Chapter 189: How Much Is One Willing to Sacrifice for Justice (Two-in-One)
“Me and Rast… getting married?”
Listening to her stepmother’s words, Hiltina’s voice paused, and the calm tone she had before disappeared as well.
“Wait… how do you know him?”
“Hiltina, do you really think that we, your parents, are completely unconcerned about your matters?”
“No matter how you want to cut ties with the Empire and the royal family in the past—there are only you and Ophelia as our daughters, and the royal bl**d of the Granwill Empire flows in your veins. This is an undeniable fact.”
The noblewoman stopped and turned to look at her stepdaughter in front of her.
“I knew about that little guy named Rast long before, when he just enrolled.”
“However, I truly started paying attention to him a few months later—after your sister went to the Tower of Secrets on her own and caused quite a stir.”
The noblewoman paused for a moment before continuing, “Ophelia thought she was sneaking around without our knowledge, doing those things alone, testing the other party at the Tower of Secrets.”
“But she never considered that her father is the ruler of the Empire, and half of the ownership of the Tower of Secrets ultimately belongs to the Empire… What could possibly be hidden from her father within the Empire?”
The noblewoman smiled, “Our two daughters both have an extraordinary interest in a certain young man.”
“If we were completely unaware of that person, then we parents would indeed be rather incompetent.”
“It’s normal for you and father to notice Rast…”
Hiltina fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“With his abilities and the astonishing things he has done in the Night World—even if I have no connections with him, I believe he would still have entered your and father’s sight.”
“It’s just that what you mentioned earlier, the engagement…”
“That was also your father’s idea.”
The noblewoman smiled again, “Hiltina, you’re different from me, and from the other noble girls in the capital.”
“Those great nobles often use their daughters as tools for political marriage for the sake of interests or alliances.”
“Even myself; when I married your father, it was because my family invested in him when he was still a prince—I knew all along that His Majesty Aaron truly loved your mother, Cecilia.”
“Though, I have no regrets about it.”
The noblewoman gazed at Hiltina, “But you, young Tina, are different.”
“You are our daughter, and in your father’s words, there is no one in the West Continent worthy of marrying you.”
“And as a royal family, we do not need to rely on marrying off our daughters for political alliances to exchange so-called benefits or to ally with other great nobles or nations.”
“No one can force you; you only need to choose your partner based on your own wishes.”
“But as the future empress of the Empire, you will eventually have to marry… and Rast happens to be quite a good choice; even the only choice, doesn’t he? At least you don’t feel disgusted by him.”
“He is the only one over the years who has been able to enter your heart and truly win your approval, young Tina.”
“To be honest, if it weren’t for discovering that young man, your father and I would have been somewhat worried that with your stubborn and obstinate temperament, the royal bloodline might end with you.”
The noblewoman looked at the silent Hiltina and spoke again.
“Moreover, in your father’s words, this is also a way to make you less stubborn.”
“The reason you have developed such a stubborn and obstinate temper, not looking back until you hit the wall… is because you regarded your mother’s ideal called ‘Ranger’ as the entirety of your life and never considered your own happiness.”
“And if you marry Rast, even after you have children, you will have something to care for.”
“You will possess your own happiness, and this bond and attachment will force you to learn to cherish yourself, to be selfish when necessary—”
“Instead of being willful in the past, recklessly drowned in the pursuit of ideals.”
Hiltina remained silent for a long time before finally speaking again, “In any case, I don’t want you and father to affect Rast because of my matters, or even use royal authority to coerce him.”
“Using royal authority to coerce is certainly not an option; he currently belongs to Starry University, and Starry University is not under the Empire’s jurisdiction.”
The noblewoman shook her head.
“Besides, he is on good terms with that Silver Weasel, and the old principal of Starry University is quite protective; the royal power of the Empire simply cannot influence that little guy.”
“However—”
“What if it’s not coercion, but that the little guy named Rast willingly becomes our son-in-law?”
“Then at that time, young Tina… you would have no other reason to oppose, would you?”
The noblewoman’s voice paused for a moment.
“These are just some superficial thoughts of your father, and they need to be further explored.”
“After a few days, your father may personally approach Rast and invite him to the court to discuss the feasibility of your engagement.”
…
Tap, tap—
The sound of high heels echoing on the ground gradually faded away, symbolizing Hiltina’s stepmother, the queen of the Granwill Empire, walking away from the dormitory area of Starry University.
Once she confirmed that the other party had completely left, Rast crossed the last stretch of path and arrived at the dormitory door.
In the courtyard outside, the silhouette of the girl skilled with the rapier was bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, looking slightly dazed.
Upon hearing Rast’s footsteps, her delicate figure instinctively tensed up.
Only after determining that the visitor was Rast did Hiltina’s alert posture slowly relax, returning to a state of ease.
“I didn’t expect you to come back at this time; it’s quite a funny sight you’ve seen.”
Hiltina forced a smile.
“It’s understandable; after all, you are from the Empire, and there are always more things to consider than ordinary families.”
Rast chuckled, “To be honest, compared to the royal dramas of other countries, your family situation is already much better.”
“There’s no life-and-d*ath struggle for the throne, nor is there that father-son affection that can turn into a kn*fe in the back…”
“To be frank, if I were born in a family full of such intrigue and severed kinship, I might actually find it easier.”
“After all, I would just need to sever all ties; anyone standing in my way would simply be eliminated.”
Hiltina gradually eased her stance, “I know that she is my stepmother, but she really treats me like her own daughter.”
“Even the argument just now was her genuinely thinking of me and wanting what’s best for me.”
“But because of that, it makes it harder for me to let go, adding a lot of meaningless entanglements… but I know I will never agree with my father’s ideology, just as he will never agree with mine.”
“Rast…”
Her voice paused, “May I ask you a question?”
“What question?”
“Rast, you said…”
Hiltina’s light brown eyes contained a rare touch of confusion.
“How much can one sacrifice for justice?”
The evening breeze that swept through the courtyard of Starry University carried away the question Hiltina posed.
Then, Hiltina saw Rast’s movement pause slightly.
The black-haired youth stood in the middle of the courtyard, enveloped in the faint golden afterglow of the sunset, his outline sharp and deep, like a sculpted statue.
In the blink of an eye, Hiltina heard a firm and unwavering response.
“My answer is—”
“Everything I have.”
…
When Rast returned to his own stand-alone student dormitory, finished a simple microwave-heated dinner, and washed up, it was already late at night.
He sat on the edge of the bed, holding a glass of wine, sipping the concoction he made slowly.
It was high-proof liquor, but at this moment, Rast was not a weakling among the extraordinary. The high concentration of alcohol was quickly broken down and absorbed within him, leaving behind a rich sweetness and a faint intoxication like thin gauze.
“How much can one sacrifice for justice?”
He gazed out at the pure black sky, recalling Hiltina’s question she posed to him not long ago at the dormitory entrance.
In the echoes of the history of the Night World, Grey had also asked Rast a similar question, and his answer remained the same.
Rast had long since spent three hundred years in Deep Blue Harbor to interpret his true answer to this question.
He downed the liquid in the glass at the bedside in one go, hoping to drift into sleep with the drunkenness.
But then, Rast’s mind suddenly shifted slightly.
His gaze turned towards the outside, to a certain spot in the endless dark night.
A faint rustling sound came from the night.
A few breaths later, someone quietly appeared in the shadows of Rast’s room, silently standing behind him.
“Senior sister, did you come over after seeing the memory crystal I left behind?”
Rast did not turn around; he simply stared out at the seemingly endless night curtain, speaking calmly.
Silence enveloped the space behind him.
After a long while, someone nodded gently in the shadows: “Mm.”
It was Ingrid’s voice.
As a wanted criminal of the Empire, she was now marked as deceased in all databases of organizations on the West Continent. Ingrid was an existence that could not be seen in public; once spotted by the teachers and students of Starry University, it would likely cause an upheaval.
However, as a former head of the Inspectorate in the military department and a pinnacle extraordinary at the sixth tier… she had already reached the top of the Extraordinary Domain, mastering the arts of stealth and assassination to perfection.
If she wanted to completely hide her tracks, unless a legendary strongman directly came, no one would detect her.
“I want to ask you one last question, Rast.”
Ingrid stood in the shadows, looking at the boy sitting on the edge of the bed.
Though his face wore an expression of tranquility, the boy’s demeanor was solemn, with an unspoken authority.
Rast nodded slightly: “Please ask, senior sister.”
“Why did you choose to support Hiltina?”
Ingrid gazed at Rast’s face: “According to the fragments in that memory crystal… you, Rast, are clearly deeper than the darkest night I’ve seen.”
“So you should be acutely aware that Hiltina’s ideology is purely idealistic, fundamentally short-sighted, or rather, a kind of naive and foolish innocence.”
“As a leader, one should learn to be cold and ruthless, to make necessary sacrifices rather than adhere to that so-called ‘knight spirit,’ which is clearly just self-satisfaction for hypocrites.”
“Indeed, what you said, senior sister, is not wrong.”
Rast smiled slightly: “A naive and foolish idealist, a short-sighted person—maybe such an assessment of Hiltina isn’t problematic.”
“But that doesn’t detract from her brilliance, which inspires admiration.”
Rast’s words paused for a moment: “If a world only needs to take things step by step without making mistakes to achieve a prosperous future, then your viewpoint, senior sister, that sacrifices a few for the benefit of the majority—strategies prioritizing interests as a leader and decision-maker—may not be wrong.”
“But what if the end of this world is inherently dark, destined for destruction?”
He gazed out into the infinite night sky: “According to your thinking, under the cold judgment of interests… if faced with an era’s end engraved in natural law, where d*ath is already determined, then people should simply lie down and wait to d*e.”
“In that case, this world needs some people like Hiltina, naive and foolish idealists—”
“Only such short-sighted individuals can become symbols, like the sun piercing the night, bringing hope to people in despair.”
Rast recalled Cecil once more, remembering the battle at the Broken Coast.
The Sixth Epoch was an era already doomed to perish, inscribed in the history books of later generations.
If it were ordinary people, upon knowing this despairing truth, the irreversible, predestined outcome, they would likely have lost all heart and chosen to give up and wait for d*ath.
Yet even so, after knowing everything, Cecil still burned out his life, entrusting hope to the future Guardians.
Certainly, it was a short-sighted thought, an idealist’s naive wish—
But if it weren’t for these short-sighted people and idealists, the “Guardians” would have long ago perished, not passed down through generations to this day.
“I have answered your question, senior sister.”
Rast looked back at Ingrid, whose slender figure was shrouded in shadows.
“Now, it’s your turn to make your choice…”
(End of this chapter)
