Ch.167Chapter 167. The Blue Light Dream Crumbles in Vain (1)

“When exactly do you think you’ll be vacating?”

“I think I’ll be leaving in about 3-4 days.”

“I understand.”

After roughly setting the date for vacating the lodging, I left a brief note in the room.

‘Senior Jenna. I’ve had a good stay. Thank you…’ That should be enough.

Although she saved her life, she was imprisoned once, so she won’t do anything unnecessary again.

That’s fortunate.

It’s not particularly pleasant to watch someone I’ve formed some connection with die.

This morning.

I woke up beside Lady Serpina.

Though we didn’t consummate anything, I essentially spent the night with her.

She said I was the first outsider to ever visit her bedroom.

The feeling of being the first person to invade someone’s territory… stirred up extremely subtle emotions that are difficult to explain in words.

‘What was that dream I had this morning?’

Aren’t dreams said to be manifestations of the unconscious?

Lady Serpina begging me not to leave her, Lady Lunarian asking me to come to her.

While there might be some self-consciousness at play, if this reflects my psychological state—

‘It means my heart is wavering.’

After leaving the Lunarian army.

Whether in the Brans army or the Aeshus army.

I never once worried about whom I should serve.

It might be because I could clearly see the gaps in the rulers I served, or perhaps because of my relationships with others—like Lady Irene or Reika—but either way, this was the first conflict I’d experienced.

According to my predictions, with Serpina in that position, Lady Lunarian would be the ruler to unify the continent.

If so, there was no need to worry. I had to serve the unifying ruler.

But why… do I keep thinking about her?

Why did she appear in my dream?

Why do I sometimes feel inexplicable comfort and warmth when it’s her, even in situations that would be unpleasant or uncomfortable with anyone else?

I recalled her image, looking at her wine glass with a bitter smile.

That very lonely, precarious appearance that seemed like it would collapse if touched wrongly… kept flashing before my eyes.

The unification of the continent by the Lunarian army would mean the destruction of the Serpina army.

This was almost a constant. There couldn’t be two suns in the sky.

If the Serpina army falls… what will happen to Lady Serpina?

It was hard to imagine someone with Einhart blood serving under another.

Even in the game, she never surrendered as long as her country wasn’t destroyed, and sometimes not even then.

So… would she be killed?

Would Lady Serpina close her eyes at Lady Lunarian’s hands?

Lady Lunarian was an extremely generous ruler, but she had lost her only sister to Serpina in the past. She probably wouldn’t easily forgive Lady Serpina.

Then what should I… do?

Is helping Lady Lunarian… taking Lady Serpina’s life the right answer?

‘Sigh.’

I never thought I, of all people, would have such thoughts.

Honestly—at the moment of being transported into the game, I didn’t immediately recognize this as 100% reality.

With various rules being vividly applied, including the game system rule that “what a general with 100 intelligence says is always right,” it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it felt half like playing a game.

But.

Ever since meeting soldier James, who said he would cherish the Lunarian army’s flag, my thoughts began to change.

Meeting Lady Irene.

Facing the soldiers who followed her.

Lynn and Yurie who moved by emotion rather than profit, and people with their own circumstances.

Reika who yearned for freedom, and now Lady Serpina who feels burdened by her throne.

This world was as vivid as reality itself.

So… it’s difficult to easily choose “the option that is definitely beneficial.”

Can I easily decide “I know Lady Lunarian is the right answer, so I’ll cut ties with Lady Serpina”?

If I could make that decision easily—I would have just let Lady Serpina die in the first place and served the new ruler who succeeded her, without waiting for Lady Lunarian to raise an army, just sitting comfortably.

Just as I couldn’t betray Lady Lunarian at that moment and chose to take the long way around—

Now I couldn’t easily betray Lady Serpina, who chose to trust me despite being repeatedly betrayed.

‘This is difficult.’

Since Lady Lunarian hasn’t raised her army yet, there’s no need to worry about it now—

But it’s better to think about what to do in the future than to face it without any preparation.

Thinking this, I threw myself onto the bed.

Right now, I just wanted to see Lady Irene.

When I’m with her, I don’t need to think about these complicated thoughts; just being with her feels enough.

Perhaps the reason I could resist Lady Serpina’s active courtship was partly because I valued my life that would be endangered if I got involved with her—

But there was definitely also the thought that I couldn’t do anything with another woman while Lady Irene was there.

‘…Let’s rest for now.’

I didn’t need to sleep since I had just woken up—

But I still closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

If I could, I would want to take out my brain and wash it.

* * *

“Thank you for your hard work, Lord Rem.”

“The strategist is here.”

This was Zeilandt Castle.

A small territory several castles west of Anel Castle, currently under the rule of the Brans army.

From Anel Castle, the center of the central continent, this area could be considered the beginning of the “western continent.”

Castle lord Aneka Rem bowed to Farfalle and said:

“The lord…?”

“…Currently resting in the annex.”

“I see…”

“It seems we will stay here a while longer. She’s just resting, so please continue your duties as castle lord.”

“Understood.”

After briefly exchanging greetings with Rem, Farfalle left the main castle of Zeilandt.

After forming an alliance with the Serpina army.

As Farfalle had predicted, by pulling all the forces guarding the northern continent and concentrating them in the central and southern regions, they were able to easily block Hesna’s offensive.

The Rolland army, located next to the Hesna army, also seemed to have planned an invasion, but judging by the lack of news, they must have decided to slow their offensive after seeing how the situation was developing.

In conclusion, the results were worth enduring that humiliation.

The problem was Lynn.

Since that day, Lynn had issued no orders, as if she had become a wax doll.

Since Farfalle had been managing state affairs since Lynn began to go out of control, the state system wasn’t immediately paralyzed, but while Lynn had previously been showing signs of recovery by listening to Farfalle’s advice, now she—

‘….’

The place Farfalle headed after finishing the conversation was the annex on the outskirts of Zeilandt Castle.

It was originally used as a warehouse but had been converted into a villa for Lynn to stay in.

Zeilandt Castle wasn’t developed enough to have a separate villa, and as it was just a valueless land on the route to the western continent, there was no reason to build an annex.

Lynn was spending most of her time here instead of returning to Anel Castle.

Upon arriving at the annex, a priest greeted Farfalle.

In a world where religion had become a joke, an old man in priestly garments was an extremely rare sight.

“You’ve come, Lady Farfalle.”

“How is our lord?”

“She is resting, but…”

The priest closed his eyes silently and shook his head.

Farfalle didn’t respond, just bowed slightly and slowly knocked on the door of the room where she was.

“…My lord. It’s Farfalle. I’m coming in.”

Though Lynn’s voice wasn’t particularly heard from beyond the door, Farfalle carefully opened it and entered.

Inside, Lynn sat at a desk, smiling brightly as she greeted her.

“Oh? Farfalle, you’re here?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Hey. Any word from the search party?”

“The search party… you mean.”

“Yes! The search party! How is it? Any news?”

Looking at Lynn speaking like a child, Farfalle bit her lip and answered in a subdued voice.

“No, not yet…”

“Really? I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you could pay a little more attention. I guarantee! Swen is still hiding in this city! There wasn’t enough time to escape, and our army’s soldiers are surrounding the area, so he definitely couldn’t have fled. Did I tell you? He once spoke very sharply in front of me. Remember?”

“…Yes.”

“Right. So tell the search party again. He’s a young, pretty man with white hair. Farfalle, you’ll be surprised when you meet him too. You’ll definitely wonder why such a man was serving such an insignificant woman!”

Lynn said this with a bright smile like a child.

Farfalle… seeing this, just slowly bowed her head, unable to give any answer.

After a few minutes passed.

Lynn began to express her dissatisfaction while biting her nails.

“I don’t understand why it’s taking so long when I’ve assigned the search to my brother and that annoying woman. We need to recruit that man quickly and return to Anel Castle. Right?”

“…”

The reason she was obsessed with Zeilandt Castle.

This place was once the base of the insignificant Lunarian army, and where she met the white-haired strategist—Swen—who served her.

“I think he’s not just good with words but has some insight too. Despite appearances, I have an eye for people, you know? Farfalle, you know that too, right? I’m better at finding talent than my brothers, aren’t I?”

“Yes, my lord. I know that…”

“He seems to be hiding well now, but since we’ve dispatched search parties, we’ll find him soon! Good. I’m not such a bad person. If that annoying woman finds Swen quickly, I’ll specially give her a high position. Since he’ll do anything I say, he’ll definitely cry with gratitude. That’s how generous I am.”

She spoke very happily with sparkling blue eyes.

If judging by appearance alone, she looked no different from the charismatic Lynn of the past when she was pacifying the central continent and preparing to advance to the north—

“Hehe… Swen, what expression will you make when you join me? You might feel reluctant at first, but eventually Swen and I will share the same dream, right…? The country that will unify the continent is our Brans army! Huhuhuh…♡”

‘My lord…’

—The current Lynn, due to deep trauma and mental illness—

Had mentally returned to the time just before meeting Swen, and was showing an abnormal obsession with finding Swen, who had already left Zeilandt Castle.