Volume 5, Chapter 44 – Augustin

A dark corridor filled with a damp smell.

An unpleasant sound, like rats scurrying, echoed in the cramped and narrow space. If one listened carefully, one could also hear the sounds of crying and pleas for help in the distance. However, for Augustin, who was walking through the corridor, it was all very familiar. A prison was meant to be a place of despair, especially this underground one where important prisoners were held.

Following the long, steep stone steps down to the deepest level of the prison, Augustin gestured with his chin to the soldier beside him. The soldier immediately opened the iron gate with a sycophantic smile. With a harsh creak, a small room separated by iron bars appeared before them. Unlike the dark and damp environment outside, this solitary cell not only had a magic lamp but also a simple bed and a writing desk. For a prison, it was quite a good treatment.

But the person imprisoned here was the head of the Hillary family, the eleventh Count Hillary.

Sensing someone had entered, the Count, who had been lying on the bed, opened his eyes and walked to the prison bars with a look of anger.

“Traitorous son.”

“Oh my, even a traitorous son is your own flesh and blood. You seem to have forgotten that you stripped me of my family name long ago. I no longer belong to the Hillary family. From where does this ‘traitorous son’ of yours come?”

Without a trace of fear, the gentle-faced, bespectacled Augustin slowly approached Count Hillary. “It is good to see that you are unharmed.”

“What on earth are you planning!” Count Hillary shouted in a near-roar, but Augustin was unmoved, still wearing that same smiling expression.

“I am merely completing what you left unfinished. Thanks to my dear older brother, the plan is proceeding smoothly. I don’t think there is anyone more obedient in this world than him. As long as I promise to make him the noble who controls the entire south, he will do whatever I say—the last time I said this to you, it should have been three years ago. You haven’t forgotten, have you? Or have you grown so accustomed to this place that you’ve forgotten the passage of time?”

The eleventh Count Hillary had been imprisoned in this underground jail for four years. Augustin’s plan had also begun four years ago.

As if to deliberately provoke the eleventh Count Hillary, Augustin looked up at the ceiling and spoke to himself. “The main army should be at the foot of the Royal Capital by now. In less than half a month, the capital will become an isolated city. With Alvier’s personality, surrender is only a matter of time. Your last wish has been fulfilled by me. You must be very happy, right? If you hadn’t had the intention of rebelling in the first place and had trained a large number of soldiers in your territory, I would have had to spend more time planning. But on that point, I must thank you, you despicable traitor.”

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“Hmph, you’re no better, a dog that betrayed its master.”

The moment the eleventh Count Hillary’s words fell, the temperature in the entire room dropped several degrees. Time seemed to freeze, and a chill that rose from the bottom of his heart washed over him. He subconsciously took a small step back, and the killing intent that had assailed him immediately vanished.

Still with that same smiling expression, Augustin pushed up his glasses.

“Betrayal? I am different from you. I am merely alleviating the worries of the queen I am loyal to, the one who shines as brightly as the sun, Andrea Fred Alvier. Everything I am doing now is just a process to achieve my goal. Unlike you, who covets the throne, I just want to lift the burden from Alvier’s shoulders, so that kind, respectable, and humbling Queen can do what she likes. The Alvier line will not be severed by me.”

Not understanding what Augustin was saying, Count Hillary remained silent. But this did not stop Augustin from indulging in his own reverie. He opened his arms and began to sing her praises in a posture as if he were embracing the sun.

“In the past, I had always considered magic my life’s pursuit, until that mistake—merely because of a bloodline issue, you expelled the more outstanding me from the family and even had Her Majesty sentence me to be hanged. But unfortunately for you, not only did your plan fail, but it also allowed me to encounter something more important than magic. From the moment Alvier saved me from your hands, my life has belonged to Her Majesty the Queen.”

“The pain she has experienced, the pressure she faces, the situations where she has no way out—I feel it all as if it were my own. No matter how much I assist her from the side, comfort her, provide her with advice, and even secretly eliminate those who trouble her, I cannot change the fact that she will feel pain. It was not until one day she quietly told me that perhaps she was more suited to be an ordinary person that I finally understood that the root of all problems lies in her status as Queen.”

“As long as she is the Queen, she cannot avoid these hardships. Alvier is too kind and cannot make a choice in a dilemma. So, I will just make the choice for her. I will become the new king, and let Alvier live a life of freedom. Only when she is not the Queen can she find true release. In the future, she will have no reason to worry about people who have nothing to do with her.”

“You might say there are gentler methods, but those deeply entrenched old factions must be completely cleared out by an overwhelming force. And I am the sharp blade that will uproot them. My goal is to make Alvier happy. I live in a different world from a despicable traitor like you.”

Augustin took off his glasses, revealing the sharp corners of his eyes, which were filled with a steadfast will.

“The only reason you have been allowed to live this long is to let you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears how different I am from a traitor like you. Now, you no longer have any reason to live. Anyone who betrays Alvier must die. Farewell, my father who brings me stain.”

Augustin turned around and waved his hand at the soldier beside him. The soldier, understanding his meaning, drew the longsword from his waist and, amidst a torrent of curses, finished off the Count Hillary who had, in name, been dead for a long time.

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At the same time, a girl who had been waiting outside the cell jumped out from the shadows. She first let out a drowsy yawn, then walked up to Augustin. Her exceptionally revealing attire was completely at odds with her youthful appearance, but paired with her orange ponytail, it made her seem full of vitality.

“Are you done? You took so long, I thought you’d been done in by that old guy.”

Augustin did not answer. The girl frowned in dissatisfaction and poked him in the stomach with her elbow. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”

“How goes the siege?”

“Tch, that look again. You’re only normal in front of that little girl.” The girl pouted. “It’s a little different from what we expected. Andrea has returned to the Royal Capital ahead of schedule.”

“She wasn’t hurt, was she?”

“I don’t know. That troublesome person is always by her side. I didn’t dare get close. Last time, if Lord Tartaros hadn’t saved me, I would have been caught by her. And she also has that Pescia with her. My mother’s recent disappearance is probably related to her too. Fortunately, my mother’s main body is still hibernating safely in the castle, so she shouldn’t be in any danger.”

“Even you can’t handle her?”

Augustine’s words made the girl’s eyebrows shoot up, looking very angry. “I’m not a combat-specialized fallen angel. And even if it were Azazel from Ouranos’s side, he probably wouldn’t be her opponent either. That person is ridiculously strong. I don’t know where she popped out from.”

“As long as she doesn’t harm Alvier, she is harmless. Take me to Alvier’s side. At this point, I must explain everything to her myself. If the Royal Capital gives up its resistance, the war can end, and Alvier can gain her freedom sooner.”

“Alright, alright, you fanatic. But I have to warn you, I’m only taking you to the outskirts of the capital. You’ll have to walk to the Royal Castle yourself. I don’t want to be targeted by that person again. Also, the old man from the Empire told me to tell you that his soldiers will be arriving at the capital soon, and you can command them as you please.”

“They are merely here to supervise me. It doesn’t matter.”

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Augustin’s words made the girl shrug. She held out her hand to him. “Give me your hand. Preparing to teleport.”

◇

Leading Andrea to the noble council hall in the castle, Yisi and Andrea stopped in front of the door.

They could hear people inside arguing loudly about something.

“The top priority is to transfer soldiers from the surrounding territories to reinforce the capital. The capital is the last line of defense; it cannot fall, no matter what!”

“If we transfer soldiers from the surrounding territories, it will weaken the flank defenses. If the rebels take the other two territories because of this, not only will the capital become an isolated city, but even the Astrid Territory behind us will face attacks from two directions.”

“How could they possibly have the forces to fight on three fronts!”

“If only we had more soldiers…”

“In the end, isn’t it because Lord Bate always said military spending was too high that we never invested more gold in the army? If we had listened to my advice a few years ago, how could we have ended up in this situation?”

“Nonsense! The amount of gold Lord Faite proposed back then was beyond the treasury’s capacity. If we had listened to you, how could we have survived the famine in the Astrid Territory a few years ago!”

“May the First Queen protect us…”

“Where is Lord Riand? Why isn’t he here? As the person in charge of allocating supplies to the City Guard, he should be here now. What are the current losses of the City Guard?”

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“I haven’t seen Lord Riand since yesterday.”

“My subordinate said he hired a caravan and adventurers yesterday. He hasn’t fled, has he?”

“That bastard. To run away at a critical moment.”

“It’s a good thing Her Majesty the Queen returned in time, otherwise things would have been even more difficult.”

After this sentence was spoken, the council hall gradually fell silent.

Yisi, her hand on the doorknob, lowered her head to look at Andrea, who was slightly shorter than her. “Are we going in now?”

Andrea was silent for a moment, then nodded with difficulty. “…Yes.”

Although she didn’t want to open the door, this was a fate Andrea had to face as Queen. Her hands felt heavy. Yisi slowly pushed the door open.

The herald waiting inside the door announced loudly, “Her Majesty the Queen and Her Grace, Duchess Yisi, arrive!”

As if a switch had been flipped, the previously quiet nobles began to murmur among themselves. Andrea and Yisi, under the various gazes of the nobles, walked all the way to the head of the conference table. Yisi sat directly in the seat that had originally belonged to Edith.

Taking a deep breath, Andrea, in a complete reversal of her previous timidity, spoke in a tone full of authority. “I have kept you waiting. Lord Faite, report the current situation to me.”