Chapter 138
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 138
“‘Return to the mansion and fulfill your duties, Lucaus Custoria.’ Those were the master’s words.”
I listened to Paigon as I put on my gear.
“How far ahead did Father see?” I asked.
A faint smile touched the corners of Paigon’s wrinkled mouth. “That, I wouldn’t know.”
Paigon was an old hand at this. Besting him in a war of words was no easy feat.
“Is there even a way back to the family mansion? The aerial vehicles can’t even fly right now, can they?”
“Traveling by land isn’t impossible. We may lack a road, but this isn’t an island.”
I threw on my coat. My Grakken Boots were missing.
Iskan must have taken them.
Still, the Crucis hung at my waist. Having a weapon gave me a sense of security.
“What if I refuse to go back?”
Paigon raised his head, his gaze meeting mine. His cybernetic eye had been replaced by a visor that glowed with a single, straight line. It was impossible to read any emotion from it.
“The master was not pleased with your unexpected actions, Young Master. You have come where you should not have. For now, you must trust him and wait.”
I slowly closed and opened my eyes, staring intently at Paigon.
...When I look at the children of nobility these days, many of them seem to believe the world revolves around them. It is a groundless, optimistic belief.
I recalled the words Paigon had once used to praise me.
“The world isn’t kind enough for my problems to be solved by just waiting quietly.”
My right hand gripped the hilt of my sword. A hint of anger crept into Paigon’s voice.
“Are you saying you will disobey the master’s orders a second time? Do you distrust your own father that much?”
…Now I understood the mistake everyone had made.
“Father hid many things from me. I don’t blame him—I did the same. That’s why he and I could never truly trust one another.”
This was the mistake that Noel, Heilas, and I had all made.
I had told Giselle everything. It didn’t matter if the intention behind a lie was good or bad. Who would believe someone who never speaks the truth?
If you want trust, you must be truthful.
Because Noel never told Agatha and Katrin the truth, he never earned their trust. It led to ruin for all of them; Agatha never found true happiness, and Katrin hated Noel until her dying day.
Heilas and I had also failed to fully trust each other because we weren't honest. If just one of us had opened up, things wouldn't have become so tangled. We had a bond, certainly, but there was no trust.
To protect myself and ensure my safety, I must hide my weaknesses. Keeping secrets is always advantageous for survival.
That was only true if survival was the sole objective.
My goal now was not mere survival. I had to overcome the problems looming before me, and since my objective had changed, my strategy had to change with it. To gain allies who would help me, I had to expose my weaknesses and share my secrets.
Of course, that was dangerous. But nothing in this world is free.
Come to think of it, the reason Ilay and I grew distant was because we started keeping secrets from each other. No, to be precise, it started the moment I began hiding things.
Back in our cadet days, when I knew nothing, Ilay and I shared everything. We knew even the most trivial details about each other. Ilay had even confessed his “subversive ideas” to me—his greatest weakness and most dangerous secret. He did it because he trusted me not to betray him.
And to repay that trust, I joined his dangerous plan to rescue Lillian Ramones. If I had discovered his subversive ideas on my own later, I would have felt betrayed and refused to help.
The moment I stopped being honest, Ilay stopped talking about himself, too.
And so, a wall gradually rose between us.
On the other hand… Gabriel and I grew closer as we learned more about each other.
Every time one of my secrets came to light, Gabriel and I drew closer. The Gabriel of today would willingly walk into danger for my sake.
Tzzzzt.
A pleasant white noise buzzed in my ears as knowledge and realization flooded my brain. The tangled threads of my thoughts began to unravel, one by one.
“…Lady Giselle, please come this way,” Paigon muttered. His hand had slipped inside his coat. I had no idea what kind of weapon he was about to draw.
Tug.
Giselle tugged at my sleeve and shook her head. Paigon’s visor glowed red.
Whirrrr.
Noticing the rising power output from Paigon’s prosthetic body, I threw out a warning.
“You’d better stop. Combat isn’t your specialty. Just guide us to Father.”
Paigon was quick-witted. And in the truest sense, he was someone Heilas trusted completely. Whenever there was an important, confidential mission, Heilas called on Paigon before any member of his own family.
“Young Master, allow me to ask you a question. If you answer correctly, I will obey your command.”
I tilted my chin, waiting.
“Do you know the master’s plan?”
Paigon awaited my answer, my lips twitching in response.
My thoughts, processed chemically through my nervous system, were far faster than an ordinary person’s. Paigon wouldn’t have asked a question with an obvious answer.
Noel’s misjudgment led to Agatha’s mistake.
Agatha had waited for Noel’s reincarnation. Her misguided obsession made her blind to what was truly important. She never realized that another Noel was right under her nose, raised by her own hands.
The one closest to Noel isn’t me… it’s Heilas.
Heilas possessed outstanding insight and never shied away from his duties. Though not born to nothing, he was a second son who had seized the position of Family Head. He had built a stellar military career, and his network and experience were easily a match for Noel's, if not greater.
…And Heilas was capable of self-sacrifice. He didn’t just throw his family and subordinates into the jaws of death. For the sake of his family and the Empire, he was willing to use even himself—the Family Head and Captain of the Imperial Guard—as bait.
It was the kind of dilemma where the best option was long gone, leaving only a choice between the lesser of two evils and the absolute worst.
Heilas was in the exact same situation as Noel. If so, there was only one path he would choose.
The coup isn’t his real objective!
He’s going to take all the blame and go down in flames.
I could see it clearly: Heilas making the exact same choice as Noel. He would kill all the military generals who plotted the rebellion with him, and he would take Ivan Cracia’s head as well. It would be a tribute to the Emperor.
And then, he would take his own life.
The Emperor would understand the meaning of his tribute. Just as Agatha’s family remained influential through Noel’s sacrifice, the Custoria family would survive through Heilas’s. It was the only answer that fulfilled both his responsibility as the Family Head and his duty as the Imperial Guard Captain.
Agatha, you should have shown Heilas everything. The one who needed to learn from Noel’s mistakes wasn’t me, it was him.
I bit my lower lip until it bled. The whole thing was a tragedy. Heilas should have been the one to see Noel’s memories, not me.
“His choice is sacrifice.”
Paigon let out a sigh. It was a breath that could have been relief or lamentation. He slowly moved his lips.
“That is correct, Young Master.”
His arm twitched, and I didn’t hesitate.
Bang!
I drew my service pistol and shot Paigon square in the head. His head snapped back, but he didn’t die.
“Therefore… I… cannot… let you… go.”
I flinched, my hand moving for the Crucis.
Click.
Paigon pressed something inside his coat. His body began to glow, his skin cracking open with light. The artificial skin melted away from the overheating, and his clothes burst into flame.
Self-destruction.
It was just moments from detonation.
…You truly are loyal, Paigon.
I could see how deep the bond between him and Heilas ran. Paigon even respected his master’s choice of sacrifice, willing to stop me with his own death.
Whoosh!
I grabbed Giselle and pulled her into my arms. She still hadn’t fully processed the situation. I wanted to get out of the blast radius, but it was impossible.
Screeech!
I slid across the floor, rounding a corner just as I curled my body around Giselle, shielding her. Even if I died, she had to survive.
“Lu…”
Giselle’s voice was swallowed by the roar of the explosion.
BOOM!
The blast tore through the hallway, surging around the corner. A serpent of fire engulfed us both.
* * *
My submerged consciousness barely managed to grasp a thread of light.
“…Please, don’t die, Luka. Don’t leave me behind.”
I heard a voice but had no strength to answer.
“You’re strong. You acted like you could never die…”
Someone was dragging me, my body scraping against the floor. I couldn’t even tell who was speaking. My mind was in chaos, my cognitive functions so degraded that I was barely aware. My injuries had to be severe, yet I felt no pain—a far more dangerous sign.
My name is Luka.
I told myself.
Wake up. Unless your brain is shattered, focus your consciousness into a single point.
I desperately gathered what little awareness I had, honing it into a fine point. Like a spear, it stabbed repeatedly at the veil separating me from reality.
If you’re going to collapse here, then why did you bleed and sweat so much, you idiot?
I cursed myself. The veil didn’t tear easily, but my external senses began to return.
Thud, thud. Tzzzzt.
I heard other sounds besides the voice—the sound of my body being dragged, and the faint feeling of a damp, rainy wind.
“I won’t let you die here.”
Giselle. Her voice was clear now. She kept calling my name, and with each call, my consciousness clawed its way a little closer to the surface.
I tried to assess the situation, but it was impossible. I didn’t know why I was injured or why Giselle was dragging me. I only knew, instinctively, that we were in danger.
Where were we? It felt like she had been dragging me for a long time.
“Y-You are…?”
It seemed Giselle had run into someone.
“The future I wanted to avoid has become reality.”
A sense of dread washed over me. Please, move. Move!
“U-Uncle Iskan, please! Treat Luka…”
Iskan… Who was Iskan?
“I’m sorry, Giselle. I might spare you, but I can’t let Luka live. It’s the Captain’s order. I like the kid, but Heilas comes first. The fact that you two appeared after the explosion… well, it makes no difference now.”
The man called Iskan was approaching.
“If you want to kill Luka, you’ll have to go through me first.”
“Dealing with you would be easier than snapping a twig. You’re a smart girl. You know you can’t stop me—”
“No. I mean that if you take one more step, I will take my own life.”
This was bad. Giselle wasn’t bluffing.
I tried to open my eyes, but my consciousness couldn’t break through the safety protocols my own body had enacted. When sustaining a fatal injury, the brain shuts down all non-essential functions. I had lost too much blood; there wasn’t enough energy to send to my brain while my body desperately tried to heal. My brain and body had conspired to sink my consciousness to the bottom, probably taking this chance to go on strike after all I’d put them through.
If I don’t wake up, I’m dead anyway! Everything will be for nothing! So listen to me, you goddamn bastards! I screamed internally.
Crunch!
I bit down hard on my tongue. My eyes shot open.
Creak, creak.
I had no time to check my condition. Not knowing if I could even move, I sent a signal to my prosthetic body and drew the Crucis.
Screeech!
Stabbing the blade into the ground, I used it to haul myself up.
“Out of respect for our past bond, I will wait until you’ve regained your senses,” Iskan said.
I stared at him through heavy, drooping eyelids.
Whirrrr.
My brain began to process information. It felt like forcing a computer that was not just broken but actively on fire to boot up.
Senior Imperial Guardsman Iskan. Heilas’s close confidant and friend.
I recognized him now. He stood there calmly.
He even had Iskan ready in case Paigon failed…
I had disobeyed Heilas’s orders twice. He had carved out a path for me to live, and I had stubbornly crawled back. He had no choice but to kill me.
“Giselle, step back.”
“But your condition…”
“Shut up and listen. Even if I die… you have to live. I’m sorry for everything.”
A light chop from the back of my hand struck Giselle's chin. Her eyes went unfocused. I supported her as I gently laid her down.
My gaze and focus shifted to Iskan.
“Thank you for waiting. Now, come at me.”
I pointed the Crucis forward.
“You are a true man, after all,” Iskan laughed. He drew a short baton from his waist and swung it.
Clack-clack!
With a series of clicks, the baton extended into a spear shaft as a sharp blade sprang from its tip.