episode_0131

The Duke of Maynor saw the foreign nobleman transformed in an instant.

I saw the whole process of changing first the mood, then the tone of voice, and then the decisive color of the eyes.

Only then did the Duke no longer feel unfamiliar with the face of the noble lady of the Kingdom of Primira.

“I got hit in the head.”

He pushed the book to the corner of the desk with a bitter smile.

And he put his free hands together and rested his chin on them.

“Yeah, like you said, this is the first time we’ve met without masks.”

He immediately erased his bitter smile and spoke in a calm voice.

The rhyme quickly disappeared.

Beatrice was intrigued to see the Duke quickly regain his composure.

I expected him to be no ordinary man, but he was truly extraordinary, a man who ruled the empire with wisdom rather than force.

“Negotiation… Let’s listen to what she has to say, Tricky Green.”

“Right to the point?”

“What did you expect? You met when you were very young, but it’s not like it’s been that long since you’ve said hello.”

“Hoo… ”

Beatrice’s cerulean eyes shone brighter as if to repay the Duke’s gaze, who was staring intently at her with his chin resting on his hand.

I didn’t know that I had seen it when I was young.

Well, Beatrice back then would have been different from now.

Because it won’t be the current her.

“I am disappointed that you did not recognize me. I guess the title of the Empire’s greatest strategist was an overstatement, Your Highness.”

“… … ”

I said something that was deliberately hurtful.

It was an intention to test a man who might be her nemesis and enemy.

However, the Duke still did not show any particular discomfort and only let out a light sigh.

“Ah, I admit it. I’ve been judging you based on the image I was looking for.”

“?”

“Princess… I mean, I just assumed a vague image of myself into everyone I suspected was ‘you.’”

“I don’t know what you expected me to be like, but I guess it was a lot different?”

“Ah, yes. Fortunately.”

With those words, the Duke smiled blissfully.

I also found it funny how I had been obsessed with Isabelle and only thought about her in my past.

But now that I’ve actually met the princess, it doesn’t matter anyway.

“Fortunately, I see you now that we’ve met.”

The important thing is that when he actually saw the princess, the feelings that had been hidden for a long time began to burn again as if fuel had been poured on them.

“Those eyes… I can finally see the Emperor’s face.”

anger.

The intense emotions that once drove the peacock.

The unforgettable hatred towards the mastermind who caused the death of Isabel, whom he loved, was revived.

And the Duke was relieved because the princess did not resemble Isabelle.

The impression given by the blinking turquoise eyes resembled that of the Emperor, not Isabelle.

So I felt more reassured.

Now, you can hate as much as you want.

*

“Emperor… Do I look like my biological father? ”

“Looking at it this way, it’s really at the level of a copycat. It’s so pathetic that I feel ashamed of myself for not noticing it until now.”

“… … ”

I see. They must look alike, since they’re his biological father.

The princess looked at the duke indifferently, her face showing no sign of any affection for her biological father.

“I’m curious about the previous emperors and empresses, but I’m not here to talk about that now.”

To be honest, except for Theo, who I spent a short time with, and except for my brother, who I couldn’t protect, everything was fine.

Even though they are the parents of a new life… don’t you even know their faces?

Beatrice thought to herself that even though she had become a woman, she would not have changed emotionally enough to feel affection for her parents, whom she could not even remember.

“Not only did you oust the royal family, you declared us enemies of humanity. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.”

The main character of the original work is Karl, and it is written from Karl’s point of view.

So the Duke, who was in the position of an assistant, was a ‘good’ and friendly person. Beatrice was also an only child at one time, so she didn’t have such bad feelings toward the Duke.

If necessary, I will kill them, but it will be decided based on the situation, and it has nothing to do with hating the religious order.

That’s why the disappointment was so great.

From Beatrice’s perspective, it seemed like even the Duke did not trust the royal family and was oppressing them unconditionally.

“But I believe, Your Majesty, that you are a person who can communicate. That is why I came here to talk frankly.”

“… … ”

As he said this, he picked up the teacup the duke was drinking from and sniffed at its fragrance.

It was as if the peacock was telling him that everything he had was originally his, and that he could take it back at any time.

The Duke simply watched the princess’s seemingly rude behavior. For now, he planned to listen to what she had to say until the end.

The princess looked at the expressionless duke, smiled, and opened her mouth.

“Abandon the church.”

“… … ”

“Silent Revolution, announce that you have been forced to join under pressure from the religious order. And if you hand the religious order over to me, I will forgive you and the imperial officials for your sins.”

But the words that came out of those beautiful lips were words the duke could not accept.

“… I guess it would be difficult to accept such an extreme proposal?”

“You already know.”

The duke still remained unmoved.

The princess smiled brightly at the duke as if he was joking.

“Then, please acknowledge the restoration of the imperial family.”

“What does it mean?”

“For now, I plan to break away from the Empire. I just hope you don’t officially deny the existence of the Imperial Family and the Imperial Family.”

And the real intentions were revealed.

“I know, for a long time, it was not the imperial family but the imperial bureaucracy that established the empire as the ruler of the continent… and among them, the Mayner family. We would have just spent our time locked up in the palace.”

Swish-

The princess put down the Duke’s teacup and handed it back to him.

“The royal family is gone, but the empire is strong. I’ll admit it. I have no intention of becoming ruler again. I didn’t come back just to take the fruits of everyone’s labor.”

“Do you mean to say that instead of claiming control of the empire, you want your authority restored?”

“Similar.”

The duke released the hand that was resting his chin on it. It was an unexpected suggestion.

I asked, leaning back in my chair to hear the rest.

“And then what are you going to do?”

“I will start anew outside the Empire. The Great War has ended and there have been a thousand years of peace, but I know that the end will come.”

This is something I know from reading the original.

Beatrice may have been Karl’s nemesis, but she wasn’t his only enemy.

“Are you saying that the demons and monsters will run wild again?”

“There are forces that want that to happen.”

The episode about Eligos’ horn is just a hint.

Even though it wasn’t fully revealed in the original, we know that there was a dark plot.

So, not everything you say to negotiate with the Duke is a lie.

“I want to be a wizard again, like the old Green Emperor, not the ruler of the empire. With the powers I have been given. To do that, Duke, you must restore our authority. You must not deny my presence on this continent.”

“…Everyone is so bored that they underestimate the danger that may come one day.”

The Duke lifted the teacup that Beatrice had returned to him.

“If a danger as great as a great war were to arise, all the heroes of myth would be needed. Warriors, holy swords, saints… … and even those who are called the pinnacle of magic.”

It meant green.

“The pinnacle of magic, from elemental magic to fantasy magic… It is said that the miracles Green creates through mana are truly unbelievable.”

“… … ”

“But what’s unbelievable is not just the magic you show. It’s your words, your lives of lies and deception.”

The Duke drank the rest of his tea.

The expression on the princess’s face as she sat across from him gradually hardened.

“I know now, the lies you’ve been telling. You are not heroes. Rather, you are like the enemies who threatened the continent in the great war. Evil beings who stood on the opposite side by chance and fate.”

“What is that—“

Beatrice opened her eyes.

But the Duke did not give her a chance to intervene and continued speaking.

“You don’t want an empire, so you just want to acknowledge its existence? That’s ridiculous. You’re talking plausibly, but what you really want is to grow your power and eliminate the cult, right?”

“… … ”

“I will cleverly plant roots somewhere on the continent and spread the poison. I will use magic to deceive people, making innocent people join your will and eventually turning their backs on the sect. The current negotiation is just a way to buy time for that. And then you start talking nonsense about protecting humanity again. It is absolutely disgusting.”

The Duke harshly criticized the princess.

Some of it was true, which made it even more poignant.

“Did you see the speech I gave with the saint where I defined you as enemies?”

“… Yes.”

The princess answered in a complicated voice.

The sight I saw beyond the communication magic in the Academy auditorium is vivid.

The appearance of the duke speaking with dignity, carrying the saint’s sanctity on his back.

At that time, the Duke had virtually declared war on the princess who was hiding among the students of the academy.

“Do you remember your crimes too?”

The princess paused for a moment.

The lips trembled and finally opened.

“Mind… Domination magic.”

“I’d like to ask you this. What does it feel like to rule over your subordinates?”

“!?”

It was an embarrassing question.

The princess opened her eyes wide and looked at the duke.

“Judging from your reaction, you didn’t even realize it. Were you not even able to feel any emotion at all from your followers’ blind loyalty?”

“That, that’s… … ”

“I saw the masked knight in the palace and I was sure, you guys haven’t changed.”

Quasi-

The peacock grabbed the teacup and smashed it.

Shards of the teacup were embedded here and there in my palm, causing blood to flow.

“Still deceiving, manipulating, and toying with people with those dirty eyes. This time, you’re going to start outside the Empire? Hmm, the Kingdom of Primira? Starting with the Dahlia family, will I just watch you swallow up that beautiful country whole?”

Even though blood was flowing, the duke didn’t even show any sign of pain.

The Duke’s anger was that great.

He was not a knight, but an ordinary villain, and he was able to break a teacup.

“I cannot accept your offer to recognize your authority, because you have no rights.”

“You…!”

“You don’t even have the right to negotiate. Your very existence is sinful. So you are just evil.”

The princess felt an unbearable sense of injustice at the Duke’s hateful declaration.

A situation where there is no answer, as if dealing with a church.

At the end of the resentment, I gathered all my magic.

It doesn’t matter if he’s Carl’s father or not.

Woohoo-

As darkness bloomed, a murderous glint appeared in his turquoise eyes.

“That mouth! Watch out—“

At that moment, a ray of black energy flew in and pierced through the table where the Duke and the Princess were sitting.

The princess instinctively got up from her seat and put some distance between herself and the duke.

And then he turned his gaze towards where the black energy had come from.

“I wonder… Are you reckless or ignorant to provoke the royal family?”

“I was calculating the time you would arrive.”

“I was having some quiet time for once… You’re going to make me work again, right? I should retire quickly or something.”

There, Louis was walking towards the cafe, grumbling as he entered.

He was walking towards her with his sword drawn, and the mana on his sword was more refined and powerful than any knight the princess had ever seen.

“This is the royal family you’ve been looking for. I think you’ll be satisfied, too?”

“… I won’t apply for additional pay for this one.”

chuck-

Louis stopped walking, standing between the princess and the duke.

And he lifted his sword and aimed it at the princess.

The ashen-haired man looked at the princess’s face beyond the sword.

Darkness was blooming around the princess with her voluminous black hair fluttering.

Her chiseled face and large eyes told Louis who she was.

Their gazes overlap with those of captivating turquoise eyes.

“Beatrice de Dahlia… Looking at it this way, I can really see the face of the emperor.”

“… … ”

“No, Tricky Green. Fucking Green.”

I couldn’t move recklessly since the gray-haired man was my target.

Beatrice knew how strong the man she was facing was, and now that she saw it for herself, she felt it.

‘This is… the strongest in the empire.’

It was a different level.

Now, Louis was in perfect condition, something even Karl had never seen before.

As soon as he realized that his opponent was the emperor’s son, he revealed his full power.

Slowly, she looked at him, blinking her turquoise eyes.

I felt a kind of hatred similar to that of a peacock.

“Ah, so not all turquoise eyes are the same.”

“?”

“It’s different from Senior Isabelle. I was worried that I might become weak-hearted because we were similar.”

Paaat-

The mana contained in Louis’ sword became even stronger.

“I keep thinking of those eyes and I get angry. The eyes of the dirty emperor who took my senior away.”

Beatrice couldn’t understand the two men who kept talking about their parents without her knowing.

“This time, were you after that cute disciple? That guy… I guess I finally understand why he’s been so weird lately.”

Beatrice realized what Karl was talking about and stopped.

“There will be no second chances. I will kill you before you can control people in an instant like the emperor.”

“That’s not it—“

Kwaaang-!

Before I could answer, a strong black aura I had never seen before flew in.

It was only later that I realized that the conversation would not work.