episode_0129

*

A few days later.

Those who claimed to be Sidmid’s successors and attempted to revolt began to be arrested one after another.

The place where the soldier found this item at that time seemed to be where their contact lived.

From specific uprising plans to plans to assassinate Serpina – countless things were revealed during this process.

I don’t know how the evidence came to be found, but from Serpina’s perspective, it could truly be said to have been luck.

Heavenly luck!

To the extent that I can only describe it with those words – all of this could not have been more of a coincidence.

Anyway, once the tail was caught, the ‘impure molecules’ started to be caught like potatoes being thrown out.

It’s not just one or two people.

Dozens of people were tied to ropes and brought to Eingart Castle.

All of them were military officers who had suffered corruption in the Serpina army.

They ranged from those who did not receive much attention to those who were able to pay for a meal for just one person.

The biggest figure among them is Rahelven Janichka, a man who was once recommended for the position of lord of Kelstein Castle.

When Serpina was still a young girl, he was the man who taught her basic imperial etiquette.

He was originally a follower of Sidmid von Eyngart, but is now a man who is completely loyal to Serpina… … was known as

His unwavering loyalty, which was evident in even the smallest of actions, made it appear to anyone that he was completely following Serpina.

‘… … .’

Serpina was also thinking that way –

Coming to this place, no matter how many times I had seen so many bad things, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed here.

I see

The ghost of my second brother was still wandering the continent.

Although Serpina was widely known as a tyrant due to her history of large-scale purges in the past –

Surprisingly, he was a fairly generous monarch.

He did not spare mercy to those who followed him, and if he had any ability, he let them freely use that ability, burying their blood ties or past.

If there’s one thing she will never forgive, it’s treason.

In the process of occupying the northern continent, countless rebellions broke out, and the words of those traitors all became the dew on their execution.

Nothing is different now.

No mercy should be shown to those who challenge one’s authority.

That was the fate of those who inherited the lineage of the great empire Eingart.

*

A few days later, in the dungeon of Eingart Castle.

“Are you here, my lord?”

“… … Guide me.”

The day before execution.

Serpina headed to the cell where Lahelven was imprisoned, waiting to die.

When she arrived at the prison, Rachelven greeted her with the same expression she used to make when she was an etiquette teacher.

“Oh. Are you here, Princess Serpina?”

Not my lord.

They call me princess.

Even before he was caught plotting treason, he used to call her lord, but now he has no intention of letting go of the title princess he used to call her until the end.

-He still didn’t acknowledge her.

“You’re foolish, Rachelven. I thought my head was spinning, but I never thought I would be chasing after a faded ideal that is already dead.”

“The princess only knows one thing and not the other. it’s okay. Anyway, I never really had any expectations from the princess.”

Rachelven laughed with a kind expression and then-

Soon, he glared at her with a straight face, lifeless in his eyes.

“Who would truly follow a witch who cut off the heads of her brothers with her own hands and swallowed their blood?”

“… … !”

In Lahelven’s empty eyes – the will of someone other than himself can be read.

Sidmid von Eyngart.

The resentment of her second brother, who hated her, resented her, and cursed her with tears of blood.

“Princess. Since this is also fate, I will tell you something good at the end. I am… … This old man is just the first.”

What is read in him as he faces death is not fear or fear, but anger.

And even beyond that anger… … A kind of pity.

“Didn’t you expect that when I drank the royal family’s blood with my own hand? Countless people are targeting the princess… … It will probably be a difficult fight, but I think this is also a weight that must be overcome by the person who deceived everyone, aimed for something he should not have, and then took it.”

That much, Serpina knew.

From that day, when Eingart’s will was ‘given’ to him… … Everything was expected.

“… … .”

“Princess. You have a very beautiful expression. However, no matter how stunning the princess is, the ugly things she did cannot be forgiven… … It would have been better if you had learned from me the art of living rather than etiquette. Please try your best. princess. I will watch with joy from the afterlife.”

After finishing speaking, Lahelven laughed for a while, making a loud sound, and then lowered her head.

That meant that I had nothing more to say to you.

Serpina, sensing that she could not talk further, turned around and left the prison without saying a word.

On the way back to the royal castle… … She remembers going to ask him what he was thinking about betraying her in the first place.

I couldn’t ask a question, but I guess I got a vague answer.

‘Brother Argot.’

“Serpina.”

‘I… … Are you doing well?’

“There is only you, Serpina. Among the people with Eingart’s blood, ████████████ … I have only you. So, this ugly brother wants to leave everything to you.”

‘I really… … ‘Can I re-establish a unified empire with my own hands?’

“So, I ask you a favor. The empire… … A divided empire, united again… … Peace again in this world… … .”

‘I am… … I am… … !!!!’

The sharp awl disguised as her brother’s voice tears her brain to pieces.

I can’t do it.

I can’t do it, brother.

I am… … I am not confident that I can do well… … !

-Master!

“… … ?!”

That moment when I almost fell into a state of panic again in the hallway heading to the royal castle.

The voice of the man who had brought her out of her panic was heard again.

“… … Swen?”

Serpina quickly looked around.

In the corridors of this royal castle, there was not a single person to be seen, let alone Swen.

Did you hear an auditory hallucination?

Nevertheless… … I don’t feel bad.

As I recalled the moment when Swen called me, I found myself calming down surprisingly quickly again.

‘… … Yes, Swen.’

He must have known everything.

The reason the rebels were caught in the first place was because Swen insisted that it was right to conscript troops and station troops at Amir Castle.

Although the basis for the claim was completely different – in the end, it was a godsend from Serpina’s perspective.

In a situation where you can’t even feel the whiff of treason, if the point of a sword were to fly towards you, it would have been a really big deal.

To others, it might have been luck, but she knew.

It’s all thanks to Swen!

And, somewhere vaguely-

Even though it was going to be like this, he didn’t necessarily say this… … For some reason, I felt like I knew.

‘Stories… … ‘I’ll have to try it.’

Serpina immediately called Swen.

It was closer to an instinctive action rather than a rational decision.

*

“Swen, meet your lord.”

In the quiet throne room, a white-haired man, Swen, knelt towards him.

As soon as Serpina saw him, she lost her composure and spoke with a slightly trembling voice… … He slowly chanted the name.

“… … Swen.”

“Yes. Please tell me.”

“It will be like this… … Did you know everything?”

“… … .”

Swen raised his head and looked at Serphina.

Those gray eyes are not empty.

The eyes are clear and powerful, with no sign of the ghosts of the past resenting them.

“You know, Swen. Among the traitors caught this time, that woman… … There was Sika.”

Sica.

At the opinion proposal session that Swen participated in, the woman argued that troops should be increased and deployed immediately to the border line.

Deployment along the border would have relatively reduced the number of troops in the northern provinces where rebellion was planned. They wouldn’t have sent only conscripted troops.

I don’t know if she even considered that, but whatever-

From Swen’s point of view, it was clear that he would not have been able to express his opinion directly at that location.

no!

In the first place, he said, ‘There will be a rebellion, so we must increase our troops.’ Those who said that, would they have believed that?

If you think about it, the answer is simple.

I would never have believed it.

Because there is no basis.

As long as her belief that people’s lives cannot be decided on baseless things is still alive, even if it were the man of her dreams, she would not have accepted her opinion.

so that… …

“So, you heard a reason that I don’t quite understand. The opinion was, ‘We need to prepare for the Aceers army that will come up the river.’ Now that I think about it, it seems like the only option to come to that conclusion… … ? If a civil unrest breaks out in a nearby village or there is a possibility of a rebellion in a nearby castle, there is no reason to deploy soldiers there… … !”

As we talk, it becomes clearer and clearer.

What Swen really wanted to say is clearly visible.

“But, Swen, you couldn’t tell everything! One of the traitors is among the group, and I won’t listen unless you give me a straight argument! so… … He used the fact that he was in Aishus County to create such a hypothesis. A very plausible hypothesis that seems to be able to convince me as much as possible!”

It was certainly possible if one wanted to, but it was an unlikely hypothesis.

One of the reasons he desperately created to convince himself.

And in conclusion – Serpina was able to find the traitor because she listened to him.

“There are inevitably moments when you have to see what is invisible. There are moments when even things that seem obvious are not in sight.”

“That’s it… … It was something invisible.”

That moment when what you see becomes out of sight!

I felt like I knew now.

I understood every word he said.

I thought I knew why he was so ‘confident’.

So how did you find out everything?

It was a very important question, but it didn’t matter to Serpina right now.

An ordinary person would have been crushed by this absurd situation.

Serpina didn’t know it, but Lin Brans was afraid of Swen, weighed down by his ‘unconditionally correct’ advice.

However, she was different.

What was important to her was that he ‘knew’ everything.

And, instead of keeping it to himself, he tried to convey it to himself somehow.

By somehow fitting plausible logic into it.

That means that Swen doesn’t leave everything to her… … He held his hand.

A man who had only recently joined the company did something that no one had ever done before!

To her, who has been alone throughout her life so far, carrying everything that weighs her down and just moving forward –

A compass that appeared for the first time, so clear and beautiful!

The more she thought about it, the more beautiful the proof became. Serpina spoke in a trembling voice, lost in fascination.

Even she herself didn’t know.

-The fact that his face is stained red.

“You are everything… … I knew everything… … ! And, in order to somehow let me know that, I was giving desperate advice… … That’s not true, Swen… … ?”

Naturally, by thinking about what I said, I knew everything –

Serpina recalls a word she heard in the past.

「Mind’s eye」

The nickname of the legendary treacherous man who served the Eingart royal family more than a hundred years ago.

Although the back and forth was a bit strange, if you go to the end, you will find an unknown great tactician who is said to have said only the right things in the end… …

Now, it was manifesting before my eyes.

“… … .”

Swen looked at Serpina with a very peaceful expression… …

Soon, he slowly lowered his head.

“It was dangerous in many ways, but it was your decision to listen to me. I am just grateful that I can be of help to you.”

“Ah… … !!”

Really, you are no ordinary person.

This man who appeared in my dream… … He was a man who could see through everything… … !

“Swen, really… … Really, you are a really interesting man… … Right now, I am feeling thrilled for the first time in my life. Do you feel it? To you too… … This heart of mine… … !”

With flushed cheeks, the voice was slightly panting.

But I couldn’t help it.

For the first time since ascending to the throne… … Because I met someone who sparkled so much that I wanted to have him.

In fact, the target was the man who always appeared in my dreams.

When I think of this man, I don’t know the name of the white-haired man who somehow makes my heart tingle and gives me a warm feeling.

What this moment feels like to Serpina is a revelation from heaven.

The only light shining from a corner of the dark sky.

Serpina stood up from the throne and slowly approached Swen, who was kneeling.

Her dazzling blonde hair flutters every time she approaches him.

Eventually, I arrived in front of him, made eye level with him, and then-

He lifted his chin with his white, jade-like hand.

I slowly whisper dreamlike words that will last forever.

“Be yours, Swen. The body, the mind… … Serve this body. If not… … !”

Her last sentence is as disorganized as cherry blossoms in April.

If you don’t do that, you—

* * *

After leaving Eingart Castle.

I muttered with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

“… … Is this right?”

Something… …

Something is happening… … !