The Emperor Is My Brother’s Best Friend

Rose ran towards the endless darkness, her face dripping with thick tears.

It happened in an instant.
Rose, who shook in Russell's arms, ran away screaming.

“Rose!”

Before Russell could catch Rose, she quickly ran away and disappeared into the depths of the cave in an instant.

“Shit!”

Russell and Elliot quickly followed Rose into the depths of the cave.

The Emperor ran through the cave, relying on Elliot's makeshift torch, and shouted to Elliot.

“Does the Duke know why she is acting like that all of a sudden?”

“I do not know.
It's the first time I've seen her like that.”

Russell clicked his tongue.
The two of them urged themselves to move faster but were then interrupted by a split along their path. 

“I guess we should split up and find Rose.”

“Take this and go.”

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Russell waved his hand when Elliot handed him a lit sword.

He tore off the sleeves of his clothes and wrapped them around the ends, except for the sword he wore around his waist, and then lit the fire.

Russell's sword caught fire.
Though smaller than Elliott's, it made his surroundings visible.

“Duke, go to the right.
I'll go left.”

“All right.
If you find Rose…”

“I don't know what's at the end of the cave, but if I don't find her, I'll have no choice but to head back to the entrance.”

“All right.
If so, I'll look for Rose on the right for about half an hour, then head for the entrance if I can not find her.
Your Majesty, too, please go to the entrance in half an hour.
If we can't find Rose even then, we have no choice but to mobilize the knights.”

“Alright.
See you in thirty minutes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Russell ran to the fork in the road on the left.

Hearing another footstep behind him fade away, he guessed that Elliot seemed to have run to the right as well.

“Rose!”

He called out Rose's name at the top of his lungs, but all he got back was an echo.

He shone the light here and there, examining the cave in detail, but after a while, his steps slowed down.

“…Strange.
This place—have I ever been here before?”

Russell raised the light higher and inspected the cave.

It was a cave with no special features, so no matter how hard he tried to think of it, nothing came to mind.

However, the pressure and heavy energy that weighed down on him were letting him know that this place was no stranger to him.

“Or is the original cave like this?”

Russell did not let go of his stiff expression, but he sped up again.

It was such a difficult space for him to endure, so the delicate Rose might faint at any moment. 

No, maybe she's already collapsed.

“Rose!”

Russell once again shouted Rose's name at full volume.

“It's an unpleasant air.”

Elliot murmured at the energy he felt as he followed Rose into the cave.

Before becoming the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Knights, Elliot was the first to take the lead when there was a rebellion or signs of a rebellion within the empire.

He had encountered more deaths than anyone else, and he knew better than anyone about the ominous air that came from them.

However, this cave was completely different from the places he had seen and felt before.

Something different from resentment filled its walls.

“It's like…”

It's like the feeling I get when I face the monster sealed in Proud Mansion.

Elliot stopped and covered his mouth with his hand.

“Nonsense, it's my imagination, but…
If this is a place that even the Imperial Family cannot easily come to…”

A smile leaked out from between the gaps between his hands, which were covering his mouth.

“If what I'm thinking right now is true, then…
I must find Rose before Your Majesty.”

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He resumed his steps.
However, it wasn't long before Rose's scream was heard from the dark end of the cave.

Elliott raised an eyebrow.

“I guess God is on my side.”

His steps as he ran quickly toward the deep darkness of the cave seemed somewhat light.

“Damn!”

Russell's curse echoed throughout the cave.
He raised his hand and brushed his hair back.

The clear purple eyes were full of chaos.

He grabbed his hair with his other hand, which was not holding the burning sword.

“There's something else here that I didn't notice! I only came through the Imperial Palace and didn't notice it at all.”

Russell's hands and shoulders trembled as he grabbed his hair.

He puts strength into his hand to stop the trembling, but it doesn't stop easily.
Russell wiped his face.

“Haa.
You don't know what will happen if the soul and the sword that sealed the monster are close.
No, nothing will happen unless you open the seal yourself.”

Russell just remembered Rose.

Rose suddenly collapsed, clutching her heart.
Even her appearance of running away screaming as if being chased by something.

Russell closes his eyes tightly.

“No…
Even if the monster of Tristan were to come back to life, Rose…”

Contemplating, Russell ran with all his might.

 Only the sound of Russell's footsteps echoed in the silent cave.

Rose was running away from the monster in her vision.
She stopped running when her lungs were about to burst from her lack of breath.

“Haa…
Haa…”

It was too much to even breathe, and Rose collapsed onto the floor.

Red eyes that were out of focus, like someone possessed, came back to life.

She looked around, still breathing heavily.

“Here…
A cave? Ha! Thank god.
That hell is gone—“

I can no longer feel the heat that seemed to melt away the inside of my body.

Rose took a deep breath and controlled her breathing, realizing belatedly that Russell and Elliot were not around.

“Your Majesty?”

Rose got up and called for Russell. 

When there was no reply, Rose's heart sank with a thump.

Maybe this is fake too?

Rose pinched her cheek, wondering if she was still dreaming while asleep at the entrance of the cave she had just taken shelter from the rain.

However, the pain she felt in her cheeks told her that it was not a dream.

“Then where did the two of them go? But it's not a dream.
I even remember coming into the cave with His Majesty and Elliot.”

No matter how hard she tried to recall, she couldn't remember anything after that.

At that moment, a wind blew towards her as if calling her from inside the cave.