Chapter 41: Chapter 41
Chapter 41 - Kindred Spirits
Ferda had a dream.
It was not a vague, chaotic flow of images, but a dream of recollection based on memory.
To Ferda, it was something that had happened long ago.
Yet it had been so trivial that he had simply left it buried in the far reaches of his memory.
That insignificant memory began on a balcony.
Beyond the balcony, black smoke was rising from every corner within the Empire’s walls.
The bomb that had been planted within the Empire had finally exploded, and rebellions were breaking out everywhere.
There was a woman watching it all.
She stood upon the balcony railing, staring down absentmindedly.
Like a tragic heroine.
"The Empire is burning. It’s blazing so fiercely..."
Ferda silently watched the woman.
"Are you happy now?"
The question was directed at Ferda.
It carried resentment, as though all of this had happened because of him.
At such shamelessness, Ferda let out a scornful chuckle.
"They are dying because of you, Olivia Arken. If you hadn’t stepped forward, they would never have had to suffer like this."
Olivia Arken.
The greatest beauty in the Empire and a devout follower of Alte.
The woman known as the very embodiment of purity was the one who had turned her blade against the Empire.
Had she not led the rebellion, screams would never have echoed within those towering walls.
"I thought it would succeed."
She spoke in a distant voice.
"If I could lure out my little brother and incite the people... yes, it should have been entirely possible. The rebellion would have ended with ease."
She turned her head.
With golden hair and blue eyes, Olivia Arken smiled brightly.
"But... then a man as absurd as you destroyed the balance."
Yet unlike that radiant smile, crimson stains covered her face.
Blood.
It was not Olivia’s blood.
It belonged to the owner of this room—the First Prince, who lay dead on the bed with his trousers half-lowered.
He had met his end by the dagger in her hand.
The First Prince had been killed by Olivia.
The Second Prince had become a traitor, and if this rebellion failed, he would be publicly executed.
And Olivia...
She would not die.
"Instead, His Majesty the Emperor will make me into his plaything. He’ll put me up in some filthy auction house and use my body as collateral to buy loyalty."
Just as he did to my beloved older sister.
Olivia muttered quietly enough that Ferda could not hear.
"So, let me make you an offer."
Olivia extended her hand.
The silk glove clinging to her hand was not merely stained red—it dripped with bright crimson blood.
"Before I end up in such a filthy auction house... would you hold me?"
Ferda did not answer.
It was not because he was conflicted.
The question simply was not worth answering.
After holding out her hand for quite some time, Olivia finally gave up.
"So... you really do hate me, don’t you?"
She was right.
Ferda hated Olivia.
The moment he first saw her, and every time they met afterward, he felt it vividly.
"Why?"
It was not a feeling born from forced hatred or jealousy.
"You are too much like me."
It was disgust born from recognizing a kindred spirit.
Ferda hated House Rosnova for casting him out.
Olivia hated her own blood relatives.
The life she had lived—a mirror image of his own—filled him with revulsion.
Perhaps even then, Ferda had subconsciously realized that there was something fundamentally wrong with himself.
"I see. Because we’re the same, we’ll forever walk parallel worlds that never meet."
Olivia accepted it.
Even so, the smile on her face never disappeared.
That smile was Olivia’s mask.
A thick mask forged over countless years to conceal the resentment and killing intent she had accumulated—even greater than Ferda’s.
A mask that would never break, not even in death.
"What a shame. I thought... if it were you, it would have been all right."
Her smile twisted sadly.
"I truly believed that."
Olivia’s body leaned backward.
She threw herself from the balcony into the burning Empire below.
***
When Ferda opened his eyes again, an unfamiliar yet magnificent ceiling greeted him.
Turning his head, he found himself inside the Imperial Palace.
Imperial Guards surrounded the room, along with knights of commander rank.
"Oh my, you’re awake."
A sweet voice welcomed Ferda.
The blonde woman closed the book she had been reading and smiled.
Olivia Arken.
A beauty worthy of being called the Empire’s greatest—her smile alone seemed enough to surround her with dozens of bouquets of flowers.
As Ferda sat up, he asked her,
"How long was I unconscious?"
"Hmm... about three hours."
"Three hours..."
Strange.
For someone who had been unconscious that long, his body felt remarkably refreshed.
He had never once felt this way after receiving treatment from Luri.
"Could it be that this is your first time receiving healing from the Church of Alte?"
"Yes."
"Hehe, I thought so. Every priest serving within the Imperial Palace is of bishop rank. When they borrow His light to heal someone, it’s as though you’ve been given a brand-new body."
"I see."
There was a reason Ferda found it so impressive.
In his previous life, he had never once entrusted his treatment to anyone else.
He trusted no one.
If he were to die, then so be it—but he would never allow another person to lay a hand on his body.
’Now I understand why a priest’s healing is regarded as the finest.’
He even found himself considering whether he should station a resident priest in his own castle.
"According to the rescue teams’ reports..."
Olivia shifted the conversation toward the Sealed Vault.
"It says that Magic Investigator Yuren died, and that Your Excellency the Regent suffered severe injuries."
"Yes."
"We don’t know the exact details, but Yuren’s body was found holding Marbas’s Ice Ring Art, and his skin had undergone the changes seen in those contracted with Marbas. Did he fall to a demon’s temptation?"
Ferda nodded.
"That’s correct."
"I see... To think that a Magic Investigator would fall prey to a demon’s temptation... Fortunately, you managed to survive."
Olivia looked at him with gentle eyes as she quietly placed her hand over Ferda’s.
Ferda glanced down at it.
His own hands were already small for someone born into a Knight Family, but hers were even slimmer and more delicate.
"As you said, Magic Investigator Yuren fell into corruption and attacked me."
Ferda raised his eyes to meet hers.
"However, you’ve mistaken the order of cause and effect."
"What do you mean?"
"He didn’t attack me because he became corrupted. He intended to kill me from the very beginning, and he was willing to corrupt himself if that was what it took."
"Um... Are you saying he planned to kill Your Excellency the Regent from the start?"
Her eyes appeared flustered, as though she struggled to understand.
But Ferda knew.
She already understood the entire situation.
Because she was the one who had wanted it to happen.
"Yes. He brought me into the Sealed Vault in the first place so he could attack me."
"Why?"
"To kill me. He intended to create an excuse by claiming I had succumbed to the Sealed Vault’s temptation and therefore had to be put down."
At those words, Olivia’s eyes widened.
"Murder someone...? To commit something so cruel... What could anyone possibly gain from killing Your Excellency the Regent?"
"Who knows."
With a gentle smile, Ferda asked her,
"Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me?"
For an instant, Olivia’s expression froze.
Their blue eyes met and remained locked for a long while.
It was far more than simple eye contact.
Within those gazes, they probed each other’s true intentions.
After a long silence, Olivia finally raised her hand.
"Knight Commander."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Would it be possible for us to have a private conversation? I’d like the two of us to be alone."
"Just... the two of you?"
"Yes. Just the two of us."
The Knight Commander looked troubled.
Olivia gazed at him with moist, pleading eyes.
"Please?"
Watching those eyes, the Knight Commander’s face reddened as though bewitched, and he nodded.
"Very well. As Your Highness wishes."
"Thank you... truly."
The Imperial Guards stationed throughout the room promptly filed outside.
The blue eyes that had been filled with gentle moisture blinked once toward the Knight Commander.
At that moment, the Flower of the Empire—the embodiment of purity—vanished completely.
"So..."
Olivia’s soft, airy voice sank into an astonishingly cold tone.
Even Ferda instinctively felt goosebumps at the drastic change.
"You believe that I ordered Yuren to assassinate Your Excellency the Regent."
She was quick-witted.
It was not merely prejudice born from her reputation.
She truly was an exceptional woman.
Ferda had expected her to stall and dodge the issue through clever argument.
Instead, while the fuse was already burning, she delivered the perfect response.
To Ferda, who had intended to expose everything and hold her accountable, it was a clean counterattack.
"This is the first time I’ve ever had a conversation like this. Especially with a man."
"So, will you tell me, Your Highness?"
Ferda deliberately emphasized the honorific with obvious sarcasm.
Olivia no longer wore that foolish smile.
"First of all, it is true that I had connections with Yuren. He handled many matters for me."
A Magic Investigator could freely enter the Sealed Vault.
It stored forbidden magic, Black Magic, and countless dangerous secrets.
Among that information were things that could become the Empire’s disgrace—or its greatest weaknesses.
"But if I were to say that Yuren’s actions were simply the result of excessive loyalty gone astray... would you believe me?"
"I was almost killed only moments ago."
Did she really expect him to believe that?
Olivia calmly nodded.
"There was a time when we spoke about it. About what could deal the greatest blow to this Empire—or more precisely, what could shake the Emperor’s authority. About how..."
Like a young girl cherishing a long-held dream, she smiled softly.
It was an expression born from her purest emotions.
"...We might be able to kill the Emperor."
An ordinary person would have been horrified by the twisted way she expressed those feelings.
But Ferda understood her.
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
"I did intend to use the Grand Duchess. Yes, it was one of the scenarios I had envisioned. She was already deeply disappointed in House Arken, wasn’t she? If she were disappointed one more time, even if the Emperor himself bowed his head, it would be difficult for him to survive."
"Then everything would be perfect if I died."
"Of course not."
She slowly leaned her face closer.
A faint, elegant perfume drifted toward him as naturally as her own scent.
"And even now, standing face-to-face with you like this, I’m convinced that plan was mistaken."
"How so?"
"Because you dislike me, Your Excellency the Regent."
The insight hidden beneath her soft eye bags gleamed within her blue eyes.
"I can feel it. Deep inside you, you despise me. Ever since the very first moment we met. It’s not the kind of dislike where someone is too childish to admit their feelings... you genuinely hate me..."
She smiled gently.
"I suppose you don’t really like pure women? The kind who are a little airheaded and can’t do anything on their own. Men always seemed completely captivated by women like that."
Ferda remained silent.
Olivia seemed not to expect an answer either and quietly leaned back.
"There are countless people willing to give me everything they have. But no one actually sees me for who I am."
Ferda hated her.
That was precisely why he was not deceived by her gestures or her eloquence.
He saw her exactly as she was.
"I need someone like that. Not a slave, but a companion."
"Wouldn’t a slave be more convenient?"
"Yuren was my slave."
"The excessive loyalty of slaves always creates problems. They often try to please me by doing things I never even asked them to do."
Olivia sighed as though she had a constant headache.
"One provincial noble even sold all of his possessions just to bring me a million roses in order to prove himself."
What a hopeless romantic.
"Who was he?"
"I don’t know. I executed him before I even bothered asking his name."
And perhaps the most pitiful fool of all.
"I have no interest in someone who sells his castle and even sells his own subjects into slavery simply because he desires me. People like that are useless to my ultimate goal."
On the surface, her words sounded as though they were for the sake of the common people.
But Ferda knew the truth.
Olivia would one day start a rebellion that would leave countless people dead and wounded.
"And yet you still tried to cultivate the Empire’s Black Mages?"
"Oh my, were you suspicious of that as well?"
She covered her mouth with one hand and blinked innocently.
Of course he was.
She was someone who wished for the Empire’s collapse.
"Hmm... Hearing you say that is a little disappointing. Well, I suppose I have no choice. I’ll simply have to show you how sincere I truly am."
She lowered her gaze toward the hand she had placed atop Ferda’s.
Mana flowed through Olivia’s body.
It circulated smoothly before gathering expertly along her right arm.
At that very moment, something astonishing happened.
Ferda could clearly see the proof before his eyes.
On the back of her hand was a glowing white crest.
"Do you know what this is?"
"...A Stigmata."
The Divine Stigmata.
A blessing bestowed by the gods when a follower of the Church makes an absolute vow.
Its bearer gains tremendous power.
Because it grants such immense strength, it is not given lightly.
It can only be obtained through an unwavering wish and genuine worthiness.
"This mark is known as the Oath of Vengeance. According to Alte’s teachings, vengeance must never be directed toward those who live beneath the Light. Instead, it must fall upon those who pursue selfish desires and defy the will of the Light."
Those she sought to protect were the common people.
Those she sought vengeance against were the Emperor and her older brothers.
In other words, it was also proof that she had no connection to any Black Mage.
Had she truly allied herself with Black Mages, her Stigmata would never have shone so brilliantly.
"These days, there are far too many agitators falsely branded as Black Mages, so the true nature of the term has become blurred. But real Black Mages are nothing more than vermin. I wouldn’t even want to make use of them."
"I see."
"And if I truly wished to bring down the Imperial Family, I wouldn’t resort to such a shallow tactic as using Black Mages. No matter how much they run rampant, the only ones who suffer are the civilians. And when civilians suffer, the Emperor’s authority only grows stronger."
As Olivia absentmindedly touched her lips, she voiced her conclusion.
"If there’s someone who stands to benefit from Black Mages appearing... it would most likely be my little brother."
"You mean the Second Prince."
"Yes. He’s the one who most desires the military to grow stronger. The reason he keeps launching military campaigns is to gather even more military power. If enough justification exists for outside forces to enter the Empire, no one will be able to stop him from bringing all the connections he’s built into the heart of the nation."
Listening to Olivia, Ferda once again found himself impressed by the depth of her thinking.
He already knew she wasn’t as foolish as she appeared.
Even so, he became convinced that had Ferda never lingered within the Empire, she truly would have succeeded in killing the Emperor.
"In any case, as proof of my sincerity, I’ll ensure that no one holds you responsible for Yuren’s death. I’ll also arrange for the books destroyed during the battle to be dealt with. If I continue proving myself like this, that should be enough, shouldn’t it?"
As expected, this woman already knew.
She knew that Ferda himself had approached the Sealed Vault for his own purposes.
"Would someone who bears a Stigmata simply let a person capable of becoming a Black Mage walk away?"
"Oh my? The God of Light, Alte, values conviction over suspicion. We don’t even know how those materials were leaked. If I were to recklessly suspect Your Excellency the Regent, who has devoted himself to the people, that would go against our doctrine."
In other words, as long as no one dug any deeper, there would be no problem.
"So... would you be willing to continue cooperating with me?"
Olivia Arken made her proposal.
"I know that many provincial lords are dissatisfied with the Emperor’s actions. Among them, the neglected Far East is especially resentful. I believe Your Excellency the Regent feels the same way. If you cooperate with me, then I, Olivia Arken, will lend my full support and influence to strengthen the Far East’s position and its voice."
The hand resting atop his tightened slightly.
A subtle allure colored her beautiful face.
"I’m certain we could become excellent allies... or perhaps something even more."
The temptation in her eyes deepened.
For the first time, Ferda understood—if only a little—why men found themselves helpless before women.
Even knowing that every movement was carefully calculated, his instincts as a man were naturally drawn in.
"Very well. Then this time, I’ll make my move."
"Thank you. But... what do you mean by ’make your move’?"
At the same moment Olivia asked her question, the corridor outside suddenly erupted into chaos.
"Intruders! Level One Alert! All units, prepare for combat immediately!"
They arrived quickly.
Ferda withdrew his hand from Olivia’s and rose from the bed.
Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he turned back to her.
"You said I disliked pure people, didn’t you?"
"Hm? Ah... yes, I did."
"I do like pure people."
Leaving those words behind, Ferda walked out of the room.
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