Everything Leads Back to One
Ferda had always wondered.
Why had she killed the Third Prince?
Of course, the uncontrollable bloodlust within her had tormented her relentlessly. The accepted explanation was that the Third Prince had died because she had failed to keep that bloodlust under control.
I thought that was all there was to it.
Had Valdrova simply been a dragon who lost all reason whenever angered, or had the Third Prince been recklessly thoughtless, then perhaps that explanation would have sufficed.
But the doubts kept piling up.
Valdrova's power certainly went out of control from time to time because of Godwin's energy.
Yet that bloodlust accumulated gradually, and whenever Valdrova sensed it building, she always dealt with it by shutting herself in her room and harming herself.
Had she regarded the Third Prince as a human being, she would undoubtedly have been careful.
It made no sense that someone who loved humans could simply forget her own condition.
Nor did it make sense that the Third Prince had provoked Valdrova by mentioning that fact.
Ferda's heart pounded.
His Red Circle and Shadow Circle were revolving simultaneously.
It was proof that even Ferda himself could not clearly identify what he was feeling at that moment.
"..."
Ferda asked calmly.
His reason hung by a thread, precariously suspended from the tips of his fingers.
"Why did you do such a thing and make her miserable?"
"I only heard about it, but..."
Akad began to speak.
"The purpose wasn't to make Valdrova miserable... Million Arken knew he was falling behind the previous emperor in the line of succession, so he intended to build a new power base through a political marriage..."
It was hardly surprising in noble society.
Valdrova must have intended to marry a human without knowing any of that.
"Isn't that something that happens all the time?"
"No... It wasn't like that... He was planning treason... He intended to use the dragon to swallow the Empire whole."
"Are you certain he truly intended to rebel?"
Ferda asked because seven times out of ten, evidence of treason was fabricated for political purposes.
As long as people believed it, no one asked questions before exterminating three generations of a family.
"It wasn't... merely an excuse for a purge... He truly intended to rebel... There were also factions that meant to join him..."
Apparently, the Third Prince had been different.
"Even my father, who never cared much about good and evil... didn't think highly of Million Arken... He usually presented himself as a modest and princely man, but that wasn't his true nature. He was cruel and arrogant... He even regarded Valdrova, a Princeps, as nothing more than a stupid lizard... All we had to do was make him blurt out what he really carried inside."
"So you made a truth serum."
"Yes..."
Arrogant and contemptuous by nature.
Ferda imagined him laying bare every foul thought in his heart without restraint.
Like a madman wielding a blade, he would have torn into her tender heart and trampled it.
Ferda's clenched fist tightened.
The Third Prince, who had dreamed of building a new faction by exploiting Valdrova.
The powers that had intended to join him.
Valdemar, who had secretly drugged him to stop it.
And Valdrova, sacrificed between them.
The thing Valdrova feared...
Her pure love being trampled.
Her emotions surging like waves.
And at last, her inability to suppress the bloodlust before running wild.
He suddenly remembered what Valdrova had said during the Spring Festival.
—If someone truly said such a thing to me, I would...
"Tell me."
Ferda asked again, his voice turning cold.
"Who was the mastermind behind that plan?"
It had already happened fifty years ago.
The previous emperor was dead. Akad's father was dead. Only a handful of those involved were still alive.
But that did not matter.
When it came to dragons, the principle was to punish one as a warning to a hundred.
And if the culprits themselves were gone, then Ferda would simply leave their descendants with pain so excruciating that it would haunt their generation.
"The—the mastermind was..."
"Urgh...!"
Akad stammered.
His reason was violently resisting the act of speaking that name.
Yet the more his mind resisted, the worse the headache became.
There was only one way to escape the pain.
He had to tell the truth.
All he had to do was answer and allow himself to feel relief.
"Ghhh...! Aaaaargh!"
After resisting violently for ten full minutes, Akad finally chose relief.
"Aaaaargh! Grand Duke Golt!"
Golt.
Again.
That name appeared yet again.
The cheers of the citizens.
The filthy schemes behind the scenes.
Everything led back to the name Valdemar Golt.
Each time Ferda heard that detestable old man's name, his disgust only deepened.
To think I actually considered joining hands with someone like him.
Rather than keeping his distance from the enemy who had made his already miserable life even more wretched, Ferda had briefly imagined a future in which they maintained amicable relations.
The thought filled him with revulsion.
"I heard that if we refused to obey, you intended to accuse us of seeking independence. Is that true?"
Ferda asked another question to cool his head.
"Ghhh..."
"You would be wise to answer."
"That would be idiotic... The Far East benefits more... by remaining part of the Empire... Why would we do such a thing? Grand Duke Golt said... all we needed to do was extract the magitech."
Ferda had seen through that intention, and now that the Far East had gained justification for its autonomy, the Empire would no longer be able to interfere so heavily.
Yet knowing that Valdemar's influence continued to grow made that autonomy feel like a candle flickering before the wind.
"Does Grand Duke Golt know what you do here?"
This place was the embodiment of the darkness Akad should have sealed within his heart forever.
"H-he does... But he can't touch me..."
"Because you're a renowned alchemist?"
"Yes... Because I'm useful..."
Truthfully, Akad's tastes probably meant little to Valdemar.
The Empire was not a village.
In a village, when a mutilated corpse was discovered, the people would observe the proper rites and cremate it.
In the Empire, people stepped over bodies lying in the streets on their way to work.
One or two people disappearing for the sake of Akad's deep, twisted fetish amounted to no more than adding another corpse to the countless bodies already piled high.
"I see."
Ferda took the recording crystal orb and rose from his seat.
"This should be enough."
Ferda picked up another vial.
The label on it read: Love Potion.
It was the anesthetic Akad had attempted to make Ferda drink.
"No."
The moment Akad saw the vial, he shook his head.
Ferda paused and asked him,
"What isn't?"
"That drug... I don't want to drink it."
"Why? Isn't this your love?"
"I-I hate it... I hate that drug..."
He tried to resist with his limp, sagging body.
But there was no escaping Ferda's grasp.
"How ironic."
Ferda sneered at the sight.
"You despise those who profane love, yet you cannot accept your own."
Ferda poured Akad's love into his mouth.
"Ghk... Krrgh..."
The focus in Akad's eyes once again sank into that distant abyss.
Ferda sat across from him and steadied his breathing.
Everything he had heard echoed through his mind, throwing his emotions into turmoil.
He wanted to strangle Akad to death right then and there.
No.
That would not be enough.
He wanted to imprison him inside a cube, as Erdes had once done, and crush every part of his body.
But I must not do that.
Ferda was not the one suited to deal with this man's ugliness properly.
His role ended here.
He rose from his seat.
Without meaning to, he looked around the room one last time.
His gaze landed on someone bound to the wall.
It was a woman.
Her body had been ruined beyond recognition, and she watched the room helplessly through hollow, vacant eyes.
Judging by her condition, her mind may already be broken.
Her body had been mangled by Akad's assaults and experiments.
The injuries were severe enough to break not only an ordinary person, but even a trained knight under the combined effects of drugs and torture.
The love potion merely separated the body from conscious control. It did not make the pain disappear.
It was a miracle that she was still breathing.
Ferda extended a hand toward the woman.
Should I... dispose of her?
It would benefit him to leave behind neither evidence nor witnesses.
Even if he killed her, he could simply blame it on Akad.
And this would probably be the more merciful choice.
A clean death was better than a life of suffering.
Under normal circumstances, that was what he would have thought.
But Ferda, with his emotions in turmoil, was not the man of cold and ruthless reason he usually was.
Those emotions made him act differently.
It felt as though Valdrova were leaning against his back, embracing him warmly.
As though she were whispering that she was there beside him.
What if...
Like her...
this woman could still believe that even after sinking into the deepest despair, there was a way to climb back out?
"Soon..."
Ferda withdrew the mana gathering in his outstretched hand.
"Someone will come."
With that same hand, he gently closed her eyes so they would not dry out.
"So rest easy."
Leaving behind words of comfort that did not suit him, Ferda departed.
***
The Imperial Palace.
No one was allowed to approach the area surrounding Olivia's bedchamber.
Even ordinarily, the only person permitted to enter was the maid who assisted her with her most private needs.
Now, even that assistance had been taken away.
After Olivia's recent disappearance from the palace, every factor that might help her escape had been eliminated.
For Olivia, it was almost preferable.
At least she no longer had to endure people secretly checking her complexion every time she slept.
The night Ferda obtained what he wanted was slightly different.
Olivia felt the faint, featherlight touch of someone stroking her hair.
The chill of winter stirred her awake along with a distant breeze.
Pretending to turn over in bed, Olivia carefully reached for the dagger hidden beneath her pillow.
There were very few people capable of infiltrating an imperial princess's bedchamber.
If she saw Alexander's pig-like face, she intended to stab him without hesitation.
But the silhouette outlined against the moonlight was slender.
Olivia lifted her head and looked at the intruder.
"Princess Olivia?"
His eyes glowed red behind his mask.
Olivia did not answer.
It was not because she was too frightened to speak.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Zed Swallow. I came here under Regent Ferda's orders."
Somehow, she had expected as much.
He knelt and spoke in a beautiful voice.
"The Regent wished to give you a small gift. Would you please come with me?"
Olivia rose from the bed without answering.
She pulled on the robe hidden beneath it and approached him.
"Let us go."
"Yes."
Zed led Olivia through the escape route he had prepared.
Everything proceeded so smoothly that even Zed found himself surprised.
She isn't startled at all.
A single blossom of pure innocence.
He knew that was merely a nickname the nobles had created after being deceived by what they saw and felt.
Even so, it was strange to see her remain entirely composed in the face of such an unexpected situation.
I knew what I felt was right.
In the past, he might have been captivated by her beauty and casually invited her to dance.
But after observing her from a distance, his swallow's instincts had screamed a warning.
Trying to seduce this woman would ruin his life beyond repair.
They successfully escaped the Imperial Palace and boarded a carriage.
"Where are we going?"
Olivia, who had followed quietly until then, finally asked.
"To Marquis Dvelung's estate."
"The Marquis's estate..."
Instead of asking why, she said something else.
"I see..."
Murmuring as though she understood, she tilted her head and looked out the window.
Every movement she made resembled a scene from a painting, but Zed could think only of how much he wanted to leave her presence as soon as possible.
A short while later, they arrived at Marquis Dvelung's grand estate as instructed.
When the carriage stopped before the tightly shut gates, the gatekeepers approached.
Instead of servants dressed in clothing befitting such an estate, figures wearing black robes and concealing their identities welcomed the carriage.
The gates opened.
Before the carriage entered, Zed stepped down.
"I shall take my leave here. It was a tremendous honor to escort you, Your Highness."
Zed pulled the hood hanging behind him over his head and blended in with the disguised figures.
The carriage entered the estate and stopped before the mansion's main entrance.
"Welcome."
A masked woman greeted Olivia politely.
Olivia responded with equal formality before asking,
"Is the Regent inside?"
"The Regent is currently absent."
Displeasure appeared on Olivia's face.
She was capable of expressing even that emotion through a smile.
"Then why am I here?"
"The Regent left you a gift. Please, this way."
He had entered another man's estate and even prepared a gift for her.
There were no servants in sight, and someone as perceptive as Olivia could easily infer what had happened.
That was why she silently followed the masked woman.
They passed through the alchemy workshop and entered a secret passage leading underground.
"Please prepare yourself."
The woman warned Olivia before opening the door.
Then the dark fantasies that had existed only inside Dvelung's mind were laid bare before her.
"..."
The scent of blood and filth had seeped into the bricks, and the faint stench seemed to summon phantom screams.
Rather than vomiting or making a scene at the horrifying room, Olivia fixed her gaze on its center.
No—it would be more accurate to say that her attention was stolen.
A single chair stood in the middle.
Torture instruments and shelves of drugs surrounded it in a circle.
Scratches left by fingernails and abrasions from ropes remained on the wooden armrests, testifying to the screams and suffering of those who had once sat there.
And seated in that dreadful chair was the master of the estate himself, Marquis Akad Dvelung.
Olivia quietly looked down at him.
He appeared as though his soul had left his body.
"I had heard that Marquis Akad Dvelung possessed some unpleasant tastes, but this is truly disgusting."
Despite her words, a smile rested on Olivia's face.
It was not a mask.
She was genuinely delighted by the situation.
"Is this the Regent's gift?"
"How cruel of him. I am a woman too. I would have been touched if he had sent me even a single flower..."
She murmured regretfully before asking the masked woman,
"What does he want me to do?"
"He said it did not matter what you did with it. He was certain you would find a good use for it."
"Hmm~"
Olivia tapped a finger lightly against her lips as she considered the possibilities.
"This could be used as a counterattack against the current attempt to undermine the Alte Order's authority. The Order's representatives will likely be working through the night today, so summoning them should not be difficult."
"We can also spread the claim that demon worshippers have infiltrated more than just the Alte Order."
Valdemar's method of strengthening his power would be obstructed, while no one would dare deny the system upheld by the Alte Order.
"The Regent truly is remarkable..."
For Olivia, openly entering the estate, subduing its owner, and exposing his true face would not have been easy.
He was, after all, Valdemar's right-hand man.
For an imperial noble to directly target the closest aide of a man who enjoyed overwhelming support throughout the Empire would have been unthinkable.
"Don't you agree, Miss Garnet?"
"..."
"Let us not be so stiff with each other. Not between us."
Olivia already knew who was hiding behind the mask.
"I deserve much of the credit for giving him such a capable ally, don't I?"
"That is certainly true."
Although she knew her identity had already been exposed, Garnet did not remove her mask.
"However, given the current circumstances, I have no choice but to remain wary of you."
"Why?"
"Because lately, your actions have become impossible to predict."
Ferda regarded her as an ally.
But Garnet knew that Olivia was not merely a benevolent supporter.
"The scandal between the Regent and the Imperial Princess."
It was another assignment she had once received from Ferda.
Nothing was more difficult than tracing the origin of a rumor, and it had been natural not to expect any results.
But Garnet was the leader of the finest secret intelligence organization on the Cerdes Continent.
In the end, she had reached the truth.
"I know that you were the one who deliberately spread that rumor."
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