Shakky looked at Aerstrone in shock. She grabbed his hands with both of hers.
"Brother… what are you doing?"
There was anger in Aerstrone's eyes. His hand was tightly around Shakky's throat.
"Why are you still alive?"
The moment those words left Aerstrone's mouth, Shakky's eyes widened as she saw the hatred in his eyes.
Aerstrone continued to glare at her with anger.
"Because of you… only because of you, my mother died. I wish Mom had let you die."
Tears appeared in Shakky's eyes. She slowly let her hands fall and stopped resisting, as if she had already given up.
No matter how tightly Aerstrone held her throat, Shakky didn't react. She turned her face away from him.
Seeing this, Aerstrone finally let go. He realized that it wasn't affecting her anymore.
But seeing her like that only made him angrier.
"THEN WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"
His voice began to tremble. Tears appeared in his eyes.
"You were gone for so many years… I wish you had never come back."
After saying that, Aerstrone got off the bed. Before leaving, he looked at her and said,
"You don't know what Mom went through."
Then he walked out of the room.
Shakky didn't even look at him. Tears were still in her eyes. She was hurt, but she had nothing to say.
She slowly stood up and walked toward the window. Looking up at the night sky, she saw the seven moons surrounded by countless stars.
She placed a hand over her chest and quietly said,
"My second life is the same as my first…"
And just like that, morning came.
Ameria was sitting in front of the mirror, fixing Shakky's hair. She noticed the sadness in Shakky's eyes and asked,
"What happened, Princess? You look a little troubled."
Shakky looked at herself in the mirror.
"Nothing."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"The door is open."
The door opened, and Ser Horminzor stepped inside.
"Excuse me, Princess. I have what you asked me to bring."
Shakky immediately got up and walked toward him.
"Oh, Ser Horminzor."
She took the three scrolls from him.
"Thank you."
Horminzor smiled.
"There's no need to thank me. It's my job. And all the information you asked for is in these."
Shakky handed the scrolls to Ameria.
"Good work. I've been waiting for these."
Horminzor bowed.
"We are always at your service, Princess. You should hurry downstairs. Everyone is waiting for you."
Shakky nodded.
"Yes, we'll be there."
Horminzor left the room.
Shakky looked at Ameria.
"Put those scrolls in the bag."
Ameria placed them inside the bag, and the two of them went downstairs.
Derland was waiting beside the carriage. His white horse was standing nearby.
When Shakky and Ameria arrived, they saw that no one else was there except Derland.
Shakky looked at him.
"Why is no one else here?"
Derland looked at her.
"Oh, Princess, you're here. Everyone was here before, but Prince Aerstrone took them with him."
Shakky became slightly annoyed after hearing that.
Derland then looked toward the carriage.
"The wagons carrying the supplies have already left. If we leave now, we'll catch up with them on the way."
Shakky looked at him.
"Oh, Uncle Derland, then why are you here? Shouldn't you be with the supply wagons?"
Derland laughed.
"Princess, should I protect those supplies, or should I protect the most valuable thing in the entire Polard Kingdom sitting inside this carriage?"
Shakky smiled at his words.
From behind her, Ameria said,
"Only you could say something so ridiculous and somehow make it sound good."
Derland gave her an annoyed look.
Shakky looked at both of them.
"Now, let's go. We're already getting late."
Both of them nodded after hearing her.
"Yes, Princess."
Shakky got into the carriage, and Ameria followed her inside with the bag. Derland mounted his horse and followed behind the carriage.
The carriage passed through the kingdom and slowly headed toward the outside. Shakky looked through the carriage window at the people on the streets. Everyone seemed happy, busy with their daily work.
Looking outside, she quietly said,
"My father really is the best king… I wish my brother was like him too."
Ameria looked at her after hearing that.
"If you were healthy, the throne would have been yours."
Shakky looked at her, and Ameria continued,
"You have Saint Power, you're intelligent, you know a lot about magic, and your magic is even ranked S-class. I've seen you in the East. I've seen how you give justice to people and judge them."
Shakky laughed a little after hearing that.
"That's just what you think."
"No, it isn't," Ameria interrupted. "You just hide yourself from everyone. If you didn't, the whole Polard Kingdom would support you. And after the day you killed that monster, you even became famous among the knights."
Shakky folded her arms and raised one eyebrow.
"And what do you think about my brother?"
Ameria answered without hesitation.
"Prince Aerstrone doesn't understand the pain of his own people. Even though he's a little older than you and doesn't have as much battle experience as you do, Prince Benjin trains him well. But even after all that, he still thinks only about himself instead of the people around him."
Shakky listened carefully.
Ameria continued,
"For example, once he went on a monster hunt. When he couldn't defeat the monster, he abandoned everyone else and ran away to save himself."
The moment Ameria said that, Shakky suddenly shouted,
"ENOUGH!"
Ameria stared at her in surprise.
"Let's end this conversation here."
Ameria lowered her gaze and didn't say anything.
Shakky realized that she shouldn't have shouted at her. She looked at Ameria and said,
"Sorry… I just don't like hearing bad things about my brother."
Ameria remained silent for a moment and simply looked at her.
Shakky noticed her silence.
"What happened? Are you still angry with me?"
"How could I ever be angry with you, Princess?"
Shakky extended her hand toward her.
"Good. I'm getting bored here. Can you give me the scrolls Ser Horminzor gave us?"
Ameria nodded and looked inside the bag. She took out the scrolls and handed them to Shakky.
Shakky took them, placed them beside her, and opened one of the scrolls. She began reading it silently.
[Eight years ago, government officials came to the Polard Kingdom and met with the king. They were special because they worked under the greatest scientist, Dr. Bright.
They helped the king with several things, and in return, they asked for a small piece of land to build their Shijin Lab.
The Shijin Lab was the same facility that was destroyed in the recent explosion.
When our people went there to investigate, they found many dead bodies. They appeared to have been brought there for experiments. They were not wearing any clothes, and private parts of their bodies had been removed.
After investigating the place further, we found information mentioning three prototypes. The information about the first two prototypes is written in the second scroll. However, we still haven't discovered what the third prototype was.]
Shakky rolled the scroll back up and looked at Ameria.
"Dr. Bright… did he really come here?"
Ameria looked slightly surprised by the question, but quickly calmed herself.
"No. He never came here. No one has ever seen him. Only his assistants came."
Shakky looked at her suspiciously.
"So you knew about this? And you didn't tell me anything until now?"
Ameria answered directly,
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm only telling you the common information that everyone already knows."
Shakky stared at her for a few moments.
Then she placed the first scroll beside her and picked up the second one.
She opened it and started reading.
As she continued reading, her eyes slowly widened.
She couldn't believe what she was reading.