Regina Rena – To the Unforgiven

Chapter 69

World of Ash

Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook

The world was burning women.

As if covered in ashes, the black men piled firewood and threw torches and burned the women.

Even then, they continued to pour curses as if their anger was not relieved.

When LRna, who had just opened her eyes, looked at this scene, the men covered in ashes turned their heads toward Rena as if they had planned for it together.

Dozens of eyes turned to Rena at once, and a thunderous voice resounded.

— Start the trial.

— Start the trial.

— Start the trial.

The pouring voice shook the earth.

— Admit your sins.

— Admit your sins.

— Admit your sins.

The shadows pressed and pushed Rena.

But Rena didn’t budge. Instead, she stared at the shadows and ordered them in a low voice.

“Get out of my way.”

At the king’s command, the dead melted helplessly.

The shadows disappeared, but the women in the fire remained the same.

As Rena approached, the fire grew smaller and smaller. The thick rope that bound them was also torn.

Rena looked at the darkened women and whispered.

“I’ll make sure to find it for you. Your names.”

Perhaps understanding the words, the women collapsed and scattered like ashes.

“What are you going to do after finding their names?”

Then a soft voice came from behind.

“Theirs must be names as small as a grain of sand that is not even worth remembering.”

It was The King of Burning and Scorching, Hiems Gracia, who spoke of the bitter things with a smile on his face.

He appeared right behind Rena’s back, and as soon as Rena realized it, she slapped him hard in the face.

Rena’s punches shattered Hiems, but he reappeared from the other side of Rena’s shoulder.

“You know it’s useless.”

“What a great job you’ve done.”

Rena stared at him and said, and Hiems smiled sweetly in reply. Then he flicked his fingers to change the space.

Carpets were spread in the burning area where the smell of burnt smell vibrated, and a soft sofa was placed.

“We don’t have much time, but shall we sit down and talk?”

Rena looked carefully at Hiems and the surroundings before she sat down. She then checked her own condition.

Rena was wearing a neat lady’s clothes. Her hands were clean and there were no bruises. It was so different from the state she was in just before she lost consciousness.

‘It’s not reality.’

Rena was convinced of the sense of incompatibility felt throughout the body.

This was a dream. A dream where she couldn’t get out, dominated by an uninvited guest.

“I couldn’t even imagine you’d risk your heart to lock me in. What good is this to you?”

Rena, who had roughly grasped her situation, said so, and glanced at Hiems’ fingertips.

He said he had little time, and was currently slowly crumbling from his fingertips.

The king, whose heart was stolen, had already lost his strength and collapsed. What was in front of Rena now was the very small fragment he had left, the last will of Hiems Gracia, which was contained in the ashes that Rena had swallowed.

Rena glared at him because she hated Hiems, who had prepared such entertainment as well as locked herself in a dream.

However, as Clavis’ ancestors, Hiems Gracia smiled calmly in front of the fierce gaze.

“I have entrusted the lion king with the rest.”

“… Since when did you become so close?”

“The enemy of the enemy is a friend. It’s my better option, and I have a better chance to be revived with the lion king, than counting on the decapitated king.”

The lion king, revived. With those two words, Rena could guess the situation inside and outside.

Apparently, the kings of the dead knew that Rena was on the side of the empire and took measures.

While the King of Burning and Scorching imprisoned Rena here, the King Who Imprisoned the Lion went out to the land and struck the empire in the gap.

With these two-actions, if the lion king recovered his heart from Nihil, Hiems could be revived. Since the dead cannot die again, he was immortal as long as the source of power existed.

So Hiems made some kind of deal with the lion king. To retaliate against the Emperor and Rena, who dare to attack their hearts.

Rena was worried about the condition of the Imperial Palace, so she busied herself by considering the situation again.

‘I have to go back soon.’

“You can’t go out.”

Hiems said as if reading Rena’s thoughts.

“You won’t be able to wake up on your own, at any cost. And while you sleep, the earth will perish, all of which you have brought on your own.”

Hiems criticized Rena for revealing and invading the secret of the Tomb at will. Rena smiled, narrowing her eyes.

“Do you guys think you’ll be able to? You were broken by the emperor before.”

At Rena’s ridicule, Hiems’ smiling face twitched.

After all, the kings of the dead had already been defeated by the emperor 100 years ago. And the defeat of the day continued until now.

“You are right. But that was already a century ago. And 100 years on earth are different from 100 years underground.”

He was stabbed in a sore spot, but Hiems hid his annoyance and nodded. Then he pretended to be generous and added in a more subdued voice.

“The emperor’s power must have declined, that’s why she’s trying to take away our hearts.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of that happening.”

“Lies.”

“Lies?”

“Unlike us, you are still alive, and you are bound by time. You must have known everything and chose your side.”

At Rena’s pretense, Hiems asked with a low voice.

“Why the hell are you there, King Deprived of Blessings?”

Rena Ruber. The most foreign and impure existence since the beginning of human history and the creation of kings in the Tomb.

A fake who became king of the living and the dead.

A heretic who became king while not being a conqueror or ruler during her lifetime.

— Newborn king! I curse you!

— How rude! Presumptuous! Arrogant! I curse you for meddling and acting like a king!

The curse he poured out before his heart was stolen from him also stemmed from his disregard for Rena Ruber.

Rena, knowing how Hiems felt about her, only smiled softly and kept quiet. Then, Hiems, who had little time, asked again.

“Why are you on the side of the decapitated king? Do you think her rule is right?”

“Right?”

Rena’s face suddenly blanked out at the words about right and wrong.

Rena frowned as if she had heard something very strange, and soon smiled vaguely.

“It’s not even worth answering, but I’ll just say one thing.”

Rena said so and looked at the beautiful face of Hiems Gracia.

It looks similar even when I look at it again. Of course, because they’re of one bloodline. However, there is no need to be similar even in their temperament, right?

Rena whispered in a sigh at the body that reminded her of Clavis.

“To me, you guys are all the same.”

***

Bare foot.

It was Emperor Nihil’s bare foot that stepped on the head of the Southern Duke Bill Alles on the ground.

“Do you want me to step on it until it breaks?”

Nihil muttered, putting her feet on the old man’s head, wearing only a short corset, as she once did.

The savagely trampled Southern Duke thought that it would be better for him to be mutilated with a knife.

He could feel the prickly taste of blood on his molars, but he held it in. He endured and endured again.

All he could do now was hold his breath and endure this humiliation, so he struggled and endured.

.

.

.

Early in the morning, Clavis summoned the dukes in the name of the Emperor.

So, the three dukes and Prince Rubid, who had gone to the Tomb the day before, gathered in the audience room. At that time, their appearance was a spectacle.

The Eastern Duke with a splint on his arm and the Northern Duke with his head and half of his face wrapped in bandages. The Southern Duke was in good shape, but his representative was lying on the bed, so the East, South, and North were all uneasy.

The three dukes stood facing the empty throne.

In that moment of waiting for the emperor, the Southern Duke growled lowly.

“Eura Plenus, do you have anything to say to me?”

“If you have a business, say it directly, don’t speak so vaguely.”

In response to the Southern Duke’s interrogation, Eura responded coldly. The Southern Duke’s face was contorted even more harshly.

“Did you order this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Bribing my knights and luring the dead out. These petty tricks!”

The Southern Duke clenched his teeth and swore. However, Eura ignored it and remained silent, and seeing his response, the Southern Duke gave a terrifying warning.

“Don’t think it will just pass. I will dig up this matter to the end and hold you accountable.”

When the Northern Duke’s expression stiffened.

The veil of the throne was lifted and Clavis appeared.

“Everyone is here.”

Clavis smiled, pretending to only know just then, and politely stepped aside. Then, as usual, the expressionless emperor appeared.

The dukes and prince looked upon her, but Nihil buried herself in her seat as if not interested.

Then she asked, muttering.

“Who is responsible?”

At the immediate interrogation, the dukes raised their heads with hardened faces.

Who is responsible? If they had to question the location of the responsibility, the person who made the most mistakes here was the emperor.

It was Nihil that opened that dangerous rift in the middle of the Imperial Palace and ordered the dukes to conquer the Tomb.

But the emperor only asked as if hse was the most innocent person in the world. From now on, she only asked who should be responsible and who should be punished.

“Where is Rena Ruber?”

When the dukes were silent, Nihil tilted her head and looked for Rena.

She seemed to have decided who to blame.

Once the emperor had decided, it couldn’t be undone. Knowing this, the Southern Duke moved forward without a second thought.

“The Southern Representative has not yet woken up and is in bed.”

“Why?”

Nihil said as if she was really curious about the report of the Southern Duke.

“Why is she lying down when she couldn’t keep my palace?”

At Nihil’s question, the Southern Duke’s face darkened.

He wanted to argue that the North was to blame for everything, but he knew better than anyone that excuses would not work.

Nihil was not interested in circumstances or stories. All she wanted was a clean cut causation. Success, failure, misfortune, or falling into a trap was everyone’s responsibility.

Knowing that it was impossible to evade, the Southern Duke lowered himself so that the sparks wouldn’t come out to Rena, who was still lying down.

“It is my responsibility. I have caused trouble to Her Majesty by appointing an insufficient person as a representative.”

“Therefore?”

But Nihil wasn’t interested in those kind words.

The agonized Southern Duke eventually gave up his face, and knelt before the Emperor in the sight of the Eastern and Northern Dukes.

“My apologies. It is all my responsibility, so please punish me and release your wrath.”

“Are you ordering me?”

Nihil whispered as she raised herself.

“It’s up to me whether I will end only one person or destroy the whole family.”

The Southern Duke eventually succeeded in attracting the emperor’s interest. But it was never in a good direction.

Nihil got up from the throne at the Southern Duke’s presumptuous words and went down the stairs step by step. Then she put her foot on the head of the prostrated Southern Duke and whispered.

“Are you asking me to trample on this?”

“… I beg your kindness, Your Majesty.”

“No.”

Nihil pressed the Southern Duke head down. Slowly, but firmly.

The Southern Duke’s forehead touched the floor, but Nihil’s feet continued to descend without stopping.

The old man’s forehead was pressed against the hard marble and there was a crackling sound.

The Southern Duke bit his teeth at the pressure that could make his head explode. He thought he might die here.

“Ugh…!”

In the end, a groan escaped from the upright old man’s mouth.

At that sound, Lynn clenched his teeth and struggled. Should he just watch or save the old man from being trampled on to death, and if so, what method should he use?

As Lynn stood with his fists clenched, Nihil looked down at the Southern Duke’s head and said.

“Don’t worry, your power will be passed on to a more useful child.”

That was a death sentence. In the end, Lynn was determined and opened his mouth. But he was one step late.

“Your Majesty.”

Before Lynn made a voice, an unexpected voice rang.

It was Rubid’s voice.