Chapter 168 - Everything Is Connected as One

Ferda had always wondered.

Why had she killed the Third Prince?

Of course, the uncontrollable Bloodlust had tormented Valdrova for years.

The conclusion known to the public was simple: the Third Prince died because she failed to control that Bloodlust.

"I thought that was all there was to it."

If Valdrova had simply been the sort of dragon who lost all reason whenever she became angry, or if the Third Prince had been recklessly foolish beyond belief, then perhaps that explanation would have been enough.

But the questions never stopped.

"Valdrova certainly lost control of her power from time to time because of Godwin's aura."

Yet that Bloodlust accumulated gradually, and whenever she sensed it building up, she always dealt with it by locking herself in her room and injuring herself.

If she had truly regarded the Third Prince as a human being she loved, she would undoubtedly have been careful.

There was no way a dragon who loved humans would simply forget the condition she suffered from.

"And it made even less sense that the Third Prince would deliberately tell her something that provoked her..."

His heart pounded.

Ferda's Red Circle and Shadow Circle revolved at the same time.

That alone proved that even he could no longer clearly distinguish his own emotions.

"...Why?"

Ferda asked calmly.

His reason hung by a thread, as fragile as a string wrapped around the tip of a finger.

"Why would you do something like that... and make her so miserable?"

"I only heard it from others..."

Akard began to speak.

"It wasn't... to make Valdrova unhappy... Million Arken knew he was losing the succession to the previous Emperor... so he planned to build a new power base through a political marriage..."

That alone was nothing unusual among the nobility.

Valdrova had probably intended to marry a human without knowing any of it.

"Isn't that something that happens all the time?"

"No... it wasn't just that... They were planning a rebellion... They intended to use a dragon to swallow the Empire."

"Are you certain they were really planning a rebellion?"

Ferda asked because, seven times out of ten, accusations like that were fabricated for political purposes.

If the charges were accepted, an entire family line would be wiped out without question.

"I'm certain... It wasn't merely... an excuse for a purge... They truly intended to rebel... and there were factions... prepared to join them..."

So the Third Prince had been different.

"Even Father... who never judged people by good or evil... looked unfavorably upon Million Arken... He always acted like a humble prince... but in truth he wasn't... He was cruel and arrogant... and he saw Grand Duchess Valdrova as nothing more than a stupid lizard... So all we had to do... was make him say what he truly believed."

"So that's why you made the Truth Serum."

"...Yes."

Arrogant by nature.

Completely overbearing.

Ferda imagined the man exposing every filthy thought hidden inside him.

Like a madman gripping a sword, he would tear apart and trample the tenderness in her heart.

Ferda's clenched fist tightened.

The Third Prince had dreamed of building a new faction by exploiting Valdrova.

Valdemar had secretly drugged him to stop that ambition.

And caught between them...

Valdrova had become the sacrifice.

"The thing Valdrova feared most..."

Her pure love would be crushed.

Her emotions would surge like crashing waves.

And in the end, she would no longer be able to suppress her Bloodlust.

Suddenly, he remembered what Valdrova had said during the Festival of the Beginning of Spring.

"If someone were ever to say something like that to me... I..."

"Tell me."

Ferda's voice became ice-cold once again.

"Who was the mastermind behind the plan?"

It had happened fifty years ago.

The previous Emperor was dead.

Akard's father was dead.

Only a handful of people connected to the incident were still alive.

But that didn't matter.

When dragons were involved...

The rule was absolute punishment.

If justice had skipped one generation, then the next generation would simply inherit unbearable suffering instead.

"The... the mastermind was..."

Akard stammered.

Every instinct in his mind resisted speaking that name.

But the harder his reason resisted...

The more violently his headache worsened.

The only way to escape the agony...

Was to tell the truth.

"Grrrrgh...!!! AAAAAAAAH!!"

After resisting for ten agonizing minutes...

Akard finally chose relief.

"AAAAAAAH!! Grand Duke Golt!!"

Golt.

Again.

That name surfaced once more.

Behind the cheers of the citizens...

Behind every filthy conspiracy...

Everything ultimately led back to one name.

Valdemar Golt.

Each time Ferda heard that detestable old man's name...

His disgust only deepened.

"I actually considered joining hands with someone like him..."

The thought sickened him.

The very man who had made Valdrova's miserable life even more miserable—

And he had once imagined, even briefly, a future in which they cooperated.

The idea itself was revolting.

"I heard that if we refused to obey, you planned to accuse us of seeking independence. Is that true?"

He deliberately changed the subject to cool his head.

"Ghh..."

"You'd better answer."

"It would've been... idiotic... The Far East... benefits far more... by remaining part of the Empire... Why would we ever do that? Grand Duke Golt... only wanted us... to hand over our Magitech Engineering..."

Ferda had already seen through that intention.

Now that they possessed legitimate grounds for autonomy, interference would be difficult.

Even so...

Knowing Valdemar's influence continued to grow...

That autonomy now felt no sturdier than a candle before a storm.

"Does Grand Duke Golt know what you do here?"

This room...

Was where the darkness Akard had sealed forever inside his heart took physical form.

"H-He does... But he can't touch me..."

"Because you're a valuable alchemist?"

"Yes... because I'm useful..."

To be honest...

Akard's twisted hobby probably meant nothing to Valdemar.

The Empire was not some peaceful village.

In a village, when a corpse was found, people observed proper funeral rites before cremation.

In the Empire...

People stepped over bodies lying in the streets on their way to work.

To someone like Valdemar, a few victims disappearing because of Akard's depraved fetish amounted to nothing more than adding another corpse to an endless pile.

"I see."

Ferda picked up the Recording Crystal and stood.

"That should be enough."

Then he picked up another vial.

The label read:

Love Potion.

It was the same anesthetic Akard had once tried to force upon Ferda.

"No..."

The moment Akard saw it...

He shook his head.

Ferda paused and looked at him.

"What isn't allowed?"

"I... don't want... to drink that..."

"Why? Isn't this your idea of love?"

"N-No... I hate... that potion..."

His limp body struggled weakly.

But there was no escaping Ferda's grasp.

"How ironic."

Ferda sneered.

"You despise those who defile love... yet you cannot accept your own."

He forced Akard's "love" into his mouth.

"Cough... Ghk..."

The light returned to Akard's eyes—

Only to drift away once more into some distant abyss.

Ferda sat across from him and took a slow breath.

Everything he had heard echoed inside his mind, throwing his emotions into chaos.

He wanted to strangle Akard right then and there.

No.

That wouldn't be enough.

Just as Erdes Roton had done before...

He wanted to imprison him inside a cube and grind every bone in his body to dust.

"But I can't."

Ferda was not the one best suited to dealing with monsters like this.

His role ended here.

He stood.

As he turned to leave...

His gaze swept across the room one last time.

"..."

There—

A person was bound to the wall.

A woman.

Reduced to a complete wreck, she stared blankly into space with empty eyes.

"Judging by her condition... her mind may already have broken."

Akard's abuse and experiments had left her body shattered.

Even trained knights would have collapsed under the drugs and torture she had endured.

The Love Potion separated body and consciousness.

It did not erase pain.

The fact that she was still breathing was nothing short of miraculous.

Ferda slowly reached toward her.

"Should I... eliminate her?"

Leaving behind witnesses or evidence would only complicate matters.

Even if she died...

He could simply make it appear that Akard had killed her.

"And perhaps... that would be the kinder choice."

A clean death...

Was better than a life filled with endless suffering.

Normally...

That was exactly what Ferda would have believed.

But today...

His emotions were raging.

For once...

He was not a man armored in ruthless logic.

Those emotions changed him.

It almost felt...

As though Valdrova were leaning gently against his back.

As though she were whispering that she was beside him.

If...

Like her...

This woman still believed there was a way to rise again after falling into complete despair...

"Soon..."

The mana gathering in his outstretched hand dispersed.

"Someone will come."

With that same hand...

He gently closed her eyes so they would not dry out.

"So... rest easy."

Offering words of comfort completely unlike himself...

Ferda quietly left the room.

***

Inside the Imperial Palace.

No one was allowed anywhere near Olivia's chambers.

Originally, the only person permitted inside had been a maid who attended to her personal needs.

But even that privilege had been revoked.

After Olivia's recent runaway incident, every possible means of assisting—or helping her escape—had been eliminated.

To Olivia, however, it was preferable.

At least no one could secretly examine her complexion while she slept.

The night Ferda obtained what he wanted was a little different.

A thin, gentle touch brushed through Olivia's hair.

She slowly opened her eyes as the chilly winter breeze drifted in.

Pretending to turn over in her sleep, Olivia quietly slipped the dagger hidden beneath her pillow into her hand.

Very few people could infiltrate the Imperial Princess's bedchamber.

If Alexander—that pig—was the one standing there...

She intended to stab him without hesitation.

Instead...

The silhouette illuminated against the moonlight was slender.

Olivia raised her head and looked at the uninvited guest.

"Princess Olivia?"

Behind the mask, his crimson eyes glowed softly.

Olivia remained silent.

Not because she was frightened.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zed Swallow, sent here under the orders of Regent Ferda."

"I thought it might be something like this."

Kneeling on one knee, he spoke in a pleasant, refined voice.

"The Regent has prepared a small gift for you. Would you honor me by accompanying me?"

"..."

Instead of answering, Olivia quietly rose from her bed.

She draped the robe hidden beneath it over herself and walked toward him.

"Let's go."

"Yes."

Zed guided Olivia through the escape route that had already been prepared.

Everything proceeded so smoothly that even he found himself surprised.

"She isn't flustered at all."

A single pure blossom.

He knew that nickname existed only because the nobility had chosen to see—and believe—that image of her.

Yet...

Watching her remain completely unfazed by such an unexpected situation felt strangely unnatural.

"So my instincts were right after all."

In the past, captivated by her beauty, he probably would have casually invited her to dance.

But after observing her from afar...

Every instinct he possessed as a swindler screamed at him.

If you try to charm this woman... your life will become hopelessly tangled.

Before long, they successfully left the Imperial Palace and boarded a carriage.

"Where are we going?"

Olivia, who had quietly followed him until now, finally asked.

"To the residence of Marquess Akard Dvelung."

"The Marquess's residence..."

Instead of asking why...

She simply murmured,

"I see..."

As though she understood everything, she turned her head toward the carriage window.

Every movement she made resembled a work of art.

Yet Zed only wanted to leave her company as quickly as possible.

Not long afterward, they arrived at the Marquess's grand estate.

As the carriage stopped before the tightly shut gates, the gatekeeper approached.

Instead of elegantly dressed servants befitting such a luxurious mansion...

Figures concealed beneath black robes, their identities hidden, greeted the carriage.

The gates opened.

Just before entering the estate, Zed stepped down.

"I'll take my leave here. It has been an honor escorting Your Highness."

Pulling up the hood behind his back, Zed disappeared among the similarly cloaked figures.

The carriage rolled inside and came to a halt before the mansion's entrance.

"Welcome."

A masked woman bowed politely to Olivia.

Observing proper etiquette, Olivia asked,

"Is the Regent inside?"

"The Regent has stepped out."

A trace of displeasure appeared on Olivia's face.

Remarkably...

She could express irritation with nothing more than a smile.

"Then why exactly have I been brought here?"

"The Regent has left a gift for you. Please, this way..."

She had been invited into another person's estate...

Only to receive a gift.

Looking around, Olivia noticed there were no ordinary servants in sight.

Someone as perceptive as she was immediately understood what kind of place this truly was.

Silently...

She followed the masked woman.

They passed through an alchemy workshop...

Then descended into a hidden basement through Ferda's secret passage.

"Please prepare yourself."

The woman gave one final warning before opening the door.

The dark fantasy that had existed only within Akard Dvelung's mind...

Now lay fully exposed before Olivia.

The scent of blood and filth had seeped so deeply into the brick walls that it lingered faintly in the air...

As though the very smell itself echoed with phantom screams.

Rather than vomiting or panicking at the horrifying scene...

Olivia's gaze was immediately drawn—

No...

Captured—

By the center of the room.

A single chair stood there.

Around it, torture instruments and shelves filled with potions formed a perfect circle.

The wooden chair bore countless fingernail gouges upon its armrests and deep rope marks worn into the wood...

Silent testimony to the agony and screams once endured there.

Sitting in that dreadful chair...

Was the master of the mansion himself.

Akard Dvelung.

Olivia quietly looked down at him.

His soul seemed completely gone.

"I'd heard that Marquess Akard Dvelung had... unusual tastes."

"But this is truly disgusting."

She said those words.

Yet...

A smile bloomed across her face.

Not a polite social smile.

She was genuinely delighted by the situation.

"So this is the Regent's gift?"

"Yes."

"How cruel."

"I'm a woman too. If he'd sent me even a single flower, I might have been touched..."

She sighed as though disappointed before asking,

"What exactly would he like me to do with this?"

"He said it doesn't matter."

"He was certain you would find... an excellent use for it."

"Hmm..."

Olivia lightly tapped her lips with a fingertip as she pondered.

"I suppose I can use him to strike back against this attempt to undermine the Alte Religion."

"The clergy will probably be awake all night anyway, so gathering them won't be difficult."

"..."

"Then we can also announce that followers of the Demon Race have infiltrated more than just the Alte Religion."

Valdemar's attempt to consolidate power would be thwarted...

And no one would dare question the authority of the Alte Religion's system.

"The Regent truly is remarkable..."

Storming into the mansion...

Subduing its owner...

And exposing his true nature...

Even for Olivia, accomplishing something like that would have been extraordinarily difficult.

Especially when the target was Valdemar's right-hand man.

For an Imperial noble to strike directly at the most powerful man's closest subordinate...

Such a thing simply wasn't done.

"Don't you agree, Miss Garnet?"

"..."

"Oh, don't be so stiff."

"We're practically allies."

Olivia already knew exactly who was hiding behind that mask.

"You played quite a large part in helping me gain such a wonderful ally, didn't you?"

"That is true."

Although she knew her identity had already been exposed...

Garnet made no move to remove her mask.

"But standing here now..."

"I have no choice but to remain wary of you."

"Why is that?"

"Because recently..."

"I can no longer predict your actions."

Ferda regarded Olivia as an ally.

But Garnet knew...

Olivia was not simply a helpful collaborator.

"The scandal between the Regent and the Imperial Princess."

It was another commission Ferda had entrusted to her long ago.

Tracing the origin of a rumor was one of the most difficult tasks imaginable.

No one expected results.

Yet Garnet was the leader of the greatest underground intelligence organization on the Cerdes Continent.

In the end...

She uncovered the truth.

"Because I know..."

"...That you were the one who deliberately spread those rumors."