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However, the Emperor was dead serious. He quickly turned around and took a long look, underscoring his order.
“You are coming with me.”
“Er
.yes
”
The knight couldn’t hide his bewildered expression, but he had no choice but to follow the Emperor’s orders.
The Emperor and the knight vanished into the distance, leaving the Empress and Duke speechless.
After a while, the Empress opened her mouth in a resolute voice.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Since the Emperor has no intention of resolving this situation, shouldn’t we do something?”
The Empress moved quickly and headed for the nearest reading room.
Bang!
The doors to the reading room were flung wide open.
Not having heard of the fire yet, the people inside were startled by the Empress.
She spoke in an assertive voice.
“Everyone, don’t panic, and listen carefully to what I say.”
‘What’s going on?’ was on everyone’s mind.
The people looked at each other.
Her words were like a thunderbolt out of nowhere.
“There’s news of a fire.”
A look of astonishment formed on everyone’s faces.
“What, fire?”
“Oh, my god!”
“I have to get out of here right now!”
The bewildered people began to mutter amongst themselves.
The Empress added sharply.
“Did you not hear me telling you not to panic?”
The Empress’s waspish tone immediately silenced the people.
“In situations like these, there’s a high likelihood of getting seriously injured if you wander cluelessly.”
“Your Majesty
.”
“Evacuate slowly, starting with the elderly.”
The Empress ended her speech strongly.
“The Duke of Rochester and I are coming too.”
As the Empress and the Duke began aiding the people to evacuate in earnest, they started following their orders.
People soon exited the library in an orderly manner.
The Duke, who watched the evacuation go underway, gently bit his lip.
The Emperor was supposed to be helping the people first, but instead, he abandoned them.
That irresponsible figure flickered in his eyes like an afterimage.
***
Meanwhile.
‘That’s weird, did it just get noisy all of a sudden?’
I quietly lifted my head. I was with the children in the children’s reading room.
A muffled voice came through the closed door.
“Everybody get up and evacuate
”
“There’s been a fire.”
Fire? Evacuation?
I got up from my seat, sensing something sinister.
“Kids, can you wait here for a minute?”
“Yes, Sister.”
The children calmly nodded, though they were wide-eyed.
But then.
Bang!!
The door to the children’s reading room was forced open and smashed.
The children shook their heads with startled expressions as they looked at the smashed door.
On a similar note, I was also surprised.
‘Who is that person?’
The person who broke into the room and was now gasping for breath was the Emperor.
“Huh, Your Majesty, the Emperor?!”
“Lady Charlize!”
The Emperor came toward me in a hurry, squeezing my wrist tightly.
I looked down at the Emperor’s hand in irritation.
What’s this?
Is intimate physical contact with you absolutely necessary?
“There’s a fire!” The Emperor cried out, wanting to waste no time.
In an instant, my eyes sharpened.
The last time I saw him, the Emperor was clearly with the Empress.
If the situation was dire like he said because of the fire

Shouldn’t he have taken care of the Empress instead of coming to get me?
“Where is Her Majesty, the Empress?”
“The Empress has evacuated on her own. So-!”
Arghh!!
I vigorously shook off the Emperor’s hand.
A bewildered Emperor looked at me.
Why are you looking at me like that?
I twisted the corners of my lips up.
You came all this way after you abandoned the Empress, and you thought I would run away with you? What? Was I going to hold your hand and cry too?
“You should have gone with Her Majesty, the Empress, not me.”
“Lady Charlize, you must know the urgency of this situation!”
“Don’t touch me!”
Pushing away the Emperor’s hand that was trying to grab a hold of me again, I sharpened my gaze.
“I will take the children, but Your Majesty, please evacuate first.”
“Are you turning down your rescue?”
“Did you think I’d accept it?”
An uncontrollable rage washed over me, prompting me to utter a sarcastic retort.
The Emperor’s face crumpled.
But I had no time to worry about the Emperor.
Unbeknownst to me, the frightened children began to whimper.
“Uh, Sister
”
“Are we going to burn to death?”
Each of the children clung to me, holding onto the hem of my skirt.
I bit my lip and reassured the children.
“No, that won’t happen.”
“Sister.”
“But we have to get out of here now.”
Shaking his head at my words, a boy was visibly frightened.
“No, I’m scared.”
“It’s all right, your sister will go with you.”
Gently grabbing the child’s hand, I spoke encouragingly to the boy.
“It won’t be scary.”
“Okay
.”
Only then did the children quietly nod their heads.
I turned away from a confounded Emperor and led the children outside.
As I left, I could feel the Emperor’s dreadful gaze sting my back.
“Your Majesty, we must leave at once.”
“Yes, very well.”
At the knight’s insistence, the Emperor moved along, grunting as he did.
I looked at the scene before me.
The entire library was up in smoke.
“Ah, smoke!”
“Cough, Cough!”
Dark smoke billowed throughout the library.
‘Will I be able to get the kids out safely?’
I felt as if someone was holding my heart in their hands.
I tried easing my nerves.
‘No, I have to do this.’
Who else could get these kids to safety if not me?
I cautiously released the power of the divine beast.
Through the acrid smoke, silvery-white wings emerged from behind me.
The wings of a divine being.
“Uh-uh
.”
“Wings?”
The kids looked at me like they were possessed.
The light seemed to spread outward in a circle, and soon the heat and smoke in the room began to dissipate.
The sounds of coughing and yelling also began to die down.
‘I wish I could extinguish the fire with the power of the divine beast.’
I bit my lip.
Unlike stopping heavy rains in the South, calling forth rain would better serve to end the danger.
‘But if I mess something up, the building could collapse.’
I didn’t know how far the fire had spread, but I couldn’t afford to act so recklessly.
Awakening the power of purification was by far the most fortunate experience for me.
If I hadn’t
.
Chills ran down my spine.
“L-Lady Charlize?”
“Everyone, come this way. It’s hard to deflect the heat and smoke when you’re away from me.”
At my words, people started making their way toward me.
I checked the complexion of the kids.
“Can you breath?”
“Ah
.”
The children opened their eyes.
“I’m .”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
I held the child’s hand tightly.
“Let’s go, kids.”
While walking briskly, I couldn’t help but think of one person’s name.
Damian.
As soon as I remembered his name, my whole body grew cold, as if an ice pick had stabbed through my heart.
‘What’s happening to Damian?’
Is he safe?
The very thought of Damian being in danger strained my heart.
No, it can’t be.
I hurriedly shook my head inwardly.
He said that he was touring the library with Her Majesty, the Empress, so he should be outside the library in time.
‘Yes, now isn’t the time to get distracted by other thoughts.’
I had to focus on evacuating the children safely.
I tried pulling myself together.
****
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince!”
“No, don’t enter, Your Highness!”
“The fire inside is too strong!”
Disregarding their words of disapproval, Damian ran into the library.
While the surroundings were all filled with black smoke, fear-stricken people were rushing out.
“Get out of the way!”
“There’s a child here!”
“Cough, cough! Help me!”
People were screaming and running outside in tears.
Others gasped for breath while children burst into loud cries.
All of them darted for the library’s entrance for just a breath’s worth of fresh air.
It was truly an abysmal situation.
And Charlize wasn’t among them.
‘Charlize!’
Damian bit his lip until it bled.
His heart thumped.
Anxiety engulfed his entire body to the point where it could dye his hair white.