Chapter 428: Is It Really Because of Color That a Country Is Toppled?

A ruler’s life is a busy one.

Those who bear the duty of overseeing others must take on as many responsibilities as the number of people under them.

Even if Tyr was a ‘god’ and merely a figurehead, she still had plenty of work to do.

Considering she had been absent for over a century, the fact that Valdamir had managed to narrow it down to just this much was already impressive.

“The Plenilune Castle will be open to the public? You’re opening it up?”

“The palace was originally built as a fortress for vampires to gather and live, but ever since our numbers grew and the lands to govern expanded, everyone scattered. It became my personal domain instead. Still, what use is a palace this large if I’m the only one living in it? When there is cause for vampires to gather, I open the guest chambers.”

Makes sense.

Even if you gathered every vampire up to the Neonate rank, it’d barely reach 1,500.

Rather than building lodgings for them, cramming them into the palace was probably more efficient.

“No one but an Elder would dare ascend beyond the lower levels. You will not encounter anyone unnecessarily, so do not worry.”

“I wasn’t worried. It’s nice meeting new people. Plus, I’ve got someone at my back.”

“I am here. Fufu. As long as I am in this country, you have nothing to fear.”

“There’s one thing though. You could have a change of heart. They say when an affair ends, the consort will be treated as a spy—I feel like that’s exactly the position I’d end up in.”

Tyr responded with a deliberately stern expression.

“Do you think someone who has lived for a thousand years would abandon you over something so trivial?”

“You never know. Human feelings can change quickly.”

“I am a vampire. I have harbored deep, dark hatred for a thousand years—do you think my affection for you would be so fleeting as to not last even a hundred years?”

“The thousand years before were without a heartbeat or sensation. Soon, however, you will have both, so I know better than anyone else.”

“Even so, the grace of giving me back my heart and senses will remain. Just as I engraved grudges deep into the very crevices of my heart, I will surely repay my debts. That does not mean my feelings will change.”

Drawing on my old host bar experience, I subtly tightened my grip on Tyr’s emotions.

Older women often clung tighter when they feared being left behind—though whether that applied to someone a thousand years older was debatable… but thankfully, the sheer age gap didn’t seem to matter, only that one existed.

“True, and to repay that grace, I’ll need to restore your senses perfectly. So, how’s your shoulder, Tyr? Feeling better?”

“Yes. It is… strangely both refreshing and ticklish. It makes me want to hunch my shoulders without realizing it. Is that normal?”

“It is. When we’re young, our bodies are soft, so we get ticklish, but as we get older and the muscles get tighter, people find it more relieving than ticklish.”

“Ahem. It certainly feels more ticklish.”

“You’re just following the age of your body. Your shoulders are done now. That’s it for the exposed parts.”

Since the head is up top, restoring sensation had to proceed downward from there.

Tyr took a moment to test out her revived senses.

Unlike taste or smell, the body only has touch—but even without that, she used to tear and break her own body at will.

These foreign sensations made her a little uneasy.

｢So this is why Hu kept asking if I was okay… Being able to sense the world will make me a completely different being. I will crave more comfort and seek sweeter tastes. As sensations change me, I will become bound to it…｣

But that was the end of Tyr’s concern.

To change at will was what she had truly wished for.

Nothing lasts forever.

Even the principles of the world that existed from the beginning will change over time.

And those of us who live within that time are swayed by it.

Having watched the world change while remaining stagnant herself, Tyr had grown sick of her unchanging self… and without even realizing it, she longed for change.

Her wish for her heart to beat again had grown from that.

She didn’t know what she would become, but she believed it would be better than her stagnant self.

｢No need to worry. The Duchy remains and Hu is still by my side. If anything…｣

“…More than that, Hu.”

“Yes?”

Tyr began to speak, then faltered and quickly turned her head away.

“…No. It is nothing. Forget it.”

“What? You were about to say something.”

“I said it was nothing.”

“Tyr. There are two ways to make someone angry. The first is starting to speak and not finishing…”

As I spoke, Tyr listened silently, then pressed me when I didn’t continue.

“Why only the first? What is the second?”

“I’ll tell you if you finish your sentence. What was the ‘nothing’ you were about to say?”

“Did you make that up just to get me to talk? I told you it was nothing!”

Tyr snapped at me, her voice firm.

I had hoped to appeal to her empathy, but she was too stubborn for verbal persuasion.

I had no choice but to resort to Mind Reading.

Sorry, Tyr.

I don’t have a private life anyway.

｢To restore sensations to the body, he must touch it. Hu must plant the lightning threads within me, and if even a thin layer of cloth is in the way, the effect is greatly reduced. The fabric’s lint will swallow the tiny sparks…｣

Having experienced it enough, Tyr had begun to understand the principle behind how I restored her senses.

Whether Divines or not, once you get used to it, even magic becomes common knowledge.

｢…Then, to restore sensation to the whole body… Hu would have to run his hands over my entire body. Without a single thread of cloth.｣

She had no problem exposing her heart, but perhaps out of ingrained propriety, this 12th-century girl had trouble revealing her bare skin.

Honestly, it’s the same for me.

When the Doctor Sage cut open my stomach, it wasn’t embarrassment that I felt… it was fear.

Whether vampire or human, we’re not so different.

｢That matter is too shameful to say aloud, but if Hu brings it up, it will sound strange coming from him, too…｣

Ahh, that matter.

Yeah.

This is tricky.

Since I’m a Mind Reader, how much value something holds depends entirely on how much the other person cares about it.

If there’s real resistance, I won’t force it.

If there isn’t? All the better for me.

｢If… if I were to say I disliked it, that would be untrue, but still, this feels too soon. I want to proceed slowly, gently, step by step, sharing our thoughts and feelings. I do not want to rush over my precious first time just because of work.｣

But Tyr’s heart was much more complex than that.

Though her resistance was strong, there was an equally strong desire for someone to help her break through that wall.

Tsk. At this point, there’s no need to push it further.

“Tyr. I think this is enough.”

“Hm?”

“You’ve become human enough. Maybe even more so than me.”

I let go of her shoulder with a satisfied motion.

“Honestly, there’s no real need to restore sensation below the neck. This much is sufficient. Taste, smell, and touch, those three are enough.”

“U-uhm?”

“There are people—non-vampires—who live without sensation in parts of their body too. But you can move your body however you like, which already puts you ahead of them. You can taste, smell, and now even feel sore shoulders. You’ve got it all.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. If you restored full sensation and started feeling pain, what then? You’ll still be fighting in the future, so you’re better off minimizing pain.”

“…I see.”

Her mood, which had been quietly lifted with a sense of anticipation, was now dampened with a bucket of cold water.

Tyr stood up, displeased.

“Then why did you bother putting me on your lap? If it was going to end so soon, there was no reason to go that far in front of Kavila.”

“I just wanted to help you recover your sensations quickly.”

“Hmph. Like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I did not even get to properly feel if sensation had returned to my shoulder.”

“And also, you’re the perfect size for sitting on my lap. It felt really nice.”

“…Hmph.”

She scoffed—then paused, hesitating over whether being small and soft was a compliment or not.

Anyway, now that the work is done…

“Well, that’s it from me. If you ever want to test something else, feel free to call me. While I’ve only used this to restore sensation, it seems like this technique has endless possibilities.”

I stepped outside, massaging my sore hand.

Whew.

That was satisfying.

A little tough, but easier than reviving her heart back then.

It might have looked easy at the time, but it was dangerous.

I had focused my Mind Reading entirely on Tyr, became a mouthpiece of her identity, and imprinted that version of myself into her heart.

You could say I’d overwritten Tyr’s childhood memories with my own image.

It was only possible because we were in the Abyss, where there were barely any people, and because Tyr’s body had remained frozen in time.

Even then, the side effects were severe… I nearly lost my sense of self.

The memories were so overwhelming I almost forgot who I was and became a child again.

…Or maybe it only worked because I had lost the power of the King of Humans.

Representing a single individual is something a King of Beasts could never do.

Anyway, now that I have the power of a Divine, it was much easier.

With cards left in my hand, I don’t even need to resonate with Tyr like before.

So now what?

Having finished one task, it is time to move on.

There’s no grave without a story.

I’d found the one who killed Luscynia, but I am still curious about the background.

Lyre Nightingale, the one who inherited Primordial Essence, was a Neonate.

Naturally, she had a vampire who turned her—and that was Luscynia’s Ancilla.

Her own mother, Lily.

But Lily was executed.

For desertion.

That’s odd.

Why would an Ancilla run when her Elder was alive and well?

Jazra, Luscynia’s Ancilla, said that Lyre had broken the Shackles.

When she asked Tyr to kill Lyre, his words held more than just anger at his master’s death.

But he died too quickly, I couldn’t even finish reading his thoughts.

The dead don’t just lack words—they don’t think.

If there’s anything I, even with Mind Reading, don’t know about the world of the living, then the clues must lie with the dead.

I descended one level from Tyr’s floor and turned at the presence following me.

“Ms. Erte.”

“You called?”

“Is there an Ancilla of the late Luscynia I might be able to meet?”

The watchdog of the Crimson Duke looked troubled by the unexpected request, but as an Ancilla, Countess Erte had no choice—Valdamir had ordered her to obey me. She couldn’t protest, no matter what I asked.

Even if it was something dangerous.