Ch.421Chapter 421. Luna to Luna

The “thing” that had been making a pained expression while impaled by the sword suddenly stopped its agonized writhing.

Then, in a tone that suggested incomprehension, it abruptly said:

“҉҉҉ ҉҉҉blank ҉҉҉ ҉҉҉clear ҉҉҉ ҉҉҉girl ҉҉҉… ҉҉҉…”

With those dying words, it disappeared into the darkness beyond.

The blood it had shed vanished instantly, as if it had never existed from the very beginning.

What remained was only Serpina, who had slightly turned her head to observe the situation, and herself.

—Thud.

Luna fell to her knees right there.

Gripping the Adina Sword with both hands, stabbing it into the ground… she spoke with a trembling voice.

“Miss… Serpina.”

Luna spoke with a quivering voice.

“I wanted to kill you. But I couldn’t do it. After all, you weren’t my enemy, and you were even married to Lord Swen. Killing someone like that… would be wrong.”

“I was jealous of you. If you hadn’t existed, Lord Swen would have returned to me. You know that, don’t you? But in the end, he never came back until the very last moment… I even hated Lord Swen for asking me to accept you. I wanted to take foolish revenge on Lord Swen by killing you, and I wanted him to forgive me just as he forgave you.”

In truth, Luna’s words weren’t directed at Serpina.

They were directed at herself.

Luna, who had decided not to lie to her own heart, speaking to Luna.

“But… I can’t do that. Because I love Lord Swen.”

“I didn’t search for him because he promised to give me the world. It’s because I love him. Because I couldn’t let go of the sweetness of someone approaching me when I had no one, planting possibilities in me, and telling me that I, not someone else, could become the ruler of the world…”

“So… I couldn’t forgive you… You, whom Lord Swen chose instead of me… I couldn’t forgive you…”

Uttering sentences that weren’t properly organized, she dropped tears onto the floor.

She was neither a ruler nor anything else.

Just a woman’s inner feelings, believing she had lost the man she loved.

Serpina slowly rose from her place.

Then, kneeling to meet Luna’s eye level—

“Lady Luna.”

“!!!!!”

Luna was startled and stared at Serpina with wide eyes.

…It was truly strange.

Why was someone with Serpina’s face… speaking with Lord Swen’s voice?

“I told you I would definitely return, didn’t I? You remember, right?”

“Wh? Ah… ah, yes, yes…?”

“After hearing about Lady Luna’s situation from Lord Ginor, I thought about it a great deal. Why did things turn out this way? In the end, it was all my fault.”

“I promised to return but didn’t. At first, it might have been for Lady Luna’s sake, but at some point, it wasn’t anymore. I fell in love with another ruler and wanted to be with that person.”

“I think this is the price for not considering how all my actions would be perceived from Lady Luna’s perspective.”

“You’re…”

Tears welled up in Luna’s eyes again.

“Lord… Swen…?”

Serpina slowly removed her own hair with her hand.

Yes. The golden hair was simply taken off.

A wig.

Only after removing the wig to reveal white hair did Luna realize that her eye color wasn’t gold but gray.

What appeared before her was— Swen.

Her advisor, the first person who believed in her, and the person who saved her life.

“If I had sent only Lady Serpina here, Lady Luna would surely have tried to kill her. I couldn’t pass that burden onto Lady Serpina. I thought the person responsible for this situation should be none other than myself, which is why I devised this plan.”

“Without doing something like this, the stagnant war would have continued, and many more people would have been sacrificed. I couldn’t just stand by and spend time looking for ‘the most efficient’ method anymore.”

“But… but.”

Not even understanding what this situation was—

Nevertheless, one fact surfaced in Luna’s mind.

“You… you could have died. I… I could have… killed Lord Swen… Why…”

“No.”

Swen smiled and shook his head.

It was the same smile he had when he defeated the Brans army and embraced Luna.

“I believed that Lady Luna wouldn’t kill me, or Lady Serpina.”

“Why…?”

“I—”

—believed in you, Lady Luna.

“!!!”

“Lady Luna. Do you remember? You believed in my absurd proposal when I had no fame or value.”

“You were the only ruler who completely believed in me despite me having shown nothing. Even Lady Serpina couldn’t do that until I produced results.”

“So, I also believed in Lady Luna. Regardless of any conditions, I trusted you unconditionally. Therefore, I didn’t feel the fear of possibly dying. That’s all.”

“Lord… Swen.”

Swen carefully embraced Luna, who seemed dazed.

And, gently patting her back—

“I’m sorry for being so late, Lady Luna… my liege.”

“…!”

The ruler who repeatedly sought out and persuaded an unknown general who was wasting time drinking beer.

The only ruler who firmly believed in an implausible proposal simply because it came from her advisor.

The advisor who, recommended by such a ruler, traveled across the continent and finally rose to the position of a ruler—

At this first moment, he bowed to the ruler who had chosen him and said:

“I’ve returned.”

* * *

I stroked Luna’s back as she cried like a child.

…Yes.

Luna’s current state was, in fact, largely my fault.

That day.

The moment it was predicted that Lady Serpina would definitely die at Luna’s hands if she went out, I knew this situation couldn’t be easily resolved.

From Luna’s perspective, Lady Serpina was the person who took me away. Whether that was true or not, whether there was justification for it or not—ultimately, I could no longer avoid the fact that this was the root cause of everything.

The reason the war continued wasn’t about competing for the world. Luna’s goal was to kill Lady Serpina.

In this situation, I couldn’t continue the war any longer.

Too many people had lost their lives in the war. While I might have firmly believed it was the path to peace in the past, I couldn’t sacrifice innocent soldiers anymore when this was clearly not the path to peace.

Each soldier is a precious being, and how could I claim to be working for everyone’s sake if I couldn’t take care of them!

How should I take responsibility?

How could I resolve the resentment between Lady Luna and Lady Serpina?

Naturally, my intelligence of 100 wouldn’t respond to such questions unrelated to military strategy.

While it would have been quite a concern under normal circumstances—in fact, the conclusion itself came surprisingly quickly.

Luna from those days.

Just like Luna who firmly believed in me when I had nothing.

I had to believe in Lady Luna.

She might be angry now because she felt I was taken from her—but I believed that once she knew all the circumstances, she wouldn’t unjustly bring Lady Serpina to death.

Yes.

She’s the person who believed in me, staking her country and her life.

What reason would I have not to stake my life?

I didn’t need an intelligence of 100 to believe in Lady Luna.

Just as she believed in me purely, without relying on such abilities.

Since Lady Ioline, whom I had brought to utilize Reika’s magic, was in the same camp, disguising as Lady Serpina was no challenge.

It’s not something to be proud of, but I had become quite accustomed to cross-dressing by now. It felt familiar to wear things like a chest piece, which did make me think various thoughts—anyway, this meant I was indebted to Ioline once again.

To summarize:

While ensuring Lady Serpina’s absolute safety by sending Lady Irene with her, I would directly inform Lady Luna once more that Lady Serpina had committed no crime.

At the same time, I would give Lady Luna the opportunity to kill Lady Serpina if she wished.

And—I would strongly believe that even if such an opportunity arose, Lady Luna would never take a meaningless life.

That was my plan, relying solely on faith rather than my intelligence of 100—

“Lord Swen… *sob*”

And this was the result.

I stroked the head of Luna, who was crying like a child in my arms.

“…I’m sorry, my liege.”

If only.

If only I could have returned sooner, it would have been better, but I couldn’t.

Even though it was to maintain Lady Luna’s destiny in the unified empire… she must have thought she was abandoned by me.

It was my duty to take responsibility and resolve all of this.

And just as I responded to Lady Luna’s faith—

Lady Luna also responded to my faith.

She tried to kill Lady Serpina, but in the final moment, she didn’t point her sword at Lady Serpina.

Although she seemed to be fighting something within herself, she didn’t stain that sword with real blood.

“I’ll… take responsibility.”

“For Lady Luna, and for everyone else… I’ll take responsibility until the end.”

I repeated only those words while embracing Luna, who was sobbing.

—I will take responsibility.

For my liege who believed in me more intensely than anything else when I had nothing… by resolving to take responsibility, I realize:

—The age of chaos is about to come to an end.