So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 126

Chapter 126

When the hood was lowered, the face revealed beneath it was Felix Rembrandt’s.

For a brief moment, our eyes met.

Felix did not waver.

He deliberately looked away and simply nodded.

Through the door—left slightly ajar—fearful voices drifted in.

“No—no matter how I think about it, something’s wrong! My wife went in for healing days ago! She hasn’t returned! Nothing happened to her… right?”

“Brother, you will be reunited soon. Please, do not rush…”

Then—

Click.

Felix closed the door completely.

“Yes, High Priest. Everything is prepared. As a precaution, we’ve positioned additional life force.”

“Very good…”

Raphael Blanche smiled in satisfaction.

He stepped toward the altar and traced my cheek with cold fingers.

A shudder crawled down my spine.

My arms were bound—I couldn’t even recoil.

“Renée, there is nothing to fear. Your noble sacrifice will save Xavier. You will become the most precious vessel—complete his heart. And in that moment…”

His eyes gleamed with feverish light.

“You will be freed from pain. Freed from sorrow. And become part of God.”

Behind him, Felix set down a small marble casket with care.

Then he withdrew.

Raphael opened it slowly.

Inside—

Xavier’s heart pulsed faintly.

He placed it against my chest.

“Shall we begin?”

The ritual started.

The Sanctum trembled.

Ancient words spilled from Raphael’s lips.

The magic circles carved into the floor writhed violently.

Then—

Agony.

Blinding. Crushing. Merciless.

It felt as if gravity itself warped.

Xavier’s heart began to fracture.

Fine shards—powder-like fragments—fell against me.

They pierced through flesh and sank into my chest.

Foreign mana flooded my veins.

Clashed.

Merged.

I could no longer tell whether my eyes were open.

Then—

KRA—RUMBLE—!

A tidal wave struck my consciousness.

A variable Raphael had not calculated.

The final fragment that had remained within me.

The instant every shard fused—

Memories exploded into me.

The cold chapel where we first met.

The love denied over and over.

The desperate regret.

The longing so intense he would have torn out his own heart to return to me.

—Renée.

A voice brushed my mind.

The completed heart inside me began to resonate with its original owner.

And then—

Blue-violet mana erupted from my body.

The Sanctum filled with blinding light.

A shockwave hurled Raphael backward.

My hand burned.

The contract mark carved into my skin turned to ash.

“What—?! No—NO—!!!”

Raphael lunged to seize control—

Too late.

His eyes rolled back.

He collapsed.

The air howled.

Then—

KWAAANG—!

The Sanctum wall exploded inward.

Dust scattered.

Through it stepped a figure.

A blade rimmed in pale-blue aura cut through the air.

“…Renée.”

Xavier Celeste.

His blue-violet eyes were clear.

Alive.

Complete.

The rhythm of his heart matched mine.

Without words, we understood.

Because both hearts shone the same light.

“Xavier!”

He crossed the distance in a breath and sliced through my restraints.

We collided into each other’s arms.

Blue-violet mana flowed where our chests touched, ancient script weaving through the air.

It felt like something broken had finally locked into place.

“Renée.”

He cupped my face.

The heart in his chest beat in perfect rhythm with mine.

Then—

The man who had starved for me pressed his lips to mine.

* * *

Earlier.

Before the ritual.

Xavier moved through the underground corridors.

Imperial knights followed in silence.

Through the crystal orb, he had seen Renée carried into the Sanctum.

That was the signal.

He had wanted to rush immediately.

But he endured.

Because something had to happen first.

Because she would have wanted it that way.

Calian Rembrandt’s voice echoed in memory:

“The nobles must see the Empire’s corruption with their own eyes. Terknox and I will protect the surface.”

The underground was Xavier’s responsibility.

The clearing appeared ahead.

Hundreds of citizens remained.

But fear had replaced hope.

Family members taken for “healing” never returned.

No one was allowed to witness the process.

A sealed cage masquerading as sanctuary.

Eventually—

Protests began.

Demands.

But those taken never came back.

They understood.

They had been deceived.

Xavier leaned against the corridor wall and gave a silent signal.

That signal began everything.

“You dare disguise yourselves as priests and lead people to death?! Devils—I will never forgive you!”

Steel rang.

Imperial knights surged forward.

“Who are you?!”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

The priests panicked.

Then—

Felix tore off his robe.

“I swear on the name of the Empire’s Second Prince, Felix Rembrandt—I will protect the people! Everyone, follow me and evacuate!”

He raised his sword high.

For the first time—

And perhaps the last—

Felix’s golden eyes shone exactly as they were meant to.