Ch.295Chapter 295. Responsibility for One’s Choices

“What… did you say?”

Kalintz stared directly at Lynn’s face, who had thrown a sword at him with white eyes.

What did I just hear?

To commit suicide… does that mean to kill myself here?

“L-Lynn! This is no time for such absurd jokes between us-“

“It’s not a joke.”

“…!!”

“Take your own life right here. If you do that, I’ll somehow preserve your honor as my brother.”

Kalintz wore an expression of disbelief, but quickly tried to assess the situation.

‘What? What’s going on here…?’

The Lynn that Kalintz knew was certainly capable of making such an absurd demand.

Of course, it would typically be half-joking, not entirely serious.

Fundamentally, all members of the Brans family had tremendous pride in their lineage.

To put it kindly, it was pride; generally speaking, they were arrogant. Kalintz thought he was less so compared to his siblings, but to a third party, he too was quite arrogant.

So considering Lynn’s arrogant personality, this could be just a power play rather than a genuine death wish.

A punishment for her brother who ‘dared to betray her.’

This was exactly the kind of approach Lynn, who enjoyed making people squirm, would take.

‘If that’s the case…!’

Once he understood, the natural response was to act accordingly.

Without hesitation, Kalintz fell to his knees and began banging his head on the floor.

Thud!

“My lord! I, Kalintz, sincerely apologize for harboring foolish thoughts and daring to point my sword at you! If you would graciously forgive me just this once for the sake of our shared blood, I promise to devote my body and soul to producing results!”

Thud! Thud!

He hit his head so hard that it began to bleed slightly.

His vision blurred a little, but… compared to losing his life, this was nothing.

“Please spare me! I want to live! I want to live to see the day when the Brans family’s banner covers the continent!”

“…”

What reaction would she show?

Was she looking at him with contempt?

She might laugh loudly enough to shake the place. Or she might even stomp on her brother’s face.

It’s okay. I can endure anything. If I can survive, I can even roll in a dog’s dung heap—with this determination, he cautiously observed Lynn’s reaction.

‘…!’

But.

The expression on Lynn’s face was… completely different from what he had expected.

She wasn’t looking down on him, wasn’t displeased, wasn’t mocking him.

Her eyebrows were slightly lowered, and her eyes looked like they might collapse at any moment.

If anything, that expression was… that of someone looking at something pitiful.

At that moment.

“M-My lord…?”

—Plop.

Lynn sat down opposite the bewildered Kalintz—

And just like him, she knelt down.

“Brother Kalintz. We didn’t have that many good memories together. I know that. So I understand why you expected me to humiliate you here…”

“W-What do you mean…?”

“I’m not saying this to humiliate you. I’m not saying this to trample on your honor or crush your pride.”

“I.”

At that moment.

Tears began to fall one by one from Lynn’s eyes.

“I said this because… I believe this is the path for our Brans army.”

“The path… for the Brans army?”

At Lynn’s tears, Kalintz unconsciously dropped his formal speech.

He couldn’t help it.

The current Lynn didn’t consider him her subordinate.

This was a completely different Lynn from the one he had known before.

“Brother. You must know the fate of traitors. Throughout history, no one has forgiven those who commit treason. You must have known that, right?”

“T-That’s…! I heard that you were making wrong judgments… and everyone around me urged me to take action, so I had no choice but to-“

“That’s the problem, brother.”

Lynn wiped her tears with her sleeve, then looked into Kalintz’s blue eyes with the most serious expression she had ever shown.

“The problem started when you committed treason simply because others urged you to take action. Brother Chel wouldn’t have done that. We’ve lost even the chance to ask what he was thinking…”

“You have the same Brans blood flowing through you as I do. That blood itself inevitably creates these situations. With shared blood, you’d have sufficient justification. Someone as indecisive as you would surely rebel against me again if given the chance. Brother Kalintz has always been easily swayed by circumstances.”

“No, no! Lynn, trust me! I will never commit treason again-“

“No, brother. That’s not the only reason. A ruler who spares a traitor just because they’re family will never win the people’s hearts. Many comrades died in this battle—do you think those who risked their lives fighting for me would accept it if I spared the person responsible just because he’s family?”

“That… that’s…”

Kalintz, his mind blank, couldn’t say anything.

Actually… is the Lynn before me really the Lynn I know?

Perhaps it was the sensation of meeting someone completely different from the Lynn Brans who had existed in his mind until now.

Before he could think further, his true feelings naturally spilled out.

“But… I, I can be helpful. Since talented people have defected to Chel’s army… you must be facing various difficulties! Though not as good as Brother Chel, I can properly fulfill my role-“

“I told you, brother. Your very existence threatens the discipline of our army. And—”

—Once a choice is made.

After saying that phrase, Lynn naturally bit her lip.

“Once a choice is made… and the consequences of that choice, no one else can take responsibility. Only the person who made the choice must bear responsibility, brother.”

“Lynn…”

Those words were directed at Kalintz before her, but also at herself.

Once a decision is made, it cannot be reversed no matter what.

It was she herself, not anyone else, who had persecuted and rejected Irene, who had only looked at her, for absurd reasons.

The price was severe. She lost Swen, and probably the best loyal servant she would ever have. The territory was divided into three parts, causing division among siblings, and in the process, Chel, known as the First Sword, died.

This “result,” which was truly cruel to Lynn, pricked her like thorns every day. Lynn pledged with a heart-wrenching determination. That she would never make the wrong choice again.

Therefore.

Here, she could not make the “wrong choice” of forgiving him.

“I’ll say it once more. …Take responsibility, brother. End your life with your own sword. If you do that… as I said earlier, I’ll stake my life on protecting your honor. Your betrayal, and the consequences of your wrong choice… I’ll bear it all.”

“…”

“As I said, if you don’t accept, we’ll just continue the battle. In the process, you’ll eventually be captured. If you abandon everything and flee, the Brans name you were so proud of will become a ghost that continues to haunt you. You’ll live in hiding, anxious about when pursuers might come. Even if you seek out other lords… how many would employ someone who has committed treason?”

“You probably… won’t be able to return to your previous life. By then, you’ll end without even leaving your honor behind.”

Kalintz looked at Lynn’s face once more.

Her eyes were more serious than ever.

As before, there was no sense of her looking down on him.

“…Honor…”

“You know, brother. I don’t think you offered to surrender to me just because you valued your life. If you truly only wanted to preserve your life, it would have been much easier to simply flee in the night, even if it meant living in hiding with anxiety. After all, don’t you have something you want to protect…?”

“!!!”

The only thing that had sustained him was the fact that he was born of Brans blood.

Although he didn’t have any outstanding qualities compared to his brother or sister, he gained the motivation to live by thinking of himself as a proud member of the Brans family.

Wasn’t that why he had come to negotiate with Lynn now—because he didn’t want to be seen as an incompetent figure who gave Serpina an undeserved advantage?

“If there’s something you want to protect—I’ll definitely protect it for you. I promise. Trust me, Brother Kalintz.”

Kalintz silently bowed his head.

He thought that perhaps Lynn, right here and now, might not let the Brans army end like this.

At the same time, he felt somewhat at peace.

I didn’t just want to live at all costs.

Though he had lived most of his life as a petty person, he felt a strange sense of relief at having this thought now.

The silence continued for a long time.

In the final moment.

Everyone in this space instinctively knew that this was literally the “final moment.”

How much time had passed?

The one to break the silence was the man who had to take responsibility.

“Leave me alone, Lynn.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Lynn said that, slowly rose from her seat, and.

“Goodbye, brother.”

Leaving only those words, she left the room with the soldiers who had accompanied her.

As soon as she stepped outside, a warrior who was with her approached and asked.

“Is it alright not to watch? If he tries to escape or plans to attack with a sword—”

“No. He won’t do that. I trust Brother Kalintz.”

“If you say so, my lord, I have no objections, but…”

The warrior still seemed concerned and kept watching the firmly locked door for a long time.

Several dozen minutes later.

A soldier slowly opened the closed door of the room.

And——

* * *

A few days later.

The merger of Kalintz’s army and the Brans army was completed.

It was a one-sided absorption with Kalintz’s army surrendering to the Brans army, but it proceeded quickly without any particular objections.

Since they were originally one country, it wasn’t strange that there wasn’t much discord in this process.

With this, the Brans army was able to recover its former size to some extent.

Although they had lost the territory occupied by Chel’s army, considering that they had faced the risk of disappearing without a trace after being divided into three parts, this could be considered a good defense.

They had signed a peace treaty with Serpina’s side, and since the southern continent was in chaos among themselves, they had time to focus on internal affairs for the time being.

Kalintz Brans, who had committed treason, had his status restored after dying by taking a sword meant for Lynn from his own guard knight who had ignored his orders and tried to assassinate her—

This was the publicly known account of Kalintz’s death, and Lynn held the most magnificent funeral for him in the main square of the capital, Anel Castle.

As she had promised, she had somehow preserved his honor.

The promise of blue-eyed siblings, the values that a red-haired female knight once tried to protect, the beliefs advocated by a green-eyed virtuous ruler—

“Wills” of different forms were gathering in the Brans army led by Lynn.