Ch.174Chapter 174. Plating (3)

“…..”

I maintained my poker face, tilting my head slightly to the side.

I was pretending not to understand what she meant.

“Are you referring to the results?”

Fortunately, Ginor had mentioned something similar before, otherwise I would have been genuinely surprised at this point.

In a way, that previous conversation had served as a vaccination for this moment.

But Serpina seemed to find my expression quite amusing and curved her lips into another smile.

…She was incredibly beautiful. Honestly, I wanted to commend my own rationality for not falling under her spell. I swear, without the slightest exaggeration.

“I wonder if you’re naturally playing coy, or if you truly don’t understand… I must admit, reading your expressions is more difficult for me than anything else.”

Serpina was truly a mysterious figure.

Other rulers, like Lynn Brans for example, had similar speech patterns and attitudes… but if Lynn had treated me this way, it would have been unbearable, and I’m certain I’m not alone in thinking that.

But with Serpina, I felt no such aversion. Rather, I found myself caught up in her rhetoric. Before I knew it, I would realize she was imprinting herself in various corners of my mind.

Most importantly—this fact didn’t evoke particularly negative feelings in me.

“Regarding the first rebels, I vaguely thought you might have had inside information. After all, once the tails of those rat-like rebels were stepped on, they weren’t difficult to catch. I’m not sure if you remember the suggestion meeting, but it wasn’t strange that you changed the subject because rebels were hiding there, was it? As for the matter concerning Jenis, since she was your roommate, you could have tracked her by scent if you caught a whiff. Though I wonder how you caught that scent… but it’s not in the realm of ‘impossible.'”

“However, your ‘advice’ gradually began to apply to things that seemed impossible for a single person to know. Refusing several alliances and specifically choosing to ally with the Brans army, or knowing that my life would be in danger if I went to form an alliance with the Brans army—these things seemed beyond what could be deduced from ‘information’ alone. How could you possibly know whether the Brans army would come or not?”

“…..”

“So at first—I thought you might be able to see the future.”

Serpina said, her golden eyes twinkling.

Seeing the future.

Because she could see the future, she naturally knew the results of how things would turn out—Ginor had also thought I could see the future.

Ginor already knew that ‘magic’ actually existed through his adopted daughter Reika, which made such reasoning all the more inevitable.

Up to this point.

She was using the same logic as Ginor—

“But. Assuming you can see the future, there are many strange points.”

I found my gaze involuntarily drawn to her moist lips again.

Perhaps from the moment I kissed her, my soul had been somewhat captured by her… I felt a tickling sensation in my heart.

“To begin with, if you could see the future, you wouldn’t need to speak in roundabout ways—you could simply act as a prophet, couldn’t you? You wouldn’t need to add qualifiers like ‘there’s a high possibility’ or ‘it is presumed’ as you just did. But you never speak with certainty about anything except the results. Yes. At that point, Swen, I felt that you and I were not so different. In the sense that we both reason about the question, ‘Why does this result occur?’ And—”

“When you give decisive advice… Swen, for a moment, surprise flashes in your eyes. No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem like someone who knows the future and prophesies it. Rather… it would be more accurate to say you look like someone who has just figured out how things will turn out in that moment.”

“!!!”

At that moment, Serpina smiled again and whispered:

“What a cute expression, Swen. Yes. Just like now. Huhuhu…♥”

—Serpina had gone one step further than Ginor.

She had come closer than anyone to my true nature, my ‘Intelligence 100’ ability.

Serpina’s in-game stats were undoubtedly S-class.

But I hadn’t expected her insight to be this exceptional.

After all, her intelligence stat was lower than Ginor’s, who had Intelligence 99.

Of course, her total combined stats were far superior… but in this world, ‘intelligence’ was converted into a numerical value.

She was truly an extraordinary woman, Serpina.

It made sense why she maintained overwhelming national power despite so many rebellions occurring in the northern continent.

And.

After quietly observing my silent expression for a few minutes with a faint smile…

“Swen. As I said, you don’t need to answer whether I’m right or not. I won’t force you to answer. Whatever your ability may be, the fact that you haven’t told me suggests you have your reasons. And I know that more than half of what I’m saying relies too heavily on records that are close to ancient myths—the kind of reasoning that overly imaginative people might make.”

“…..”

“So, just think of this as my whim and listen. And…”

And.

Serpina slowly caressed my cheek with her snow-white hand.

“If, as I think, you can only perceive results, then you must have walked across dozens of swaying bridges alone until now. In situations where you could only know the outcome, your advice to Lynn and Yurie must have disappeared like echoes in the air, unaccepted. Even if your words later proved correct, well. I’m not sure if they have the capacity to accept such a strange ability.”

“…..”

“There must have been no one who understood your feelings. Weren’t you very lonely?”

I met her eyes as I felt her touch.

Her voice and eyes trembled slightly as she spoke.

“I know well because I too have been lonely. Bearing a truth that cannot be told to anyone… carrying it all alone is an intensely solitary burden.”

“Lady Serpina…”

“That’s why I worry about you, Swen. You may consider this meddling, but you are… quite special to me.”

I hadn’t thought of myself as lonely, but it had been frustrating at times.

If anything, I was more concerned about her.

‘It seems she’s carrying something she can’t tell anyone about.’

That must be why she could say such things.

The fragile vulnerability occasionally visible beneath her charisma as an absolute ruler—was it due to the weight of whatever she was carrying?

As I pondered this… I found myself growing languid at the sound of her voice.

“…Swen.”

“Yes, my lady.”

She slowly moved away from me and spoke in a somewhat calmer tone.

“If you truly can only know results as I’ve suggested, I would like you to listen to my opinion this time.”

“The decision-maker is always my lord. I merely offer advice. How could I presume to listen or not listen to my lord’s opinion? And… regarding your suggestion that I can know results, I honestly don’t understand. I’m just an ordinary strategist who makes inferences based on current and past situations.”

“For a man who makes stones fall by praying to the heavens, that’s an excessively humble answer, isn’t it?”

“It’s just a trivial talent of reading the movement of stars.”

“Is that so?”

Serpina let out an amused laugh.

I had given her an appropriate response, as I couldn’t break my promise to Lunarian by being swayed by hormones here.

She smiled faintly at my words and changed the subject to get to the main point.

“I believe the rebels will raise their heads.”

The possibility was low, but.

As she said, since I ultimately only saw results and made inferences—I couldn’t definitively deny it wouldn’t happen.

“Of course, my basis for judgment is only your advice that ‘it’s not appropriate to move the occupation forces.'”

“…..”

“What do you think?”

I bowed my head deeply and said:

“There’s nothing for me to think about, my lord. When you decide, I simply follow.”

“I see.”

Did she have some source I didn’t know about that made her certain a rebellion would occur?

She sat on the throne and had fought the ghosts of her brothers many times before, so perhaps she had developed a keen intuition in that regard.

In any case…

As it had always been, ultimately it was the lord, not the strategist, who would make the decision.

“Swen. As I said, I don’t intend to force an answer from you. I like you very much. I don’t want to pick at what you want to hide and create a sore. You can tell me when you want to, or never speak of it at all. Regardless, I will always trust and believe in you. And certainly—”

Her face moved close to my ear.

Along with the fragrant scent of yuzu, her bright yellow hair tickled my cheek.

“I will win your heart.”

…Ah.

“Didn’t I tell you? Beyond our lord-vassal relationship, I am now merely a woman who wants to look good in your eyes. Huhuhu…♥”

Looking at her face as she gazed at me lovingly with flushed cheeks, I realized.

This was dangerous.

Truly.

No joke… my heart was genuinely starting to waver.

My heart was beating incessantly. The unavoidable chemical reaction of hormones was violently shaking my mind.

‘…Pull yourself together.’

I kept telling myself that, but I couldn’t deny the intense attraction I felt toward her.

Of course, all her feminine charms—the pleasant yuzu scent when close to her, her golden eyes, snow-white skin, the impressive bosom visible beneath her officer’s uniform, and her voice that made one languid—were all attractive, but they weren’t the decisive factors in this pull I felt.

The glass-like delicacy visible beyond her seemingly strong exterior.

I was so concerned about it that… I found myself wanting to protect her.

This was a first.

——To sincerely want to protect a ruler other than Lady Lunarian.