Chapter 256 : Chapter 256
Chapter 256 : Insiders
Insiders
"Gasp..........!"
Gunt woke up with a scream. He heaved rough breaths.
'..........Is it another nightmare?'
He could not remember the specific details. However, the scene of being chased by something lingered vaguely.
'It's been like this ever since I returned to the Imperial Capital.'
Five days had already passed. It might have been because the shock he experienced at Grimbalt Prison was so great.
Suddenly, the terrible sights of that place would flicker before his eyes, and screams would often linger in his ears like auditory hallucinations.
Above all, what he could not forget was the figure of a man's back.
'Bihen Benkou.'
The sight of him plunging into the distant abyss on his own was still vivid.
"Huu."
Gunt wiped his cold sweat with trembling hands. It was still the middle of the night. He drank the water he had poured on the table in advance.
'..........'
Gunt stood blankly in the middle of the bedroom for a long time. His shoulders merely heaved quietly up and down as he caught his breath, which had yet to calm down.
'Who dares to be so fearless?'
Gunt abruptly turned toward the window he had his back to. As if startled by him, a bird sitting on a branch outside the window hurriedly fluttered its wings and disappeared into the darkness.
'..........Was it a bird?'
He let out a sigh as if dejected. The moment he pressed his forehead, thinking it was because he had become noticeably sensitive lately, a white note placed where the bird had stayed caught his eye.
Gunt immediately opened the window and looked around. There was no presence whatsoever.
As he unfolded the note and read down with doubt, his forehead gradually distorted.
The next day.
The place Gunt visited from early morning was the arboretum within the Imperial Palace. It was a plant research facility managed by the Aleos Academy, but in reality, it was closer to a luxurious promenade for the high-ranking nobles staying in the royal palace.
Of course, since there was no one leisurely loitering here at this time when morning state affairs had begun, the arboretum was only serene.
TREAD, TREAD.
Gunt headed toward the inside of the arboretum. His pace grew faster and faster, as if he paid no attention to the peaceful scenery.
Eventually, he came to a stop at a certain point. It was a place where the surroundings opened up in a circle like a small plaza.
"..........Come out now. As you can see, I am alone."
Gunt stood in the center decorated with red bricks, streetlamps, and benches, and scanned the paths stretching through the lush thickets and flowers.
It was when only his pupils were moving slowly in the silence.
'..........!'
A chilling presence flew in behind his back. The moment he hurriedly tried to turn his body around, Gunt's body stiffened just like that. The sensation of a sword tip touched the nape of his neck.
"Don't move."
"Who—"
"Shut your mouth and raise your hands."
".........."
Gunt obediently raised both hands.
"..........I haven't done anything to incur a woman's grudge."
"I believe I told you to shut your mouth. Only answer what is asked."
"Understood."
It was true for himself as well, but Gunt vaguely noticed that the woman pointing a sword at him from behind was also nervous.
Gunt's pupils, which had been rolling here and there looking for an opportunity, abruptly stopped at the question that flew in for a moment.
"Are you loyal to the King, or are you loyal to the Kingdom?"
Gunt's forehead furrowed deeply. He answered with a hardened expression.
"What is that all of a sud—"
"Don't make me say it twice. I asked where your loyalty lies."
His pounding heart would not easily calm down. He could not tell if it was because of the familiar body scent subtly blowing in from behind, or because of the seditious nature of the question.
Barely finding his composure, Gunt opened his mouth.
"I must point out the contradiction in your question first. To the bureaucrats of the Imperial Capital, the King and the Kingdom are inseparable concepts. Therefore, I have no choice but to answer that I have never thought about it in that way."
"I know you are smart. So don't try to change the subject while acting arrogant, and if you know the intent, answer accordingly."
A drained laugh leaked out of Gunt's mouth. He readily nodded his head, as if surrendering to the stubborn logic.
"If I had to choose, it would be the King."
At that moment, a faint sigh was heard from behind.
"So it's because you share the same bloodline? Even while being so openly despised? You have a surprisingly naive side compared to how you look."
"Well. I think you are overcomplicating it."
"What?"
"I merely chose the side that has substance."
Gunt asked back.
"What exactly is this Kingdom you speak of? Where does the Kingdom begin, and where does it end?"
"The, the questions are mine to—"
"Hoping that the laughter in the streets outside the royal palace never ceases, looking after relief grain for every territory starving from a poor harvest, and preventing sudden plagues and bloodbaths. Preserving the territory from the threat of Demonic Beasts appearing everywhere, mediating old disputes between lords, and overseeing so that coldly cooled laws do not create wronged subjects—all those practical agonies."
".........."
"It is not the abstract name of the Kingdom that accomplishes these vast tasks. It is the King who sits on the throne, issues commands, and bears the responsibility. To swear loyalty to an insubstantial illusion, is the reality we must resolve right now not too harsh?"
Gunt, who had rapidly spat out his words, briefly caught his breath before driving the wedge in.
"State affairs are not a clockwork mechanism that turns on their own. In the end, someone must hold the reins and set the direction. I only hope that whoever holds those reins fulfills their duty. Even if he is Zisair's puppet, right at this moment, he is the only person who can move this massive Kingdom."
While silence flowed for a moment, the sound of twigs fluttering in the wind lingered in the ears of the two. It was the peaceful sound of the morning arboretum.
"..........Those reins, don't you have the right to hold them too?"
She spoke of treason in a heavily softened voice. At that disharmony, Gunt let out a hollow laugh.
"Bloodline is merely one of countless qualifications. First of all, I lack the moderation that one sitting on the throne must possess. Because already, one side of me is completely filled with the stubbornness of a mage, and the other side with the obstinacy of a scholar. If I were to hold the reins, the Kingdom would likely lose its flexibility and snap. You wouldn't want to see the sight of an arrogant bastard, who tries to judge everything in the world only through set formulas and result values, putting this entire country on a massive experimentation table, would you?"
The answer returned after a brief delay.
"Then, if I brought an owner who will cultivate a proper garden, rather than an experimentation table.........."
Power was suddenly loaded into the voice behind him.
"Will you be a supporter?"
"Of course. Willingly."
At the unhesitating answer, the sound of a sharp intake of breath was instead heard from behind.
Gunt spoke while staring straight ahead.
"It seems we are harboring the same person in mind. Is that not so, Commander Ludsilla?"
At that moment, the tip of the sword dropped down with a thud.
At the same time, Gunt lowered his raised hands, turned around, and faced Ludsilla's trembling eyes.
On the other hand, as if he had known everything from the beginning, Gunt's gaze was boundlessly deep and serene.
"Thank you for mustering your courage first. I, too, was agonizing over whether I could trust you amidst this terrible surveillance network."
***
The massive doors, pushed open to both sides, were covered in luxurious gold leaf decorations. Their thickness was as thick as the gate of an average fortress.
"Huu."
Ternien stood in front of them and tidied her appearance. Beyond these doors, which were perfectly soundproofed with magic, those who determined the crucial affairs of the Kingdom were in the middle of a meeting.
CREAK.
When Ternien nodded her head as if she was ready, the gatekeepers threw the doors open instead.
Her eyebrows trembled minutely as she stepped inside.
In the center of the assembly hall, the core bureaucrats of the Treasury and Political Affairs Office were seated without a single gap on both sides of the long table.
And even their head, Chancellor Zisair.
More than anything, what baffled Ternien was the person occupying the seat of honor on one side alongside Zisair.
"..........Your Majesty?"
Philinus II winked one eye. Since his coronation, the days he had shown his face at state affairs meetings could be counted on one hand. Right now, he had an expression completely intoxicated with himself for attending the meeting.
"Welcome, Palace Official."
At the innocent welcome, Ternien bowed her head in bewilderment. She looked back and forth at both seats of honor and spoke.
"Chief Attendant Ternien, I have come at your summons. However, I am puzzled. What is the reason for calling me to a state affairs meeting that discusses the practical matters of the government office?"
It was not just Ternien and Zisair; the power dynamic between the Chief Attendant and the Chancellor had drawn parallel lines for generations.
The subtle conflict between the one who assisted the King and the one who acted as the King's hands and feet could be called an inevitable fate.
Especially when a foolish King sat on the throne like now, that gap widened even further.
".........."
Thus, even if Ternien omitted the honorific title of 'His Excellency' like now, there was no reason to particularly show it.
Zisair drew a soft arc on his lips.
"Is a great event in the country not right around the corner? The Chief Attendant should rightfully attend and share your wisdom as well."
Zisair slyly extended his hand as if guiding her to a seat.
'Is it because of the Pantheon's completion ceremony?'
Ternien quietly shifted her gaze. The tips of Zisair's fingers were pointing to the seat opposite him, next to the King.
Philinus II slammed his hand down on the empty chair next to him with a bright face.
"Sit here, Palace Official!"
Amidst a situation like walking on thin ice, he was the only one excited. The rest of the bureaucrats, excluding him, stared at Ternien with eyes of subtle contempt, like a pack of hyenas looking at an old and sick lion.
The hierarchy of the Imperial Capital had collapsed long ago. As if it were nothing new, Ternien silently approached and took a seat beside the King.
Philinus II lightly stroked the back of Ternien's hand.
"As the Palace Official, you must know better than anyone. It has now been almost four years. Since I became the King of this country, that is."
He was exuding a rather sorrowful atmosphere with his ugly face. It meant that the past years had been eventful in their own way.
"Since you have protected the throne even amidst severe storms and waves, how could your humble servant not know of your hard work? However, Your Majesty, the path of a sage king is one where the coming day is heavier than the past four years—"
"Haa, really. Do you suffer from a disease where thorns sprout in your mouth if you don't nag for even a single day, Palace Official? Read the room a little.........., phew."
"..........I beg your pardon, Your Majesty."
Philinus II clicked his tongue a few times as if displeased, then soon continued speaking as if nothing happened.
"Well, anyway. As I have said repeatedly, I am thinking of holding the coronation ceremony that has been delayed thus far alongside the Pantheon's completion ceremony this time."
It was a predetermined sequence of events already set in motion four years ago, when he pushed forward the construction of the Pantheon to massively expand the royal cemetery under the pretext of strengthening royal authority simultaneously with his accession to the throne.
Believing that the splendor of the completion ceremony was exactly his own majesty, he had looked forward like a child to finally being proclaimed a true king on the day the magnificent sanctuary was completed.
It was the moment Ternien silently nodded her head, as if she had expected that much.
"And one more thing."
"Yes? When you say one more thing.........."
Philinus II curled up one corner of his mouth.
"I am thinking of holding an engagement ceremony with Adel."
A faint wrinkle formed on Ternien's forehead. Even for her, whose emotional fluctuations were rarely revealed, she was helpless against this.
She blinked her eyes and barely opened her mouth.
"Is this a matter that has already been discussed and concluded with the Duke of Conwell?"
"Discussed? Discuss what?"
"..........Excuse me?"
Both of them were wearing very dumbfounded expressions. At that moment, someone among the bureaucrats could not hold back and let out a snickering sound, and perhaps because of that, Philinus II's face instantly turned bright red.
"Who! Who do you think I've preserved this body's chastity for until now! And what do you think it means that Adel obediently followed me all the way here from Pretoria on her own two feet!"
"H-However, Your Majesty, please let me—"
"Enough with that damn nagging, I'm sick of it! What is there to hesitate about when Bihen Benkou has already dropped dead!"
Ternien was left speechless. She was acutely feeling the sensation of her blood rushing backward.
Suddenly, along with a ringing in her ears, the surrounding noise faded far away. In the illusion that the world was flowing slowly, Ternien stared at the face of the King, who was spitting and screaming at the top of his lungs right in front of her.
Over that hideously distorted face, the child from his youth overlapped.
'Lucian.'
The young prince back then was always dispirited.
A child who always had to live hiding behind dark curtains to avoid the chilling gaze of his father, Arthur VIII, a ferocious usurper and tyrant..........
His facial features, crooked due to a congenital deformity, and his one leg that limped precariously every time he walked, were indelible stigmas for him.
A pitiful soul who, unlike his father, was born with an already frail disposition, and coupled with unsettling rumors, always just crouched timidly.
Ternien used to hold Lucian in her arms and whisper to him.
That it was not his fault his leg was uncomfortable, and that his appearance being different from others was absolutely not something to be ashamed of.
That he was more lovely and noble than anyone else.
She had hoped and hoped again that his frail and tender heart would not turn into poison and become twisted, that the blame he aimed at himself would not turn into a blade aimed at others in the future.
Just like right now..........
"..........Do you understand!?"
The King's shout awakened Ternien's dazed consciousness.
"Y-Your Majesty.........."
"Ha, what? Bihen Benkou?"
Philinus II snorted as if it was ridiculous.
"I'll just erect a memorial monument for him in the Pantheon. In this already chaotic state of affairs, I needed at least one talking point to beguile the ears of the subjects anyway. Given the level of his martial prowess, it wouldn't be bad as a legend recorded in my era."
The King shrugged his shoulders.
"Carving a measly piece of stone isn't even difficult. With this much, Adel will realize how merciful of a man I am. Even if she hasn't forgotten him.........., oh, wait a minute. This is actually better."
Philinus II's mouth corners slowly curled up. A strange gleam swirled within his thick eyelids.
"If that bastard's grave is here, Adel won't even dream of running away anywhere! Kihihihi..........! Bihen Benkou, this is a matter truly worth celebrating, isn't it? Because even in death, he'll be able to stay by the side of the Adel he cherished so much! Then I will ravage Adel's body to my heart's content right next to his grave every night. So he can watch clearly! Sword Fiend or whatever, what can he do about it! Uheu!"
No matter if it was Ternien, it was hard to keep her eyes open and watch the sight of the King convulsing with laughter while his shoulders heaved.
Her gaze slid and headed elsewhere.
Zisair was there. With a faint smile hanging on his lips that was barely visible, he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as if this was none of his concern.