"I heard you've been searching for a place to die."
That's not a lie.
I wanted to die on the battlefield.
Fortunately, today seems to be that day.
"Is that why you always charge into the most dangerous fronts and carry out reckless assaults? Death? Are you seeking rest?"
"You talk too much. Just kill me."
"Death is too good for you."
I raised my eyes.
A crimson glow was burning within 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.
Collapsed on the ground, I replayed his words in my mind.
What the hell is he talking about...?
"Because of you, the kingdom fell."
That's 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 clutched at it.
I only wanted to die. I never wanted to be held accountable for my past sins.
It was that guilt, those mistakes, that drove me to the battlefield again and again.
I wanted to vanish like a fleeting wind, escaping the ghosts of my past.
"Did you think playing mercenary, punishing yourself, would erase your sins? You're selfish to the end."
"Bullshit. Just tell me who the hell you are, you bastard."
"Me?"
He lifted his helmet.
I saw blood-red glowing eyes and blackened, dead veins.
He no longer looked human, yet I could recall someone beneath that grotesque visage.
"...Laurent?"
Captain of the Rose Knight Order.
Always so proper, always putting on airs.
He definitely died.
On the day the kingdom fell, Laurent perished heroically on the front lines.
So what the hell is this?
Why has 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 blade pierce his heart—how was he still 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 slashed across my neck.
"All of this happened because of you."
My vision spun.
I saw my body slumped to the ground.
Even with my head severed from my body, consciousness didn't immediately fade.
In the pool of blood, I caught a glimpse of something gleaming.
A keepsake from my mother.
The necklace.
It was glowing with a soft white light.
I thought I would feel lighter at the moment of death.
I believed I would find peace, that I would forget everything.
But I was wrong.
Death was excruciating, and the anguish didn't fade—it crushed my soul.
If only I could go back.
I wouldn't make the same mistakes.
My vision went dark.
In the darkness, only the shimmer of the necklace remained.
Past conversations echoed in my ears like a lantern slide 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 was never to be stained.
And for failing to uphold that, I died in disgrace.
'Not going to answer?'
Huh?
"Are you not going to answer me?"
Someone struck me on the head.
"Huh?!"
What the hell?
"What do you mean 'huh,' my son?"
My father was standing there.