Chapter 0: Prologue

“I heard you’ve been looking for a place to die.”

That wasn’t a lie.

I wanted to die on the battlefield.

Fortunately, today seemed to be that day.

Is that why you always throw yourself into the most dangerous fronts and carry out reckless assaults? Death? Are you seeking rest?

“You talk too much. Kill me.”

“Death is too good for you.”

I looked up.

A crimson glow burned inside the helmet.

“Who are you?”

At the very least, I wanted to know who was about to kill me.

But instead, the other person said something else.

“Because of you.”

“What?”

“All of this happened because of you.”

With those words, he swung his fist.

I fell to the ground and repeated his words in my mind.

What the hell is he talking about…?

“Because of you, the kingdom fell.”

That was when I came to my senses.

“Who are you?”

“Yuri, third prince of Briol.”

My eyes widened. No one knows my past.

Because they all died. So who the hell is this guy?

“You ruined everything.”

The guilt that had always festered in my heart now clung to him.

I just wanted to die. I never wanted to answer for my past sins. It was that guilt, those mistakes, that drove me to the battlefield over and over again.

I wanted to disappear like a fleeting wind, escaping the ghosts of my past.

“You thought becoming a mercenary, punishing yourself, would erase your sins? You’re selfish to the end.”

“Liar. Tell me who the hell you are, bastard.”

“Me?”

He lifted his helmet.

I saw glowing red eyes and darkened, lifeless veins. He no longer looked human, but I could recognize someone beneath that grotesque face.

“…Laurent?”

Captain of the Order of the Rose Knight. Always so proper, always putting on airs.

He definitely died.

The day the kingdom fell, Laurent died heroically on the front lines. So what the hell is this?

Why have the dead returned to confront me with my sins?

“Because of you.”

He raised his sword.

“Laurent!”

I had so many questions.

I saw a sword pierce through his heart. How could he still be alive?

What was that monstrous form?

And above all…

Why had he sided with the empire that destroyed our kingdom?

However, before I could ask anything, a crimson aura pierced through my neck.

“All of this happened because of you.”

My vision spun.

I saw my body collapse to the ground.

Even with my head severed from my body, consciousness did not immediately fade.

In the pool of blood, I glimpsed something glowing.

A memory of my mother.

The necklace.

It glowed with a soft white light.

I thought I’d feel lighter at the moment of death. I thought I’d find peace, that I’d forget everything.

But I was wrong.

Death was unbearable and the anguish didn’t fade—it crushed my soul. I wished I could go back.

I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. My vision soon darkened.

In the darkness, only the glow of the necklace remained.

Past conversations echoed in my ears like a slideshow of memories.

“My son. Remember this well. The heirs of Briol never abandon their honor. Not even in death.”

Yes, that was true.

Noble Briol.

Even in death, our honor would never be tarnished.

And for failing to uphold it, I died in disgrace.

‘Aren’t you going to answer?’

Huh?

“Aren’t you going to answer me?”

Someone hit me on the head.

“Huh?!”

What the hell?

“What do you mean ‘wha,’ my son?”

My father stood there.