And Thus… It All Comes to an End - Chapter 5

“Form the troops! Head to the Eisenberg territory and capture the Grand Duke and Luciana. This is a Royal Command!!”

—She got me.

The plan must have been in the works for a long time. From the very beginning, that woman was an enemy.

Luciana Eisenberg.

Answering my summons, using the name of the Goddess as a shield—every single action must have been calculated. Those cold eyes. The way she looks down on me, just like her grandfather. It is utterly infuriating. She has inherited the blood of that Grand Duke down to the last drop.

The Grand Duke was always like that.

The way he looked at me was always tinged with a sort of pity, as if he were constantly saying, “You do not have the caliber of a King.” He always directed a gaze at me that suggested I was a fool.

The “good relationship” between him and my father?

Don’t make me laugh.

Every time my father was praised as a “Wise King,” whispers followed in the shadows about me being a “mediocre Crown Prince.” I don’t even have to think to know who was behind those rumors.

Even so—.

Even so, my father chose me. He placed me as the Crown Prince. Between his beloved younger brother and his son, he chose me. Not the Grand Duke, but me.

That fact alone was my pride.

That is why I endured. I endured the loyalists who nagged me and tried to bind me; I even tolerated their wish for me to marry the daughter of a Marquis to solidify the Royal Family’s backing.

But I used excuses to postpone that marriage. During the days my father’s illness deepened, I never showed weakness. Postponing the marriage “until my father recovered” was for the sake of the Royal Family. It was never for selfish desires.

Yes, everything was for the country.

Not long after, my father’s condition worsened until he could no longer stand. Eventually, I succeeded to the throne.

In the year I became King, I made the “Right Choice.” Instead of a loveless political marriage, I took the woman I truly loved as my Queen—the daughter of a Viscount with whom I had shared a bond since our academy days.

I am the King. Whose permission do I need?

Those who opposed me were my father’s loyalists. Men under the Grand Duke’s influence. They raised their voices in unison, but who can argue with me now that I am King?

So, I said it to them:

“Do you intend to defy a Royal Command?”

The silence of that moment still brings me pleasure.

Three years after my grandson, the Crown Prince, was born, my father arranged the engagement with Luciana and then passed away. When I received the news, I thought quietly to myself:

Finally, everything has fallen into my hands. Now, I can run this country without anyone standing in my way.

While my father was alive, he established various “New Systems” supposedly to “support” me. I revised every single one of them. I built a new framework around the throne consisting only of those who swore absolute loyalty to me.

…Until Luciana acted.

The Grand Duke was undoubtedly plotting to seat his own son as the next King. Even after I took the throne, he must have been waiting for a chance to replace me. But the son and his wife died in a carriage accident. So, he thought to use Luciana instead? Foolish.

“Your Majesty! Such insolence simply cannot be forgiven!”

“Severe punishment!”

Roaring voices filled the room. The heat of my subordinates’ anger snapped me back from my memories. I nodded slowly.

“Naturally. Find the ‘deed’ my father supposedly left behind. ‘Not to be charged with a crime’? Enough with the nonsense. As long as such a thing exists, that woman can play the martyr.”

A deed like that shouldn’t exist. It cannot exist. What a pathetic lie. Would my father really do something so cunning behind my back?

…No, wait. I cannot rule out the possibility that he was secretly communicating with the Grand Duke.

Since the death of his son and daughter-in-law, the Grand Duke appeared to have lost all his spirit. He never showed his face at the Palace, living quietly as if he had renounced the world.

But behind the scenes, had he been observing me for all these years, judging me, waiting to strike one final blow? That man hadn’t given up, even after losing his children. He stayed silent, away from the court, waiting for his chance.

Finally, he would use his granddaughter to drag me down.

—How utterly despicable.

Luciana’s eyes behind the veil float in my mind. Even though she shows no emotion, her eyes seem to see through everything. A woman who speaks volumes with a single look.

I hated those eyes. Cold eyes that saw through everything, a literal carbon copy of the Grand Duke.

No… perhaps I feared them.

Every time those eyes fixed on me, I fell into the illusion that the Grand Duke was monitoring me. Just remembering it causes a dark haze to rise in my chest.

But then, Sara, the Apostle of the Goddess, appeared, and my son fell in love. It was the perfect justification to annul the engagement with Luciana. Thanks to the Prime Minister offering to adopt her, the status issue was solved, and the Queen was satisfied.

Everything was going exactly as I had envisioned.

—And yet.

Luciana is also an Apostle? And she has power stronger than Sara’s?

Don’t toy with me.

If the Grand Duke knew, why didn’t he report it? He kept quiet about the Goddess’s Mark appearing on his granddaughter. The moment a Mark appears, there is an obligation to notify the state. There would have been ways to use her.

…No. Could it be? Did my father know? Did he know everything? Was I the only one left in the dark? N-no, that’s impossible.

“Your Majesty, I have a report. The troops will be ready to depart after one week of preparation.”

“TOO SLOW!!” my voice turned feral. “If you give them two weeks, they’ll have their defenses ready! Do you not understand even that?!”

“B-but, even if you say that—” The aide’s voice trembled, and the air in the room froze.

“Then use teleportation magic to send a few powerful men ahead! Have them gather intelligence and draw up a strategy before the main army arrives!”

Immediately after giving the order, another report came back.

“We tried, but for some reason, we were repelled. The teleportation failed.”

“What?! Was the magic countered?”

“No, it wasn’t that kind of reaction. It felt as if we were being pushed back by some kind of soft power.”

The blood in my body turned cold instantly. I clicked my tongue instinctively.

Soft power. Not a rejection, but an exclusion.

—The Blessing of the Goddess.

The probability was high. She must be using the power of an Apostle to repel the spell itself. I grit my teeth.

“Three days. Shorten the preparation period to three days. Do not rest at night. Depart as soon as humanly possible!”

I sank deep into my chair. Outside the window, heavy clouds covered the capital.

Luciana.

This country is mine. For a mere cog to speak up is the height of insolence. Use the name of the Goddess to defy your King? You will learn that your arrogance will be the noose that strangles you.

I barely slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes, those eyes appeared. No respect, no fear, no flattery—just a gaze that quietly measured me. She looks at me, the King, as an object to be judged.

An Apostle of the Goddess? What of it? Even an Apostle is my subject. Subjects exist to serve the King. They are nothing more than vessels to “convey” the voice of God. They have no right to pass judgment.

—They cannot have that right.

The next morning, the reports became even more unpleasant.

“Your Majesty. Part of the Knight Order is showing reluctance to join the campaign.”

“The reason?”

“They say… ‘Is it not sacrilegious to turn our blades against an Apostle of the Goddess?’”

I laughed in spite of myself. A dry, emotionless laugh.

“Sacrilegious? For an Apostle to defy a Royal Command is the true sacrilege! Her very words are an insult!! Those showing reluctance are to be punished—no, put them on the front lines!!”

Those present flinched visibly.

“Besides, who decides how to interpret the Goddess’s will? The King! I do! In this country, the final judgment always rests with me!!”

The moment I said it, a faint sense of unease brushed my chest. Ah, I see. It was because of those words my father used to say when he was alive.

“A King is not one who judges. He is one who holds the scales. But it is the trust of the people that determines the weight on those scales.”

It’s too abstract to even understand… what a load of idealistic trash. Trust will follow once you have power.

As I watched my subordinates leave the room, I unconsciously clenched my fist.

“Is there still no word from the Temple?!”

I had formally requested the Temple’s permission to condemn Luciana.

“It just arrived, Your Majesty. This…”

I took the notification. It read: ‘In the name of the Goddess Aurelia, we do not recognize Luciana Eisenberg as a “heretic”.’

“…What?”

I re-read the notice. No matter how many times I read it, the words did not change.

Not a heretic.

Not a criminal.

Regarding her defiance of the Royal Command, it was interpreted as “Silence in order to seek the Goddess’s will.”

“The Temple defies me?”

Behind me, an aide spoke up fearfully.

“Your Majesty… the Temple’s side says that ‘Since two Apostles now exist, for the King to condemn one of them could be seen as an act of usurping the Goddess’s will.’”

Usurping? Me?

“…The one usurping the Goddess’s will is that woman!”

My voice was lower and more distorted than I intended. Those cowards at the Temple.

I happened to look out the window. Through a gap in the clouds, a thin ray of light seemed to be shining down on that distant land—Eisenberg. The light looked soft, quiet as if it were saying it would never shine on me.

“…Impossible!”

I shouted before I could stop myself.

I had a sickening premonition that the sword I was about to swing would be the very blade that cut the ground out from under my own feet. Such a possibility is absolutely, definitely impossible.