Ch.282Chapter 282. Rustle, Rustle

# Madlan Castle.

Instead of the deep green flag, a bright light green flag fluttered here, marking this place as the new capital following Tepelo, the temporary capital of the newly formed Lunarian army.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations that even small battles would leave significant scars after such a long period of peace, the castle was regaining its former vitality faster than anticipated.

Various reasons were given—that the battle had been more one-sided than expected and so on—but the decisive factor was that Luna was the new ruler.

Having spent time at Madlan Castle before, she had recovered the public sentiment that Karelia had lost at an astonishing pace.

The territory’s residents, soldiers, and armed forces alike all spoke the name of Lunarian. “Our rightful new lord,” Lunarian had absorbed the existing Karelian army at almost the speed of light.

And soon after, the Lunarian occupation forces, with Charlotte at the vanguard, succeeded in capturing the last remaining Yukaia Castle.

With this, all remnants of the Karelian army on the map were cleared.

This meant only one thing—the fall of the Karelian army.

It was a pitiful end for a nation that had once gathered many under a ruler who was a symbol of benevolence.

Even after the nation’s fall, it seemed one of the generals had inherited the will of the fallen Karelia, taking the position of ruler and chief strategist, but it was of little use.

The key talents who had been active were all crushed in the scars of war, except for Cecile, and what remained were only a few rear commanders who hadn’t particularly distinguished themselves—an inevitable result.

Nevertheless, the one who inherited the position of ruler disappeared like dew on the execution ground, maintaining their pride without surrendering until the end, while the one who inherited the strategist position was employed by Luna and came to serve a new lord.

That’s how it was. Once they lost Karelia as their center, no miracle occurred by clinging to the flag of a fallen nation.

And so, as the name “Karelian Army” was erased from the continent—

And as everyone became somewhat accustomed to the new wind of the “Lunarian Army” drifting through the air.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, it is.”

Upon hearing the news that Swen had been appointed as the strategist of Serpina’s army, Violet fell into deep thought with a very serious expression.

‘This… seems like a bad situation…’

Violet recalled her recent conversation with Luna.

That moment when Luna, who was usually kind and gentle, lost her composure and reprimanded her.

It was when the topic of Swen came up.

Luna had always been reliable, but when that subject arose, she became serious, almost like a different person.

‘He serves Serpina because he is being blackmailed by her’—was that it?

Honestly, it didn’t sound very logical to her, but—

Not knowing what had happened between Swen and Luna, it wasn’t a subject she could casually bring up.

After that, she had tried to gather information about Swen, even consulting with Tifa, but—

Without finding any solution, time passed as they were busy occupying the Karelian army.

And now came the news that “he had been appointed as the national strategist.”

The position of national strategist was one that could be refused if desired, and from the ruler’s perspective, there was no benefit in forcing someone into the role, so logically, Swen must have accepted the offer.

That’s why it was a “bad situation.” It completely contradicted Luna’s previous claim that “he works under Serpina because he’s being blackmailed and has no choice.”

‘I wonder if Luna is alright?’

She was supposed to report to Luna about the discussion results regarding Yukaia Castle’s policies right now…

Violet asked the soldier who brought the news:

“Does our lord know about this news?”

“Various reports are delivered to our lord first, so I believe she must know.”

‘…’

She felt a bit uneasy, but there was nothing she could do about it, nor could she avoid it.

All that remained was to face Luna directly.

‘…Calm down. Even though it’s a bit concerning, our lord must already be aware that Swen is under her command, so it might be fine.’

She tried to reassure herself that way, but it didn’t help much.

The moment when she first felt fear toward Luna continued to haunt her.

If Ginor were here, she would have consulted with him, but he had been dispatched to Yukaia Castle to clean up the remnants of the Karelian army.

Originally, such reports were Ginor’s duty, and she was only performing it in his absence.

That’s why the soldier was informing her about “what had happened”—because she was acting in Ginor’s place.

Yes. Such anxious feelings would disappear once she faced Luna directly.

Violet composed herself and headed to the royal audience chamber for her report.

“Lady Violet has arrived.”

“I’m here to see our lord.”

“Our lord is not here but in the conference room. I’ll guide you there.”

Following the soldier, she finally reached the conference room and opened the door to enter.

As soon as she opened the door, what greeted Violet was—a sound.

Scratch, scratch.

Along with the sound of a quill pen busily writing something, Violet’s eyes fell upon Luna, who was absorbed in paperwork.

At least… she didn’t seem to have any problems.

Violet inwardly sighed briefly, then carefully opened her lips.

“…My lord. It’s Violet.”

Scratch, scratch.

“You’ve come, Violet. Is it a report?”

Luna asked in a calm and gentle tone, her gaze fixed on the documents.

Violet carefully observed her lord’s condition.

At the desk piled with nothing but documents, Luna was holding a quill pen and continuously writing something.

So far, her attitude and tone of voice weren’t much different from her usual kind self.

It was a bit concerning that she wasn’t looking this way… but given the busy period and her seemingly peaceful expression, she appeared to be in a relatively calm state.

Violet maintained her vigilance and carefully addressed her.

“Yes. I’d like to report the results of the officials’ meeting regarding Yukaia Castle and its surrounding territories.”

After that, the conversation continued as usual.

Luna kept busily moving her quill pen, and while the scratching sound continued as she signed documents, she listened to Violet’s report kindly as always.

According to the soldier, she must have heard that Swen had been appointed as the strategist of Serpina’s army.

The fact that she remained so calm after hearing such news… had Luna come to terms with it in her own way?

Or perhaps she was simply too overwhelmed with work to pay attention to it.

The position of ruler of a nation was already buried in work, and now she had absorbed the entire Karelian army and become a major power in the southern continent.

In other words, it was no longer just a small-scale nation, so she must be even busier.

Whatever the reason, as long as Luna could maintain her composure, it was fine with Violet.

“…That concludes my report. If you have any opinions, I will reflect them in our handling of the matter.”

“I understand.”

Scratch, scratch.

“…Um…”

“What is it?”

“Do you have no opinions to share?”

“I’ll tell you once I’ve organized my thoughts.”

She’ll tell me after organizing her thoughts?

Since these were already fully organized opinions, I thought she would simply say “proceed as planned” or “don’t do that”…

Does she need more time to think, or…

‘…No.’

She felt she might be overthinking things because of the conversation about Swen.

At a glance, Luna seemed quite normal.

According to the soldier, she must have heard the news, and given that it had reached Violet’s ears, it was unlikely the ruler didn’t know.

So had Luna overcome it well? Or…

“…I understand. Then I shall take my leave. If you have any tasks for me, please call for me anytime.”

“Very well.”

Scratch, scratch.

Luna finished speaking and continued to focus on her paperwork without even looking in Violet’s direction.

Though she considered saying something more, Violet decided it would be best to withdraw and slowly exited the conference room.

‘Phew…’

Only after closing the door behind her did she let out a sigh of relief.

As the intense tension she felt while with Luna dissipated, her mind began to work more clearly.

‘She might be trying not to show it, but it’s certainly not good news… Still, she seems to be handling it well…’

As Violet was thinking this, her eyes fell upon that object.

Among the various writing instruments placed on the table next to the conference room door, beside the quill pen, was something that should naturally be there.

‘This is…’

An inkwell.

Without it, a quill pen cannot function as a writing instrument, so it always follows the pen like a shadow.

Well, that’s fine in itself.

The problem was the overwhelming sense of dissonance she felt upon seeing this object.

It was just an ordinary inkwell, but why… did it keep bothering her?

‘…!!!’

At that point, Violet realized something.

The source of that maddening dissonance she felt looking at a simple inkwell.

‘Come to think of it, on Luna’s desk… this… wasn’t there, was it?’

It was such a bizarre scene that she remembered it clearly. On Luna’s desk, there were only documents, nothing else.

Moreover, throughout their long conversation, Luna had been writing something without stopping for a moment.

To properly leave marks, one would need to continuously dip the pen in ink, especially for that amount of writing.

So the inkwell should naturally be on the desk, but why wasn’t it there?

Thinking further—Luna hadn’t made any dipping motion throughout her writing.

Then…

What exactly was Luna doing?

* * *

Scratch, scratch.

The sound of Luna’s pen moving fills the quiet conference room.

Scratch, scratch.

The sound of something pointed creating friction on paper.

A sound like scratching a wooden table. That scratching sound.

The tip of the pen Luna is holding in her hand is… pure white.

Scratch, scratch.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch…

Scratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratch

Snap

“…Ah.”

The feather broke.

Luna stares blankly at what she was holding in her hand.

It broke.

It broke.

It broke.

Broke.

Everything is breaking.

Only the sensation of everything breaking was haunting Luna like a ghost.