Chapter 128
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128
My mission with Kinuan ended quietly, and I returned to the Custoria mansion.
And then, the Season of Storms began.
They said the first week would bring nothing more than overcast skies and rising winds. During this time, the flight ban within Akbaran had not yet taken effect.
The first week was essentially the final opportunity to prepare for the storm season. From the second week onward, aerial vehicles and airships would be grounded.
By the third week, when the storm reached its peak, a de facto curfew would be imposed. It was a period when casualties spiked dramatically.
I welcomed the first week of the storm season inside the Custoria mansion.
Rattle, rattle.
I stared at the violently shaking window. I couldn't see outside—the exterior had been reinforced with steel plates.
This particular storm season brought severe weather even in its first week. According to the news, accidents involving aerial vehicles, airships, and drones were happening constantly.
There's a reason they issue a flight ban starting from the second week.
I was doing a handstand, balancing on a single finger. My sense of balance had returned to a satisfying degree. This meant my adaptation to the new prosthetic body was complete.
From the third week of the storm season, Nemesis will instigate riots and terrorist attacks in the upper-class residential districts. Many nobles will die.
Nobles from families the Imperial Family kept in check would suffer especially conspicuous casualties.
And taking advantage of that chaos, the Imperial Family will directly eliminate key figures in the military.
Those who handled the Imperial Family's dirty work would move then. For now—though it sounded a bit cliché—I'd refer to them as the dark imperial guard... no, the "Shadows." The Imperial Shadows.
Will the Imperial Shadows target the Custoria family?
Was Heilas on the elimination list? And even if he was, did anyone possess the skill to assassinate him? It was absurd to imagine a soldier of Heilas's caliber simply dying, swept up in a mob. A clean, natural-looking assassination would be difficult.
Ivan... failed to create an opportunity for me to assassinate Kinuan.
I had made contact with Nemesis alongside Kinuan. In all that time, there'd been no chance to kill him.
For now, I'll rule out cooperation with Ivan.
If Ivan were to hand me an opening, I'd recognize it and act. But for now, it was safer to assume none would come.
Whoosh.
I pushed off the floor with my hand and sprang upward. After a single mid-air rotation, I landed lightly on my feet.
The only path left for me is to cast Heilas aside.
I chewed over Kinuan's advice.
Did Heilas bind me to the family just to use me? If it was a plan, since when? Or was it merely a coincidence?
Perhaps Kinuan was simply trying to shake my resolve with his silver tongue. He was a man highly skilled in psychological manipulation.
Whom should I trust, and whom should I betray?
The choice was mine to make.
Agatha, I didn't even get the chance to learn by watching Noel's choice. You gave me the information too late.
The time for a decision was drawing near.
Creak.
I stepped out of my room, having sensed someone outside.
The mansion was crowded. Relatives who normally lived in the Upper District had returned to avoid any mishaps during the storm season. A wise decision.
"You're leaving now? We don't even know when the flight ban will be issued. The storm is far harsher than expected."
Looking down the hallway, I saw Eva trying to stop Heilas. This was the presence I had sensed.
Heilas was dressed in his Imperial Guard uniform. He seemed to be planning to head to headquarters.
"Something important has come up. And I cannot afford to be absent," Heilas insisted.
Even without official duties, he couldn't stay at the mansion. If he remained cooped up here during the storm season, he wouldn't be able to respond to a rapidly shifting situation. Dangerous or not, he had to be in the heart of the Upper District.
Heilas and Eva's eyes turned to me.
"While I'm away, you're in charge of the mansion, Luka. I've already instructed everyone to prioritize your orders over Eva's," Heilas said, stepping toward me.
His way of addressing me had subtly changed. He spoke to me with the familiar "you" now, not the formal one he'd used before. Just like his other children.
I couldn't answer right away.
This might be the last time I ever see Heilas.
My stomach churned.
"...I understand."
That was all I could say.
I was out of time. I'd grasped the Empire's plans and the flow of events far too late. My strength and my actions alone could not turn back this massive tide.
If Heilas dies, it will be under dishonorable circumstances, and the Imperial Family might use his crimes as a pretext to annihilate the entire family. Even if we escape annihilation, the Custoria family will lose all its power.
If we lost our power, our means of self-preservation would vanish with it. The grudges and resentment the Custoria family had piled up behind the shield of their authority would come crashing down like a disaster. And I would have to operate as an Akies Domini, my records and identity completely erased.
"Lucaus Custoria, remember my request."
Heilas patted my shoulder and headed downstairs.
Am I just an insurance policy in case he fails?
Only that one thought filled my mind.
Heilas probably doesn't know I'm a Watcher. No matter how sharp his insight, deducing the bizarre role of the Emperor's Watcher from such limited information would be nearly impossible.
Still, Heilas must have sensed something about me.
My strange coexistence with Kinuan, my excessive achievements as a cadet, my interactions with the Crimson Crown Prince Fransek, Agatha's obsessive trust.
Even from circumstantial evidence alone, Heilas would know I was operating in a realm beyond his understanding.
He figured that even if he failed, I was the one who had a chance of protecting the family. He placed his bet.
That was why Heilas never questioned me despite finding me suspicious. He needed to win my favor. He'd gone out of his way to create situations that would make me grow attached to the Custoria family.
Factoring in Kinuan's advice, the full picture came into focus.
Heilas is using me.
He wasn't wrong to. He'd made a show of treasuring me more than his own flesh and blood, even bringing me into the Silver Moon Pavilion. Looking back, it was an excessive amount of privilege and favor.
The affection he showed me might not have been entirely fake. But there was clearly calculation mixed into it.
I wanted to twist my lips into a smirk.
No matter how much ability and talent I had, of course there was a separate reason for treating a parentless orphan from the Lower District so well.
I'd always known this. That was why Heilas's goodwill had never sat right with me. But actually confronting the truth behind it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Heilas boarded his aerial vehicle, seen off by his relatives and vassals.
Whoosh!
The vehicle shook more violently than usual as it soared into the sky. The roar of the engine was loud enough to drown out the howling wind, and the thruster flames stretched longer than normal. It was clear that flying was no easy task.
What decision will Heilas make?
I wouldn't see it with my own eyes—whether he succeeded or failed.
"Lucaus."
Having finished seeing him off, Eva called out to me. The two of us moved elsewhere. For the first time, she stepped into my room.
"Mother, I know you have grievances against me. But as the acting Family Head—"
"That is not what I wish to speak about."
Eva sank into a chair, looking exhausted. With a soft sigh, she continued.
"Heilas... will he be able to return to my side alive? I ask because I believe you would know better than I would."
I flinched.
Eva possessed neither great insight nor exceptional political acumen. Her actions up to this point had proven as much. At times, her excessive greed had driven her to foolish acts.
...But it seemed a married couple bound by affection shared a connection that defied logic.
Even Heilas must have failed to hide all his unease from her. I wouldn't know myself, but according to Martina Diva or Grace—who were well-versed in such matters—men easily let their secrets slip in bed.
My lips parted and closed several times. I didn't know what to say. I'd never been in a situation like this. Should I offer words of comfort? Or the cold, hard truth?
Having to agonize over it was driving me mad. I'd rather be sent to a battlefield.
"I don't know either. But speaking objectively, the odds are low."
I was not the type who could offer warm, comforting words. Sometimes I hated myself for it.
The situation was uncomfortable. Then the silence broke as a tear slid down Eva's chin.
"...If the worst comes to pass, don't worry about me—just abandon me. I have no confidence in living without him anyway."
"Father's request included you as well, Ev—no, Mother."
I'd almost called her by name.
"Let us speak frankly. I don't think of you as my son anyway. And you don't view me as your mother. But as long as Heilas trusts you, it's true that you're the only one who can protect my children. No matter what happens, please protect my children."
"I intend to. Even without you asking."
Eva's shoulders trembled.
"You still don't understand what I'm saying, Luka. I'm saying that even if the Custoria family collapses and every other member dies—even if you throw away your duties and obligations as acting Family Head—you must protect my children at all costs."
Eva looked straight at me. The light glinting at the edges of her pupils bordered on madness.
...Heilas had given up on being a father. But Eva was still a mother.
I didn't answer. My silence was a refusal.
"Then I can only hope he succeeds."
With that, Eva rose. She walked out of my room.
It hadn't even been an hour since I'd taken Heilas's vacant seat.
I'm exhausted already.
Eva had swallowed her pride for my sake, all to make an unreasonable demand. Even if I wanted to grant it, there was no way to.
As I'd suspected, being Family Head didn't suit my temperament at all. If I could just be rid of it, I'd dump the whole thing on Jupe.
I needed more options. The current situation wasn't the direction I wanted. I had no desire to take responsibility for a collapsing Custoria family.
...Is it too late? Or is there still time?
I rummaged through my pockets and pulled out two chips. Agatha's chip and the restored data chip.
I need to see Noel Mulrizka's choice.
I had only one option left.
Beep.
I called Giselle. The moment she entered, I got straight to the point. These were words I couldn't say if I looked her properly in the face.
"Giselle, I need a way to contact Barbara. If you send a signal over the Net, Barbara will answer."
Giselle's expression stiffened. Her fingertips began to tremble.
"...Even if she answers, Barbara has no reason to help us."
I bit my lower lip. It was time to tell her.
"Barbara is an Imperial spy. She's in a precarious position—her tail could be cut at any moment. I have information that can increase her chances of survival. She won't refuse to cooperate."
Giselle stood there blankly, like a broken computer overloaded with data. The bizarre events of the past must have flooded her mind all at once.
"Wait, Barbara... those incidents at the Academy, then..." Giselle muttered, stumbling.
I quickly reached out and caught her before she could fall.
As the reality of it slowly sank in, Giselle's face contorted. No longer content just to hold my arm, she dug her fingernails in and clawed at my forearm.
Rip, tear.
The artificial skin on my forearm began to tear.
"Just what... what did Father and you think of me this whole time?"
Her expression brimmed with a venom so intense she looked ready to stab someone. It had been a long time since I'd seen Giselle like this. And unlike before, this time, my heart ached.
"Heilas and I have been steeped in this kind of world all along. It's a maddening abyss where no one is fooled and everyone is a deceiver. You've only just dipped a toe in the entrance."
I had no intention of gently soothing Giselle's anger. If I had to struggle this hard just to persuade her, cooperation would be impossible. I liked her, but business was business.
"Giselle, if you want to look into the darkness from the same vantage as me, pull yourself together and listen. If you can't handle it, slap me across the face right now and walk out."
Giselle took a step back and raised her hand. Anticipating the blow, I suppressed my combat reflexes.
Slap!
Stars flashed before my eyes.
...She had a mean slap. Her arm was a prosthetic too—meaning it was a chunk of metal. One of my molars just shattered and rattled loose in my mouth. My jaw joint popped out of alignment, creaking.
"I'll slap you and listen to what you have to say," Giselle said, sitting down. She crossed her arms with a sullen look.
Crack!
I shoved my dislocated jaw back into place with my hand, working my mouth up, down, left, and right.
"Ugh. Well. A third option, then. You're quite greedy, wanting both."
As I spoke, I pinched the broken shard of molar between my fingers and pulled it out. Well—I suppose this was a cheap price to pay.