Ch.333Chapter 333. I’ll Help You

Help me.

Please help me.

Serpina’s voice kept echoing in my ears.

Even as I held her in my arms, her voice was so pitiful that… I didn’t feel any excitement at all.

“Lady Serpina…”

“Please, Swen. I have no one around me. Now, now there’s only you left…”

“There’s no one by my side… Everyone leaves. They all either betray me, or lose their lives because of me and die.”

“Swen, I know that I’m not the ruler in your heart… But still, I’m asking you. Even if it’s just once, please, help me…”

…What should I do?

Until now, even though I had decided to help Serpina, I had been living with a strict boundary to avoid getting too close to her.

It was the minimum courtesy I owed her. When everything was over, I would have to return to Lady Luna’s side. As she said, the lord I served was Lady Luna, not Lady Serpina.

Lady Luna was the first one I made a promise with. That promise—I don’t know how Lady Luna feels about it, but at least I had never forgotten it for a single moment.

Accepting her now meant crossing a line.

Stepping deep into the heart of the human called Serpina. Becoming entangled in a relationship so complex that it would be impossible to escape.

Giving her too many “illusions” despite the fact that I would eventually leave.

Let me think coldly.

The most optimal conclusion for both of us would be to avoid answering and quickly calm her down.

Though she seemed about to collapse at any moment due to Jenna’s sudden death, she was fundamentally a strong person. If I stayed by her side to help her regain her composure, she would clearly stop clinging to me. She didn’t want to burden me. She was that kind of gentle person who would understand and respect my decision.

Once she regained her senses, she would understand that despite losing Jenna, she could still suppress the rebels without much difficulty, and would quickly take action. I would listen to her questions and provide perfect solutions with my intelligence of 100, and that would be the end of it—a very simple matter.

So.

I should say something like ‘Lady Serpina, calm down. Nothing bad will happen. We can do this.’

But instead of uttering that sentence, I—

“Serpina.”

Holding her tightly, I blurted out words that came straight from my heart without passing through my brain.

“I’ll help you, Serpina.”

“…!!!”

“I will never leave your side. I won’t betray you. I won’t die. No matter how many times it takes, I don’t care. I’ll stay by your side and help you… so calm down.”

Serpina was startled by my words and stared at me with wide eyes.

…Honestly, even I couldn’t understand what I was thinking when I said those words.

All I knew was that this was my true feeling.

Beyond my promise with Lady Luna, my will to protect Lady Serpina, and everything surrounding Lady Irene and Reika—my heart was strongly commanding me to protect her.

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“You won’t leave me…? Really?”

“Yes. I’ll never leave.”

“You won’t die because of me…?”

“I won’t die. Never. Serpina, you know, right? Avoiding deadly crises isn’t even difficult for me.”

Only after hearing those words did I squeeze my eyes shut.

I’m so sorry.

Muttering an apology to someone I didn’t even know who, I slowly opened my eyes to look at her—

“…So, please calm down, my lord. Let’s take this slowly. Let’s teach those traitors who dared to rebel against Lady Serpina a lesson. Understood?”

In that moment, looking at Serpina’s golden eyes gazing up at me, I suddenly realized.

The exact same intense feeling I had for Lady Irene.

—I love this woman.

That’s why I wanted to protect her.

The reason I continued to stay by her side even after Lady Luna appeared was ultimately because of love.

‘How fortunate that this is a world where polygamy is normal…’

In this urgent moment, the thought that crossed my mind while holding Serpina in my arms was truly pathetic.

* * *

Outside Valhalrat Castle.

“As ordered, we’ve sent action guidelines to the lords in the territories surrounding Einhart Castle!”

“Good work.”

Irene, who had received the royal command—or more precisely, orders based on Swen’s judgment—was quickly handling the situation together with Ian.

It was no exaggeration to say that their swift response was the reason soldiers could maintain their composure despite the unprecedented situation of a rebellion in the capital.

“General Irene!”

From a distance, Ian came running with an urgent expression.

“What is it?”

“As you instructed, we’ve dispatched search parties. Is it really alright not to deploy troops at the border?”

Irene shook her head at Ian’s words.

“There’s no need to worry about that. The treaty is still in effect.”

“Is there no possibility that Brans might change their mind?”

“…”

Hearing the name Brans, a strange emotion briefly passed through her—

But now she knew. She no longer had any lingering attachment or anything else for that woman.

The last time they faced each other, she had cleared away all the remaining dregs.

So now, she could make an objective assessment of her former master—Lynn Brans.

“She wouldn’t do something so foolish. Even so, we don’t need to prepare for it until we receive instructions from our sovereign.”

“Understood.”

As Ian and Irene were handling the situation and waiting for Serpina’s new instructions, at that very moment.

“General Ian!”

A soldier approached Ian with an urgent expression.

“What is it?”

“Lady Iolline has arrived! She says she has an urgent message to deliver…!”

“Iolline?”

Did she come here to seek refuge?

No, if refuge was her only purpose, there would be no need to come all the way to Valhalrat Castle.

Given that the news had just arrived, it could be assumed that she had come down here at almost the same speed as a messenger… Just to inform us that a rebellion had broken out in Einhart Castle?

The puzzle pieces simply wouldn’t fit together, but ultimately, meeting her would resolve everything.

“Bring her here!”

“Yes! She’s already waiting downstairs.”

“No, I’ll go to her myself. General, please excuse me for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

After sending Ian off, Irene was lost in thought for a moment.

‘A rebellion in the capital…’

Was this rebellion within Swen’s predictions?

If so, would this rebellion ultimately benefit the country?

It had always been that way. Following Swen’s words, they could achieve victory in the end, no matter what. And Lord Serpina relied on Swen more than anyone else, completely following his words in matters of governance.

But… from what I heard, the former advisor Jenna had lost her life, so does that mean it’s beneficial for our army?

Honestly, it was a conclusion difficult to accept, but as a mere general, she couldn’t offer a proper alternative either.

‘It’s alright. Everything must be within Swen’s calculations. My job is to believe in his decisions and support him.’

After creating “evidence” together with him, Irene’s feelings for Swen had grown even stronger.

Now she was willing to follow whatever he commanded. Even if he wanted her life, she would gladly give it.

Soon, Swen would show her the path she should take. Her job was clearly to pave the way toward where he pointed.

And so, Irene erased the strangely rising anxiety about Serpina.

Everything was for Swen.

The only thing that moved the human called Irene Juliette was Swen alone.

* * *

“Brother…!”

When Ian appeared, Iolline greeted him with an urgent expression.

“Where is Brother Jenis?”

“Jenis is guarding the area around the royal castle. More importantly, why did you come all the way down here? What about the Al Kaski family?”

“Well…”

Iolline looked at her brother with an expression that seemed about to burst into tears.

“Brother. I’ll tell you seriously. There’s really bad news.”

“What happened? Did our family suffer great damage during the rebellion?”

“I wish that were the case, would you believe me if I said that?”

“…What?”

Iolline let out a long sigh and then.

“You’ve heard that Meri led the rebellion, right?”

“I heard about that.”

Meri. It wasn’t an unfamiliar name. The diligent advisor-type girl who always stuck close to Jenna and attended to her.

That’s why it was all the more shocking. No one would have thought that she, of all people, would kill Jenna.

“But, while she led it, the monarch the rebels are supporting is someone else.”

“What…?”

“Or more precisely, Meri acted that way because she had someone backing her.”

Iolline’s expression darkened again as she said this.

“They haven’t announced it widely yet… but I’m certain. I heard it with my own ears.”

Ian’s head began to pound at those words.

Iolline, of all people, heard it with her own ears?

And after hearing it, she had hurriedly come to Valhalrat Castle to tell him something.

With the overwhelming sense of anxiety from all these facts, Ian, feeling as if someone was choking him, carefully parted his lips.

“Who… is it?”

“…”

Iolline let out another long sigh before—

She calmly told the young head of the family about the fate that awaited their clan.

“Nathan Al Kaski… our uncle.”