The Lord Of Blood Hill

Henwell does not refute Ulysses's warning. He only asks another question.

"I am very curious. Since you were originally a member of the Veil and were chosen to carry out such an important mission, the Veil surely could not have controlled you through threats alone."

"By all logic, you should have been extremely loyal to the Veil. Yet your current behavior seems to show that you have already betrayed them."

"What happened? Why did you risk beginning a break with the Veil?"

Ulysses points at Henwell. "Just like you. For a woman."

"For Billie's queen. Of course, not the current one, but Catherine's birth mother."

Henwell understands at once. Catherine's birth mother died of illness at home during The War of the Six Kings seventeen years ago.

Something must have happened then, leading to the queen's unnatural death.

A look of recollection appears on Ulysses's face. "Do you know? When I had just taken the throne, my heart was completely devoted to the Veil."

"I believed I was taking part in a great cause, and I did my utmost to do what I could."

"I built base after base for the Veil, letting the Veil's tentacles reach deeper into Billie."

"To play Ulysses well, I made many preparations. Almost no one noticed anything abnormal."

"But one woman realized it. That woman was Berishi. She came from a minor noble family."

"She did not care about court affairs or the kingdom's political situation. The thing she cared about most was her children."

"She was a kind woman. She was the first to discover that I was an impostor, but she did not say it."

"Later, I asked her why she could see through me when I had already imitated him almost perfectly."

Ulysses tilts his head and asks Henwell, "Do you know what she said?"

Without waiting for Henwell to speak, Ulysses gives the answer himself. "She said it was because I would not hit her. Such a simple and foolish answer."

"The real Ulysses, when he took the throne, launched a bloody palace coup that cost his wife her life."

"He needed a new queen. To avoid being restrained by all sides, he married Berishi, who came from a minor noble family."

"He only treated Berishi as a temporary transition. He never liked her and never cared about her feelings."

"At the time, he had just ascended the throne and had many troubles to deal with. Every day left him frantic."

"Yet he still had to appease those great nobles, so he vented all his resentment on that pitiful woman."

"From time to time, he beat and scolded Berishi. Of course, in front of others, he remained a considerate husband."

"Henwell, tell me, did that Ulysses deserve to die?"

Henwell nods. "If that is the case, then his death was not unjust."

"Besides, in my view, he was far worse than you."

"Although he was king for only a short time, what ability can a man have if he only vents his resentment on women?"

"If he were the one ruling Billie now, I think he would certainly be my priority target."

Ulysses laughs. "Heh... thank you for the praise. At that time, I felt the same as you. I thought it was good that bastard was dead."

"Perhaps it was out of sympathy."

"In any case, for reasons I barely understood myself, I concealed from the Veil that Berishi knew I was a substitute."

Henwell shakes his head. "That was not sympathy. It was love. People always fall in love before they realize what has happened."

"And I suppose you must have made up a reason. You certainly did not say you belonged to the Veil. You only said you were a substitute who had been legitimized."

Ulysses does not deny it. "After that, she cooperated with me on many disguises and helped me imitate some of Ulysses's unknown habits."

"Gradually, I truly became Ulysses. Of course, not the version who beat his wife."

"I became the version of him with ambition and skill."

"Just as you said, at some unknown point, we fell in love. Or perhaps two people carrying secrets were simply drawn to each other."

"We came together. She bore me two children. From that moment on, I changed from a tool into a person."

"A person with a wife and children, with a complete family. A true person."

Henwell murmurs, "Prince Shazo and Princess Catherine."

"Yes. Them."

Henwell stares into Ulysses's eyes. "But I once saw an image left by an extraordinary device. Some of the things you did there were not normal."

Ulysses's eyes fill with anger. "I know. Someone sacrificed my son."

"He drew out poor Shazo's flesh and blood to mend the defects in his own body."

"That was his revenge against me, and it was also the Veil's warning to me."

Feeling that Ulysses is not lying, Henwell narrows his eyes. "The Marquess of Nothing. He wanted to treat his own injuries."

Ulysses nods. "Yes. It was him. That battle years ago left him badly injured."

"He was never able to recover to Iron Rank, and he still carried a restriction placed on him by the Veil."

"For twenty years, he lived as neither man nor ghost. At last, he finally found an opportunity and broke open the first shackle."

"He impersonated me and tricked Shazo away."

"Then he used an evil ritual to transfer the restriction on his own body to Shazo."

"After that, he took Shazo's flesh and blood, mended his injuries, and allowed himself to return to the level of an Iron Knight."

"So now you know why I pulled him into the game, and why I targeted the Marquess of Nothing."

After seeing Henwell nod, Ulysses smiles but does not continue on that topic.

"I betrayed the Veil not for the power in my hands, but only because they killed Berishi."

"During The War of the Six Kings, news came from the front line saying I had died in battle. She panicked and exposed some clues."

"That was noticed by the Veil's spies in the palace. They soon discovered that Berishi knew my identity."

"Without discussing it with me at all, they directly killed Berishi."

"The secret guards I had arranged only had time to take Catherine and Shazo away."

At this point, the hatred in Ulysses's eyes almost takes physical shape.

But a moment later, his expression turns dejected again.

"At that time, everyone thought I had killed Berishi myself."

"After all, in their view, I had already secured the throne and needed a more powerful queen."

"If Berishi did not die, that position would always remain occupied."

"I did not care what others thought. But Catherine and Shazo also believed I had killed their mother."

"From then on, the two children began to distance themselves from me, guard against me, and even hate me deeply."

"Now, do you understand why Catherine wants to become queen?"

"From childhood, she discovered that only power could protect her. Only if she became king herself would she avoid being treated as a sacrifice."