episode_0098
by fnovelpiaMaximilian lowered his head. It felt like lightning was flashing before his eyes.
Laura’s gaze as she looked at him remained unchanged. Maximilian found it so heartbreaking. It was a pain that tore at his heart. It was a pain that tore at his entire body.
If Maximilian wanted to find a counterargument to Cesar’s words, he could do so a thousand or ten thousand times. But Maximilian did not do so.
Laura’s eyes, the way her daughter looked at her… .
I wanted to return it to its former state. The gaze it had when looking at a loving family member, a caring father, and the greatest archmage of the empire.
No, he didn’t need anything. Maximilian was satisfied with the love he received as a father and daughter, as a family. That was enough.
Maximilian wanted to shoulder the pain of his daughter, who was more precious than anything else in this world.
And, it was impossible unless Maximilian gave in.
A rooftop filled with silence. Under a sky that looked like it might rain at any moment, two wounded men were pointing pistols at each other. Maximilian was looking at them.
“I… .”
After a long silence, he finally moved his dry lips.
“What should I have done…?”
“… Hey, Duke Adelheid.”
In response to Maximilian’s question, Cesar opened his mouth, holding back his trembling breath.
“What should you have done? Are you asking that now?”
“… That’s right.”
“This is ridiculous.”
A hollow laugh burst out of Cesar’s mouth. Maximilian didn’t feel even a hint of insult at the sight. It was strange.
“What should I have done… . Even you think that’s a funny question, right?”
“… … .”
“But, yeah… . At least, you should have had a humble heart.”
Maximilian gripped the magic wand in his hand tightly. His fists trembled.
“… Humble, mind.”
“To the countless soldiers who died because of your one point of a finger… . To the soldiers who suffered both in death and in life… . You should have shown them the bare minimum of courtesy. ”
Cesar’s gaze did not leave Maximilian. Neither his dead white left eye nor his reddened right eye.
“If you knew that they were dying like dogs because of your orders… . You should have been grateful. You shouldn’t have taken their deaths for granted… . No, even if you thought that way, you shouldn’t have shown it! ”
It hurts. My heart hurts.
Laura’s cold gaze squeezes my heart, and Cesar’s words become sharp knives that cut my skin.
“Maximilian von Adelheid. If you were to sit in the position of a duke… . If you were someone who could exert enough influence in this country by showing off your power, connections, and family name…! If you knew full well that the last breaths of so many young people were dying cold in the mud that no one knew about—!!”
“… … .”
“At least, you should have done what you could… .”
Maximilian realized that it was possible to be in so much pain even without bleeding on the outside.
Because there was nothing wrong with what Caesar said.
“Do you know what kind of lives the veterans who are still alive are living? Have you ever paid any attention to them?”
There was none. That’s why Maximilian couldn’t answer.
Caesar continued, his voice seething with desperation.
“Most of the comrades I knew are dead. There are almost none still alive, and most of them are the ones who shared my cause today.”
The echo of resentment continued to flow. Like a bare branch swaying in the cold winter wind, Cesar’s voice trembled dangerously.
“We survived that hell, what kind of life did we live after the war… You don’t know.”
Cesar’s expressions became more varied. Sometimes he looked angry, sometimes sad, and sometimes he smiled bitterly.
“Among the guys who survived with me, there was one who made a living by picking up scrap paper with his only remaining arm.”
He couldn’t even eat properly and survived by collecting waste paper, and eventually died from overwork. He left behind a young daughter who he had to take care of.
A man who lost one leg was unable to accept the fact that he had lost a leg and became confused, leading to his being locked up in a mental hospital.
A man who lost both arms, feeling pessimistic about life and unable to obtain expensive prosthetic limbs, took his own life.
The guy who became blind after getting shrapnel in his eye was unable to find work for a long time, until he was arrested for stealing an apple from a fruit shop.
“Is this really how you think veterans should be treated?”
“Bo, the compensation is… .”
“Compensation? Huh… .”
Compensation. Of course, anyone who had fought in the Great War, even a single soldier, could receive compensation.
“The monthly compensation that should be paid is often overdue, and even that is so low that you can’t even pay the monthly rent… Are you trying to say that you created it to save face, to deceive our sacrifices?”
Maximilian’s mouth closed again. Cesar began to get even angrier at Maximilian’s attitude.
Retired soldiers who were forcibly called out by the country and then forcibly released from it. They have no way of making a living right now.
“So, we have no choice but to live this miserable life… .”
Cesar’s gaze turned. Where his gaze lingered, the man was still aiming the pistol.
“Lucio, you know better.”
Professor Antonelli was standing.
“…Cesar.”
“Duke Adelheid could have improved our miserable reality sufficiently.”
The fact that countless young men died on the battlefield… . The fact that they sacrificed themselves for their country, burning their own bodies, reminding the people of the empire, and improving the treatment of the surviving veterans.
As Cesar said, Maximilian had the ability, the power, and the social standing to make it happen.
And Maximilian never did anything. He didn’t mourn their deaths, he didn’t sympathize, and he didn’t do anything to protect them.
Because they thought their deaths were truly in vain? Because they thought deaths in war were nothing more than statistics?
Not at all. Maximilian didn’t think so. However, he… .
“… I was scared.”
He was just afraid. He didn’t listen to their lives, which were desperately trying to survive, hidden in the shadows of a dark society, unlike his own, who was held up as a war hero.
He was afraid. The fact that the retired soldiers were living such miserable lives. The fact that the result of the ‘operation to minimize damage and maximize profit’ he had thought of ended up causing another hemorrhage.
Ironically, Maximilian’s plan was overly successful: far more people survived than expected, and the war ended sooner than expected.
The empire that carried out harsh conscription to win the Great War was not able to pay enough attention to those who survived after the war.
Because, in the end, it was a sense of responsibility that Maximilian wanted to turn away from.
The moment he realized it, it was clear that Maximilian would not be able to bear the heavy responsibility… .
“I might have been scared.”
That was so scary.
Maximilian was able to realize it, the disgusting truth hidden inside himself.
“What on earth were you afraid of?”
“The weight of responsibility I had to bear… . I was afraid of that.”
“… Maximilian von Adelheid. You are truly the worst.”
If you had to mourn the loss of something precious, you had to mourn.
If you realize that you have died meaninglessly on the battlefield, you must be in pain.
Finally, when they realized that salvation would not come, they had to despair.
That’s what a time of loss is like.
“… Me, I.”
And here.
“I, I… .”
A stubborn middle-aged man who has lived his life believing that his decisions are always right, unable to continue speaking.
The Duke of Adelheid, a hero of the last great war, a hero of the nation, and at times a general who protected the territory and people of the empire, was destined to rule over people from the moment he was born into this world.
“Maybe so.”
He was going through a time of loss.
As much as he had suppressed in the last great war. The delayed pain he had denied, turned a blind eye to, and kept hidden deep in his heart.
“… Maybe, I don’t know.”
I had to stop denying the time of loss that came belatedly and feel it with my whole body.
– Thud. Thud.
A small tap on his shoulder. That feeling made Maximilian’s heart beat like a drum.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Maximilian’s eyesight tightened. His distant vision came into focus, revealing the rooftop floor, which was getting wet from the occasional raindrops.
– Thud. Thud. Thud.
In the sky covered with dark clouds, rain began to fall.
Maximilian slowly raised his head.
Although the rain wasn’t falling heavily, it was an instinctive action that came from worrying that Laura might get wet and catch a cold.
“… Laura.”
Laura’s eyes looking at him were no longer filled with only betrayal and contempt.
In the dark shadows, the love and bond of a family that could not abandon their father in the end was faintly visible, like a pearl in the sand.
“Duke Adelheid.”
Maximilian’s mind flashed as he discovered the heavy, cold gun pointed at Laura’s head.
“This, this look… .”
Maximilian’s voice trembled endlessly. His gaze turned to Cesar.
His pistol was still aimed at Laura’s head. It was a gun that was scratched by dirt grains and had signs of wear here and there.
Through it, Maximilian was able to know that the pistol was the one used by Cesar during the Great War.
Cesar opened his mouth.
“Were we afraid… . Were we afraid that we would be responsible for our survival?”
“That’s right.”
“Ha… !”
A shameless and selfish idea that only Maximilian could think of. Cesar couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Maximilian’s outrageous idea.
“Really, you’re the worst… . A piece of trash with shamelessness ingrained in you to the core. That title suits you perfectly. ”
“… … .”
As Maximilian’s mouth fell shut, silence began to fall again. It seemed to be the beginning of a long silence.
– Click.
If it weren’t for the rooftop door that suddenly opened with a loud noise, everyone on the rooftop would turn their heads in the direction of the sound.
“… Your Majesty.”
It was Maximilian’s old adjutant, Karmendorff. He spoke, showing the umbrella in his hand.
“I brought an umbrella.”
“… Carmendorff.”
It was an odd timing. Maximilian stared blankly at Karmendorff as he opened his umbrella, then quickly turned his head away.
“It’s done.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Carmendorff. Right now… . Stay out of it.”
Karmendorff kept his mouth shut. He simply stepped back, held the umbrella in his hand, and looked at Maximilian.
Seeing that sight, Caesar opened his mouth with a shocked expression.
“That’s funny. In the midst of all this, I never thought there would be someone who would step forward and take care of a guy like you.”
“Karmendorff is… .”
“No, wait… . That’s a familiar face.”
Cesar’s gaze turned to Carmendorf. He looked at Carmendorf’s face for a moment, then frowned and glared at him.
“Ah, now that I think about it, I remember. Was he Duke Adelheid’s adjutant? ”
“… … .”
“Kuuu… . Yeah. We met at the military court. ”
Cesar, who was looking at Carmendorf, immediately turned his gaze and glared at Maximilian.
“Even there, you were still shameless.”
– Crunch.
The pistol in Cesar’s hand moved threateningly. Maximilian barely managed to prevent himself from jumping forward without realizing it.
“Yes… Duke Adelheid. You prioritized your own safety, so you excluded us veterans from common sense in this way.”
“… … .”
“You are human garbage. Maximilian von Adelheid.”
“… At least.”
Maximilian, who had been silent all along, opened his mouth with difficulty.
“At least Laura is not guilty.”
“… What?”
“Cesar Lee. The only person you hate is me. Laura has nothing to do with this. Laura alone… . Release her. This is what I ask of you.”
Maximilian. The world’s Maximilian von Adelheid.
“Please… .”
He was begging Caesar to have mercy on him.
“… No relation whatsoever.”
“Well, if you release Laura, I will do my best to improve the treatment of veterans like you. You may think it is too late, but… .”
“Don’t talk nonsense—!!”
Cesar’s scream split the rooftops once again. Maximilian looked at Cesar with surprised eyes.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Maximilian von Adelheid… .”
That was, yes. It was life.
“No relation? Don’t talk nonsense… . I’m telling you not to mention the sins you committed, and don’t say such things out loud… .”
Eyes filled with life. Those were the eyes that sharpened the blade of revenge even more as they faced their enemy.
“While guys like you just stood by and watched, you trampled on our will to raise our voices… . You even set fire to a perfectly good building, trying to kill me and my comrades! ”
“What… .”
“They have nothing to do with it, they are innocent people…. Are you saying that my comrades were not innocent!!”
Maximilian stared blankly at Cesar, unable to keep up with what he was saying, but Cesar took it as him trying to evade his words and continued.
“The sins you committed. They are not only related to the Great War. You seem to have mistaken me, but I did not intend to let it go easily just because you showed signs of repentance. I will… . inflict the same pain on you.”
“Another sin… ?”
Besides this, there’s more? Maximilian looked between Laura and Cesar with a bewildered expression.
“… So, you’re going to act like that?”
Maximilian’s attitude was so disgusting to Cesar. Cesar gritted his teeth and screamed.
“Comrades of the War Soldiers’ Association who promised to protest with me… . You set fire to our Military Association office building, and killed them—!!”
Only then did Maximilian’s eyes fully capture Cesar’s appearance.
A severely burned appearance. A melted face, a dead white left eye. It was a trace of a terrible past.
And, at least, the last image of Cesar that Maximilian could remember was not that mangled. Maximilian stammered with a bewildered expression.
“What the heck is that… .”
And then, it happened.
– Taang—!!
With a cold, creepy gunshot.
– Thud thud—.
On the rooftop floor, which was gradually becoming soaked with rain, blood as red as Maximilian’s eyes was sprinkled.
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