episode_0295

“What… … you said?”

Kalintz looks straight into the face of Lin, who has thrown her sword at him with her eyes wide open.

What did I just hear?

What do you mean by committing suicide? … Are you telling me to kill myself here?

“Lee, Lin! Now is the time for us to make such lame jokes among ourselves-”

“No kidding.”

“… … !!”

“Take your life right here. If you do that, I will somehow protect your honor.

Kalintz made a face of disbelief, but quickly turned his head to figure out the situation.

‘What is it? What is going on…?’

If it was the Lin that Kalintz knew, he would be a person who could easily make such an absurd demand.

Of course, I’m not being serious at all, just half-joking.

Basically, all of the characters in the Brance family had tremendous pride in their family.

To put it nicely, it was pride, but overall, he was rather arrogant. Although Kalintz himself did not think he was that arrogant compared to his siblings, from a third party’s perspective, he was also quite an arrogant person.

So this is, considering Lin’s arrogant personality – not really a death wish, just a simple fight.

Condemnation of the older brother who ‘dared to betray himself’.

This was a method that Lin could easily have thought of, as she usually liked to give people water in this way.

‘then……!

Once you understand it, you can naturally deal with it.

Without hesitation, Kalintz got down on his knees and started banging his head on the floor.

thud!

“My lord! I, Kalintz, sincerely apologize for having dared to point my sword at you with a vain thought for a moment! Please forgive me just once, considering me as a blood relative, and I promise to dedicate my body and soul to achieve results!”

Boom! Boom!

Because he had hit me hard enough to leave a gash on my forehead, blood began to flow slightly from my head.

My vision was a little dizzy… … but compared to losing my life, this was nothing.

“Please let me live! I want to live! I want to live and see the flag of the House of Bran spread across the continent!”

“… … .”

I wonder how she will react.

Are you looking at me like this, as if you find me pitiful?

And then, he might laugh so loudly that he leaves this place. No, he might even trample on my brother’s face with his feet.

It’s okay. I can endure anything. If I can survive, I can even roll around in a shit field. With that determination, I cautiously watched Rin’s expression.

‘… … !’

but.

Lin’s expression as she entered Kalintz’s sight was… … completely different from what he had expected.

Neither insulting, nor offended, nor mocking.

Slightly downturned eyebrows and eyes that look like they might collapse at any moment.

If I had to be specific, that expression was… … that of someone who saw something pitiful.

at that time.

“My lord, my lord… … ?”

-Thud.

Lin sat down across from Kalintz, who had a puzzled expression on his face.

He sank to his knees as he had done.

“Calintz Brother. We didn’t have that many good memories together. I know that. So, I expected you to humiliate me here… … I understand. ”

“What, what do you mean… … .”

“I didn’t say that to humiliate you. I didn’t say that to trample on your honor or your pride.”

“I.”

That moment.

Tears began to flow from Lin’s eyes, one drop at a time.

“I brought it up because I thought this was the path for our Bran’s Army… …”

“For the Branson Army… …the road?”

Kalintz unconsciously forgets to use honorifics because of Lin’s tears.

It had to be that way.

Because the current Rin didn’t consider herself inferior to herself.

This was a completely different Lin than he had known before.

“Brother. You must know about the words of the traitor. No one in history has ever forgiven a traitor. Brother, you must have known that too, right?”

“That, that’s… …! I heard that you were making a wrong decision… … Everyone around me urged me to make a decision, so I had no choice but to-”

“That’s the problem, brother.”

Lin wiped her tears with her sleeve and stared into Kalintz’s blue eyes with a more serious expression than ever.

“The problem is that he suddenly acted like a traitor just because he was urged to make a decision. Chel Orabeoni wouldn’t have done that. But now I’m deprived of the chance to ask him what he was thinking… … .”

“Brother has the same Bran blood as me. That blood itself is bound to create situations like this again and again. Since we have the same blood, there is enough justification. If he is as indecisive as Brother, he will definitely rebel against me again when the opportunity arises. Brother Kalintz has always been easily swayed by situations.”

“No, no! Lin, trust me! I will never rebel again-”

“No, brother. That’s not the only reason. A ruler who spares a traitor just because he’s his family will never win the hearts of the people. Many of my comrades died in this battle, and if I spare the person responsible just because he’s my family, do you think the people who risked their lives to fight for me will be convinced?”

“That… …That’s… ….”

Kalintz, whose hair had turned white, was unable to say anything.

No, to begin with… … Is the Rin in front of me the Rin I know?

Could it be because he was meeting someone completely different from the Lynn Branth that had existed in his head until now?

Before I can think about it any further, my true feelings just come out of my mouth naturally.

“But… … I, I can be of help. Since the excellent talents have gone to the Chel Army… … You must be in trouble in many ways too! Even if it’s not as much as Chel hyung, I will do my part properly-”

“I told you, Brother. Brother, by his very existence, has already become a threat to the discipline of our military. And―”

-Once you’ve decided on a choice.

After saying that sentence, Lin bit her lip naturally.

“Once you make a choice… … and the consequences of that choice, no one can take responsibility for it. You have to take responsibility for the choice yourself, Brother.”

“Rin… … .”

Those words were spoken to himself as well as to Kalintz, who was in front of him.

Once a choice is made, it cannot be reversed, no matter what happens.

It was none other than himself who persecuted and rejected Irene, who only looked at himself, for ridiculous reasons.

The price was steep. She lost Swen, and perhaps her greatest loyalist of all time. The estate was divided into three, causing division among the brothers, and in the process, Chel, known as the First Sword, died.

This ‘result’ was so cruel to Lin that it became a thorn that pricked Lin every day. Lin vowed over and over again with a heart that was about to vomit blood. She would never make the wrong choice again.

therefore.

Here, I couldn’t make the ‘wrong choice’ of forgiving him.

“I’ll say it again.… …Take responsibility, Brother. Take my life with a knife. If you do that… …Like I said before, I’ll protect your honor with my life. I’ll take on the consequences of your betrayal, and your wrong choices… …all on my own.”

“… … .”

“As I said, if you don’t accept it, we will continue the battle. In the process, your brother will eventually be captured. If you abandon everything and run away, the name of Branth that your brother was so proud of will become a ghost and continue to chase you. You will be in hiding, trembling in fear, not knowing when you will be pursued. Even if you go to the other lords… … How many people will use someone who committed treason? ”

“Probably… …I won’t be able to go back to my old life. By then, I’ll end up without even leaving behind any honor.”

Kalintz looked at Lin’s face once more.

Those eyes are more serious than ever.

Just like before, there is no sign of him looking down on himself.

“… … Honor… … .”

“Yes, Brother. I don’t think Brother surrendered to me just because he was afraid of his life. If he really wanted to save his life, it would be much easier to just run away in the middle of the night, even if it meant hiding and feeling anxious. In the end, Brother has something he wants to protect too… … ?”

“!!!”

The only thing that kept him going was the fact that he was born into the Bran family.

Although he was not as outstanding as his older brother or sister, he gained the motivation to live on by thinking that he was also a proud member of the Brance family.

Wasn’t the reason why he came forward to negotiate with Lin like this now because he didn’t want to become a member of the Bran family and become an incompetent person who gave Serpina a windfall?

“If there is something you want to protect, I will protect it. I promise. Trust me, Brother Kalintz.”

Kalintz bowed his head without saying a word.

If it was Lin, who was right in front of me now, and not at any other time… … I thought that maybe, she would not be able to end things like this for the Branth Army.

At the same time, I felt a little bit relieved.

I guess I didn’t just want to live.

Although he had lived his entire life as a small-minded person, he felt a strange sense of relief at having such thoughts now.

There was silence for a long time.

The last moment.

Everyone in this room had an intuitive feeling that this was literally the ‘last moment.’

How much time has passed?

Breaking the silence was a man who had to take responsibility.

“Get out of my way, Lin.”

“… … Yeah. Okay. ”

After saying that, Lin slowly got up from her seat.

“Brother. Hello.”

Leaving those words behind, he left the room, accompanied by the soldiers who had followed him.

As soon as they came out, the armed man who was sitting with them approached Lin and asked.

“Is it okay if I don’t watch? If you run away or plan to attack with a knife-”

“No. I won’t do that. I trust Brother Kalintz.”

“If that is what the lord says, I have no objection either… … .”

The soldier, however, seemed nervous and looked warily at the tightly locked door for a long time.

A few dozen minutes later.

A soldier slowly opened the closed door to the room.

and–

* * *

A few days later.

The merger of the Kalintz and Branze counties has been finalized.

Although the Kalintz Army surrendered to the Branze Army and was unilaterally absorbed, it proceeded quickly and without much disagreement.

Since it was originally one country, it was not surprising that not much noise was heard during this process.

With this, Bran’s army was able to somewhat regain its former physique.

Although the territory that the Chel Army had occupied was lost, considering that the country itself was in danger of disappearing without a trace after being divided into three parts, this could be considered a sufficient measure of prevention.

A peace treaty had been signed with Serpina, and the southern continent was in turmoil among itself, so for the time being they had time to focus on internal affairs.

Kalintz Branth, who had committed treason, was restored to his position after being struck by the sword of his own knight, who had attempted to assassinate Lin on the day of the surrender agreement, disregarding his orders.

This was the public knowledge of Kalintz’s death, and Lin held a grander funeral for him than ever before in the main square of the capital city of Annel Castle.

As she had promised, she managed to preserve his honor somehow.

The promise of the blue-eyed brothers, the values that the red-haired knight once sought to uphold, the beliefs that the virtuous green-eyed monarch held—

‘Wills’ of various forms were gathering in the Bran’s army led by Lin.