Chapter 19
#19
Thinking about it now, it's quite strange. Walter was a man who obeyed the king to the point of foolishness, even by his own standards.
Yet, at that time, he disobeyed the order without any resistance.
He pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and pondered for a moment. However, the question that he hadn't been able to answer for nearly a year wasn't going to be resolved so easily now.
"Still, listening to the Grand General, I can tell that His Majesty is no ordinary person."
At the voice that broke his reverie, Walter slowly raised his eyelids.
"I heard she was quite famous as a prodigy in school, and she surprises people with various ingenious moves. To control the lords alone without any backing. I can't imagine Duke Kill being outmaneuvered by anyone."
"Everyone probably feels similarly. That's partly why they can't easily refute Her Majesty... It's a fortunate thing."
She seemed like a completely different person when she was in front of the lords compared to when they were alone.
Strange behaviors that weren't quite the temperament of a monarch, nor were they simply acting as a king.
The way she naturally changed her face and atmosphere as if breathing was too unnatural to be the actions of a young lady who had just turned twenty.
Her unusually detached attitude towards the death of her own flesh and blood, and her attitude of following words and actions based on rationality while excluding emotions, were all the exclusive possessions of those who had lived in the world for a long time.
What word could describe such a person?
It was ambiguous to call her an old soul, and it felt somewhat clumsy to refer to her as precocious...
Well, the title didn't matter. The important thing was that such points didn't come across as flaws.
The way she calmly judged her will, the path she should take, and the things she should worry about in a soft voice often aroused a subtle sense of reverence.
Every time Walter spoke with her, he felt as if he were becoming a child. It was truly strange that he didn't feel humiliated even after receiving such a feeling from a lady who was much younger than him.
"The more I see her, the more amazing she is."
He concluded his definition of her with a calm smile.
Zen flinched and stepped back at the Grand General's rare smile, and Walter turned away to hide his embarrassment and took another step.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The setting sun, as if burning the earth, cast a deep glow over the dark, shadowed sea. The west sea of the kingdom, the sea that marked the boundary of the continent, dazzled the eyes with its brilliant light.
"Has the time already come to this...?"
Godel Kill straightened his hunched body and rose from his seat.
He opened his clenched hand and slowly inhaled the scent of the soil contained in his palm. The moist soil faintly smelled of ripe grapes.
He turned his gaze away from the sea and looked behind him. Beyond the Duke's Castle, beyond the endless vineyards, a manor whose size could barely be estimated even when turning his head completely revealed a magnificent sight comparable to the horizon.
The garden, filled only with grapevines without a single flower, was a perfect fit for his character as a wine lover.
"They've ripened quite well this year too."
Kill's lips curved into a smooth line as he looked at the manor.
The grapevines, which were about to be harvested, were laden with grapes to the point where the branches were bending. When this autumn ended, the berries would soon enter oak barrels, filled with fragrance.
The most important ingredient for making good wine is time.
The raw materials, the water, and the people who make it are all important, but no one would argue that the most important thing encompassing everything is time. By enduring a long time until the astringent taste disappears and a complex aroma never felt before is emitted, even the cheapest wine is raised above a certain level.
Wine reborn through aging tempts people with its sweet scent and taste. The amazing taste that is achieved after patience preached the greatness of time to Kill with every sip.
If wine is like this, what about humans?
How long has he been growing?
His body, mind, ideals, and concepts had been ripe for a long time. At the end of a great history that he couldn't dare to belittle as self-intoxication, Godel Kill stood.
"Was it said to make yourself a lamp?"
With a self-deprecating laugh, he let the soil in his hand flow back to the ground. The soil, which had been guarding this place for countless years, scattered through his fingers.
Even if not as much as this soil, he had been watching Parnassus for a very long time.
Like all the people, he naturally regarded Parnassus as his own. It was a natural course for a person born in this land to love this land. Therefore, until the king died, Kill endlessly devoted himself to his beloved country.
But after the king died, another option appeared.
To belong to the country?
Or to have the country?
Anger at the new king did not affect his decision. In fact, from the moment the king died and the crown prince died, Kill had already decided to choose the latter path.
The time had come to unleash his long-held nature. The desire as a monarch, which he didn't even know he had, pushed out the cork and poured out.
Yes. Like the scent of wine.
Before his talent rotted, he would spread his generosity in all directions.
"Father. Were you here?"
His son, who appeared through the path, disturbed his time. Even though he cast an unpleasant gaze, his son held out a letter with an excited face.
"It is said to be a document promulgated from the Royal Palace. The captain of the escort delivered it himself."
"Huis Bomdeman came himself?"
His son nodded. Kill stared at the letter with a mixture of surprise and displeasure.
"What was his expression like?"
"Because he is Lafi, it was difficult to read his expression. He just told me to deliver it to you and went back."
Huis Bomdeman. He recalled the haughty Lafi who always hovered around the Grand General.
A Lafi who doesn't usually listen to other people's orders came to deliver a letter from the Royal Palace? Does that mean he also recognizes that girl as the queen?
...No way.
Walter Heiberg, that guy is behind it, so he must be carrying out orders appropriately.
Kill frowned and tore open the letter loudly.
"......"
A sneer hung on his face as he read the letter. Kill folded the read letter and fluttered the paper in front of his son as if telling him to read it.
His son carefully took the paper and quickly read the letter without erasing the excited light.
"To hold the coronation ceremony on the day of the palace entry, she must be quite impatient."
"That's what I'm saying. To think she would hold the coronation ceremony sooner than my coronation ceremony."
"If that woman declares her enthronement, the lords will be greatly shaken. Is it okay to just leave her alone? Wasn't your plan to call Arsinoe and strike first, Father?"
Kill frowned and pondered.
He thought it would be difficult to move easily if he declared independence. Because it's not treason, it would be difficult to find fault.
Furthermore, that girl was infinitely weak in terms of resources and justification to become a queen. It wouldn't be difficult to play the role of a queen in the headquarters, which is in Walter's grasp, but she wouldn't be able to easily go outside and argue about being a queen or a subject.
The only thing the girl could do was when Kill officially declared himself king on a large scale.
Therefore, it was the coronation ceremony.
Since the country was declared in an unsavory state, either the girl or the Grand General would definitely show their faces at his coronation ceremony, whether to see Kill's situation or to grasp the faces of the lords who supported him.
He would either appear then and curse or throw blessings at the new kingdom.
If Arsinoe comes.
The soldiers were already prepared. He would secure the loyalty of the other lords while holding that girl.
He was worried about Walter Heiberg, but even if he messed up and missed the girl, it didn't matter. Because one of the two divided legions would have already occupied the Royal Palace.
Even if Walter remained in the Royal Palace, he alone would not be able to face Kill's army.
Half of the legion would guard the Duke's Castle, and the other half would advance to the Royal Palace.
That was the core of this operation. It was the eight thousand soldiers he had gathered for that purpose.
It was slightly inferior compared to the Royal Armed Forces, but no matter how talented Walter Heiberg was, he wouldn't be able to gather twenty thousand Royal Armed Forces in a short period of time.
The only personnel that could be mobilized right away would be about a thousand standing soldiers centered on the Central Command.
...What if Walter Heiberg comes instead of Arsinoe?
The operation becomes easier. It would be impossible for his elite soldiers to deal with him, but Walter being here means that the Royal Capital is empty.
The Royal Armed Forces without the Grand General are just ordinary soldiers. Occupying the Royal Palace, which is full of loopholes, was a piece of cake.
Kneeling the ignorant girl and receiving the loyalty of the lords. It was an easy task without anything complicated.
However, the basis of all this was his fake coronation ceremony.
That's right. 'His'.
Not that Arsinoe girl's coronation ceremony, but his coronation ceremony.
"I see. It would be ridiculous if that girl struck first."
If the girl holds the coronation ceremony first, he, as the latecomer, will be unconditionally disadvantaged.
No, maybe he will be seen as a traitor who slanders a lonely and weak queen.
No... more than that.
The coronation ceremony is not just a simple ritual. It was the place where the king first revealed himself to the people of the kingdom.
He opens the Royal Palace, accepts the people of the kingdom, shares food, and holds a festival. Then, naturally, the people of the kingdom will look up to the mercy of the new king.
Ruin such a place is the same as turning your back on public sentiment.
He must stop the coronation ceremony.
Then....
"It would be better to change the plan."
Kill dusted off his soil-covered hands and turned his gaze towards the sunset sea.
"Right before the girl's coronation ceremony, move at dawn and strike that girl before the Royal Palace opens."
"Then, what about the soldiers...?"
"Of course, Walter will be by the girl's side. Let's have all the others except the guards storm the Royal Palace. If we advance all at once, that guy might notice, so we have to move little by little. We can hide that many soldiers."
"What are you going to do, Father?"
"How can the protagonist be missing from the banquet? I will also go to the capital. You stay in the castle and wait for news."
He spoke confidently, but there was no response. Instead of joy, his son looked at him with a face full of worry and swallowed his words.
Kill narrowed his brows and nagged, 'Didn't you hear me?', and reluctantly conjured up something like a smile.
"I understand, Father. I will be waiting for the victory."
The wind blew over his awkwardly smiling face. As his hair fluttered, his son's right face, which had been hidden all along, was revealed.
In the place where his eyes should have been, an empty darkness was in its place.
