Ch.416Chapter 416. The Sky Remains Forever and the River Flows Eternally (2)

Serpina would personally visit as an envoy to the Lunarian army—

Irene, one of the parties who knew the detailed circumstances well, asked Serpina in surprise.

“Is it true? Did my lord… did Swen really order that?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Serpina’s expressionless face, Irene carefully recalled the moment she had faced Luna.

What resided in those red ruby eyes was anger—overwhelming anger.

Irene thought: If Lady Luna and Lady Serpina were to meet… Lady Serpina would inevitably be in danger…!

Just as Irene was about to move her lips to say something.

“It’s alright.”

“Lady Serpina…?”

“I know what you’re trying to say. You’re worried about me, aren’t you?”

Serpina said with a bitter smile.

“Because Lunarian Ineanne hates me.”

“T-that’s…”

“You don’t need to hide it. It’s not something that can be hidden anyway.”

“…”

“But this is Swen’s order, not anyone else’s. You know as well as I do that he wouldn’t put me in a dangerous situation.”

“That may be true, but…”

“So, don’t worry and escort me, Irene.”

Something.

Something felt like a stone weighing on her heart, an inexplicable heaviness that Irene felt—

“…I understand.”

If that was Swen’s order, it was right to follow it.

As long as he had the ‘Mind’s Eye,’ he would know best that there wouldn’t be any problems.

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

Serpina smiled at Irene, then carefully turned her head.

With a deeply troubled expression, she recalled what had just happened.

* * *

A few hours earlier.

Stepping on the red carpet in response to Swen’s summons, Serpina greeted him with a somewhat excited voice.

“You’ve come, Lady Serpina.”

“I knew you weren’t visiting because you were worried about me, but it’s quite lonely having less time to see your face, Swen. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine. And you, Lady Serpina?”

“I’ve been doing well thanks to all the accommodations. Especially since I haven’t had to go to the battlefield lately. So, what’s the matter?”

Swen responded to Serpina’s question with a very serious expression.

“Lady Serpina. It seems the time has come to make a decision.”

“A decision?”

Swen let out a short sigh—

And carefully brought up a topic that no one dared to mention.

“At first, I thought that overwhelming the Lunarian army using the power of the ‘Mind’s Eye’ was the way to negotiate with Lady Luna. I thought it would start after consuming at least half of the continent. Yes. According to the original plan, this very moment would be the starting point, and from now on we would gradually pressure Lady Luna—until finally she would be willing to negotiate with us. I thought that was the only path to peace.”

“I roughly know what you mean. But the fact that you’re bringing it up means your mind has changed.”

“That’s right.”

Swen sighed again.

Unlike his usual confident expression, he looked extremely tired.

“But since becoming a ruler, I’ve started to see things that weren’t visible when I was a strategist.”

“What do you mean?”

“Too many people are being sacrificed.”

“…Ah.”

From those words, Serpina realized what he was getting at.

“Due to the ongoing battles, many soldiers are being severely injured or losing their lives. Several commanders have also lost their lives on the battlefield. I suppose it’s the same on both sides. Given that we’re at war and I’m in the position of ruler, I know it’s not rational to speak from a purely sentimental perspective.”

“But there’s one fact that I can’t get out of my mind no matter how many times I think about it—if my goal was continental unification through battle, all these sacrifices would have meaning. We went to war, fought, and ran toward unification to create the world we all envision. But I… don’t intend to unify by force.”

“Of course, I don’t mean to say that everyone’s sacrifices so far have been completely meaningless. We are at war, after all. It’s just that, in this situation, stubbornly sticking to the most efficient method guided by the ‘Mind’s Eye’… will only put more soldiers in danger, and I simply can’t erase that fact.”

“Swen…”

What Swen was thinking was, in fact, something any ruler would inevitably think about.

A ruler’s shoulders don’t just carry their own soul.

They carry the will of soldiers fighting for their ruler, the dreams of commanders serving their ruler, the spirits of countless souls that have faded for their ruler, and the hopes of tens of thousands of territory residents looking to their ruler for a new world…

That’s what it meant to sit on the throne. To move forward with heavy steps while carrying the chairs, dreams, souls, and hopes of countless people on your shoulders.

Serpina, having had such concerns herself, could understand what he was saying.

“So I thought about it. Even if they’re small-scale local battles, continuing to fight is meaningless. We must stop any additional sacrifices now. What I need to do as a ruler is to face Lady Lunarian—to somehow resolve the resentment between Lady Luna and Lady Serpina.”

“But how do you plan to do it? Based on Irene’s testimony, she… hates me. At first, I thought she hated me so much because she considered me an enemy… but according to you, that’s not it either.”

That’s right.

Swen had sent letters containing the truth about Serpina to Luna multiple times.

But it hadn’t worked at all. If it had, the Lunarian army’s invasion wouldn’t have continued so fiercely.

Serpina knew this too. According to intelligence, the one advocating for continued aggression within the Lunarian army was none other than the ruler Lunarian herself.

Strategist Ginor had taken a step back, and the current situation, coldly assessed, was that no commander or strategist could persuade her, resulting in repeated stalemates.

“So… I have my own idea.”

“An idea?”

“Would you come closer for a moment?”

Serpina carefully approached Swen.

And… listened to his plan.

“…!!!”

“This is the only way. The only way to face Lady Luna.”

“But, Swen. If you do that, you—”

As Serpina, turning pale, tried to stop Swen—

“Lady Serpina.”

He grasped her wrist with a soft touch.

The warm flow of blood in Swen’s hand warmed Serpina’s heart.

“You know, don’t you? That I have the ability of the ‘Mind’s Eye’.”

“…!”

“Someone like me who can find the most efficient answer wouldn’t do something that would put my life in danger. Right?”

“That’s… true, but even so—”

“Don’t worry. I trust Lady Luna as much as I trust you, Lady Serpina.”

“Trust… is it.”

Serpina fell into thought for a moment, then.

“…Alright, Swen. Just as you trusted me… this time I too must trust her, Lunarian, whom you believe in.”

“Thank you for understanding. Then, will you help me?”

“Help you?”

Serpina let out a small laugh and gently wiped her eyes.

Then, carefully kneeling on one knee and extending her hand toward Swen sitting on the throne—

“—Swen. Don’t ask for help. You are my lord and husband—the rightful master who owns me. If you simply command me to ‘do it,’ I will do whatever it is.”

“Lady Serpina…”

Swen carefully rose from the throne and walked toward the kneeling Serpina.

And—

He firmly grasped her hand.

“Please, I’m counting on you.”

“Leave it to me, Swen. I will be your shadow and follow you.”

A relationship where each had pledged loyalty to the other—

Aside from the reversed lord-vassal relationship, it was an undeniably romantic connection.

* * *

After Lady Serpina left, I sat back on the throne and fell into thought.

‘…The ability of the Mind’s Eye, is it.’

I let out a bitter laugh.

Having Intelligence 100 as a ruler was incomparably more convenient than during my strategist days. Answers came easily just through self-questioning.

However, it ultimately only predicted matters related to general state affairs—

When I input the question I ultimately wanted to ask—

[Unknown.]

—Such an incomplete answer was all I could get, still a half-baked cheat ability.

No, perhaps it’s more like three-quarters complete—I smiled again at such foolish thoughts.

‘….’

Perhaps.

Perhaps something extremely dangerous might happen, I thought.

But.

Even if something goes wrong and I end up in danger, that’s a burden I as ruler must bear—

Isn’t it the destiny that I, who sits here with countless lives at stake, must shoulder?

Though I thought this, my heart was actually calm.

After all, I trust Lady Luna.

If I don’t trust Lady Luna, who believed in me unconditionally when I had nothing, who will?

Yes. Trust.

From now on, it was time for trust, not Intelligence 100.