280. The Hawk Flies (1)
“Son of a bitch.”
“It was just a relationship of necessity. It was just a paper position created to connect with the Pope…”
“You bad… bad bastard…”
Rene sobbed all the way. Fernandez, unusually flustered, struggled to continue speaking.
“And, no matter what, your succession to the throne will not change. For you, for me, and for the Pope, it is the only solution now.”
“Do you think saying that now will… will help?”
“Hmm.”
-Hahahaha! Uhahahaha!
Ignoring Faijashi, who was laughing so hard it felt like his ears would tear, Fernandez remained silent, holding the reins. Affection. He had never formed a close enough relationship to develop any emotional attachment, nor did he have the time for it.
The sound of hooves echoed as they walked along the road of Paltennoia. As the gates of Paltennoia faintly approached, Rene muttered with a tearful voice.
“Why?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Don’t ask me back, knowing that I can’t bear to ask this question myself. Why? Is it because of those women? Why do you draw the line like that?”
Rene’s words stopped in their tracks. Fernandez also pulled the reins, stopping the horse, and turned to look at her. She was bowing her head, gripping the reins so tightly that her hands turned white.
“Am I not attractive enough?”
“Duke Carvelier.”
“Rene Philippa. My name is Rene Philippa.”
“…Rene.”
He looked at her with sunken eyes. Rene’s red hair glowed as if it were burning with the sunset.
“Relationships with intent must remain cold.”
“…You may not, but I…!”
“No.”
He coldly cut her off. Letting their relationship deteriorate would be the worst outcome in the grand scheme of things. However, leaving any room, even if it was a strategic decision, would be the worst outcome for her.
“What you saw was not me.”
The stranger who saved the territory from post-war famine and poverty.
The war hero who led the war to victory with great force, strategy, and quick thinking.
The strategist who, within half a year, revived the fallen House of Carvelier and made it the strongest military power in the empire.
The high priest who avenged his dead father and punished the corrupt emperor.
A powerful figure with connections across the empire, or perhaps even from the east to the center of the continent.
The man Rene fell for was a fantasy created by these conditions. And that was just the surface Fernandez had crafted to appear that way.
“You are in love with an illusion. Like a fever or a fleeting dream. It’s not real. The man you have feelings for could be completely different tomorrow, or take on another form the next day. Chasing mirages is the privilege of youth, but a ruler must have a compass even within that.”
The emperor has no heart. Now buried in the soil, but once, along the path from the palace gates to the audience hall, stood bronze statues of past emperors.
Ancient emperors adorned with splendid jewels and ornaments. If there was one thing they all had in common, despite their different clothes, faces, and builds, it was that none of their busts had a heart carved into them. Just a hollow chest.
Emotions have no place on the emperor’s scale. That is the nature of a leader’s scale. Fernandez did not dislike King Vicente’s righteousness. Yet, he thought Vicente could only be a great knight, never a truly great king.
The politics of the noble society are alive. And they are cold-blooded. The emperor who reigns over it needs only ears to hear the people’s sorrow and eyes to see their tears. He does not need a heart that beats passionately for the people’s sorrow.
“And the reason I accepted your request was more out of a desire for the other powers the position of state secretary would bring. I wanted a stronger weapon to support what I needed to do. You too cannot say that the authority of the Vaitas Church, solidified through our marriage, had no influence on the union.”
“There was none.”
Rene looked up at Fernandez. Her eyes were glistening with tears.
“None at all. As you said, there were many reasons to like you. You saved the territory, avenged my father, killed the emperor, and were recognized by the world for your power and authority. But equally, when I look at you coldly, don’t you realize there are just as many reasons I should be wary of you?”
No matter how beautiful a lion’s mane is, you cannot keep a lion without a leash by your side.
Being enchanted by a stranger of unknown origin is something that only works for noble ladies with flower gardens in their heads. Rene is not foolish. She has lived through too much to be naive.
“How do I know what kind of person you are? It’s only been half a year. The time I’ve spent directly facing you is even shorter. Did I seem like a foolish woman to you, enough to hand over the numerous powers of the state secretary position to someone like you, fully capable and powerful?”
Even if we only consider Fernandez’s apparent abilities, given enough time and power, it would not be impossible for him to overthrow the imperial family and even take control of the empire. Rene judged so.
Yet, she could not stop the marriage with Fernandez.
“That night in Ribue. The day you came to save me, crossing the collapsing city walls. The moment I watched over you as you slept, that was the only moment I truly saw you. And that was enough time for me to fall for you.”
“Being enchanted by a knight who appears in a crisis seems natural at first glance…”
“Shut up.”
At Rene’s sharp retort, Fernandez fell silent.
Death closed her mouth. She glared at him for a while, panting, then soon turned her head and spurred her horse forward.
“Thinking about it again, it’s hard to find a reason not to love you anymore. Divorce papers? What a joke. The marriage hasn’t even happened yet. Forget it, I don’t need such scraps of paper.”
“……I will leave.”
“Leave then! Just leave!”
Rene didn’t even look at Fernandez as she spurred her horse toward the gate.
“If you want to refuse me when I come to capture you again, you’ll have to build an empire. Sir Fernandez Sernerd. This is the last piece of advice the Emperor gives you out of goodwill.”
Rene urged her horse to go faster and faster. Even in the wind, her voice was as sharp as a blade, piercing his chest clearly.
Youth, huh. Fernandez chuckled at the thought. He could clearly feel his mindset aging. Youth? He himself was barely in his twenties.
As if hearing his laughter, Rene snorted and kicked her horse hard. The poor horse galloped with long strides.
It was evening, with the sunset hiding its hem beneath the sky.
* * *
That night, Fernandez spent time handing over the piled-up reports to the staff of the Duke Carvelier’s household and only managed to enter his room late at night.
Fatigue overwhelmed him. It wasn’t just human fatigue; it was clearly beyond the physical limits of a Diemonica. In fact, when he handed over the work as much as possible, the staff lost their forced smiles and trembled.
“Sigh……”
Fernandez sighed, took off his clothes, and hung them on a corner of the room. In the dim moonlight flowing through the window at dawn, he walked toward the bed but suddenly stopped.
“I’ve become dull, Fernandez.”
A figure rose from under the shadow of the window frame. Soft, golden hair swayed in the breeze beyond the open window. It was Abel.
“What brings you here?”
“Do I need a reason to find you?”
“It’s late.”
“It seems your outing with the princess wasn’t enjoyable. I heard the story late. May I ask what happened?”
Abel slowly sat across from Fernandez as she spoke. Her eyes sparkled. But it wasn’t the sparkle of someone who heard good news; it was closer to sympathy.
“I met the chairman of the Asia Assembly. I wanted to inform the noble society of the political intimacy between Duke Carvelier and the chairman.”
“What did he tell you?”
He had no intention of lying, but it wasn’t easy to deceive her. Fernandez thought as he looked at Abel. With just one piece of information, she had deduced that the current situation was related to the chairman.
“The world is going to end, he said.”
“……What?”
“Whether what we’ve done is in vain, or whether what we’ve achieved has caused some kind of ripple. Or maybe all of this is fate. We can’t know, but in the future he sees, there is only doom.”
“Was he a prophet?”
“Of a sort.”
Fernandez continued. An immortal who could see past lives. What Orcis had said. The reality rushing toward ruin despite all efforts.
“The bigger problem is that we can’t guess who the subject is. Doom and ruin. If the destruction of the world by demons is imminent. If we can’t avoid it…… ‘Someone’ must become the subject. Demons can’t just come to the material world on their own.”
It was the same in his past life. The Great Demons each had mortals as their subordinates. It was closer to a symbiotic relationship. To summon a Great Demon to the material world, a mortal of that caliber and wisdom was needed.
As Fernandez had done, someone must become the subject of destruction. Even if the civilized society is collapsing on its own, there must be someone to mark the point toward doom.
But can such a being exist?
“Is there anyone you suspect?”
“If there were, they wouldn’t be alive now. Among the cultists under my command in my past life, most of those active in this era have been killed or detained. There may be those who haven’t been born yet or whose location is unknown, but none of them are capable of completely annihilating humanity.”
I won’t call them small fry. But no matter how powerful, an individual can’t destroy the world. A group with a certain level of organizational power might, but such a group couldn’t escape Fernandez’s surveillance.
It felt like hitting a dead end. The crow crown of Duke Charles. That might be the only clue, but…… how and where to find a relic that didn’t exist in his past life?
“Then shouldn’t you stay by her side? Fernandez. What better tool is there to find the relic of the Empire’s founder than the Emperor’s power?”
“If the Emperor’s power could find a relic to prevent doom, the Empress Carvelier of my past life would have already used it. I preserved the Empire under conditions as close as possible to my past life, but that only tied my hands.”
If it was impossible in the past life, it’s likely impossible this time too. Knowing the limits and the best of the Emperor’s power, the Empire’s throne was no longer an attractive position for him.
So, Fernandez decided to leave.
“Then what will you do now?”
“To find what didn’t exist in the past life, I must borrow the power of those who didn’t exist in the past life.”
“……Those who didn’t exist……?”
“The Elves.”
This was the conclusion Fernandez reached after long contemplation. The Elves of the main world were a hostile force to humans, a mysterious race that disappeared the moment doom began.
What fate befell the Elves of the main world is unknown. It’s not important. What’s needed now is the assistance of those who didn’t exist in the past life. And there is a being who can provide such assistance almost without cost.
“So, you’re going to meet that woman?”
“Will you join me?”
“I don’t want to see you entangled with another woman again. As always, you lead.”
I’ll follow. Abel smiled softly as she said this. She looked into Fernandez’s eyes for a moment, then playfully added.
“By the way, it seems you’ve hurt that child deeply.”
“She said she won’t give up.”
“Haha…… No, she should.”
Abel’s expression turned serious in an instant.
Dragons are creatures with a strong sense of territory.
Chapter 282