'Don't feel guilty if you don't want to die of guilt?'
If you interpret the words in reverse, it means that the level of blood increases every time you feel guilty.
To be sure, it would be better to do a test. Is there anything I can feel guilty about?
Without even thinking about it, the memory that had been buried in a corner of my heart revealed its presence as if it had been waiting for me.
Recent memories. An innocent person who was ruined and broken only because of me. A lifelong guilt that has a faint presence but must never be forgotten.
'... Sir Lien.'
Ah.
The area of the blood puddle grew.
The Demon King seemed to sense this as well, and slowly lowered his eyes and looked at me again. The answer came back a bit late.
"... Then there is nothing we can do. You better find another way to distract yourself from your guilt."
"I'll say it again, if you look away..."
"I'm not doing it. I know. But there's a difference between not looking away and focusing on what you don't need to see, right?"
Even though that wasn't the case, the Demon King took one more step and narrowed the distance.
I glanced down at my feet, which have precisely stepped into the area of the blood puddle. The Demon King grinned and rubbed the bare dirt floor with his shoes.
"How about making a hobby?"
"... Yes?"
My eyebrows naturally furrowed at the sudden remark.
"Musical instruments, painting, gardening... whatever. It's just a very healthy and peaceful hobby. It's about creating a moment where you can take a breather from the painful reality."
"..."
"I will help you."
It was a kind of declaration.
I sensed that I could not refuse and frowned. The Demon King grinned, nailed it as a decision, and quickly changed the subject.
There was no opportunity to say anything, let alone refute.
"Oh yeah, did you hear the news?"
"... What is it?"
"The Crown Prince... or should I say the Emperor now? Elpidius Desert received mercenary support from Esperanes."
"Oh."
***
Remember was the butler of the mansion where Deon Hardt was staying.
Emperor Elpidius boredly played with the armrests of his chair, recalling his meeting with the old man who had been so rewarding in person. There remained unanswered questions.
'Why did the Duke act like that?'
On the day they visited an old butler named Remember with a note, he and Aletea received an unexpected gift. The problem was that they received not only a gift but also a question as a bonus.
The note the Duke gave was a certificate. A certificate to assign the mercenaries requested to Esperanes to Elpidius and Aletea. They were by no means a small number.
How surprised he was to hear the operational numbers that Remember told him. Even though it was a profitable situation, he couldn't keep his mouth shut and ended up saying something.
'There are too many. Isn't the calculation wrong?'
'It's only natural that he asked for mercenaries that match the Duke's wealth with all of his assets.'
'... Huh.'
It must have been an absolutely difficult decision, but it was truly amazing.
The Duke first received only some of the requested mercenaries and used them to guard the royal family, and left all remaining mercenaries to Elpidius and Aletea.
It's a bit surprising to see unexpected power, but it's a good thing anyway. It wasn't a calculation error, so there was nothing to worry about. Elpidius accepted it willingly.
The Duke's actions will remain as incomprehensible questions for the rest of their lives, but right now, they were overwhelmed with just the problems of reality, so they quickly erased the unanswerable questions from their minds.
'How long is the dispatch period?'
'For now, I'm looking at it as 6 months...'
'... But it's short.'
'It can be longer if you pay an additional fee.'
It had to be a year before anything can be done. There must be.
... Well, he could go there and pay an additional fee.
This increased power. Uncle... There are hero candidates who clashed with demons at the border and held back some of their troops under the orders of the previous Emperor, but it was too risky to bring them in. Knowing why his uncle sent them there, Elpidius decided to treat them as useless troops, even though it was a waste.
Either hold on there until the war with the demons ends, or die before then.
"Are you listening right now?"
"..."
The voice, rising in pitch, shattered his thoughts.
How dare you raise your voice towards the Emperor now?
Elpidius's brow furrowed slightly at the rude behavior.
Each of the nobles, whether aware of this or not, raised their voices and shouted.
"What if you just form an alliance without a meeting?"
"Shanguk was a country that did not provide any help until the Empire was in danger and the Emperor was left alone to face death! Is there any reason to form an alliance again?"
Oh, you mean that? Elpidius looked at the nobles with sunken eyes.
The alliance with Shanguk was not something that was contacted first by this side. They first announced their intention to form an alliance. Since the end of all handovers, new information about what his uncle had done was always updated immediately, so he, who knew the inside story, formed an alliance again without much hesitation.
'... Now that I think about it, not all the information has been updated.'
He prepared to move the Capital without him knowing.
Anyway, he supposed he should say he was glad that this information wasn't of that type.
When will their remarks end? Against the backdrop of the noisy cries of the nobles, Elpidius closed his eyes as if he was annoyed.
***
Before the reunion of the Empire and Shanguk, the king of Shanguk heard a piece of news.
The Emperor said that Eduardo Desert had died.
The King of Shanguk, who pretended not to care and calmly bitten the person, read and reread the same document for a while. The letters didn't enter his mind.
As expected, he did not die normally. It wasn't an ugly death either.
It was a death that could only have occurred in myths or dramatized history books, as he was left alone in the Imperial Palace and wanted to die with the Demon King's Army.
'Indeed, he went as expected.'
Even though they didn't get along very well, he admired his actions themselves.
How should we view him as a model of an 'Emperor', yet he behaved differently and was still supreme? He was lost in thought as he ran his fingertips over the letters on the document.
When viewed objectively, his choice was not entirely rational.
'If the royal family had to remain, the heir, the Crown Prince, should have been left there.'
It would be inappropriate to override the nobility of the Princess for remaining for the people of the Empire, as the image of an abandoned victim would remain stronger, and the Emperor was one of the Empire's strongest forces with even fragments of a hero. Moreover, considering the chaos that would result from the Emperor's death, he should not have died.
Therefore, if one of the three had to remain due to public sentiment, it had to be the Crown Prince. There's no way he didn't know that fact.
"... After all, it would be difficult to say that he is a model of an emperor."
King Yeonhwa of Shanguk realized something.
What Eduardo Desert chose at the last moment was his family.
It was not a sacrifice for the Empire or its people. He sacrificed himself to protect his niece and nephew, who were not even his children.
That fact was so surprising.
"It must not have been an easy choice."
He muttered quietly with his eyes wide open... Now that he thought about it, when he unilaterally announced the end of the alliance, he made a comment that he thought of his relatives who would remain in the future.
'As long as I am alive, from this moment on. Don't worry about the Empire's actions.'
In other words, it meant that from the moment Eduardo died, please worry about the Empire. It didn't mean excessive interference, but rather it meant taking good care of his niece and nephew.
He put down the unreadable document and played with his fingernails.
'Even though such a request wasn't even exchanged in the first place.'
It was not a direct request, but a wish that was implicitly expressed. It didn't matter if he didn't listen to the wishes of a self-indulgent emperor...
After all, the people he was trying to protect were those he sacrificed himself to protect. Even though his death was not for the country, his death was so noble that even he was fascinated by it.
"... There is no reason why I cannot grant even a single wish of a dead person."
Moreover, since the country was located in the South, there were many superstitions, so it would be emotionally unpleasant if he did not listen to them.
He finally put his hand on the communicator. Unless he misread the Emperor's wishes, the communication device connected to this would have been properly moved without being abandoned or lost. As expected, the communication device soon transmitted the other party's voice.
"What's going on with the King of Shanguk?"
"I propose an alliance to the current Emperor of the Empire to drive out the Demon King's Army from the continent."
***
At this point, he'd listened enough and tolerated it enough.
Elpidius, who had been quietly listening to the nobles, tapped the armrest of an ornate chair and attracted attention. A alm voice filled the conference room, as if calming the heated atmosphere.
"It's not that Shanguk didn't provide help, it's that it didn't need to provide it. When the Empire was in danger and the Emperor was left alone to face death, this side had already broken up the alliance first."
"Yes? What is that...!"
"The Emperor secretly broke the alliance first."
"Why was there no meeting..."
Someone muttered as if groaning.
But the person who deserved that criticism was not here. The attention of the nobles was again focused on the successor and Current Emperor. In the center of attention, Elpidius continued his explanation quietly.
"As you know, we were planning to abandon the former Capital. If Shanguk had tried to help at that time, it would have been more difficult. Didn't you help the Emperor until he left alone and went on a long journey? The late Emperor... did it with the intention of handing over this position to me, so there is nothing that can be said to be Shanguk's sin."
"..."
"You people shouted that I formed an alliance on my own, but that too was promised in advance in the line of the Emperor. Breaking up the alliance was temporary. We will form an alliance again when I ascend to the throne."
"This was something we didn't know about."
"As I said before, it was done in secret, so it's worth it."
All subsequent reprehensible actions were borne by his uncle.
So he shouldn't be criticized in this matter. That's an action that will make his uncle's efforts go in vain.
It looks like they were trying to use this as an excuse to suppress him... but he had no intention of being pressured down.
In order to get revenge, he not only has to protect the Imperial throne, but he also lacked charisma and power compared to his uncle, but he was the Emperor who wanted to hand over his position to someone like that. The young Emperor gently grabbed the armrest
."Do not insult the Emperor's efforts any further. There is no fault with either me or the King of Shanguk."
"No matter what, Your Majesty, if you proceed without meeting with the nobles..."
Shutter! Thud!
The nobles' mouths fell silent. Wide-open eyes looked in one direction, as if they have seen something unbelievable.
There was a table there that had been broken in two.
The Princess, with her sword drawn in front of her, opened her eyes and looked around at the nobles. Each person who made eye contact trembled their shoulders and avoided her gaze, and then a voice as full of murder as their eyes weighed down the audience.
"Let's leave it at that."
There was no uncle controlling the Imperial faction, and there was no Duke as the head of the noble faction.
The royal family, facing an unfamiliar power structure in an unfamiliar place, was completely alone. The only people they could rely on was each other.
So, she will take care of her brother. Among the things their uncle had in order to protect the Imperial throne, what was there that they did not have?
Yes, it was force.
'Insufficient force? You just have to fill it with spirit.'
Aletea slowly put the sword she had drawn into its sheath.
She spoke coldly, with an unsmiling face unlike usual.
"It has already happened and there is no one to blame. If we really need to see someone take responsibility, we can say that the Emperor bore the burden through his death. Why should we continue this pointless fight when we need to save time?"
Now that her brother had safely ascended the throne, the foolish and bright princess mask was no longer useful. Aletea laughed lightly as she looked at the dumbfounded expressions of the nobles at the completely changed atmosphere.
What, they didn't know that the stupid royal family member could use a sword? That's funny.