Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: The Price of Rejection (3)
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The cell at the far end of the first floor.
Myoran's room, usually chilled with yin energy, was on the verge of freezing over today.
Even though it was a humid summer.
"......"
The white crow that had been watching from afar elegantly folded its wings.
The scene it observed with its red eyes was soon transmitted to the saintess in the cell across the way.
"Serves you right."
Anje snickered from where she sat on the edge of her bed.
She seemed genuinely amused for once, tears welling up in her beautiful eyes.
"Sigh... She really shouldn't have gotten so full of herself over a single white shirt."
What?
Take her back home and set up house together?
"When the warden couldn't care less about that sort of thing."
Everything needed a justification.
In that regard, she had a solid pretext to stay by his side, unlike Myoran.
She had orchestrated a scenario where the warden's status would rise by exploiting the rivalry between the two nations.
"Now all that's left is the wedding."
The imperial family hadn't even exchanged official betrothal talks yet.
The Eastern Sword Sage was nothing more than a sister figure he planned to send to the academy.
They were ultimately just pretty-looking but impossible plums.
But the saintess—no, Lady Eri—was different.
She had already built multiple bonds with Derek, and he even viewed her as a proper bride candidate.
"All I need to do is give him a little nudge from behind."
With one rival out of the way, it was her turn now.
The saintess rose lightly and pulled on the iron door.
――――――.
Red moonlight poured softly into the dark corridor.
Her snow-white hair absorbed the light, taking on a pure pink hue.
The saintess walked with graceful steps, as if dancing through the silent corridor.
For this moment, the prison hallway might as well have been a palace garden walkway.
She arrived at the warden's office.
Anje boldly grasped the doorknob and pulled.
And then.
Her eyes met those of the man leaning against the desk in the warden's office.
A man with his upper body bare and a towel draped around his neck.
"......!"
The red saintess, whose eyes had held a sea of blood, froze for an instant.
She who maintained a blank expression through the world's cruelest sights paled completely, caught utterly off guard.
"Sorry, I thought everyone was asleep."
Old habits from his days as Imperial Prime Minister lingered.
I waved her off casually.
"I'll cover my eyes. Go ahead and change comfortably."
Anje raised one hand to cover her eyes.
A deliberate gap opened between her slender fingers.
"Impressively diligent. Growing at such a rapid pace—befitting a prophet."
When they first met, he had been a skinny, brooding young noble.
Now, his body was sturdy, like the hegemon vying for dominance in the North.
A better physique naturally improved his looks as well.
Those once hollow, shadowed eyes now evoked the distant aura of a lord with a storied past.
One who could smash through all his detractors and forge his own nation.
"......"
I buttoned my shirt while ignoring her muttering behind me.
I then casually prepared to head out, feigning nonchalance.
"Heading to the dorm?"
"Have to. It's late."
The woman in the red dress followed with her hands clasped behind her back.
Whether she did or not, I kept a straight face and donned my uniform jacket.
"Competition prep going well?"
"Did my best. Won't know until we clash for real."
I locked the warden's office door.
Afterward, Anje and I walked side by side down the corridor.
"After the competition, you'll build a new kingdom with her."
"Her?"
I tilted my head, and Anje snickered.
"Don't play dumb. You're preparing to get engaged to a lady of the Bakar royal family."
"......"
I offered no reply for a moment.
Growing inwardly frustrated, Anje pressed on.
"What a turnaround. From a notorious wastrel lord to marrying royalty. Blissful, right?"
"Not blissful. The conditions are incredibly heavy."
I came to a halt in the middle of the corridor.
Anje stopped as well and tilted her head.
Her silver hair cascaded slowly, absorbing the red moonlight.
In that instant.
I suddenly felt that Anje bore a striking resemblance to Lady Eri.
"Found a kingdom between Bakar and the Empire?"
"Yeah. Talk is cheap—building a nation is never easy."
Anje silently looked up at the warden, whose usual sly demeanor had vanished.
Today, he felt like an entirely different person.
"Rush into it just because of Varhan X's words, earn the Empire's ire, and you'll have no choice but to side with Bakar."
It was like gazing at a much older brother.
Anje didn't mind the strange disconnect.
"End up as Bakar's puppet state, a king in name only—a mere vassal. How could anyone call that a proper sovereign?"
"......Still a definite rise in status. And a beautiful wife."
It was true.
Utterly tempting.
But I could never accept it.
Who knew what would happen if I left the Empire?
'In the end, I can't leave because of you all!'
Myoran was one thing, the saintess another, and Princess Sis the same.
The Empire ran smoothly now because I was controlling them all.
If even one slipped, the bad ending would accelerate.
Things were peaceful right now.
Staying on as warden would keep it that way.
No more variables allowed.
"I have to stay in the Empire."
"......Why? It's a place that only curses your family."
To convincingly satisfy her here, I had no choice but to play the same card I'd used on Conan.
Patriotic youth mode.
"Our family has run bounties and loans. Yet the imperial family values our abilities enough to overlook it."
Honestly, an assassin family's lifespan ended the moment their name became known.
No such thing as a famous assassin existed in the world.
A true dark lord's name must remain unknown.
"I'm especially grateful to Princess Camillia. She took me on as a close aide despite my notoriety."
I gazed out the window with a fond expression.
Hand on my chest, I put on an expression brimming with patriotism.
"At the very least, until the Empire stabilizes, I want to stay here at this prison. Diligently doing my best from a humble position."
"…………."
Anje finally stopped asking questions.
Hearing my words about devoting myself to the Empire, her face turned to its usual cold blankness.
But I didn't pay it much mind.
She always had a cold expression anyway.
"Then what about Eri, who said she wants to be with you?"
"Huh?"
"Eri trusts only you. Is it okay to betray her like that?"
"It's fine. Not a betrayal. The engagement talk back then was just mutual acting."
I placed a hand on Anje's shoulder, telling her not to worry.
"It was an agreed-upon smokescreen, so no need to concern yourself."
I put on a gentle expression to soothe the seed of destruction.
With soft words, I reassured Anje.
"I get it—you're worried I'll suddenly leave and some weirdo warden takes over, so you're checking on my well-being, right?"
"......"
"I'll stay by your side until you're released. So relax."
"......"
I patted Anje's shoulder and silently departed down the corridor.
"Make sure to lock the iron door tight."
"......"
Anje stared blankly at the warden's receding back.
Her mind went blank for a moment before she reached one conclusion.
'Did I just get dumped?'
A beautiful, pure woman with a tragic backstory—eloping in love.
Ruling the world together from their new kingdom.
She had planned to spark a new holy war there and build a divine kingdom.
Yet he was giving up every opportunity for mere gratitude toward that princess?
For forgiving and sheltering an assassin family?
'Could he really harbor feelings for Camillia?'
Watching his back fade, the saintess debated using mind magic.
As a fresh Swordmaster, his magic resistance would still be weak.
She wanted to peek into his true heart and confirm if he truly loved Camillia.
"......"
But she gripped her twitching wrist.
With wistful eyes she never showed others, she murmured.
"No. I promised not to use it on the prophet."
Her clenched fingers trembled faintly.
A sense of powerlessness she'd never felt before.
Not even during the Holy See's underground experiments.
She had thought all humans moved by their desires.
Yet someone existed who wanted to repay the Empire lifelong for sheltering him.
It was prophet-like behavior she admired, but it still cracked her pride.
It meant Eri—no, she herself—lacked appeal compared to his patriotism.
"......"
The sound of the prison gates closing echoed loudly from the window.
Derek Minster had returned to his nearby dorm.
Only then did the saintess quietly turn away.
She headed back to her cell alone.
Kiiiek―――.
She expected her lonely bed to welcome her.
But there sat a girl silently waiting for the saintess.
The Eastern Sword Sage, Myoran, who had been rejected first.
"Your face says you got properly shot down too."
"......Not in the mood to talk to you."
The saintess gazed down at Myoran with an even colder look than usual.
The transcendent yin energies swirling between them sent the white crow perched by the window fleeing in haste.
"......"
Fortunately, the two prisoners didn't clash.
They simply stayed far apart, chewing on their bitter solitude.
"Maybe I should just wipe the Empire off the map."
Myoran muttered first, softly to herself.
"If the Empire vanishes, Derek will have a new reason to stay."
"Idiot. Think he'll choose you for that? He'd despise you instead."
Anje began a proper debate with her for the first time.
When there's a common enemy, people naturally unite.
"Then what? As long as the Empire exists, he has no intention of leaving."
Myoran punched the saintess's bed.
Fortunately, she didn't put much force into it, so it didn't collapse.
Had it broken, Anje wouldn't have stayed silent.
That bed was the one Derek had personally repaired just for her.
"......"
Come to think of it, he had always been kind to her.
Truly hoping her heart would heal, he tended to every little detail.
"......"
The same went for Myoran.
He was the only one in the West who had truly cared for her.
"I overheard Derek talking to the vice warden once. He said if he set his mind to it, he'd want to leave this country too."
"I know—that's why we set this up."
"What made him change his mind so suddenly......?"
"He didn't change his mind. He was just pretending to be loyal to the Empire in front of us."
Anje narrowed her mature eyes, lost in thought.
Finally, she arrived at a realization.
"He said he was leaving to avoid worrying us prisoners."
"So after we're released and the Empire's still at peace, that's when he'll go?"
Myoran chimed in.
"We're already guaranteed release anyway. Isn't that enough?"
"Not yet. The Empire has to keep running flawlessly without him."
To pry Derek from the Empire, it had to thrive without needing him.
The two transcendent beings locked eyes, having reached the same conclusion.
"Share the list of corrupt officials from Walter Group's ledger."
"I'll tell you the locations of the Holy See remnants."
They exchanged the positions of the Empire's festering tumors.
Build an Empire that doesn't need Derek.
That became the goal of the two prisoners.
"Better if Camillia takes the throne?"
"That old hag still has a sense of justice. Hand her the throne, and we take what we want."
Camillia ascends stably as the next emperor.
All her political enemies eliminated.
What could stabilize the Empire more than that?
"We'll leave him no more excuses."
"Agreed. He said it himself."
Venomous eyes gleamed from beneath disheveled black hair.
"Someday, we'll return to my homeland together."
"Same here—we'll build a kingdom."
Like owners granting their finicky pet's every wish.
Now their eyes turned domineering, intent on spoiling him freely.
No mercy if he threw another tantrum.
"Phew... I'm beat."
I returned to the dorm near the prison.
I flopped onto the bed and, before sleeping, reached out into empty air.
Checking the system window right before bed.
It was part of my daily routine.
"Good thing nothing major happened today."
No newly unlocked bad endings...
The sealed endings were holding firm.
"Huh? What's this?"
"What? The Empire's stability went up? This is a total boon!"
I bolted upright in bed, feeling great.
The fatigue from training my ass off earlier vanished in an instant.
"Finally, my efforts are paying off!!"
With a beaming smile, I scrolled down.
Countless potential bad endings from the Empire's instability had auto-sealed.
"But why... is the Golden Cage ending still there?"
"Tch... It's nagging at me."
I scratched my cheek, deep in thought.
It definitely wasn't a bad ending, but it gave off an ominous vibe for some reason.