For the One Who Hates Me - Chapter 41

The sun was just beginning to rise outside the window.

Karl was sitting on the bed. He had been in this state ever since he had returned from Aura’s room.

“Give me a Pin.’

She had finally said those words. And Karl had no choice but to give in.

“…Damn it.”

He had found out about Pin’s existence a few months ago. It was the night he had brought her back from Ancena.

Karl was in his office, trying to calm his anger. He just couldn’t understand. Not her stabbing him, nor her throwing herself from the ship in Ancena.

He frowned at the pain that was slowly creeping up from his side.

Of course, when he saw her appearance, he had guessed. That she had suffered more than he could imagine.

‘But she just got out of the tower. All that’s left for her is to be happy. Why does she hate me so much?’

But what he couldn’t understand was himself. He accepted her no matter how she stabbed him, or how she threw herself away. He even welcomed the pain she inflicted on him.

“…This is dangerous.”

He felt he was going to be completely and utterly taken in by Aura.

‘Maybe I should keep my distance from Aura for a while.’

“Hah…”

He sighed and shook his head. He had too much to do to just be sitting there worrying. The first priority was to go through the Crown Prince’s office. He had to take the useful documents and burn the rest.

He didn’t know where to start in the messy office. He started by opening the desk drawers at random. They were filled with nothing but junk. It was almost laughable when he thought about the Crown Prince’s greed for power.

The last drawer was filled with letters. Secret conversations with nobles, love letters with his mistress. Amidst them, Karl found an unfamiliar name.

“Julius? Who is this?”

He was drawn to the letter and opened it.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the research for the crystal ball to seal the magic of the Zenia wizards is complete. The name of the crystal ball is ‘Pin.’ If this succeeds, you will appoint me as the Imperial Court’s wizard, as promised, when you become Emperor, won’t you?“

“He sealed their magic… What a cowardly thing to do.”

Karl had left for Devla as soon as Zenia was destroyed. He had no time to look into the cause of Zenia’s downfall.

He rummaged through the drawer and found a few more letters from Julius.

“…I suggest that you add a few more elements so that the Zenia people can never break the seal. Split Pin into three pieces and store them separately, and create a fatal condition to break the seal. Your Majesty, you only need to do two things. Gather two more people with the same goal as you, and think of a good condition to break the seal.“

“…I believe Grand Duke Ryan and Duke Taine’s son, Whale Taine, are trustworthy, aren’t they? I will send them a separate letter myself…“

“Ryan… Taine…”

It seemed the Crown Prince had chosen Ryan and Taine. It was ironic. They had sided with Karl the moment the Crown Prince died.

‘My brother didn’t even have a good eye for people.’

Karl scoffed at the Crown Prince and opened the last letter. He froze as soon as he read it.

“You are brilliant! The life of a True-Blood! With that condition, the Zenia people will never be able to break the seal on Pin.“

The life of a True-Blood.

“…Hah.”

There were two True-Bloods left in Zenia and Kasa. Aura and Riel.

Julius had added, “It requires a lot of blood to break the seal on Pin. It won’t be broken by a child’s blood alone, so you don’t have to worry about your daughter, Princess Riel.“

Karl was speechless at their wickedness.

To break the seal on Pin, Aura’s life had to be sacrificed. And even if they were to get their magic back, Zenia would have lost its last royal.

And Aura… would gladly sacrifice her life. Especially now.

Karl closed the letter. He sat in the darkness for a long time. The pain in his side was long forgotten.

‘Julius… Julius…’

Karl wrote the name on a memo pad. Even if he were to burn all these dangerous letters, he had to remember this name.

A moment later, he opened a side door and entered his private library. The Crown Prince had stuffed all sorts of things in there. He was too lazy to have hidden the Pin in a special place.

Karl walked through the library and stopped in front of a cabinet in the middle of the room. He opened the glass door, and all sorts of luxury items were covered in dust.

He scanned the inside and opened the decorative boxes one by one. And soon enough, he found Pin in a box.

“…”

Karl gripped Pin tightly. And he scoffed at himself.

‘Keep my distance? You had a moment of naive optimism, Karl Kasa.’

He was reminded of the night he had run away from Aura after their wedding. He had spent the entire night convincing himself not to go back to her.

‘To protect a woman like that… a woman so noble, I have to become many times stronger. Really, many times stronger…’

It was both a self-justification and a promise. That he had to become stronger than anyone else to return to her.

He had thought that by becoming stronger, he had protected Aura. That since he had become the Emperor, no one would be able to touch her.

But he was wrong.

‘This was only the beginning. The job of protecting you.’

Karl left the library with Pin.

Karl planned to gather all the pieces of Pin and hide them somewhere Aura wouldn’t find them. Even if Ryan and Taine didn’t give them up, he would take them by force.

But a new challenge had appeared. Aura.

After Isen died, Karl realized that she hadn’t gone into the library for military maps. She was clearly looking for Pin.

‘I knew a day like this would come…’

He sighed in exhaustion and ran a hand over his face.

Just then, the bedroom door opened without a knock.

Swish… swish…

Footsteps came from behind him, and Karl turned around.

Aura was there, wearing only a nightgown and with her long hair hanging down. Her bare feet were small and pale.

“Aura, it’s still early.”

Aura ignored him and approached. She put a knee on the bed and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“The sun is up. It’s morning.”

“You should at least put on some proper clothes-“

“Give me Pin.”

“…”

“Now.”

Aura leaned her body toward Karl. Her hair fell down to his shoulder. He grabbed it in his hand.

“You really… have a knack for tormenting me.”

“I know. Once the seal on Pin is broken, you’ll have a political mess on your hands. It would be like losing a colony. But Karl, you said it yourself.”

Aura moved even closer to Karl. So close that he could feel her breath on his skin.

“Anything, as long as it’s not me leaving. I want Pin.”

“It’s not you leaving…”

Was this a blessing in disguise? Aura didn’t seem to know how to break the seal on Pin. She thought Karl was just hiding Pin for political reasons.

“Hah…”

Karl sighed and kissed her hair.

“Aura, you don’t even know how to break the seal on Pin…”

“It requires a sacrifice.”

Karl froze.

“…What kind of sacrifice?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’ll find out. Or…”

Aura whispered into Karl’s ear, “I might find out… from you, who knows about Julius.”

Karl silently looked at her from the corner of his eye. Aura spoke again.

“I went through your drawers.”

“You went and did all sorts of things behind my back. How wicked of you.”

‘It was a good thing I burned those letters early.’

Karl lightly tugged on Aura’s hair.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to break the seal.”

Aura glared at him.

“…Even so, you have Pin, don’t you? Give it to me.”

At that moment, Karl tilted his head slightly and gave her a light kiss. Aura frowned and pulled back.

“What was that for?”

“You told me such a cute lie. That you were looking for something to use against me?”

He was referring to the excuse Aura had given at Isen’s funeral. Aura scoffed.

“You knew all along? That must have been fun for you. Seeing me struggle to hide it from you.”

“Then stop struggling, Aura.”

“…”

“If you give up on Pin, I will…”

“I’m not here to negotiate, Karl. We’re going to get Pin right now. Together.”

“…Alright.”

Karl got up from the bed. Aura’s eyes followed him with suspicion, as if he were about to run away.

“Pin is in the annex basement.”

“The annex basement?”

“Yes. Just wait a moment.”

Karl abruptly took off his shirt. Aura quickly looked away at his sudden action. He took a shirt from the closet and put it on. He was getting into the minimal attire of an Emperor.

He took a cloak from the closet. Just as Karl was about to drape it over Aura’s shoulders, her face flushed from seeing his body.

Karl suppressed the laughter that was threatening to come out.

‘She’s so cute at the most ridiculous times.’

“I don’t need a cloak.”

“You can’t go out dressed like that. And I know you won’t listen if I tell you to go back to your room and change.”

Karl tied the cloak into a nice ribbon. Aura silently covered herself with the cloak.

The two of them entered the annex. Karl held a torch and matches in his hand.

Aura had never thought Pin would be in the annex. To her, the annex was just where Riel lived.

“Why did you put Pin in the annex? It’s so dangerous to have it where Riel is…”

Karl glanced at Aura.

“It’s not dangerous. And besides, I’ve always felt this, but you really like Riel, don’t you?”

“…It’s just that I don’t want an innocent child to get hurt. That’s all.”

Karl turned left from the main corridor. They walked down a narrow, dark corridor and reached an old door.

‘So the basement entrance was here.’

Aura tightened her grip on the cloak. Karl lit the torch and opened the door with a key. He was clearly skilled at entering and leaving here.

Creak…

The door opened. Pitch-black darkness lay before them.

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