Chapter 160
The story continues off the page
The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
Olivia approached Ferda with a smile on her face.
Ferda decided to offer a polite greeting, at least for appearances’ sake.
“Allow me to pay my respects to Your Highness—.”
“Shh.”
Her finger lightly pressed against Ferda’s lips.
The finger was soft, and a strong floral fragrance spread through the air.
“I’m not a princess here. I came as a believer and as a member of the relief corps.”
“Is that so?”
“What brings you here, Mr. Ferda?”
He could not say that he had come to meet his trusted aide, so he decided to lie.
“A beggar stole one of my gold coins and ran away, so I pursued him.”
“Even if you were angry, how could you come this far?”
“Indeed.”
“There must be many people targeting you, Regent. I can’t let you expose your identity like this.”
Olivia chuckled and crooked a finger toward the men behind her.
One of the men behind her took out a robe and handed it to Olivia.
“Come with me as my escort.”
Ferda silently looked down at the robe.
Under normal circumstances, he would have simply ignored her and moved on.
But wasn’t the main cause of Ferda’s inner conflict for the past several hours standing right in front of him?
As Garnet had said, asking the person in question directly could also be an answer.
“Understood.”
Ferda put on the robe.
“Stand beside me. A little closer.”
Ignoring the other escorts accompanying her, Olivia placed Ferda right beside her.
Ferda asked her as though he were uncomfortable.
“Aren’t we a little too close?”
“I thought you might have something you wanted to say. Isn’t that why you went along with this absurdity?”
She was remarkably quick-witted.
“But before that, work with me for a little while.”
“……Understood.”
Ferda was not particularly curious about why Olivia was here, but since the subject he wanted to raise was not a light one, he had no choice but to play along.
She headed toward the beggars’ stronghold.
Skin darkened with grime from not being washed.
Body odor mixed with scents far removed from anything pleasant, while the cries of children sang a song of despair.
In such a place, Olivia felt like a ray of light.
The beggars, who had been listless and lifeless, hurried into motion when they saw her.
Even the children they had hidden away were lined up and made to kneel.
Had they realized that she was a princess?
They had not.
They were untouchables who could not even recognize the appearance of a princess.
To them, the only powers above them were the local thugs and the relief corps of the Alte Church.
Through Olivia’s robe, they seemed to have taken her for the latter.
Olivia had entered this place for precisely that purpose.
The escorts accompanying Olivia carried relief supplies.
Whenever they took out freshly baked bread and a cup of water, Olivia distributed them one by one.
“This is the grace and mercy of Alte, the Almighty Light.”
Olivia said this, and the beggars responded mechanically.
“We thank the great Alte for His grace.”
She dealt with them one at a time.
It was a time-consuming task, and above all, it reeked.
Some even stealthily brushed against her fingers, hoping to feel her delicate hands, if only for a moment.
But Olivia neither showed displeasure nor recoiled in horror.
By the time she had finished distributing all the bread and water, her delicate hands were covered in stains.
“Is this part of your saintess training?”
Ferda asked.
Olivia answered while wiping her hands with a perfumed handkerchief.
“Would you believe me if I said I’ve been doing this since long ago?”
Ferda answered bluntly.
“Not particularly.”
Not just anyone, but a princess.
And for Ferda, it was difficult to believe that a princess whose heart was full of schemes would show goodwill toward other people.
“You probably don’t.”
Olivia merely smiled at that response, as though she had expected it.
“As I told you, there are far too many people in this Empire. Because there are so many of them, people forget how precious each human being is. It’s as though they were merely replacing parts in a gigantic machine.”
Even though countless people would die, the imperial capital would remain intact.
Olivia had spoken of a solution to this problem.
“That’s why you said a second capital was necessary.”
“Yes. People only realize how precious something is once they are in danger of losing it.”
This, too, could have been an action intended to win political support.
But even nobles renowned as champions of the common people did not help others as actively as Olivia did.
Even Valdemar Golt, the hero of the people, did not treat the untouchables as human beings.
It must have been possible only because she possessed convictions that went beyond politics.
Watching her actions, Ferda made up his mind and opened his mouth.
“Grand Duke Golt made me a proposal.”
The smile disappeared from her lips.
“What proposal did he make?”
Ferda answered calmly.
“He said he would guarantee the Far East’s safety in exchange for handing you over.”
“Did you accept?”
Contrary to his expectation that she would be shocked, she simply moved on to her next question.
“I postponed my answer. He was the one who unilaterally ended the conversation.”
“That gives me something to think about. It means he must have something he trusts enough to rely on.”
“It seems so.”
An uncomfortable silence settled between them after that.
Ferda could not read her expression, hidden beneath the robe.
As they walked, regret kept prodding Ferda for having asked an unnecessary question.
Then, as they continued on, her footsteps stopped.
The gaze hidden beneath the robe was directed somewhere else.
An old woman and a thin child were begging there.
The child lay weakly in the old woman’s arms, while the old woman held out a wooden bowl and begged for mercy.
“Did you know?”
Olivia spoke while looking at the old woman.
“What?”
“Grand Duke Valdemar Golt once implemented a policy for people in extreme poverty like this. It was free education. He allowed children who could not even find water to wash themselves to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.”
Reading and writing were the exclusive possessions of the upper classes.
At the same time, being able to read and write meant having a foothold from which to rise in the commoner class.
“Don’t you think that sounds like a policy worthy of a hero of the common people?”
“Wouldn’t you agree?”
“No, I wouldn’t. I know that such a policy is useless, no matter how good an excuse it provides.”
Her chin turned toward the child in the old woman’s arms.
“For them, immediate food is more important than educating them to see into the distant future. It is more efficient to use children as tools for earning sympathy than to place their hopes in a child’s future. That is why they even run businesses renting children out like that.”
Renting children out.
After hearing her words, Ferda looked at the old woman and child.
They were clearly strangers with not the slightest resemblance to each other.
“So if you truly wish to secure their future, you must not place money in the hands of beggars who solicit alms like that. If you prove that renting out children is profitable, they will spend their entire lives as tools for adults and merely pass their poverty on to the next generation.”
It was a cruel but rational statement.
She seemed about to simply ignore them and turn away, but Olivia crouched down and placed a silver coin from her bosom on the ground.
The old woman bowed her head repeatedly and expressed her gratitude for the kindness.
No matter how rational and reasonable a solution she had, she was still human.
In the end, she was an emotional human being who could not bring herself to ignore the tragedy before her.
“About Grand Duke Golt’s proposal…”
Olivia spoke.
Emotion surfaced on her lips.
Ferda recognized the emotion all too well.
A cold blade forged from deep sorrow intertwined with blazing rage.
“Accept it.”
It was revenge.
* * *
The second day in the Empire, morning.
Despite the serenity of the crystal-clear morning sunlight, the attack on Ferda began.
In front of the luxury inn where Ferda was staying.
A group moved there and set up a platform.
Once the stage was complete, a middle-aged man dressed as a nobleman climbed onto it.
“Citizens of the Empire, please lend an ear to what I have to say!”
With a mage’s assistance, he even used an amplification spell to seize the attention of people on their way to work.
“I am here today to expose a murderer!”
As though it were only natural given his shocking purpose, a crowd gathered around him.
“My name is Perry Yurei. I am a duke of the Heinkel Kingdom, not a noble of this Empire!”
The rank of duke was comparable to that of a king in a country.
For someone of such rank to stand in the street and address commoners with honorifics was an extremely shocking sight.
“Today, I stand here as the father of a child! My son’s name is Marcus. Unlike this inadequate father, he was a promising child. Unlike his unquestionably defeated father, he would certainly have grown into someone capable of leading his domain splendidly! Such a child…!”
Duke Yurei’s hands trembled.
The grief of losing a child was an emotion that transcended social status.
“That child took part in the Spring Festival and disappeared after being attacked. Until then, I thought it was merely the work of monsters. But beneath the light of great Alte, there is no darkness that can hide forever.”
His emotions grew heated.
The atmosphere continued to rise.
“I discovered who killed my son, and I have come here today to expose him!”
Duke Yurei pointed toward the luxury inn and revealed the truth.
“Ferda Valdrova, the regent and fiancé of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova! That man is the culprit who murdered my son!”
* * *
Everything proceeded as planned.
Duke Yurei won the people’s sympathy as a father who had lost his son, and the rumor spread instantly.
People said that a rumor without legs could travel a thousand li, but it spread throughout the entire Empire in a mere two hours.
Someone had unquestionably been working behind the scenes.
But what did that behind-the-scenes manipulation matter?
To these people, what mattered was that Duke Yurei had lost his son and Ferda Valdrova was a murderer.
Ferda set out to attend the Golden Council once again.
The moment he stepped outside, hostile gazes turned toward him.
The condemnation that should have begun yesterday had begun today instead, just as planned.
“I will escort you safely.”
Count Consilius’s expression grew grim, as though he were marching off to war.
He knew that if something flew from that mob of commoners and struck Ferda’s body, there would be no turning back.
Ferda surveyed them from horseback.
‘Anger and disgust….’
Ferda did not show any emotion.
He did not want to understand those who were raging in ignorance, nor did he want to make them understand him.
Thus, he entered the Golden Council.
Doting husband Ferda had become a criminal and the subject of gossip.
Strangely enough, the guards’ search had also become much more thorough.
“Regent.”
Just before Ferda entered the council chamber, an old man stopped him.
The culprit behind this entire mess.
Valdemar Golt stood there like a chief justice.
“Are you ready to give me your answer regarding my proposal?”
Everything would be over if he sold Olivia.
Ferda had even volunteered to become bait himself.
He could hand Olivia over and let the matter of the Far East pass without difficulty.
“Yes.”
Ferda answered.
“Unfortunately, a person’s heart is not something I can change.”
“……I see.”
Valdemar did not cling to him petulantly or grow angry.
He merely nodded as though he understood.
“I understand your intentions well.”
It was the stillness before a storm.
Ferda had thought that knowing this would at least keep him from feeling troubled, but that was not the case.
His mind grew calm, and it felt as though all the worries that had shaken him had fled.
Ferda quietly took his seat.
“Since everyone has taken their seats, I will now call this session to order.”
The chamber fell silent at the words of the chairman, Akad.
“Before addressing the acquisition of magitech engineering technology, I would first like to address one crime that cannot be overlooked.”
Everyone knew what that unforgivable crime was.
“Regent Ferda, would you please take the witness stand?”
Ferda stepped onto it as though he had been waiting for this moment.
“Regent Ferda, as you know, Duke Yurei’s son was murdered, and you have been named as the murderer.”
The rumor had traveled far too quickly, and the proceedings were moving just as fast.
“Furthermore, Duke Yurei has formally lodged a protest with the Empire. Since this is an issue that could interfere with diplomacy between nations, we have permitted him to attend this Golden Council, despite being a lord within the territory of the Heinkel Kingdom.”
With those words, Duke Yurei entered the chamber.
It was the first time Ferda had seen his face since the Grand Council.
Yet the confused and powerless Duke Yurei from that time was nowhere to be seen.
He was exactly as Grand Duke Valdemar had described him.
‘A face with nothing left to lose.’
His eyes yearned for revenge, prepared to drag the entire world into ruin now that he had lost everything.
‘……Not enough.’
Ferda needed certainty.
“Regent Ferda, do you admit to killing Lord Marcus Yurei?”
The chairman asked, and Ferda was about to answer.
His eyes turned toward Duke Yurei.
“Marcus Yurei…….”
Ferda did what he did best.
“He committed a crime deserving death.”
Duke Yurei’s anger erupted.