Ch.186Chapter 186. Overlaid Karma (1)

After that day.

By Serpina’s order, about 13,000 capital defense troops were mobilized to march toward Rose Castle, where Irene was stationed.

The commander-in-chief was Serpina herself. I was to participate as one of her adjutants, while Jenna, the national advisor, was temporarily tasked with managing Einhart Castle.

Jenna was the most suitable candidate here because she possessed the basic abilities required of a national advisor and had experience overseeing Einhart Castle when Serpina came down to the central continent with the occupation forces.

I heard she had given Serpina very logical advice for the current situation, saying, “The forces at Rose Castle are sufficient. Sending additional troops might just waste military supplies…”

But it seemed the sovereign Serpina had dismissed the advice and proceeded with action.

In any case, she trusted me more than her national advisor. I’m not sure whether to be grateful or apologetic about that.

And so the day of departure dawned.

“I’ll be back soon. I feel bad about leaving my post…”

“No, no…! Please give my regards to Lady Irene, Sir Swen…!”

After receiving Reika and the maids’ send-off, I joined the troops and immediately began marching toward Rose Castle.

After passing through the castle gate and traveling some distance, I turned my head to look back at Einhart Castle.

At the top of the soaring spire, Serpina’s army’s golden-yellow flag fluttered in the wind.

At least in appearance, it still boasted the stature of the largest and most prosperous castle in the empire—no, the continent—an overwhelming structure built on the central island. Looking at it, I pondered my prediction again.

Why?

What was supposed to happen if Serpina didn’t leave her post that would have endangered her life?

And.

Why must she die for this country to achieve unification?

I naturally found myself thinking about Serpina as a person.

Regardless of whether one liked her or not, there was one fact everyone could acknowledge: she was an extremely capable individual.

She didn’t look down on her subordinate generals, thoroughly took care of her allies, had a keen eye for the situation, made correct decisions in most cases, wasn’t swayed by meritorious retainers, and was a ruler who knew how to listen to new people’s opinions.

I couldn’t understand why such a ruler was destined to be unable to unify the country—

And the fact that this country’s fate could only be resolved if she disappeared, meaning she had to step down from the throne, was an enormous question mark.

‘Is there… something I’m missing?’

My predictions are absolute. I felt that most keenly when I served as an advisor under Lady Luna.

It was spine-chilling when Tifa found the treasure chest, and when mercenaries came after she spent that money.

So there must be a valid reason why she can’t achieve unification… but what could it be?

Just a little more.

Just one more step in my thinking, and I feel I could figure it out… but right now, it felt like I was missing a few puzzle pieces.

‘Enough. I’ll sort this out later.’

Anyway, Lady Serpina’s fate had changed again due to my intervention.

She would survive. Unfortunately for her country, it would miss another opportunity to become a unified empire.

But I didn’t feel guilty or heavy-hearted about it. Honestly, which country becomes unified is secondary to me.

What matters is that I want to save Lady Serpina.

After several days had passed.

We arrived at Rose Castle—a castle that was incomparably smaller than Einhart Castle.

“You have arrived, my lord.”

Upon our arrival, Irene was there to welcome us.

Seeing various armed officers standing in line on both sides, including Ian, I was newly impressed by how far Irene had risen.

“You’ve worked hard, Irene.”

“Not at all. I’m merely doing what needs to be done.”

Lady Irene’s appearance from a distance felt both familiar and strange to me.

What I mean is, her disciplined demeanor now seemed somewhat awkward to me.

After all, the Irene by my side is—

“I’d like a detailed report on the current situation.”

“Yes. I’ll explain everything in detail at the watchtower. I’ll escort you now, this way—”

“Before that, how about exchanging greetings first?”

“…?”

Serpina smiled and tilted her head slightly backward.

Wondering what was happening, Irene looked puzzled as I carefully greeted her.

“Hello.”

“Ah… S-Swen?”

“I’ll go ahead, so take your time talking.”

Serpina said that, then brushed past Irene and moved forward.

I didn’t feel bad about it. I now understood that this was Serpina’s way of being considerate.

In any case, there were plenty of other officers, including Ian, who could escort her… it would be best not to refuse her consideration here.

I approached Irene, who stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

“How have you been?”

“Huh? Well, I’ve been fine…”

Seeing me, Irene blushed and lowered her head as if she didn’t know what to do.

…Ha.

Why is this woman so lovable?

It was incredibly cute how someone who was stronger than anyone in my absence became softer than any woman in my presence.

I didn’t hide my overflowing feelings and expressed them openly.

“I missed you.”

“Eh?! Ah, y-yes… m-me too.”

“I’m glad you’re healthy. I was worried you might be pushing yourself too hard again.”

“I’m fine. Swen, I haven’t forgotten our promise for a single moment. I promised not to do anything dangerous…”

“Well done.”

Feeling so proud of her, I slowly raised my hand and gently stroked her head.

Irene didn’t reject my touch and shook her head slightly in response to my hand, like a puppy.

How cute.

After enjoying my touch for a while, Irene seemed to become aware of the situation again, cleared her throat a few times, and asked me in her usual dignified tone.

“May I ask you one question?”

“What is it?”

“The rebel forces aren’t that large, and we could have easily won without reinforcements coming like this. Why send additional troops? There are concerns on our side that this might actually delay our operations.”

Her words were logical.

The number of occupation troops dispatched was sufficient, and since the elite units of Serpina’s army were the occupation forces, they could easily defeat rebels who had merely captured one castle.

This decision was solely to protect Serpina’s life, nothing more, nothing less.

To a third party, it probably looked like a waste of supplies.

I considered trying to persuade her with logic, but there seemed no need to force complicated reasoning here.

Especially since I was talking to Irene.

“It was my suggestion.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I judged it to be the right decision.”

Hearing my words, Irene nodded and said:

“If it’s your suggestion, not someone else’s, then it must have meaning. I understand. I’ll cooperate. I’ll explain it well to my subordinates.”

Since that day when I appeared to have caused a meteor to fall, Irene had absolute trust in me.

If she were the ruler, she probably could have easily made all the best choices.

‘…’

Since she trusts me so deeply… perhaps I should tell her.

Rather than thinking alone and keeping my conclusions to myself, it would be reassuring to share them with someone I can trust.

The person is Irene. I couldn’t imagine—and didn’t want to imagine—a situation where she would betray me.

I didn’t want to consider her trust as a variable. Rather than doing that, I’d rather die standing.

“Lady Irene.”

“Yes?”

“I have something to tell you. Do you have a moment?”

Seeing my serious expression, Irene looked around.

Everyone had gone to escort Serpina and was far away, so it seemed we could have a sufficiently private conversation.

“What is it?”

“I believe our lord… Lady Serpina might be in danger.”

“…!!!”

Yes.

The thought that dominated my mind throughout the journey from Einhart Castle to this place was the situation where ‘Serpina would be in danger if she remained at Einhart Castle.’

Becoming a unified empire meant her death. Since the fate of becoming a unifying monarch didn’t come to her. This is the same situation as before.

Then why does she die?

What kind of death could be avoided simply by marching here?

One possibility was an earthquake at Einhart Castle.

If the royal castle collapsed, it wouldn’t be strange for her to die while working there.

Given that nothing happened on our way here, this possibility seemed quite low, but I couldn’t rule out the scenario where an earthquake occurs on our return journey, causing the royal castle to collapse.

Broadly speaking, this would be similar to the previous landslide case.

Of course, this was just one of many possibilities, with an extremely low probability. Natural disasters aren’t called “acts of God” for nothing.

Between the meteor and the landslide—I’ve been using and avoiding natural disasters so conveniently that the scenario naturally formed in my mind, but I had to remember this was a very low probability.

Besides, in this case, it wouldn’t just be Serpina who would die if the royal castle collapsed; the impact of the damage would inevitably be enormous.

Therefore, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that my prediction was different.

It’s not a sudden illness or epidemic either. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be able to escape her fate even if dispatched here.

If I were to forcibly fit disease into the prediction, it might be something like “after departure, a sudden epidemic breaks out in Einhart Castle,” but… this, like the earthquake, was an issue that needed further observation and had a probability as low as an earthquake.

Then what was the most likely conclusion, one that made sense given the circumstances?

“I’m not certain, but I believe there may be a group within the royal castle attempting to assassinate Lady Serpina.”

Hearing my words, Irene was startled and looked at me with a pale face.

“What… did you say?”

My conclusion.

It was that “Serpina, who remained at the castle, would be assassinated.”