Ch.127Ruide’s Choice (3)

# “Calm yourself, Count Queensberry.”

“How can I be calm? My daughter has just died!”

The Imperial Palace.

Count Pluto Queensberry rose from the round table, slamming his hands down.

The matter at hand was the death of Sophia Queensberry.

“You’re being disrespectful before His Majesty!”

“Disrespectful? Do you think I care about that right now?!”

Pluto ground his molars and strongly protested to Lucius.

“Your Majesty! Please grant me permission to lead soldiers into the northern lands immediately!”

Lucius pressed his hands together and bit his lip slightly.

A student who had gone north for classes had died.

And of all people, it had to be the heir of Margrave Queensberry, who protected the empire from barbarians at the outer borders—

Sophia Queensberry.

If it had been some minor noble, compensation and compromise might have been possible.

But such words would have no effect on the unyielding Count Pluto.

The Queensberry family, due to the nature of their duties, commanded the second largest number of private soldiers after the Windsor Duchy.

Turning his back on this matter would be a painful mistake.

“Lord Kairon.”

Lucius looked at the Captain of the First Imperial Knights, who was the decisive cause of this meeting.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Is it absolutely certain that Sophia Queensberry has died?”

“According to Isabella Lons’s testimony, Sophia Queensberry is dead, and the academy students who requested to return are being detained.”

“Hmm…”

“How terrible.”

Sighs escaped from the nobles’ lips.

‘This time… there’s no way around it.’

Who would trust and follow an imperial family that takes no action when a noble’s child dies?

Nothing would weaken imperial authority more than that.

It was impossible to absolve the House of Windsor of all responsibility.

“I will request that the Windsor Duke hand over the head of the knight captain who was responsible at the time, and issue a formal apology. I will also issue an imperial order to release the detained students.”

This was the bottom line.

That’s what Lucius thought.

**

“Looking at how things are unfolding—”

“We thought Lady Irene and the prince shouldn’t stay any longer, so we called for you.”

“We apologize for acting independently.”

Ruby and Rosalie bowed their heads to Victoria.

However, they didn’t look sorry at all.

Victoria didn’t particularly mind and said:

“You did well. So, where is Irene?”

“She was exterminating monsters with the prince.”

“From what we’ve gathered, about 120,000 monsters. Irene has used about 80% of her power.”

“She’ll need at least two weeks to recover. Currently, she’s returning from the defense line following the retreat order.”

“She says the monsters won’t threaten this area for about a month.”

“We heard directly from a Mein, so the reliability is high.”

Not all Mein are bad.

Some monsters, like Ruby and Rosalie standing before her, can be helpful.

In other words, they are beings capable of communication—

Beings with emotions.

It seems they had negotiated with the Mein.

Truly behavior befitting the Windsor heir.

‘That child might surpass me someday.’

“But—the situation isn’t good.”

“Irene reported that the signs of catastrophe are certain.”

“In a month, the great catastrophe will almost certainly begin.”

“It may have already started.”

“I see.”

Victoria nodded and walked to the window.

When she pulled back the curtain, light flooded into the only dark corner of the room.

Ruby and Rosalie stepped back three paces in shock.

But sensing the unusual flow of mana, they flinched and stood on either side of Victoria, looking out the window.

At that moment—

BOOM!

In the distance, a lightning-like light struck down from the sky.

The blue light, clearly visible even from afar, was unmistakably Ruide’s magical power.

“At this rate—he’ll soon master the 5th Magic. The supreme realm that no one has ever reached.”

Victoria’s hand gripping the curtain tightened.

“A mere 12-year-old child.”

“Congratulations.”

“With Ruide’s skills, even the great catastrophe will pass without much trouble.”

However, Victoria replied with a serious expression:

“No, even if the catastrophe occurs, Ruide will not intervene. I will make sure of that.”

Rosalie’s expressionless eyebrows rose slightly.

After a moment of silence, Rosalie asked:

“May I ask why you’re protecting Ruide to such an extent?”

“Rosalie. That’s rude.”

But Rosalie looked at Victoria without wavering. Her face showed she absolutely needed an answer.

Victoria glanced at her and thought for a moment.

-I swear. This child, at least, will not meet the same end as you. So, so please…

It wasn’t a particularly pleasant memory.

That day. The day her husband, Ruide’s father, died.

Victoria had simply made a promise. That she would never expose Ruide to any danger.

“That child… just needs to be as he is. Doing nothing—sleeping, smiling. I don’t want anything else from him.”

More precisely, that’s all she wanted him to do.

She had told Ruide to “do what you want to do.”

But that was a lie.

If Ruide wished for the empire’s destruction—she would make it happen.

But she could not tolerate Ruide taking action himself.

Victoria would not ask Ruide to do anything.

The most she would allow was for him to use magic on monsters at the defense line as a way to release excess magical power when it built up to uncomfortable levels.

Beyond that, she would permit nothing.

“Simply protecting him isn’t always the right answer.”

Ruby sweated nervously as she glanced between Rosalie and Victoria. She especially looked at Rosalie, wondering ‘what’s gotten into her?’

Victoria chuckled.

“Perhaps you’re right. I’m probably not a good parent.”

“…Do you know? Against monsters, there’s no one who can eliminate them more efficiently than Ruide. Not even Lady Irene. No, not even you, Lady Victoria.”

Rosalie showed subtle anger.

It wasn’t directed at Victoria.

It was anger toward the very word “monster.”

“You promised to eliminate all monsters that exist in this world. That’s the price for employing Ruby and me as maids.”

“I keep my promises.”

Victoria said firmly.

“However, it won’t be Ruide who carries it out.”

“When there’s an easier way, why…!”

One doesn’t ask twice.

If asked about the twin maids’ greatest virtue, Victoria would answer without hesitation that they were capable maids.

But for them to speak up like this now…

‘It must be that hard for them to accept.’

While she understood them perfectly, everyone has something they cannot compromise on.

For Victoria, anything related to Ruide was that line.

Even if Ruide himself didn’t want it that way.

“Ahem. There’s one more thing to report.”

Ruby, disliking the gloomy atmosphere, spoke up to change the mood.

She thought it was an interesting story—

But nothing Ruby considered interesting ever actually was.

‘That’s the point though.’

Ruby felt pleased at the thought of making the ice-cold Victoria laugh.

“Speak.”

“An envoy from the imperial court has arrived. We sent the rest away and kept only one messenger at the mansion.”

“I see.”

Victoria responded as impassively as ever.

But after about five minutes—

“…Isn’t it common sense to mention that first?”

Victoria replied with bewilderment.

Even Rosalie, who had been somewhat excited earlier, had regained her composure and said respectfully:

“I’m not familiar with human common sense.”

“Rosalie made a mistake. Ruby did nothing wrong.”

For reference, Ruby just said that. Rosalie glared at her childish sister.

Victoria sighed faintly and said:

“Bring him in.”

Rosalie immediately turned and took a step forward.

Her figure disappeared without a trace.

After blinking about three times, Rosalie reappeared carrying a male noble like a bundle.

Ruby covered her mouth and snickered. From her perspective, the human was wearing ridiculously funny clothes.

Of course, the messenger’s clothes were actually the latest high-fashion attire in the empire.

Rosalie roughly threw the male noble to the floor.

“Eek! W-what is the meaning of this!”

“Shut up, human. If you don’t want your pathetic life to end right now.”

Rosalie stared at him coldly.

Victoria restrained her.

“Rosalie. Go cool your head for a moment.”

Rosalie bit her molars and clicked her tongue. She turned and disappeared.

The man trembled and turned his gaze to Victoria. He stood up, straightening his clothes.

“I am Count Romania, representative of the imperial envoy. I’ve come to deliver His Majesty’s command.”

“Speak.”

“Before getting to the main point, let me tell you about the Romania family, which is prestigious enough to be selected for this envoy…”

“Get to the point.”

“…There are two matters. One is that the Windsor Duchy is unjustly detaining Imperial Academy students. The other concerns the death of Sophia Queensberry.”

“What is the imperial court’s position?”

“First, the Imperial Academy students must be released.”

“Rejected. I don’t wish to take away my son’s toys.”

Romania’s eyes widened.

“T-toys?”

“But I’ll hear you out. Continue.”

“Regarding Sophia Queensberry’s death, the Windsor Duchy must be held accountable.”

“I will take responsibility.”

Victoria agreed.

“Name the resources you want.”

“No, we don’t need resources.”

“Then state what you want.”

“We want the head of the Windsor knight who was on guard duty at the time. Count Queensberry says he won’t accept anything less. This is the absolute minimum demand.”

Victoria answered without the slightest hesitation:

“Rejected.”

“…!”

“Go back. I have nothing more to say.”

Naturally, Count Romania couldn’t leave it at that.

He had barely managed to secure the position of envoy representative. It would be troublesome to leave without results. The empire valued practicality.

“This is no trivial matter!”

Victoria ignored him and began to walk away.

As Victoria moved further away, Romania felt increasingly anxious.

So he brought up a subject he thought would provoke a reaction from her.

“Especially! Ruide Christopher Windsor bears heavy responsibility! He must be severely punished…”

Victoria was suddenly beside Romania.

He had clearly been watching her walk away the entire time.

“…!”

Romania’s expression turned to shock.

“You’ve crossed the line, Count Romania.”

Thud.

Romania’s head rolled off.

His headless body collapsed.

Victoria stared at the corpse with cold eyes.

Still expressionless, but the corners of her eyes were slightly raised. Evidence that she was quite angry.

Victoria returned to the window and took a deep breath to suppress her anger.

“Ruby.”

“Yes.”

She had killed the messenger. This was asking for quite a troublesome situation. But she had no regrets.

“How long would it take to destroy the empire?”

“A week at most.”

Victoria spoke with calm eyes. This question was merely out of curiosity.

“Assuming Ruide participates, how long would it take?”

“I can’t say for certain, and this is merely speculation… but the time it would take for Ruide to cast a grand spell powerful enough to destroy the empire would be approximately…”

Ruby dropped the answer briefly:

“Seven seconds.”