The emperor finally abandoned the empire in the face of its destruction.

There once existed the Artem Empire, known as the Golden Empire, where everyone was prosperous and the entire country seemed to shine. The Artem Empire boasted not only its territory but also its immensely large palace. The palace, the pride of the empire, was particularly tall, large, and beautiful. The overall feel was warm, with patches of gold painted here and there, the strong, solid walls contrasting with the wide windows, and finally, the imperial flag fluttering atop the palace. It was elegant, if not beautiful. Every empire was largely comprised of an emperor, empress, consort, nobles of various families, and commoners. Among them, a very small minority possessed magical powers. These were the sorcerers. This was precisely what made the Artem Empire special. Powerful sorcerers, not found in other empires, existed in the Artem Empire.

The year was 613, and the Artem Empire's small sun was preparing to rise. Even his name was the brilliant Crown Prince, Min Yoongi. Born the emperor's only son, handsome, intelligent, and skilled in swordsmanship, the Crown Prince was a perfect man. A girl of the same age frequently appeared by the Crown Prince's side. One might have thought she was just another noblewoman, but this child was incomparable to other princesses. Her name was Kim Yeo-ju. She was the daughter of a wizard family, born with overflowing magical powers, having inherited her father's magician blood.

“His Highness the Crown Prince!!”

“Ha… It’s you again?”

“Let’s go play in the garden behind our palace!”

“No. The royal class is about to begin.”

"I'm saying I've also learned magic. Yeah? Let's run away together."

“…Okay, let’s go.”

Those who caught wind of their conversation might question it. Even if he were a wizard, how could he possibly treat the crown prince like that? But those are the questions of those unaware of their relationship. While the Artem Empire is a beautiful place, the palace itself was a place where many people died. Those who held a knife to the emperor's neck, those who attempted poisoning, all of these were acts of treason. In the palace, where dignity was prized, the loss of a single life had long since become meaningless. In a place once cold, terrifying, and bloody, they had no one else to rely on but each other. Of course, it's understandable, considering the vast palace is home to only two young children: the crown prince, Min Yoongi, and Kim Yeoju.

Even while learning how to control her magical powers on the Magic Tower, Kim Yeo-ju would sneak out and seek out Min Yoon-gi's room. The thought of spending all day in that dark Magic Tower, consuming nothing but her magical powers, would have suffocated anyone.Kim Yeo-joo's lifeline was Min Yoon-gi.When Kim Yeo-ju always visited his room, Min Yoon-gi would pretend to be annoyed and displeased, but in reality, it wasn't like that. Min Yoon-gi would stop what he was doing the moment Kim Yeo-ju entered his room. Min Yoon-gi also needed a place to breathe. Whenever he wanted to escape the suffocating pressures of royal schooling, etiquette, swordsmanship, and serving nobles, Kim Yeo-ju would stand by his side. Yes,Min Yoongi's breathing was also Kim Yeo-ju.

The Crown Prince and Kim Yeo-ju, who knew everything about each other, began to act strangely when the Crown Prince was nearly of age to marry. The most important thing for the Crown Prince, once he ascended to the throne, was to find an empress. Not just any empress, but an empress with the power to support the Emperor. The noble families, who knew this, began visiting the Crown Prince daily, and Min Yoongi avoided them, making up various excuses. The reason was simple: the Crown Prince himself had no interest in marriage, whether it was an empress or anything else. He thought it was too early for marriage. Of the countless princesses who visited him, Min Yoongi met only one: Princess Seol Ah-rin of the Saint family. Min Yoongi likely met Princess Seol Ah-rin because he couldn't ignore the power of the Saint family. The Saint family boasted the highest authority among the many noble families. This power was so great that the Saint family practically carried the entire noble family on its back. In short, the Saint family could block any opposition from the noble families.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, His Highness the Crown Prince, the Little Sun of the Empire. I am Seol Ah-rin of the Saint family."

“Why have you come to the palace?”

“Don’t you already know? That I have come to propose to Your Majesty.”

“……”

"I've heard rumors that His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't meet with visiting ladies. But seeing him meet you like this, I suppose that means there's something different about me, right?"

“…I cannot ignore the princess’s family background. If it weren’t for her family background, Princess Seol Ah-rin would be no different from other princesses.”

"Phew, you're quite honest. Well, that's why I like you even more. I'll be honest about this too. I want to be empress. Your Majesty, you'll ascend to the throne soon. That's it."

"If you seat me next to me, Your Highness will have a strong support system. We, the Saint family, will protect Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Well… I know very well what kind of family the Saints are. And as you said, I know how much strength Princess Seol Ah-rin will bring. But I want to give the position of empress to someone I truly love."

“Is he already there?”

“…If Princess Jeong wishes, I can give you the position of the rain.”

“…It seems like you're avoiding the question, so it seems like someone is bothering you. I understand. I think I need some time to think about it, so I'll come back later.”

Princess Seol Ah-rin of the Saint family possessed both beauty and pedigree, and was frequently proposed to by other noble families. Her only flaw was her overly generous nature. She wanted to make the Artem Empire even greater, and to achieve this, she needed the position of empress, not consort. Upon returning to the Saint family, Princess Seol Ah-rin, far from considering the position of consort, began to investigate who the crown prince was interested in. Princess Seol Ah-rin's goal was to become Min Yoongi's empress. That was her sole goal, and she would do anything to become empress.

After Princess Seol Ah-rin left the palace, Min Yoon-gi, his mind racing, instinctively searched for Kim Yeo-ju. Left alone in his room, he muttered the three letters of Kim Yeo-ju's name over and over again, and soon even blurted out that he missed her. Oblivious to this, Min Yoon-gi sat on the sofa, staring at the ceiling and sighing. Just then, a commotion broke out, and Kim Yeo-ju, whom Min Yoon-gi had been desperately searching for, appeared. She seemed to have escaped from the Magic Tower again, and Min Yoon-gi grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him to hide her. Then, their bodies fell off the sofa, landing on the floor beneath. This caused Min Yoon-ju to fall, and Kim Yeo-ju lay on top of him, creating an awkward situation. Just as he was about to get up in panic, the sound of footsteps brought Kim Yeo-ju to bury her head in Min Yoon-gi's chest. Thump, thump. The sound of someone's heartbeat, unidentifiable, began to ring in their ears.

“Your face is very red.”

“…Your Majesty must have seen it wrong!”

“I’ve been watching you closely since a while ago.”

These feelings don't suit them. No, it's not like they don't, but the Crown Prince and Kim Yeo-ju have felt this way for a long time. They've been living in the palace since they were children, for nearly 20 years. That means they've been together for about 20 years. Both Min Yoongi and Kim Yeo-ju felt like each other was more like family than their actual family. It was each other who comforted their loneliness, cried and laughed with them, and occasionally fought with them. The two of them couldn't live without each other anymore. Now that they were thinking of each other every moment. In front of the palace's back garden, a place that was just for Min Yoongi and Kim Yeo-ju, the two of them were facing each other.

"love you."

“Phew… The order isn’t right. Shouldn’t you say you like me first?”

“I’m confessing because I think I’ve grown fond of you for a while now. Kim Yeo-ju, I"Soon I will ascend to the throne. When I become emperor, I will make you my own empress. I swear it."

“Are you serious…?”

“I swear on my crown prince position: you will be my only empress, Min Yoongi.”

Perhaps it was only natural. That Min Yoongi and Kim Yeoju would become like this. They had spent more than half their lives together, knowing things no one else knew, and relying on each other when times were tough. It was even stranger that they didn't develop feelings for each other. In the palace's back garden, countless flowers were in full bloom. Pink, red, yellow, blue. Flowers of all colors were in bloom, but at that moment, the two of them were even more beautiful.It's no exaggeration. The same rosy blush on the crown prince and Kim Yeo-ju's cheeks and the corners of their lips curved. The flowers blooming in abundance around them were now filling their hearts as well.

It was not long after the new emperor's coronation that Min Yoongi, who had transformed from a small sun to a full sun in the Artem Empire, was visited by someone. That person was Princess Seol Ah-rin. Despite the passage of time, Princess Seol Ah-rin still held onto her ambition to become empress. This time, Min Yoongi brought her into the palace, determined to finally banish her, and that single choice would twist everything.

“I see the sun of the empire.”

“Do you still desire the position of empress?”

"I'm the kind of person who has to get what I want. I have to become empress, no matter what."

"Princess Seol Ah-rin, that day you asked me if I loved someone. Yes, I do. My desire to make that person my empress remains unchanged."

"That doesn't matter anymore. That's just the way it is with the emperor. Once you ascend to that position, you can't have only your loved ones by your side. Don't you know better than anyone else?"

“……”

"Soon, the nobles will become increasingly rebellious. They'll likely be displeased with the ascension of His Majesty, the young Emperor. We, the Saints, can quell such opposition in an instant. Furthermore, as long as I remain Empress, all nobles will bow before Your Majesty… I sincerely hope Your Majesty will be lenient."

Princess Seol Ah-rin's words shook Min Yoongi. It wasn't that his feelings for Kim Yeo-ju were wavering. He was simply confused. Making Princess Seol Ah-rin the empress was the right choice for the Artem Empire, but the reality was that he had already sworn an oath to Kim Yeo-ju, staking his name on the crown prince. If that oath were broken and Princess Seol Ah-rin were accepted as empress, what would become of Min Yoongi's relationship with Kim Yeo-ju? The best option would be for Kim Yeo-ju to become empress, not empress. The worst would be for Min Yoongi to have to let Kim Yeo-ju go. Min Yoongi's only lifeline would disappear.

“…I feel like my head is going to explode.”

This palace was a place of constant incidents. Before Min Yoongi could even contemplate such matters, something happened that drove everyone into a corner. On the night Princess Seol Ah-rin visited the palace, a poisoning reaction occurred in her body. The Saint family, aware of the poisoning of their only princess, cornered the emperor. They threatened to storm the palace with the nobles if the culprit wasn't found and severely punished. Min Yoongi had been racking his brain for three days, worrying that the palace would be thrown into chaos. Then, the Saint family came to visit and identified Kim Yeo-joo as the one who had attempted to poison Princess Seol Ah-rin. Min Yoongi gave them a hardened expression for the first time. Kim Yeo-joo would never harm anyone. But they didn't back down. What mattered was that the Saint family had presented evidence that Kim Yeo-joo was the culprit.First, Min Yoongi and Kim Yeo-ju had been close since childhood. Second,The poison found in Princess Seol Ah-rin's body was a poisonous plant frequently used in the magic tower.Dot. Finally, the fact that Kim Yeo-ju stood for a long time in front of the room where Min Yoongi and Princess Seol Ah-rin were talking. Citing these three points as evidence, the Saint family spent several days strangling Min Yoongi with letters and palace visits.

“Your Majesty“What’s going on at the top of the mountain?”

“From now on, you must answer my questions honestly and truthfully, understand?”

“Huh? Oh, I understand.”

"A few days ago, Princess Seol Ah-rin showed signs of poisoning. The poison found in her body, coincidentally, was Antoine, the poison used in the Magic Tower. There's even testimony that you stood for a long time in front of the door where the Princess and I were conversing that day."

“… Are you doubting me right now?”

"The Saints are framing you as the culprit. I have to prove you're not."

"Antoine is a poisonous herb frequently used in the Magic Tower. However, it's not exclusive to the Magic Tower. You can find it in any store that sells imported herbs. And I can't tell you why, but I would never harm Princess Seol Ah-rin or anything like that. I swear it. You know better than anyone that I'm not that kind of person…"

"This isn't a problem I can solve on my own. And if I don't know the reason, I can't trust you."

For the first time, a rift began to form between the two. And it wasn't because of any other issue, but because of Princess Seol Ah-rin. This meant that the happy times they'd shared together were over. How could Kim Yeo-ju dare say anything? She'd stood in front of the door for a long time that day, listening to Min Yoongi and Princess Seol Ah-rin's entire conversation. If she'd spoken, it would have been like putting a burden on Min Yoongi's shoulders, and it was obvious that Min Yoongi would have apologized to her.Anyway, Min Yoongi couldn't trust Kim Yeoju, and Kim Yeoju was disappointed in Min Yoongi for not being able to trust her.Even if everyone else pointed him out as the culprit, Min Yoongi couldn't do that to Kim Yeo-joo. They hadn't been together for three or five years, but a whopping twenty years.

It would have been nice if they'd just ended things here, with only mutual disappointment, but instead, Min Yoongi imprisoned Kim Yeo-ju in a prison beneath the palace. Of course, it wasn't his will. He simply had no choice, overcome by the noble family's castle, brought in by the powerful Saint family. It was Kim Yeo-ju, dragged to prison by the order of the person he loved so much, a knife stabbed through her heart. Even when Kim Yeo-ju was led from the Magic Tower to the basement by the knights, and even when she was thrown to the cold floor, tears fell from her unfocused eyes. All the while, Kim Yeo-ju waited silently in the basement for Min Yoon-gi. How foolish. Still, Min Yoon-gi, fearful of even the nobles, never showed his face in the basement. Kim Yeo-ju's withering body and gaunt face were pitiful to behold. The most pitiful thing of all was that, while in prison, she never gave up hope that Min Yoon-gi would come see her. About a week later, the iron door opened, and Kim Yeo-ju was once again led by the knights. Kim Yeo-ju's body, dragged limply, unable to even struggle, was thrown outside the palace. Beyond the high, sturdy walls of the palace. Kim Yeo-ju had been stripped of her royal sorcerer status and banished from the palace entirely. She was no longer a royal sorcerer or a member of the palace, but merely a commoner possessing magical powers.

When Kim Yeo-ju was banished from the palace and struggling to survive among the commoners, a piece of news that shook the entire empire arrived: that the sun of the Artem Empire, Emperor Min Yoongi, was marrying Princess Seol Ah-rin of the Saint family. Only after hearing this did Kim Yeo-ju give up hope. In truth, even if she had been banished from the palace, she still held onto the hope that Min Yoongi would one day find her. After all, Min Yoongi had sworn to her. Did she believe he would always keep that promise? Or was she desperately trying to deny it, unable to believe she had been abandoned?

Kim Yeo-ju sat down in the middle of the imperial street, staring blankly into space with unfocused eyes as if she had lost her mind, and laughed. Her lips were clearly smiling. However, tears poured from her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Kim Yeo-ju had now become someone with nothing to lose. Min Yoongi, who had been the most important part of her, had abandoned her, and Kim Yeo-ju, overcome with resentment and anger, lost control of the magical power she had been trying so hard to suppress. The magical power overflowing from Kim Yeo-ju's body shook the empire's ground as if an earthquake had occurred, and Kim Yeo-ju began to destroy everything in the Artem Empire. Why? Because the Artem Empire was the very reason Min Yoongi had no choice but to abandon him. Min Yoongi abandoned Kim Yeo-ju for the Artem Empire. In return...Kim Yeo-ju decided to destroy the Artem Empire, the most precious thing to Min Yoon-gi. She wanted him to experience the same thing. She wanted Min Yoon-gi to feel the same way about losing the most precious thing. Kim Yeo-juThey killed, burned, and destroyed everything in sight, whether people, animals, or buildings.

“Huh, Your Majesty the Emperor! The wizard has gone berserk and is destroying everything in the empire!!”

“…I can’t stop it. That child’s magic is stronger than any wizard.”

"Then what will become of our Artem Empire? If the Imperial Palace falls like this...! Don't you, Your Majesty, know that then there will truly be no answer?"

"...That child will definitely come here. I'm sure he has a lot on his plate. Everyone in the palace is following me. I'll stop him before the walls are breached."

Min Yoongi sensed Kim Yeo-ju's magic within the palace. Min Yoongi and Kim Yeo-ju had been together for roughly 20 years. He could easily sense Kim Yeo-ju's magic. The empire outside the palace must have been in ruins. Right now, the only thing Min Yoongi could protect was the pride of the Artem Empire, the palace itself. To protect it, Min Yoongi left the palace and waited for Kim Yeo-ju in front of it, witnessing the empire burn to the ground. Everything in the Artem Empire was blazing, with nothing left—no buildings, no people, no plants or animals. And then, amidst the flames, he saw a woman walking out. That was Kim Yeo-ju. The last Min Yoongi saw of Kim Yeo-ju was the day he asked for the truth at the magic tower. Kim Yeo-ju's current appearance was very different from that time. Compared to then, her body and face were noticeably thinner, her feet bleeding from the bare ground, her hands and wrists scorched black from the sheer volume of her magical energy, and her eyes unfocused and devoid of emotion. Kim Yeo-ju, too, had staked a great deal on destroying the Artem Empire.

"Everything in the empire is burning. If even the palace burns, the Artem Empire will perish. Please, just leave the palace alone."

"You who think so deeply of the Empire... why on earth do you never think of me at all? Should I give you the answer Your Majesty has been asking for? I was standing in front of the room that day because I overheard Your Majesty talking to Princess Seol Ah-rin. I! I worried that Your Majesty would feel sorry for me, that my hearing would make His Majesty's shoulders even heavier. Like an idiot."

“You…! That…”

"And why did you lock me in a cold basement on the basis of a single suspicion, yet never show your face once? Even while I was imprisoned, I never once harbored any resentment toward Your Majesty. For a week, you didn't show a single hair… and then you kicked me out of the palace. And now I hear news of your marriage to Princess Seol Ah-rin?"

“……”

“…Why did you swear that you would do this? No, did you really love me…?”

"sorry."

“Don’t apologize. It’s over anyway.”

"I'm sorry, and I'm sorry again. For making you listen to the story with the princess, for not trusting you then, for locking you in the basement, for not showing my face, for swearing that you were my only empress."

“Don’t do it!”

"My feelings for you were all sincere. Even when I said I loved you, and when I said you were the only empress for me, Min Yoongi. Perhaps the reason this palace became so precious was because of you. When I was young, the palace was a scary and cruel place, but thanks to you, I discovered its beautiful corners. My empire has become like this, and it's all because of my powerlessness. Everything has become like this because of my powerlessness, so hold me accountable and spare the palace."

“…Are you saying that you can kneel before me to protect the palace, this empire?”

"what?"

“Show me your meanness.”

“……”

“Kneel down, now.”

Kim Yeo-ju's eyes, which had previously shown no emotion, began to overflow with various emotions the moment they saw Min Yoon-gi. Resentment, sadness, hatred, and lingering love. The reason Kim Yeo-ju told Min Yoon-gi to kneel before her was because she thought that if she saw Min Yoon-gi crumble, her resentment and sadness would spread to others. As the Artem Empire was now spreading red from the flames, Min Yoon-gi was now the Emperor and Kim Yeo-ju was the A. Kim Yeo-ju created flames in her hands and waited for Min Yoon-gi to kneel. Finally, Min Yoon-gi slowly bent down in front of the Artem Empire's palace, which he had wanted to protect so badly, and both knees touched the imperial ground. Kim Yeo-ju raised the corners of her mouth at the sight, and Min Yoon-gi clenched his fists and trembled all over in the humiliation he had never felt before.In the end, Min Yoongi used the palace as an excuse to kneel before Kim Yeo-joo, and only then did Kim Yeo-joo smile, her trembling lips twitching. Because of his own powerlessness, Min Yoongi had lost both the person he loved and the empire.

In this way, the sun of the Artem Empire, Emperor Min Yoongi, was abandoned before he could even properly rise.

This article informs you that WORTH IT COMPANY is K-Mimi.

Holy Spirit Alliance - castle Below oath. The enemy castle All the way down Come in Surrender and Concluding oath.

This will be my first and last Kumi… I wrote this in two days because of my certification exam, so it's messy, weird, and lacking🥲 But I hope you all understand! Thank you for reading today too💗