Chapter 194: The Southern Continent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: The Southern Continent
The spiral staircase, barely wide enough for one person to pass, seemed to have no end. It felt as if I might reach the sky if I kept climbing.
The air currents stirred by my movement made the candles on the protruding wall flicker. Shadows shrank and grew, blocking my path.
Ignoring them, I reached the top of the stairs, where a simple wooden door stood. I inserted the key and turned it. With a click, the door opened.
The first thing to greet me was the moon beyond the window, the room's only link to the outside world. A full moon hung in the cloudless night sky.
“Ophelia.”
Ophelia, who had been leaning against the windowsill gazing up at the moon, turned to look at me only after I made a sound.
Dressed in a sheer silk nightgown, her ashen skin seemed to absorb the full moon's magic, glowing with a bluish tint. Combined with her beauty, it was like facing a fairy descended from the moon.
“Hehe. For a man with more wives than he can count on one hand, you couldn't even last a full day before coming to see me. Did I not tell you? You can never defy fate. The more you try, the stronger the backlash, leaving you utterly trapped.”
She approached slowly and placed a hand on my cheek. Clank. The chains connected to the shackles on her wrists rattled loudly, announcing their presence.
She wore similar shackles on both ankles. The chains were quite long, so they didn't hinder her movement within the room.
Of course, it couldn't have been entirely comfortable. Still, I prided myself on this being generous treatment for someone who had drawn a sword on me.
“That's not why I came.”
I took her hand from my cheek and pulled it away.
“Hmm... I find that hard to believe. What other reason could there be for a grown man to visit a woman's room, alone, in the dead of night?”
Ophelia pressed her thigh between my legs, closing the distance between us. Her firm, toned thigh stimulated a sensitive area.
Her full breasts, comparable to Piole's, pressed against my chest, flattening as they asserted their presence.
She grabbed my hand and guided it to her rear, letting me feel every part of her body. She was a woman who knew how to seduce a man.
“I came to ask about Vivian.”
But I simply stated the purpose of my visit, my expression as impassive as it was when I first entered this room at the top of the spire where she was confined.
Ophelia looked me straight in the eye. The sly smile on her lips slowly faded.
“…You're serious.”
Looking disappointed, Ophelia put some distance between us. However, it seemed her intent to seduce me hadn't changed, as she sat on the bed and crossed her legs.
The skirt of her one-piece silk nightgown rode up, revealing thighs bathed in moonlight. Even more eye-catching was the shadow on her inner thigh.
It was clearly not the texture of fabric. It seemed she wasn't wearing any underwear. I was certain when she noticed my gaze and crossed her legs the other way.
“I'm always ready to receive you.”
I shook my head, brought a chair from the corner of the room, and sat down in front of her.
“Do I look foolish enough to recklessly pounce on a woman whose intentions I can't read?”
This was the woman who knew a spell for infertility. She might know something worse, like a spell to make a man completely impotent. That was too dangerous a gamble.
“What more must I do to earn your trust?”
Ophelia pouted. Even knowing she was an old crone who had lived for centuries, her uniquely striking beauty still made me smile.
“The moment I rule the Eastern Continent with my own hands, I might be able to trust you. Without the Eastern Continent to back you, you'll be nothing more than an ordinary woman.”
“That is too cruel to me…”
“If you didn't like it, you should have spit out the whole truth the moment you saw me instead of testing the waters.”
Ophelia let out a deep sigh.
“What is it you want to know about Vivian?”
“Why does Vivian hate men? To hate even her own son just for being a boy... there must be a reason.”
“She never told me the reason. But... isn't it obvious? Men would never leave a woman as beautiful as Vivian alone.”
“So the reason is that men bothered her?”
Ophelia shook her head.
“Of course not. To explain, we must first establish one premise: not all witches are born with their powers from the start.”
Ophelia's words from earlier in the day flashed through my mind.
“One per era?”
“Yes. Only one of each type of witch can exist in any given era. If there are two women with the blood of a Star Witch, the younger one will remain an ordinary human until the elder one dies.”
In that case, the story was different. A treasure you cannot protect becomes a curse. For Vivian, her beauty must have been that treasure.
It's easier to understand when I recall what happened to Aenya in a future that will no longer come to pass.
“…Even so, that doesn't justify trying to kill the son she bore herself.”
“I'm not defending Vivian, but you should know that she was in great shock.”
“Shock?”
Ophelia nodded.
“First of all, Vivian didn't know the child she was carrying was a boy. Her powers don't work on a king. In the future she saw, there was only a daughter she would cherish. Her one and only ally, who would understand and love her as a fellow witch.”
“But when she gave birth, it turned out to be a boy, the very thing she despised.”
“The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Besides, she was young, and her spirit had been worn down by men who had taken advantage of her.”
Could one ever perfectly understand another? Even after learning of Vivian's circumstances, the resentment in my heart did not fade.
The things I did as a child to win Vivian's affection and the moments I was rejected flashed before my eyes like a panorama.
As Ophelia said, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. The disappointment I felt as a child was so immense that it has occupied a corner of my heart for over twenty years.
Vivian was hurt by men, but to me, she was no less of a perpetrator than they were.
Of course, a victim can forgive their abuser. But only when the abuser first offers a sincere apology. I had never received one.
On the contrary…
“Besides, knowing the future isn't always a good thing. A person who realizes there's no escaping their fated death, no matter how they struggle, is bound to go mad.”
Ophelia added that she helped the Star Witches throughout history because she understood this point.
The corner of my mouth twitched, and my lips twisted.
“A future with me is the same as death?”
“Did I not tell you? All witches are fated to be ruled by the king. From Vivian's perspective, what could be more horrifying?”
“I don't know. Fate doesn't seem all that accurate. Isn't this situation proof of that?”
Even though Ophelia had tried to kill me, I still felt a certain attraction to her. It was strange, even considering her beauty.
But that was all it was. I felt no impulse to do anything more. It had been the same the few times I had faced Vivian.
Ophelia looked troubled.
“That... I'm not sure how that happened either. If there's any possibility, it's that Vivian's efforts weren't entirely in vain.”
It seemed to be an uncomfortable topic for Ophelia, a firm believer in fate. She quickly changed the subject.
“If you catch Vivian, what will you do?”
“Well…”
I held back my answer. A grudge still lingered in my heart, but it didn't wish for Vivian's death. In fact…
“You still love your mother, don't you?”
Ophelia's gaze was that of an adult looking at a cute nephew. She seemed to have misunderstood why I was prying into Vivian's past.
I let out a short laugh.
“No. I've simply found a way to deal with her. And... it's been quite fruitful.”
What I wanted to know was exactly how the ability to see the future affects me. As they say, know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.
When I released Ophelia from her shackles, her face brightened as she asked.
“Has your heart finally been moved?”
She smiled slyly and opened her arms wide. The small movement was enough to make her chest ripple.
Shaking my head, I stood up and looked down at her smug expression.
“I've been thinking since this afternoon, you're quite the narcissist. Do you think you can have any man you reach for? If so, that's truly arrogant.”
I had released Ophelia because I had a task for her. Her smile cracked as she belatedly guessed the truth.
*
The next day. After a light breakfast, I headed to the audience chamber with Ophelia. At the far end of the vast hall, a throne sat on a raised dais.
“You have arrived.”
My vassals, the Pope, and dozens of fully armed, heavy infantrymen were already waiting.
“If you want to be free, even if it's just inside your room, you'd better act your part well.”
I warned Ophelia as I sat on the throne. A moment after she pouted her lips, a voice called out.
“Your Majesty! Count Montina and Baron Dorian request an audience!”
A gatekeeper announced the arrival of the nobles from the Southern Continent. It was then that Ophelia raised her voice loud enough for those outside to hear.
“If Your Majesty commands it, all people of the Eastern Continent would follow, even if you ordered us to carry straw and leap into flames.”
The two nobles, who were just entering through the doors, couldn't hide their bewildered expressions. I paid them no mind and dismissed Ophelia with a wave of my hand.
“I will have a task for you soon.”
Ophelia bowed deeply and scurried out of the hall. Andrei and Piole, who were waiting, stood beside her as if to escort her.
In truth, it was to put her back in shackles immediately. A fact the southern nobles were unaware of.
“Count Montina of Gondel and Baron Dorian of Oksina greet Your Majesty.”
The two nobles were even more polite than they had been the day before. They must have accepted that I was the ruler of the three continents after witnessing Ophelia's attitude.
“Count Montina, I have heard of you. A lord with a port in the northern part of the Southern Continent. And the source of the funds that allowed the traitor Duke Baeneng to harbor his rebellious ambitions, was it not you?”
Count Montina was the trading partner who had brought Duke Baeneng immense profits. In other words, he was presumed to have deep ties with Vivian.
The color drained from Count Montina's face. It was worth deliberately mentioning the word "traitor."
“That can't be! I was merely encouraging commerce. It was the merchants who pushed for trade with the Northern Continent.”
“There's no need to hide it. I already know who is behind you…”
Nobles are not so flighty as to cross the sea to another continent simply because of an invitation. Vivian must have been involved.
She must have sent proxies to spy on her behalf, fearing she'd be caught if she came herself.
I spoke calmly, though my words were anything but for those listening. Swallowing hard, Count Montina forced a composed expression and asked.
“Are you referring to our king, Theomayer?”
“You know better than anyone that's not who I mean. Think before you speak. This will be the first and last time I forgive you for spouting lies in my presence.”
The moment I finished speaking, fully armed guards surrounded the two nobles.
“Even you, Your Majesty, cannot threaten us like this!”
Count Montina shrieked. Baron Dorian, confident in his swordsmanship, had his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“And why not?”
“What? What do you mean…!”
“I am the ruler of three continents and the first sword of the church. If I were to kill two mere nobles without cause, who could possibly blame me?”
The Southern Continent is far more prosperous than the others. So much so that city-states could be independent and various factions could coexist. The king was a powerful grand lord, but there were five other grand lords of equal standing.
In such a chaotic state of affairs, justification was paramount. Thus, my complete disregard for it must have been shocking to the two nobles.
But I had the power and the right to do so. I pressed them with a sword in one hand and faith in the other.
“As the defender of the faith, I will not stand by while the witch who threw the Western Continent into chaos has fled to the South. However, it would be impolite to barge into another's home unannounced. So I will give you a chance. Capture the fugitive witch and bring her to me. Otherwise, I will personally lead the armies of the three continents to the South. Do not regret your choice when that time comes.”
“Your Majesty! How could you…!”
Though prosperous, the disunited Southern Continent had no power to stop an alliance of the three continents.
The two nobles knew this well, which was why they were screaming my name as if their faces were drained of all life.
Having wielded the stick enough, I decided it was time to offer the carrot. There was no rule saying I couldn't win over the southern nobles. Besides, I had more to offer than Vivian did.
“Of course, there will be a reward. I swear on this crown to give you wealth so vast it will make the profits you gained from dealing with Duke Baeneng look laughable.”
At a snap of my fingers, guards brought in chests filled with gold, silver, and jewels. The procession seemed endless, and the two nobles' eyes grew wider and wider.
The climax came when the Damascus sword I took from Ophelia plunged into the floor as if cutting through tofu. A blade of this quality was a treasure that money could not buy.
“Now, what will you do?”
I didn't need to hear their answer. Their eyes were already shimmering with greed.
*
After the two nobles left, Aenya slipped in through a side door. It seemed she had been eavesdropping. She impudently sat on my lap and spoke.
“Will they really capture Mother?”
“Not a chance.”
I smiled as I smoothed Aenya's silky hair. Even I hadn't seen Vivian's true face because of her disguises.
Besides, if she has the help of the two other witches in the Southern Continent, catching her will be even more difficult.
Furthermore, the fact that she has no power base on the three continents after being gone for twenty years means, conversely, that she has built a significant one in the South.
“Then why go through all this trouble?”
“Because even if they only pretend to pursue her, it will restrict her movements.”
It would be good if they caught her, but it's not bad if they don't. What I need is time to spend in the Northern Continent before heading south.
I had to first take care of the things I couldn't finish properly because of my hasty return.