Lilia's face became a mask of absolute horror as the horrific, unintended consequences of her past actions were laid bare before her.
Her wide blue eyes reflected the devastating depth of the suffering I had endured.
She recoiled further, looking as if she had been physically struck by the sheer weight of my words.
"I... I had no idea," she whispered, her voice cracking violently with raw emotion as the reality of her sins crushed her.
"I was a foolish, arrogant girl, driven entirely by fear and ignorance." She looked at the wet floor beneath her.
"I never imagined... I never thought my actions would lead to such... such utter devastation for the House of Aurelius."
Tears flowed freely down her flushed cheeks now, her slender body wracked with heavy, painful sobs that she could no longer contain.
"I can't change the past. I know I can't bring back your family right now or undo the immense pain I've caused you. But I can't let Hendrix harm anyone else more than this!"
She met my cold, unmoving gaze once again, her eyes filled with a desperate, pathetic kind of hope that begged for a savior.
"I know it's not enough, and I know I am completely unworthy of your forgiveness. But please, I beg you—consider helping me for the sake of all the innocent people who will suffer under Hendrix's tyranny!"
Outside, the heavy, rhythmic thud of approaching iron-toed boots grew significantly louder, vibrating through the floorboards.
The harsh, mocking voices of Hendrix's personal vanguard echoed sharply through the night air as they closed the distance to the isolated mansion.
"I don't give a flying fuck about you or this damn collapsing country," I muttered, my voice dropping into a flat, ice-cold register that cut through the darkness.
I turned my head slightly, my eyes locking onto her trembling figure.
"And let me make this perfectly clear, Your Royal Highness."
"It was... your and your sister's doing—her fabricated lies and your ignorance of the matter—that gave that opportunistic monster the perfect chance to completely destroy my family!"
As the raw, suffocating anger completely took over my consciousness, the men pursuing her finally reached the threshold.
They were directly at the front door of my family estate.
I didn't know why, but this intense, burning fury kept projecting itself onto my mind completely on its own.
It felt foreign, as if it were my original feeling even though I had never experienced it myself, yet at the exact same time, I had nothing to do with any of this.
I thought it was the residual trauma and the soul of Landra Aurelius blending with my own.
Suddenly, the locked mahogany front door was kicked wide open with a violent, splintering crash.
The reinforced wood shattered into flying shards as the squad breached the perimeter, flooding into the dusty living room in a tight tactical formation.
"Yo, lady, finally caught your tail, huh? Did you really think you could run away from the capital forever?" the lead soldier sneered, waving his unsheathed blade.
The commander's voice was grating, thick with arrogant confidence.
His polished iron plate armor reflected the cold, pale moonlight streaming through the broken doorway as he stepped across the threshold.
He was flanked by six heavily armed mercenaries—each one a seasoned killer bearing the distinct crimson crest of Hendrix's ruthless enforcement division.
"Lady Lilia," the leader mocked, his cruel laughter filling the enclosed space as he raised his broadsword.
"Even if you hide in a dungeon cave, we will still find you anyway. Why waste your energy running here and there? Just give yourself up so that we can have our way with you too."
Lilia stood completely paralyzed, caught between the seething, cold fury radiating from my side and the encroaching physical threat of the executioners.
"Too? You... don't tell me that Maria and Yoana..." Lilia's eyes were red, but no longer with tears.
One of the soldiers standing at the back spoke up. "Aah, it's a shame that Yoana was already done by Lord Hendrix himself."
But as for Maria, even in her dying moment. I can still remember the feeling of touching the skin of the First Princess."