Ch.335Chapter 335. Al-Kaski’s Rebellion (1)

“Ms. Eolline?”

Eolline bowed toward where Serpina was and greeted her.

“I am honored to be in Your Imperial Majesty’s presence.”

“Would you mind waiting a moment before we begin the formal explanation?”

After saying that, she looked at me and Eolline in turn.

“I don’t mind.”

“There is no need to ask for permission, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Thank you.”

Serpina silently gazed at the soldiers forming ranks beyond the castle, then turned to Irian, who was kneeling, and spoke.

“Raise your head, Irian.”

“……”

“Let me ask you. Do you also believe that my rule has been false?”

“How could that be! That’s absurd! I—”

“That will do.”

Serpina looked down at him with the eyes of an absolute ruler, without a moment’s hesitation.

This was such a natural scene. Like water flowing from high to low, as if it were only proper, she was clearly looking down at Irian but without any sense of condescension.

This was something only a ‘true absolute ruler’ like Serpina could achieve, not any other leader. Anyone living in this era as an ordinary person would naturally want to kneel before her without even realizing it.

“I valued you not because you are the young head of the prestigious Al Kaski family. I employed you because I saw in you, Irian, a person with outstanding abilities who accomplishes what needs to be done and who is not afraid to try new things even at the risk of failure. If it’s you, you should easily understand what I mean.”

“My liege…!”

“So instead of offering meaningless apologies, I think it would be better if you focused your efforts on preparing practical countermeasures for the current situation. What do you think of my opinion?”

“Y-You are right, my liege! Your words are correct. I, Irian, will never flee until I have dealt with my family’s karma with my own hands!”

I carefully observed Lady Serpina’s profile.

She’s exactly the same as usual. The vulnerable woman who showed weakness in front of me was nowhere to be found. What stood before my eyes now was the sole leader of Serpina’s military and the last legitimate heir of the Einhart imperial family.

“Now that Irian seems to have come to his senses, Ms. Eolline. I would like you to continue with your explanation. Would you answer Swen’s question?”

“I shall certainly do so.”

After saying that, Eolline released the dress she had been holding up and finally looked at me.

“Did you come here alone?”

“I barely managed to bring myself here in one piece. It would have been better if I could have prepared something more concretely helpful…”

“No, that’s fine. Let’s hear what you have to say first.”

Eolline slowly nodded at my words.

“Before I begin, I must clarify that I only heard this as a rumor and didn’t witness it directly, so I cannot tell you the exact reason… but considering how enthusiastically the family members responded, you should consider that it’s likely to be truth rather than falsehood.”

“So…”

A very brief silence followed.

Finally, she began to relate what she had heard.

* * *

Turning back time, at Einhart Castle.

In the mansion where both Irian and Jenis were absent, Eolline was spending an extremely boring time.

‘It will take quite a while to receive a reply from Lord Swen, won’t it?’

She had simulated this moment alone many times to convey her feelings to him, and she thought she had done well enough—

But having done something she had never done before in her life, she couldn’t hide her nervousness.

‘I don’t think four women have already made vows with Lord Swen yet… Surely I could claim at least one position?’

Eolline thought about the women presumed to be Swen’s.

First, the red-haired female knight Irene Juliette.

The looks they exchanged when together were extraordinary. Above all, whenever Swen looked at her, his eyes literally dripped with honey, making it easy for Eolline as a woman to notice that she had a very special relationship with Lord Swen.

Next was the mage Reika Nighthart.

She had been quite indebted to her for helping save her brother Jenis. Separately from that, while she didn’t seem to have as special a relationship as Irene, she was constantly with Swen, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to judge that she too was quite close to him.

In other words—at least as far as she knew, there were definitely two women.

Since she hadn’t observed Swen closely for a long time, she wasn’t sure how many more women he might have, but she could easily determine that at least one of the four positions was probably vacant.

During their brief time living together at the dormitory, Swen had never shown any signs of being particularly interested in women, and considering his attitude when he accidentally saw her in her underwear, it was possible that he didn’t have any other women besides those two.

‘Well, even if all four positions are filled, then—’

Just as Eolline was indulging in rather sweet and sour fantasies…

“Miss! Miss Eolline!”

Someone rushed urgently into her room.

It was her nanny, a maid who had particularly cherished and cared for her since childhood.

An ordinary noble might have reprimanded or even punished a servant for barging in so rudely without knocking, but—

Eolline was a woman who had never once thought of using her bloodline to achieve anything, even after her Al Kaski family had become essentially the only surviving prestigious family and gained considerable influence.

“What’s the matter?”

“Miss, something terrible has happened. You need to evacuate right away!”

Seeing her nanny’s serious expression that couldn’t possibly be an act, Eolline asked in confusion—

“What? Suddenly evacuate? What do you mean…?”

“It’s urgent! Quickly! This is our only chance! Hurry! Take my hand!”

Although it was a bit confusing, her nanny didn’t seem like the type to play meaningless and troublesome pranks.

Moreover, Eolline’s feminine intuition strongly insisted that this was a time to trust her nanny.

“…!”

Instead of answering, Eolline took her hand and quickly fled the mansion.

* * *

After following her nanny out of the mansion and running for quite some time, they arrived at a place where a carriage stood ready to depart immediately.

“Get in this carriage!”

“Wait a moment!”

Although Eolline had silently followed her nanny while holding her hand, she couldn’t help but ask questions now.

“Can you please explain what’s happening now?”

The nanny panted heavily for a while, then placed both hands on Eolline’s shoulders.

“Miss, listen carefully. I’ll only say this once. Nathan, that man, is plotting treason.”

“What…?”

The nanny’s story went like this:

While working as usual, she happened to overhear a conversation between influential family members, in which Nathan was discussing eliminating Jenna, the current castle lord.

In the process, they planned to reassure Eolline, who was likely to be Irian’s collaborator, and then deal with her slowly—it was an incredibly shocking conversation.

“So, miss, you must flee right now! Go straight to where the family head is, or take refuge somewhere safe!”

“W-Wait a moment. Treason…? Are you saying the family members are agreeing with my uncle’s words?”

That made no sense.

At least not within Eolline’s understanding.

Nathan might be called their uncle, but from the family’s perspective, he wasn’t a particularly significant figure.

Wasn’t he just an eccentric old man tucked away in a corner study, conducting incomprehensible research?

Would people really attempt treason, risking the entire Al Kaski family, on the orders of such a person?

Noticing Eolline’s expression fill with shock, the nanny closed her eyes and spoke again with renewed force.

“Miss, I’m an uneducated person, so honestly, I don’t understand much of what those people were talking about… but there are words I heard clearly.”

“They said this: that they would have an advantage because there are three on their side.”

“What? What three…?”

So—

* * *

—They said there are three mages.

“What…?”

Having heard something so hard to believe, I unconsciously responded with a voice full of disbelief—

But the answer didn’t change.

Eolline looked at me with completely serious eyes, without any hint of playfulness, and repeated the same sentence once more.

“I heard them say that they have three mages, so they have an overwhelming advantage over the occupation forces.”