Chapter 41
Kindred Spirits
Ferda dreamed.
It was not a vague, jumbled stream, but a dream of recollection grounded in memory.
It was something that had happened to Ferda long ago.
Yet it had been so trivial that he had merely left it abandoned in the depths of his memory.
That insignificant memory began on a balcony.
Beyond the balcony, black smoke rose from various places within the walls of the imperial capital.
The bomb the Empire had nurtured within itself had finally exploded, and rebel forces were marching through the streets.
A woman stood watching it all.
She stood atop the balcony railing, staring down as though in a daze.
Like a tragic heroine.
—The Empire is burning. Blazing so brightly...
Ferda silently stared at her.
—Are you happy now?
The question was directed at Ferda.
Her voice contained resentment, as though all of this had happened because of him.
Ferda let out a derisive laugh at her shamelessness.
“They are dying because of you, Olivia Arken. Had you not stepped forward, they would never have needed to suffer like this.”
Olivia Arken.
The greatest beauty in the Empire and a devout follower of Alte.
The woman known as the very embodiment of purity was the one who had turned her blade against the Empire.
Had she not led the uprising, no screams would have echoed within those enormous walls.
—I thought we would succeed.
She spoke in a distant voice.
—If I lured out my younger brother and incited the people... Yes, it was entirely possible. The rebellion would have ended with ease.
She turned her head.
With blue eyes and golden hair, Olivia Arken smiled radiantly.
—But then... an absurd man like you upset the balance.
Yet contrary to that radiant smile, vivid crimson stains covered her face.
Blood.
It was not Olivia’s blood.
It belonged to the owner of this room—the First Prince, who lay dead on the bed with his trousers awkwardly pulled halfway down.
He had met his end by the dagger in her hand.
The First Prince had died at Olivia’s hands.
The Second Prince had become a traitor, so if this rebellion failed, he would be publicly executed.
And Olivia...
Would not die.
—Instead, I’ll become His Majesty the Emperor’s plaything. They’ll put me up in some cheap auction house and use my body as collateral to secure people’s loyalty.
Just as they did to my beloved sister.
Olivia muttered so quietly that Ferda could not hear.
—So I’ll make you an offer.
Olivia held out her hand.
Her tight-fitting silk glove was not merely stained red. Fresh blood dripped steadily from it.
—Before I’m put up in such a filthy auction house... would you like to embrace me?
Ferda did not answer.
It was not because he was conflicted. The offer simply did not deserve a response.
Olivia kept her hand raised for a long while before finally giving up.
—As expected... you hate me, don’t you?
She was right.
Ferda hated Olivia.
He had felt it clearly the first time he saw her, and every time they encountered each other afterward.
—Why?
That emotion had not been created from forced hatred or something as petty as jealousy.
“You are like me.”
It was disgust born from recognizing one of his own kind.
Ferda hated Rosnova for casting him out.
And Olivia hated her own blood relatives.
The life of this woman, who resembled him so closely, filled Ferda with revulsion.
Perhaps Ferda had unconsciously realized even then that something about him was fundamentally wrong.
—I see. Because we are alike, we are destined to run forever along parallel worlds?
Olivia resigned herself to the truth.
Even so, the smile on her face did not disappear.
That smile was Olivia’s mask.
A thick mask forged over far more years than Ferda had lived, created to conceal her resentment and murderous intent.
It was something that would never crack, even at the moment of her death.
—What a shame. I thought you might be all right.
Her smile twisted sadly.
—I truly did.
Olivia’s body tilted backward.
She threw herself down toward the burning Empire below.
When Ferda opened his eyes again, he was greeted by an unfamiliar, lavish ceiling.
Tilting his head, he saw the interior of the imperial palace.
Royal guards surrounded the walls, accompanied by knights of commander rank.
“Oh my, you’re awake?”
A sweet voice welcomed Ferda.
The golden-haired woman closed the book she had been reading and smiled at him.
Olivia Arken.
Living up to her reputation as the greatest beauty in the Empire, merely seeing her smile gave the impression that dozens of bouquets were blooming around her.
Ferda sat up and asked her,
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Hmm, about three hours.”
“Three hours...”
Strange.
His body felt far too refreshed for someone who had been unconscious for only three hours.
He had never once felt this way after receiving treatment from Luri.
“Is this perhaps your first time receiving treatment from our Order of Alte?”
“Yes.”
“Hoho, I thought so. All the priests stationed within the imperial palace are bishop-class clergy. When they borrow His light to heal someone, that person can move as though they have been given an entirely new body.”
“I see.”
There was another reason Ferda found it so impressive.
In his previous life, he had never once entrusted his treatment to another person.
He trusted no one.
He would rather have died than allow someone else to lay hands on his body.
‘Now I understand why priestly healing is considered the finest.’
He wondered whether he should have a priest like that permanently stationed at his castle.
“According to the rescue teams’ reports...”
Olivia shifted the subject toward the sealed storage facility.
“Mr. Yuren, the magical investigator, was killed, while you, Lord Regent, were gravely injured.”
“Yes.”
“I do not know the precise circumstances, but they said Yuren’s corpse was found clutching the Ice Ring Grimoire. His skin had also undergone the discoloration seen in contractors of Marbas. Did he succumb to the demon’s temptation?”
Ferda nodded.
“That is correct.”
“I see... To think an investigator would fall for a demon’s enticement... You were fortunate to survive.”
Olivia gazed at him tenderly and gently placed her hand over Ferda’s.
Ferda glanced down at it.
His own hands were small for the child of a knightly family, but hers were even slimmer and more delicate.
“As you said, the magical investigator Yuren fell into corruption and attacked me.”
Ferda raised his eyes to meet hers.
“However, you have the sequence of cause and effect backward.”
“What do you mean?”
“He did not attack me because he had fallen. He intended to kill me from the very beginning, and he did not hesitate to embrace corruption in order to accomplish that.”
“Um... You mean he intended to kill you from the start, Lord Regent?”
Her eyes darted about as though she were struggling to understand.
But Ferda knew.
She had already grasped the entire situation.
Because Olivia was the only one who wanted that.
“Yes. From the outset, he brought me into the sealed storage facility so he could attack me.”
“Why?”
“To kill me. He intended to claim that I had succumbed to the temptation of the sealed artifacts, leaving him no choice but to kill me.”
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“To kill someone... How could he commit such a cruel act? What could he possibly gain by killing you, Lord Regent?”
“Who knows?”
Ferda smiled gently and asked her,
“Would you kindly tell me?”
Olivia’s expression stiffened for a moment.
Their blue eyes remained locked for a long while.
It was more than simple eye contact. Behind their gazes, each was probing the other’s intentions in a silent contest.
After staring at each other in silence for some time, Olivia raised her hand.
“Knight Commander.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“May we speak privately for a moment? I would like to be alone with him.”
“Alone... Your Highness?”
“Yes. Just the two of us.”
The Knight Commander looked troubled.
Olivia gazed at him with moist, glistening eyes.
“Please?”
As he looked into those eyes, the Knight Commander flushed as though bewitched and nodded.
“Understood. We shall do as Your Highness wishes.”
“Thank you. Truly.”
The royal guards stationed throughout the room filed outside.
The blue eyes that had glistened with moisture for the Knight Commander blinked once.
In that instant, the Flower of the Empire—the embodiment of purity—vanished without a trace.
“You believe...”
Olivia’s airy, lilting voice sank with astonishing abruptness.
She became so different that even Ferda instinctively felt a chill run down his spine.
“That I ordered Yuren to assassinate you, Lord Regent?”
She was perceptive.
Her reputation was not merely the product of prejudice. She truly was an exceptional woman.
Ferda had expected her to put up a token argument before vaguely dodging the matter.
Instead, with the fuse already lit, she had given him the most effective possible response.
Ferda had intended to hold her responsible and turn the entire situation upside down, yet she had struck back first.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever spoken to like this. Especially the first man.”
“Then will you tell me, Your Highness?”
Ferda placed mocking emphasis on the title.
Olivia no longer wore her foolish smile.
“First of all, it is true that I had ties to Yuren. He performed many tasks for me.”
Magical investigators were permitted to enter and leave the sealed storage facility.
Forbidden magic, evil sorcery, and dangerous information were stored there.
Some of that information concerned scandals and weaknesses that could disgrace the Empire.
“But if I said Yuren’s actions were the result of excessive loyalty leading him astray... would you believe me?”
“I am someone who nearly died only moments ago.”
Did she truly expect him to believe that?
Olivia calmly nodded.
“I once had a conversation with him. I wondered what could deal a major blow to the Empire—or, more precisely, what could shake the Emperor’s authority. How could I...”
She smiled softly, like a young girl cherishing a lifelong dream.
It was an expression born from her most sincere emotions.
“Kill the Emperor...?”
An ordinary person would have been unsettled by her twisted display of emotion.
Ferda, however, sympathized with her.
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
“Yes, using the Dread Queen was one of the scenarios I had considered. He was deeply disappointed in the Arken family once before, wasn’t he? If we disappointed him one more time, the Emperor would have difficulty surviving even if he bowed his head and begged.”
“Then my death would have made it perfect.”
“Of course not.”
She gently leaned her face forward.
A subtle perfume—not overpowering, but almost like her natural scent—drifted toward him.
“Even now, as we sit here face-to-face, I am becoming certain that the plan was flawed.”
“How so?”
“You dislike me, Lord Regent.”
The penetrating gaze hidden beneath the soft curves under her eyes gleamed blue.
“I can feel it. Deep inside, you despise me. You have ever since the moment we first met. It isn’t that you dislike me because you are too childish to reveal your true feelings. You genuinely hate me...”
She smiled.
“Perhaps you simply don’t like pure women? Women who are a little empty-headed and incapable of doing anything on their own. I thought men usually fell head over heels for women like that.”
Ferda did not answer.
As though she had not particularly expected one, Olivia drew her face back.
“There are many people willing to tear out their livers and kidneys for me. Yet none of them actually see me for who I am.”
Ferda disliked her.
That was precisely why he did not fall for her gestures or her words and continued to see her exactly as she was.
“I need someone like that. Not a slave, but a companion.”
“Wouldn’t a slave be more convenient?”
“Yuren was my slave. A slave’s excessive loyalty always causes trouble. They often run ahead and do things they were never ordered to do simply because they want to please me.”
Olivia sighed as though the matter gave her a headache.
“One provincial noble sold all his possessions to prove himself and brought me one million roses.”
A romantic for the ages.
“Who was he?”
“I don’t know. I had him executed before asking his name.”
And the most pitiful fool of all.
“I have no desire for a man who sells his castle and enslaves his subjects because he wants me. Such people would be useless to my ultimate objective.”
On the surface, it sounded as though she cared for the common people.
But Ferda knew the truth.
Olivia would eventually start a rebellion that killed and injured countless people.
“And yet you tried to cultivate an evil sorcerer within the Empire?”
“Oh my, you suspected me of that as well?”
She covered her mouth and blinked.
Of course he did.
She was someone who wished for the Empire’s destruction.
“Hmm... Hearing you say that makes me feel a little hurt. In that case, I suppose I have no choice. I merely need to show you how sincere I am, correct?”
She lowered her head toward the hand she had placed over Ferda’s.
Mana began circulating through Olivia’s body.
It flowed skillfully along her right arm and gathered there.
At that moment, something astonishing occurred.
Ferda could clearly see the proof.
A glowing white symbol appeared on the back of her hand.
“Do you know what this is?”
“...A Sacred Soul.”
A Sacred Soul bestowed by a god.
When a believer of the Order made an absolute vow, their god would grant this blessing, bestowing immense power upon its bearer.
Because it granted such extraordinary strength, it was not given lightly. It required both an intense desire and the qualifications to receive it.
“This symbol is called the Vow of Vengeance. According to Alte’s teachings, vengeance must be directed toward those who refuse to care for the people beneath the light, who pursue their own selfish desires, and who defy the will of the light.”
The people she intended to protect were the commoners.
And the targets of her vengeance were the Emperor and her elder brothers.
That also proved she had no connection to the evil sorcerers.
Had she recruited an evil sorcerer, her Sacred Soul could not possibly have shone so brightly.
“There have been so many agitators falsely branded as evil sorcerers that the true meaning of the term has become blurred these days, but genuine evil sorcerers are vermin. I would not even want to make use of them.”
“I see.”
“And if I wanted the imperial family to collapse, I would never resort to such a shallow scheme as using evil sorcerers. No matter how much havoc they cause, only civilians would be harmed. And whenever civilians suffer, the Emperor’s authority merely grows stronger.”
Olivia touched her lips as she continued her speculation.
“If there is someone who benefits from an evil sorcerer infiltrating the Empire... it would most likely be my younger brother.”
“You mean the Second Prince.”
“Yes. He is the one who most desires the military’s expansion. The reason he leaves on campaigns is also to gather even more military power. If he can establish even the slightest need for outside forces to enter the capital, no one will be able to prevent him from bringing the connections he has cultivated into the Empire.”
Listening to Olivia, Ferda once again found himself impressed by the depth of her thinking.
That was despite already knowing she was nowhere near as foolish as she appeared.
He also became convinced that, had Ferda not interfered with the Empire, she truly would have killed the Emperor.
“In any case, as proof of my sincerity, I will ensure that you are not held responsible for Yuren’s death. I will also take care of the books that were destroyed during the battle. Would it not be enough for me to continue proving myself in this manner?”
As expected, this woman already knew.
She knew Ferda had also entered the sealed storage facility with an objective of his own.
“Would someone bearing a Sacred Soul truly allow a potential evil sorcerer to walk free?”
“Oh my? Alte, God of Light, favors certainty over suspicion. We do not even know how the information was leaked. It would violate doctrine to recklessly suspect a regent who has devoted himself to the Empire’s people.”
In other words, there would be no problem so long as she did not investigate.
“So, would you please cooperate with me from now on?”
Olivia Arken made her offer.
“I am aware that the provincial lords are displeased with the Emperor’s conduct. The resentment is especially deep in the neglected Far East. I believe you feel the same, Lord Regent. Should you cooperate with me, I, Olivia Arken, will lend my support to securing greater aid and political influence for the Far East.”
Her grip tightened around his hand.
A sensual allure spread across her face.
“I am certain we could become excellent partners... or perhaps something more.”
The light of temptation deepened.
Ferda could now understand, at least to some extent, why men became helpless before women.
Even knowing that every action was calculated, she drew out a man’s instincts with effortless ease.
“Understood. In that case, I shall lend my strength this time.”
“Thank you. But... what do you mean by lending your strength?”
The moment Olivia asked, the corridor outside erupted into commotion.
—Intruder detected! Issue a first-class alert! All personnel, assume wartime readiness!
They arrived quickly.
Ferda slipped his hand free from Olivia’s and rose from the bed.
Then, as something suddenly occurred to him, he asked her,
“You said I disliked pure people, did you not?”
“What? Ah, yes.”
“I like pure people.”
Leaving those words behind, Ferda walked out of the room.