Chapter 164
Chapter 164
On Betrayal (2)
Irena was waiting for an answer. Simid Kellogg finally opened his mouth.
― Do you know how to carry out the perfect betrayal?
“…Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”
The perfect betrayal. There was a reason why Simid Kellogg suddenly brought up such a topic.
― It doesn’t require some complicated plan. Nor does it require a genius mind or quick wit. There are many ways to gain from betrayal, but there’s only one way to make it perfect.
By exploiting trust. This person is trustworthy. I can listen to what this person says.
This person cares about me, and I care about them.
Once those thoughts are planted, the betrayal that follows doesn't need to be complicated, delicate, or meticulous.
― It’s been thirty-five years since the current Emperor first got to know the head of the Featherwing family.
Back then, the Emperor was still the Crown Prince, and the head of the Featherwing family was still the heir.
At that time, Simid Kellogg was also learning the affairs of state under the former Emperor.
― That’s how I came to understand the relationship between the current Emperor and the head of the Featherwings.
They weren’t just friends. Their bond was so close that the other noble families held regular meetings out of concern.
Whenever the Emperor drank himself into a stupor during his university days, the head of the Featherwings would always end up just as wasted beside him.
When the head of the Featherwings fell in love, the Crown Prince did everything in his power to support him.
They did everything together. The kinds of things people their age were expected to do, and the kind of mischief that drew public scorn.
― Whether it was studying at the university, or fooling around with women at a bar in the name of rebellion. Even when they were in the library studying for exams, the head of the Featherwings was always there.
When the Emperor of the time passed away, it was the head of the Featherwings who stayed by the weeping Crown Prince’s side.
And when the head of the family’s mother died, it was the Crown Prince who spent the night at his side and attended the funeral with him.
They shared their sorrows, their joys, their trivial moments, and their personal worries—Philip IV and the head of the Featherwings went through it all together.
― That’s thirty-five years they spent like that.
It wasn’t a fleeting time. When Kairus Featherwing was born, it was Philip IV who stayed up all night with the head of the Featherwings, praying for a safe delivery. Just as the two of them had discussed and chosen the name of the Featherwing heir together.
The name Kairus, too, must have been chosen together by Philip IV and the head of the Featherwings.
The bond between the two continued long after Kairus’s birth. In front of others, they maintained proper decorum, but once they were alone together, they swept all etiquette aside and filled that space with friendship.
“Couldn’t that have unknowingly grated on His Majesty the Emperor’s nerves?”
You weren’t supposed to treat the Emperor like a friend. In the end, even if you did treat him like one, the Emperor was still the Emperor.
― Grated on him? As he grew older, the head of the Featherwing family also tried not to treat Philip IV that way.
And every time that happened, it was the Emperor who became gloomy instead.
― Thirty-five years is enough time for a person to be born, build a family, and have children. For that entire span of time, the head of the Featherwing family and Philip IV were friends. Do you think you could betray someone like that?
Yet in the end, Philip IV claimed that the head of the Featherwing family had plotted treason and completely crushed the family of his friend of thirty-five years.
Without shedding a single tear.
“He is His Majesty the Emperor. If the head of the Featherwing family did something that could be misunderstood, and that led to suspicion…”
― My daughter, my daughter. Imagine that you are the Emperor. You are told that a friend who has been with you for thirty-five years has planned a rebellion to drive you out. Would you really deny that friend even a single chance?
At Simid’s words, Irena fell silent. It didn’t seem possible. If you suspected betrayal from a friend who had shared both the bitterness and sweetness of life with you for such a long time.
You would probably give them at least one chance to defend themselves.
― The conclusion I came to was just one.
“What kind of… conclusion was it?”
In response to Irena’s question, Simid gave a short answer.
― For all those years, Philip IV never once regarded the head of the Featherwing family as a friend.
There had been a purpose. For that single purpose, he had lived like a friend with the head of the Featherwing family for a full thirty-five years.
― Is that something a human being can do? Even if he approached him with bad intentions at first, do you really think it’s possible not to grow attached after being together for thirty-five years?
“….”
Little by little, Irena was beginning to understand what Simid Kellogg was saying. It was enough to send a chill crawling down her spine.
Was that really possible? Even now, Irena felt a sense of camaraderie toward Kairus, despite not having spent that long with him.
And yet, that much time. A person who had shared all kinds of experiences together.
Just because there had been an original purpose, to betray them according to a plan made thirty-five years ago for the sake of achieving that purpose?
― The hurdle that must be overcome for a perfect betrayal to succeed is the emotions that people naturally possess. And Philip IV cast those aside as if it were only natural.
After betraying his friend and wiping out the Featherwing family, he continued to move forward to fulfill his purpose. Branded a traitor, the head of the Featherwing family wasn’t even granted a grave—his corpse was butchered beyond recognition.
― Tell me. What do you think someone like that sees when he looks at nobles like me, like us, who pledge loyalty to the Empire?
“Probably… nothing at all.”
Simid Kellogg realized it while watching the fall of the Featherwings.
He couldn’t pledge loyalty to someone like that. That was the conclusion he reached.
― You don’t even have to talk about people. It’s normal to hesitate to throw something away after keeping it by your side for thirty-five years.
Even if it wasn’t yours, if someone else had used it for thirty-five years, a sane person would at least hesitate before discarding it.
― I refuse to work under a madman like that. That’s why I did what I did.
He’d rather raise the flag of rebellion, fight against that lunatic, be tortured, beheaded, and have his corpse desecrated.
He couldn’t serve someone like that. Someone like that should never be the master of the Valorn Empire.
Simid wasn’t the only one thinking that way. Irena, too, was wavering.
An Emperor had to be cold and rational. But did he really have to be that cold? Was it even humanly possible? And could Irena pledge loyalty to someone like that?
“I don’t think I can, either.”
― Thank you for agreeing with me.
Of course, these emotions Irena felt were based on the assumption that Simid Kellogg was telling the truth.
But the Featherwings were cleared of all charges of treason.
The fact that Kairus had been released was proof of that. The Featherwings had never committed treason, and the Emperor had made a wrongful judgment and exterminated them.
And Irena had an idea of why the Emperor had gone that far.
‘To find out.’
Irena also knew what the easiest way to neutralize the Featherwings was. The vow, repeated endlessly, written over and over in an effort to break free of the shell.
To discover that vow, the Emperor had maintained a relationship with the head of the Featherwings for all those long years.
“Usually, when you see someone do the impossible, you feel awe.”
― And?
“This just feels revolting.”
It felt like the extermination had been the plan from the start. And the method was inhuman. The Emperor had succeeded in something no human could do and achieved his goal.
It wasn’t something to be praised. It wasn’t something worthy of awe.
More importantly, after doing all that, he still ended up being exposed by someone else.
― Can you understand why I did what I did?
In response to Simid’s question, Irena answered.
“You’re too old to be walking the hard road shouting about justice.”
The House of Kellogg was part of the establishment.
The elite class only reacts to injustice when there’s something to be gained from succeeding. That was the case with the revolution of the former Republic.
They incited the people to oust the elites of the time, all so they could rise to power themselves—and they succeeded. What Simid Kellogg was aiming for followed the same principle.
― Even so, I cannot work under Philip IV.
“I agree with that too. His Majesty the current Emperor… No. That man shouldn’t be sitting on the throne.”
After collecting her thoughts, Irena spoke.
“Kairus must want revenge.”
― Yes. That’s probably why he carried out my request.
At this point, there was nothing Irena could really choose. Her head just hurt from the flood of sudden truths.
The Scarlet Leaf Order, the House of Kellogg, Kairus Featherwing—and the loyalty she thought she had.
All of it clashed and jumbled together, cackling inside her head.
‘What about you?’
― It’s fine. I didn’t bring this up expecting an answer.
Simid Kellogg decided to give her time. But Irena answered right away.
“The man who is now Emperor has spent decades chasing a goal I can’t even begin to understand.”
Her thoughts were a mess, but there was one thing she could be certain of.
― That’s right.
“Do you think he doesn’t know he’s been found out? Or do you think… he believes he can still succeed even if he is?”
The Veil of Plumed Mist that Kairus had acquired. Simid Kellogg’s plan for rebellion. Could it really be that the Emperor knew none of it?
And if he did know…
If that were true, there had to be a reason he was leaving it alone. But speculation alone couldn’t stop Simid Kellogg.
If a plan prepared over six years could be stopped with a single word, then that’s all the resolve it was worth.
And even if she tried to stop it now, what would change? If he’d spent six years preparing for treason, then accusing Simid Kellogg of being a traitor was already well within reach.
The House of Kellogg was already on the tiger’s back. Whether they gave up or failed, the guillotine awaited either way.
“I hope… you succeed.”
That was the only thing Irena could say to Simid right now. Once it had begun, it had to end. And the end of a plan called rebellion could only be either death or glory.
Given the choice, it was only natural for Irena to hope for glory.
― I understand your concern. But I know the Emperor’s character well.
He doesn’t go for the head when he knows he can’t reach the root. That was one of the reasons Simid Kellogg had been left untouched until now.
“You’ve been preparing this plan for six years, but surely you’re not going to storm the palace with an army.”
That would be absurd. The Capital Security Corps was no joke, and right next to the Emperor stood the greatest swordsman in the Empire and Guardian of the Nation—Denver Hudson.
This wasn’t something brute force could solve. And if Simid Kellogg’s grand six-year plan really amounted to something like that, Irena would be utterly dismayed.
― The goal isn’t to take the Emperor’s head.
Storming the palace with armed forces isn’t rebellion. That’s just an invasion.
― One person can’t govern a nation alone.
Everyone says the Empire belongs to the Emperor. But the Emperor himself can’t be the Empire all by himself. It’s only sustained by the countless people working under him, through their effort and dedication.
“The Emperor probably thinks the traitors are coming for his head. But that’s not it.”
Simid Kellogg and those who shared his ideals wouldn’t march into the palace.
“We’ll leave the head, but paralyze the spine and limbs.”
How much money is in the national treasury? How many facilities has Valorn built?
How much budget does each facility require?
Books recording all that data will begin to vanish and burn across the land.
Unlike the Republic, Valorn had vast territory and an enormous population, which made such a plan possible.
Simid Kellogg’s rebellion would begin with administrative paralysis.