2
Chapter 2
A heavy silence fell.
The laughter in the ballroom vanished as if it had never existed.
'... Fuck.'
Did I jump the gun?
It was a heat-of-the-moment outburst, triggered by the final scene of the original novel flashing before my eyes.
The moment I saw the Crown Prince, I saw an overlapping image of myself and the Female Lead holding hands, dying in a blaze of fire.
So, those words weren't a calculated provocation or a prepared warning. They were simply a mistake. Still, I had no intention of taking them back.
In the silence, the Crown Prince spoke first.
"... Could you explain what you meant by that, Sir Arsen?"
His voice was cold.
Even so, he was clearly trying to maintain his dignity. He likely wasn't pressing me right here because we were in public.
The Crown Prince must have known. He knew exactly what the fallout would be if he cornered me here and now.
I looked him straight in the eye.
"Exactly what I said."
The Crown Prince's eyes narrowed.
"If you have something to say, I will arrange a separate meeting. I don't believe this is the place for such a conversation."
He meant he wanted to press me quietly in a Private Room.
There were too many ears listening. From his perspective, it was the only logical decision.
If I let it go now, those words would just be written off as a mistake.
A moment of drunken rudeness, or perhaps the rough temperament of a war hero—that's how it would be summed up.
I couldn't let that happen.
I remained where I stood and looked at the Crown Prince once more.
"Your Highness."
The Crown Prince's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"What is it?"
"I am not finished speaking."
A stir began to spread among the nobles.
The Female Lead's expression visibly stiffened.
The Crown Prince stopped smiling as well.
"Sir Arsen."
This time, there was a warning in his tone.
"Do not cross the line."
Instead of answering, I slowly scanned the ballroom.
The empty Imperial Throne. The nobles gathered beneath it. The Ministers laughing and chatting about the victory. And in the center of it all, the Crown Prince and the Female Lead.
With the Emperor bedridden, the fate of the Empire effectively rested on the Crown Prince's shoulders.
I spoke once more.
"The Demons of the North have not been completely wiped out."
I took a step forward.
"The major battles may be over. The front lines may have been pushed back. The walls may have been held."
My gaze locked onto the Crown Prince.
"But remnants still remain. In the first place, we don't even know how many Demons are left because their stronghold is unknown."
"I have already been briefed on that. The subjugation of the Demons in the North is ongoing."
"Being in the middle of a subjugation is different from finishing it."
Several military officials exchanged glances at my words.
At least the soldiers who fought in the North knew what I meant. A war with the Demons doesn't end with a single victory declaration.
I looked at the Crown Prince and spoke clearly.
"And yet, you are acting as if the war is over right here in this room."
The Crown Prince's expression stiffened.
The Female Lead beside him spoke up cautiously.
"General. What His Highness is doing right now is—"
"Shut your mouth. This is no place for you to interfere."
I didn't even look at her.
Come to think of it, that woman was the problem.
The Female Lead, Perlin Claire. Her original name was Lee Ha-neul. She was also set as someone who had possessed a character in the novel. However, in the novel she had read, there was no mention of the Empire falling.
In other words, it was highly likely that she had altered the course of events, leading the Empire toward a ruinous ending.
Even setting those suspicions aside, she wasn't at a level where she could interject into a conversation between the Crown Prince and me.
Since the Crown Prince had always coddled her, she must have forgotten her own place. She was already acting as if she were the Crown Princess.
Suppressing my irritation, I spoke once more.
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is bedridden."
The entire ballroom stirred once again.
This was because I had mentioned a fact that was strictly taboo as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Right now, the Nathaniel Empire places all its trust in Your Highness."
The Crown Prince's eyes turned cold.
I didn't stop.
"The things Your Highness should prioritize are cleaning up the Demons in the North and reorganizing the troops. You must also inspect the domestic situation."
"Sir, that is—..."
"Is that woman more important than a war that isn't over yet? To the point where you'd neglect your state affairs just to protect her?"
Someone dropped their wine glass. The sound of it shattering echoed unnervingly loud in the silence.
The Female Lead pressed her lips thin. The nobles avoided eye contact entirely, most of them merely gauging the Crown Prince's reaction.
The Crown Prince finally took a step forward.
"I understand your loyalty, Sir."
Good. He's still holding back.
"However, I cannot tolerate the Imperial Household's dignity being tarnished in public."
I replied curtly.
"Dignity can only be maintained if the country still exists."
"You seem to be acting emotionally right now, Sir."
He hit the nail on the head. He was right.
I was emotional. I had thought of the original's final scene as soon as I possessed this body, and seeing that man only fueled my rage. But being emotional didn't mean I was wrong.
"Yes. I was emotional. I am speaking based on my gut feeling, without any clear evidence to begin with."
This time, even the Crown Prince was momentarily speechless. He probably didn't expect me to admit it so readily.
I took a breath and continued.
"But my gut has never been wrong, Your Highness."
A brief silence. Then, I drove the point home one last time.
"The war is not over yet. And neither are the threats within the Empire."
"......."
"I mean that this is no time for you to be behaving like this."
The air in the ballroom turned ice-cold.
This was enough. There was no need to drone on. I had said everything that needed to be said.
I turned away. Behind me, I heard the Crown Prince's voice.
"Sir Arsen."
I stopped in my tracks.
"Can you take responsibility for what you just said?"
I spoke without looking back.
"Yes."
"Very well."
A hint of anger seeped into the Crown Prince's voice. Even so, it was typical of him to keep it hidden on the surface.
"Then tomorrow morning, I shall receive the report on the North personally."
"Understood."
Now it was truly over. I walked straight out of the ballroom.
My adjutant hurried to catch up with me.
It was the black-haired female soldier who had greeted me in the room earlier. Raylin Noah, if I recall.
"General."
Her voice sounded slightly urgent.
"Do you truly believe the Demons will move again?"
I gave a short answer as I walked down the hallway.
"Not 'again'."
"Pardon?"
"It never ended in the first place."
The adjutant fell silent for a moment. But she soon caught up and asked again.
"Still, was it necessary to go that far in front of the Crown Prince?"
An uncharacteristic remark for her. It must have been that shocking.
"Adjutant. I am the one who determines necessity."
"My apologies."
Realizing she had overstepped, the adjutant quickly bowed her head.
"Do not doubt my judgment."
"Yes, sir."
I straightened my clothes and decided on my destination.
"I'm heading to the office. Gather every report regarding the North."
"Yes, sir."
"And the list of commanders deployed for the remnant subjugation."
"Yes, General."
I resumed my pace.
The ballroom was likely still brightly lit.
The Crown Prince would be worrying about his reputation, and the nobles would be whispering about what had just transpired.
It didn't matter.
Only one thing mattered.
That at this rate, the Empire was destined for ruin.
#
As the office door closed, a heavy silence settled in.
Since the adjutant had gone to gather the materials, I was finally alone.
I walked slowly toward the desk and leaned back in my chair. I closed my eyes, then slowly opened them.
Why me, of all people?
With so many humans in existence, why was I the one dropped into this world, and why did I wake up in the body of Arsen Beharrt?
Was cursing out a ruinous ending really enough reason to be thrown right into the middle of that disaster?
I didn't know.
Perhaps it was meaningless to even expect an explanation.
I had opened my eyes to find myself here, and I was already Arsen Beharrt.
The mechanics of this world, whether I could ever return—these were not questions that would yield immediate answers.
Only one thing was important.
Whether I should save this Empire, or abandon a falling nation and find somewhere else to go.
Until a moment ago, Arsen's memories and that absurd ending had driven me, making me feel as if I had no choice. But now that I had cooled down, it was different.
I still had the option to abandon the Empire and flee.
I silently looked down at the map of the Empire resting on the desk.
The Nathaniel Empire.
The setting of the romance-fantasy novel I'd read, the stage for the ruinous ending, and the great shield that blocked the Demons head-on.
"...."
The fall of the Nathaniel Empire would be more than just a shift in global hegemony.
The moment this colossal Empire collapsed, the Demons would come pouring out.
The small nations lining the borders wouldn't last a moment before being devoured; eventually, everything to the east and west would be consumed.
The Nathaniel Empire wasn't holding its ground because it was superior.
It was holding on, however precariously, because if it fell, everything else would end with it.
Therefore, what I had to protect was not the Crown Prince, nor the Imperial Household, nor the glory of this Empire.
What I had to protect was this world.
If this place crumbled, the whole world would sink.
I let out a short breath.
Unless I found a way back to Earth, I wouldn't survive if this world were destroyed.
In the end, the answer was already decided.
"... I suppose I'll have to protect it."
The voice, spoken like a sigh, echoed through the empty office.
It wasn't because I was the Empire's war hero.
It wasn't because I had entered Arsen Beharrt's body and felt a need to take responsibility.
It was because this was the final line of defense.
At least until I found a way back, I couldn't let this world perish.