Ch.210Chapter 210. Return of the King (4)

* * *

This memory is a precious fragment of time that Luna cherishes deep in her heart.

One day during the brief period of peace she spent with Swen, after meeting him at Zeilant Castle and accomplishing several things that had seemed impossible.

“Lord Swen!”

Passing through the audience chamber to the small office in a corner of the royal castle, she found Swen—the first outsider recruited and essentially the national strategist, the only intellectual in the Lunarian army—a young handsome man with white hair, holding a quill pen and drawing something.

“You’ve arrived, my lord.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“I’m drawing a map.”

Hearing this, she approached quietly to take a look and noticed a rather detailed map of the terrain surrounding Zeilant Castle.

“Wow… Lord Swen, were you originally a cartographer?”

“Not really, I just traveled around quite a bit.”

Though his skin was too clean for someone who had supposedly traversed the continent extensively, Luna didn’t question his words.

She trusted Swen.

Who else would believe in him if not her, the only one he had chosen?

In fact, since his arrival, the Lunarian army had begun to show signs of vitality.

While her childhood friend Tifa was one thing, Cain, who had suddenly sought refuge with them one day, had been a general who merely did as he was told in a consistently dazed manner… but now that Swen kept producing impressive results, Cain seemed to have found some motivation and was participating more actively in internal affairs.

Honestly, Luna herself had changed just as much.

While it had been incredibly joyful to luckily claim a small territory and raise her own flag, she had been constantly facing harsh realities and merely waiting for the day when she would be conquered by the Brans army like other small neighboring countries… but since his arrival, she had begun to feel hope—the thought that she might actually be able to succeed.

All of this happened because of Swen’s appearance.

So, Luna couldn’t help but bring up those words again.

“Lord Swen, you’re truly amazing.”

“…”

Upon hearing this, Swen put down his quill pen for a moment, then looked toward Luna, sighed briefly, and spoke.

It might have been an inappropriate gesture for a general in front of a sovereign, but Luna wasn’t the type to mind such things.

“My lord. As I mentioned before… wouldn’t it be better for you to speak informally rather than formally when you’re with me?”

“But I find this more comfortable.”

“While your comfort is important, to become the ruler who will unify the continent, you need to show authority to your subordinates. I am merely a general serving under Luna. Using honorifics with me doesn’t present a good image.”

“I understand what you’re saying… but our country is still small. When the time comes, I’ll definitely try to speak informally as you suggested!”

“…”

Swen looked at Luna for a moment, then turned his head away again.

Seeing this, a question suddenly came to mind.

“Lord Swen. May I ask you just one thing?”

“Please speak, my lord.”

“Can I really become the ruler who unifies the continent?”

At those words, Swen’s hand stopped again.

Then, slowly turning his head, he asked:

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you always tell me things like ‘you must have the dignity of a unifying ruler’ or ‘as the future ruler who will unify the continent, you shouldn’t act like this.’ It’s… um… a bit embarrassing for me to say this myself…”

Luna blushed, lowering her head while fidgeting with her fingers.

“Um… honestly, even I can see that our country lacks too much to be considered capable of unifying the continent… Although we’re managing to lead Zeilant Castle well enough and have continued to repel the Brans army… somehow, you seem so confident when you say those things.”

“Of course, since it’s your words, and it’s my aspiration as well, I don’t disbelieve in the will to do it or the possibility… but somehow… um… haha, I can’t organize my thoughts well…”

Luna herself knew it.

That she was naive.

Hadn’t Tifa nagged her multiple times that she was too soft-hearted to be a ruler?

But.

Swen kept giving instructions with the premise that she would become the “unifying ruler.”

Although everything he had said so far had proven correct, Luna couldn’t help but wonder why he could trust her so much.

Especially for someone as conscientious as Luna.

After hearing her words, Swen stared into the distance for a moment—

Then, meeting Luna’s eyes, he said:

“Well, there is indeed a condition for Luna to become the unifying ruler.”

“A condition?”

“If you promise not to laugh, I’ll gladly tell you.”

Hearing this, Luna shook her hands frantically with a surprised expression.

“Laugh…! I, I would… never laugh at anything Lord Swen says…!”

Swen, after briefly making a serious expression as if preparing for something.

Then, from his lips came…

“You just need to follow my instructions.”

“…Pardon?”

“In other words, just do everything I tell you to do. Don’t question anything I ask, just do exactly as I say. Before you know it, you’ll naturally become the unifying ruler.”

Luna, after hearing Swen’s utterly serious words, stood blankly for a moment…

Then, gradually began to smile.

“…I see. I guess I asked something unnecessary… Of course I should work hard following your instructions. I’m silly. This question was completely meaningless, but since the ruler asked it… you just gave me a suitable answer, right? I’m sorry. I was too shortsighted.”

“No. I wasn’t just giving a suitable answer. I’m being very serious.”

“Oh, Lord Swen. Hehe… But I think I understand what I did wrong.”

Of course.

If someone simply says “just follow all my instructions,” it can only sound like a joke to the listener.

Then why did he make such a joke?

From Luna’s perspective, it wasn’t difficult to figure out with a little thought.

For Swen, Luna’s question was essentially meaningless.

The question “Can I really do it?” was ultimately no different from childish whining.

So she thought Swen had just given an appropriate response to her foolish question.

She needed to realize that asking such questions was wrong in the first place.

Come to think of it, when they first met, Swen had asked her to promise to give him unlimited trust.

Considering that, his answer made sense.

How much time had passed?

Swen sighed briefly again and said:

“My lord definitely needs to become more cold-hearted. A ruler must be able to extend their hands to dirty places. There will be times when you must stain your hands with dirty blood. Noble ideals alone don’t make a ruler.”

“Can I… do that?”

“It’s not a question of whether you can, but that you must.”

“…Somehow, your words are difficult… I think it might be too much for me after all, which makes me feel sorry again.”

To the dejected Luna, Swen took a breath and then—

“…Still, whatever happens, my lord’s strength is the will to never lose those noble ideals no matter what you do. As long as your heart doesn’t change, you will surely be able to create the future of the continent you’ve been dreaming of.”

“Lord Swen…”

Hearing Swen’s words, Luna lowered her head and blushed.

That person sometimes feels like he appeared before me just to fill me in—

The thought that he always says exactly what I need to hear, what I desperately want to hear, made her heart feel strange.

Swen didn’t continue the conversation, but turned his head again and picked up his quill pen, scratching away.

Then, as if casually throwing out the words—

“Don’t worry too much, my lord. There’s no need to be hasty. No matter how poor and difficult the current situation is, in the end, we will win.”

“…!!”

In the end, we will win.

Strangely… that sentence wrapped around Luna like magic from a legend.

It felt almost sacred, as if everything he said would truly come to pass.

“So, don’t be discouraged. Unless something unusual happens, I will be by Luna’s side.”

That confidence filled with certainty.

She felt the piece that had been missing from the Lunarian army—the piece essential for realizing their dreams—sparkling before her eyes.

Luna responds with a bright smile to the man who now feels like he has become her strategist to the point where she can’t even think of anyone else.

“…Yes!”

* * *

“I remember you promised to give me unlimited trust. Was that a lie?”

That’s right.

“I’m not trying to become a sacrificial lamb. As your servant, I’ve simply chosen the best move. I will definitely survive. And we will surely meet again.”

Lord Swen is waiting.

The day of destiny.

The very day he shouldered everything and sacrificed himself for us.

The white-haired man, my strategist, who said he would place the world in my hands, then gave himself up to save me and threw his life away to the Brans army, alone, to protect me.

“Lady Lunarian. If you believe in me, in return, I will place the world in your hands.”

Beyond the realm of belief—

Luna had never, not for a single moment, stopped thinking about that man.

——And now.

‘Wait a minute…’

Only after hearing Tifa’s words did Luna recall the fundamental reason she was able to be here, allowing her to objectively assess the current situation.

Unilateral trust despite Karelia’s opposition. The extremely high position of commander-in-chief of the invasion force.

With this position, Lunarian could redeploy troops as she wished.

She could even requisition additional supplies. Since the commander-in-chief was issuing orders for war, it wouldn’t need to go up to the sovereign level.

Of course, considering that Vanessa, who had tremendous influence within the country, was continuously keeping her in check, even this authority might be fleeting.

Yes.

Luna slowly spreads her hands and looks at them.

If she just made the decision to ‘betray Karelia who trusted her’——

——Into these hands would come the strategically excellent territory of Tepel Castle, 93,000 troops, and supplies.

Would she abandon honor for practical gain?

Or would she never betray that trust first, despite these chaotic times?

Luna sensed it.

Whatever decision she made, this choice—

Might possibly change everything that was to come.