Chapter 240 : Chapter 240
Chapter 240 : For the King
***
"Philinus II? Just the second, did the dynasty change?"
At my question, that guy Hermann let out a deep sigh like an old man who had lived his entire life and looked at me.
"Ignorant fool. The concept of royal titles in this Kingdom is different from ours."
His explanation went like this. Here, when a king ascends to the throne, he decides his own royal title. While it is a common custom to use one's true name or inherit the previous king's title, there are occasionally cases where they directly choose the name of a distant ancestor going back dozens of generations.
"It must be for the purpose of revealing the roots of their maternal bloodline to show off their legitimacy. To gain the strong allies known as maternal relatives. Or perhaps, it's an expression of their will to follow that era or abide by its beliefs."
"That is correct. However, the much more fundamental reason is closer to a desire to perfectly identify themselves with that ancestor by choosing that name. So to speak, it is a kind of perverted craving."
Hermann narrowed his eyes. The corners of his mouth subtly curled up.
"The father of the current Philinus II was Arthur VIII. They say Arthur was the Aleos Kingdom's most outstanding sage king and the first Grand Sword Master. In our terms, he was a martial artist who reached a state surpassing the Transcendental Expert. Then, what about Philinus? What do you think he was?"
"I don't know. If he was a historical great man, it would have surpassed the third or fourth, but seeing that he's only the second, it doesn't seem like that's necessarily the case."
"That was a sharp insight uncharacteristic of you. Yes, that is correct."
Hermann swept his hand over his face.
"They say Philinus was the most handsome king in the history of the Kingdom."
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting?"
"It is no joke. They say his appearance was truly at a marvelous level. He was so handsome that when a treasonous plot occurred because people were sick of his debauched life and incompetent politics, the daughter of the rebel leader fell in love at first sight upon seeing the king's face and reported her father, causing the treason to come to nothing. With a legend like that, everything has been said."
Hermann clicked his tongue and continued speaking.
"Even the noble ladies of the royal palace, as well as the women of the streets, the prostitutes of the back alleys.......... anyway, damn it, all the women in the entire country praised the beauty of his face so much that even the historical records were infected by that madness, to the point where history was distorted. In short, his very existence was a disaster that paralyzed reason."
Hermann's tone grew increasingly agitated. Before I knew it, his clenched fists were subtly trembling.
Conscious of my gaze, Hermann let out a needless dry cough.
"..........I am absolutely not acting like this because I am envious. What I mean is—"
Hermann trailed off and stared into the distance. I also followed his lead and moved my gaze.
"It is not strange at all that the current Philinus II has emptied his palace like that and hurriedly fled. The mental state of a bastard who inherits such a royal title is obvious, is it not?"
At the end of our gazes, the panoramic view of the burning Aleos royal palace spread out.
The acrid smoke soaring up and wrapping around the spires of the ancient castle dyed the sky pitch-black, as if declaring the end of a long history.
***
The Lord of Pretoria urgently guided the King's party to the reception room, not the conference hall.
Even though it was said there was no need to match it, Philinus II stubbornly insisted that he could not possibly break the Neutral Zone's rule.
As a result, centered around King Philinus II, Chancellor Zisair, Knight Commander Ludsilla, Magic Corps Commander Gunt, and Chief Attendant Ternien were selected as the five people of the Imperial Capital.
"Your Majesty, I do not know what to do with myself that you have personally taken steps to this shabby place."
The Lord of Pretoria took a knee. He kissed the back of Philinus II's hand.
"Not at all, Lord. I am the one who feels needlessly apologetic. Because it seems I have unintentionally caused a fuss."
Philinus II put on a deliberately benevolent smile.
"Huhu, as you know, no matter if I am a person of status sitting on the supreme throne, I am not such a nasty person who puts on airs to you all."
"O-Of course! The entire populace never ceases to praise Your Majesty's nature."
The Lord of Pretoria continuously bowed his head as if he were deeply obliged. His wife and two daughters standing side by side next to him were also shrinking their shoulders tightly in nervousness.
Looking at them, the corners of Philinus II's mouth subtly curled up.
"Your daughters take after your wife and are truly beauties. How old is the eldest daughter?"
At the sudden singling out, the eldest daughter flinched and trembled. When the Lord and his wife glared with their eyes, she barely parted her trembling lips.
"I-I am f-fifteen this year."
"Fifteen. Mmm, mm. I see, is that so. You must have had your first menstruation."
I am currently escorting Philinus II right next to him along with Adeline. Given my status, I couldn't just watch with my arms crossed from far behind.
Just now, it was truly a crisis. The soliloquy 'Crazy' almost popped out of my mouth and was heard by the King.
'Setting aside basic courtesy, he's a human without even a minimum of decency.'
If it were in the past, I would have lumped all Kingdom people together as uncivilized and been sick of them, but now I know. Not all Kingdom people are this vulgar.
"Your Majesty. The business is urgent, so how about you stop the pleasantries here."
Zisair interjected lowly. That resolute decision, cutting off the ugly behavior of the King who was harassing a young girl with a single stroke, was quite commendable.
For a moment, it was to the point where the fact that he was an Imperial who valued etiquette and duty came to me anew.
"Ah, I shall do so."
Fortunately, the King meekly followed the Chancellor's words.
Soon after, the report prepared by the Lord of Pretoria and his staff began.
From the outbreak of the War of the Roses to the present..........
Of course, most of it was far from the truth. It was riddled with plausible fiction thoroughly fabricated under the tacit consent of the two families, the kind that would likely be recorded in history in the future.
Philinus II listened quite seriously to those stories, which were in a way even abominable.
Eventually, when the report ended, he nodded his head as if he were satisfied.
"Everyone has truly suffered a lot. Truly, I am a lucky king. Because I have people who value and love order and peace like this as my companions."
Philinus II stood up and lifted the glass placed in front of him. Red wine is contained in the glass.
"Let everyone lift their glasses. I, the legitimate king and orthodox heir of the Aleos Kingdom, Philinus II, wish to pray for the following three things, borrowing the grace of the ancestors who built this great kingdom."
Due to his twisted jaw, his pronunciation looked extremely strenuous. Even so, he poured out an impassioned speech, as if he had repeated and memorized it thousands of times solely for this moment.
"One is a blessing for the Lord of Pretoria and his family, who willingly volunteered to become the venue of peace. Another is for Sir Bihen Benkou, who crossed over from a far-off foreign land and protected the order of this land—"
Philinus II paused his speech for a moment and raised his glass to me.
"Gratitude for your dedication, praise for your marvelous martial valor, and may there be glory in your brilliant fortunes of war that will follow in the future."
I slowly started to feel dumbfounded. For now, I matched the atmosphere and appropriately raised my glass.
"..........And."
The pupils buried under his eyelids, which were swollen like a lump, directed straight ahead.
Philinus II's gaze stickily clung to Adeline.
"My lovely sister, Adel."
".........."
"Commemorating our miraculous reunion."
Philinus II's eyes and the hand holding the glass trembled slightly. In his voice calling Adeline and his eyes directed at her, a primal craving that was difficult to dismiss as mere political rhetoric lingered.
'A dark possessiveness attempting to swallow whole his greatest political enemy by making her the object of his affection.'
At the beginning and end of the War of the Roses, dozens of interests that are difficult to count one by one are entangled.
My circumstances of being pushed by numerous ties, as if preventing innocent sacrifices was the mission given to me, entering the center of chaos and taking charge of mediation.
And Adeline's will, which pushed through the carnage to reach this point to achieve her political ambitions, was also just a part of that massive vortex.
'Philinus II was no exception either.'
His twisted ambition was thickly smeared on the eloquent speech he had just poured out under the guise of blessings and praise.
A meticulous move to naturally attribute all the fruits of this war to his own merit and trap the main characters of the end of the war within the framework of royal authority.
'..........'
I turned my gaze and stared at Zisair sitting opposite me. That this cunning script had come from the head of that evil demon was a certainty beyond doubt.
As if responding to my gaze, Zisair drew a faint arc on his lips and murmured.
"Cheers."
..........It's fine. It's enough if I don't fall for it, and now I have the martial force to sufficiently handle this level of trickery anyway.
'And I'm not naive like before.'
I downed the wine while continuing my staring contest with Zisair. Man, it's foully astringent.
"Sir Bihen."
While I was diligently scraping out the foreign substances stuck between my teeth with the tip of my tongue with my mouth closed, Philinus II leaned his body toward my side.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Do you know? Just how much your martial might is making the Imperial Capital uproar right now. Even if I just lie still in my bedchamber, your widespread reputation crosses the palace walls and enters right into my ears."
"You overpraise me."
Philinus II shook his head left and right. He deliberately pulled his chair to press his body close to me.
"What does it feel like?"
"Excuse me?"
"Tell me. When all those arrogant knights bow their heads and only look up to you. What it feels like to stand alone at that peak and look down on ten thousand people.......... when you receive such overwhelming gazes all to yourself, does your mood just, hmm? Become elated or something? Does a thrill also flow through your entire body?"
..........Could he be drunk after drinking one glass?
I looked around with a feeling of hoping for help. Knight Commander Ludsilla and Chief Attendant Ternien were busy avoiding my gaze with subtly embarrassed faces.
"Right now, our Kingdom is in desperate need of a strong and righteous knight like you."
Fortunately, Philinus II changed the topic. I calmed my twitching lips and looked at him.
"Martial force is martial force, but in turbulent times like these, where else would one find such noble loyalty that willingly throws away one's life for their liege lord? Although I have only been inside the palace, I have heard plenty and know well about that devoted chivalry you have shown for my sister."
He stared at me with a gaze as if scanning the most valuable treasure Adeline possessed.
"It cannot help but be a truly enviable thing. Loyalty that makes a man dedicate his entire life. What I am saying is, if I had become that master, how much more brilliant would this Kingdom have become right now?"
I couldn't catch a clue where to even begin correcting him, when he lightly tapped the table with the back of his hand as if telling me to look.
"As you also know, did the two pillars of the Imperial Capital Knight Order not go missing at the same time? Goodness, it is absurd. Hmm? This is truly a disaster, a disaster! Just what kind of disgrace is this?"
He abruptly glared at Ludsilla. Ludsilla deeply bowed her head as if she had no face to show.
"..........Sigh, whatever. However, I have decided to accept this tragedy a little differently. Using this opportunity, I will completely overturn the Imperial Capital's military system from the very roots. In other words, I am thinking of creating a new organization that integrates the Imperial Capital Knight Order and the Imperial Magic Corps into one. An elite royal guard directly subordinate to the Imperial Family. The name is— yes, Royal Guardian would be good."
In an instant, Ludsilla and Gunt's eyes widened as if they would pop out. It was a completely astonished look. It seemed there had been no prior consultation at all. The two people's bewildered gazes busily tangled with each other and soon directed at Philinus II.
Smirk.
Seeing their faces engulfed in bewilderment, the King twitched his distorted lips, rather as if he were enjoying that reaction.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice.
"Sir Bihen. I shall appoint you as the head of the Royal Guardian. My lovely sister Adel will also wish for you to shine in a wider world, in a higher place. Therefore, pay it no mind and—"
SCREECH—
At that moment, the sharp sound of dragging a chair cleanly cut off the King's words at once.
It was none other than Gunt. He sprang up from his seat and abruptly showed me polite courtesy.
"I will borrow this place to apologize once again for the fact that I was swept up in personal emotions and tried to retaliate against you earlier. Even though it was a force majeure accident that occurred during the war, my heart cherishing Raven, who is like a blood brother to me, came first, and I committed a massive discourtesy. Please be magnanimous and understand, Sir Bihen Benkou."
The handsome face of the bowing Gunt was dyed red with shame. Unless one was fairly dense, there was no way not to know the true meaning of the apology he was spitting out right now.
'Is he trying to hold onto the fallen dignity of the royal family by selling his pride?'
Gunt was not actually bowing his head to me. He was simply trying to refresh the atmosphere by becoming a shield himself before his liege lord became any uglier.
It was so natural and skillful, as if cleaning up the shit crapped out by the King, who was running wild indiscriminately, was not just a once or twice occurrence.
"Sir Bihen and I are not in a liege-vassal relationship."
Adeline, who had been silent the whole time, finally opened her mouth. Everyone's gazes poured onto her at once.
Philinus II asked back, unable to hide his flustered look.
"E-Eh? Adel, what did you just say.......... Not a liege-vassal relationship, then—"
"I am saying the two of us are not in such a formal relationship. From the beginning, until now. It has always been like that."
"U-Us? Did you just say, us..........?"
"..........I will take my leave first."
Adeline stood up and went straight out of the reception room.
Philinus II's eyes lost their way and shook violently. With a dumbfounded expression, he twitched his lips and muttered something or other, but because of his twisted pronunciation, I couldn't hear well what he was saying.
Well, anyway, it was a situation where my insides felt completely cleared out just as I was at a loss for where and how to correct this stupid misunderstanding.
Like that, thanks to the active roles of Gunt and Adeline, an awkward silence flowed for a moment..........
It was while I had abruptly downed the glass without realizing it, belatedly realized it was wine, and was secretly dry heaving.
"Will you spare me some time, Bihen Benkou. There is something I earnestly wish to discuss just the two of us."
Zisair spoke with a quiet smile.