Chapter 12

Faced with an unexpected answer, Iru could only stare at him, swallowing the many words she had prepared in her mind.

“How can you be so sure…?”

After a long silence, Iru stammered, her voice sounding dazed even to her own ears. Nergal’s face broke into a faint smile.

“Because it’s just as I thought.”

“What?”

She asked, not understanding what he meant, but Nergal didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to quietly gaze at her for a while longer. Iru couldn’t read what he was thinking, and just as she was about to ask again, Nergal had already returned to his usual expression.

She missed her chance to question him.

“Do you really believe that I am Irucarla of the 9th Knight Order?”

“Yes. How’s your body?”

Nergal’s calm voice stirred emotions in Iru that she couldn’t quite express. She couldn’t believe how easily the matter she had been most anxious about was being dismissed. But Nergal neither mocked her nor found it strange. He was simply accepting the fact that she was Iru.

‘He seems just the same as before.’

Whenever Iru finished the missions assigned by Nergal’s side, she would always report to him immediately upon returning to the palace. If she reported to the captain of the 9th Knight Order or anyone else first, Nergal would scold her, saying, “Don’t you know who is your superior?” and would make her stand in the corner of his office for much longer than usual. And on those days, the people who came to his office would receive much harsher criticism from him than normal.

So, Iru would always go straight to Nergal upon her return.

Was he acknowledging her hard work, or was it because there were more eyes on him when people visited his office? On those occasions, in a voice softer than usual, as if he were showing concern, he would ask if she had returned safely and if her body was all right.

Just like now.

That’s why, for a moment, Iru wondered if she had somehow returned to the palace. The Holy Sword had been recovered safely, and both she and the 9th Knight Order could return to their normal duties, back to an ordinary day.

“I…”

As she was about to respond, Iru glanced at her feet, peeking out from under the hastily wrapped blanket, and fell silent.

Her bare feet were smooth and white, without a single scar. No matter how many times she blinked, the marks that should have been there were gone.

“I don’t think… I’m all right.”

Her voice trembled as she spoke, unable to lift her head.

* * *

“…That’s how it happened.”

Having finished her explanation, Iru took a sip of the water in front of her. Trying to recount everything in as much detail as possible had resulted in a much longer story than expected.

“…”

Nergal remained silent for a long time after she finished speaking. Iru, who had seen Nergal often, could tell that he was deep in thought. His perfectly shaped eyebrow was furrowed—one of his telltale signs whenever he encountered a complicated issue.

“I know there are many parts of my story that are hard to believe. But I swear to God, there isn’t a single lie. If you have any doubts, please ask me anything!”

Driven by a desire to convince him of her sincerity, her voice grew louder. When Nergal raised a hand to signal her to calm down, Iru realized she had gotten overly excited and bowed her head.

“I’m sorry. Has there been any report of other 9th Knight Order members surviving? Or being rescued…?”

Though she had overheard people talking at the auction, it seemed that information related to the Holy Sword was scarce and kept from the public.

She wondered if, miraculously, any of her comrades had survived and been rescued. Or perhaps, like her, someone had been found in a different form. Nergal’s attitude, which so easily accepted her identity, made her think that maybe someone had already secretly returned to the palace and reported to him.

But contrary to her hopes, Nergal’s expression grew even darker. Unable to fathom why he was reacting this way, Iru spoke again about what was on her mind.

“I’d like to return to the palace as soon as possible. Not only do I need to report to the captain in detail, but I must also deliver news to my comrades’ families.”

The task of informing families about the death of a fellow knight was the one duty all knights dreaded the most. They had even joked about making one unlucky person handle all of it. What had once been light-hearted banter had now become a grim reality. As Iru recalled the faces of her comrades who had entered the cave with her, she suppressed her grief once more. Finally, Nergal spoke.

“That won’t be possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because all members of the 9th Knight Order who entered the cave, including you, are now accused of treason.”

Treason.

The word struck Iru like a blow to the ear.

* * *

An hour later, Iru stood before Nergal, her fists trembling with anger as she struggled to maintain her composure.

According to Nergal, the other knight orders waiting outside the cave had grown anxious when the 9th Knight Order didn’t return after several hours, despite the shepherd’s claim that the cave wasn’t very deep. Eventually, they decided that something must have happened inside and sent a small group of knights in as a second wave to investigate.

After walking for some time, the second wave of knights found the shepherd lying on the ground. The shepherd, in his final breaths, told them that the 9th Knight Order had discovered the Holy Sword but then started fighting among themselves. The knights rushed deeper into the cave, only to find the 9th Knight Order battling each other for possession of the sword.

According to the report, the 9th Knight Order had split into two factions: one group wanted to keep the sword for themselves, while the other argued that it should be handed over to foreign royalty in exchange for wealth and power. When the other knight orders arrived, the 9th Knight Order attacked them, sparking a brutal slaughter where knights of the royal orders killed each other.

Amid the chaos, the cave suddenly collapsed, burying the 9th Knight Order and some of the other knights under the rubble. Only one knight managed to escape and return to the cave’s entrance to relay the story before dying from his injuries.

“And so, as soon as the royals returned to the palace, they declared the entire 9th Knight Order as traitors. Most of their families have been exiled. Some of them were even tortured to death.”

“…!”

Images of her comrades, proud of their knighthood, flashed through Iru’s mind. When they were mercenaries, their families had always been worried about them, but after becoming royal knights, they could rest easy. They took pride in their position, and their families were equally proud of them.

Even though they were little more than errand boys within the palace, the members of the 9th Knight Order had all carried themselves with a sense of pride in their roles. And now, overnight, they were branded as traitors, their families suffering because of it.

The injustice and fury made it hard for Iru to breathe.

‘I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

She had to uncover the truth. It wasn’t the 9th Knight Order that had sought the Holy Sword. Someone else had desired it, and other royal knights had been involved.

‘Some of them definitely survived.’

Iru remembered seeing some knights flee just before the cave completely collapsed. One of them, the man who had been giving orders, had clutched his arm, injured by a blow she had struck from afar. He had to be one of the royal knights.

‘Everyone followed his orders without question.’

That meant he held a high enough position to command the royal knights naturally. There were only a few knights with such authority.

Images of the other knight commanders came to mind, men who had always looked down on the 9th Knight Order, treating them as expendable, insignificant commoners.

Whoever had tried to steal the Holy Sword, and whoever had pinned the blame on the 9th Knight Order, Iru would find out who they were and who had ordered them to do it.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Iru suddenly realized who she was standing with.

Nergal, a man who lived by law and principle, and who had devoted his life to serving the royal family.

And standing before him was a person accused of stealing the Holy Sword—a traitor.

‘What a fool I am!’

Cursing her own foolishness, Iru began to back away from Nergal. She quickly scanned the room, her eyes landing on a decorative sword mounted on the wall. It was sharp enough to serve as a weapon, at least for intimidation.

Just as she reached for the sword, Nergal grabbed her wrist. She tried to wrench herself free, but in her current weakened state, she couldn’t break free and was pulled directly into Nergal’s arms.