episode_0049

Petra Lin, or rather Hayley Cantor, laughed lowly.

And then I asked a question.

“How?”

“How can you tell, did you think your younger sibling would recognize you because you shaved your hair and put on a little different makeup?”

Of course, the time I spent with Haley was only one year.

But in that time alone, she clearly etched her memory into me.

“No, I mean, how did you know that I was an intelligence agent?”

“… While looking through the yearbook, I saw a portrait of graduate Petra Lin.

It’s similar to instructor Petra Lin’s face, but it’s definitely different.”

“Aha.”

I caught my breath. My fingertips were trembling from excitement.

“Furthermore, no matter how suddenly the incident occurred, there is no way the academy would hire an outsider with no aptitude for magic as an instructor.

It’s unlikely that the Black Swan faculty would have been fooled by someone pretending to be Petra Lin.

That means the Academy’s acquiescence was obtained.

As far as I know, the only one with that kind of capability is the Intelligence Bureau.”

A little applause.

“Our youngest, Cole, has grown up a lot.”

“Where have you been all this time?

How did I end up in the Imperial Intelligence Bureau?

What on earth were you doing that you finally showed up!”

My shout resounds loudly in the empty library.

The smile disappeared from Haley’s face.

“Call. Do you really have to ask that?”

“Of course! Leaving home with a baby and-”

“Oh, you want confirmation that you were right and I was wrong, huh?”

I was speechless.

My sister smiled bitterly and spread her arms.

“I’ll admit it. I was very, very wrong.”

“… ”

“Mom and Dad were right. The man I chased after, Everard… It was trash.”

“What is that… ”

“He was an angler who didn’t even pay attention to the fish he caught.

While I was convulsing in a small room while giving birth, he went to a bar and started flirting with women.

Everard squandered all the belongings I brought with him for gambling.”

My legs felt weak. I stumbled and fell into a chair.

“… So you broke up?”

“Dead. While fighting at a gambling house.

He left me and my daughter Morgana alone.”

Everard was gone, so why didn’t he come home? The words welled up in my throat, but I swallowed them down.

Of course he didn’t want to come. But still…

“Then you had a daughter. Even if it’s just for my daughter… ”

I stopped talking.

My sister had an expression that seemed like she was not from this world.

“Haley’s sister.”

“When Morgana had just turned her first birthday, she had a fever.”

These are not human words. Words that are forced together by squeezing the vocal cords.

“But all the money Everard had left ran out, so he had to go out to work.

So I put a wet towel on my forehead and left.

however… ”

My sister opened her mouth, but only empty air came out.

“When I came back… ”

“… ”

My sister sat down.

After burying her head between her knees and catching her breath for a while, she raised her face again.

“Story, do you want to hear more? How has your sister been since then?”

“… ”

“Yes. You don’t want to hear it. So all you need to know is this.

When Morgana died and I was rolling around on the floor, half out of my mind, I was lucky enough to get a job at the Intelligence Bureau.

I handled the job well, and was specially hired as a full-time agent of the Intelligence Bureau.”

The worst thing I could think of for my sister was being beaten by Everard.

She endures Everard’s drunkenness and goes to great lengths to protect the child she gave birth to.

But no. There was a floor beneath the floor…

I could barely put the words together.

“Why did you come to the academy?

No, that’s a stupid question. You must have come because you received a mission.

Why did you appear in front of me? With my family… Because I want to meet you again?”

“It can’t be.”

She hung up firmly.

“Actually, Coleman. I came because of you.”

“What?”

“The upper echelons of the Intelligence Bureau decided that it would be appropriate for me, a family member, to be brought in to appease you.”

because of me…

“I am the goal?”

“Coleman, you’re quite a celebrity even outside of the world.

Your name is also mentioned in the salons of nobles.”

“To a genius game developer?”

“As a business partner of the Crown Princess.”

Was it like that?

I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.

However, Haley’s sister’s voice was heard without any hesitation.

“It looks like you’ve done some research on the Intelligence Bureau, but you don’t know this much?

The current head of the Intelligence Bureau, Hermann Jorowitz, wants to replace the Crown Princess.”

I opened my eyes and glared at my sister.

She walked over to the desk and picked up the copy of ‘Imperial History: A 200-Year Footstep’ that I was looking at.

“Should I have let you hear this more?

I can’t help it. My sister will take over the history lecture.

How far did you go?”

“… Covenant world king and Taekhyeon world king.”

“Aha. Well, anyway, the warriors continued to hit and fight.

As you can see from the fact that it is called a ‘group’ rather than a ‘group,’ they were forces centered around friendships, personal connections, and members.”

I hesitated before asking a question.

“Then what was the initial justification?”

“The cause was not completely meaningless, but it was in second place.

The problem is that after fighting for 20 years, three problems arose.

one. Slowly, the seeds of the Bonnet royal family began to dry out.

two. Six vassal states abolished their suzerainty, and even two dukes became independent.

three. The population, farms, and cities were in ruins, so I really didn’t want to fight anymore.”

“You had to think about that 20 years later?”

My sister laughed bitterly.

“Well, I heard that there was a chance to finish it once before.

But when the wedding fell apart, that opportunity passed away… ”

Wedding ceremony?

But without any time to ask, my sister moved on to the more important part.

“The one who appeared at that time was the current Emperor, Creus I.

Starting as the head of Taekhyeon-gye’s military leaders, he continued his success by subjugating quite a few military leaders.”

“The second coming of wise Lucius?”

“It wasn’t that much, but it was still enough to get the opinion that it was okay for a royal family like this.

But in order to persuade the covenant world, it was necessary to compromise.”

I nodded.

“That’s what you’re saying to the Crown Princess.”

“Lilac Bonnet is the royal family protected by the most powerful Covenant King…

His Majesty the Emperor swore that he would never marry or have children in the future, and adopted Lilac.”

“So, those in Taekhyeon’s circle want to replace the Crown Princess, who is a product of compromise.”

“The covenant world has almost lost its power over the past 10 years. There is no need to worry anymore.”

My mouth became dry. I forced myself to swallow and asked.

“Thank you for the history lecture. I don’t know what this has to do with me.”

“Now you know how precarious the Crown Princess’s position is, right? This is the intelligence agency’s proposal.

Reporting to me every move the Crown Princess does from now on.”

“You want me to become a spy.”

“Okay.”

“… I’m curious, did you really think I would get it? A suggestion like that?”

Sister Hayley gestured as if to come closer.

I snorted and waved my hands.

“What. Are you giving me a lot of money? No, since he is the second son, he must be hungry for land, so would you at least give him the title of earldom?

I don’t care what you suggest!”

“That’s not it, as an older sister, I have something to say to my younger brother.”

As a sister.

Those words shook my heart.

Perhaps I still suffer from guilt for not being able to hold on to my sister stronger.

I approached her cautiously.

Haley put her lips to my ear and whispered.

“Colman, it would be better for both of you if you don’t stay any closer to the Crown Princess.”

“… ”

“Actually, there are many nobles from the old Taekhyeon family who do not want to replace the Crown Princess.

As long as the Crown Princess quietly acts as a model student, their argument will gain strength.

But if you start running around saying you want to change the dueling culture at the Academy… ”

A low, bitter laugh.

“You started collaborating with Sarria, an enemy country, right? Were you also involved in the establishment of an independent corporation?

Coleman. This is giving ammunition to the opposition.”

“What do you mean… ”

“Look at reality. If the opposition begins to impeach the Crown Princess, who will be the target of the bullets?

It’s you, you. Supporters of the Crown Princess say they will cut off as much as they can for the baron’s second son.”

Bullet catch…

“So stop expanding at this point and play the game only within the Academy.

The more money the Romantic Era makes, the more it will stimulate the replacementists.

If things continue like this, neither you nor the princess will be safe.”

It is a reasonable argument. That makes sense.

but…

You and me, let’s do something together.

I will not allow the people I rule to live like that.

Because it’s such a fun game, something like this is possible.

I believe in Coleman’s game.

Because you are such a great blessing to me… I made a lot of mistakes because I didn’t know how to accept you.

“Coleman?”

“You’re funny. It’s just that the Crown Princess is scary, you guys.”

I roughly pushed my sister away.

“Would you like me to tell you why you are afraid of the Crown Princess?

The chairman is a person with a dream. The dream of liberating this country from the wounds of civil war!

That dream changed the Academy! So, you are really afraid that the Crown Princess will change the country!”

“Colman, you.”

Courage that I didn’t even know existed enveloped my entire body.

In that power, I confidently shouted.

“To that end, the Crown Princess chose my game, me!

You believed in my dream of creating the greatest game in the world and making people from all over the continent enjoy the era of romance!

So even if I become a bullet point, I will not betray the princess’s dream.

Even if the dream we dream is a dream, to people like you-”

“-You speak similar to Everard.”

Cold water was poured on my head.

“… What?”

“That’s what Everard said when he seduced me.

We both have the same dream, I support your dream, I want to help you achieve it… ”

Sister Hayley gave an eerie smile and pointed to herself with her hand.

“Ta-da. And what happened? Reality is really cruel.”

“… ”

“Coleman. How about some self-objectification?

Don’t you think that the relationship between you and the Crown Princess is similar to the relationship between Everad and me?

A man who nurtures and stimulates the dreams of an immature woman, even though he can’t take responsibility for it.

I can imagine what the ending will be like.”

It is sophistry. It’s just sophistry…

But my legs had already lost their strength.

My sister turned and started to leave the library.

“There are still three days left until the regular report.

If you change your mind, please contact me by then.”

“… You are not Hayley Cantor. My sister Hayley never talks like this… ”

“Yes. that’s right. Hayley Cantor died the same day Morgana Cantor died.

What’s here now… Well, I don’t know who the woman here is right now.

One thing is certain, she is an intelligence agent.”

With those words, a woman I didn’t know left the library.

I stared at the floor blankly until the sun rose the next day.