116. Guidance (5)
116. Guidance (5)
- 1 -
"Didn't you say the punishment only needed to be given to me...?"
Even after entering her private room, those were Amelia's first words after a long silence.
"That child didn't consider it a punishment. He was happy that he could help his sister sooner."
Libertas's tone remained endlessly gentle, but.
Amelia's body trembled as if feeling a chill.
Because she had now experienced enough of what this suspicious teacher—this monster—could do with such a tone.
Thanks to that adaptation, she could summon her anger even while steeped in helplessness.
"It's not that his thoughts changed because you turned him into a monster, is it?"
"That could be the case. However."
Libertas's eyes gently closed.
A warm aura hovered over her deeply benevolent, smiling face. Her tone remained gentle, and her gestures were elegant.
Only the ominousness Amelia felt from her dispelled all those other atmospheres.
"From what I saw and heard firsthand, his words and actions before and after were no different, so wouldn't that be the child's true heart?"
"..."
Speaking with her eyes closed, Libertas casually gestured toward Amelia with her hand.
"Come here."
"..."
Amelia unconsciously moved and approached her.
"Turn around. More. Yes. Sit."
"On the floor...?"
"Yes."
After voluntarily standing before Libertas, she moved in accordance with the subsequent commands and sat in a cautious posture.
And soon.
'Huh?'
She realized that she was casually following Libertas's orders.
'Why am I...'
Was it a reaction to having moved only according to her words for several days?
Or was it because of the helplessness now filling her body?
She could at least understand that she had no energy left in her body or mind to disobey Libertas's words anymore—and that this lack of energy couldn't be the reason she was casually following her orders.
'She has seeped in well.'
Libertas knew the reason for the helplessness Amelia felt.
Crushed by the pressure Amelia felt from her, she had acted freely, which brought irreversible consequences. Yet she had been given a chance by her and survived.
She had tried to use that opportunity to protect her parents, but that action also brought even worse results.
'It's only natural she feels helpless.'
The helplessness felt through intense experiences in a short period had already brought her instincts to their knees.
She just hadn't rationally accepted it yet.
"Your hair is a mess."
Holding the ivory comb handed to her by a skeletal hand that emerged from a shadow figure, she slowly began to comb Amelia's hair.
As if nothing had happened.
Saaak. Saaak.
For a while, only the sound of Libertas combing Amelia's hair echoed in the room.
Amidst this, Amelia realized that the touch combing her hair was imbued with mana.
And that there was also a magical principle behind it.
'Ha...'
She swallowed a hollow laugh.
Using mana for something as trivial as grooming hair was an unimaginable act, not only for ordinary humans but also for mages.
Who would use the supreme asset of superhuman abilities for such a trifling task that didn't even fit its purpose?
If mages had seen this scene, they would have foamed at the mouth.
"So. Is your tantrum finally over?"
Because she had been thinking such things, she couldn't react immediately to the strange thing Libertas said in her usual manner.
"A tantrum... you say?"
Immediately after, Amelia's body heated up with rising anger as she turned and glared, but.
Libertas only looked down at her with an expressionless yet benevolent-looking face.
"You made a verbal contract in exchange for your family's safety. I said I would take your freedom as the price, and you agreed. Is that incorrect?"
"That was because of your coercion...!"
"Not all contracts in the world are made on equal terms. Human history has also been that way. Were treaties between victor and vanquished ever made on equal terms?"
Amelia was at a loss for words.
The Haisen Kingdom was also a nation that had established its current territory through victory and expansion over 200 years.
The very land where Solemio stood was incorporated into Hysen in such a way, so denying the results of war treaties was no different from denying the legitimacy of her own family.
Therefore, she could only bring up the words that were close to common sense to her.
"That is only a matter among humans. You are of the demon tribe! This is human land...!"
"Then you just need to become a demon tribe member too."
"Pardon...?"
"If the boundary between human and strange being crumbles, I shall make you into that strange being. Then, there will be no problem."
Swallowing her breath at the touch that grasped and lifted her chin, Amelia looked into Libertas's eyes.
Continuously.
No abnormalities or mana were visible in Libertas's eyes, but somehow she couldn't tear her gaze away.
"Your tantrum was worthless."
"It wasn't a tantrum!"
"Why do you think that way?"
"Freedom... Freedom belongs to sentient beings! It is something they must naturally possess! You cannot dismiss the act of seeking it as a tantrum!"
At Amelia's desperate cry, a smile finally appeared on Libertas's lips.
"Freedom... belongs to sentient beings."
"Yes!"
Libertas stood up, threw open the window and curtains, reached out toward the sunset sky, and asked again.
"Then, what about those subjects? Do they have freedom?"
"Of course! They have the right to accumulate wealth and pursue happiness...!"
Libertas extended a single finger and pointed between her eyes.
Amelia's pupils flinched and recoiled as they followed the finger. It was because she saw an illusion that the finger would soon turn into a blade.
The question continued regardless of her state.
"Who guarantees that right?"
"Our nation..."
Libertas slowly walked toward Amelia.
"Yes. The subjects have no freedom. They only have the right to move around in limited spaces. And the right to rise to limited positions. Rights granted by others."
Ttokak. Ttokak.
The sound of her boots echoing on the floor sounded to Amelia as loud as a giant boulder rolling.
It became a pressure that crushed Amelia.
"How does your nation possess the authority to guarantee that right? Why does the state have that right? If freedom is granted to individuals, why would such rights need the guarantee of others?"
"That's because the state protects them...!"
"That is exactly it. Amelia."
"Yes...?"
One of Libertas's hands pointed toward Amelia.
Hook!
A shadow figure with powerful yet gentle force seized her body and raised her up in an instant.
It was not magic, but telekinetic force through shocking control of mana.
Before Amelia could calm her surprise at the gentle coercion, Libertas, who had taken her hand and supported her, spoke with a smiling mouth.
"I am protecting you now. Why do you try to escape from me?"
"What did you say...?"
"You haven't already forgotten that I protected you from my doppelganger, and from my 'Necessity of Slaughter'."
Once again, the blade of that day and the sight of her appearing before her for the first time flashed before Amelia's eyes.
"I am guaranteeing your freedom, yet I ask you why you try to throw it away."
Libertas's words and face broke the illusion and looked down at her gently from the center.
Amelia denied the words once more.
"That's not freedom...!"
"Not freedom? Then what is the true freedom you speak of?"
"True freedom is... the right to choose for yourself without coercion!"
"Without coercion... I see."
When Libertas affirmed without hesitation, Amelia lost her words and stared at her.
Her hand gently caressed Amelia's cheek, then guided her body to sit in the wide chair where Libertas had been sitting.
And whispered even more kindly.
"If freedom requires the absence of coercion, then the life you have lived until now lacked the freedom you desired. Amelia."
"How would a demon like you know...!"
"The things that constrained you. Expectations. Authority. And etiquette. All of it is visible to my eyes."
Amelia's parents always had expectations of her.
Her father Baleon wanted her to become a lord.
Her mother Grelida wanted her to become a lady.
They always wanted to lead her down a set path, and never asked what her intentions were.
"Was the path of a lord truly what you wanted? Or did you perhaps want the path of a lady your mother desired?"
"But that's..."
"As you have said with your own mouth until now, you wanted freedom. So much so that if you couldn't obtain it yourself, you wanted to give it to your family. But you yourself have never once enjoyed freedom."
Libertas knew well how a 'good child' would act when caught in the middle.
That they would choose to meet all those expectations and slowly wear themselves down.
As she herself had done.
"Everyone wished for you to sit on the throne, or if not, to contribute to the family as a lady. So you must have folded yourself up with a heart devoted to them. Is that not so?"
"That's... a balance of freedom and duty. Everyone lives that way."
After placing a hand on Amelia's shoulder and stroking her once, Libertas lifted her chin so she would face her and said.
"That is not the case."
"What do you..."
"You had no freedom. There was only your self that conformed to the expectations of others. You already know that."
The act of not adding the apple received as a gift from a subject to the family meal, but immediately placing it in your own room.
The time when stress of unknown origin came crashing and you swung your sword until you fainted.
The incident where you unconsciously pushed away a maid who was rushing your schedule.
The things Amelia herself had considered dark history flowed from Libertas's mouth—she had heard them from the other parties involved.
"How do you...?"
"All of that is proof that you knew you had no freedom. Amelia."
Convulsive and violent reactions were evidence of stress.
However, until now, Amelia had only met people who looked at her reactions as if they were strange.
Truly, never. A person who gave a justifiable reason for that action, like now.
"Is that really true...?"
"Yes. It's not your fault. It's just... that too much was placed on your shoulders. A burden you couldn't handle."
"That is the reason you desired freedom. Amelia."
Looking down at Amelia, Libertas erased the smile that had been on her lips.
Her tone remained kind, but her expression gradually settled into coldness.
"Then... what should I do?"
"You have already chosen. Amelia. You were just bound by existing common sense. Think of your sister. What was she afraid of?"
A smile appeared on Amelia's lips.
An innocent one, like her younger sister Yurianne's.
"No... she looked very happy."
"Yes... Forget about boundaries such as human and demon tribe. I can give it to you too. Just... do as I say."
"But that... that's..."
It's not freedom, it's like being a slave.
The last words didn't come out, but.
"That's not it."
Libertas whispered as if she had heard everything.
"It is the freedom you chose. Amelia."
If you need someone to grant rights to your freedom, make me your authority.
If true freedom is the absence of coercion, then let go of everything.
"As such, I shall guide you to freedom."
Now, Solemio was not human's, but 'my castle'.
She was not the 'enemy' lord of Solemio, but simply the first manager to oversee one of my fortresses.
"Yes. My... Teacher."
The second disciple, and the first manager of a fortress.
"Yes. Amelia."
She was no longer an enemy, but simply mine.
- 2 -
In the land that once made the humans of the Haisen Kingdom believe a new day would come—the land that had formed the completeness of their territory—an order sprouted.
An order that would give a new 'freedom' to humans and the demon tribe.
Under the will of Libertas, who had cut off her internal conflict and set her resolve.