No, no, no, no!
No matter how you look at it, people can’t change that easily.
Even if the Emperor speaks like that, I can’t trust those words one hundred percent. After all, he was the one who turned the world into a sea of fire in the original work.
Could an antagonist who dreamed of “world domination” just easily give up his power?
Is he really going to share his power with the commoners, saying, “Everyone under me is equal”? Welfare policies haven’t even been properly implemented yet, and we don’t even know how many commoners there are. Is that a realistic statement?
When the Emperor said that directly, I felt for a moment like he might actually do it!
There were documents I had seen that seriously considered welfare policies!
But I will never believe it!
“…So, you really mean to attack the Cathedral?”
“Yes.”
I said confidently.
“I can’t just blindly believe your words, Your Majesty.”
“Well, I mean, I think that too… Are you saying that you’re not satisfied with just Verati’s testimony?”
“Verati didn’t know as much as I thought he would.”
If we’re talking about the largest Cathedral in the Kingdom of Velbur, it’s a different story. It was a very important place even by the Papal State’s standards. It was one of the major sacred sites and also served as a kind of advance base.
In the original story, it was where Sophia was based.
“Well, you might think that I can revert even the worst situations back, but…”
Alice said as she plopped down onto the bed.
“You’re saying you plan to ignore my father’s request for you to stay quiet?”
I thought about what I just said to the Emperor before I came out of that building. He said not to do such things for the sake of the relationship with the Kingdom of Velbur.
…He probably said that because he’s scheming something. The very fact that the Emperor is in Velbur is a highly suspicious situation. If there isn’t a ‘real reason’ for him to be here, there’s no reason for him to come all the way here himself.
Because of that plan the Emperor told me about, my head was so cluttered that I couldn’t even hear the real reason why he’s here ‘now,’ but anyway, I could at least suspect that he’s diverting the conversation because there’s something going on.
“It wasn’t an order.”
“Even if it were an order, you wouldn’t follow it.”
To that, Alice held her head in disbelief.
“……”
After a brief silence,
“No matter how much you can turn events back to nothing, can you really remain unaffected watching how Charlotte will react to that incident? You might forget, but she won’t remember.”
“……”
This time, it was my turn to be speechless.
Charlotte… will surely be furious. Perhaps her reaction will be similar to the one she showed to Alice right after the capital was bombarded in the original work.
It’s not just Charlotte. There’s also Sophia, who has become a friend. While others may think, “This isn’t about my country, and she must have had her reasons,” it’s a different matter for those two since a part of their own country was destroyed.
“…Fine.”
Alice spoke with a voice laced with a sigh.
“Whatever I do to stop you, you’ll somehow worm your way out and cause an incident. In that case, I’d rather be there next to you when it happens to feel more at ease.”
“Crown Princess.”
At my words, Alice frowned slightly.
“Call me Alice. You only call me that when you’re trying to persuade me. Hey, honestly, aren’t we both Crown Princesses? Isn’t it a bit strange to think one is more important than the other?”
If it were when we were kids, Alice would have puffed up her cheeks at that, but it seems she’s matured too much for that to work now.
“Now that I’ve made up my mind, I’ll follow you no matter what, so don’t think about persuading me.”
Alice said decisively.
“When I finish my work—”
“Finish your work? Isn’t everything going to go back to the way it was, and I won’t even remember that incident, so there’s no need to worry?”
Alice stood up abruptly, visibly angry.
She came toward me, bent over, and looked straight into my eyes.
It was a gaze I wanted to avoid but couldn’t.
“Stop talking nonsense. What about me while you’re off causing a ruckus wherever you go? Or are you planning to rewrite this moment away? If we go back to before we left to find our father, we could erase this situation before I even reacted. Right?”
“……”
When I didn’t say anything, Alice smirked.
“You don’t actually want to rewind, do you? If it’s a big event, sure, you might feel forced to rewind, but really, you don’t want to be erased from everyone else’s memory, do you? Or are you scared? Is that it?”
I could say nothing to Alice’s words.
“You don’t want the memories we had together to become just your own memories. So even now, you’re trying to persuade me with words instead of turning back the situation.”
“……”
“I’ll make it clear.”
Alice straightened up, looking down at me with a confident expression.
One hand on her hip and the other on her chest, she looked truly regal.
Just like when she was a child, puffing up her confidence without any basis.
But—
“I am a Crown Princess, and I’m your sister. So as long as I can help, I will help you, whether you want it or not. I may look like this, but I’m quite capable too.”
—Even with a very similar appearance to that time, Alice saying this doesn’t come off as a claim made without basis.
*
“Are you okay?”
After Sylvia and Alice left the building, Damien and the Emperor listened quietly to the sounds for a while. It was only after their presence completely faded that Damien finally asked the Emperor.
“Oh, you mean regarding my power?”
The Emperor responded to Damien’s question. Damien didn’t say anything else, but the Emperor knew very well that silence implied agreement.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t think it’s entirely impossible.”
But the implication of that was that, to some extent, it was something not entirely possible.
“Reversing the world would be much harder than conquering the world with my power.”
The Emperor muttered as if to himself.
“But let me ask you, Damien. If at any moment there’s a person who can certainly cut your neck, who finds your life’s plans disgusting, do you think you could carry out that plan?”
“……”
Damien fell silent, seemingly lost in thought, but the Emperor didn’t wait for his answer.
“My goal remains unchanged. I want to take control of this world. So the words I said to Sylvia were a kind of compromise. If Sylvia is watching me closely, then that’s one of the best choices I can make.”
The Emperor said with a smile on his lips.
“But, a compromise is just a compromise. And there could be several compromises. The compromise that I show to my opponent and the compromise I offer to myself.”
“If that’s the case, does that mean everything you told Sylvia was a lie?”
“It’s not a complete lie. I genuinely planned it. For my clever daughter to think that the plan is real, it needs to be ‘genuine’. And as I said before, it’s a compromise. If my plans fail, it’s a second compromise to block my daughter’s choices.”
“But… what if Sylvia listens to your words and stays quiet?”
“That would be problematic.”
The Emperor stood up and walked slowly. Then he turned off the only lamp lighting the inside of the building.
Though the window was boarded up, faint lamplight slipped through the crack of those boards.
“It’s just that Sylvia won’t listen to what I say properly. She’s a suspicious child. At least I’m glad to know that she can see that I plan to attack the Cathedral.”
And the Emperor slowly ascended the stairs, stepping one by one, illuminated by the faint light. Damien followed behind him at a leisurely pace, keeping some distance.
“Fortunately, the place you want to attack is the building of the Papal State.”
The Emperor opened the door to the second floor.
Although the window was perfectly sealed to avoid spilling light outside, it must have been pitch dark inside the room, but there were a few magical stones emitting a faint light, just enough to barely make out the room’s contents.
The walls of the room were covered with numerous maps, marked with red lines and photos. The table was cluttered with more maps, with colorful pins stuck all over them.
These were the collected intelligence of the Papal State gathered over the years by Damien.
“If Sylvia had perfectly read my thoughts, she would surely have tried to stop this.”
The Emperor said with a cheerful laugh.
“My daughter is intelligent, but that intelligence comes from experience. It seems that Sylvia hasn’t had that ‘experience’ yet.”
The Emperor walked over to the table and leaned on it while looking over the map.
“I still have opportunities left. And perhaps it looks like I have collaborators from the future as well. There’s still a way to win. The order of the plan has changed a bit, but maybe this way could be more effective. I should thank Sylvia for pointing out such gaps.”
The Emperor—Arthur Fanggriffon’s face, reflected in the dim light, wore a smile that did not match his age.
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