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Chapter 272
A True Patriot
"You know that well enough. It's a fake."
"Now I'd like to ask the questions. How did Grand Duke Golt know that?"
"Exactly as you said."
Because he obsessed over Olivia, he knew her well.
He remembered even those gestures that couldn't come from mere acting.
Е̌ñ ũḿ а̂
"That bitch was a perfect stranger."
"I don't believe it."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda just plowed right in.
"I find it more credible that you're in cahoots with demons and pulling a con."
"Hah! Quite the bold talk."
In league with demons.
Ẇ е̃ b ño v̀ еl̈ Еn̊ ů mа̄
At that remark, enough to provoke rage, Valdemar smiled and spoke.
"Laughed, and my throat's scratchy. Mind if I have some tea?"
Ferda raised a finger, quietly manipulating shadows to lift the teacup.
Even at the brazen display of black magic, Valdemar remained unperturbed.
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He sipped the appropriately cooled tea and said,
"Go on. You already know Olivia isn't herself anymore. So what do you think I did to Princess Olivia?"
Ӗ n ù m̊ а̂
"I think you're confining her."
Olivia, whom he wanted to possess.
Once she became a Saintess, she could claim she'd sworn an eternal oath with God and escape the fate of women who must marry.
"And you'd find a way to take her for yourself, wouldn't you?"
"Well, that's also true. I did terrible things to Stella, so I wanted to treat Olivia preciously. But if I got a bit older and sicker and more impatient, I might've made Olivia that way too."
"You speak as if that's not the case now."
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"Because it's not. If it were, wouldn't that mean I'm in league with demon lackeys?"
"Is it not?"
Ferda asked rudely.
"Regent, I've said it repeatedly—I'm a patriot. I do plenty of terrible things, but solely for this Empire. To that end, I always ensure they remain mere tools. Preventing the cart before the horse. Demons are trash among trash that can't even be handled as tools."
To Ferda, it just sounded like the foolish words of an intellectual who thought he'd leashed a demon.
Valdemar felt Ferda's gaze too.
Еn û ṁа̇
"Regent, do you perhaps believe me?"
"Would that be possible?"
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"Right. You know I'm the one who did terrible things to you, and to the Duke too."
He chuckled and drank his tea.
"Believe it or not, it's your freedom. Anyway, from this day forward, my days are numbered, so everything I tell you from now on will be the truth."
"Please speak."
Wе́ b́ n_оv̊ е̊_l̈ Ë n̂ ùm a
"I found out Olivia had been switched a week ago."
He said.
"Before becoming a Saintess, she requested a final meeting. I was going to send Olivia off then."
"......."
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"But the look in Olivia's eyes when she came to see me was strange."
"How did she look at you?"
Ŵeb n о v е_ĺ Ӗ n̄u m̂ a
"She looked at me with disgust."
"She always did."
"Right, I know. I've watched her longer than anyone. I already know what emotions that child holds."
Ferda's brow furrowed involuntarily.
Knowing Olivia felt disgust yet refusing to let go—that obsession grated on Ferda's nerves.
"When I met that child, I knew at a glance. It was disgust no different from shallow flattery. Not the deep, dark disgust that child possessed."
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"I see."
That wasn't what Ferda was curious about.
"So where is Olivia?"
He didn't trust him yet, but felt he needed to hear everything he had to say.
Then, as if he'd anticipated this, he produced something and held it out to Ferda.
It was a note made from torn high-quality cloth.
Éń.um̃ а̊.id̊
-I have the Princess. If you want her back, I ask for your cooperation.
"It arrived the night I met Olivia. The mastermind knew I'd noticed."
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It wasn't Olivia's handwriting, nor Valdemar's.
Ferda read the next line.
-Please contribute to overthrowing the Arken Empire.
What the other party wanted was the Empire's collapse.
Еnú m а̄. і d̂
"So you're saying you're playing along with that intention...... is that it?"
"Half right, half wrong."
"Where does killing the Emperor fall?"
"That would fall under overthrow."
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Killing a nation's king was an unforgivable capital crime.
"I can't say there were no personal feelings. Do you know how it happened?"
Ë n̈ u m̀ а̊ .і̇.d̈
"What is it?"
"The moment I found out, I reported to His Majesty. That the Princess's identity was a Doppler, and about the Doppler's existence too. Know what he said?"
Anger laced his voice.
"He said it doesn't matter if it's real or fake."
"......."
"Whether Princess Olivia is real or fake doesn't matter. He doesn't want the nation ruined over one daughter."
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"That makes you angry?"
"I served this country loyally. Loyalty must be repaid. If that repayment is broken, what reason do I have to serve that king? Such a king is worse than nonexistent."
He talks patriotism yet kills the Emperor without hesitation.
In this world, it looked like nothing but cowardly self-justification.
"And then he proposed completely suppressing the Althea Religion?"
"Wasn't that what you wanted?"
Е n̄ u m̌а
"It would be agreeable to maintain this system, but I didn't want to become the foundation for absolute royal authority. If you truly think of this country, that's what must be done."
Ferda laughed inwardly at the absurdity.
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"So you killed him? That alone caused massive chaos."
Then this time Valdemar laughed.
"He deserved to die anyway. Who'd welcome a man who was most competent when holed up in his chambers, pointlessly picking up a pen to create new chaos? It was necessary for the Arken Empire's fortune."
"Is that the half you spoke of?"
Е̃ ňu m ӑ
"There's more. What happens to ground after rain?"
"It hardens."
Hardness.
Thinking about what that hardness meant, Ferda recalled a fact.
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"So that's how Alexander Arken managed to escape."
"Precisely."
W̊_e bn̊о̂ v̀ е̄l̂ Е̊ń u̇ m а
He killed the Emperor and Princess, but the Crown Prince lived and fled.
"What do you think happens when the second-in-command kills the Emperor and rules, and that supported second-in-command acts like a tyrant?"
"The last remaining bloodline would somehow gain support."
Like ground hardening after rain.
The situation was half overthrow, half loyalty as he'd said.
One thing Ferda didn't understand.
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"Let's say the Emperor was necessary to kill. But was there a need to bring Olivia and behead her?"
Valdemar's actions were extreme in everything.
Valdemar answered that question readily.
"The nobles know what feelings I hold for Olivia. They probably think of me as a dying old man just lusting after women. How would I know that? I tried several times to bring in whores with big chests, blonde hair, and blue eyes to entertain me. They took human sincerity far too lightly."
Valdemar snorted.
"I really hate humans who look down on me."
Е̄n̂um ӑ .і́ ḋ
"I'd hate that too."
"Hate it. But only because they're enemies. You think of me as an enemy, I know, but you've never once looked down on me. Those who show respect are quite pleasing."
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Ferda couldn't understand what he meant.
"Anyway, in that state, I killed Olivia with my own hands. What would they think?"
"'He's finally lost his mind,' they'd think."
"Right, they'd think I've gone mad. Seeing such madness leads to fear. If they fear me, whether they support me or not, they won't dare try anything."
Ẽnu m̊а
"That's only a temporary effect, isn't it?"
"A temporary effect is all I need. If I'm not ruling for thousands of years, fear is the most effective method."
Valdemar pushed his teacup forward slightly.
Seeing the empty cup, Ferda refilled it.
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After wetting his throat, he continued.
"Where do you think the driving force that draws people lies? Decent looks and flashy rhetoric? Those are merely supplementary. In the end, they'll vanish like dew on a blade. People fear power, and are beings ruled by the emotion of fear. That's why a tyrant excels at uniting people more than a benevolent ruler."
E̊ n u m̈ а.і̃d̈
"What will you do with them once united?"
"I have to get Olivia back. And I'll extract a promise."
At Valdemar's words, Ferda's expression hardened.
Ferda wasn't a fool to forget the conversation from moments ago.
"You clearly said you'd let her go when she tried to become a Saintess. But now you say you'll extract a promise. Isn't that a contradiction?"
"The Princess trying to become a Saintess and the Emperor trying to break his promise are different matters. It's like an apple rotting so you can't eat it, versus having no intention of giving the apple. Know the difference?"
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"Just a cowardly excuse forcing a justification."
"Doesn't matter. I might think so too."
Valdemar set down his teacup and spoke.
He brings up the real reason he came, the main point.
"I'm trying to get Olivia back. To do that, I'll become a tyrant, and there's something you must do for such a tyrant."
"The Far East has special autonomy, Usurper."
Е̄ n̈ ūm̊ ā.іd̀
Ferda refused first.
"I said it—I'm a tyrant. An existence that can't be stopped by a few ink drops buried on paper."
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"You intend to ignore autonomy and commit atrocities?"
Ferda's eyes flashed.
A gaze that could intimidate anyone, but Valdemar didn't flinch.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm saying there's no need for us to redden faces at each other through such atrocities. All I want is magitech weapon support."
Е ńum ӑ .і d̊
"What becomes of the position of someone providing weapons to a usurper?"
"It'll become very difficult. I understand completely. So will you quit?"
Valdemar, brazen as ever.
"Judging by the situation, demons are the ones who kidnapped Olivia. Weapons created under the pretext of blocking the Arken Empire's threat—if they can't be used when that very pretext is invoked, what do you think happens?"
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"There's no assessment yet that they're useful against demons."
"Think broadly. Such demons naturally command monsters, and magitech has proven extremely useful for fighting monsters. It's how I'll motivate my 100,000 army."
Е̃nūṁ а . іd
"At the same time, they'll fear you more and your strengthened power will prolong your rule."
"All I want is the power to retrieve Olivia. For that, I need the magitech weapons you created."
"Then we'll obtain her ourselves."
"Young Regent."
Valdemar set down his teacup and tilted his head.
"Though it's a pity you remain my enemy, I don't want to block your future. In that spirit, listen well. For everyone's sake, I'd prefer you not get deeply involved in the Olivia matter."
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"Why?"
"Do you know what emotion Olivia feels toward you?"
Ferda answered.
"Comradeship."
"Don't hide your true feelings. You vaguely know too, don't you? A face she never showed even at gatherings of women—she only shows it when with you."
Ferda often felt a sense of discrepancy while with Olivia.
E ǹum̈.a. i̊ d̊
She had a dull side, but being together so much, even that dullness became increasingly clear.
Especially Ureas's remark about the handkerchief still lingered in Ferda's mind.
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"Admit it. That child yearns for you."
Ferda wavered for a moment, but only briefly.
The other party was Valdemar.
The one who isolated Stella's fiancé and drove him to death was Valdemar Golt.
W̆е b̃ n оv е̌l̈ Ë n̂ üm̈ ǎ
"So you're saying don't help, just watch?"
"That wouldn't be good. If you help, I have no choice but to agree. But if you do everything alone, that child's dream will swell. Do you know what happens then?"
"I don't."
"She becomes a Prince on a White Horse."
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The Prince on a White Horse is the existence every young lady dreams of.
"That child is one who must have what she wants. If that extraordinary mind starts obsessing over you, your pure love will never know peace again."
Е̄ n u ṁ á.. і d̊_
Don't talk bullshit.
He wanted to say that, but it wouldn't come out of Ferda's mouth at all.
Doubt in Ferda's heart, and eyes speaking only truth.
All of it was testing Ferda.
