328. Whose side are you on? (9)
The castle gate was opened despite the demons’ offensive.
Is it a good thing that infighting broke out among them right after that? The guys who looked like they were going to invade the palace at any moment suddenly started fighting among themselves, delaying their arrival at the palace, and eventually they just retreated.
‘It’s worth it.’
Anyone could see that the fall of the empire was certain. You probably didn’t even feel the need to bother confirming the kill. Rather, the priority would have been to deal with threatening allies who had become enemies.
‘Because… there was a rebellion in the empire.’
As soon as the gates were opened, a revolt broke out. It was something that was expected to some extent.
Elpidius Desert acted with more dogmatism and stubbornness than his uncle, who had been calling himself a tyrant. Whether we won or lost this war, the rebellion would have been a given.
The current emperor of the empire and the last remaining bloodline sneered as he quietly poured alcohol into his glass.
‘If there was a conflict of opinion, my uncle had a war of words to force us to agree, but I didn’t even say anything.’
The opposition of the nobles was ignored. Even if there were people who couldn’t bear it and came to see him in person, they were crushed by the emperor’s authority.
There must have been limits to patience due to the special nature of being at war. Then, now that victory and defeat were confirmed, he would wake up and say that even if it meant dying, he would slit the throat of the incompetent tyrant.
Nevertheless, if you ask why I’m sitting here so calmly….
[You must avoid Your Majesty!]
[…That’s it. You guys can just avoid them.]
It could be said that the people who wanted to evacuate the Emperor came while I was holding on to the broken communication device. If Alethea had come at least a few minutes earlier while she was still alive, she would have tried to evacuate somewhere.
I don’t care anymore whether the traitors came right in front of me or the demons opened the castle gate. I pushed the communicator that was no longer responding out of sight and shook the glass slowly.
“…Prime Minister.”
His downcast eyes, contrary to his calm appearance, were red and bloodshot.
“Do you know why people are afraid of death?”
I called out to the Prime Minister standing in front of me, but in reality, this was a monologue.
The words flowed out with an excessive calmness that did not require an answer.
“Because it is uncharted territory. If we were to dig a little deeper and explain it, we could say that it is because death means eternal separation from all precious things.”
Because I don’t know anything. Since they do not know the possibility of an afterlife, they think and fear the possibility of ‘eternal separation’.
“That’s why people fear not only their own death, but also the death of their loved ones. “The feeling of loss of never being able to meet again is harder than you think.”
“….”
“But they always have something in their hearts. It could be a person or a belief. Normally, this would be enough to compensate for the loss I mentioned earlier, but…”
…Prime Minister.
While holding the glass, I turned my head and looked at Ardal. I made eye contact with a man with complicated eyes.
“What I had was only one wish. ‘Being with family’. “…”
“…”
“…Was it this difficult?”
The voice that came out with difficulty contained dry resignation instead of moisture.
After losing my uncle, I survived by filling the empty space with my younger brother. And now that I have lost my younger brother, what am I supposed to do to hold on?
There is nothing that can make up for the loss. Moreover, Elpidius did not have the confidence to live with this sense of loss.
‘My uncle’s death and Alethea’s death are all because of me.’
Because it didn’t relieve the guilt, I couldn’t stop it properly. All sorts of mistakes from the past that cannot be undone flash through my mind. I calmly drank my glass as the guilt washed over me like a tidal wave.
A cool liquid flows down my throat. Eventually, Elpedius put his empty glass down on the table and leaned his upper body against the backrest, spitting out the remaining words.
“Leave this country to yourself. “You can play with my hair.”
“…Both the Emperor and His Majesty are the same in that they have no regrets about the body after death.”
“is it? “That’s a happy thing to hear.”
“….”
Grumble. Blood flowed.
The prime minister’s gaze, which had been looking at the empty glass that had had the name Poison Cup on it just a moment ago, immediately lands on the corner of Elpidius’s mouth.
The weak young man who stole it several times with the back of his hand must have realized that it was useless and closed his eyes as if he was annoyed. In the short silence, a voice that was noticeably quieter than before came out like a whisper.
“It doesn’t matter whether you inherit the country or completely destroy it and establish a new country, just leave your uncle’s name in history. “As an ugly nephew who ruined the country, I think it’s my duty to make atonement like this.”
Edoardo Desert said that it was terrible just to think about him being completely forgotten and disappearing into the back of history without leaving a single trace of his name.
He is definitely a person who should not be forgotten in vain like this. therefore.
“Even if I am forgotten…”
The first emperor of an empire that fell due to poor generations and the monarch who led it to its heyday. I hope that at least that much is remembered.
The Prime Minister, who had been listening quietly, finally opened his mouth.
“…You must make atonement yourself. “You are selfish to the very end because you are making vicarious atonement through someone else.”
“….”
“Your Majesty?”
“….”
“…Your Majesty.”
No answer comes back.
…Unlike the previous emperor, who suffered more intensely than anyone else, this emperor seems to be going more quietly than anyone else. Is this different from the previous generation?
‘…I watched only one family from beginning to end, so in a way, I guess we could say this was the same.’
The royal family is all stubborn.
…My mouth is bitter. The Prime Minister finally closed his eyes.
I heard a knock behind me and the door opened, but I didn’t turn around. He just lowered his gaze and muttered lowly.
“It was Your Majesty who said it was okay to play with your head.”
As soon as he entered, Lindel Reiner was shocked by the shocking statement that struck his eardrums.
“I will do as you wish.”
“Excuse me, Prime Minister, what you just said…”
“…Your Majesty committed suicide.”
“Such…”
I had expected it from the moment he grabbed the dead communicator and attacked the soldiers. The emperor closed his eyes with an empty glass on his desk and a peaceful expression. When he saw the blood on the corner of his mouth, his eyes sank with a confused expression.
When I asked if the living should live, I remember a young man who responded with an expression that said he couldn’t do that at all.
And Lindell was able to understand the context of the remarks he heard as soon as he came in.
“…Your Majesty told you to use your brain to silence the rebellion.”
“Yes, and the meaning of using this to gain power may also be implied. “Because you entrusted this country to me.”
Elpidius Desert was the worst emperor, but he was not the worst human being.
He could become a saint. It would have been the same if he had just taken over the position normally. To be honest, this deviation is not completely incomprehensible. He was in his early to mid twenties when he became emperor.
‘It’s not that he’s comparable to the previous emperor, but he’s too young to be an emperor.’
He ascended to the throne ‘in a hurry,’ ‘at an extremely young age,’ ‘during the most chaotic time.’ Even the capital has been moved, and the main figures of each power have died, making the information they knew useless.
‘It would have been nice if there was a little more space.’
Chancellor Ardal sighed, remembering the brilliant youth he had when he was the crown prince.
Lindel Reiner, who was watching at that time, asked.
“Do you plan to become emperor?”
Taking power using the emperor’s head means becoming a new monarch.
“…I don’t know about ‘Emperor,’ but for now, I want to maintain this country somehow.”
“The name of this country is ‘Empire,’ but it maintains it but doesn’t know ‘Emperor.’ Are you trying to find another subsidiary?”
“That can’t be right.”
Currently, there is no trace of royal blood left.
Even if you have a hard time finding a secondary school that has been diluted so much that it is no different from anyone else, it will be difficult to survive the current chaotic period because you do not have proper education.
“We will build a country that will succeed the empire.”
“Ah, you want to become ‘king’.”
“Even if a person who is a blood relative of ‘Desert’ calls himself ‘emperor,’ the collapsed country will be attacked by asking what kind of empire it is. If a person who is not a ‘Desert’ recklessly calls himself emperor, he will only receive concentrated attacks.”
Almost all countries except Esperanes collapsed.
Perhaps because the conquest of the human world is just around the corner, the small kingdoms that were attached to the demon world have been abandoned. Did you say that the main troops, including the corps commanders, were not there because they were targeting the Three Kingdoms, but other demon soldiers took advantage of the confusion to trample on them?
“A new nation will be established with a new person at the center, and the land grab will begin.”
“yes. I know. Countless countries will be established and then collapse, merged and divided over and over again.”
The human world has returned to a time when countries were just beginning to be established.
In such a situation, if you call yourself the emperor of the empire, you will immediately be attacked by all forces. This is a situation that Ardal, who plans to maintain the country as Elpidius wishes and leave Edoardo in history, would like to decline.
…Well, before that, the war between demons in the human world has to end well.
‘It looks like there has been an internal division. I hope it just destroys itself like this.’
Otherwise, the demon world will devour the human world, so we will have to start the fight in a different direction.
It’s absurd why they’re fighting among themselves on someone else’s land, but there’s nothing bad about it anyway.
Recalling the last report that some of the demons who were fighting each other headed to the place where the hero and Deonhardt met, and the rest followed behind, Ardal laughed as he predicted that a second battle would take place there.
‘Because I have no strength, I experience all kinds of absurd things.’
If you’re going to fight, you’ll fight in the demon world.
Thanks to this, I realized once again that the essential element for maintaining a country and protecting peace is power, or military power.
While brainstorming ways to increase military power, Lindell cautiously opened his mouth.
“But… it seems like you are planning to base your actions on this country, but no matter how much you cut off the emperor’s head, will the nobles really want to follow you? I know it’s a rude remark, but the Prime Minister…”
“He’s a commoner. But it’s Prime Minister. I ran this country stably even during the eight-year war. If I take advantage of this, the people of the empire and some nobles who want stability will support me. Anyway, if you go back, all the first kings and emperors were commoners. “Incompetent later generations simply deified the first generation’s achievements by channeling them into their blood in order to maintain their position.”
“….”
It’s not wrong, but the story about the ‘blue blood’ of nobles didn’t come out for nothing.
There is no way that nobles with a hardened perception would accept it so easily…
“Lord Lindell.”
Ardal held out his hand towards Lindel Reiner, who still had a worried face.
“Would you please help me?”
“….”
“I hope you fill in my shortcomings.”
Lindell Reiner is the heir of an orthodox noble family. He is scheduled to take over the position soon, so it would be of great help if he supported me.
“….”
Admit your shortcomings and ask for help.
At the biggest crossroads in my life, I briefly looked down at my hands with an inexplicable gaze.
“…Gladly.”
Lindell clasped his hands.
Ardal lightly applied pressure to his hand and gently opened his eyes.
“I’m glad you accepted it. thank you.”
“Because the living must live. “It seems like there is a better chance of survival if you stay by the Prime Minister’s side than other incompetent people, so why would there be any reason to refuse?”
