Actually, I knew everything.
Chaltia's lie.
The lie that she could bring soone back to life.
I knew it all.
Wouldn't it be strange not to know in the first place?
That I, who knew everything about the novel, wouldn't know such important information.
The author himself had said it.
That there was no way to bring the dead back to life.
Q. My favorite character died, you're going to bring him back, right? If you don't resurrect him, I'm coming to kidnap you right away.
A. That's a pity. But in 'The Strongest in the Academy Love ,' there is no way to bring the dead back to life. Unless you an starting over from the beginning.
I tried everything I could.
Researching black magic.
Learning about the cultists.
I searched through all the ancient texts of the empire, looking for any way to save the young lady.
-There is none.
All that ca back was the bitter pain of parting. Tragically so.
'...'
I didn't join hands with Chaltia because I wanted to save the young lady.
It started with the feeling of 'guilt'.
In the original work, Chaltia didn't have it this hard. She overca her trials and grew stronger.
But because I had twisted the original work to save the young lady, the trials she faced beca heavier, and she eventually broke down.
That's why I helped Chaltia. Both at the academy and with her deceptive proposal.
It's a selfish thought.
To have offered her a kindness just to ease my own mind.
"..."
But.
-Please don't betray .
When I saw tears streaming from her eyes for the first ti, this resolve, amusingly, took a step back.
The feelings of responsibility, selfishness, and guilt vanished at the sight of a beauty's tears. How foolish.
I didn't know that a promise made hastily, with so many emotions stirring, would lead to this...
Still.
It was really fun.
So much so that I don't regret it.
-Hey, you idiot! How can you use a docunt as a pot stand!
-Haha! What a mistake...!
-You son of a bitch!
The ti I spent with Chaltia was so fun and happy that I didn't even think about her wicked lie.
So much so that the pain in my heart disappeared.
-Screech...
The imperial priest, holding a giant spear, looked at standing still and gave a neat smile.
"I was curious about you from the beginning."
"It's an honor for a high-ranking official to show interest in soone as lowly as ."
"Isn't it obvious? You're the one who has been chipping away at the cult's power for a long ti."
"...You knew?"
"I was certain when you took the life of Temperance. Ah~ this man is the one who has been tornting us for a long ti."
"..."
"A spy sent by the empire to the cult."
"..."
"Or soone with a terrible ill-fated relationship with us."
"..."
"But a princess's dog... that's not even funny."
I smiled slightly and gripped my sword.
"I suppose so."
While letting out a sigh of relief that I could protect a beauty's smile this ti.
"I don't know either."
I drew my sword.
Risking my life in a losing battle.
"Your Highness, we have found His Majesty the Emperor!"
"His condition?!"
"He has lost consciousness but is not seriously injured."
"...Good!"
I was anxious.
Even after rescuing my father, who was surrounded by cultists, and dealing with all the remaining cultists in the palace, the feeling of anxiety just wouldn't go away.
Was it because of what Michael said?
"Your Highness. Not a single apostle-level powerhouse can be seen."
"Did they retreat?"
"No... sothing is strange. As if they are aiming for sothing else."
Or was it because of the 2nd Prince who had escaped?
-The priest... that son of a bitch dared to betray ?! Just a little more and I could have sat on the throne...!
Even though everything was being resolved in order, an ominous thought remained in my head and wouldn't leave.
"...Your Highness, your orders!"
Only Ricardo's image flickered before my eyes. His back, left alone, kept weighing on my mind.
"Your Highness!!!"
Looking at the knights supporting my unconscious father, I nodded.
"...We retreat."
I had to focus on the current situation.
Ricardo won't die. I soothed my complicated heart, thinking that worrying about him was a luxury.
Ricardo was a strong person.
-You're bleeding!
-Hmm? Oh, I am?
-Hey, you idiot!
-I got a little hurt to receive a beauty's care.
I tried to ignore my anxious heart, thinking that he must have prepared so strange joke as always.
"A small number of knights will accompany and His Majesty the Emperor out of the imperial castle. The remaining knights will deal with the remnants of the cult and join us!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Michael, you..."
"I will follow Your Highness. I must escort His Majesty."
"Alright."
My steps quicken.
Even though everything is being resolved well, my heart strangely becos anxious.
-Isn't it because I can't do it alone!
Ricardo's angry roar, the first ti he had ever been angry, kept ringing in my ears like a phantom sound. He wasn't one to show weakness, but the expression on his face when he first uttered a negative word cos to mind whenever I close my eyes.
It was then.
"Your Highness."
Michael, who was running, spoke to with a dark expression.
"If it's just idle chatter, I think it would be better to do it later."
"...It's not idle chatter."
"...Then?"
Michael broke the long silence and spoke.
He spoke the word that tore at my anxious heart.
"...When we entered the palace, I felt a huge presence outside."
"..."
"It's gone now, but personally, I think it would be better to take a detour."
"A detour...?"
"Yes."
Michael's expression was quite serious.
"There were two people on the sa level as ... no, on the sa level as that guy."
"...Wait a minute."
My running steps began to slow down. Because I couldn't understand what I had just heard.
"Did you not know...?"
"What are you talking about..."
"I thought Your Highness knew... so when that guy said he would stay at the entrance of the imperial castle, I thought Your Highness had given up on Ricardo."
"...No."
"..."
"You said you had sothing to hear from Ricardo too."
"..."
"Then why...?"
"Because Ricardo is stronger than , I thought he would live."
"...What does that an."
"Because I was also prepared to die."
"That's not what I wanted to hear!!!"
I shouted at Michael.
Telling him not to say such foolish things.
"Think about it logically. You'd deploy the main forces to the imperial palace, right? Who would put the main forces on the side of the imperial castle?"
"..."
"Am I wrong?"
My voice trembles.
Because the hypothesis I had made was collapsing, my voice began to tremble along with it.
"Am I wrong..."
Michael said, as if to shatter my misconception.
"The purpose..."
"..."
"If it's ', chosen by the Holy Sword'."
"..."
"I think it would be different."
Michael's expression was dark.
"If... this commotion is to get rid of ."
"..."
"If the plan is to get rid of while all the royal knights are drawn to the imperial palace."
"Wait... wait a minute."
"Then... Ricardo, who is there."
"Shut up!!!"
My steps quicken with anxiety.
'No.'
I can't let him go like this.
Absolutely not.
Because I haven't even apologized yet.
"Your Highness!!!"
"Let go...!"
"It's dangerous."
"You have sothing to hear from that guy too!"
"..."
"We have to go."
That fool.
That foolish bastard.
Why...
I hurried to find Ricardo, who was guarding the gate of the imperial castle. In case sothing had happened, just as Michael had said.
I ran like crazy to find him, holding back the tears that were about to burst forth.
People might say, why do you care so much about an ordinary knight?
But.
The mories I had with Ricardo.
-Beco stupid, zap!
-...What are you doing?
-I was making a plan to ruin the empire.
-...Oh dear.
The blanket he would cover with when I fell asleep at my desk.
-...I told you not to sleep in a place like this.
I kept thinking about it, and my chest ached like crazy.
I ran until I thought my lungs would burst, stopped in front of the palace gate, and let out a sigh.
I can see him.
"..."
His back.
I could see the back of a knight standing alone in a place that had beco a ss, as if sothing had happened.
'He's alive...!'
I smiled brightly and called Ricardo's na.
"Ricardo!"
"..."
"Ricardo...?"
Why is he playing a joke?
A small smile appeared on my face at the sight of Ricardo, who was sulking because I had left him alone.
It's all over now.
The journey that had been so difficult.
The journey to beco emperor.
It's all over.
I know it will take a long ti to get Ricardo's forgiveness, but knowing that we have more ti together, I called his na again with a trembling voice.
"Ricardo!"
But.
"..."
At the sight of Ricardo, who didn't answer even when I called, my breath hitched.
"Why... aren't you saying anything?"
My hands tremble.
"Why...?"
An ominous feeling makes my hands tremble like crazy.
What should I say?
How should I take this?
The cool air, blowing like the autumn wind that changes the seasons, brought with it the emotion of anxiety and seized my heart.
I wish he would just say one word.
Why are you so late?
Why were you so late?
A small wish that he would say at least one word, why did you leave alone, suddenly ca to .
But.
"Ricardo...?"
At the sight of Ricardo, who didn't answer even when I called, tears burst forth.
"Ricardo..."
I slowly approached him with trembling steps.
And.
"Don't co."
His voice, along with the thick scent of blood, reached my ears coldly. The mont I was about to run to him with a brightening complexion.
"Your Highness, get away!"
I saw a giant spear pierce Ricardo's body.
A maniacal laugh is heard.
"Khahahaha!!! What kind of monster is this?"
"...Cough."
"What have you done, you!"
"..."
"To be able to hold out against two apostles...! To even kill the Apostle of Benevolence, who is close to immortal!!! It's sothing even the Knight Commander can't do, but you're showing us a miracle, you!"
"...A miracle?"
Ricardo moved his body with trembling hands.
"I see."
-Thud.
"It's a miracle."
With those words, Ricardo's knees fell pathetically.
I couldn't believe it.
No, I didn't want to believe it.
Why is this happening.
I really couldn't understand.
"..."
But.
At his cold warmth, I gasped and my eyes widened.
"Why."
"Why..."
"Whyyyyyyyy!!!"
I hate you.
I hugged the fallen Ricardo and looked up at the imperial priest. Full of anger... full of the will to kill him, I looked at him.
"A gift has arrived."
"...I'll kill you."
"Your knight bought you ti, saying he would keep his promise."
"I'll kill you!"
"It's a pity."
The mont I shed tears at the priest's gesture of raising his hand to throw the spear.
"Not yet..."
Ricardo pushed his collapsing body up and plunged his sword into his heart.
"It's not over yet."
A bursting sound is heard.
-Fwubububuk.
The sound of the priest tearing Ricardo's flesh was heard coolly in my ears.
"How can you still move...!"
"The promise...."
"...Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
"I have to keep my promise..."
"How dare you...! How dare you...!"
Ricardo shouted with a wailing voice.
"Misa..!!!"
"What did you just say...?!"
"The promise I made to protect you if you beca a great swordsman... I have to keep it."
"...Don't tell ."
"Help just once."
Michael raised his sword with trembling eyes, and Ricardo began to deeply embed his aura into the priest's body.
In a fleeting mont, Michael asked with a trembling voice.
"Is it you...?"
Ricardo smiled slightly and shook his head.
And so.
-Swish.
With a short bursting sound, the end of the terrible war had co.
"Did you co?"
At the sound of Ricardo's voice, I lowered my head.
He was covered in blood.
A weak and trembling touch, as if he would disappear if I touched him.
I called Ricardo with a trembling touch, but.
"Why... why is this happening!"
"Haha... I got a little scratched."
"..."
He was smiling as if to tell not to worry.
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"A little... just a little."
"It's not a little!!!"
"Haha..."
I said.
"Open your eyes...! You have to live! You have to save Olivia!"
"..."
"If you die now, I'll use the national treasure to save you. Then your dream will disappear...! Hurry...!"
Ricardo smiled and said.
"It's a lie, isn't it?"
"Huh...?"
"Haha... Your Highness is really bad at lying."
"..."
"I knew from the beginning."
As my expression hardened, Ricardo wiped away my tears and said. With the smile he always gave .
"I told you not to cry..."
"..."
"You broke your promise again."
He left my side.
"Smile..."
"Ah... ah..ahaha.. ah ah.."
"As expected... you're ugly when you cry."
Michael's expression as he watched was as if the world had collapsed.
-Part 2 'The Broken Sword' viewing has ended.
-Viewpoint changes.
-'The Mad Tyrant' wants to et the 'Viewer'.
A Relaxing Story – Side Story 1 -
[What if Desmunt Olivia was Ricardo's maid. -1-]
This chapter is a side story to change the mood, due to the fairy's deteriorating condition…!
This side story is completely unrelated to the novel, so feel free to skip it!
[This 'Side Story' is a world line where Darbab died at the hands of heretics.]
[I plan to interestingly expand on 'Olivia is a maid?!' with new content after the main story is complete, so please just enjoy it for fun!]
A dusty slum street.
"Spare a coin."
The beggar, asking for help for the unfortunate, held out a can in front of my feet, pretending to be pitiful.
"I haven't eaten a single al today."
"..."
"Please, just one coin."
Why do they do that?
I let out a languid sigh, looking at the can extended at my feet.
"Hmm... is there a reason I should give you money?"
Because there's no one in the world who isn't struggling.
"I am also an unfortunate person."
"..."
"A poor person who works hard all day to earn money..."
"...Please, just one coin!"
"Your two legs are fine, and your eyes see well, so why are you begging?"
"..."
The beggar, having received a lecture, glared at once, spat out the words 'What bad luck...' and disappeared abruptly.
"I was going to teach you how to beg efficiently."
I put the gold coin I was fiddling with back into my pocket and smiled slightly. Either way, I had saved money.
10 years since I was possessed in this other world.
Having achieved considerable success in business, I was known as quite the celebrity in the empire.
As a nouveau riche.
Even the Crown Prince couldn't ss with .
I had beco a rich man whom even the emperor of the empire couldn't sanction.
Thanks to the knowledge I gained from my past life and the connection nad 'Malik'.
Anyway, that's why I was walking the streets of the slums today to expand a new business.
"It looks like I'll have to tear everything down."
The business of 'redevelopnt'.
To , the slums are 'money'.
Countless street children.
Dusty roads.
And cheap land prices.
Nobles don't even look at the land where slums are ford because they would be looked down upon for buying it, but I, being a commoner, didn't need to care about what others thought.
Because this place, where I could buy land with many basic structures at a cheap price, was a goose that lays golden eggs.
"Hmmmm..."
Walking the streets of the slums, distinguishing between buildings that could be saved and those that couldn't, I stopped and smiled slightly at the street I hadn't visited in a long ti.
-Ikuminhyuk!
"It's been a while."
The place where I first started.
The feeling of visiting the old street where I had been possessed without knowing why was better than I thought.
I had t Mikhail here too.
-If I ask for help later, you have to help .
-Okay!
-I don't help for free. Got it?
-Got it!
-Hehehe... good.
And I had also been beaten to a pulp by street children.
-Kill him!
-Wait, you hit a bone...!
-Bones heal when they're broken.
"Haha...!"
I can't help but laugh.
It was a good thing I left the slums early with Mikhail. I could have been killed like a dog in a heretic attack.
Anyway.
"It's been a while."
The feeling of seeing a familiar place after a long ti wasn't bad.
"Should I leave this place as it is?"
I smiled slightly and slowly moved my feet to reminisce about the mories.
Passing the square where we took a picture together.
-One, two, three!
Going under the bridge where I slept with Mikhail.
-Don't push!
-Let's just sleep together!
-I'm a wo...!
-What!
I walked with a languid gait, letting out a hollow laugh.
After walking for a while, I arrived at a busy street and stopped, a pleasant smile forming on my face.
-Spare a coin!
-My child is starving!
Because I had arrived at the place that made who I am today, and where I could get my business funds.
Stopping in my tracks, I smiled slightly and let out a hollow laugh at the dusty can abandoned in the corner.
"It's still here."
The can I used for begging.
-You have to beg differently from others. Paint it all bling-bling.
-Then it won't look pitiful.
-Pretend to put money in.
-Okay.... Clink!
-Oh...! Oh oh...! Beautiful noble lady! Thank you for the 1 gold donation! Is there anything you'd like to see? A dance? A song? I'll do it all.
-...Ugh.
-That's how you do it.
Looking at the unfaded paintings on the can, I smiled slightly and nodded.
"There were tis like this."
An object filled with many mories.
So much so that it's a sha to throw it away.
It was then.
That a strange voice began to be heard by , who was steeped in nostalgia.
"...Eek?"
"...?"
"Eeeeeek...?"
I turned my head and smiled at the woman who was staring at the begging can in her hand with a dazed look.
"Hello~"
Because this woman seed to be the new owner of the begging can I had left behind.
From her appearance, she seed to be a once-prosperous noble. The dress she wore was a luxury brand, and her skin, undamaged despite a long life on the streets, was impossible unless she was a noble.
Above all.
"That's mine."
Those eyes.
Those aggressive eyes, looking like they were about to throw a punch at any mont, were the eyes of soone who had stood at the top of the food chain. I could tell at a glance.
"..."
I took out the gold coin I had been about to give to the holess person earlier and fiddled with it.
"..."
Because I wanted to pay the price for letting see an object filled with old mories again. Above all, the woman's face was my type, so for , who faithfully practiced gender discrimination, she was well worth the charity.
I gestured cautiously to the hesitant woman. That I'm not a bad person, so she could co closer.
"Excuse ."
"...Eek?"
"Are you the owner of this begging can?"
"It's not a begging can, it's a money can."
"...I see."
The woman, correcting the na of the begging can, slowly began to approach.
"It's mine."
"..."
"Don't touch it."
I almost burst out laughing at the woman's greed over sothing so trivial. While thinking, 'If you cherish it that much, you should take good care of it.'
"How old are you?"
The mont my cautious question spread into the air, the woman spat out unexpected words at .
"Mother...!"
A curse.
"Don't speak informally."
Anger, and.
"Are you good at fighting?"
She made a bold request.
She was a crazy woman.
My eting with her.
3 years later.
"Maid-nim."
"...Ung?"
"You should say 'yes', not 'ung'."
In front of a kitchen piled high with dishes, I was arguing with a woman in a maid outfit.
"But I'm a noble."
"And I'm the employer."
"Eeeeeeeek?"
"Eeeeeeeek. Forbidden."
"Hoeeeeeeek!!!"
"..."
Olivia, who had beco a maid, was diligently wrecking the mansion. In a way unbefitting of the title of maid.
I didn't know it would turn out like this.
-Take with you.
-No.
-I'm pretty.
-Still no.
-I'm nice.
-The rumors are bad.
-...Eek.
Neither that she would beco the holess person from the novel.
Nor that the villainess from the novel would beg for a job.
Olivia's situation was pitiful.
-My father died.
-...
-He said he'd earn a lot of money.... but he was attacked by heretics....
Because she had lost soone she loved.
It might have been a good thing for her not to face the sa tragedy as in the original novel, but since it couldn't be any comfort to her, who had experienced a tragedy, I decided not to think like that.
Instead.
-Crash!!!
"Maid-nim!"
"Hueh..."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"My heart is hurt."
Her disastrous housekeeping skills showed no signs of improving. Even after three years.
"..."
"Heh!"
"Don't laugh. It was an expensive plate."
"Uuuugh..."
I stroked Olivia's head and smiled. I thought that if nothing else, her face was the prettiest in the world.
And.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"Hug ."
It seed inevitable that a pleasant smile would form on its own due to our unexpectedly deepened relationship.
I grabbed Olivia's legs and lifted her into a hug.
"Eek?"
Olivia, her eyes wide, looked at with sparkling eyes, and I smiled slightly at her.
"Beautiful maid-nim."
"Yes?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
At my question, Olivia blushed and nodded.
"I do."
"You do?"
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and brought her lips close.
"You."
Opening my eyes after her lips lightly touched and disappeared, I smiled slightly and said.
"It's going to be a long night."
"...But the sun is still up?"
"If I say it's night, it's night."
That night was long for Olivia.
·
·
·
-Flash.
"Hmnya."
Waking from her sleep, Olivia opened her eyes and looked out the window.
And.
"Motherfucker!"
She caressed her reddened cheeks and called out the familiar butler's na. Because he had presumptuously appeared in her dream and done strange things.
"Ricardo!!!"
Olivia, seeing Ricardo in his butler uniform, smiled in satisfaction and nodded.
"You called for ?"
As expected.
"Ricardo is ant to be a butler."
She preferred the butler by her side to a rich man. She preferred a butler who laughed and joked with her to a cheesy one.
Olivia smiled and said.
"Hug ."
Ricardo smiled and replied.
"I'd rather not."
As expected.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!"
It seems I really like Ricardo.
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