"……"
Seeing that Swen remained silent, Serpina asked in a sowhat cold tone.
"There’s not a single enemy flag in sight, not even across the river. I’ve already sent out three scouting parties, and the conclusions they returned with were all the sa. It’s been enough ti now, I think. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem likely that the Aishus army will launch an invasion through that route, with nothing to gain from it."
If we were to fall for this without knowing anything, it would surely shake us. Perhaps Amir Castle, with its weak defenses, could be taken by surprise. But in the end, that would be the extent of it. Blocking the river to cut off their supply lines and then reclaiming Amir Castle wouldn’t take much ti at all.
Sure, it might be frustrating to have been outwitted by the Aishus army, but that’s a secondary issue.
"You told to see the unseen, didn’t you?"
"Yes."
"Looking at it now, I can only think you were just stringing together so fancy words to cover up the situation."
Serpina glanced down at Swen. His head remained bowed, but there was no trace of uncertainty in his deanor. At the sa ti, the certainty that radiated from him continued to unsettle her.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
As Serpina mulled over her thoughts, Swen finally spoke up, his voice calm.
"My lord, the first thing I would like to say—"
Before he could finish, a soldier hurried into the room.
"My lord, General Jeffer has arrived. He says there’s an important matter he needs to report right away."
Hearing the soldier’s words, Serpina quickly glanced at Swen. He had closed his mouth, apparently holding back his words, and seed to silently communicate with her.
‘Should I let him in…?’
While it was generally considered impolite for soone to barge into an audience, Serpina nodded, unbothered.
"…Let him in."
Jeffer was a general affiliated with Amir Castle. He wasn’t particularly skilled but was competent in training soldiers and overseeing the rear guard. That he had rushed all the way to Aingart Castle ant sothing urgent was happening.
"Jeffer, I didn’t expect to see your face today."
"My lord…"
Jeffer, kneeling in front of her, breathed heavily.
"I have sothing to show you, and I’ve taken the liberty of coming to the castle without permission. Please forgive ."
"No need for such pleasantries. What is it?"
Jeffer handed her sothing with both hands. Serpina stood up to examine the object he offered.
"……!!"
For the first ti in a long while, Serpina’s eyes widened in shock.
What Jeffer was holding was—an emblem.
It resembled the double-headed eagle emblem of the Aingart family, but there were three diagonal lines crossing it. This was the emblem used by her late second brother, Sidmid von Aingart, when he rebelled against his elder brother, Algott von Aingart, during the empire’s civil war.
The sight of an emblem long forgotten by history ant only one thing:
—The ghosts of Sidmid, long dead, were resurfacing and trying to drag Serpina down once again.
***
After the emperor’s sudden death, before the true rebellion of the vassals had begun—
There was a faction that opposed what everyone assud would be the natural succession of the empire’s throne to the eldest son, Algott von Aingart.
This faction was led by Algott’s second brother, Sidmid von Aingart.
With the support of their third brother, Stadel von Aingart, and their sister, Lilirose von Aingart, Sidmid raised an army to oppose Algott, claiming that the empire couldn’t be handed over to him. With the support of around three-quarters of the empire’s noble families, Sidmid began his competition for the throne.
In the midst of the sibling rivalry between the brothers, Serpina von Aingart, the youngest sister, tried her best to unite the fallen imperial family. But as soone with no significant power base, her efforts couldn’t bear fruit.
The infighting between the brothers escalated, with each side attacking the other’s base of power, leading to a point where it was no longer possible to reconcile.
The most horrific event in this struggle was the massacre at Fibiola Academy.
Despite the fact that Sidmid surely had allies among the academy’s students and staff, he chose to slaughter everyone there, erasing the academy from history as if it had never existed.
The brothers, Algott and Sidmid, were never able to reconcile after that event.
Serpina, who had worked tirelessly to try to end this civil war, found herself helpless in the face of the escalating violence.
Not long after the massacre, Serpina faced Sidmid, the instigator of the tragedy, for the first ti.
"Brother, why… why did you do such a thing?! What did the people there do wrong?"
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Fibiola Academy was a prestigious institution, ho to many children of noble families. So of those who attended had even been her childhood friends. Among those slaughtered were not only the academy’s staff but also important figures who had supported Sidmid. He had connections, people close to him, and yet he wiped them all out.
It wasn’t just a matter of human decency. It was also a grave political mistake that Serpina could tell Sidmid was beginning to realize.
"Shut up! This is the only way! To stop that stupid brother of mine from inheriting the throne, I had to eliminate his support base!" Sidmid scread, his eyes full of fury.
Serpina, trying her best to withstand his overwhelming presence, held her gaze firmly on him.
"But… killing people senselessly like this… Soone who would be an emperor shouldn’t do this!"
In that mont—
Slap!
Serpina’s cheek turned bright red from the slap.
Sidmid, as if one more word from her would make him choke her, spoke coldly.
"…Don’t speak out of turn. Understand?"
"……"
Serpina, unable to say anything more, let her tears fall onto the ground.
It wasn’t from the pain of the slap—
It was from the despair that now, peaceful solutions were no longer possible.
***
I rember.
The look in Sidmid’s eyes—the one that seed like he was going to devour .
I couldn’t do anything.
I couldn’t stop anything… I couldn’t protect anything.
And now, once again.
Once again, it appears before .
As if mocking the who couldn’t achieve anything, it looks at again, lifting its head and glaring.
While I am overwheld with despair, that gaze slowly sinks into the abyss—
And from the darkness, it strikes with fierce intensity.
That gaze becos stronger.
And eventually, it turns red.
The color of blood. The color of fading life.
Serpina… You… You killed …!
No.
No, brother. I—
You killed and my siblings… You, you planned this from the beginning, didn’t you…?
No.
No, no! It wasn’t !
I didn’t do that.
It was Algott who—!!
In this dark place.
As every eye and every voice seems to rush toward , intending to tear apart in that mont—
—My lord!!!
Suddenly, a warm voice surrounds Serpina.
This isn’t a voice ant to harm .
It’s the voice that’s here to hold .
In the pitch-black surroundings, I realize that this is the only white light shining—this voice.
***
"…Ah."
When I ca to—
I realized that the white-haired man, Swen, was holding my wrist, looking at .
"My lord. Please calm down."
"…Swen…?"
Right.
I had called Swen to talk to him.
And then, suddenly, Jeffer barged in…
"Calm down, my lord. Nothing happened."
"Ah…"
"Are you alright?"
Hearing Swen’s voice again, Serpina realized that she had slipped into a temporary panic.
Seeing the symbol that Sidmid once used had triggered a traumatic mory, and it was Swen who had called out to her in that mont.
And, strangely enough—
She felt her trembling body calm down.
What was it?
Why did his voice feel so warm to her?
At that mont, an image she had repeatedly dreamt of passed through her mind.
She and Swen, together, laughing and talking by a beautiful sea…
"My lord…?"
Only after hearing the question again did Serpina feel her reasoning return.
"…I’m sorry. I, uh… I must have been feeling unwell for a mont."
"It’s fine. I’m glad to see you’ve cald down."
Swen naturally stepped back, and once again, Jeffer, who had been kneeling, ca into view.
"Please forgive the sudden disturbance, Jeffer."
"My lord, I’m fine. But there is sothing important to report…"
"Yes. …Where was that symbol found?"
With a trembling voice, Serpina asked, and Jeffer lowered his head deeply, apologetically.
"Since the new reinforcents arrived at Amir Castle, we began patrolling the territory in earnest. While doing so, we ca across sothing suspicious, and after investigating the area… we discovered so traitors."
"What…?"
We discovered traitors. No, to be precise—‘we began a proper patrol of the territory after the new reinforcents arrived’ and found traitors.
‘Could it be…!!!’
Serpina froze as she made a realization.
"However, it would be more efficient to deploy the conscripted soldiers to the area where they were recruited. That would be the most efficient thod."
"Are you saying it’s more efficient to station troops in such a remote location?"
"Yes."
A scene from a past eting flashed in Serpina’s mind.
"Swen’s opinion is sowhat puzzling. That is… how should I put it… It feels like he’s avoiding the key issue, speaking around the important points. I get the impression that he’s developing his argunts from a more peripheral perspective rather than focusing on the essence of the matter."
"Swen’s suggestion seed to be less about stopping Aishus’ army and more about stationing troops in Amir Castle."
The puzzle pieces in her mind began to fit together.
‘He knew this would happen… from the start?’
Serpina slowly turned her head, looking at Swen, who had supported her.
His expression was completely unchanged.
It was as if he had known this was how things would unfold from the very beginning—his gray eyes were filled with calmness, almost as though he were a noble bird, unshaken by anything.
Seeing this, Serpina felt like she had been struck by lightning.
Shivering again, she murmured to herself as she finally realized what Swen had truly claid.
Swen—he knew everything.
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