Princess Glynpatra began to explain that she had lived with her mother, Emperor Gregustus's wife who was also a reigning empress. Her childhood was more or less like that of a typical royal princess. She remembered her mother as someone who loved mingling with common citizens and helping those in hardship.
At that time, Gruzhnil, still captain of the elite Graendall troops, was appointed personal bodyguard to Emperor Gregustus' family. Initially, young Glynpatra was somewhat scared by Gruzhnil's large and intimidating stature. However, over time, Gruzhnil showed a courteous and pleasant demeanor toward Emperor Gregustus' family, especially young Glynpatra.
She admitted to often playing with Gruzhnil around the palace grounds. Gruzhnil was like an uncle to her, and he considered young Glynpatra his niece. She also heard from her father that he was initially a powerful and feared warrior, but Emperor Gregustus saw potential in him to command an entire military order with his own authority.
Young Glynpatra was often brought along by her mother to interact with the people, teaching her compassion so she would never act arbitrarily toward the common folk. However, according to Glynpatra's father, what worried him was that she often did this with very minimal security.
He would grow anxious whenever his wife disappeared from the palace without notice. The peak of it was when the emperor once declared martial law because Glynpatra's mother had not returned to the palace for an entire day.
Yet when Glynpatra had just turned twelve, she experienced the most tragic event of her life. She only learned the full truth some time after it happened.
The event began when her mother wished to visit another planet still under Grivendal's rule. She intended to conduct diplomacy with one of The Graendall's high-ranking officials assigned there. The inhabitants were originally native to that planet before submitting to Grivendal's central authority.
They wanted to separate from the empire in order to manage their infrastructure and government with full autonomy. They were weary of having everything dictated by the central authority. Most of their complaints and criticisms were rarely heard or followed up. The planet was named Grohn.
This enraged the high officials on the central planet, especially Emperor Gregustus. For the first time in history, a planetary territory openly declared its intention to secede. According to Glynpatra, one major reason her father and the central elites opposed it so fiercely was because Grohn was the second-largest producer of Starstones after the central planet.
Even though its annual production was only nearly half that of the central planet, Gregustus refused to let it go, fearing it might later become a boomerang against the Grivendal Empire.
Emperor Gregustus issued an ultimatum to Grohn's leaders, but they seemed undeterred and even threatened a coup against him, as more than three-quarters of the planet's population supported independence. The high commander of Grohn, Tiberos, along with other officials still loyal to the emperor, continued approaching the opposition. Tiberos even proposed forming a special administrative planet under Grivendal.
But nothing worked, and they were preparing to declare independence soon. Commander Tiberos and other loyal officials eventually fled to the central planet seeking asylum to avoid the opposition's wrath. The separation of territory became increasingly inevitable. Emperor Gregustus prepared his final measure—special military intervention on Grohn to arrest and punish the opposition leaders.
Gregustus's wife did not want civil war within Grivendal. If her husband proceeded recklessly, he would be judged by High Heaven, the primary guardians of Grivendal, who strictly forbade large-scale bloodshed among The Graendall. Glynpatra's mother, who named Empress Glyresa, did not want her husband's soul condemned to the realm of terror because of such a decision.
Empress Glyresa secretly made her decision before her husband could formally declare military intervention. She arranged an unofficial and sudden diplomatic mission with Commander Gruzhnil and also involved Commander Tiberos.
Initially, Gruzhnil opposed the plan because of the high risk of direct conflict. But Glyresa insisted there was no time left and hoped for a miracle through her presence on Grohn. Gruzhnil could not refuse the one he was sworn to protect—and that became his greatest regret.
Empress Glyresa, escorted by a large central Graendall fleet, headed directly to Grohn's headquarters.
Upon reaching the planet's atmosphere, she opened diplomatic communication and promised to comply with the people's wishes. All aerial artillery was deactivated, and her ship landed safely in the headquarters courtyard.
The opposition leaders were already waiting outside. Commander Gruzhnil and Commander Tiberos walked behind Glyresa. One opposition representative stepped forward, meeting and speaking with her. She stated that she would approve Grohn's separation on the condition of establishing a mutual security pact. Glyresa raised both palms as a symbolic gesture of agreement.
As the representative extended his hand to her, someone suddenly burst out from the opposition ranks, ran toward Glyresa, shoved the representative aside, and—
He stabbed Glyresa in the neck with a knife. Blood sprayed as she collapsed.
Commander Gruzhnil, shocked beyond measure, roared loudly, drew his pistol, and shot the assailant several times until he was dead.
The opposition leaders scattered back inside headquarters.
Still consumed by explosive rage, Gruzhnil wanted to chase them inside, but Commander Tiberos restrained him.
"STOOOPPP, GRUZHNIL…!!! WE MUST TAKE GLYRESA AWAY FROM HEREEE…!!!" Tiberos shouted.
Gruzhnil froze briefly, shook off Tiberos's grip, ran to the fallen empress, carried her, and rushed back into the ship. Inside, he tried desperately to save her life. Suddenly she grasped his arm and spoke before breathing her last:
"I… love… Grivendal…"
Commander Gruzhnil screamed at the top of his lungs, weeping before Empress Glyresa's body. It was the first time in his life he had cried. He felt he had utterly failed as a protector, even though he was no longer the emperor's personal guard.
Upon returning to the imperial palace, Commander Gruzhnil carried Glyresa's blood-soaked body. Emperor Gregustus ran forward, and his cries broke out immediately.
Tears suddenly streamed down my face as I listened to Princess Glynpatra's story. The main reason was not solely the tragedy that befell Empress Glyresa…
I remembered how my own mother had been killed in the same way…
Why did every event I came to know always connect to my dark past? What did all this mean?
I felt that something behind all of this was truly testing every fiber of my soul and body.
"Johann… you seem to be crying. I'm very sorry if my story has saddened you," Princess Glynpatra said gently.
"Ahhh… Ehhh… Forgive me, Your Highness. I'm just saddened that Empress Glyresa, with such a noble heart, had to leave Your Highness and Emperor Gregustus in such a way…" I said while wiping my tears with my sleeve.
Princess Glynpatra smiled again. She then said our meeting had concluded. She had only wanted to learn about my origins and Hellraider's.
But for me, what lingered most from this meeting was the story of her late mother. She gently patted my right shoulder and bid me farewell with a smile.
That night, I had dinner with The Graendall soldiers in the barracks hall as usual. I kept thinking about Princess Glynpatra's story, which felt unfinished. Perhaps she did not have the strength to tell me the ending. Many questions surfaced in my mind.
What did Emperor Gregustus do after his wife's tragic death to the opposition leaders of Grohn? What happened to Grohn's people, most of whom had chosen separation? What role did Gruzhnil play afterward?
Did Commander Tiberos continue leading Grohn? Was Gregustus truly unwilling to listen to Grohn's aspirations? How did the assassin know Glyresa had secretly gone there? Why had I not found this record in the central archives? Was the desire for separation truly pure? How do the people there view it now?
I also questioned Empress Glyresa's decision, which to me seemed to neglect her own safety. She deeply cared for all of Grivendal's people, but not everyone shared that love for the empire. Her decision to release Grohn first seemed to me merely a delaying tactic. The proposed security pact may have been nothing more than a diplomatic sweetener. The ultimate authority still rested with Emperor Gregustus.
Since high school, I had been fond of history, sometimes preferring documentaries about civilizations over other television programs whenever I took a break from playing The Mayhem. I understood as I grew older that not everyone could be made to like someone else. Sometimes certain people must be let them go for the greater good. The loss of a territory would not mean the end of Grivendal itself.
Yet my curiosity about the story continued to haunt me. I remembered the old archivist's words—that history is never absolute and is written by those in power. Did he truly know the full story? I doubted he would tell me.
What about Commander Gruzhnil, the primary witness of that historical event? Though he appeared strong and dignified on the outside, I could sense he carried that trauma tightly sealed within. Would he tell me if I asked? I feared that if I dared to touch his deepest wound, he might withdraw from me. I would also be breaking my promise to Princess Glynpatra.
I believed the answers would reveal themselves in time, just as the old archivist had said.