episode_0060

60. Nightmare

Alice was in an exceptionally good mood now.

After all, the esteemed figure she respectfully referred to as “Elder”—descended from a prestigious family’s eldest daughter—had returned.

Moreover, the moment he arrived, the previously unsolvable issue of overpopulation began to gradually ease.

Today, during lunch, Alice attended a meeting with Adel.

She had agreed to hand over the clay at a reasonable stake—almost dirt cheap, considering it involved Erica. Adel even advised her afterward.

“Don’t cling to Cain.”

“Pardon?”

“Even though he seems kind and pure on the surface, he’s a complete pervert and human scum.”

“…Ah… understood.”

Though Alice couldn’t tell what history lay between them, Cain seemed to have fallen out of Adel’s favor.

Still, Alice maintained an overwhelmingly positive impression of Cain.

The reason? Despite Adel’s warnings, tonight’s meeting proceeded.

(Apartment blueprints)

“First, here are the apartment blueprints. It was hard to fit everything in the design, so we reduced the number of floors, but construction will proceed with 15 floors in height.”

Cain spoke with confidence, asserting that everything had been thoroughly calculated.

And all they had to do was prepare the site until the clay ore Adel had mentioned arrived.

With mages also mobilized for construction, just one month—yes, only one month—and five apartment buildings would be complete.

Of course, unease still lingered in Alice’s heart.

First, five apartment buildings couldn’t possibly accommodate the influx of people.

Second, if they kept constructing apartments, Prezia would descend into chaos.

Third, the factories could only take in a capped number of workers.

But…

“This looks good.”

Cement and steel strong enough to support 15-story buildings without easily crumbling.

Applying these materials and construction methods would birth diverse architectural marvels in the future.

Moreover, resolving overpopulation at its root would require Erica—the land’s true owner—without question.

Once Erica returned from ending the war herself, she’d restructure the city.

Expanding Prezia’s territory beyond the neighboring marquisate to realize a new urban plan.

Alice’s role was simply to hold out until Erica arrived.

And holding out… meant ensuring the factories and apartments aligned perfectly with the coming urban reforms.

Their rectangular designs could house large populations efficiently.

“As expected, the Elder is remarkable. The title ‘Heaven-Sent Genius’ suits him perfectly.”

With one major worry lifted, Alice’s spirits rose.

Despite Adel’s warnings, her trust in Cain had only grown stronger.

But Alice was still trapped in paperwork hell.

Noticing she’d run out of coffee, she walked down the mansion hallway toward the supply storage.

On the way, she unexpectedly encountered Adel sneaking down the dim corridor.

“Adel?”

“A-ah….”

Alice’s sharp eyes instantly caught what Adel was hiding—a roughly 9 cm-long, blunt yet polished wooden sculpture.

Coming from a noble family with encyclopedic knowledge, Alice was formidable.

Adel, drenched in cold sweat like a kid caught misbehaving, tried to hide the object in embarrassment.

Using her vast intellect, Alice deduced—

“Is this an interior decoration piece?”

“Y-yes, exactly!”

Adel nodded hastily, relieved.

In an era where chastity and restraint were virtues, Alice—who embodied proper living—was comically ignorant of sexual matters.

She understood the theory of childbirth but failed to recognize the object’s true purpose.

Confirming Alice’s obliviousness, Adel lifted the blunt wooden piece and rambled—

“It’s an interior piece, but it’s out of style now, so I’m tossing it.”

“…I don’t quite get art. It looks a bit grotesque.”

“Right? Better not dwell on this stuff.”

Adel naturally shifted to leave—

But Alice, puzzled, stopped her.

“But why discard it? Couldn’t you just store it?”

“Huh?”

Alice—armed with profound knowledge—posed a sharp question.

Art, after all, symbolized wealth.

Didn’t its value increase the more you collected it?

Under the pointed remark, Adel chuckled wryly and confessed:

“…I found something far better.”

“Something better?”

“Yeah.”

Adel licked her lips, recalling *that* night.

Nobility and pride kept her from admitting it outright—

A fantasy experience she’d pay to relive.

Her old wooden toy now felt utterly pathetic in comparison…

“Fakes can’t match the real thing.”

At those words, Alice’s expression shifted.

“Fake… real… I see. A fake genius born from study versus a true genius who sees everything through fresh perspectives….”

“Uh… sure?”

Eyes sparkling with zeal, Alice declared—

As if announcing her ultimate goal, passion burning within her.

“Someday, I’ll become one with the real thing too!”

“That’s a NO!”

After barely calming Alice down, Adel fled the mansion.

Tossing her loyal toy into a roaring furnace, she muttered while watching it burn—

“That fox… Why do women keep falling for her? My sister and I are enough….”

Sighing, she gazed at the night sky.

Stars and the Milky Way stretched endlessly above—

With the radiant full moon at its center.

Adel understood her sister—the “fox”—all too well, sighing as she stargazed.

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While Adel sighed under the night sky—

Far from the Grace mansion, on the battlefield—

Erica Grace, commander and sovereign of the Grace army, woke drenched in cold sweat.

As if from a nightmare, she shuddered.

Vivian, standing guard outside, rushed into the tent.

“Sis! What’s wrong?!”

“Ah….”

Erica stared blankly at Vivian.

“Sis?”

“……No way.”

“Another headache?”

Vivian routinely checked on her.

As she pressed a hand to Erica’s forehead—Erica reached out.

Cupping Vivian’s cheek, Erica gazed at her with melancholy eyes.

“Vivian… I trust you’d never betray me.”

“Wha—? What’s this about?”

“…A nightmare. You, Adel, Luna… my precious kin betraying me.”

Dismissing it as nonsense, Erica rose.

Vivian forced a smile, ready to escort her.

Still, granting privacy, she kept her distance.

Stepping outside, Erica gazed at the starry sky.

Pinpricks of white light piercing through the black canvas—

A beautiful sight, yet her heart still raced from the unsettling dream.

Then, someone spoke.

“Lady Erica Grace, former duchess. Are you unwell?”

“Lilianna Pendleton….”

Snow-white hair symbolizing purity, yet eyes cold like a beast’s—

Lilianna bowed courteously.

An awkward silence followed.

“You joined this campaign too?”

“I resolved to lend what little strength I have for the Empire.”

Erica narrowed her eyes.

She hadn’t even lied with platitudes like “I’d die for the Empire.”

“Little strength” implied weakness—flexibility to withdraw if needed.

Her words were flawlessly diplomatic.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing, masking greed behind benevolence.

“Two men were imprisoned.

They gazed at the world through iron bars…

One saw the stars, the other saw the mud.”

“…Frontier Empire’s founding myth.”

300 years prior, the first emperor unified a continent six times China’s size.

The myth tells of two brothers—Pendleton and his sworn sibling—framed and jailed.

Pendleton, the virtuous founder, drew hope from the stars while the other compromised—only to lose later.

A cliché morality tale.

Erica smirked.

“Which do *you* see?”

A psychological probe.

Answering “stars” invited challenge; “mud” implied submission.

Lilianna smiled.

“My life is too meager to notice trees beyond the bars, let alone stars or mud.”

Surface humility masking—*”If I can’t see, can you?”*

Yet she didn’t stop there.

“Still, I should answer properly.

Though distant in lineage… I’d emulate my ancestor, Pendleton.”

Erica laughed outright.

Boldly claiming to see stars under this night sky?

Despite disliking her, Erica acknowledged Lilianna wasn’t mediocre.

A warlord wielding virtue as a weapon—yielding when necessary, yet ruthless in ambition.

In this chaotic era, few could match her.

“What a wretched world.”

“Indeed.”

Erica almost wanted her—but reconsidered.

Who knew what this fox might do?

Together, they stared at the towering fortress ahead—

“The Dragon’s Nest….”

“The impregnable stronghold—Rumania’s keystone.”

The Emperor’s domain.

Unbreakable shield defending Rumania to the last.

Walls so high attackers would retreat under arrow rain.

And yet…

“Black Dawn’s generals—Killer Gron, Reina the Unrivaled, Athena the Thousand-Man Slayer…

This battle will be unlike any before.”

“I’ll give my all, feeble as I am.”

The strongest fortress faced the Empire’s finest—

A tiresome war awaited.