The Princess’s Final Wish Before Her Time Runs Out - Chapter 112

Tericia sat in silence.

Her gaze was unfocused, fixed somewhere in the distance, her expression blank hollow.

It was that familiar place she always saw in dreams. The place where she’d met the voice. The place where, when she had died once before, the voice had appeared for the first time.

“How could I have forgotten?”

Or… was it strange to have remembered it at all?

She let out a soft breath, more like a sigh. A strange emptiness washed over her, as though everything was finally over, and now… she didn’t want to do anything at all.

[Tericia.]

A voice called out from somewhere.

[Tericia.]

“……”

[Tericia.]

She didn’t move. She didn’t answer. But the more the voice called, the more desperate it began to sound. Eventually, she slowly turned toward where the voice was coming from.

It was the figure she had always seen here—the vague white silhouette.

She stared at it with calm, tired eyes and asked in a quiet voice:

“…Rashid is safe now, right?”

[Tericia.]

“You took my life in exchange, so Rashid won’t die, right?”

But the voice—though it had called her name—offered no answer to her question.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it? You promised. You said you’d trade my life for his. So now… I don’t have to worry about him dying anymore, do I?”

[Tericia, why aren’t you crying?]

“Why would I cry?”

She gave a hollow laugh.

[You’re sad.]

Yes. So very sad.

Her heart felt torn in two. Because she had left him—left Rashid behind with that face.

That devastated, shattered face.

And it was her fault.

“I really tried so hard. I gave it everything I had just to keep him alive.”

Tears began to gather in her eyes. But she didn’t notice. She kept talking, voice steady.

“I fought like hell. Like I was willing to die for it. Because I was.”

[Tericia…]

“So now, I just want to rest. Please. Let me rest.”

She smiled—but her lips trembled.

She tried to hold it together, to keep the smile on her face, but it didn’t last. The tears finally spilled over, tracing down her cheeks.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Somewhere along the line, his memory had started to blur.

When he finally came to his senses, his body was soaked in blood, and Heinz was clashing swords with him.

“You can’t, Your Grace! He must stay alive. We have to find out who’s behind this!”

As Rashid’s golden eyes slowly regained focus, Heinz managed to speak.

But he couldn’t yet lower his sword. Rashid could lose control again at any second.

Sheffer Verus—barely alive—lay slumped against the wall. Nothing about him was intact. Rashid’s body was covered in the man’s blood.

When Rashid finally released his grip, his sword clattered to the floor with a sharp, metallic sound.

Heinz, who had been holding on with everything he had, staggered but managed to steady himself. His breathing was ragged.

“How is Tericia?”

Rashid’s voice was rough—strained like it had been dragged across glass.

“No word from upstairs yet.”

Rashid had been torturing Sheffer for more than half a day now. Torture wasn’t even the right word anymore—it had been a brutal, one-sided massacre. The only miracle was that Sheffer was somehow still alive.

Rashid lifted a hand to brush back his hair, but stopped.

His hand was soaked in blood—not his own.

He exhaled sharply, lowered his hand, and instead rolled his shoulders back, cracking the tension from his neck before looking to Heinz.

“Douse him in Panarin. He can’t die yet.”

Then, without another word, Rashid walked out of the dungeon.

Heinz watched his retreating figure with deep worry in his eyes.

He wasn’t doing well.

Rage and despair were eating away at him, tearing apart his reason.

Lady Tericia…

Please… don’t die.

Heinz held back a sigh and turned toward the bloodied man chained to the wall.

Rashid headed straight to his bedroom—where Tericia lay unconscious.

When he emerged from the dungeon, still covered in blood, the servants waiting outside froze in place. Some instinctively backed away in fear, their eyes wide in horror.

Just before he could enter the room, Lord Adler stepped in front of him.

“You’re not going in like that, are you? If Lady Tericia wakes up and sees you in that state, it might push her right back into danger.”

“…She woke up?”

“……”

Rashid said nothing, simply staring at Adler with a blank expression.

Adler, feeling the weight of that silence, exhaled a small sigh of relief once Rashid turned away.

Without needing to speak, Adler’s eyes met Harris’s. The seasoned butler, quick to pick up on the situation, gave a small nod and approached Rashid without hesitation.

“Your bath is ready, sir.”

There was still no response, but when Rashid began walking in the direction of the bath, Harris followed closely behind.

Watching them disappear, Adler let out a sigh—just like the one Heinz had released earlier.

He had thought he’d grown used to Rashid’s temperament. But this… this was different.

Outwardly, Rashid was calm. But Adler could see it—barely restrained fury, the kind that could break a man from the inside out.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the young Duke truly lost himself.

“Lady Tericia…” he whispered under his breath.

The name came out wrapped in a desperate kind of hope.

—

Nearly a month had passed since the bloodstained engagement ceremony when Crown Prince Ludwig finally decided to visit the Hespelt estate.

During that entire time, Rashid had not once appeared at the palace. Though he held one of the most crucial roles in postwar negotiations, he hadn’t shown his face—not even once.

The Crown Prince had already sensed how bad things were. Every time he sent someone to check in, the servants would always give the same answer:

“We haven’t seen the Duke.”

Even when Adler came to the palace in Rashid’s place, it was clear something was wrong.

When Ludwig summoned him, Adler arrived looking gaunt and exhausted.

“…You look like hell,” Ludwig muttered as soon as Adler entered the room.

Adler gave a faint, humorless smile.

“This is actually me looking better. Heinz hasn’t been able to sleep at all.”

He added with a weary sigh, “Trying to stop the Duke will do that to a man.”

“How bad is Rashid?”

“At this rate, the Hespelt family may have to hold two funerals.”

“…I see.”

Ludwig didn’t need to ask for details.

He remembered, long ago, something similar had happened. Tericia had fallen ill, poisoned. They hadn’t known the details then, but later it came to light.

Back then, they’d found an antidote in time—and Rashid had held himself together.

But this time was different.

This time, he had seen her collapse, pierced by a blade, bleeding before his very eyes.

The kind of shock that left no words behind.

“They haven’t found an antidote yet?”

Ludwig had searched too, spreading word across the empire. But no one knew what kind of poison it was. No cure had been found.

So maybe it was only natural that Rashid was losing control.

“No, Your Highness.”

“…This is bad.”

Adler bowed his head and fell silent for a moment. When he raised his eyes again, he had composed himself.

“Lord Pelos is arriving in the capital tomorrow. He’ll take over the postwar negotiations. You don’t need to worry.”

“If Pelos is coming, then I suppose I can stop worrying about that…”

Which only confirmed how unwell Rashid truly was.

Ludwig paused, then made his decision.

“I’ll visit the Hespelt estate this afternoon. Let Rashid know I’m coming.”

“He won’t be in any state to receive you.”

“I’ve already prepared myself for that.”

Adler bowed and left the room.

Even after his departure, Ludwig remained lost in thought.

The work he’d been doing before Adler arrived lay untouched.

His fingers tapped slowly and rhythmically on the desk, a small but steady sign of his inner conflict.

House Hespelt. Rashid Hespelt. And Tericia.

The Imperial family would do whatever it took to secure its power—even using the nobility. And Hespelt was no exception.

But beyond titles, beyond politics… Rashid was the only man Ludwig could call a true friend.

He didn’t want anything to happen to him.

And Tericia…

“Your Highness.”

That soft voice. Amethyst eyes that curved gently with a smile. Long golden-brown hair flowing past her waist.

Every time she bowed, every time she smiled—it stirred something in his chest. Like a young boy attending his first ball.

Even though the smile wasn’t for him.

Even if she would never be his.

By the time Ludwig realized his feelings, she had already chosen someone else.

A woman too brilliant to forget.

So wise, so composed… A woman he could never reach—but if he could have, he would have wanted her by his side.

“…Tericia.”

Ludwig whispered her name softly.

He didn’t want her to die. He wanted her to live.

Even if she would never be his.

The tapping on the desk stopped.

Ludwig rang the bell to summon his aide.

“I’m visiting the Hespelt estate.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll prepare at once.”

Ludwig rose to his feet, his decision set.

“But before that  have the carriage stop at the Temple.”

Maybe there, I’ll find something, some way to help you, my beautiful lady.

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