Chapter 104
I glanced at Pepper, who was eyeing me warily, and let out a small chuckle.
As my tension eased, his brow furrowed in what seemed like dissatisfaction.
"......Does my word sound like a joke to you?"
"Do I look like I'm joking right now?"
I wiped the smile from my face and met his gaze with a serious expression. Pepper's eyes wavered faintly as he stared back at me steadily.
"It's truly fortunate that someone like you serves my lord."
If Pepper hadn't been there, Diego would have been assassinated long ago. It was a relief that such a loyal and upright man protected him.
At the word 'lord,' Pepper's eyes shook even more. He seemed torn, hesitating, but forced his expression into sharpness.
"Don't think flattery will fool me. His Highness seems to have already given his heart to you, Lady, but I won't believe you until the end."
"I've already sworn my loyalty to His Highness."
His eyes wavered again at the mention of the oath. He looked like he couldn't decide whether to trust me or not.
"H-how am I supposed to believe that?!"
"Just ask His Highness directly, then."
Pepper's mouth snapped shut. In the Solatine Empire, where the line between sovereign and subject was absolute, an oath of loyalty was no light matter. There was no need to doubt my word—just confirm with the one who'd received it.
"......Even so, I won't trust you until the end."
Pepper bit his lip and released it, staring at me with resolute eyes. His light brown gaze burned with firm will and loyalty. He'd picked the wrong target for his suspicion, but it was a fine attitude for a guard knight.
"You've got good eyes."
I smiled faintly and sheathed my sword, leaving Pepper with his uneasy expression behind me.
"As fellow servants of the same lord, let's do our best."
"Don't gloss over it! I won't......!"
"Don't trust me."
I cut him off firmly, and Pepper stiffened. I had no intention of forcing him to believe in me. Distrusting everyone was a good habit for a guard knight, after all.
I met his gaze calmly.
"Keep distrusting me. Watch me ceaselessly to ensure I'm not a threat to His Highness. I'll be suspecting you too."
"......Me?"
"Doesn't it make you work harder when someone's keeping an eye on you? I'll be watching from up close to see if you're truly capable."
I extended my hand to him with a confident smile.
"I won't deny that I'm a suspicious person. So go ahead—distrust me, keep your guard up. Only believe me when you judge me trustworthy. Until then, keep up the surveillance. Let's get along, as servants of the same lord."
I didn't like long talks. Actions spoke louder than drawn-out words. So I was prepared to welcome his wariness until he fully trusted me.
Pepper stared intently at my outstretched hand. Until I started feeling a bit awkward.
After a long moment, he looked up and met my eyes.
"......I think I understand somewhat why His Highness has taken a liking to you, Lady."
He'd been acting like he might bite me any second, so the sudden praise made me a little embarrassed. As I scratched the back of my head and averted my eyes, Pepper grabbed my hand firmly.
His large, rough hand—clearly that of a knight—clasped mine.
"......I won't trust you easily. And I haven't withdrawn my warning to keep your distance from His Highness. But...... I'll watch you closely."
His arrogant tone was still unbelievable for a count's knight speaking to a duke's daughter. Yet somehow, I found it amusing and chuckled, shaking our joined hands.
"Will you handle the assassins?"
"Yes. We can't leave that to you, Lady."
Even his curt tone was starting to grow on me. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a smile and turned to the assassins.
The area was drenched in red blood. Amid it all lay the assassins, fainted like the dead.
My briefly improved mood plummeted straight down again as I licked my lips.
"What will you do with the assassins?"
"Kill them."
"......Now?"
Pepper drew his sword without hesitation.
"You know this. Attempted regicide is subject to summary execution."
I knew. I knew full well.
Assassins deserved death. Their necks had to be snapped.
And yet.
"Wait. If it's alright, kill them after I leave."
Not yet—I didn't have the stomach to watch corpses.
Just imagining it made something surge up inside me.
Pepper, who had been striding toward them as if to end it swiftly, turned to me with a puzzled look. He'd swung his sword without mercy to subdue them, so acting like he couldn't bear to kill seemed strange to him.
I forced down my nausea and smiled stiffly.
"Please. Just a bit later."
The war hasn't started yet, I told myself.
"......Understood."
Pepper hesitated, glancing at my face, then belatedly replied. He sheathed his sword without further protest.
"Shall I escort you to the carriage?"
"No need."
"Understood."
Normally one offers three times, but he withdrew quickly. His brusqueness was starting to feel like Pepper's charm.
"Then please go ahead."
"Yeah. You take care too."
Pepper bowed matter-of-factly, his attitude more deferential now—perhaps due to my earlier advice. I nodded and turned away.
After walking some distance, the sound of flesh being pierced by something sharp echoed from behind. Followed by the thick, spreading scent of blood.
As a Sword Master, I could vividly sense what was happening far away.
It's fine. No one noticed.
Fortunately, my trembling hands and unfocused eyes hadn't been too obvious.
♦ ♦ ♦
After Kashmir Crisis left, the empress's audience chamber fell silent.
In the suffocating quiet, Tina Kypress let out a heavy sigh, teacup in hand.
"My honor is mine to make."
The faint whisper bore the traces of the paint Kashmir had smeared across her.
Tina lifted the cup to her lips but set it down, her appetite gone. Weariness clung to her face.
The communication magic tool's chime cut through the silent chamber.
Tina pulled it from her pocket, stared at it blankly for a long moment, then accepted the call with a sigh.
-How did the recruitment of Kashmir Crisis go?
The low, rough voice opened without even a greeting to the empire's empress.
Tina sighed inwardly at the grating tone. It belonged to her father, Count Harbest Kypress.
Her lips didn't part easily. She knew what would follow an honest answer.
Harbest clicked his tongue harshly at her silence.
-Pathetic. Aria Crisis failed, and now you too? What's so hard about recruiting dumb kids? Just shove some pretty, expensive trinket at them and lure them in!
'If it looks that easy, you do it, you bastard.'
Tina swallowed the curse that nearly escaped. She was wise enough to know she couldn't take it back once said.
She lacked the power to overcome her father.
Tina had become empress because she was a Kypress, not because Emperor Helios I fell in love with her.
She could wear these clothes and enjoy these luxuries only because she was a Kypress.
Everything Tina had came from the Kypress family.
So she had to repay their grace with what she'd received from them. That was the immutable rule her father had drilled into her since childhood, until her ears blistered.
Nothing among Tina's possessions was truly hers.
She bit her lip until it bled, took a deep breath, and suppressed her emotions.
Even as empress, submitting to the count like this was utterly humiliating, but she couldn't show it.
"I'm sorry."
-Tch. This is why you don't give jobs to women. They never get it right.
'Then you try it.'
"......I'll try harder."
-Trying harder means nothing without results! Diego ended up crown prince, and you failed to recruit the Crisis girl!
You useless thing.
Tina endured the torrent of abuse calmly. Her father's daily calls and vitriol were routine, as familiar as the day's end.
'Should I just throw it away?'
Familiar didn't make it bearable. Her head throbbed; she wanted to hurl the magic tool.
-If you fail next time, prepare to step down from empress.
Tina's heart sank.
It was just her father's habitual threat— even Harbest Kypress couldn't dethrone an empress overnight. But knowing that didn't stop the dizziness.
The empress position is my only power.
It was the sole authority Tina could claim as hers. Even if she couldn't wield it freely, the title of empress belonged to her completely.
"......I'm sorry, Father. I'll do better."
Harbest chuckled in satisfaction at her submissive voice. Tina gnawed her lip.
-That's right. Oh, and tonight, we'll send assassins to the crown prince's side again. Four of them.
"Tonight too? But you sent some yesterday. Sending them consecutively......"
-Why so chatty when I'm sending them? The simplest way to make Serenon emperor is to kill Diego. What's there to hesitate about?
-Once Serenon is emperor, everything will be covered up. No need to care about means or methods.
Tina bit her lip. She lacked the power to defy him.
Harbest let out a sinister laugh.
-And things worked out with that man too. We talked properly recently.
Tina's eyes widened. She shot to her feet involuntarily.
"W-wait...... the north......?"
-Yes. 'Hyde.'
Harbest confirmed firmly. Tina's pupils dilated, her body trembling faintly.
I knew he was power-mad, but this much......?
He'd mentioned it once before, but she'd never imagined he'd actually collude. This was insanity.
"But colluding with him is too dangerous! How could you......!"
-Shut up! It's fine if we succeed!
'It's over if we fail!'
Tina ground her teeth at Harbest's mad laughter. This was high treason, undeniable. If caught, the Kypress family could be wiped out.
-Tch. Your brother agreed immediately, but why are you acting like a scared rat?
Harbest tsked. Tina barely suppressed her rising fury.
-Rebellion succeeds, so it's no longer rebellion. It's revolution. History is written by the victors.
When the north wind blows, we'll be the survivors in this empire. The Kypress family.
Tina squeezed her eyes shut. She'd never wished so desperately not to be a Kypress.
She didn't want to be in league with these lunatics.
-Expect news of Diego's death tomorrow.
Harbest cut the connection abruptly. Silence returned to the chamber.
Crash!
"Damn it......"
The teacup shattered against the wall.
Tina covered her eyes with one hand. Many called her a power-hungry, ruthless empress.
But that label was only half right. She craved power, but she wasn't ruthless enough.
"Prophet."
Peep!
At Tina's quiet call, the paper bird on the desk chirped like a real one and flew to her—remarkably lifelike.
"'Tonight, four assassins incoming.' To Diego Solatine and Pepper Ellerbayne in the crown prince's palace."
Peep! Peep!
The paper bird crumbled into the air with a cheerful cry and vanished.
A communication magic tool that revealed no sender's trace, delivering info only to the specified recipients.
Every time her family plotted Diego's assassination, Tina had sent word to the crown prince's palace anonymously.
I want power, but I don't want to kill Diego. Or Helios......
Blood son or not, Diego Solatine was her son. She wanted Serenon as emperor, but not at the cost of Diego's life.
Helios Solatine was the same. Loveless marriage or not, he was her husband—first and foremost, a human being.
Tina Kypress didn't want to commit murder.
I have to tell someone.
She couldn't let this madness continue. Failure would doom her too, but so would success.
Many will die.
She wasn't monstrous enough to slaughter for power.
This grand conspiracy had to be stopped.
Who can I ask for help?
But she had nowhere to turn. Helios had the power to help, but he was a merciless ruler. She couldn't be sure he'd spare her as a whistleblower or Serenon as a key rebel figure.
Diego had the power too. But he'd see her as the mastermind behind his assassinations. No guarantee he'd believe her.
Must I beg for help from my own husband and son?
Self-loathing surged at her powerlessness. Amid the turmoil, one name surfaced.
A person with utterly upright eyes—too pure and transcendent, more divine than human.
Transparent eyes holding an impossibly vivid fluorescent pink.
When that gaze met hers, Tina felt breathless.
Infinitely upright, and with the power to help Tina Kypress.
'......Kashmir Crisis.'
Tina Kypress began pondering ways to reach out to Kashmir Crisis.
I have no power to stop it. All I can do is leak information.
That's why she wanted Serenon as emperor. Power was eternal, unlike fleeting love.
With power, Serenon wouldn't suffer this treatment.
Tina Kypress hoped Serenon Solatine wouldn't repeat her mistakes.
She buried her face in her hands. No tears fell.
Her tear glands had dried up long ago in this barren palace.
Her chest just ached.
At clutching so much in her hands, yet none of it truly hers.
"I want to forge my honor with my own strength too."
She murmured the unsaid reply quietly.
No one would know the villain's hidden truth.