Chapter 82

Remnants (3)

"Duke, you know, I’ve known that boy and his father for quite a long time. I think I've known him since the day he was born, at the very least."

"Even in private, please show some respect, Your Majesty."

"Shut it. What the hell is this?"

As the Emperor hurled insults without a second thought, Duke Aslan sighed and responded.

"I'm recommending the declaration of martial law. The prince’s movements are suspicious."

"I know. That bastard Arden's been up to nonsense lately. But martial law? That’s insane."

In truth, under normal circumstances, the Emperor’s reaction was entirely reasonable.

Martial law was an order declared only in times of national emergency. It was far too extreme a measure to bring up out of the blue.

However—

"Considering His Highness the Prince’s disposition, this might actually be a bit of an overreaction. He’s not the kind of person to kill civilians just to get his way."

"……"

As soon as those words were said, the Emperor’s expression visibly darkened.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool could understand what he meant.

"Are you saying he’s planning a rebellion?"

"Yes."

"And the source?"

"The same person who asked for martial law to be declared."

"……"

Without a word, the Emperor began flipping through the documents the duke had handed over.

Every trick in the book had been used to keep the source anonymous in the official records, but anyone familiar with the internal workings could easily figure out who it was.

"…Seems Noel really did marry the right man. He can sniff out things like this too?"

"I agree."

Duke Aslan continued smoothly.

"I’ll now explain how that man came to such a conclusion, Your Majesty."

Still, even so—

Hearing that one’s own son was plotting treason wasn’t something anyone could easily accept—

"I approve."

—but it seemed he had no such hesitation.

At the sight of the Emperor slamming down his seal of approval without a moment’s pause, the duke blinked blankly.

"Before you even brought this to me, I’m sure you’d already reviewed it dozens of times yourself. There’s no point in me denying reality now. That’d just be a waste of time."

"We’re talking about your own family coming for your throne. And you’re accepting that so easily?"

"Precisely because it’s family that I can say this. If it’s gotten to the point where people are even saying Arden might rebel, then that means he really would do it. But more importantly—"

The Emperor flipped through the document until he stopped and pointed at a particular section.

"You, on the other hand—are you planning to make that bastard your successor?"

The declaration of martial law included a provision stating that personnel from the Aslan Ducal House would be mobilized, and that the deployment and command of those forces would be fully entrusted to Aiden Kellermain.

...If someone else saw it, they'd probably believe Aiden was acting as Duke Aslan's proxy, considering the authority he’d been given.

"It violates the law, Your Majesty. He’s not a direct blood relative."

"……"

…To the Emperor’s ears, it sounded more like: If it weren’t illegal, I would’ve already done it.*

"I was planning to raise and bring him in myself later, so I don’t understand why everyone’s trying to claim him."

"That sounded like there’s more than just me."

Instead of replying, the Emperor pulled out a document from a drawer and tossed it at Duke Aslan.

It flew straight through the air without fluttering once—a remarkable feat—and the duke, silently impressed, caught it.

Though the contents were somewhat unpleasant.

"…‘The Completed One’ from the Holy Crown Kingdom and the ‘Right Hand of God’ from the Great Plains? Is this real?"

"Would I lie? The latter's… well, he’s a freak, so I’ll let that slide. But the former is in bad shape. The Pontiff himself is leading their attempts to get in contact."

At those words, Duke Aslan’s expression twisted as well.

The title ‘Completed One’ held a value even greater than that of the ‘Lionhearted’ in the Empire.

In some ways, it was worse than the Pontiff. While the Pontiff stood at the top of all those who wielded holy power, the Completed One was at the pinnacle of all supernatural ability users.

In terms of combat ability alone, it wouldn’t be strange to rank them even above the Pontiff—a monster, plain and simple.

Some even said that their supernatural technique was so out of place in the modern era—lagging several generations behind ancient standards—that they didn't even belong to this time.

"I’ve heard that even the underworld operators are starting to catch wind of this. Who knows what kind of freaks might show up next?"

…And one of them had apparently already made a direct move on him.

The Emperor, recalling information about the assassination organization "Dark Moon," frowned along with the duke.

"…Feels like my secret honey jar’s been smashed."

"There aren't many men out there as useful as he is, after all."

The two men’s laments floated heavily through the room.

▣

…There were few moments in life where he felt as useless as he did now.

"……"

"……"

Even a pair of wooden dolls would've made for a livelier atmosphere than this.

Watching Noel, who had gone pale and was barely touching her food as she glanced nervously at him, that thought came naturally to Aiden.

And that very atmosphere was the cause of Aiden’s growing sense of helplessness.

‘…I seriously have no idea what you’re thinking right now.’

No, really—he had no idea what was going on with her.

He’d made a living, after all, by scratching beneath the surface of people’s psychology. But if the person sitting across from him was this terrified, for reasons unknown even to him, of course he’d start feeling this way...

He gave her a once-over, and it was clear—she was not in her right mind. An irrational fear was written all over her.

He’d just invited her out for a simple meal. How it had turned into *this* atmosphere, Aiden himself couldn’t understand.

“…Dame Noel, please calm down.”

He tried soothing her first, and though Noel trembled, she nodded.

“Why are you so tense?”

“……”

At his question, Noel squeezed her eyes shut.

Her deep breath looked more like a warrior steeling herself before heading into battle.

“Whatever it is, I’m ready, Mr. Aiden.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I studied a lot in advance. I’m mentally prepared, too.”

“………What?”

At this point, rather than trying to interpret what she was saying, it was probably better to just go ahead with what he’d intended to say.

Looking at her tense expression, Aiden cleared his throat and spoke.

“Dame Noel. I just invited you here for a personal chat.”

“……”

Noel blinked slowly in response.

As if to say, *I did not expect that.*

“A personal chat… you mean?”

“Yes. The truth is, we’ve never really had one of those, have we?”

He was simply following Teresa’s advice to try and have a genuine, personal conversation.

They lived together, so he had a general sense of what kind of person she was. But they’d never truly opened up to each other.

And just as he brought it up, her response was—

“…You wouldn’t find my information all that interesting.”

“……”

“…Does it even matter?”

This woman…

How low did her self-esteem have to be for her to say something like that so casually?

“We’re engaged, aren’t we? I want to get closer to you.”

And the moment he said that—

Noel’s expression froze.

It was clear that something about those words struck a chord, enough to blow away all the tension she’d built up until now.

As if she were suddenly overwhelmed, like she couldn’t breathe.

“…Is it because I’m your fiancée?”

A bitter smile spread across her face.

She soon closed her eyes briefly, then gave both her cheeks a firm slap with her hands.

As if trying to snap herself out of it—*Don’t get the wrong idea.*

‘…That can’t be it.’

After all, she and this man were bound by a contract marriage.

They’d never gone beyond that, nor was there any indication that they ever would.

From beginning to end, it was all just a relationship she’d mapped out on her own—without ever asking how he felt.

‘Like an idiot.’

Getting her hopes up all by herself. Misunderstanding everything on her own. Tensing up for no reason. Just what was she doing?

Suddenly, realizing how foolish she was being, Noel pressed her lips tightly shut.

Still, she didn’t let it show on her face.

She was spending time with Mr. Aiden. No need to ruin the mood any more than she already had.

Because this man—was the one she liked.

"Alright then. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Yes. First, I'd like to know what kind of food you enjoy."

"…My food preferences? I’m not picky, I eat just about anything..."

She was a war veteran. Having dietary restrictions would be the odd part.

"No. I mean, what do you *really* like?"

Aiden said calmly.

"I can cook a bit, you know. I'd like to at least treat someone I care about to a proper meal—"

-System Message-

▶ Target ‘Noel’’s affection level ‘Extreme Love’ has been upgraded to Stage 2.

▶ Skill ‘Weaver of Fate’ has activated. You can now copy an additional skill!

▶ Your influence over ‘Noel’ has increased significantly.

▶ A major emotional shift has occurred in ‘Noel’ due to your actions. A possible change in the future has been triggered.

▶ The target’s ‘Personal Quest’ will be unlocked soon.

▶ Unique Trait ‘Origin’ has been unlocked.

▶ Unique Trait ‘Divine Descent’ has been added.

"……"

What the hell.

While Aiden stared at the system message in genuine confusion, Noel's face turned crimson. Compared to her, even a tomato might have looked pale.

"…Dame Noel? Are you alright?"

"Th-That…"

He asked, thinking something might be wrong, and Noel stiffly turned her head like a wooden puppet as she barely managed to speak.

"I… I think that was the first time since we met… that you actually said you liked me… directly…"

"……"

…Had he?

Thinking back, maybe he hadn’t ever actually said it out loud before. At least, not clearly.

While Aiden was still processing that—

‘Ah, damn it.’

Noel instinctively cursed inwardly as she covered her face with both hands.

‘…Just a moment ago.’

Just moments ago, she’d been nearly ready to give up.

She had decided to stop this foolish habit of getting her hopes up.

So why, again—

Why did this man—

‘…Say things that make it impossible *not* to get my hopes up…!’

As she glared at Aiden with a mixture of blame and anguish, he, flustered, hurried to add:

"I wasn’t lying, though."

"……"

"Who could possibly dislike someone like you? I mean it, truly—"

"Mr. Aiden, stop."

"Sorry?"

"Just… please stop—"

Noel managed to gather enough voice from beneath her choking throat to say that.

She was still covering her face with both hands.

From Aiden’s perspective, it felt like some emotional explosion had just gone off inside her.

"Mr. A-Aiden, I… I—"

And before she could even finish that sentence—

**Pop—** A flare suddenly burst into the sky.

"……"

"……"

Well, how about that for timing.

Aiden turned his gaze toward the direction of the burst, thinking just that.

A black flare. Even in the bright daylight, its trail emitted an unshakable, chilling presence.

The heads of nearby diners all turned toward it at once—it was that sudden and startling.

But as Aiden stared at it, a cold chill ran down his spine.

‘…That.’

He’d seen this before.

He was sure of it.

…It was one of the signs marking the beginning of **Act III: Imperial Capital Fracture**.

And it had appeared far earlier than he had predicted.

Something—

—was happening.

-System Message-

▶ A change has occurred in the ‘Main Story’.

▶ The event is beginning far earlier than expected!

…And it’s going to be a huge one.