Ch.398Chapter 398. I Will Be Your Wife Too

I’ll be honest.

Not once did I think Luna would harbor such feelings for me.

Well… the time we spent together was far too short to build such emotions.

Besides, we never progressed beyond the relationship of ruler and retainer.

Of course, she did seem somewhat fixated on me, but I thought that was natural since I was her only advisor.

A ruler attached to a good general – logically speaking, there’s nothing strange about that.

But romantic feelings?

‘Could Ginor have misunderstood something?’

While I was pondering this – a voice came from beyond.

“Um, excuse me…”

It was Reika, opening her mouth hesitantly as if she didn’t know what to do.

“Did Lord Swen… know about it?”

“About Lady Luna’s feelings?”

She nodded repeatedly.

“…I’ll be honest with you. I had no idea. I didn’t even notice any signs of it.”

At that moment.

Irene carefully joined the conversation.

“No. Now I can finally understand that inexplicable hatred.”

“By hatred… do you mean what happened when we met?”

“Yes. That intense hatred toward Lady Serpina… And Luna said something like this. She implied that sending me back was for the sake of not going against your wishes, Swen.”

“That’s…”

Hearing those words made my head complicated all over again.

Lady Luna likes me, and therefore thinks Lady Serpina has stolen me from her?

No… from the beginning, Luna and I were merely in a ruler-retainer relationship.

Even if ‘being stolen’ could be established, it doesn’t make sense in terms of our ruler-retainer relationship, especially since Lady Serpina knows I still serve Lady Luna.

“Swen.”

“…Yes.”

“How do you feel?”

“Feel about…?”

“Your feelings toward Luna. Just as she seems to have romantic feelings for you, do you also have feelings for Luna?”

“…”

After hearing Irene’s words, I asked myself the question.

How do I feel about Lady Luna?

First, I selected a few keywords that came to mind when I heard the name Lunarian Iniang.

—Affection. Regret. A person of promise. The lord I serve. The person who will become the unifying monarch.

Love or romantic feelings… honestly didn’t immediately come to mind.

But if asked whether I found Lunarian unattractive as a woman, I couldn’t definitively say that either.

Lady Luna was extremely beautiful.

Her soft, pale yellow hair reminiscent of cream puffs, and ruby-red eyes like melted gemstones made one think of a shortcake.

With her harmonious features – surely she inherited the DNA of Aria Iniang, who was beautiful enough to be the concubine of Algot, the imperial successor.

If I had to nitpick, her chest was somewhat lacking… but honestly, that was just my perception from being surrounded by people like Reika, Lady Serpina, and Lady Irene, not that I couldn’t find any feminine charm in her figure.

Especially Lady Irene. Spending time with someone like her would clearly change anyone’s standards regarding chest size.

It wasn’t just about appearances.

She was fundamentally a very warm person. At least during our time together, I could genuinely feel her concern for the people of her territory.

Despite being a ruler, she knew how to humble herself, and believed she could gain something from it – considering the times, she was certainly a pioneer who was several steps ahead of others.

Honestly, if asked to accept such a woman as a wife – there would clearly be no man who would refuse.

‘…’

At that moment.

Irene grabbed my hand firmly.

“Lady Irene…”

“Ask yourself an honest question, Swen. How do you feel about Luna, and about a future where you accept her as your wife.”

If I asked myself an honest question as Lady Irene suggested –

There was no particular reason to reject Lady Luna.

If it was true that she truly loved me, there would be nothing wrong with marrying Lady Luna.

“If your heart is willing-“

“-wouldn’t it be fine to accept her as your wife…?”

“…”

After hearing Reika’s words, I hesitated for a moment before shaking my head.

I don’t know how we ended up discussing marriage between Lady Luna and me – but it seemed too hasty to consider at this stage.

“First, we need to clear up Lady Luna’s misunderstanding about Lady Serpina.”

“Is that what you told your father…?”

“Yes. Ginor said it wouldn’t work well… but since Lady Luna is a reasonable person, I think it would be fine if we could just talk somehow.”

I said that, but.

Seeing how she asked with certainty “Do you want to be imprisoned?” when I visited her directly…

Perhaps Lady Luna had developed a much more extreme disposition than I knew, which was concerning.

“In the end, all we can do is talk. If we don’t move forward somehow, nothing will change…”

If we continued this war, Lady Serpina was destined for defeat.

If the misunderstanding wasn’t cleared up, Lady Serpina would disappear like dew on the execution ground.

I had to prevent that at all costs. For my sake, for Lady Serpina’s sake, and… for Lady Luna’s sake as well.

“Swen. I intend to devote my body and soul to you, my husband, until the very end. So don’t worry and move forward. I will protect your back.”

“Thank you, Lady Irene.”

“I, I too…!”

This time, Reika reached out and firmly grasped my hand, speaking as if pleading.

“I feel the same way…! So, um… like I told your father earlier…”

After fumbling for words with a bright red face –

Finally, with an expression of great determination.

“…I’m going to marry you…! I’ll become… Swen’s wife…! So, I too…!”

“Reika…”

When I heard Ginor’s words, I had no idea what to do –

But now, with the encouragement of these two people who love me – I felt confidence welling up that I could somehow get through this.

Plus, if needed, I could always ask that brain with an intelligence of 100.

One thing was certain –

‘I will never give up on Lady Serpina.’

With that thought, I continued my journey to where Lady Serpina was, together with the two of them.

* * *

Luna’s army, Haizel Castle’s royal castle.

‘…’

Ginor, lost in thought, recalled his last conversation with Lunarian.

* * *

“Are you saying… it wasn’t Serpina who killed my sister?”

To Luna, whose eyes had turned white, Ginor carefully bowed his head and said.

“That’s right. And this old man also thinks Swen’s words are highly credible. After talking with him, it seems Serpina also knows that Lord Swen serves you as his lord.”

“…!!”

“And because Swen learned this fact…”

“Because he knew that… he came here…”

“…”

Unable to say “he’s not coming,” Ginor couldn’t utter a word.

Luna, after muttering “by Serpina’s side… by Serpina’s, side…” several times –

“…Even if that’s true, it’s strange that he’s not coming.”

She dismissed the situation with a tone full of conviction.

“In the end, it’s just circumstantial evidence. It wouldn’t be difficult for her to lie to win Swen’s favor. Even if Serpina isn’t the villain who did such a thing, it’s also true that she seized all power using the Einhart family’s wrongdoings as leverage.”

Indeed.

In the end, it was Serpina who gained power from all these events.

Whether she wanted power or not, that fact remained unchanged – and it was also an immutable truth that Serpina had ruled the country with the power she had held for many years.

“And decisively, if Serpina also knows about Swen’s circumstances… that he has a place to return to, why is she keeping Swen by her side instead of letting him go, when he doesn’t truly serve her?”

“…”

Instead of responding, Ginor chose to silently listen to her words.

There was no need to create unnecessary trouble when he couldn’t change her decision that Swen wouldn’t return.

“It’s simple. It’s because Serpina won’t let Swen go. And whatever the reason… I cannot forgive that.”

“My advisor… my only advisor… she’s bound him to her side with her cunning tongue.”

“It’s alright. Unlike that foolish woman who forces difficult decisions on kind Swen, I will naturally make it so he doesn’t have to worry about anything. Isn’t that what’s right for Swen?”

“My lord…”

As Ginor had expected –

Her hatred for Serpina had not been extinguished.

The fact that she wasn’t his sister’s enemy was, after all, just Serpina’s testimony without perfect physical evidence, so it was insufficient to persuade her.

And since she loved Swen, those complicated feelings wouldn’t easily disappear.

“Please prepare for war. The prisoner negotiation… I will approve it. Since you’ve come all this way…”

* * *

Finishing his reminiscence, Ginor raised his head to look at the sky.

—Not yet.

It seemed it wasn’t yet time to end this era of turmoil.