Ch.147Chapter 147. Questions (1)

After leaving the annex, I found a quiet spot to sit and sort through my complicated thoughts about the shocking revelation I’d just learned.

First, I tried to recall everything about Serpina von Einhart’s successor.

‘Serpina was almost impossible to kill until the very end.’

True to her status as the game’s final boss, she was rarely captured and survived as ruler until only one territory remained. That’s why I thought early on after possessing this body that “Serpina probably won’t suddenly die from illness.” Time and again, this arrogant blonde ruler fought desperately to block my path until the very end.

And when her nation was destroyed, she would simply be recruited. Since unification was the game’s ending, Serpina’s defeat marked the end, so I never had a chance to use her effectively. The only way to properly utilize her was to choose to play as Serpina’s forces.

But.

On the extremely rare occasions when she stepped down as ruler, her successor was always different. With overwhelming legitimacy, young age, and exceptional ability, there was no need for a designated successor, so it wasn’t strange that different people took over each time.

The problem was—

‘None of them were particularly outstanding.’

Surprisingly, the norm was for B-tier generals with long service records to inherit the throne. From the beginning, Serpina’s forces had such favorable conditions that they needed to balance things out with their subordinate generals.

The most memorable was when Jenna took over. As the national strategist, she was quite a standout general in Serpina’s forces.

‘Given how powerful the nation itself is, whoever inherits it could maintain a certain level of strength as long as they perform above average, but would that be enough to bring about the destiny of a unified nation…?’

Is there something I still don’t know?

Well, there were characters like Ian Lishfalt whom I never saw once in 10,000 hours of gameplay.

The very idea of a timeline where Lunarian Ineanne becomes the unifying monarch was completely unfamiliar to me.

Still.

If I could know exactly who the successor would be, I might be able to prepare countermeasures in advance…

After concentrating on these thoughts, I shook my head and cleared my mind.

‘Enough. Let’s not think about this anymore.’

My goal is to make Luna the unifying monarch.

To do that, I couldn’t let Serpina die.

So naturally, I didn’t need to worry about her successor. As long as she remained ruler, it wasn’t an issue worth considering.

‘I’ll protect Lady Serpina no matter what.’

With thoughts that would make me seem like a general deeply loyal to my lord if overheard, I slowly stood up.

Yes. Instead of dwelling on unsolvable problems, I should think about something else.

‘Will I be moving into Irene Juliette’s home soon?’

I would need to go through the procedures to leave my lodgings, so it would take some time.

But still, the prospect of living together again was something I greatly looked forward to.

Though it started by chance, the current situation of not living with her now felt strange to me.

If the mansion is spacious, would Reika Nighthart stay with us too?

I wouldn’t mind. However, I needed to seriously consider what our relationship would ultimately become.

Although our marriage arrangement was proceeding through Ginor when this situation occurred… I still believed her wishes were important, and if she didn’t object, I had no reason to refuse.

As a modern person, marrying two women at once felt somewhat uncomfortable, but it didn’t seem that unusual in this world.

Thinking about Reika naturally drew my attention to the rapier hanging at my waist.

Yes.

This rapier.

I had thought it was just an ordinary item, but I could clearly confirm that it functioned as a kind of magical amplifier.

‘Reika… would be an incredibly helpful person to have by my side.’

Of course, I had no intention of pursuing her purely for efficiency’s sake.

At first, efficiency was all I thought about. When I knew nothing about her, I admittedly acted with the thought that I should gain favor with the first magician I was lucky enough to meet.

But.

My honest feeling now was that I didn’t want to drag along a woman who had voluntarily stood by me in places she shouldn’t have, who stayed by my side even until the moment she was sold to Serpina’s forces, just because I needed her.

She longed for freedom.

She wanted to wander here and there without being tied down.

I recalled how on St. Valentine’s Day, after making chocolate with Irene and giving it to me, she lowered her head with a flushed face.

If freedom was what she wanted—I would gladly give it to her.

I had already received enough help from her.

If Ginor and everyone else only valued her as a “magician”—

At the very least, I wanted to see her as Reika, a human being.

Wouldn’t it be too sad for everyone to see her only as a magician and not as herself?

‘There’s still time left, so I can think about it slowly.’

With these thoughts, I soon arrived at my lodgings.

Though I hadn’t done much, it had been a truly exhausting day.

‘Today I should bathe and go to bed as quickly as possible.’

As I opened my room door without much thought—

“Ah, aaah…!”

I heard a startled voice.

More precisely, it was a moan that would have been closer to a scream if the speaker hadn’t held back.

The biggest problem was… the owner of that voice was clearly female.

“????”

I stared blankly at the scene in my room.

…Senior Jenis was changing clothes right before my eyes.

The face and features were definitely Senior Jenis.

But… something was wrong.

Because Senior Jenis—that is, Jenis Al Kaski—was a man.

And men shouldn’t have breasts protruding like that.

Nor would they wear such feminine fishnet underwear.

Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that no man would ever wear such things, but still… with high probability, they wouldn’t wear such underwear.

Plus, the pale white skin, the rounded breasts asserting femininity, and the curved hips.

Even if you brought a hundred people, they would all agree this person was a woman, with such a distinctly feminine figure.

‘Then… what’s going on?’

Senior Jenis… was a woman?

A woman who had been hiding it all this time?

True, his face did look somewhat delicate, and his behavior and speech weren’t particularly manly… but he didn’t seem like a woman either.

As I was wondering if such a thing was even possible—

“Um… it’s not what you think!”

“What?”

With eyes tightly shut, she pleaded with me.

“I’m not Jenis oppa! So… I, I can explain… please don’t throw me out…!”

…What did she say?

I stared blankly at hi—no, her, and thought.

‘Jenis… oppa?’

Someone who looked exactly like Jenis, but was clearly a woman, was calling him “oppa.”

There was only one conclusion. Anyone could easily deduce this without needing an intelligence of 100.

‘Twins?’

And since she said “oppa,” the relationship between the twins became even clearer.

“Are you perhaps Senior Jenis’s twin sister?”

“Yes, that’s right! I’ll explain everything! So please…!”

She looked at me with a pitiful expression as she pleaded.

Though I was confused about the situation—

‘Right. Let’s hear her explanation first. It doesn’t cost anything.’

I had no interest in needlessly tormenting someone who was desperately appealing to me.

“Alright. I won’t throw you out, so please calm down.”

“Um… I’m terribly sorry, but could you… turn your head? I’d like to finish getting dressed…!!”

Ah.

I had been staring blankly at a woman in her underwear.

Surprisingly, I felt nothing special.

She had a beautiful and attractive figure with decent volume, but it couldn’t compare to what I had witnessed when Lady Irene was changing into her training clothes after waking up.

That had been such a breathtaking sight that it instantly cleared my drowsy mind. I would surely never forget it.

“Then I’ll step outside. Call me when you’re done.”

Click.

I closed the door and fell into thought.

‘So she’s his twin sister? But why? Where did Senior Jenis go?’

As my initial shock subsided, more fundamental questions arose within me.

‘No… if he just needed to go somewhere, there would be no need to put his twin sister in the dormitory.’

Thinking simply would lead to the answer.

Couldn’t he just leave his place empty?

Though it felt like a dormitory, there was no curfew or roll call system. This wasn’t an academy dormitory but a welfare facility provided by the state for subordinate generals who had nowhere else to stay within the castle.

However.

There was exactly one situation where such troublesome behavior would be necessary.

That was—

‘When you need to create an alibi.’

This became clear when considering what Jenis would gain by putting his twin sister, a female at that, in a male dormitory.

It was an alibi.

While the real Jenis was absent, if a third party perceived that he was in this room, then he would be considered to have been here.

When thinking about it that way, there was no better method than using a twin.

‘If he needs an alibi… what exactly is he up to?’

Perhaps due to my usual impression of Jenis, I couldn’t grasp what he was trying to do, when—

“…You can come in now.”

A voice similar to Jenis’s, yet subtly different, came from beyond the door.

It seemed she had finished changing clothes.

Now was the time to hear her story.

I opened the door and entered the room where she was.