The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Love and Sacrifice (2)

***

Lilisiana Yekaterina.

She had one wish.

A wish that had taken root two years ago as a seed of hatred, now grown into a dense, all-consuming forest. A wish she couldn't abandon.

'…Please, God, let that ungrateful commoner die in agonizing fear and pain…'

The Imperial Princess, Lilisiana, prayed, her thoughts consumed by the commoner attendant who had caused her kind and loving mother's death, yet lived on, shamelessly.

Unlike two years ago, when she had resolved not to kill him, she now simply wished for his death.

Grant him a death far more gruesome than the terror and pain my mother must have felt…

Let him die in a suffocating, dark, and humid place… just like my mother… Let him writhe in agony until his very last breath, a grotesque and pathetic end…

If you grant me this, I will personally…

Tear his wretched corpse to shreds and feed it to the wild beasts…

I will erase every last trace of him from this world…

So, please, God…

Have mercy on me, who has lost her mother, and grant my wish… I beg you…

"Amen."

Lilisiana's clear, serene, yet sharp voice echoed through the sunlit cathedral.

She knelt alone before the massive statue of the main deity, the only person in the cathedral.

Everyone knew her prayer time.

No one wanted to witness the raw grief and anger of a daughter who had lost her mother.

Especially not when that daughter was the Imperial Princess.

So, no one dared approach the cathedral during her prayers.

"…Lili."

…That was the case.

But today was different. A low sigh escaped the Emperor's lips as he stood outside the chapel doors, listening to his daughter's prayer, a prayer filled with resentment towards her savior.

"…What… What am I supposed to do… Elizabeth…?"

The Emperor, Alexei Yekaterina, murmured, recalling that night.

The night Finn came to him.

***

"…Please tell Her Highness that the Empress died trying to save me."

"But why…?"

Alexei couldn't understand the boy's request.

The boy simply looked up at him, his eyes filled with an unexpected maturity.

As always, his actions revolved around her, the Imperial Princess.

"So that Her Highness will have a reason to rise from her despair, to focus her hatred on me."

"…If there isn't a valid reason, blaming yourself for the Empress's death is a serious crime."

Or are you planning to die for Lili?

At the Emperor's unspoken question, a faint smile touched the boy's lips. He declared, with a strange sense of pride,

"If everything goes according to plan, I won't die. And… even if I do, so what? I'm prepared to gladly give my life for Her Highness."

"Huh…."

The Emperor stared at the boy in disbelief. But the boy's gaze, meeting his own, remained steady.

He seemed to be speaking the truth.

'How can such a young boy be willing to sacrifice his life for his liege?'

Even if it wasn't loyalty, but misplaced love, his resolve was admirable…

Unable to dissuade the boy, the Emperor finally relented.

"…Very well. Tell me your plan."

He would grant the boy's, Finn's, wish.

***

Forty physicians had come and gone, yet she remained unchanged.

The renowned priests with their healing powers were only good for providing sustenance, nothing more.

Even her father, the Emperor, begging on his knees, couldn't stir her from her despair.

-…As long as there's a trigger, a spark of will… she can recover.

Even in this situation, the physicians' diagnosis remained the same. It all depended on her will.

'Then I'll create a situation where she has to wake up.'

So, I began explaining my plan to the Emperor, a plan to rouse her from her despair.

"We'll create a scenario. There might be some questions, but… it'll be plausible enough."

We would exploit the fact that everyone knew the result of the incident, but not the process.

"First, we'll say that the Empress initially survived. That she escaped the mudslide thanks to Your Majesty's protection."

Everyone knew of the Emperor's love for his wife, so adding a grain of truth would make it more believable.

"But then, hearing my cries of pain, the benevolent Empress rushed to save me, only to be caught in another landslide."

I would be indirectly involved in her death, but it would be clear that she acted out of her own volition, out of compassion.

"And I, having witnessed this just before losing consciousness, completely forgot about it. I only remembered it recently, when I revisited the place where my parents died."

I would explain why I hadn't revealed this "truth" sooner.

"Then, I reported this to Your Majesty, and you, recalling that the Empress's body wasn't near you, would reinvestigate the site. Of course, we'll need to plant some of her belongings there beforehand."

Since we had moved her body, no one knew her original burial spot.

"And Your Majesty will declare that I won't be punished, for two reasons: I saved Your Majesty's life, and punishing someone the Empress tried to save would be disrespecting her will."

I wasn't directly responsible for her death.

And this scenario, where the Emperor spared someone his beloved wife tried to save, was much more fitting for a romance story than the original, where everyone was executed.

My plan, presented to the Emperor, hinged on the fact that I had saved his life.

And the only person who might object to this announcement… was Lili.

The nobles would be too busy celebrating the Empress's death to care what the Emperor said.

"…Are you serious?"

The Emperor stared at me as if I were insane.

…It was understandable. Who would ask someone to lie about being responsible for the Empress's death?

'I could be beheaded for this.'

But I had to do it.

"This is the only way to save Her Highness."

It was the only way I could think of to rouse her from her despair.

***

The Emperor, his face etched with worry, sighed in resignation. He didn't have a better solution.

-But that might not be enough. We'll also need to add that your parents died serving the Imperial family.

He added.

"…One thing left."

I left the Emperor's chambers and headed towards Lili's bedroom, ready to deliver the final blow.

-Creak.

The sweet scent of flowers filled the air as I opened the door.

The same scent that had clung to her as she died in my arms.

"Inhale… Exhale…."

My heart ached, anticipating what was to come.

Regret gnawed at me. Was there a better way…? But the die was cast. There was no turning back.

…It's better for her to hate me than to see her wasting away like this.

I repeated this to myself, steeling my resolve, and knelt beside her, still trapped in her self-imposed coma.

Then, as if recalling a distant memory, I slowly, deliberately, began to speak, making sure she heard every word.

"…If only I hadn't… begged my parents to take me to the Eastern Mountain Range… said I wanted to see it just once…"

"Then… things wouldn't have turned out this way…"

My voice was filled with regret, as if I was truly remorseful.

Hoping she would dwell on my words.

"It's all my fault… My parents couldn't refuse my childish request…"

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Your Highness… I don't know how to atone for my sin…"

Like a sinner confessing to a priest, I put on a remorseful expression.

Hoping she would wonder why I was acting this way.

"…"

She didn't react.

…She probably couldn't understand what I was talking about.

What did my childish request have to do with her mother's death in the landslide?

But she would soon find out, through rumors and whispers.

That if I hadn't insisted on going, her mother wouldn't have died.

That if my parents hadn't indulged my whim, her mother wouldn't have suffered such a fate.

And she would believe it.

…It was a preposterous claim, when you thought about it.

How could a mere attendant ask the Emperor to bring his child along?

…It wasn't entirely impossible, considering the Emperor's personality, but it was still a blatant lie, easily dismissed by anyone else.

But she was young, and her mind was fragile, broken by grief.

The idea that someone else was responsible for her mother's death, not her…

The idea that it wasn't her fault… was too tempting to resist.

So, she would accept my confession as the truth. She would believe it.

That's why I came to her room alone, planting this seed… so that when she heard the rumors, she would fall into a delusion of her own making.

Once a person convinces themselves of something, they cling to it, unless it's truly absurd.

'That's one of the life lessons I learned from playing 5v5 AOS games.'

If grown adults could be so stubborn, a young girl like her would be even more so.

So, I said,

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I can't bear to face you any longer. I'll take my leave… I'm truly sorry… Please… forgive me…"

So that she would fall deeper into her delusion.

So that my absence, feigning guilt, would solidify her belief.

…And soon, I heard that she had asked for me as soon as she regained consciousness.

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