Akane began to beg in desperation after her captors' intentions were made clear.
"P-Please don't do this! I won't tell anyone if you let me go!"
One of the men delighted from her fear and replied with a smirk.
"No can do, little lady. We promised we'd make sure you lost your qualification tonight."
With their plan in place, the three young men wrestled Akane to the stone floor of the alleyway. After a few more moments of futile struggling, the three boys took turns making gracious efforts to retire the Pure Heart Malachite on the cold ground. When the despicable act was done, the leader of the group lifted the former Otome's light, exhausted frame into his arms and covertly delivered her to Windbloom's castle gates. When the guards found her, she was weeping and clinging to the tattered remains of her Meister uniform.
The king was taken by shock and disgust by this sight, but he was quick to comfort his now-powerless protector. While she was recuperating from the event, King Kazuya offered his hand in marriage, as the Columns would obviously have no objections to Akane leaving her post at this point. This helped mend Akane's wounded heart, but she still felt a faint sorrow that her first intimate moment couldn't be with her king. As the royal wedding took place, the Columns reviewed the current candidate Meisters loyal to Garderobe, and an Otome by the name of Tomoe Marguerite was named as the new Meister of Windbloom.
The king and his new queen were quick to consummate their marriage. When Queen Akane learned she was with child, she was overcome with a secret dread toward the events surrounding her abrupt retirement as a Meister. The king promised to claim the child as his own regardless of the findings of his doctors' tests, however. After the queen gave birth, she was fully relieved to learn the baby was her husband's legitimate heir.
With a slight bittersweet feeling, Akane realized her dream had come true. When the war finally ended in the Columns' favor, she and Kazuya were left to rule the unified world with their new bloodline and the Columns.
THE END.