For the heart - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36

 

“Put that down immediately! Where do you think you’re going with that!”

 

“….”

 

“Why is everyone just standing there watching! Stop her quickly! Good heavens, Your Highness! Your Highness!!”

 

Tila gasped in shock at the sight of Nina.

 

She tried to physically block Nina from leaving the Satellite Palace, but it was useless.

 

She shouted at Casian, Emil, and Pieruto to stop Nina, but none of them stepped forward.

 

“Right now, she’s not the Princess but a cold blade from the battlefield. If I stood in her way, I feel like my head would fall first….”

 

Casian spoke first in a calm tone, and Emil stepped back even further than the others, deeply tucking in his neck.

 

As Nina’s figure quickly disappeared, Casian let out a sigh.

 

“Let’s heal you before Her Highness returns, Tila.”

 

And he began healing Tila, who had collapsed on the floor in exhaustion.

 

* * *

 

She already looked menacing enough.

 

She was covered in blood from fighting Kushis in the town square, and her clothes were torn to shreds.

 

In this state, she entered the Main Palace carrying a sword that made freezing sounds as it dripped.

 

“Eek, I-I greet Your Highness the Princess.”

 

“….”

 

The attendants and servants she encountered in the corridor all pressed their backs against the walls, staying far away from Nina.

 

This was because a blade-like murderous aura was dripping from her.

 

Nina walked straight ahead without responding to their greetings.

 

“Y-Your Highness, what brings you….”

 

“Open the door.”

 

“Pardon? Right now Princess Lillien is inside with her maids,”

 

“This is my final command. Open the door.”

 

Banir, the attendant standing in front of Lillien’s room, fidgeted restlessly and rolled his eyes.

 

Not only was this the first time Nina had come looking for Lillien, but the aura he felt from her now was definitely ominous.

 

“P-Please don’t do this and return to the Satellite Palace. I’ll ask Princess Lillien and arrange a time,”

 

Bang―!

 

“Eek!”

 

Before the attendant could finish speaking, Nina’s foot kicked the ornately carved door.

 

The door burst open with a crashing sound, revealing three faces with wide-open eyes staring in their direction.

 

“What, what is this, you!”

 

Lillien jumped up and screamed angrily upon seeing Nina.

 

Nina entered slowly without making a sound with her footsteps.

 

As her steps toward Lillien drew closer and closer, the faces of Ivana and Michelle standing beside her turned deathly pale.

 

Nina approached Lillien without even glancing at the maids.

 

“What, what are you trying to do, exactly? How dare you come to see me without an appointment?! And breaking down the door instead of knocking! Are you out of your,”

 

“This is a warning.”

 

Nina didn’t let Lillien finish her words.

 

Her cold gaze and deeply lowered voice fell like a blade.

 

Lillien, who slowly lowered her eyes to the sword Nina was holding, gulped.

 

A ruthless chill was already spreading from the blade of the sword, its edge gleaming coldly.

 

For the first time, Lillien could feel what ‘killing intent’ truly meant.

 

“If you touch my people one more time, then.”

 

Swoosh―!

 

Kyaah!

 

It happened in an instant. The long hair that had been flowing over Michelle’s shoulder was cut right below her chin and fell in a cascade.

 

Thud, Michelle collapsed to the ground and tumbled backward.

 

The chill of the sword she felt beneath her chin instantly penetrated her entire body.

 

If she had flinched even slightly, it would have been her chin, not her hair, that was severed.

 

But Nina didn’t even look at Michelle.

 

Still with her eyes fixed on Lillien, she spoke.

 

“It won’t be hair, but the head of those bulging eyes that will roll on the floor.”

 

“Th-this….”

 

Swish, Nina turned away from Lillien, who was trembling as she looked at her.

 

And she passed by Banir, who was fidgeting anxiously outside the door she had broken, and left the Main Palace.

 

“Aaaaah―!!”

 

Behind her, Lillien’s scream of uncontrollable rage echoed through the corridor.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, a strategic meeting was held on how to conquer the Six Small Nations that had not yet fallen.

 

The Six Small Nations had banded together and were putting up the strongest resistance, and their geographical location deep within the mountains made conquest difficult.

 

But since that was the only place left, the path they had to take was essentially predetermined.

 

It would be a life-or-death battle for both Arsed, which sought to conquer, and the Six Small Nations, which sought to resist.

 

And the next morning, the head attendant came to the Satellite Palace.

 

“His Majesty the Emperor commands you to prepare for the confrontation with Kushis, Your Highness.”

 

“Are you saying Desmorak succeeded in casting a spell on Kushis?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. Kushis has already been moved to the Training Ground Arena. Please come out when you’re ready.”

 

This was exactly what she had been waiting for.

 

Nina had one more thing she wanted to confirm.

 

She wasn’t certain whether Desmorak cast his spell on the monster’s heart after extracting it, or if he cast the spell on the monster’s body itself.

 

All I saw was him extracting the heart with magic.

 

If she could confirm this, she might be able to deduce a bit more about why he had torn out her heart.

 

Upon hearing that Kushis had already been moved to the training grounds, Nina immediately headed to the Maryeonso.

 

Since they had moved the monster, Desmorak would surely be somewhere nearby.

 

Nina easily climbed over the wall into the Maryeonso, checked for any presence, then descended below.

 

Being her second visit, it was much easier.

 

When she reached the bottom, she could see Kushis’s large heart inside a transparent glass container.

 

Nina approached closer and peered at the beating heart.

 

Cracks of light like shattered glass fragments spread across the surface of the heart.

 

Looking more closely, she could see that the light had seeped deep into the heart’s core.

 

Rather than stopping after being removed, the heart was emitting light in rhythm with its beats.

 

Nina traced around her own heart with her fingertips.

 

It seemed that after extracting a heart, the spell’s scar remained as a thorned chain pattern, and when a domination spell was cast on the heart, these fragments of light would remain.

 

“As I thought, he failed to cast the domination spell on my heart.”

 

If he had properly cast the spell on her heart, she would have moved according to his will like Baraguz or Kushis.

 

Her eyes would have turned that lifeless gray-white color too.

 

Having confirmed that the domination spell was cast on the heart, Nina quietly slipped out of the Maryeonso.

 

Returning directly to the Satellite Palace, Nina approached Tila, who had laid out her combat uniform and armor with a troubled expression.

 

It was hard to believe this was the same person whose arm had been broken yesterday, as she was moving the heavy armor without any difficulty.

 

It was thanks to being healed by Casian.

 

“I don’t need the armor, Tila.”

 

“Why not? What if you get hurt? You said your opponent is Kushis. I heard that beast was the one that tore up Your Highness’s clothes so badly yesterday…”

 

“Yesterday I didn’t have my sword.”

 

Nina emerged wearing only light training clothes and carrying her sword.

 

* * *

 

Desmorak’s eyes swept over Nina’s appearance as she entered the training grounds.

 

The head attendant had surely conveyed that she would be facing Kushis, yet here she was appearing with no protective equipment whatsoever.

 

Desmorak frowned as he recalled how Nina had previously thrust her sword into Baraguz’s heart, despite his strict warning that the monster must never be killed.

 

And when Nina came close to him, he opened his mouth.

 

“Your Highness, Kushis also must never be—”

 

But Nina walked right past him as if he were invisible, heading straight for the center of the arena.

 

Feeling completely ignored, Desmorak glared at Nina from behind. Then he raised his hand high.

 

‘Today I’ve arranged for it to go wild with fury focused only on you, so get torn to shreds. Arrogant bitch.’

 

Grrrrr.

 

Kushis emerged from the opened iron cage and immediately charged toward Nina.

 

The very fact that one of the high-level monsters, more vicious than even Baraguz, had appeared within the Imperial Palace was shocking to everyone.

 

And before that shock could even fade,

 

Swish—!

 

There was only the sound of air being cut…

 

“Gasp!”

 

“How… how is that possible…!”

 

Among everyone’s surprise, the person most greatly shocked was Desmorak.

 

His eyes bulged as if they might pop out, and the muscles of his pale face convulsed.

 

Thud—!

 

The large monster’s head rolled to the ground with a heavy sound.

 

As if she wouldn’t allow any attack from the monster, Nina’s sword had severed Kushis’s neck in the blink of an eye.

 

Kushis’s headless body thrashed about as if having a seizure.

 

When it charged toward the viewing stands where the Emperor sat, arrows from the waiting Monster Hunting Squad poured down like rain.

 

Nina turned around to see Desmorak glaring at her with trembling fists.

 

The corner of her lips curved up distinctly, as if mocking him.

 

‘Did you see that clearly, Desmorak.’

 

She intended to mercilessly dispose of every monster he sent out under his domination spell from now on.

 

And that night, news came that a human’s head had been severed, not a monster’s.

 

It was Michelle Puaco, Lillien’s maid and daughter of Count Puako.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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