Chapter 191: Reward
The sunlight had shifted further west, cutting a long slanted beam across the reception room floor.
Lakyus finally released her grip on Lucian's collar. But those pale green eyes still carried residual warmth — the look of a cat that had caught its prey and decided to let it go, but hadn't quite put the claws away yet.
What had happened in the moments just before was this:
Lucian had delivered, at a speed that would have impressed most legal professionals, a clear and earnest account of how his aid to the Dragon Kingdom was purely for the benefit of its people — no personal agenda whatsoever, no plans involving marriage to anyone.
Lakyus's shoulders eased. She let it go. Lucian took the opportunity to straighten his crumpled collar, and thanked her silently for not pressing any further.
Draudillon was standing a few steps away with an expression that said "this has nothing to do with me" — as though the words "once we're married we'll be family" had been said by someone else entirely in another room. But Lucian could read that posture well enough. This had Bergmann's fingerprints all over it.
He looked at the prime minister.
Bergmann's expression was going through a quiet transformation. His eyes froze for a brief moment — the look of a fixed assumption cracking — then slowly reassembled themselves.
"Lord Aindra."
Bergmann met his gaze directly, and his eyes held a question he couldn't entirely contain.
"I want to confirm. Your aid to the Dragon Kingdom was truly only to protect our people — and not for... other reasons?"
Lucian nodded. "That's correct." He held the prime minister's gaze without flinching. "The people of the Dragon Kingdom were being used as food by the beastmen. I couldn't stand by and watch. That's all."
He could say it with that much conviction because it was, in part, true. The primary objective in coming to the Dragon Kingdom had been to engineer the situation with Sebas. But that hadn't prevented him from genuinely caring about people being treated as livestock. If he claimed no self-interest at all, that would be a lie. If he claimed it was purely calculated, Lucian didn't think he was actually that cold.
Bergmann was quiet for a long time.
Over the course of a long career, he had observed more varieties of noble "good deeds" than most people see in a lifetime, and behind every one of them the price tag was visible if you knew where to look. But this young lord in front of him — who had risked his life, and was saying now that it was simply because he couldn't watch civilians be eaten — had offered a reason too straightforward to find a crack in.
With the loli-con explanation removed from the table, only one interpretation remained.
He was telling the truth.
"I see."
The prime minister said it quietly, and something in his voice eased — the sound of a concern set down after too long. "I was too narrow in my thinking." He bowed — deeper than his usual measured angle. "To have attributed Lord Aindra's honorable act to... that kind of reason. I was in error."
When he said "that kind of reason," his gaze made a brief involuntary visit to Draudillon's direction and came back.
Lucian watched him and sighed internally.
He understood exactly what the prime minister was referring to.
The loli-con label had actually served as a useful deflector. It gave most nobles a version of events they could accept, because for nobles, the instinct to deny that Lucian would genuinely risk his life out of decency was a way of defending their own self-image. They were neither kind nor particularly good, and they didn't want to believe a noble could be that straightforward. Accepting it would make their own characters look worse by comparison. Pinning him with "loli-con" let them stand safely above it, dismissing his actions as impulsive and naive.
Ironically, the common people tended to believe in Lucian's selflessness more readily — because they couldn't save themselves, and needed to believe someone would.
He'd had to give up that useful shield now. Lakyus's presence beside him had made maintaining it simply too costly.
"Prime Minister, there's no need for this." Lucian waved it off, tone easy. "I'm somewhat flattered that Your Majesty and you wished to offer recognition in that way." When he said "recognition," his voice landed on the word with just a fraction of additional weight. But he caught the Queen looking ready to make another run at Lakyus, and let his manner soften.
Sebas chose this moment to return from wherever his thoughts had taken him.
He looked around. Lucian was standing in the center of the reception room with his collar slightly off-center, Lakyus at his side, and the atmosphere was no longer the way it had been a few minutes ago. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened — why had explaining this obvious fact just restored the room to normal? He didn't dwell on it.
"Lord Lucian and Miss Aindra's bond is truly something to admire," he said warmly.
Lucian's temple pulsed.
"Sebas..." He looked at the old butler with mild helplessness. "You don't need to say that out loud."
"Hmm?" Sebas clearly couldn't see anything wrong with his observation. If anything, he produced a slightly more satisfied smile. "I only mean — the way you two go back and forth with each other. You must be very close."
A small crack appeared in Lakyus's serious expression. She glanced at Lucian, then turned her head away. The tips of her ears went faintly pink. "...Brother and Sebas-san do seem to get along very well," she said, her voice kept low, and the way she said it carried a distinct undercurrent of and there are still things you haven't told me.
Lucian's head hurt more.
The atmosphere in the reception room had shifted into something considerably more layered after Sebas's contribution. Bergmann, however, appeared completely unaware of any of this — still absorbed in his self-reflection about having misjudged Lord Aindra. After a stretch, the prime minister finally looked up.
The admiration on that lined face had settled back somewhat, replaced by a more practical concern.
"However..." he began, slower than before. "Now I genuinely don't know how to reward Lord Aindra."
Lucian blinked.
"The original proposal was to give Lord Aindra a..." — Bergmann caught himself — "ahem." He stopped just short of completing the sentence. The meaning was clear enough without finishing it. He cleared his throat and reframed. "But that was premised on Lord Aindra having feelings for Her Majesty. Since your act was purely for the people, that particular arrangement really wouldn't be fitting..."
The corner of Lucian's mouth made a small involuntary movement.
Marriage. As a reward.
So in the prime minister's framework, being brought into the Dragon Kingdom as a son-in-law was the prize?
Admittedly — from the loli-con angle, it would indeed be a prize.
He looked at Bergmann's completely earnest face and found he had nothing to say to it.
"Prime Minister, please don't trouble yourself over this." Lucian said it calmly. "My aid to the Dragon Kingdom was freely given. I'm not looking for anything in return."
"That won't do." Bergmann shook his head. "Lord Aindra eliminated the beastman threat and saved the lives of millions of the Dragon Kingdom's people. An achievement of this scale — if we fail to offer appropriate recognition, no one in this kingdom would accept it."
The light in the room shifted again.
Lucian stood at the boundary of light and shadow, held the prime minister's gaze steadily, and declined again.
"Prime Minister, you're too kind. I only did what my conscience required."
As he said it, Lakyus beside him was looking at him with both eyes practically shining. Pure undisguised admiration, the corner of her mouth curved, her whole bearing bright. She had adjusted her position to the precise angle where she could see Brother's profile in its acting-for-the-people-without-asking-anything-in-return presentation.
Lucian, without turning his head, could feel that gaze burning a hole through the back of his skull.
He pressed down the guilt that came with being admired for something that was only part of the full story.
Outwardly he maintained the expression, and gave the prime minister a small nod.
"However..." The redirect came naturally. His eyes moved to Sebas, who was standing beside him. "The real reason we were able to defeat the beastman nation was Sebas's contribution. Without Sebas's intervention, the Aindra cavalry alone could never have achieved this outcome."
Sebas blinked. He hadn't expected Lucian to redirect to him.
"So — if the Dragon Kingdom truly wishes to offer recognition," Lucian continued, "why not direct any reward to Sebas instead?"
The room went briefly quiet.
Lakyus's gaze followed Lucian's words and settled on Sebas, her expression returning to neutral. Bergmann was looking at the old man in the black tailcoat with an entirely new set of eyes.
A pleasant face. Pale complexion. By all appearances, nothing beyond an aging butler. In terms of fighting ability, Bergmann suspected this particular old man might not even get the better of him in a direct confrontation. So this man — with no apparent martial capability — had brought down the beastman army through strategy alone?
The prime minister's mind moved quickly through every field report from the past weeks. He'd assumed all of it was Lord Aindra and his cavalry fighting through the front. He hadn't considered that there was a mind working behind all of it.
"I see..."
Bergmann said it under his breath, genuine admiration growing behind his eyes. He bowed toward Sebas — more formally than he had bowed to anyone in the room. "Sebas-san, I failed to show you proper regard earlier — I hope you can forgive the oversight. The Dragon Kingdom will not forget your contribution."
He straightened, his gaze sincere.
"What reward would you like? Gold, territory, a title, a loli... the Dragon Kingdom can provide any of these."
Sebas didn't answer immediately. He turned his head first, directing a brief grateful look toward Lucian. Lord Lucian had turned down any reward for himself — and still thought to leave the opportunity open for him. Lucian gave a small nod in return. Sebas looked back at Bergmann.
"I have no interest in money or titles." His voice was even, and carried the quality of meaning it. "But there is something I've been curious about."
Bergmann waited.
"I am... quite curious about dragons." Sebas measured his words. "If the Dragon Kingdom would be willing to share information about dragons, that would be the finest reward I could ask for."
The air in the reception room held itself still for a moment.
Bergmann's eyes — cloudy with age but still sharp — rested on Sebas without blinking for several long breaths. He had expected something more practical. Territory and titles were the kinds of things the world generally understood as worth having. But this man had turned all of it down in favor of satisfying an intellectual curiosity.
"Sebas-san..." Something settled into the lines of Bergmann's face that hadn't been there before — the real thing, not the polished version. "You are truly a man of learning."
"To remain unmoved by gold and land, and to care only about a matter of knowledge — that quality of character, I have rarely encountered in a long lifetime."
Sebas met the prime minister's gaze calmly and offered no explanation.
After a few more words of genuine appreciation, Bergmann turned toward Draudillon, who was standing in the center of the reception room.
"Your Majesty, as you see..."
The word "see" trailed off.
Draudillon was standing near the window. The hem of her pale pink dress had a soft golden border where the sunlight caught it. Her eyes were pointed somewhere outside the window, her gaze slightly unfocused, lashes trembling occasionally but not tracking anything.
Her expression was neither sad nor happy. Somewhere between the two, in a register that didn't have a clean name.
Bergmann looked at his queen's absent expression with a faint trace of confusion.
By rights, she should be pleased. Lord Aindra had made it explicit that his aid had nothing to do with marriage. Which meant she would no longer have to face being married in the small form she clearly disliked. Yet her expression right now was distinctly not one of relief.
"Your Majesty." He called again, a shade louder.
Draudillon gave a small start, as though being pulled back from somewhere far away. She turned her head. Those large eyes still held a trace of distance. "Ah... yes? What is it?"
"Sebas-san would like information about dragons." Bergmann's voice was measured. "What does Your Majesty think?"
Draudillon blinked, seeming to come back the rest of the way.
She tilted her head slightly, and some focus returned to her eyes. "Dragon information..." Her voice was a little lighter than usual. "I actually don't know all that much about it myself. I'm not sure which part Sebas-san is interested in?"
"Your Majesty's willingness to speak to it at all is more than generous," Sebas said. He chose his words with care, his eyes resting on Draudillon with quiet attention. "I'm only hoping to understand certain legends and capabilities related to dragons."
He paused.
"For instance — the relationship between the founding of the Dragon Kingdom and the dragon connected to it. And any records about that dragon specifically."
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