Grant Me Your Grace

Several footsteps traveled beyond the closed door. Dahlia pressed her ear to the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a small stain of blood on the hem of her damp skirt, but it was hidden by the shadows cast by the candlelight.

She quickly removed the damp garment and hid it at the foot of the bed. 

Perhaps the maids would find it the next day when they cleaned up, but by then the red stain would be twisted into filth, intertwined with the dust.

Quickly changing into her nightgown, Dahlia glanced out the window.

“Priest Hovan should have arrived at the imperial palace by now…”

Dahlia subconsciously scratched her fingernails over the dots on her palm, her eyes scanning every inch of her body. But no matter how long she waited, nothing happened to her body.

‘No way, he’s already dead…’

Dahlia bit her lip hard, terrified. In her heart, she wanted to rush to the Emperor’s palace to see for herself, but in her current state, she couldn’t take a single step outside the Princess’s Palace.

The Emperor shouldn’t die now. Even if he was the cruel father who imprisoned me in the depths of the palace, he was the only reason I was safe from Saltar.

I did not want to be reduced to a bleeding beast. Saltar was so cruel that I wished desperately that my terrible father, who had imprisoned me, had remained as a shield.

“Goddess Nuit, please…”

Dahlia looked up from her fervent prayer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her own face in the mirror.

“Uh…”

Beneath his red lips, a tiny speck was clearly visible. The blood had healed the Emperor.

“Hah! Goddess Nuit. Thank you, bless you…”

Dahlia looked at the red spot and smiled tearfully.

“…!”

The spots began to spread around her lips, then quickly traveled down her chin, covering her slender neck.

“Ugh, uck…!”

Dahlia clutched her throat as the pain radiated horribly from her mouth to her throat. The searing pain penetrated her lungs, making her feel like she was breathing through fire.

Her body collapsed to the floor, disoriented. Dahlia whimpered and crawled to her feet. The pain was like nothing she’d ever felt before, and her mind was burning white.

“Argh, someone. Somebody help me…”

She reached out with her fluttering hands. But she couldn’t reach the end of the rope, only to shudder as the pain burned from her neck to her chest.

Swallowing a molten iron would be like this, she thought, and even her pleas for help were cut off by a stifled groan.

Tears trickled from the corners of Dahlia’s painfully distorted eyes.

“…Please.”

Dahlia finally lost consciousness.

✨

Khankundra’s ribs heaved. He gulped down the water like a ferocious beast and exhaled deeply, setting the cup down with a clatter. He wiped his mouth roughly and turned to the side.

The shisha he’d been biting into earlier lay in the corner, half-broken.

“Your Majesty, are you feeling better now?” Mindhu asked. 

He had retreated for a moment after offering the emperor the lapis lazuli and a woman, but as soon as he heard of the accident, he hurriedly summoned Hovan. 

He was one of those who knew the secret of the blood.

Instead of answering, the Emperor took a deep breath and looked ahead harshly. On the floor lay five naked women, quivering and cowering.

“Oh, spare us, Your Majesty, please have mercy…!”

The women, barely clad in silk, wept and begged naked. The emperor looked down on them with disdain.

A moment earlier, a scented candle had fallen from the arm of one of the women who had been grinding against the Emperor. 

The candle landed squarely on the shisha, and just as the Emperor was puffing on his pipe, the shisha burst into flames.

The smoke and flames burned the inside of Khankundra’s mouth and throat. 

If Dahlia’s blood had come a moment too late, he might have been dead by now, his throat melted open.

Fortunately, the women had all bowed down as he drank the sacred blood, but there was no reason to leave any aftermath. If they dared to hurt the Emperor, they had committed a high crime.

Turning his attention away, Khankundra spoke coldly.

“Burn their body.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At Mindhu’s nod, the guards approached and dragged them away.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare us, please, Your Majesty!”

The wailing women’s voices soon faded into the distance. With a click of his tongue, Mindhu bowed deeply to the Emperor.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“You are not to blame, on the contrary, I was saved because you came immediately.”

Khankundra was sincerely grateful to Mindhu. His eyes were as innocent as a child’s.

“What have I done?” he said.

Mindhu smiled wryly at such blind faith and played the loyal servant.

“Only, it was fortunate that Her Highness was able to deliver the blood in time.”

The Emperor’s face darkened again at the mention of the Princess from Mindhu’s mouth. His eyes, which had been filled with anger a moment ago, were now filled with fear.

“How long can I keep this… hidden?”

They were the eyes of one who held a secret that must not be revealed to anyone. A secret that no one should ever know, not even those who possessed divine power, but something far more intimate and dangerous.

“Your Majesty, I beg to be heard.”

Stooping low, Mindhu dared the Emperor’s face to look at him. Despite the blasphemy he had committed, the Emperor regarded him obediently, like a son listening to his parents.

“My heart is with Your Majesty.”

A sly whisper, like that of a viper, enveloped the Emperor.

“It has been the will of the Great Goddess for decades, nay, for the entire history of this nation, the Baran.”

“The will of the great… goddess.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, and the fact that Baran has remained strong all these years is because the Goddess Nuit has allowed it.”

As Mindhu continued to speak, the Emperor’s eyes, which had been filled with confusion, gradually calmed down.

“Therefore, your Majesty, please do not worry about anything and remain steadfast in your reign.”

Mindhu continued, gazing at the Emperor as if he were watching a pitiful infant.

“I will stand by your side, Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Just like that ‘day’.”

The Emperor’s fear vanished, and he turned to Mindhu, his eyes filled with gratitude.

“Oh, Mindhu… you are indeed a true servant of the Goddess Nuit.”

“Manla.”

Mindhu’s mouth twitched as he looked at the Emperor. He soothed the Emperor by promising to retrieve the lapis lazuli that had been spilled in the commotion.

Mindhu watched over the Emperor’s bed and then left the palace. There, amidst the crashing thunder, the priest Hovan was waiting for him.

Mindhu stood before Hovan with an arrogant look on his face.

“The Emperor is safe.”

At the words, Hovan heaved a sigh of relief or grief. If the Emperor was safe, that meant Dahlia was going to pay dearly with her life.

“How could His Majesty the Emperor…”

“How dare a priest pry into the details of His Majesty’s well-being!”

Hovan stiffened at Mindhu’s murderous rant. 

Although the Chancellor was the highest position in the administration besides the Emperor. 

In Baran, where religion and politics were closely intertwined, the priest who was chosen as the next High Priest was no more to be messed with than the Chancellor.

Nevertheless, Mindhu’s behavior was so disrespectful and arrogant that the Emperor’s trust in him was almost unbelievable.

“The priest will take care of the Princess.”

Mindhu lifted his chin and looked down at Hovan. 

“She would have already gotten there by now. The marks.”

With a mocking sneer from the corner of his finely curled mouth, Mindhu left the silent priest first.

Boom!

Another fierce rumble of thunder tore the sky.

As Hovan’s gaze stared in the direction of Mindhu’s disappearance, his eyes were dazed by the flash of lightning. 

Hovan shifted his gaze to the sky, where a torrential downpour was raging. His amber eyes glowed with an indecipherable light.

A sense of despair, perhaps.

Or, more likely, a sickening kind as well.

It flashed with the intensity of a bolt of lightning, then vanished without a trace beyond his eyelids. 

Only the faintest traces of emotion settled beneath the bright irises.

“…May the Goddess Nuit be with you.”

He murmured softly, gazing off into the distance at the Princess Palace. It wasn’t long before he turned and walked back to the temple.

The rain did not cease for long, threatening to swallow the country whole.