Ch.205Chapter 205. The Price of Choice (2)

This is the throne room of Valharat Castle, the capital of Aeshus Territory.

As Yurie stiffened momentarily at the mention of a magician, a woman’s voice reached her.

“Yes. After revealing herself during the suppression of the rebellion in Serpina Territory, she reportedly fired a massive fireball.”

The owner of the voice was Epinel Rosenkroz.

She was the second-in-command of Aeshus Territory and, excluding Yurie, the most influential and outstanding general within Aeshus Territory.

“Did you hear what kind of person she was?”

“They say she’s a young woman with pink hair.”

Upon hearing the keyword “pink hair” in Epinel’s report, Yurie turned pale and trembled slightly.

‘If it’s pink hair, it must be… Ginor’s adopted daughter, right?’

Only she herself, as the ruler of this country, had been introduced to her by Ginor.

Since the existence of magicians was kept strictly confidential, she hadn’t told anyone about her either.

He had said his adopted daughter had the qualities to become a “magician.” He was confident that once she was deployed on the battlefield, she could change the tide of war, drive out the Brans forces, and become the hegemon of the central continent.

Yurie, if anything, half believed it but half didn’t. Betting on something uncertain—whether it would happen or not, and if so, when—wasn’t her style.

She had supported Ginor and provided money for her here and there, but that was it. It wouldn’t be wrong to say she hadn’t particularly expected anything. So, when Ginor left, the keyword “magician” didn’t exist in her mind.

But.

Clearly, the existence of a “magician” who could shake the continent, who had been in her hands…

Had somehow ended up in the hands of Serpina von Einhart, the mortal enemy of herself and her comrades.

‘Wait. Ginor’s adopted daughter was commissioned into Serpina’s forces?’

Isn’t that a bit strange?

As far as she knew, Ginor was originally from the Empire. If he had remained in Serpina’s forces, he would have easily secured a high position.

It was difficult to imagine him serving under Serpina. Then why was she there?

The answer to that question was very simply resolved by Epinel.

“And… there are indications that a white-haired man helped Reika as she used magic.”

‘…Swen?’

“It must be Swen. As soon as I heard about the fireball, I thought it might be him. But they say it was definitely the woman who used magic. Whether he’s with her for some reason, or if Swen used it but made it look like she did… there are various possibilities, but either way, this puts us in a very difficult position.”

“A difficult position?”

“Don’t you remember? We said Serpina took Swen away to kill him. But now it’s revealed that he’s alive. Of course, since the only similarity is hair color, and there are various possibilities like Swen begging for his life or whatever, it’s not impossible to smooth things over… but a young man with white hair is rare.”

After saying this, Epinel let out a long sigh.

“Anyway, don’t worry too much, Yurie. I’ve already talked to Emma and Anima about handling this. Even if Swen is alive, what I said wasn’t exactly wrong, and since all those who had complaints have already left, even if this fact becomes known now, it won’t cause much confusion.”

“Wait. What do you mean it wasn’t wrong?”

“Well, Swen consumes his lifespan every time he uses his magic-like abilities, right? Serpina doesn’t care about Swen’s circumstances at all and is just exploiting him. So the assumption that he has a grudge against her is somewhat correct. I think he might be being threatened.”

‘….’

No.

Epinel, who didn’t know much about magicians, might make such assumptions, but Yurie herself, having heard some things from Ginor, knew that wasn’t the case.

If Swen’s ability was no different from the pink-haired magician who had appeared—that is, Ginor’s adopted daughter—then it wasn’t about consuming lifespan.

It was just about consuming mana, a power that she couldn’t feel but definitely existed in this continent.

Of course, that could be Ginor’s lie, and it might actually be consuming lifespan.

She hadn’t verified it, and even though she was called his daughter, she was just an adopted orphan.

However, there was one more piece of evidence proving that Swen wasn’t consuming his lifespan.

In a way, this was more decisive evidence.

The general known to be at the forefront of that battle was… the red-haired female knight, Irene Juliette, known as a specialist in siege warfare.

Yurie still clearly remembered the day she first met them.

The two were extremely close. Especially Irene, who used to look at Swen with such a loving expression.

Originally, after betraying the Brans forces together, they crossed the line of death and defected to her—

The moment she cast out Swen, Irene betrayed Aeshus forces without a moment’s hesitation and joined Serpina’s forces where Swen was.

Would a woman who cherished Swen so much calmly watch him consume his lifespan?

Decisively, she hadn’t been threatened by Serpina to hand over Swen in the first place.

Serpina had given her a choice. She remembered that regardless of what her proposal was, whether to accept it or not was entirely her own decision.

That decision.

The unprecedented choice to essentially sell Swen… was a decision she made thinking she would take all the responsibility herself, solely to save Anima.

And.

After thinking that far, she naturally realized one fact she really didn’t want to acknowledge.

“!!!”

A white-haired man, and Ginor’s adopted daughter who resigned from under her command as soon as that man left.

Yurie, who easily noticed what this meant, felt cold sweat running down her spine.

——Could it be that because I sold out Swen, the magician who was in my hands ended up in Serpina’s hands?

Looking at the pattern of the battle, it was a series of impossible events.

Even for rebel forces stationed in a fortress, just 3,000 soldiers annihilated 10,000 troops in a matter of days.

Since Serpina’s side suffered almost no casualties, anyone could easily notice how implausible this battle was.

All of this was possible because of the presence of a magician.

Such a powerful being, who could have been a military asset for her country, that overwhelming power…

‘…No.’

Of course.

Yurie doesn’t regret it.

If the same moment came again, she would make the same decision. Sorry to Swen, but Anima was someone they absolutely couldn’t lose from their perspective.

This might not have been a wise decision as a ruler… but Yurie simply couldn’t give up Anima.

Nevertheless, with just one decision.

She was now vividly realizing how much she had lost by making the decision to cast out Swen.

Ginor, who was her national strategist, his adopted daughter Reika who was a magician, Irene, an excellent female general who led an impossible battle to victory despite the overwhelming difference in forces, thanks to magic, and numerous soldiers and armed forces who left her side due to incomprehensible decisions.

They were all once under the flag of Aeshus forces. They were comrades who had shared their blood with her.

The fact that beings who could create miracles like defeating 10,000 troops with 3,000 might have become her strength made Yurie feel even more chilled.

She didn’t regret choosing Anima, as she had just thought…

But perhaps that decision at that time might have been a crucial one that determined her own future—no, beyond that, the future of Aeshus forces.

Yurie, at that moment for the first time—

Was truly realizing the consequences of her choice.

* * *

After the rebels were suppressed, peaceful times continued for a while.

Serpina had now completely recovered from her remaining wounds and regained her former condition.

Everything had returned to normal.

Except for one thing.

“Well, I’ll be going…!”

“Take care, everyone.”

Namely, now all three of us leave the mansion every morning without anyone staying behind.

“How is it going, Miss Reika?”

“Me? Um… I-I think it’s manageable. The task of organizing ancient books seems quite doable… and my colleagues are kind too. Hehe.”

Reika, wearing an outer garment embroidered with the Einhart family crest, smiled shyly.

She seemed to spend her time organizing the Einhart Grand Library when she had nothing special to do.

It might seem like a trivial job for an armed officer, but it was something that needed to be done, and she herself seemed to find it very suitable.

After all, Reika did more than her share in battle just by using magic.

Because of her ability, even if Serpina gave her special treatment, there were no particular complaints from others.

Besides, because she had used a lot of magic, it was awkward to assign her physical or busy work when she needed absolute rest.

In any case, she was enjoying quite a lot of conveniences because Serpina recognized her as a talent.

“I’m glad you seem to be adapting well.”

Irene looked at her with a kind smile.

She seemed quite at ease seeing Reika, whom she took care of like a younger sister, doing well.

On her chest too… was clearly drawn the symbol representing the Einhart family.

Of course.

The brooch on the cloak I’m wearing also bears the same symbol.

All three of us had become people eating the salt of the Einhart Imperial Family.

‘….’

Swallowing the feeling of having a stone lodged somewhere in my heart.

“Then, I’ll see you in the evening.”

“B-both of you, do your best…!”

After seeing them off, I immediately headed to where Serpina was working.

What will happen today?

I closed my eyes and recalled the time I had spent with her recently.

Since that day, Serpina hadn’t explicitly asked me to be with her.

She didn’t bring up the proposal either. But I could tell from the atmosphere.

That it wasn’t a sign of giving up, but rather that she was calmly waiting for my answer.

Instead of such talk, we mainly discussed state affairs and domestic policies.

She was using my intelligence 100 ability, which she firmly believed to be “divine insight,” to get advice.

It was the kind of work a national strategist would do, but Jenna was still absent.

But this would end soon too. She would return to Einhart Castle next week after finishing her inspection.

What should I do from now on?

Hoping that today would pass without incident, when I arrived where she was.

‘…Huh?’

I—seeing Serpina’s pale, trembling expression—

“…Swen.”

“My lord?”

“Something unbelievable… has happened.”

—sensed that the clock of this continent was thoroughly running toward a predetermined future.