Solo Swordmaster

Episode #196. Nothing wrong.

* * *

“Heh heh, is that your choice?”

“If you want to do it, do it. As long as the royal permission has already been granted, your objection will not change anything.”

….

“I’m sorry, Countess Rose.”

“It’s okay to be resentful. Because I couldn’t take your side as promised.”

“But please understand. As Crown Prince, it is my duty to prioritize the glory and stability of the British Empire.”

“And I don’t think Count Rose’s decision will help the British Empire.”

“I am just sorry.”

….

“Are you willing to change your mind right now?”

“Then I can’t help it.”

“Even though it turned out this way, please understand that it was a difficult decision for us aristocrats and for us.”

“If you change your mind, please let me know. I will do my best to mediate with Carol.”

….

….

….

thought Rose.

After the establishment of the Countess Sea Serpent, there had never been a ball so messed up.

However, apart from that inner feeling, Rose opened her mouth with a calm attitude.

“Did all the guests pass away safely?”

“yes. It’s just…”

“What is it?”

“…Most of the guests went to the party held at the Magus Guild instead of going home.”

Lucas put on a calm expression as if he was in pain even to report it.

However, Rose calmly nodded and opened her mouth as if she had already expected it.

“From next year’s Walpurgis Night, there will be no ball at our count’s house.”

“Could it be?”

“Sir Lucas, admit what you have to admit.”

Taking Lucas’s words with a calm face as always, Rose continued quietly.

“We fell for Prince Carol’s scheme.”

“This cannot even be called a ploy! A man so-called a famous monarch commits an atrocity that throws the people into confusion!”

Lucas showed his anger.

As a close aide to the Blue Dragon Princess, he was always serious and calm.

However, Carol’s tactics were so low that even he couldn’t hide his anger.

To concoct a fake twilight hour, wreak havoc in my London, and forcefully garner support by proposing a solution.

It was something a backstreet junkie would do.

But Rose shook her head.

“It’s not that Prince Carol was mean. I was too lazy to try to solve the problem through conversation without knowing his resolution.”

It was a very simple story.

Rose saw this ball as the last negotiation place and tried to decide, but Carol risked losing everything if she failed and fought a decisive battle.

That small but big difference is what caused this result.

From the time he saw Carol come to the ball fully armed with items as if she were going into enemy territory…

No, she should have noticed from the time she met Duke Robert openly.

If she realized that it was a trick to attract attention, she would have known that Carol had no intention of persuading her in the first place.

“…it’s not the princess’s fault. It is my fault that I did not grasp that he was prepared to go to war with us.”

Lucas took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

But that didn’t mean he calmed down his anger.

“So princess, please give me a chance to make up for my mistakes.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Dr. Carol… No. If Carol really wants a war, wouldn’t it be enough to hang out with her the way she wants?”

If it had been something else, Lucas would not have made such a radical proposal.

Because he was also a benevolent blue dragon clan.

But this time was an exception.

Carol scratched two of the three taboos that the Blue Dragon clan never tolerated at once.

In that sense, let’s look at Lucas coldly burning with anger on behalf of the Blue Dragon Clan rather than individual opinions.

Rose quietly opened her mouth.

“I will think about it some more. So please step away for today.”

“Hey, Princess…!”

“I will not listen to objections.”

After interrupting Lucas’ rare refutation, Rose said with a cold yet stern face.

“Sir Lucas, are you all done with the mess in London today?”

“…the chaos itself has subsided a lot, but there are still minor disturbances.”

“I understand your anger. But don’t make the mistake of forgetting your duty in favor of personal revenge.”

Hearing that, his lips moved for a while.

Eventually, Lucas lowered his eyes and, after a short silence, put one hand on his chest and lowered his head.

“Sorry for being rude.”

“it’s okay. So go ahead and do what you have to do.”

“…if that is the will of the princess.”

I couldn’t agree with it at all, but if it was her order, as a knight of the blue dragon clan, I would follow it.

Rose looked at the place where Lucas, who answered politely, had crossed the space and disappeared, then turned her head.

Then, as if the bustle of the past had been an illusion, I glanced around at the empty ballroom and walked slowly.

I didn’t use space travel.

Because there was no place I particularly wanted to go to.

I just wanted to get out of here and walk alone to organize my thoughts.

fortunately

or bad luck

It was not difficult to be alone as most of the Blue Dragon clan were running around London to clear up the chaos.

That is why Rose was able to calmly review her memories as she strolled through the garden alone.

‘…If only I had thought a little deeper.’

The more I think about it, the more I think of regret not being able to see through Carol’s tricks even though I was wary of him.

There were excuses.

For her, who was always busy with countless tasks, there were limits to her ability to prepare for Carol in addition to investigating the witch murder case.

So for the past few months, I even increased my workload to the extent that I suffered from insomnia.

However, as long as they couldn’t stop Carol’s tricks, all those efforts were meaningless.

‘I have to come up with a countermeasure.’

What is more important than reflection is how to rectify this situation.

Clearing up the chaos in London, stopping Carol, restoring the count’s status, appeasing the angry clan from turning London into a battlefield, and so on.

There were so many things to do right now.

‘But maybe it would be good.’

However, contrary to such a rational judgment, she could not easily sink into her thoughts.

Carol’s eyes burned with tenacity.

The nobles’ eyes were cold.

Lucas’ eyes filled with loyalty.

It all swirled in my head, causing the tiredness I was barely suppressing to soar.

I would rather forget everything and take a nap, but the enormous sense of duty and insomnia do not allow me to sleep and cause more fatigue.

It was time for Rose, unable to endure such a vicious cycle, to catch her breath and look up at the moon while sitting on a gazebo.

“How are you feeling, Count?”

I thought I was alone at best.

Rose let out a sigh as she saw Limon pop out of nowhere and talk to her.

“What is it again this time?”

“It’s nothing. I was curious about what it would feel like to have your hand bitten by the livestock you’ve cared for so well.”

“Then you got the wrong person to ask the question. I have never considered them as domestic animals, nor have I been shocked by them.”

“I asked how you were feeling, but I never checked to see if you were shocked.”

“…”

Limon laughed at the reaction of Rose, who kept her mouth shut as if caught off guard.

Then he looked at her with deep sunken eyes and continued talking.

“Of course there is nothing strange about it. It’s normal to be shocked if you’re betrayed by someone you’ve been generous with all your life.”

“But the count’s house wasn’t shocked by that.”

“I was shocked at myself for not feeling betrayed even though I was betrayed.”

“is not it?”

thought Rose.

should be denied immediately.

I cannot accept such nonsense.

But that voice, like sarcasm, penetrated strangely calmly, like a devil’s whisper.

Those eyes that seemed to pierce the heart reflected her image in a mysteriously clear and calm way.

When she opened her mouth, Rose forgot all judgment and answered unconsciously.

“Yes, as you said.”

When everyone turns away from themselves

What Rose felt was not anger, betrayal, sadness, or emptiness.

“I’m not shocked. On the contrary, I even felt relieved.”

Instead, what she felt was lightness, as if a heavy burden had fallen off on its own.

To borrow a phrase from Limon, it was more like a sense of relief at not having to look after the livestock that he had been so devoted to.

That’s why Rose was shocked.

Limon’s exposé about how he expected nothing from them and was just as merciful as he would be to a pet.

Because I realized that the words I didn’t want to admit were true.

“No wonder I was turned away. Who would truly follow a man who sees himself only as cattle?”

Giving equitably, without expecting anything in return.

it’s definitely mercy

But it is also cruel.

Ability, Effort, Possibility, etc. Because it ignores everything the other person can do and be.

Knowing this fact, either consciously or subconsciously, those attending the ball had no hesitation in turning their backs on them.

Rose calmly acknowledged it with a dry smile.

“I was a hypocrite after all, and everything I have ever done has been wrong.”

The righteous and merciful blue dragon clan.

As their princess and proud aristocrat, I have lived protecting and helping the weak all my life.

A woman who realized that it was in fact an act of playing house by children who only wanted to achieve self-satisfaction of being good and just.

Rose turned her head to look at Limon and asked.

“How is it? Is this the answer you were looking for?”

“Except for one part.”

“That is amazing.”

I didn’t know that there were still flaws left in me to pull out.

Watching Rose murmur in a tired voice, Limon opened his mouth quietly.

“You are obviously a hypocrite. Even self-righteous.”

“Yes I know.”

“But is that something to lament?”

“…?”

Maybe it’s because it’s such a stupid question.

Looking at Rose, who blinked blankly, Limon moved slowly.

Then, he sat down on the empty seat next to her and spoke calmly.

“okay. Of course, you are free to think that hypocrisy is not good, and only good deeds done with pure intentions and for good purposes are good.”

Donations to save taxes.

Volunteer work to wash away sins.

Help to attract likes, etc.

Since ancient times, it was common for any good deed to have a hidden purpose, and pure good was worshiped, and good with a purpose was hated.

“But Count, a guy who’s on the verge of starvation doesn’t care whether it’s a hypocrite or a good man who gives bread.”

Whether the purpose is pure or not.

The bread given to the hungry is the same bread.

Can saving a dying person be called hypocrisy simply because it is hypocrisy?

Conversely, would it be right to let someone starve to death by forbidding the giving of bread because of hypocrisy?

Each person’s answer will be different.

But at least Limon was determined.

“Still, if you say that good deeds were wrong because they were not pure, that is not even an ideal. It is a delusion.”

“…what the hell do you want to say to me?”

“What a simple story.”

Limon shrugged.

And a blue-haired woman looking at herself with a completely unknown face.

Even in the Seven Dragons, he calmly spoke to the princess of the Blue Dragon clan, who had been fighting fiercely against him next to or higher than the Black Dragon clan for generations.

“After all, you are a princess who has fallen into kindness, and what you have done so far is not wrong, even if it is hypocrisy.”