To cut to the chase, we survived.

As it has always been, and as it will be in the future.

Of course, the crossbow bolts fired at us by the soldiers under Ernant’s command hit us accurately.

But we had anticipated such a situation and wore thick armor underneath our loose clothing, allowing us to avoid fatal injuries.

Afterwards, we immediately began to take down our enemies.

There were quite a few of them, but it wasn’t too difficult with Martin and me working together.

If there was one mistake, it was that we lost sight of Ernant while dealing with the soldiers.

After finishing the battle and looking around, I just now realized this fact and let out a long sigh.

“He’s gone. Should we chase after him and capture him?”

Martin shook his head at my question.

“No, it’s better to leave him be. The paths here are complex, so it won’t be easy to find him, and above all, if we follow, there could be an ambush waiting. It would be dangerous if we’re caught off guard.”

Hearing this, I realized his words were correct.

If this were a place familiar to us, catching Ernant wouldn’t be too difficult, but it was a completely unfamiliar place with excessively complicated paths.

Ernant would surely have set up soldiers in ambush everywhere, and in a place like this, it would be difficult to avoid surprise attacks.

Convinced, I pointed to the passage we had come from and said,

“Then it’s best if we carefully go back the way we came.”

“Yes, we confirmed there were no ambushes on the way here, but just in case, stay right behind me and follow.”

Following Martin’s words, I stuck close behind him as we made our way back.

As we were passing through the silent corridor without making a sound, something occurred to me that I needed to say to him.

“By the way… I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake. From the beginning, that man wasn’t someone who could be persuaded.”

“My lady, you have nothing to apologize for. Many lives were at stake, weren’t they? Not making a hasty decision driven by emotion and trying to persuade him until the very end was actually a commendable choice.”

“But…”

“Even if you secretly guessed that persuasion wouldn’t work, you had to try. There was no other way, so it was ultimately unavoidable. There’s no need to dwell too much on something that couldn’t be helped.”

Once again, there was nothing wrong with his words.

As someone bearing the lives of many, we had to try to persuade Ernant.

Since there was only one option from the start, there was no need to be buried in miserable feelings just because the outcome of that choice wasn’t good.

Rather, it would be more productive to think about what to do next.

“Let’s find a way to end this situation with minimal casualties.”

“Yes, my lady. I have a method in mind. It would be best to discuss the details once we return to the domain.”

As time was of the essence, we immediately mounted our horses and rode off.

To inform the members waiting in the Habicht duchy of the outcome of this affair.

“Call for a healer! Quickly, have them examine His Majesty!”

The aide shouted thus as soon as we arrived at the imperial palace.

The palace was in an uproar at the sight of Ernant returning, unable to steady himself properly and supported by an attendant.

While Martin and Yulia were dealing with the soldiers, Ernant had managed to escape safely and return to the palace, but his condition was still not good.

It had been like this since he heard the news of Yulia’s pregnancy.

His vision was blurry, and his mind was foggy.

Arriving at his bedchamber in a state where he didn’t even know how he had walked there, a healer who had just arrived immediately used healing abilities.

Calmed somewhat by that power, Ernant spoke in a quiet voice.

“Everyone, leave.”

“But Your Majesty…”

Ernant spoke again to the healer who was looking at him with anxious eyes.

“Leave. I’m fine now.”

With the order given twice, there was no choice.

Everyone in the bedroom, including the healer, disappeared outside.

Left alone like that, Ernant slowly got up and brought out some alcohol.

The transparent glass filled to the brim with strong liquor.

Pouring it directly into his mouth, he asked himself.

Why did it turn out like this?

He couldn’t understand where exactly things had gone wrong.

Surely Yulia had loved him.

That love had seemed as straight and solid as the sword Yulia always carried.

After all, Yulia had a tendency to stubbornly continue liking something once she became fond of it.

So, unlike the fickle love of others, he had thought Yulia’s love would be solid and long-lasting.

And yet.

“Why did it change this much?”

He quietly muttered aloud, quickly emptying the glass he had just filled.

What had seemed unchangeable had changed.

What had seemed eternal was, in fact, not eternal.

Even if it seemed to have changed for a moment, he thought she would soon come to her senses and return to him.

But that Yulia had married Martin and was carrying his child.

It meant she had completely become another man’s wife.

Faced with this surreal situation, laughter burst out for some reason.

Covering his eyes with one hand and chuckling, Ernant mumbled in a low voice.

“My knight and my sister’s child…”

It would surely be a lovely child.

Since both were outstanding in appearance, the child born would also be dazzlingly beautiful.

Ernant suddenly felt the urge to kill that child.

“…”

He fell silent as he filled the glass again and poured it into his mouth.

Then, with his head starting to feel the effects of alcohol, he thought fiercely.

How could he eliminate that filthy foreign object in Yulia’s womb and Martin?

Could he eliminate them right now?

Calculating, the result was quickly derived.

It’s impossible right now. That was the conclusion he reached.

The outcome of war was determined by ‘which side possessed more awakened ones.’

An awakened one was such an efficient weapon that they could eliminate dozens of ordinary soldiers.

And Martin currently had more of these powerful weapons than anyone else.

It was a problem that he had stood by and watched as Martin gathered awakened ones in the past.

At that time, the empire itself was threatened by rifts and monsters, so he had no choice but to give Martin a lot of authority.

Thus, he allowed Martin to lead a knightly order composed of awakened ones, and thanks to that, the empire was able to become somewhat safe.

When the empire regained stability, he tried to pressure Martin again, but by then it was already too late.

Too many awakened ones were already loyal to him and following him.

He shouldn’t have allowed that bastard power even if it meant watching the empire be trampled and destroyed by hordes of monsters.

He gritted his teeth in belated regret, but it was already irreversible.

Ernant poured another glass of alcohol into his mouth to cool his frustrated mind.

His head was foggy from the alcohol he had been pouring in since earlier.

As he continued to ponder with that foggy head, finally an answer that felt quite good came to mind.

“Awakened ones… I need to make more awakened ones…”

Muttering thus, he rose from his seat.

Holding the bottle of alcohol, he staggered out of the bedroom, and the palace people approached him with surprised faces.

He shook off all the hands trying to support him and continued walking.

Arriving at the underground laboratory, which felt much farther than usual, the alchemists who were in the middle of research showed their bewilderment.

“Your Majesty?”

“Bring a chimera. One that can be implanted immediately.”

Usually, he would only order a chimera to be brought out when a test subject was ready for implantation.

However, now there seemed to be no subject for chimera implantation anywhere he looked.

So, feeling puzzled but following the imperial order, the alchemists brought out a parasitic chimera that had been kept in a tank and showed it to him.

Ernant gazed at it wriggling in the alchemists’ hands with quiet eyes.

Looking at the chimera with colorless eyes devoid of any emotion, he soon ordered.

“Implant this in me.”

After riding hard, we arrived at the Habicht duchy.

We had already sent a messenger bird to the duchy to inform the members that the persuasion had failed, so there was already tension among them.

Since we failed to persuade the emperor, a clash with him was now unavoidable.

Civil war, which had seemed distant, was about to become a reality, so it was natural for everyone to be tense.

Martin and I comforted them while preparing to depart immediately.

Of course, there was no need for lengthy preparations.

We had already completed the basic preparations in anticipation of this situation, so now we just needed to move.

We had to hurry before the emperor struck first. As dawn broke, the Silver Knights mounted their horses and set out.

Everything was going smoothly, except for the complexity of our feelings.

The first obstacle in this smooth journey appeared when we were almost at the imperial palace.

“Commander, something’s strange.”

Oscar, who had used his far-sight ability to scout ahead before entering the palace, reported this.

He looked towards the palace again and continued reporting with an even more puzzled voice.

“The imperial palace… has disappeared.”