Chapter 146 - Common Ground

Ferda left the forest and walked toward the village.

Hestia Village.

There, he found a certain house and knocked on its door.

There was no sound from inside.

Just in case, he slipped his shadow through the gap, disengaged the lock, and opened the door.

He wasn't in the room.

Then where had he gone?

A place a stable hand might enter to protect a princess.

Perhaps he's there.

Ferda headed toward the inn district.

It had originally been built to accommodate the countless adventurers who passed through, but now it was used only occasionally by traveling merchants, while the adventurers had long since flooded out of the place.

It wasn't difficult for Ferda to pinpoint the location.

Even in the dead of night, only one building still had its lantern lit.

As Ferda opened the door, a small bell jingled.

"We're closed today."

Ignoring the innkeeper's greeting, Ferda surveyed the interior.

As expected, one man was there.

It was William.

He had ordered a single drink and was sitting alone in a corner.

Their eyes met.

A flood of emotions crossed between them.

"Hey."

The innkeeper persistently tried to speak to him.

If the man dared lay a hand on him, Ferda was fully prepared to snap his wrist.

"Innkeeper. Don't be rude."

William stopped the innkeeper, who had been about to step in aggressively.

The gesture clearly said that he would handle this himself.

Only then did the innkeeper back away, and Ferda approached William.

William rose from his seat to greet him.

"My respects, Your Excellency the Regent. What brings you here at this hour...?"

"I came for a drink. What about you?"

"I also came for a drink. I couldn't sleep."

"You said back at the castle you wouldn't drink because of your hangover."

"You're right. I suppose I should've had a few glasses of the good wine while I was there."

Silence settled between them.

In the tension that felt like walking across thin ice, Ferda finally spoke.

"So, how many glasses have you had?"

Ferda stared directly at him.

"Two so far."

William avoided his gaze.

"You don't look drunk for someone who's had two drinks."

"I'm the type that doesn't show it on my face."

"I see. Mind if I buy the next one?"

William answered politely.

"No. I've had enough..."

"So you're refusing a drink bought by the lord of Hestia Village?"

Ferda spoke calmly, but there was nothing ordinary about his gaze.

"My apologies. Excessive drinking is not a virtue for a knight. If possible, I'd like to postpone that drink until tomorrow—"

"Then you'll have to accept your punishment."

Ferda pulled out the instrument of punishment.

It was a dagger.

"If you won't drink, then this is only appropriate, isn't it?"

"..."

William remained silent.

Ferda's eyes questioned him.

Was it you who spirited the Imperial Princess away?

William neither admitted nor denied it.

As the saying went, silence was affirmation.

It was undoubtedly an admission.

Please.

Ferda felt murderous intent welling up inside him.

He wanted to twist this bastard's neck off.

Leaving the tight-lipped William behind, Ferda called out to the innkeeper.

"Innkeeper."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The rough attitude from earlier vanished the moment he realized Ferda was the Regent.

"How many guests are staying at this inn?"

"W-Well..."

"Don't bother thinking. I don't have the patience to go easy on you right now."

"O-Only one."

"A woman?"

"Y-Yes."

"I see."

Ferda tossed something to the innkeeper.

It was a single gold coin.

"Go outside and take a piss or something. For about two hours."

"Wh-What? You want me to leave...?"

"You may stay and watch what happens here if you like. But the thing sitting on top of your neck will end up on the floor. Is that what you want?"

"M-My apologies! I'll go... relieve myself somewhere far away!"

Clutching the gold coin, the innkeeper hurried out of the inn.

After sensing his presence fade into the distance, Ferda spoke again.

"Now stop keeping silent and answer my questions. Assuming there's still a knight left inside your heart."

"...Understood."

William nodded as though he had no other choice.

"What were you thinking when you did this?"

"She... was crying as though her heart had completely broken. She said she didn't want to stay in that place anymore and begged me to take her away."

"So you laid a hand on her?"

"When you say laid a hand on her..."

Crunch!

Ferda drove the dagger through the back of William's hand.

Bright red blood gushed out immediately.

"Ugh...!"

William let out a short groan of pain, and Ferda spoke in an icy voice.

"When you're asked a question, you answer it."

"...I never laid so much as a finger on her. How could someone like me—a mere Public Security Force captain, not even a knight—dare covet Her Imperial Highness's chastity?"

At least the worst-case scenario had been avoided.

The urge to wring his neck subsided somewhat.

"Go on."

Ferda questioned him.

"What exactly were you hoping for? Did you think that by running away like this, the Imperial Princess would open her heart to you?"

"I... served by Her Imperial Highness's side as her deputy."

William spoke quietly.

"Because she bore the title of Imperial Princess, I had my own prejudices. But she proved herself to be an outstanding leader and someone worthy of admiration."

"So as a soldier, you couldn't simply stand by and watch her suffer such injustice?"

Ferda fixed his eyes on William's face.

If this lofty code of chivalry was nothing more than an excuse to justify his actions, Ferda intended to cut his head off without hesitation.

"Her Imperial Highness... was about to make the worst possible choice."

"And what was that?"

"She was going to take her own life... with a dagger..."

Overwhelmed by all the injustice they had heaped upon her, Olivia had finally broken.

"I saw her trying to kill herself, and I barely managed to take the dagger away from her."

"And? What does that have to do with what you've done now?"

"She begged me. She said there was no one left in this world she could trust and pleaded with me to take her somewhere far away, even if only for a little while... So I came here with her."

It was utterly absurd.

Filled with anger, Ferda demanded,

"Have you completely lost your judgment? You're not a knight. You're the captain of the Public Security Force. After disturbing the very peace you're supposed to protect, did you really think I could forgive you?"

"...Of course not."

William himself didn't believe his actions had been right.

"But if I turned a blind eye to the injustice suffered by a comrade who had fought beside me through life and death, then wouldn't I be no different from someone who stole her achievements for himself?"

He claimed he had acted entirely according to his convictions.

Had anyone else said those words, Ferda would've dismissed them as cowardly, pathetic excuses.

But William was different.

He could have dodged the dagger flying toward his hand.

He could have blocked it.

He could even have fought back.

Yet he did none of those things.

Even after the dagger pierced through the back of his hand, there wasn't a trace of malice in his eyes.

He simply accepted the outcome with quiet humility, as though he had expected it all along.

If it could be called noble, then it was noble.

But if it could be called poison, then it was poison as well.

"Why didn't you report this to me?"

"I couldn't do so immediately. I intended to report everything to you tomorrow morning, after observing how things progressed."

"What progress?"

"Her Imperial Highness's condition is... very poor right now."

"That isn't something you should be concerning yourself with."

"...You're... right..."

Ferda thought to himself.

What should I do with this fool?

For the moment, he couldn't come to a decision.

Ferda removed his hand from the dagger.

"Stop the bleeding yourself. Then wait here."

"...Yes."

Leaving William behind, Ferda climbed the stairs.

At the end of the pitch-black hallway, candlelight flickered softly.

Without knocking, Ferda opened the door.

It wasn't even locked.

Almost as though someone had been expecting him.

Inside was the princess whom the stable hand had abducted.

The moment Ferda saw her, he was genuinely startled.

Now he understood what William had meant by wanting to observe her condition.

"Olivia Arken... are you truly the Imperial Princess?"

Golden hair.

Blue eyes.

Clothes she must have picked up somewhere—loose around the waist, yet tight across the chest.

Her smeared makeup and disheveled hair gave her an oddly alluring atmosphere.

It was astonishing.

At the same time, he understood how she had managed to escape that place with William.

Looking like this, she seemed nothing like the Olivia Ferda knew.

Only her makeup and demeanor had changed, yet she felt like an entirely different person.

Olivia glanced lazily at Ferda.

"What are you doing? Aren't you coming in?"

Ferda stepped inside.

Olivia lifted the bottle she was holding to her lips.

Gulp. Gulp.

"Pwah!"

She wiped her mouth carelessly with the back of her hand.

If someone were told she was the Imperial Princess, these crude manners would make it hard to believe.

"So this is where you've been."

"Yep. I've been here. I'm impressed you actually found me."

"The Empire is in complete chaos."

"I know. If someone stole a precious jewel and nothing happened, wouldn't that be strange?"

Olivia sneered as though she found the whole situation satisfying.

She had called herself a jewel before, but this was the first time she had spoken those words with genuine emotion.

Her eyes shifted, glancing sideways at Ferda.

The lifeless eyes and drunken, vacant expression instinctively warned him that something was terribly wrong.

"What did you do with Deputy William?"

Ferda answered,

"I'm going to punish him. He abducted the Imperial Princess."

"Don't. I'm the problem because I know exactly how to use a man like him. A rigid man like that folds the moment you threaten him with a knife."

Her eyes turned toward Ferda once more.

"Unlike someone who isn't interested."

She brought the bottle back to her lips.

"Please stop drinking."

Ferda stopped her with words alone.

"Why? Does a woman chugging liquor straight from the bottle look that disgraceful?"

"It looks disgraceful no matter who does it."

"Right? Yeah, you're right... I hate it too. Depending on alcohol like some pathetic idiot."

Pathetic idiot...

Ferda flinched at how openly she cursed herself.

Even while sitting down, she swayed unsteadily as she raised the bottle again.

"I hated people who drank themselves senseless. I truly despised them."

"..."

"If you have time to wallow in misery, then you should work harder and cling to life with everything you've got, right? Running away from reality is just pathetic."

"..."

"But... now I understand how those people felt. You keep trying and trying, yet none of that effort ever amounts to anything. Do you know why?"

"..."

She pointed toward the sky.

"Because those sons of bitches sitting way up there keep getting in your way."

"Heh... heh..."

Chuckling bitterly, she drank from the bottle once more.

Bang!

She slammed it down hard enough that the table nearly shattered.

Brushing the hair that had fallen over her face aside, she revealed the dagger now gripped tightly in her hand.

Looking at the dagger, Ferda asked Olivia,

"What do you intend to do from now on?"

"From... now on..."

Leaning back against her chair, Olivia let out a weary sigh.

"What future is there for me? I'll probably spend the rest of my life giggling like those other noble ladies, saying things I don't even mean while laughing and chatting about nothing. Do you know what that's like?"

"I don't."

"A prostitute."

Resting her chin on her hand, Olivia stared directly at Ferda.

"Regent... have you ever been with a prostitute?"

Now that she was drunk, she really was saying anything that came to mind.

"I never have."

"Then that's perfect. I'll play that role for you. Come here."

"Do not do something you'll regret."

"Why? There are different kinds of prostitutes. The cheap ones do cheap things. The refined ones are educated enough to entertain with elegance. I hear mages prefer the high-class ones."

"Is that so?"

"You're wondering why an Imperial Princess knows so much about high-class prostitutes, aren't you?"

"..."

"I just picked it up naturally. Do you know what the difference between the two is?"

"...I don't."

"Then at least take a guess. Come on, stop keeping that mouth shut. You're irritating me. Don't irritate me."

Her emotions were growing more unstable.

The dagger in her hand gleamed ominously.

It didn't seem like she intended to use it on Ferda.

She was probably planning to use it on herself.

That was the worst possible outcome for Ferda.

"Their status, perhaps."

"Status! And what exactly is status? Bloodline? That noble, glorious Golden Blood?"

"I imagine so."

"So you imagine. But that status is completely meaningless, you know?"

"..."

"I don't know about men, but if you're born a woman, you're nothing more than a decoration. Whether your husband is worthless or exceptional, your job is simply to cater to him. I kept wondering... how is that any different from being a prostitute?"

Listening to her bitter lament felt like it was poisoning his mind.

Normally, Ferda wouldn't have cared what became of her.

Yet even so, her words irritated him.

"That's how they treated me. Even after I commanded armies on the battlefield, they said those bastards who merely followed my orders deserved more credit. Heh... those sons of bitches."

"Your language is rather crude, Your Imperial Highness."

"Why? Did you think I was some delicate little flower who couldn't say filthy words like this?"

He shouldn't have said that.

The moment those words left his mouth, the floodgates burst open.

"Those fucking bastards, every last one of them staring at my breasts. Always trying to sleep with me, trying to touch me, sneaking their hands around whenever they thought I wouldn't notice. Did they really think I was that stupid? Bastards. If they're all so damn great, shouldn't they at least acknowledge everything I accomplished?"

Olivia spat out one curse after another.

Then she glared at Ferda with eyes burning with fury.

"You're exactly the same, aren't you, Ferda?"

"...What are you talking about?"

"Be honest. You're a man around my age, aren't you? This is when your desires should be running wild."

Ferda knew she was beautiful.

So beautiful that even seeing her utterly broken like this was strangely captivating.

But he had never once felt lust toward Olivia.

Not before.

Not now.

She stirred neither excitement nor longing within him.

When Ferda remained silent, Olivia let out a hollow laugh.

"Since things have already come to this... maybe I should just change completely. Instead of being some lofty flower, I'll become an easy woman who lets herself be passed around until..."

"Olivia."

Ferda called her by name.

The torrent of words pouring from her mouth stopped at those three syllables.

"Do not say anything else that you'll regret."

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