Parfalle first realized that sothing was truly wrong with Lyn a few days after returning to Arnel Castle following the alliance with Serpina.
"Zeilant Castle, you say...?"
"Yes! I’m planning to personally capture Lunarian."
With a face so utterly innocent, her voice brimming with confidence...
She was declaring an invasion against the Lunarian Army—an army that had been destroyed long ago.
"I... I don’t quite understand what you an, my lord."
"What do you an? Parfalle, are you telling you haven’t even been keeping up with the political situation? It’s about ti we started uniting the Western Continent, don’t you think?"
"No, I an... We already control the Western Continent—"
"What are you talking about, Parfalle? Even you are saying nonsense now. Of course, you could say that the Western Continent is already in our hands. There’s nothing but weaklings and rabble left, after all."
"......What...?"
Parfalle carefully studied her expression.
A crushing sense of unease.
A certainty that this conversation was going nowhere.
And then—
'Wait. Lunarian Army... No way.'
Parfalle hesitated for a mont before asking in a cautious, slightly trembling voice.
"My lord... Forgive my impertinence, but... may I ask why you wish to invade the Lunarian Army?"
"Hm? Oh, right! I haven’t told you yet, have I? Listen, they actually approached a while ago, asking for a ceasefire agreent! You rember, don’t you? That battle where that useless woman failed to capture even one castle?"
"......"
"The envoy who ca to see ... was deliciously handso...♡ I have to test him as soon as possible. Before uniting the continent, the most important thing is to gather talent, isn’t it?"
—Ah.
The mont Parfalle’s vague suspicions were confird, she couldn’t help but let out an involuntary sigh.
"My lord...!!"
When Lyn, who had shut herself away in her chambers, refusing to see anyone, had suddenly declared she was ready to resu governing the nation—
Parfalle had relieved.
Finally, finally, she had regained her senses.
Losing territory had been painful, but if they started rebuilding now, they still had the ans to recover.
The northern threat had been neutralized. The population had grown enough that they could conscript soldiers again.
Aishus Army in the east, the nations of the south—they all seed manageable now.
Yes, she had thought that.
But now—
"Alright, we’ll begin our campaign imdiately. Eighty thousand troops should suffice. For the vanguard... my brother Chel should be enough, right?"
"My lord, that—"
"I know, I know. Parfalle, I already know what you’re going to say. You want to make good use of that woman, don’t you? Fine. She’s probably just sitting around guarding a fortress sowhere anyway. Just as you said, I’ll have her lead the vanguard as well. Does that satisfy you?"
As she spoke, Lyn gave the sa confident smile she once had, back in the days when Brans Army had been at its peak.
And yet...
Watching that smile, Parfalle felt a despair unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
***
The mont Parfalle realized her lord had lost her mind, her first course of action had been to comply—for now—while ensuring that Lyn had no involvent in actual governance.
If word spread that their sovereign wanted to wage war against a long-dead nation, chaos would be unavoidable.
So, under the guise of a military campaign, they had relocated to Zeilant Castle.
Using the ongoing search efforts as an excuse, Parfalle had arranged for Lyn to be secluded in an annex, hidden away from the public eye until—hopefully—she regained her sanity.
'Lyn...'
That once-brilliant woman—how had she fallen so far?
They had called for doctors. They had even pleaded for help from what remained of the religious orders, despite how far they had fallen into obscurity.
But nothing was working.
Her symptoms were akin to those of senile dentia, yet she was far too young for such an affliction.
Her overwhelming pride had refused to accept the disgrace she had suffered.
Instead, she had erased it.
And in this broken delusion of hers, there was nothing Parfalle could do.
If magic existed, perhaps sothing could be done.
If Swen—who had once seed to command miracles—were still with them, perhaps he could have done sothing.
But Swen was gone.
And so, all Parfalle could do was pray.
Pray that, just as she had fallen into madness overnight, she might one day wake and be herself again.
"Swen is really so shy, isn’t he? Just how long does he plan to hide? It’s not like I’m going to kill him or anything. If he just cos to my side, I’d treat him better than anyone."
Lyn chuckled, twirling a lock of her hair.
"If he wants won, I’d gladly provide them. If he wants power, I’d grant it. He’d only have to serve . Don’t you agree, Parfalle?"
"......Yes, my lord."
"And that woman... she’s not deliberately botching the search, is she? Honestly, the nerve of her. Telling to hunt for Lunarian, spewing nonsense like that. As if she has any idea what’s actually important. Hmph. Make sure to remind her—if she finds Swen, I will reward her."
"Understood, my lord."
"Good. Now, how are things progressing?"
"Our forces are steadily securing the Western Continent. We should be able to complete the campaign soon. Serpina’s army has made no significant moves."
Hearing this, Lyn’s lips curled into a delighted smile.
"Good, good. I was worried about leaving Arnel Castle unattended for too long. We need to find Swen quickly and return ho... When I do find him, I’ll have to make sure to reward him twice as much. No—three tis as much. He really made suffer, making co all this way to chase after him... Fufufu...♡"
"......Yes, my lord."
"Alright then, leave be. I’ll be here, figuring out what our army’s next move should be. Let’s see..."
Speaking in a lighthearted tone, Lyn got up, spread a map across the table, and began scribbling sothing down with a quill.
Parfalle said nothing more.
Quietly, she turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
"You have returned."
Outside, the priest who had been waiting for her greeted her.
Without a word, Parfalle handed him a prepared pouch of coins.
The priest accepted it with a kind expression, clasping his hands together in prayer before bowing deeply.
"Let us pray, Lady Parfalle. May the gods show rcy upon Lady Lyn Brans..."
"......"
May the gods show rcy.
Parfalle nearly laughed.
Hadn’t Lyn already been abandoned by the gods?
But right now, there was nothing left to rely on but prayer.
Please.
Please, let her return to the way she was.
No—even if not that—please let her at least regain her sense.
With that hollow hope lingering in her chest, Parfalle slowly stepped out of the annex.
***
Days had passed since Lyn had been staying in the annex.
Weary of the continuous stream of unsatisfactory reports, she spent her ti grumbling endlessly to herself.
"Why is this taking so damn long? That idiotic woman can't even find a single person—what the hell is she doing?"
She needed to find Swen quickly and return to state affairs.
She had never imagined she'd waste this much ti stuck in such a worthless fortress.
For so reason, she felt trapped, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) as though her vision were narrowing.
A suffocating sense of urgency pushed down on her—an unbearable pressure telling her she had to act fast.
And yet, there was no progress.
It was frustrating.
"This is all that idiot's fault for handling things so incompetently."
And so, she kept repeating one phrase.
One na.
"That idiot woman."
That foolishly loyal red-haired knight.
"She was frustratingly rigid, but at least she was good at tracking people down. What was her na again...?"
But...
For so reason...
She couldn't rember it.
"Wait. Hold on. What was that woman's na...?"
For the first ti—amidst all her complaints—Lyn recognized that she had never actually addressed the woman by na.
And in that instant—
A chill ran down her spine.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
It felt as if everything would make sense if she could just recall it.
And as she began to think about it—
The suffocating fog in her mind lifted ever so slightly.
Lyn focused.
"That idiot woman... the one who always swore loyalty to ."
"My lord. ■■■ ■■■■ has just arrived."
SMACK.
"What the hell are you doing? If you'd taken that castle faster, I wouldn't have had to suffer this humiliation. How many more days do you need?"
"Apologies, my lord. I failed to take the castle due to my own shortcomings."
"The one who never complained, no matter how unfairly she was treated."
"Why are you questioning my orders? I said there’s no need for pursuit. Are you defying ? Are you bored because you haven’t drawn blood today? Should I spill your own?"
"...No, my lord. My apologies."
"The one who always gave advice—even when I didn’t listen."
"Then prove it, ■■■. Show you’re more than just words."
"The one who followed my orders—no matter how reckless. Even when I sent her to her death."
I—
I tried to send her to her death.
Her na.
That idiot woman.
That pathetic fool who knew nothing but obedience.
Her na was—
"Yes! ■I■ ■■e■, I will carry out my lord’s orders and bring back good news."
"Vanguard leader, ■■ren Jul■■tte, reporting. It is my honor to deliver a victory to you, my lord."
"I, Ai■en Jul■ette, shall serve as your shield. Command as you will."
"—Airen."
A single tear.
Then another.
The mont she rembered that na—
Tears began to fall, unstoppably.
"Airen... Airen..."
And then—
She realized what she had done.
I—
I hurt Airen.
The knight who had given everything.
The knight my father had told to treasure.
All because of my own pathetic pride—
I sent her to die.
And because of that, I lost her.
I lost Swen.
I gained nothing.
And because of my own stupidity, the Brans Army had collapsed.
"Everything... everything was my fault... Airen..."
Her tears pattered against the cold floor.
She sat there, crying, for what felt like an eternity.
And then, she looked around.
This was the annex.
The annex of Zeilant Castle.
I ca here... to destroy the Lunarian Army...
To capture Swen...
And yet—
"...Wait."
Why had she tried to destroy a nation that no longer existed?
"...!!!!"
The mont she consciously acknowledged the phrase "no longer exists",
All her mories ca rushing back.
Everything she had done.
Everything that had happened because of it.
"Aah...!!"
Her legs gave out beneath her.
She collapsed, sobbing again.
Swen...?
It wasn't Swen she needed to seek forgiveness from.
It was Airen.
She had known she had wronged Airen.
She had known it, even back then.
But even in the very end, she had refused to face the truth.
She had clung to the delusion that if she could just bring Swen back, everything would be fine.
She had wasted so much ti.
So many lives.
"No... I can’t just break down here..."
She couldn’t undo what had already happened.
But she couldn’t just stay here either.
She had to find Airen.
She wasn’t going to beg to be taken back.
She wasn’t going to ask for forgiveness.
She knew she didn’t deserve it.
She just—
She had to apologize.
Sohow.
For the first ti, Lyn truly wanted to apologize to Airen.
Without bitterness.
Without resentnt.
Without pride.
After falling to the very bottom—only then did her mind finally return to what it once was.
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