NOVEL NEXT Chapter 268
The area known as Caprice. It has now become a no-go zone, or perhaps it’s more appropriate to call it a wasteland, a place that is hard to distinguish as a no-man’s land. Here, where rumors are beginning to circulate about the powerful political figures secretly convening to evade public attention, the two most notable figures of the Empire sat facing each other.
While Rose was sipping a glass of water at the crumbling tavern table, Jenis quietly stared at a glass filled with red liquid, akin to wine. Rose asked.
“I hope you didn’t call me here to talk about your recent change in diet.”
“I do not drink blood often. But occasionally, putting animal blood to my lips helps to refresh my awareness, especially serves as a reminder of what I am.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Please, just read it.”
Jenis handed a thick stack of documents to Rose. It was a revised plan for the ‘Overlord Beheading Operation,’ reinforced even more than when it was shown to Margaret. The newly modified operation plan included the results of the agreement reached with the Dragon Lord and detailed the necessity of Rose in this attack strategy.
Rose accepted the plan with a skeptical expression and began to examine it calmly. As she quickly skimmed through the table of contents, a look of bewilderment crossed her face.
“You’ve done this without any report to the Royal Family?”
“I will take responsibility later. After our victory, I will accept any consequences for my reckless actions. So please, just read it, Your Majesty. I sincerely ask you.”
Rose looked at Jenis with disbelief and then returned her gaze to the documents. After about twenty minutes of silence, Rose slammed the papers down on the desk and shouted.
“This is insane!”
“It will succeed!”
“But… what on earth? This is way beyond acceptable! I’ve never heard of fighting a war like this. This is, this is utterly…”
“Your Majesty. If you find it upsetting that I formulated this plan without consulting you, please just forgive me for a moment. I don’t wish for a long-term pardon, nor do I expect a lifetime amnesty. When this fight ends, and the war crimes and prisoners are judged, even if you gather Harker all at once for judgment, I will not hold it against you. I would even be willing to write a letter of confession for that.”
Jenis seemed genuinely ready to write a letter confessing to her status as a criminal. The Emperor hurriedly snatched the pen from the Great Sage’s hand.
“Stop it. What kind of misfortune will I invite upon myself by leaving behind such a shameful document!”
“But I mean it!”
“Surely, you know that I am Walter Hellhound’s subordinate.”
Jenis nodded. While Rose and Walter appear to be equal, in reality, the initiative always belonged to Walter, and Rose was completely obedient to him, a fact that Jenis understood very well.
“Walter was an eccentric. No, fundamentally he was diligent and methodical, yet he would devise plans that were impossible for me to comprehend, and then execute them.”
“He was truly a genius.”
“This document overflows with madness beyond any of Walter’s plans.”
Rose returned the operation plan to Jenis. Jenis recognized that Rose was not keen on her proposal. Rose was strategically conservative. She emphasized thorough destruction and ruthless attacks in battles, but when it came to strategic layouts, she displayed the caution befitting a monarch.
Complete supplies, systematic advances, securing strongholds, and establishing communication systems between units. Piecing together these conditions to minimize losses in any situation was the strategy that Rose had learned and preferred the most. Rose herself knew that she lacked creativity and, therefore, understood that in a battle on a map against someone as brilliant as the Demon King, she would inevitably fall short.
This was also why Rose had refrained from directly intervening at the front line after becoming the Emperor and had allowed some concessions to Jenis, who possessed brilliant genius. Rose was very aware of her limitations. She knew that a degree of boldness was necessary to contend with a formidable foe like the Demon King, but she could not personally embark on such reckless adventures.
This venture clearly crossed the line for Rose. Moreover, the Great Sage in front of her appeared to have staked everything on this operation to the point of genuinely not caring about the aftermath. Maintaining as calm a voice as possible, Jenis explained.
“Your Majesty. I did not enter negotiations with the Dragon Lord lightly. I did not seek the elves’ agreement regarding this operation lightly. I did not prepare to dismantle the Magic Tower frivolously. None of my actions have been trivial.”
“It’s too heavy. If you proceed with matters so critically tied to your life, you’ll end up getting hurt somewhere.”
“I swear, Your Majesty. Even if I get hurt, it will not affect you.”
“Even so…”
Rose continued to hesitate. Many were wounded by Walter’s loss, but Rose was foremost among them. She simply could not permit what appeared to be a life-staking scheme, no matter her feelings toward Jenis. It was a decision that was impossible to make as a human being.
Seeing Rose hesitate, Jenis abruptly stood up. At that moment, when Rose looked up at Jenis in surprise, Jenis raised the glass filled with blood and poured it over her head. The Emperor gaped in astonishment, as if witnessing the wildest of spectacles.
Jenis knelt before the Emperor, bowing her head.
“Please promise me, I must fight for you. As your servant, as a citizen of the Empire who has long admired your battles before I even entered university, I plead with you. You held a sword and fought enemies at an age younger than I am now. You’ve slain as many foes as I have killed to this day. As a free citizen who has admired such a great hero, I implore you. Fulfill my wish. Give me a chance to achieve the vow I made with my blood. Please, please…”
Jenis’s forehead thudded against the floor. Rose, flustered and at a loss, looked around. It was a habitual reaction to find someone to support and calm the strange guest, but there were only the two of them in this wasteland.
After Jenis banged her head against the floor for the second time, Rose finally rushed over to her and lifted her up. Rose spoke in a serious voice.
“This is not just a matter of whether I grant your plea or not. The validity of your plan is what’s at stake first!”
“The Dragon Lord found my plan acceptable. Even Lady Margaret acknowledged that I have a chance of winning. Your caution is an important virtue, but I already believe I can win this fight.”
Jenis had a point. Particularly, the mention of Margaret weighed heavily on Rose. Rose realized that Jenis pouring blood over herself was not simply to illustrate the weight of her vow.
Tears, flowing from Jenis’s eyes in desperation and pain, mixed with the fresh blood drenching her silver hair, spreading across her face like tears of blood. The small cuts on her forehead from banging against the rough wooden floor made for a painful sight, completed by the traces of humiliation.
Though Rose felt that it was all a kind of performance, she could not look away from the face of Jenis, who was so desperately intense.
In that moment, Jenis sensed that Rose hesitated upon hearing Margaret’s name.
“I know Your Majesty is like a sister to Lady Margaret.”
“That relationship is practically accurate. I believe she thinks so too.”
“I also addressed the arriving rescue as a brother. She accepted my title without hesitation.”
Realizing what Jenis was trying to imply, Rose fell silent. But Jenis did not stop, continuing to speak.
“Before the previous Hero passed away, he entrusted me with an important responsibility and referred to me as sister. I did not refuse that responsibility.”
Jenis trembled as she spoke. Her words were true. Rose instinctively knew that Jenis was not lying.
“Your Majesty has two strong chains binding you as sisters. While one chain may break due to disputes between us, how can we sever both chains? We have not clashed to the extent of outright enmity, have we, Your Majesty?”
The words ‘utter nonsense’ rose to Rose’s throat, but she could not voice them. Her heart, having recently acquired a child, was more vulnerable than ever, and especially with such a sorrowful tone tied to the notion of brotherhood that hadn’t existed until now, she found it hard to respond sharply.
Jenis’s sky-blue eyes sparkled like jewels as she delivered the finishing blow.
“Considering this foolish younger sister, please grant me the last kindness you can bestow as an elder sister…”
“Ah, damn it, I get it, I get it!”
Rose slammed the desk as if in frustration. Though her magic had weakened significantly, her physical strength remained formidable. The rotting wooden desk split in two, and two glasses clattered to the floor. Still kneeling, Jenis gazed at Rose without flinching. Rose, with a sulky expression, gestured to Jenis.
“What are you doing, sister? Are you just going to stay kneeling like that?”
“Y-you, Your Majesty…”
“Tsk, really. If my older sister is alright, then it must be fine. But let me tell you, if something goes wrong later, don’t blame me. I might just end up really roughing you up.”
Only after hearing Rose’s words did Jenis slowly rise from her place. She bowed her head toward Rose, as if struggling to contain the elation surging within her.
“Thank you… really, thank you…”
The Emperor shook her head and pointed north with her finger.
“You just go wait up north. Open the port, move the materials, and reassemble the Magic Tower. That’ll take a bit of time. After all, I need time to smooth out my armor and get a helmet made to fit my head.”
“A helmet, Your Majesty?”
“Am I expected to head into battle without armor in my current condition? Back then, I was confident enough to bounce back even from cannonballs, but now I must take care of protecting my body. If I get hurt, it’ll be a serious matter. The Crown Prince hasn’t even had his first birthday yet.”
“I swear. You won’t get hurt, Your Majesty. If everything I planned goes smoothly, if I can achieve the perfect victory I seek…”
“Just swear it. Yes, swear.”
Rose blinked.
“I’m not an Elf Lord, so I can’t really offer wise advice. But don’t make those oaths carelessly. This is serious advice.”
“I’m only…”
“I once overestimated my own defenses and vowed to protect one man, no matter what. That still haunts me to this day, and it likely will for the rest of my life.”
Rose stuck out her tongue with an awkward expression. Sullen, Jenis saluted Rose and then turned away to walk out of the building. Rose chuckled softly as she watched the departing Great Sage.
“She really pulled it off…”
Rose also understood. That was a performance given her all. She had precisely pinpointed Rose’s vulnerabilities and orchestrated an attempt to receive a positive response in any way she could. But Rose also knew that whether Jenis recognized it as an act or not, she had no choice but to let it slide.
“Who on earth are those who let such a monster grow unchecked to that extent?”
The Emperor mumbled. The fox that had hidden its claws was now soaring without concealment, transformed into a dragon in the back mountains.