The truth

Through the haze of pain that filled his mind, Daren saw Galiel's figure looming before him. The butler still held the sword with which he had hit him and Eldan, and he had raised it again.

Daren was sure the wound that had been inflicted on him was deep, yet he was still conscious and felt he wasn't bleeding as much as he should have.

He shifted his gaze, determined to get up and counter the blow that Galiel was about to throw, but someone else parried it for him.

"Finally you too have taken a false step..."

Daren's eyes widened as he watched Candace parry another blow with ease, forcing Galiel to take a few steps back.

She was dressed as a bride, wrapped in pure white, now stained here and there by the red splashes produced by the contact between her sword and Galiel’s.

Galiel seemed incredulous to see her in front of him.

"You..." he whispered, raising his sword again. Candace dodged his blow and lunged, grazing the man. She seemed to be guided by a force that allowed her to always hit her target.

"I've waited so long for you to drop your mask, Galiel. You're the main culprit in this whole thing... You instigated Marcel to carry out his plan, you bribed the maid to put poison in my tea , and you let Erika put poison in the tea meant for Daren and Dia." Candace hosted a smile full of cruel amusement on her face. "But this is nothing..."

Galiel stared at her, tightening his grip on his weapon, as if to protect himself. "I should have killed you before anyone else, Lady Candace... You are too smart not to be an obstacle."

Candace laughed. "You are the same, Galiel. You have been plotting revenge against Daren all these years and you have tried in every way to realize the dream of the previous emperor: a world without gods."

"It's not a dream," the butler retorted. "My intent hasn't faded yet. After eliminating you, I’ll kill Daren and that little girl… I don't care about my plan anymore. Now, my only option is to kill them at any cost. Kill the one who denied help to the true emperor, and she who represents what my lord wanted to eliminate from this world."

Daren clenched his fists. He suddenly felt unable to get up. Galiel knew about his father, knew that Daren had denied him help and that the emperor had died for that reason.

But how was that possible? From whom had he heard about that?

"You were there that day, when Daren denied his father help… weren't you?"

Galiel shrugged and closed his lids for a moment before looking back at Candace.

"That's right, but what does it matter? The only fundamental thing is that now I will bring my wish to an end."

As soon as Galiel finished saying those words, Candace laughed loudly, as if she had just heard a terribly funny joke.

"I'm so glad I waited to kill you, Galiel..." Her voice was filled with feverish emotion. "I could have eliminated you and your pawns right away, but it was for the best... it was much more fun." A gentle warmth began to pervade the room, and Candace was enveloped in a gentle light that also radiated to her sword.

"You little man who tried to kill a goddess... prepare to meet your doom."

Daren put a hand to the wound and propped himself on one elbow, staring at Candace with widened eyes.

"You... what monster are you?" Galiel tried to hit the girl again, but Candace pushed him away, knocking him to the ground. She raised a bloodstained hand and licked up a drop.

"A monster created by you and your accomplices, Galiel," she said while she raised her sword. "I'll tell you a secret as a parting gift: in the past you managed to carry out your plan.”

Candace's hand gripped the old man's collar and pulled him close. "You killed everyone. Dia, Daren, you would have killed me too… You were about to eliminate an incarnation of a deity from this world." Her eyes gleamed with a sinister light, trapping the butler's in their bloody hues.

Galiel jumped. "No... it's not possible... You are..."

"I was resigned to dying, you know? But you made a terrible mistake..." Candace's sword pierced Galiel's torso from side to side, causing a dull moan from the man.

Daren instinctively leaned forward to try to intervene, but his strength failed him, and he found himself back on the ground, next to Eldan who had not yet regained consciousness.

Candace... you...

"Lost in your thirst for destruction, you put me and Daren in the same prison before our execution. You introduced me to kindness... Something I've never experienced in my entire life." Candace dropped the butler's lifeless body and drove the blood from her blade with one blow, with the gaze of a god who has just prononunced his cruel judgment. "And you killed him before my eyes..."

Candace let go of her sword and walked over to Daren who could no longer keep his eyes open. The Emperor felt the touch of her hands on his face, then her lips on his.

"You are the only thing I loved in my life. The only thing I wanted to save..." Candace whispered before walking away, leaving Daren in the darkness.

* * *

"You killed him before my eyes."

"You are the only thing I loved in my life."

"You're the only thing I wanted to save...."

Daren's mind was a jumbled sea of ​​phrases and memories, a painful ocean of details that kept blurring into each other.

The only fixed point was Candace's voice, that strong but desperate voice that was guiding him beyond that chaos, towards the light of consciousness.

When Daren finally managed to open his eyes, the first thing he searched for was Candace's face.

He sat up with difficulty and looked around, calling the girl's name.

"Daren!" Dia's voice jolted him from his thoughts.

The little girl was beside him, her eyes filled with apprehension.

"How are you? Does your wound hurt?"

The emperor instinctively put a hand to his side. He felt no pain, but he did feel a heavy feeling of weakness.

"I'm fine..." he murmured hoarsely as the memories of what had happened flooded back to him. "Eldan? How is he?" he asked in a worried tone.

"He's feeling better, Jared is with him now," the girl explained. "I was so scared, you know?"

The emperor placed a hand on Dia's head and ruffled her hair. "Sorry if I made you worry." His gaze darkened suddenly. "Dia, where's Candace?"

The little girl shook her head and looked away.

“Dia, you have to tell me where she is,” Daren insisted, trying to meet her eyes.

"She's gone..." Dia whispered. Her eyes were shining with tears.

Daren didn't give up. "Where did she go?" he insisted.

"I don't know. She left Intial because she said that her job was done." Dia looked back at him, trying to hold back the tears. "Daren, I'm sorry… In reality, I’m not the goddess incarnation… I lied to help Candace."

The emperor sighed, stroking the child's head again. "Don't worry, I know it."

"And you won't send me away even if I'm no longer useful to you?"

"Don't be silly. I will never send you away. You are part of our family. Mine and Candace's." Daren slowly stood up and hugged her tightly, then leaned down to her level and looked into her eyes. "I'll take Candace back to the castle. You two have protected me so far, now it's my turn."

Finally, he was able to have a clearer vision of how things could have gone, he was finally able to understand the secrets, the lies, the unspoken words. He finally felt ready to confront Candace.

He put on his cloak and reached Eldan's room with Dia. He found the adviser awake, intent on talking with Jared.

"Your Majesty, I'm happy to see you're well..." Eldan murmured with some difficulty.

"I'm the one happy to see you awake, Eldan," he said, then placed his hands on Dia's shoulders and looked at the two men.

"I'm entrusting you with one of the most important people I have. I have to go get a certain runaway bride..."

"Your Majesty, you can't force yourself with that wound..." Jared objected, but the emperor didn't seem worried.

"Everything will be fine," he simply said.

When he left the room, a sense of peace settled in his chest.

Marcel, Erika, the Rolians, and even Galiel... there was no more room for pity towards them in his heart, nor for remorse.

Because he finally understood.

Because he finally remembered.