Ch.192Chapter 192. Divine Eye (3)

A few days later.

Serpina’s eyes slowly opened as sunlight tickled her cheek.

“…Mmm…”

She rose lightly from her bed and stretched.

A pure white negligee precariously covered her distinctly feminine curves.

The first thing she did was bathe.

After filling the tub with water and heating it, she sat and tidied her bedding while waiting for the water to warm.

It was truly awkward for a ruler of a country to do such things with her own hands.

Moreover, Serpina wasn’t just a lord, but a descendant of the imperial family of the former empire. Naturally, she should have had three or four maids to help with such chores, but she preferred to prepare things herself.

This entire process was a kind of ritual. Before beginning her day as the heir to the Einhart family, she set aside her existence as “Serpina.”

Besides, this bedroom was a forbidden realm.

It was an intensely private space where no one but Serpina could enter freely, the only place where she could catch her breath.

And so, Serpina immersed herself in the wooden bathtub with only a towel for modesty.

As the water rose and overflowed, a natural breath escaped from her pink lips.

Perhaps because of her particularly large chest, it took quite some time for the water to stop overflowing before silence finally settled.

“…”

As she felt the warm water on her skin, the face of a certain man naturally came to mind.

That person who had twice invaded this forbidden space where only she was allowed.

“Swen…”

Serpina blushed and dipped her mouth slightly into the water.

The bubbling sound represented her increasingly complicated thoughts.

Her heart pounded whenever she thought of that man.

Her stomach tingled whenever she thought of that man.

The first person to enter my bedroom.

The first person to accompany me to pay respects at my siblings’ graves.

He said he would protect me.

He said he believed my words.

And… he whispered a secret to me alone that he hadn’t even told Irene.

The first thing she felt about him was curiosity. A nameless young man who kept appearing in her dreams. She had thought she would like to meet the man who dropped a boulder and cornered her army, to see what kind of person he was.

Next came greed. Specifically, greed for talent. While Jenna wasn’t an incompetent general, Swen was a man with overwhelming insight that couldn’t be found in Serpina’s army. Considering that he initially proposed a wager to her, the ruler of an enemy country, he was the type who had guts even if he lacked power. Serpina instinctively knew that Swen would be an essential puzzle piece for her path to unification.

And then, the emotion she felt now was… desire.

Not greed. Desire. A female’s desire for a male that even the absolute ruler Serpina couldn’t resist. A complex mixture of curiosity, greed, and desire dominated her.

While her mind was in confusion due to emotions she had never experienced before, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

He said he possessed an ability called “Mind’s Eye.”

Since everything he had said so far had proven correct, that claim was likely true.

But…

Was he really using that ability for her benefit?

“His movements from when he transferred from the Brans army to the Aeshus army, and… until he became a general in the Brans army, are suspicious.”

From what she’d heard, before coming to the Brans army, Swen had been an advisor to a small, weak nation, and had surrendered to Lynn while tied up in an abandoned castle.

The gist was that the former ruler had abandoned him as a sacrifice and fled.

When she first heard this story, she had only vaguely thought, “A general with such excellent insight wouldn’t have been backstabbed by the ruler of a minor country, so it’s strange.”

But now she had strong evidence of his “Mind’s Eye” ability.

Would it be correct to assume that someone with such powerful abilities would be so easily abandoned by his ruler?

Or was it that he couldn’t see certain outcomes, like whether he would be abandoned? Indeed, he seemed unable to predict many things.

But… Serpina’s intuition told her that Swen wouldn’t have acted so carelessly.

“Perhaps he…”

—might have a much more complicated relationship with his ruler than expected.

This was a conclusion drawn from numerous pieces of advice from soldiers belonging to the Brans army.

A ruler who suddenly gathered all the money, provisions, and troops before fleeing.

The circumstances of how an advisor who once manipulated Lynn could so easily fall into her hands.

It seemed that rumors about all these strange occurrences had already been circulating within the Brans army.

Of course, since things had fizzled out, nothing could be known for certain… but considering Swen’s history of continuously changing rulers, one could naturally arrive at a single conclusion.

In his heart, there was someone else, not me.

“I believe in my lord… in Lady Serpina.”

Those words had felt more sincere than at any other moment.

But was I truly the lord he was referring to?

If so, why did he specifically add “Lady Serpina” afterward?

Of course, interpreting it as “I believe in my lord, Lady Serpina” would make the sentence roughly correct.

Until now.

When I said I would speak earnestly without caring who was in his heart.

At some point, Swen stopped denying my words.

Who could it be?

Who was the “lord” that Swen held in his heart?

Would Irene, who had been with him since the Brans army, know?

But I couldn’t just ask about it carelessly. I didn’t want to burden Irene right now. Not only because she was an exceptionally talented general, but also because I didn’t want to provoke her and risk being disliked by Swen.

Clearly.

I had clearly intended to wait until he gradually opened his heart.

I had resolved to win his heart no matter how many months or years it took…

The feeling of anxiety that his warm gray eyes looking at me might disappear somewhere made my body increasingly hot.

“…Haa.”

After warming herself in the bath for a long time, Serpina slowly got out and finished bathing.

She dressed herself and covered her body with a scent similar to what she had experienced in her favorite place as a child.

The citron scent was her armor. By wearing that armor, she transformed from Serpina, the tender-hearted youngest of the imperial family, into Serpina von Einhart, the golden-eyed absolute ruler.

Finally, by putting on her distinctive hairpin, she completed her preparations to go out.

“Welcome, my lord.”

After leaving her room and heading toward the royal palace, she gave slight nods to those who greeted her as she made her way to the throne.

The first thing she did upon arriving at the palace was to receive reports on recent events.

“No signs of rebels… I see.”

As she read the lengthy report from Jenna, soldiers would come to report the results of their duties.

Just as she thought she would spend the day like this with no orders to give…

Unexpected news arrived.

“My lord. A letter has arrived from General Irian.”

Irian was currently on patrol near Kelstein, following Swen’s advice.

Serpina took the letter handed to her by the soldier.

And…

* * *

Turning back time, at Rose Castle.

“The lord has designated me?”

“That’s correct.”

Irian, who was overseeing the troops stationed at Rose Castle in place of Irene, tilted his head in confusion.

“Aren’t there other generals capable of scouting the territory?”

“Yes, but this is our lord’s will…”

“No, of course I don’t intend to deny our lord’s will. I’m just wondering why she specifically chose me…”

As Irian pondered, the adjutant who had delivered the news spoke with a cautious expression.

“Well, it seems… it might be that man’s suggestion.”

“That man?”

“Swen, I believe? I hear he’s been spending quite a lot of time with our lord lately, apparently giving her various advice. There have been several puzzling orders recently, and rumors say they’re all connected to that man. Of course, these are just rumors…”

Hearing this, Irian frowned uncomfortably and said:

“I’m seeing you in a new light. I didn’t realize you had the nerve to spread malicious rumors in front of me to slander someone.”

“No, that’s not… that wasn’t my intention.”

“I’ll forgive you this time, but you’d do well to watch your words in the future.”

“Yes, sir!”

“If you understand, go and summon General Beniel.”

“Understood.”

After sending the adjutant away, Irian fell into thought.

‘I don’t believe in malicious rumors… but even if those rumors were true, Lord Swen is certainly trustworthy. There must be a reason he specifically chose to send me there.’

Irian was also well aware of the strange rumors circulating about Swen and his lord Serpina.

However, after the incident involving Jenis, his heart had leaned toward Swen’s side.

After all, why would he slander a man who could potentially become his brother-in-law if the timing was right?

‘I’ll leave this place to Beniel and prepare to depart immediately.’

It didn’t matter whose suggestion it was.

If he had received an order, he would simply follow it.

That was Irian’s way of life.

* * *

Back to Einhart Castle.

Upon receiving Irian’s letter, Serpina trembled slightly in disbelief.

‘…!!!’

“Sending Irian would be the most efficient method,” he had said.

Serpina vividly experienced yet another moment where that man’s words proved true.