Chapter 25 - Engagement Annulment Ceremony (3)

One day before starting the first interview.

Immediately after Elisia decided to “set up the board” using Dale,

She promptly summoned Dale to her guest room.

A plain-looking man with sharpness in his eyes.

She guided such a man to a nearby chair and evaluated him.

The one who made the greatest achievement in the second invasion, where even the Northern knights, famous for their experience and strength, struggled.

Perhaps because he appeared like a savior when it was most difficult.

Despite being a commoner and of unknown origin, this was why the closed-off Northern people welcomed Dale.

He was strong, unsullied, and quite sociable, so everyone couldn't help but like him.

...So from the perspective of a key figure managing the North, Dale was an existence like a “hero” that was easy to use and discard.

All heroes were of commoner origin.

This was to maintain the current system by vicariously satisfying the commoners' desire for social advancement and instilling impossible hope in them, and also to avoid sending precious sons or personnel of the royal family or nobility to dangerous places.

It was also to control public opinion among commoners by using the fact that heroes were of commoner origin.

And above all, even if they were overused and broken, the fact that there was no problem also played a part.

So from the country's perspective, the existence of a hero was...

The best manpower that could be obtained with insincere recognition and a few coins.

In that sense, Dale was a suitable person to be a hero.

With a character not yet tainted by impurity, the peculiarity of unknown origin, and strong abilities.

Dale was perfectly suited to be a hero, to the extent that if the imperial family discovered him, they would likely designate him as the next hero.

So there was a need to secure him first.

By the very fact that Dale was still unsullied, he couldn't easily shake off others' dependence, and taking advantage of the fact that he was strangely unfamiliar with others' affection, she entangled him in a relationship.

...The reason for expressing it as “entangled” rather than “formed” a relationship was because it wasn't a normal relationship built, but an artificial relationship created by intentionally shaking Dale's emotions and then pushing in “guilt”.

And once entangled like this…

When the North was in danger or problems arose, Dale would have the obligation to drop everything and rush over immediately.

So it would be better to leave him alone until Dale grows and becomes stronger if possible.

However, if she didn't bring forth warmth right now, everything could be shattered, so she had no choice but to use Dale.

Thinking it was regrettable but unavoidable, she handed him a drink.

"Ah, thank you, Grand Duchess."

"It's nothing. Oh, and didn't we agree to call me Elisia when we're alone?"

"...Elisia."

After acting satisfied at hearing the desired answer, she glanced at him.

According to rumors, he had injured a major part and was suffering quite a bit.

Judging by how he had been checking if he could receive treatment for it as soon as he arrived here, it seemed the problem was quite serious.

Moreover, hearing that he was extremely angry at Damian who had left such an injury, if she just touched on it lightly, it probably wouldn't be difficult to instigate a fight.

With such thoughts, she broached the subject with Dale.

"I heard you've been suffering a lot due to your recent injury. Are you alright?"

"...Ah."

Perhaps it was something difficult to talk about with the opposite sex.

Dale gradually became tinged with shame, and she continued to throw stones at him who was strongly shaken.

So that the resentment towards Damian would grow even larger... continuously.

After setting up the board for Dale to take revenge on Damian like that, she participated in the official first interview and dropped hints about “revenge”.

Of course, if she just dropped it, the reaction would be weak, so she used a soft tone instead of her usual businesslike tone.

"...Dale is trying to kill you."

Just stating the conclusion lacked persuasiveness.

So she quickly added an explanation related to this.

"It seems that because the place hit by the mace was a vital point, he received an irreversible injury. It seems his thoughts have become extreme due to the great distress."

She continued speaking, mixing a little lie with the truth, "I shouldn't be saying this since I treated you harshly while you were in the North, Damian, but I think it would be good for you to be careful."

She acted worried.

No, actually, because she was worried about the North, worry showed on her face even without acting.

So, while controlling her emotions more easily than usual, she was about to subtly close the distance with him when…

"...You're talking nonsense."

A mocking voice spread.

At those words, she was momentarily speechless and looked at his face.

She saw Damian looking down at her with an expression full of disgust.

"This mess happened because of you in the first place, right?"

Then he hit the core.

***

I laughed hollowly as I watched Elisia spouting nonsense in front of me.

I listened to what she was saying, and it was quite amusing to see her speak as if she had no connection and was rather the victim.

So I sneered and told her the “cause” of this situation.

Elisia flinched and froze the moment she heard those words.

"And you're warning me for my sake... Why don't you speak properly? You're not saying this for my sake, but for the sake of the crumbling North."

One thing I realized while being by Elisia's side for a year was that all of Elisia's behavior patterns were directed “towards the North”.

To be more precise, it meant she was acting with only the North's benefit in mind.

However, some of her judgments were somewhat self-centered, for example, regarding the succession of the family head position.

Considering the closed nature of the North, it would have been right to pass it on to the eldest son.

But the eldest son had no talent or will to rule the North, so considering that she tried to push out the eldest son and become the family head herself, it would be right to see it as a distorted form of belief built up since childhood, mixed with a heart for the North.

A desire to be rewarded for sacrificing herself for the North all this time.

And a heart that could easily sacrifice others for the sake of the North.

So there's a high probability that she's saying such things not for my sake, but for the North's sake.

There was a high chance that she was likely intending to use this to use me.

At my words, Elisia sat on the sofa across from me and said, "...That can't be. I'm saying this because I'm genuinely worried about you."

She was pretending to be sad, but I could see her pupils shaking slightly.

It seemed I had hit the nail on the head, so I smiled and said to her, "Since it's come to this, let me ask you. Have you ever been grateful to me... no, have you ever seen me as a person even for a moment?"

"Of course—"

I cut her off decisively, "You haven't."

"..."

"Even when I showed you the North that changed thanks to my warmth. You didn't thank me, but said that your efforts had meaning."

"That's..."

She closed her mouth, seemingly having nothing else to say.

At that reaction, I impassively confirmed my purpose once again.

"So do you have anything you want to say?"

"Damian... it's not like that, I sincerely said it because I was worried about you..."

She lied until the very end.

"This is my true heart, my honest feelings. So... can't you listen to me properly just once?"

And then she acted like a pitiful, ill-fated heroine and looked at me as if she was the victim.

At that moment, I was reminded of how I had begged her to listen to me just once right before the engagement annulment, and nausea welled up.

— Elisia. Won't you listen to what I have to say?

— It's meaningless.

The moment that thought came to mind, I let out a light hollow laugh.

Then I immediately grabbed the hammer in my chest and brought it down on Elisia.

Bang!

Unfortunately, it seems she had an artifact that activated a protective barrier, blocking the attack.

Seeing this, I continued speaking to her, "I thought I told you to fuck off."

If once wasn't enough, I could hit it as many times as it took to bring it down.

However, it was a bit disappointing to do it the same way, so I borrowed the power of the Sun Spirit and struck the barrier with the hammer wrapped in sword energy.

Bang!

As fire spread, cracks appeared in the barrier.

Seeing this, I was about to swing the hammer again without hesitation when…

"Grand Duchess!"

I saw countless knights pouring in from inside.

Then, as I was watching them rushing in to pressure me, someone cut the wall in half, creating an entrance where there wasn't one, and slowly walked into the room.

...It was just one person..

Just one person was far from enough to confront the rough Northern knights who had survived in the harsh North, but the one who entered acted as if such common sense didn't apply.

The moment she entered the room, she made all the Northern knights freeze and stop their actions.

An unrealistic and abnormal sight.

Loraine, who created such a sight,