn.
When the clock announced the time: 6 AM.
Ferzen still hadn't left the surgery room.
* * * * *
However, even as such, the sun still rose, announcing the beginning of a new day.