episode_0020

The second invasion, which brought lingering despair to the northerners, has come to an end.

The damage was so extensive that the resulting wounds still had not healed.

But, ironically, this story did not include the key figures and nobles of the North.

The damage that could not originally destroy the system was only applied to those without power, not those with power.

The damage was greater for those who had nothing. Those in power only suffered a small amount of property damage and were living lives that were not much different from the past.

So there was no problem, and there wasn’t supposed to be a problem.

Things started to take a strange turn in the village due to a rumor spread by a girl.

– My brother who came from outside brought me warmth. When I raised my hand like this, flowers grew and my eyes closed.

It was a mention of someone who brought warmth to the north.

When the northerners heard this story, they initially assumed that it was Dale who led the second invasion to victory.

The point in time when Dale found warmth was too far removed from the time he found it.

First of all, since the child said that he was not Dale but another older brother, the guess shifted to someone else.

That’s how I found out ‘Damian’.

Unlike Dale, it not only coincides with the exact moment when the warmth arrives,

There were also rumors that after he left, snow had started to fall in the North, so there was no one else suitable for the job besides Damien.

“Let’s tell them to bring it right now!”

“That’s right! If we keep going like this, we’ll all die.”

“Mom, I’m hungry… sob.”

Reason and patience have long since disappeared due to severe hunger and cold.

Moreover, since so many people had died, all they had left was resentment mixed with anger.

It was only natural that so many Northerners would head to Wintraven Street to protest.

*

“… Those piece of trash are talking nonsense.”

Elysia swallowed her words as she listened to the nobleman next to her.

In the current situation, if I opened my mouth, it could have been politically difficult, so I pretended not to hear and just looked at the conference room, lost in thought.

‘What should I do?’

They expressed their anger by demanding that the warmth Damian had brought them be returned, as if it had been theirs from the beginning.

It didn’t make sense logically, but since they were in a state where reason didn’t work, that logic was meaningless at the moment.

“Then what are you going to do? Drive them out with your troops?”

If you push with your troops, you can quickly put an end to the commotion.

Because the ‘backlash’ is strong, it may be quiet for the moment, but it will start to burn even more fiercely afterwards.

By the way, the backlash could be force or something else.

Whatever it was, it was likely to be enough of a backlash to shake the northern system, which had already suffered a huge blow from the invasion.

If the system that formed the North were shaken, the North would suffer unbearable damage, so the use of force had to be avoided if possible.

… That is why the meeting was held.

Most of them came to protect their own property and future rather than the future of the North.

They owned a lot, but they were arguing over their places and glaring at each other so that nothing would be taken away.

‘It’s disgusting.’

This was the fundamental problem of the North.

The closed North had strong solidarity, but when a crisis arose internally, that solidarity turned into poison.

That’s why the atmosphere was getting heated as people started to shift the blame to him.

“If it was really Damian who brought warmth to the North, isn’t it the fault of Archduchess Elysia who broke off the engagement?”

The eldest son, the captain of the knights, threw responsibility at himself.

He responded in a subdued voice to those words, as if he had forgotten all the things they had done in the past.

“That’s strange. If I remember correctly, the decisive reason Damian declared a breakup was because the Knight Commander held Damian responsible for the crack. ”

At those words, the Knight Commander smiled bitterly and spoke calmly.

“Your Highness, you are saying something that would be misunderstood if anyone heard it. Wasn’t this a reasonable inference and something that ‘everyone agreed on’? ”

Since personal responsibility and profit were more important than the truth, everyone turned their heads and grumbled.

At such a sight, Elysia clenched her teeth, feeling that if things continued this way, the responsibility would fall on her.

‘No matter what I say, it won’t work.’

They needed someone to take responsibility for the untruth, and they were the ones who were pointed at.

I should have been kicked out of the competition for the throne a long time ago, due to my engagement to Amadeus.

It seems that the problem was that they were not using it as a long-term strategy for advancing to the South, but rather were acting unilaterally and growing their power.

Judging by the fact that most of the key figures around him were turning their faces away from him and not looking at him, it seemed like all the talk had already ended behind closed doors.

‘… Even if I object here, I’ll just get nitpicked.’

It was a situation where there was no answer at all.

Ironically enough, the answer he had to give had already been decided.

An extremely simple way to solve all the problems that could come to the North, in addition to being able to counterattack those who tried to cover up all the problems if possible.

The option was to break off the engagement and bring Damian back to the North.

‘… It might be difficult, but it might be possible.’

For some unknown reason, Damian blindly loved her.

If you ‘use’ this, even if Damian shouted for a breakup, he would have no choice but to break it off.

That’s why I took advantage of this and calmly laid out the bait underneath.

“Then, if we break off the engagement, all the problems will disappear.”

It was a declaration that any northerner would naturally like.

Most of them show a reluctant reaction and try to hide their expressions.

However, there were two reasons why no rebuttal was made.

The first is that there was no reason to refuse.

The second is that if they make such a declaration and fail, they will have to shoulder even greater responsibility than before, so it was a gamble that was worth taking, although it was unsettling for them.

After making that judgment, he spoke briefly to them.

“Instead, if I bring Damian, I will bring Damian and have him directly involved in the affairs of the estate. This is to use the warmth Damian creates more efficiently, so please understand. ”

So far, it has been revealed that it has been participating in the competition indirectly rather than directly.

I looked around, declaring that I would take this opportunity to really get into it.

‘The possibility of it becoming a stock is still extremely low.’

Now, if we use Damien, who has become the lifeline of the North, we will be able to expand our clan’s power more easily.

So, I thought that I had to break off the engagement and bring Damian back at all costs, and I was lost in thought about how to bring him back.

*****

“Didn’t you hear that the butler received a message from the North saying they wanted to break off the engagement?”

It is absurd that the same guys who had forced me to break off the engagement and were trying so hard to kick me out of the North are now asking me to break it off.

I hardened my expression and a natural laugh came out.

The owner looks at me like that and demands an answer from me.

“So what do you think?”

“… I don’t think there’s any need to get attached to something that’s already over.”

“I see. I will respect your opinion.”

“Thank you.”

It seems like the investigation into what happened in the north has already been completed, as they haven’t even asked why, let alone the reason.

Since he is a person whose emotions change little, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Judging from the expression of respect for opinions, it seemed like he was subtly telling Gaju Damien, ‘I’m always on your side.’

“Then why did you come at this late hour?”

Because I heard such a shocking story, I forgot about it for a while.

After I pulled myself together, I took out the document I had in my arms and held it out to him as I spoke.

“The warlocks’ plan has been discovered.”

There’s no need to go into detail since it’s already written in the document.

Rather, in times like these, it’s better to speak frankly and hand it over to Gaju without any further explanation.

As he read the document, his expression softened.

Perhaps because the plan was so shocking and radical, Gaju read the document and looked at it for a long time.

He decided that he wanted to find out the truth of the document, so he rang the bell and summoned the manager.

“My lord, did you call?”

“I would like you to investigate this document as secretly as possible to determine the truth of the matter.”

“Okay, I understand. I will figure it out as soon as possible and report back to you. ”

As the owner nodded, the butler politely greeted him and went out of the office.

When I saw this, I sighed in relief, thinking that it was fortunate that the head of the household took this seriously.

‘If I had said that the document was so absurd that there was no need to even understand its contents, the situation would have become considerably more complicated.’

Of course, it was difficult to say that the assassination case was completely over with this alone.

At least the family will try to protect Lilian Nuna strictly… so at least we can see that the risk has been significantly reduced.

‘Besides, I found out about the black magician.’

It will also be possible to block large-scale black magic that would later lead to the downfall of the Karsaril family.

It was possible to guess that the fate of the Karsaril family had changed significantly by handing over this document.

“You worked hard.”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s rest for now. We’ll discuss compensation later.”

Anyway, there is nothing more to do here.

I bowed politely and decided to wash up quickly and go to bed, then walked to the bathroom.

*

After we’re done getting ready, let’s go back to our room.

It wasn’t hard to notice that the spirit was shining brighter than usual.

I was confused as I looked at the spirit that was turning bright and dark repeatedly, like a light bulb that was turning on and off repeatedly.

The spirit was just looking at me calmly, smiling calmly, and making a ‘mumble’ sound.

‘Why is it like this?’

It doesn’t look like it’s in pain, but I’m worried because the condition is different than usual.

So, while I was looking around the spirit for a while to figure out its condition.

A sudden thought popped into my head.

Maybe it will evolve sooner or later.