Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Bandages wrapped tightly around her body.
A weary expression.
The way she slumped across the bench.
Even from that alone, it was easy to guess what had happened to her.
Lobelia had recently left the Cradle for the imperial palace, so she must have returned after witnessing her younger brother’s death.
And yet, despite going through such a horrific experience, Lobelia looked no different than usual.
That, in itself, was a warning sign.
“Yohan. What were you doing during class instead of attending it?”
“There’s been a misunderstanding, Your Highness.”
“It seems you are the one misunderstanding. I am merely asking. I have no intention of scolding you.”
“Yes.”
That was a relief.
“Of course, depending on your answer, I may still punish you.”
Not a relief.
“I had unavoidable circumstances.”
“Let me hear them.”
“I was kidnapped by a lunatic named Stan Robinhood and barely managed to escape and return.”
“Oh? Stan? Now I’m curious. He is not one to abduct people without reason.”
“He said it was because I spoke with his younger sister.”
“Ah, that. Then I shall apologize on his behalf. Stan can be a bit excessive when it comes to family.”
“A bit is an understatement.”
“Then I will apologize for that as well. I admit it. He is very excessive.”
“Yes.”
Can I leave now?
“By the way, how long do you intend to keep standing like that?”
I immediately dropped to my knees.
The chill of the ground seeped up through them.
“…You have a talent for putting me in awkward situations. I meant for you to sit beside me. We are classmates, are we not?”
“Ah… well…”
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
I crouched down beside Lobelia.
She had been leaning back with both arms draped over the backrest, and naturally bent one arm to sling it over my shoulder.
It felt like I was about to get shaken down.
My hands and feet trembled.
“Sit more comfortably.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
People with power are frightening.
But people with both power and authority are even more terrifying.
That’s why, at times, Lobelia is more frightening to me than the Cult.
So it’s only natural my posture becomes respectful on its own.
“Yohan, yesterday I lost my younger brother. I could not accept it and lashed out… and ended up like this.”
Lobelia explained what had happened in the imperial palace the night before.
Why she was telling me this, I didn’t know.
The only thing I could guess was that she was struggling in many ways.
This kind of story isn’t something you can easily tell to those close to you.
So she must have chosen someone like me, who didn’t matter.
“Perhaps I could have saved him. If I had taught him in a way that prevented him from even daring to challenge for the throne, he might not have been killed.”
This was the moment her life began to change.
The despair from her brother’s death.
And what would follow—the death of Ariel, her closest friend and most loyal aide.
The cracks in Lobelia’s mind had already begun to spread.
From here on, it would only collapse.
Of course, she would overcome it—that was what made her the protagonist.
But still—
“What do you think was the right answer? Everyone around me would gladly throw away their lives for their dreams. I want to hear the opinion of someone like you, who struggles just to survive.”
I don’t believe a few words or a handful of experiences can change a person’s life.
“Valen… my naive younger brother… would he truly have been willing to accept death for his dream?”
That’s just a change in environment.
And within that environment, people gradually change.
“I’m not sure. But as for me, I try to survive in order to achieve my dream.”
“To survive for the sake of one’s dream… I see. That is, generally speaking, the correct answer.”
“I wouldn’t go as far as calling it correct. I think it just depends on what kind of ideal a person holds.”
Ariel Aether was prepared to burn even her own life if it meant helping Lobelia.
And the Cult would abandon everything for the sake of their dream.
This wasn’t a difference between people.
Only a difference in the nature of their ideals.
“I am sorry about your brother. But I do not think I can presume to understand what he truly felt. To think one can fully understand another based on fragments alone… would that not be arrogance?”
“…Is that so.”
That is why I do not judge Lobelia as I please.
I’ve already been burned once.
Knowing the future? That was wrong. What I know is trivial at best.
So I do not grow arrogant.
I don’t have the luxury, the strength, or the power for that.
“So, Your Highness, do not force yourself to understand others. If you try to force meaning onto something you do not understand, all you will have is a flawed and incomplete understanding full of holes.”
There is nothing more unsightly than pretending to know everything.
What you do not know, you simply do not know.
If you tried to understand and still couldn’t, then that is that.
Trying to force understanding beyond that is nothing but self-deception.
“Haha…”
Lobelia let out a hollow laugh.
She brushed at the corner of her eyes before speaking.
“To think… that I would receive advice from you…”
Just how much of an idiot does she think I am?
“You are right. Through your words and actions, you have given me realization. Perhaps I have been arrogant.”
With that, Lobelia removed her arm from my shoulder.
“You may go. You must have your own matters to attend to. I should not take more of your time.”
“I am deeply honored.”
“You should fix that strange way of speaking. It does not suit you.”
“As you wish.”
Freedom at last!
Even after Yohan left, Lobelia remained seated on the bench, organizing her thoughts.
Arrogance.
That single word had shaken her awake.
Because it came from Yohan, it carried even more weight.
He was someone who always acted servile, like a sycophant, constantly reading the room.
“You, of all people…”
There are many who stake their lives on their convictions.
And many who bend their convictions to preserve their lives.
Yohan was the latter.
That was why it mattered.
If anyone else had said those words, it would not have struck her this deeply.
It was shocking precisely because it came from someone who never would have said it.
Yes, because that coward had mustered the courage to say it.
“Haha…”
Only then did Lobelia realize her own immaturity.
She had believed she could understand everything.
“So His Majesty already knew.”
Abraham had said she was closest to the throne.
“I resembled you the most.”
It was not because she was superior to the others.
It was because she resembled him the most.
If she had continued believing she could understand everything, she would have become just like Abraham.
Yes, just as Abraham had judged that Valen could not survive in this ruthless imperial family.
She would have become the same kind of person.
“…Ha…”
She had to admit it.
She had been arrogant.
A fool who did not even realize it.
Then she had to change.
That was the only way she could become a different kind of emperor than Abraham.
Now that she had realized this, Lobelia thought—
“I need Yohan.”
Until now, she had gathered followers who believed in and shared her ideals.
That was admirable, but they could not point out her flaws.
Which meant—
“It seems I needed someone who would speak harsh truths to me.”
She needed an advisor who saw the world from a different perspective.
Ariel Aether was nothing more than a burden to the Aether ducal house.
The duke did not hate her.
But he did not care for her either.
“Looking back now… Father was probably afraid to love me.”
The Duke of Aether, Tronios Aether, had once been a righteous man.
It was said he had loved Ariel’s mother, a beastkin woman shunned by society, with sincerity.
But even such a man was changed by one thing—
War.
As a mage, Tronios Aether had been required to kill countless enemies.
There was no justice in that.
Under the Emperor’s oppression, he had abandoned even his beliefs just to protect his family.
He returned as a war hero.
But he was no longer the same.
The man who had bent so much to protect his family could no longer love that very family.
It was said that when Ariel’s mother died giving birth to her, he did not shed a single tear.
Ariel had once overheard the servants speaking of it.
“I was nothing to Father.”
He did not hate her.
But he did not love her either.
He merely fulfilled his duty as head of the house.
Thus, Ariel grew up in indifference.
She wore fine clothes, ate fine food, and received fine education.
Yet the servants of the ducal house did not see her as a person.
They never engaged in personal conversation, and once their duties were done, they left without a second glance.
At first, Ariel thought that was normal.
After all, as a beastkin, she could not inherit the title.
The next duke would be Rascal Aether, Tronios’s younger brother.
Naturally, she could only be seen as a burden.
“I am merely one of the valuables owned by the ducal house.”
Only then did Ariel realize she was not being respected as a noble daughter.
She was simply being managed.
She was an asset.
She realized it far too late.
And how did she feel after realizing that?
“I was young… so I thought it was fine.”
Nothing changed.
Like an ornament on display, she felt nothing.
But there was someone who could not tolerate that.
Someone who grew angry on her behalf.
“Aether Duke, you should take better care of your household.”
Lobelia had stormed into the ducal residence and said that to the duke.
Even though she knew it would bring her no benefit.
At the time, Ariel was not worth such effort.
A beastkin, incompetent, foolish, full of flaws.
Yet Lobelia took her hand and brought her into the world.
Still, nothing seemed to change.
“If you do not know how to live, then live for me, Ariel.”
She had thought nothing would change.
And yet—
“Your Highness.”
A person’s life begins to change from the smallest trigger.
From that day on, Lobelia visited the ducal house every day.
She spoke to Ariel. Played with her.
She treated her like a normal person.
She cared about her feelings.
“That alone is enough for me.”
Without that, she might have never felt anything.
Never thought the sunlight was warm.
Never thought a meal was delicious.
Never felt sadness at parting with friends.
“Now, I will give you wings.”
Before Ariel lay dozens of scattered sheets of paper.
They were filled with formulas, magic circles, and countless fragments of magical theory.
Her ability—telekinesis.
If she could systematize this versatile power into a single form of magic, it would surely help Lobelia.
“Ah…”
She was slowly approaching death.
And she was not afraid.
Scratch. Scratch.
The pen that had been moving nonstop across the paper suddenly stopped.
“…”
As she reached for another sheet, her gaze fell upon the hat she had taken off.
The large witch’s hat she always wore outside.
The moment she saw it, someone came to mind.
“Sir Yohan.”
She thought of the one who was still trying to save her.
She remembered what he had said while wearing that hat.
“Even if it doesn’t suit me, I might still want to try it on once.”
Yohan had done something unlike himself.
Though he had always tried to avoid getting involved with her, he had still made her an offer.
And she knew he was still clinging to the impossible.
“…I’m sorry, Sir Yohan.”
But she no longer wished for that.
She was no longer afraid of death.
Ariel smiled.
Then she picked up the hat and stood.
By the time I skipped class and entered the workshop,
I noticed something unfamiliar at my usual spot.
As I got closer, I realized what it was.
And I could roughly guess why it was here.
“Idiot.”
It was Ariel’s witch hat.
Beside it was a letter, carefully handwritten.
She really goes all out.
I placed the hat on my head for a moment.
“Yeah… it still doesn’t suit me.”
I took it off and set it aside.
Then I immersed myself in my research, just like always.
“I said if I came this far, I’d make it out of sheer stubbornness if I had to.”
I know what this hat means.
I don’t even need to read the letter.
Who would wear something that feels like a keepsake from the dead?
“I’ll return it later.”
So wait for me.
