The Weight of a Choice

“Do you want to live?”

The moment I spoke, the calm air shattered like glass. Everyone held their breath, and Chase’s face turned ashen once again.

I intended to grant him whatever he desired. If he wanted to live, I would save him; if he wanted to die, I would send him to the afterlife alongside his mother.

But no matter what he chose, he would not become a s*ave. I was prepared to risk my life to prevent that outcome.

“If I say I want to live… will you let me?”

For the first time, Chase met my eyes directly. Though his pale face trembled with fear, he did not look away. I stared quietly into his eyes before giving a slow nod.

“Yes.”

“Then…”

“However, your mother will not survive.”

She had committed crimes great enough to shake the foundations of the nation. First, she attempted to assassinate me, the Crown Prince. Second, she passed off a child who did not carry the Emperor’s blood as royalty. Third, she deceived everyone in an attempt to place that child on the throne.

Of course, the public currently believed her only crime was the first one, but I knew everything.

These sins were destined to be revealed later; for now, I was the only one who knew the truth. Therefore, even if I were to save her life now, the truth would eventually come to light, and she would be unable to escape death in the end.

‘Actually, dying now… might be better for Chase.’

If she were to remain alive, there was a risk that Chase would later be accused as an accomplice. It was better for her to die cleanly now, taking the truth to the grave, so that Chase could at least have the excuse of having known nothing.

‘But that’s only if I look at the situation with cold, hard logic…’

How can human affairs be judged so coldly?

Thus, I had no intention of listing her crimes and telling Chase that his mother deserved to die. It would be too much for young Chase to handle, so I spoke only of the facts he could accept.

“Concubine Dalia tried to kill me. Even though she failed, it wasn’t a mistake; it was an act of clear murderous intent. It will be difficult for her to avoid responsibility.”

“……”

“The victim was also the problem. Had I been a mere prince, she might have been deposed or exiled out of consideration for her status as a royal mother. But I am the Crown Prince, and…”

I hesitated. Saying it myself felt a bit embarrassing.

“I am an Omega. To harm the next Emperor chosen by God is an act of treason that threatens the entire Empire.”

That was why I couldn’t save his mother. I could handle someone like Chase with my own power, but she was beyond even my reach. If I turned a blind eye to her, what would happen when a second or third Dalia appeared? This wasn’t a matter that could be overlooked easily.

“However, you are innocent. Therefore, I can look after you. But you will no longer be able to live as a prince.”

“……”

“Even so, do you still wish to live?”

Chase lowered his head. Forcing him to choose was, in truth, cruel. In a way, it was like asking if he would betray the mother who had committed those acts for his sake.

But he had to be the one to choose. I didn’t want to force a destiny upon him. I wanted him to seize his own fate without the pressure or coercion of others.

“I…”

When Chase looked up again, his eyes were brimming with tears. The shimmering droplets pooled at the rims of his eyes but didn’t fall just yet.

“I… I want to live.”

“Fine.”

At my blunt reply, his face crumpled, and tears began to pour down. The forced smile on his face was a messy mix of guilt toward his mother and self-loathing for choosing life regardless.

I watched him weep silently for a long time before I stood up.

“Stand up. From now on, you will stay in my palace.”

Chase looked up at me with a startled expression. He looked as if he couldn’t tell if I was being serious, joking, or if he had simply misheard me. It was only when he saw my outstretched hand that he realized my offer wasn’t a hallucination.

Still weeping silently, he staggered to his feet and reach out awkwardly. I gripped his hand firmly. As I led him away, the crowd of attendants followed suit. I didn’t look back once as I walked, ignoring the sound of his muffled sobbing behind me.

By the time we reached my palace, Chase’s eyes were red and his face was damp, but his crying had mostly subsided. I placed him in a room within my palace and addressed the servants.

“Until further notice, treat Chase with the respect due to a Prince.”

The servants bowed their heads, acknowledging the order. I returned the borrowed cloak to the knight and went to my room to change.

In truth, I had only just woken up myself, and I wasn’t feeling well. However, I couldn’t afford to rest until I had tied up these loose ends, or things might spiral out of control.

The knights guarding the door looked shocked when I emerged in fresh clothes, having assumed I would be resting.

“Let’s go to the dungeon.”

The knights tried to stop me, insisting I needed rest, but they quickly gave up and followed when I refused to listen.

The dungeon building itself was shabby. It was so unsightly that one would wonder how such a place could exist within the magnificent Imperial Palace.

The moment I stepped inside, a foul stench hit me. I frowned and pressed a handkerchief to my nose. Concubine Dalia, due to the gravity of her crimes, was held in the deepest level—the third basement.

“Wait here.”

“It’s dangerous, Your Highness.”

“Do you really think an ordinary woman behind iron bars can harm me? Especially one who has been tortured and is barely conscious?”

I raised a hand. As golden embers of light flickered over my palm, the knights gasped in awe. It wasn’t magic; it was the power of God manifesting in my hand.

The authority I had received was the Power of Condemnation. It sounded grand, but in simple terms, it was offensive magic. I could use this power to attack or destroy.

There were other authorities, like healing or protection, but this was the one granted to me.

The reason adults marveled at me—even though I wasn’t yet an adult—was partly because of my divine bloodline, but also because I was a powerhouse who could subdue or kill them with a simple gesture.

Since I told them I had urgent business with her, the knights hesitantly gave in to my stubbornness. There was only one prisoner on the third basement level anyway, so I simply had to walk until I found her.

Halfway there, a small figure appeared behind the bars to my left.

“Concubine Dalia.”

At my low voice, the woman raised her head. Her long hair, once a vibrant crimson like a dahlia, had been hacked short and jagged. Her face was gaunt; like Chase, she clearly hadn’t eaten in days.

“The Crown Prince…!”

She looked horrified. It was understandable, considering she expected me to be dead, yet here I was, perfectly fine. Wanting to see if I was an illusion or reality, she crawled forward on her knees and pressed her face against the bars.

“You’re actually alive?”

How can this be? A groan escaped her. I understood her reaction. Concubine Dalia was a priestess who served dragons in the Great Forest; the poison used on me was the condensed breath of a Black Dragon.

Normally, any living creature would have died instantly. Unfortunately for her, the person who drank it was a child of God.

‘Though I haven’t fully detoxified it yet.’

A bitter taste filled my mouth. Damn it, this was the reason the Crown Prince was destined to die. I was merely delaying death with divine power, but in Dalia’s eyes, it simply looked like the assassination had failed.

I crouched down to eye level with her as she sat trembling behind the bars.

“Concubine Dalia.”

“……”

“Do you know what your crimes are?”

Despite her actions, she was still technically a Concubine, so I spoke with a level of formal politeness. The “Confucian Man” inside me urged me to be respectful, but as the Crown Prince, this was already quite a concession.

She didn’t answer my question, choosing instead to glare at me fiercely.

“Then, was I supposed to just sit by while the Crown Prince bullied that child—the Prince?”

She seemed to think the only crime I was referring to was the attempted poisoning. After all, how could she know a secret she had told no one? I wasn’t a mind reader. But I had seen it all in my past life.

“Not that.”

“Huh?”

“I am talking about your audacity to sneak a cuckoo into the Imperial nest.”

She had been glaring at me as if challenging me to speak, but she fell silent at my words. She tried to hide it, but the slight tremor in her eyes gave her away. Eventually, she looked away, trying to act nonchalant.

“…What are you talking about? A cuckoo?”

She was playing dumb. But I could see her hands trembling as she clutched them together to maintain her composure. Her crime was immense, and she wasn’t the only one involved.

Chase was involved too, so it was only natural for her to react this way.

I understood her, but I didn’t have time to bicker. I laid out the fact she was hiding plain and simple.

“You gave birth to another man’s seed and lied, claiming it was the Emperor’s, did you not?”