Skyler watched the Queen turn away and stagger to sit at the edge of the bed in the room, sinking down with her head bowed.
His smile still hadn't disappeared. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, a faint trace of satisfaction suddenly welled up within him at the sight of her like that.
But why?
Was he really this heartless?
He wondered.
He knew the source of her pain.
Yet he felt joy seeing her misery.
His eyes reflected a dark emotion.
Because... the answer to the question he was asking himself came the next second.
How to save a dying fallen angel?
That knowledge—one Skyler hadn't even realized he possessed—suddenly rose to the forefront of his mind, as though it had been waiting for him to come seek it out.
There were many methods…
But the most sinister of them all was to feed it the heart's blood of another angel.
At this, Skyler felt a dull throb in his heart, his smiling eyes still locked on the Queen.
Even though, this time, he hadn't recalled any memories, he understood why he felt nothing when he saw the Queen, his dear grandmother, so disheveled. Skyler took a step forward, speaking in a calm, almost casual tone—as if he were inquiring about something as ordinary as the weather.
"By the way, Grandma, I was wondering… if there were a way to save Grandfather, but it required killing someone, would you do it?"
The Queen froze at the question.
Why was he asking something like that so suddenly, when she had clearly told him to leave? She didn't lift her head to look at him—maybe it was the alcohol. But a powerful, strange urge to answer him filled her mind. A chilling intensity lingered in her blue eyes, making her words feel heavier than silence.
"I would do it. Anything."
She expected him to leave after hearing such unsettling words; however, he didn't.
When he spoke again, his next words made her feel as though she had misheard him.
"What if…"
There was a brief, quiet pause.
"…you had to kill your own children?"
The Queen finally raised her head, her eyes locking onto Skyler. There was still a smile on his face—calm, almost gentle—as if he hadn't just questioned whether she would kill her own children to save her partner. A self-deprecating smile curled on her lips.
"I think I would still do it."
At last, she got it where he had inherited that heartlessness of his—it was from her, wasn't it? Honestly, he should have taken more after Damien… her gentle husband.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"But..."
"...why did you ask what you just did?"
However, Skyler didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly turned and began walking away.
"I'll get lost like you ordered."
Elizabeth watched him leave and finally slumped back onto the bed, muttering.
"If you understand me so well, why did you even leave your precious Riruru in my care?"
Skyler paused at the doorway.
"Because, despite everything, for some reason, you still felt like the safest option."
He said no more and left.
The room descended into silence.
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
"I feel like I'm drowning."
In her anguish, she failed to follow where Skyler was heading. After all, she assumed he would simply leave—what else could he do in the Royal Castle? Had the Queen paid attention, she would have realized that he was going straight toward Damien's room.
Pushing the door open, Skyler stepped in.
His eyes swept over the many empty wine bottles scattered across the floor. Even as he came to a stop in front of the bed in the room, the man lying there did not wake up.
Riruru looked at his face, nestling against him after seeing the coldness in his eyes.
Her worried voice echoed in his mind.
'What happened?'
Skyler stroked her head, muttering.
"I want to walk away, but I… can't bring myself to be so heartless in front of you."
Riruru paused, blinking. She hadn't paid attention to the Queen earlier—her entire focus had been on him—so she didn't fully grasp the meaning behind his words, nor had she understood anything else. Before she could recall everything, process it all, and tell Skyler he could be heartless if he wanted, that it didn't change her affection for him, she saw him pull a blade from his storage ring and aim it at his own heart.
Her eyes widened in shock.
'What are you doing!'
Skyler smiled as the snake coiled around him shot forward to snatch the blade from him, only to hiss when he restrained her.
"The Mermaid Pearl can save him. But that's something you gave me, so I don't want to give it away. He's not worth it."
He paused briefly, then added.
"I will be fine. I just need to make sure the blade doesn't touch my elemental crystals."
Riruru was so angry her eyes turned red.
A familiar bright light flashed around her, but even in her human form, he restrained her with ease, holding her in place without effort—his strength far surpassing hers.
A minute later, a sharp splintering sound reverberated through the quiet room—the sound of glass shattering into fragments.
It was enough to alarm Elizabeth.
Her closed eyes snapped open as she disappeared toward Damien's room.
As she finally pushed the door open, what greeted her was not the usual silence, but those familiar deep purple eyes glowing in the darkness. Elizabeth slowly sank to her knees, her lashes trembling as she stared at the man sitting on the bed. He looked dazed, disoriented. The cracks across his body pulsed unnaturally, as though alive, before slowly fading back into his skin.
For what felt like an eternity, she couldn't move. Then, at last, she spoke—her voice so quiet it sounded like it might break the dreamlike moment if raised any louder.
"Damien…?"
He finally turned to her, his confused gaze sharpening as clarity returned. But instead of going to help her up, as he usually would have, he touched the blood at the corner of his lips and spoke coldly, with quiet anger.
"What did you feed me?"
