“My youngest sister, Odelia… I think she believed I was committing evil deeds. She was always sickly and never even left the family estate. So she didn’t know the ways of the world and may have misunderstood my intentions.”
His voice softened for a moment, tinged with affection.
It was the face of an older brother thinking of his beloved but idealistic, naive younger sister.
“When I found out that the missing child was living in the North… I can’t tell you how relieved I was. For me, that alone was enough. No matter what she thought of me, just the fact that she was alive…”
His words trailed off.
And as if realizing that he had unwittingly revealed too much of his personal life, he quickly shut his mouth.
Gawain slowly rolled up the scroll.
“If my subordinates had followed my orders properly, the Bellader tragedy would not have happened. But even if there was no intention… the responsibility lies with me.”
Gawain finished his last words and bowed deeply.
“The Cardel family will bear all the damages suffered by the North in this incident. Also, I sincerely apologize to the Empire, the Imperial Family, and… my sister.”
Silence followed for a moment.
Then, the nobles cautiously nodded, and the priests closed their eyes, whispering silent prayers.
A single clap slowly began from one side and soon spread around.
The applause was not enthusiastic but closer to a political compliment, saying, ‘The situation has been handled well.’
Gawain stepped down from the platform and quietly turned his gaze to the side.
Veloa Cardel.
The second child of the Cardel family and the architect of this entire script.
Gawain exchanged glances with her, who was sitting with a painted smile, for a moment before turning his head away.
Grand Duke Ludeviel Excepcion had been watching this entire process from beginning to end.
It was the Cardel way, as always.
Shifting blame onto others, diluting the guilt, and finally ending with a tearful apology—a trite and tiresome farce.
Most of those gathered in the conference hall probably guessed it.
That Gawain’s words were not entirely composed of truth.
But everyone closed their eyes and covered their ears.
Because the Cardel family had the ‘symbol’ to do so, the ‘power’ that forced them to remain silent even though they knew.
So they nodded, recited prayers, and applauded.
Ludville quietly rose from his seat.
The sound of the chair legs scraping against the floor made the entire hall tense up.
His expression was as impassive as ever, and his eyes were indifferent and cynical.
What thoughts were running through his head at this moment… no one could dare to guess.
The iron-blooded Grand Duke who brought only ‘victory’ in all sorts of bizarre ways.
Rumor had it that the goddess of victory favored him.
He always extracted results that were beyond the best, and the process was never smooth.
What would he do this time?
Someone held their breath, and someone clenched their fist tightly on their lap.
They naturally thought of ‘political retaliation.’
But what Ludville harbored was completely different from their expectations, something far more primitive and fierce.
‘What if I cut off all these bastards’ heads and lined them up on the floor of the Great Temple?’
…He was thinking such a thing.
It was pure madness, with not an ounce of reason.
All that remained for him, who had lost his memories of his past life, was a reasonless emptiness and an unexplained anger.
And now, that anger was directed at those sitting in the hall.
‘Should I stick the false reports and speeches they wrote on top of the severed heads? So that everyone who sees them knows who spouted what nonsense.’
At least it would be quiet.
Peace of mind would come.
Ludville repeatedly clenched and slowly unclenched his hand, which was covered in a leather glove.
However, the impulse that surged up from within him—
“They’ll definitely try to smooth things over with compensation. Get as much as you can out of them.”
Odelia’s mere one word.
The short and resolute word she had said before coming here extinguished the flames of madness at once.
“……”
The emotions that had been heightened to the fullest vanished in vain.
With only emptiness remaining in the place where the hot heat had disappeared, Ludville opened his mouth in a languid voice.
“To think you’d take up my time with something like this, you must think I’m very idle.”
The conference hall became so quiet that even breathing seemed to stop.
“Still, it’s fortunate that you’re taking responsibility.”
His voice was filled with callous indifference instead of sharp anger.
He simply continued speaking as if reciting a sentence.
“I’ve calculated it accurately. The damages suffered by the North, including the cost of lives, materials, Purification, and compensation for the treatment and mental distress of my fragile fiancée…”
He finally turned his head and looked at Gawain.
There was no emotion in his eyes, and he seemed terribly bored with the situation.
“A total of 7.5 billion Fenar. I will send the bill to the accounting office by tomorrow.”
Ludville turned his back as it was, leaving no room for compromise, and left the hall as he pleased.
Only after the door closed did the remaining people exhale with stiff faces.
Only a desolate silence quietly settled in the hall.
* * *
“You got squeezed for 7.5 billion?”
The Cardel family head’s office.
Along with the sound of the thick door slamming shut, the Duke’s voice fell like lightning.
The family retainers, including the political affairs officer, kept silent and lowered their heads.
In the cool silence, the anger burned even hotter.
“What on earth did you do in that place? You bowed your head, saying you’d take responsibility, and paid out 7.5 billion… Was that the plan you came up with?”
The Duke’s face was so red that his blood vessels were bulging.
Gawain couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.
The head of the family glared at Veloa and then turned his gaze back to Gawain.
“7.5 billion, Gawain. 7.5 billion! You threw several years’ worth of pensions for meritorious subjects of the Empire to that madman, and that girl even got the title of ‘Saintess of Cardel’!”
“…Father.”
“The Purifier has been revealed to the world! Do you not know what this means?”
“Yes, I know. It’s something that shouldn’t have happened…”
“Didn’t you let that girl escape in the first place! You fell for a ridiculously sloppy trick and couldn’t even respond!”
“……”
Gawain still couldn’t lift his head and clenched his teeth tightly.
The tip of his chin trembled.
Odelia.
To touch the veil of Purification and then immediately run to the North and get her hands on the Excepcion Grand Duke…
Who could have predicted that?
‘Where did the information leak from?’
Clearly, that girl had grasped all of Gawain’s plans and moved accordingly.
He had suspected internal spies and searched them all, but not a single clue remained.
What came before frustration was a boiling anger.
‘It was supposed to be me who stopped the epidemic.’
That escaped waste is now going to be the Grand Duchess of the North?
With the name of ‘Cardel’ attached to her?
The Purifier was something that should never have been revealed to the world.
The sacrifice must be behind the stage for the hero to be complete.
But now, all the narratives are being tailored to her.
