episode_0060

In her childhood, she could still never forget the first time she saw the man called ‘Divine Spear’.

The Holy Kingdom’s strongest knight, who seemed unbeatable by anyone.

Sir Roland, praised as the most noble and upright man in the world, loved by the most stars.

That man was the young Princess Charlotte’s first love during her girlhood in the Holy Kingdom.

Of course, like any other woman in the Holy Kingdom, it was a fleeting and bitter childhood crush, ending with a secret admiration in her heart.

But apart from that, Sir Roland’s loyalty, devoted to this nation, was a sword and spear more reliable than anything else.

None other than Sir Roland was dedicating his all to protect this country.

That fact was Charlotte’s greatest pride as a young princess.

Nothing changed even later, when she became the de facto ruler of this country and took the position of leading the kingdom.

Even if the rose-tinted glasses of her innocent girlhood admiration came off, the value of the man called Divine Spear only increased, never fading.

─The World Military Expo held in the Bretona Empire was certainly an undertaking that carried no small risk for the Holy Kingdom.

At the same time, it was an unavoidable event to solidify their status and maintain hegemony on this challenging international stage.

Neither Princess Charlotte, the wisest princess of this nation, nor anyone else in the world could have anticipated such a result.

Princess Charlotte, who attended in place of the Holy King, was also there.

On that day, precisely where the 《Black Serpent》 appeared and turned the Crystal Palace into a devastated ruin.

Right there, she witnessed with her own eyes Sir Roland, who seemed invincible, defeated and killed by their leader.

─The strongest knight of the Holy Kingdom, the man loved by the most stars, submitting and falling before that man.

That man, the object of her innocent childhood crush, the most noble knight in this world, perishing like a fleeting flower petal.

It was a shock, as if a god had been defeated by a demon.

No, it wasn’t a metaphor or anything of the sort from the start. It was merely the unadorned truth.

On that day, God was defeated by evil.

Rain Grey.

That man was evil.

At the same time, it was an irresistible evil.

Charlotte knew only one term in the world to describe such evil.

Absolute Evil.

The man she saw there was, quite literally, an unwinnable enemy.

A fight against them, the 《Black Serpent》, led by such a man, was an unwinnable fight.

That’s why when the Holy Maiden she abandoned became that man’s subordinate and a member of the 《Black Serpent》, returning for revenge.

“This nation is finished.”

That man said so.

It was true. Charlotte thought everything was over.

“……Indeed.”

“At the hands of none other than you, the 《Black Serpent》.”

She had no thought of resisting, not even a hair’s breadth. Because it wasn’t an opponent one could resist.

So she could only resign herself and accept it.

The tyranny of irresistible evil.

Because an unwinnable enemy is─ precisely that.

“If you wish to protect this nation, from now on, obey my words.”

At the same time, when such an unwinnable enemy extended a hand of mercy, Charlotte knelt in the deepest part of her heart and vowed to submit and yield.

She didn’t care how harsh and painful the price she had to endure to obtain that mercy might be.

Just as one willingly endures suffering and tribulation for God, she would bear the cross like a martyr and endure.

Right now, her kingdom, burning with the madness of revolution, is merely a tribulation that must be endured.

Thus, Charlotte, the new Queen of the Holy Kingdom seated on the throne, calmly endured.

She didn’t care even as the pillars sustaining this nation, Charlemagne’s Twelve Knights, departed one by one.

“Your Majesty……!”

“It’s alright, Sir Bradamante.”

Therefore, Queen Charlotte, seated on the throne, quietly smiled.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Hahahaha! Of course, Your Majesty! As long as Quixote of La Mancha is here, as long as the ideals we hold for the stars remain, we have nothing to fear!”

“Good heavens, My Lord! Please, grasp reality! At this rate, we’ll all die!”

“When flowers bloom profusely, leaves must fall─. Ah, is there no bard to praise the sight of my body scattering?”

Even amidst this, those who volunteered to stay to the end were a narcissist with a head full of flowers and the two fools of La Mancha─.

“It’s not too late, Your Majesty Charlotte! To evacuate to the northern Duchy of Burgundy, which supports the royal family, and reorganize our forces to fight back now─.”

Lastly, there was Sir Bradamante, the sole woman, who was somewhat reliable but incomparable to Sir Roland.

From them, she expected nothing to begin with. There was no point in expecting anything.

Because from the moment the man called Divine Spear, the most brilliant vanguard of Charlemagne’s Twelve Knights, was defeated, nothing more could be expected from these others.

Thump!

“Here! The enemy of the revolution, the ringleader of the enemies, is here!”

“Let’s hang the embodiment of the old regime on the guillotine!”

From afar, the shouts of boys were heard. Voices of blind certainty, doubting nothing and possessing absolute conviction.

“Damn it, they’re already here……!”

“How can this be, Sancho! The ones coming now are just boys!”

“The Templar Knights’ Royal Guard was breached by mere boys─?”

“They are not ordinary boys. They are individuals who have undergone extreme enhancement procedures through certain treatments.”

The desperate exchange of words among Charlemagne’s Twelve Knights, who once symbolized the Holy Kingdom’s glory, now with only the four most foolish ones remaining, sounded hollow. She didn’t care.

So Charlotte turned her head away from them, her eyes devoid of emotion. The voices she heard flowed in one ear and out the other.

The same went for the knights and the shouts of the boys who proclaimed themselves vanguards of the revolution.

“Clear the way! The enemy of the nation who betrayed the Holy Maiden, the evil of all oppression and unjust systems, is there!”

However, there was one remark she couldn’t simply let pass.

Calling herself evil.

At those words, Charlotte let out a hollow laugh. It wasn’t because she felt wronged. She never doubted that committing evil, if necessary, was also a virtue of a leader.

She merely scoffed at their innocence, for they knew not true evil.

“Guard the door! Don’t let those rebels reach Her Majesty the Queen!”

“Hold your position! Archer formation─”

“Oh, Stars……!”

“Revolution or death!”

“Expel the traitors of the old regime!”

The Templar Knights desperately guarding the outside of the throne room shouted, and similarly, the boys shouting the ideals of the revolution intersected their cries. Amidst the sounds of metal clashing, spears and swords striking each other, screams were mixed in.

“……”

Even amidst all that, Charlotte, seated on the throne, merely waited calmly.

Faith is like that.

It’s not about opportunistically choosing what suits one’s taste when it’s convenient or advantageous.

It’s only when one upholds it without losing it, even when carrying the cross and suffering during the hardest, most difficult, and most painful times, that it truly holds meaning.

That was her faith.

Right now, even if her kingdom burns, her castle falls, and those who would hang her on the guillotine rush to her doorstep, steadfastly holding her place without wavering is faith.

─It was at that moment.

The sounds that had been echoing outside until just before suddenly ceased, as if by magic.

Screams, the clang of metal, voices crying out empty and fleeting ideals or loyalty—all sounds suddenly stopped.

“What’s happening……?”

At the sudden change, Sir Bradamante blinked her eyes in caution. The other knights were not much different.

“Ah……”

Only one person, Queen Charlotte, was not.

“You’ve finally appeared.”

“Appeared……?”

At her words, as she finally spoke, Sir Bradamante expressed confusion.

“Could it be reinforcements?”

“Huhu, hardly.”

“Then─”

So Charlotte shook her head and kindly replied.

“An enemy that can never be defeated.”

─There is only one thing to do in front of an unwinnable enemy.

Charlotte, who had been seated on the throne, finally rose.

In that place where silence had descended as if sound had vanished from the world, the door leading to the throne room opened.

“!”

“Ah, I knew you would come.”

So Charlotte whispered in a voice devoid of the slightest doubt. It was a sweet and rapturous voice, like a girl in first love.

“……I came to fulfill a promise.”

Before the door leading to the throne room, there stood the leader of the 《Black Serpent》.

With his eyes covered by a black bandage, accompanied by a female swordsman guarding his side, and a blonde girl in a gothic dress fluttering innocently as if on a picnic, smiling.

With their jet-black swords and shadows, assisting the leader, having swallowed all unrest and commotion.