Ch.129Chapter 129. ‘And the Result’

Several days later.

Those who had been planning a rebellion, claiming to be Sidmid’s successors, began to be arrested one after another.

It seemed that a soldier had discovered this item at the residence of their contact person.

From specific uprising plans to schemes to assassinate Serpina – countless things were revealed in this process.

I don’t know how they managed to find the evidence, but from Serpina’s perspective, it could truly be called divine providence.

Divine providence!

There was no other way to describe it – all of this was nothing short of miraculous.

Anyway, once they caught one tail, the “subversive elements” began to be caught in droves, like potatoes being pulled from the ground.

It wasn’t just one or two people.

Dozens of them were bound and dragged to Einhart Castle.

All of them were armed men who had been receiving pay from Serpina’s army.

They ranged from those who hadn’t received much attention to those who had been somewhat useful in their roles.

The biggest fish among them was Rahelven Enichka, a man who had once been recommended for the position of Lord of Kelstein.

He was the man who had taught young Serpina the basic imperial etiquette when she was still a young girl.

Originally a follower of Sidmid von Einhart, he was now known as a man who gave his complete loyalty to Serpina.

The unwavering devotion evident in his small actions made it appear to everyone that he now perfectly followed Serpina.

‘……’

Because Serpina herself had thought so as well-

She couldn’t help but be shocked in this situation, despite having seen many unpleasant sights since taking this position.

I see.

So the ghost of my second brother still wanders the continent.

Although Serpina was widely known as a tyrant due to her history of large-scale purges-

She was, surprisingly, quite a generous ruler.

She did not spare mercy for those who followed her, and if someone had ability, she would let them exercise it freely, regardless of bloodline or past.

If there was one thing she absolutely would not forgive, it was treason.

In the process of occupying the northern continent, countless rebellions had occurred, and all those traitors had met their end at the execution grounds.

It would be no different now.

She must not show mercy to those who challenged her authority.

That was the destiny of one who inherited the bloodline of the Great Empire of Einhart.

*

Several days later, in the underground prison of Einhart Castle.

“You have arrived, my lord.”

“……Lead the way.”

The day before the execution.

Serpina headed to the solitary cell where Rahelven was imprisoned, waiting for his death.

When she arrived at the prison, Rahelven greeted her with the same expression he had worn when he was her etiquette teacher.

“Oh. You’ve come, Princess Serpina.”

Not “my lord.”

He calls her “princess.”

The man who had so readily called her “my lord” until his treasonous plans were discovered now refused to abandon the title “princess” that he had used in the past.

—Even now, he did not acknowledge her.

“How foolish, Rahelven. I thought you were intelligent, but I never imagined you would chase after a faded ideal that is already dead.”

“Princess, you know one thing but not the other. It’s fine. I never sincerely expected anything from you anyway.”

Rahelven laughed good-naturedly with a kind expression, then-

He stared at her with a stern look, the life gone from his eyes.

“Who would sincerely follow a witch who cut off her own brothers’ heads with her own hands and drank their blood?”

“……!”

In Rahelven’s empty eyes, she could read a will that was not his own.

Sidmid von Einhart.

The resentment of her second brother who hated her, resented her, and cursed her with bloody tears.

“Princess. Since this is our last meeting, let me tell you something good. I… this old man, am merely the first.”

What she read from him, facing death, was not fear or terror – but anger.

And beyond that anger… a kind of pity.

“Didn’t you expect this when you drank the blood of the imperial family with your own hands? Countless people are targeting you, Princess. ……It will be a difficult fight, but I think this is the weight that must be borne by someone who deceived everyone, coveted what should not have been taken, and finally seized it.”

Serpina knew such things already.

From the day the will of Einhart was ‘given’ to her… she had anticipated it all.

“……”

“Princess. You have a very beautiful expression. But no matter how exquisite your beauty, it cannot excuse the ugly deeds you have committed. ……It would have been better if you had learned statecraft from me instead of etiquette. Well, let’s see how you do. Princess. I will watch with joy from the afterlife.”

After finishing his words, Rahelven laughed with a metallic sound for a while, then bowed his head.

It was as good as saying, I have nothing more to say to you.

Sensing that no further conversation was possible, Serpina silently turned and left the prison.

On her way back to the royal castle… she recalled that she had originally gone to ask what had made him betray her in the first place.

Though she couldn’t ask the question, had she received something of an answer?

‘Brother Algot.’

“Serpina.”

‘Am I… doing well?’

“There’s only you, Serpina. Among those with Einhart blood flowing in their veins, ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■… there’s only you. So, this incompetent brother wants to entrust everything to you.”

‘Can I really… with my own hands, rebuild the unified empire?’

“So, I ask you. The empire… the divided empire, to unite it again… to bring peace to this world again…”

‘I… I…!!!!’

A sharp awl disguised as her brother’s voice tears through her mind.

I can’t do it.

I can’t, brother.

I… I really don’t have the confidence to do well…!

—My lord!

“……?!”

Just as she was about to fall into another panic in the corridor leading to the royal castle.

The voice of the man who had pulled her out of her panic sounded again.

“……Swen?”

Serpina quickly looked around.

In this castle corridor, there was not a single person to be seen, let alone Swen.

Was it an auditory hallucination?

Nevertheless… it didn’t feel bad.

Recalling the moment when Swen had called out to her, she found herself calming down surprisingly quickly once again.

‘…Yes, Swen.’

He must have known everything.

After all, the rebels were caught because Swen had insisted on conscripting troops and stationing them at Amir Castle.

Though his reasoning was completely different – ultimately, from Serpina’s perspective, it had been a divine move.

In a situation where she hadn’t even sensed a hint of rebellion, if a blade had been pointed at her, it would have been disastrous.

Others might see it as divine providence, but she knew.

It was all thanks to Swen!

And somehow, vaguely-

She felt she understood why he hadn’t explicitly told her this would happen, despite knowing.

‘I need to… talk to him.’

Serpina immediately summoned Swen.

It was more of an instinctive action than a rational decision.

*

“Swen, presenting himself to my lord.”

In the quiet audience chamber, the white-haired man Swen knelt before her.

Upon seeing him, Serpina lost her composure and with a slightly trembling voice… slowly uttered his name.

“……Swen.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“Did you… know all of this would happen?”

“……”

Swen raised his head and looked at Serpina.

Those gray eyes were not empty.

They were clear and powerful eyes, with no sign of past ghosts of resentment interfering.

“You must know too, Swen. Among the traitors caught this time, that woman… Sika was among them.”

Sika.

The woman who, at the advisory meeting Swen had attended, had argued for reinforcing troops and immediately deploying them to the border.

If troops had been sent to the border, the number of soldiers in the northern region, where the rebellion was planned, would have been reduced. They wouldn’t have sent only newly conscripted troops.

Whether she had considered this or not is unclear, but regardless-

From Swen’s position, it must have been impossible to speak his mind straightforwardly in that place.

No!

Even if he had said, ‘A rebellion will occur, so we must reinforce the troops,’ would she have believed him?

Thinking about it, the answer is simple.

She absolutely would not have believed him.

Because there was no evidence.

As long as her belief that she couldn’t make life-and-death decisions without evidence remained alive, she wouldn’t have accepted his opinion, even if he was the man from her dreams.

Therefore…

“Therefore, you gave a somewhat incomprehensible reason. Your opinion was that ‘we must prepare for the Aeshus army coming up the river.’ Thinking about it now, that was the only option that could lead to this conclusion…? Because when there’s a possibility of peasant revolts in surrounding villages or rebellion in nearby castles, there’s no reason to station troops there…!”

As she spoke, it became increasingly clear.

She could see what Swen had really wanted to say.

“But Swen, you couldn’t say everything! One of the traitors was mixed in that group, and I wouldn’t listen unless you provided proper evidence! So… you used your experience in the Aeshus army to create such a hypothesis. A very plausible hypothesis that would convince me as much as possible!”

It was certainly a hypothesis that could be true if one tried to make it so, but the probability was low.

A single piece of evidence he desperately created to persuade her.

And ultimately – because Serpina listened to him, she was able to find the traitors.

“There are moments when one must see what is not visibly apparent. Even what is clearly visible may not enter one’s field of vision at times.”

“That was exactly… what was invisible.”

The moment when even what is visible doesn’t enter one’s field of vision!

Now she understood.

Every word he had spoken made perfect sense.

She felt she understood why he had such ‘certainty.’

Then how did he know everything?

It was a very important question, but for the current Serpina, such things didn’t matter.

An ordinary person would have been crushed by this impossible situation.

Though Serpina didn’t know it, Lynn Brans had feared Swen precisely because she was crushed by his “always correct” advice.

But she was different.

What was important to her was that he ‘knew’ everything.

And that he didn’t keep it to himself but tried to convey it to her somehow.

Even fitting in some plausible logic.

In other words, Swen didn’t just dump everything on her… he had taken her hand.

Something no one else had ever done, this man who had only recently arrived!

For her, who had always carried everything that weighed her down alone throughout her life, just moving forward-

For the first time, a compass appeared, so clear and beautiful!

The more she thought about this beautiful proof, Serpina spoke with a trembling voice, lost in thought.

She herself didn’t realize

—that her face had turned red.

“You knew everything… everything! And to somehow let me know, you gave desperate advice… isn’t that right, Swen…?”

By repeating that he knew everything-

Serpina recalled a certain term she had heard in the past.

「Divine Eye」

The epithet of a legendary advisor who had served the Einhart Imperial Family more than a hundred years ago.

Though the story was somewhat inconsistent, it was said that this nameless great advisor, whose words always proved right in the end…

Was now manifesting before her eyes.

“……”

Swen looked at Serpina with such a serene expression…

Then, slowly bowing his head.

“It was dangerous in many ways, but it was my lord’s decision to listen to my words. I am merely grateful that I could be of help to my lord.”

“Ah…!!”

Truly, you are no ordinary person.

This man who appeared in my dreams… was a man who could see through everything…!

“Swen, truly… truly, you are such an interesting man… I am now, for the first time in my life, feeling a thrill. Can you feel it? To you as well… this heart of mine…!”

With flushed cheeks, her voice slightly panting.

But it couldn’t be helped.

For the first time since ascending the throne… she had met someone who sparkled so brightly that she desperately wanted to possess him.

Moreover, that person was the man who had always appeared in her dreams.

The white-haired nameless man who, when she thought of him, somehow made her heart tingle and gave her a warm feeling.

For Serpina, this moment felt like a revelation from heaven.

The only light shining from a corner of the dark sky.

Serpina rose from her throne and slowly approached Swen, who was kneeling.

Her dazzlingly bright golden hair swayed as she approached him.

Finally reaching him and meeting his eyes at the same level-

With her snow-white hand, she lifted his chin.

And slowly whispered words like an eternal dream.

“Be mine, Swen. Your body, your heart… serve me. If you will not…!”

Her final sentence scattered like cherry blossoms in April.

If you will not, then you—

* * *

After leaving Einhart Castle.

I muttered with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

“…Is this right?”

Something…

Something is happening…!