“Elko.”
Alfonso looked down at Elko, who was stuck to the floor of his office like a withered tree root, all the moisture drained away.
“For the crime of tampering with my letters while I was in Yesak to influence my judgment.”
All that is clear is one letter from Raphael.
The rest of the letters were mostly handled by the Kingdom of Gallico, with Elko only assisting in about 20% of them, but he made no effort to explain it.
Sir Elko's face already looked like that of a dead person.
“The crime of colluding with a spy of the Kingdom of Gallico and leaking state secrets.”
If he leaked the Prince's movements on the battlefield, it would be a military secret, and if he leaked it after returning to the capital, it would be a security secret.
“Is there anything else you would like to share?”
“...Your Highness, please take a look at this.”
Sir Desilio cautiously called Alfonso's attention.
Sir Manfredi was looking through the bundles of papers he had stuffed haphazardly into his pockets, waistband, and backpack when he found something.
“Attempted murder... I think it’s added as well.”
Alfonso received a notebook from Sir Desilio. It was a notebook in which the letters reported to the home country by the Gallican monks were summarized and organized by date.
The description on the page that Sir Desilio opened and gave to Prince Alfonso was as follows:
"April 12, 1027. The assassination attempt of the 'Etruscan Woman' by bribing a servant of the de Mare mansion failed. Thinking that the locals would be more knowledgeable, the follow-up action was left to 'Tail'.
...(omitted)...
May 18, 1027. The 'Tail' also failed. The carriage axle was cut, but the target was slightly injured. I plan to take refuge for the time being."
Alfonso's expression became terrifying. Raphael, who received the paper from Alfonso and read it, said in disbelief.
“Elko, you knew that my nickname was ‘Tail’ and you cooperated with Gallico, right?”
Even Elko's face, like that of a dead man, was overflowing with a hint of shame. Sir Manfredi, who heard those words, also said in a tone of astonishment.
“It’s really something that should be thrown away.”
Alfonso asked.
“Where did the investigation that wrote this document go?”
Sir Manfredi reported.
“When I got there, they had already kicked me out. Elko... didn’t seem to know that he had run away, so he kept knocking on the door to try to get into the locked house.”
He added proudly.
“Of course, I just broke the door down and went in.”
Raphael could be heard clicking his tongue. About 20% of it was directed at Sir Manfredi, and the rest was directed at Sir Elko, who had not even been informed in advance that his accomplice was on the run.
Raphael knew how to humiliate his listeners without saying a word. It was a natural talent.
But Alfonso was so angry at Elko for touching Ariadne that he didn't even feel like sneer at Elko.
If it were the original Alfonso, he would have said this.
“...Elko, I don’t think that all your devotion to me up to now has been a lie.”
Because Elko was more passionate and loyal to Alfonso than anyone else.
Elko never compromised by saying, "Hey, let's do this much," and never went beyond what he could do because Alfonso's orders were "someone else's business."
There were many knights and subordinates more capable than Elko, but this was a very rare advantage.
Alfonso received much help from Elko, including being able to save Ariadne.
And he was a man who truly appreciated such assistance.
Even if there was selfishness in that total dedication, Alfonso's gratitude did not change because the result was the same.
If it were him in the past, he would have sent it like this.
“Let’s go. This is the end of the road we’re on together.”
But Alfonso could no longer be generous when he learned what personal greed was driving Elko.
'How dare... How dare...!'
The sound was annoying, but that wasn't the only problem.
That woman, the living, breathing Ariadne de Mare, was someone Alfonso wanted to protect at all costs.
For the sake of her honor, he gave his beloved subordinate to Gallico and eventually went to the Kingdom of Gallico on his own two feet to deal with the aftermath.
Even though he was taken to Yesak and served on the battlefield, he never once harbored any resentment toward Ariadne.
All he could do was blame himself for not being able to look after her even after hearing that she was engaged to another man, his mortal enemy at that.
He wanted her happiness more than anything else. Happiness naturally includes safety.
He was so obsessed with the fact that she was not his woman that he never even dreamed of harming her.
But her safety, which he had so desperately protected, was threatened by his own subordinates? And the wounds he saw back then were those inflicted by Elko?
Ariadne de Mare almost didn't exist in this world?
And was it for the petty reason that she had no intention of accepting Elko's feelings?
Alfonso walked over and grabbed Elko by the collar.
“That carriage, was that your doing?”
Elko groaned in pain, unable to tell whether it was from the pain of suffocation or from the pain of Alfonso's complete disgust for him.
“I can forgive you for touching me.”
Anger like the growling of a beast seeped out through the gaps in the evil spell.
“But are you touching Ariadne?”
It was the worst kind of cowardice to touch a carriage, something Alfonso detested.
“I thought of you like family.”
Alfonso never had a brother. Cesare was no such person, except that they shared the same father's blood.
A relationship where they care for and protect each other, a relationship where love is the foundation and they care for and embrace each other.
Alfonso thought it was between him and his knights.
So, he was able to overlook Elko's occasional interference, thinking that it was out of affection. Family is closer than other people.
He glared at Sir Elko, who was lying on the floor of his office, with contempt.
“My eyes for seeing people are under the soles of my feet.”
Alfonso took out the longsword from the wall of his office, complete with its scabbard. It was a two-handed sword of enormous size.
The sword was sharply honed, but it was so large that it seemed more like a decoration than a weapon for combat.
But Alfonso picked up the sword lightly with one hand.
“!”
The expressions of the group changed as they realized what Prince Alfonso was trying to do.
Except for the heartless Raphael de Baldessar, most of the knights looked slightly shaken.
After all, they had shared joys and sorrows with Sir Elko on the battlefield.
However, no one raised an objection to the summary execution of soldiers who had committed treason.
So, the voice that stopped Alfonso was necessarily not theirs.
“Wait, just a moment...”
It was Ariadne who stopped Alfonso.
Alfonso thought she was afraid of seeing people die, so he gestured to Sir Manfredi, signaling for him to escort her out.
As Sir Manfredi approached to escort Ariadne, Ariadne stopped him with her hand.
“Ugh.”
Ariadne held back the urge to vomit. It was true that the thought of a person's head being cut off right before her nose made her feel somewhat sick.
But there was another main reason why she felt sick.
Elko looked exactly like her and the objects and their shadows from her past life.
A dedication that no one expected. A desire to be repaid. A vain expectation. A price that never comes back. Her investment was blown. A sense of betrayal, defeat, anger, hatred.
Ariadne felt disgusted as she delved into Elko's psychology.
So when Ilshe realized that Elko and her were operating on the same principle, it felt like she had been hit in the head with a blunt object. How much Cesare must have hated me at that time.
“Humans originally lived while committing sins. That’s why they are human.”
This was the story Raphael told Ariadne when she was having the hardest time.
That thought kept her going even as the people of the Kingdom of Gallico died like corn stalks because of the Black Death she had spread.
“When I want to condemn someone, I always think about my own sins. Am I truly clean? Can I confidently throw stones at that person?”
And today, Ariadne's answer to the question of conscience as to whether she could throw stones at Elko was 'No.'
In her own opinion, she was no purer than Elko, neither in the motives of her actions nor in the results of her actions.
All humans are sinners. Even without going into generalities, what Ariadne herself did was more outrageous than what Elko was trying to do.
Even she is alive and breathing, so if someone like her deserves to live, shouldn't someone like Elko, who couldn't even kill the person he was aiming for, deserve a second chance?
Shouldn't any evildoer be given a chance to atone if he has the potential to be rehabilitated?
Ariadne was not originally a person with particularly deep sympathy, but as her work and the decalcomania unfolded, she could not help but feel more sympathy than usual.
But even she couldn't possibly say, 'Let's give Sir Elko a second chance.'
Elko knew too much. Alfonso was the Prince's closest confidant and was in charge of the administration of the Yesak unit.
He knew the Prince's Knights, the most elite unit of the Etruscan kingdom—practically the only intact central army—and he knew everything about Prince Alfonso's personal habits, intentions, interests, customs, and routines.
He is a great man who cannot be sent out of the palace.
“The trial is... Even a trial... A chance for atonement...”
She muttered uncertainly. Even if he went to trial, Elko would probably be sentenced to death.
The only chance for Elko to survive is if this escalates into a political conflict on the side of Leo III or Rubina, a dire scenario for Alfonso.
“...I’m sorry.”
Ariadne bit her lip.
“Just pretend you didn’t hear it.”
“...Ari.”
Alfonso opened his mouth.
“I know why you do that.”
He looked at Ariadne with calm blue-gray eyes.
She probably felt guilty towards Sir Elko, the man who had ruined his life because of her.
Here in the Etruscan kingdom, a man who would be second to none in terms of morality looked at the woman he liked, thinking that it was a problem because she was so kind.
“But even if you want it, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is my decision.”
Alfonso was now waking up with a clear head.
As the anger subsided, Elko realized just how far-reaching the impact of what he had done could be.
“Did you think he could reflect and become a new person?”
It was a crude but penetrating remark. Ariadne nodded cautiously.
“Some people can do it, and some can’t.... And I’m the one who makes the judgment call.”
The final judicial power of the state was vested in the King. Alfonso was the future Etruscan King. Also, the right to give or take the life of a knight was vested in his lord.
Even though Alfonso was not yet King, he had the authority to take Elko's life as the master of a knight who had sworn fealty.
“Trust my judgment.”
What Elko stole were Alfonso's private letters.
What he whispered in his master's ear was merely a lover's solicitation, and the secrets he stole and smuggled out turned out to be nothing more than Alfonso's personal affairs.
But what if Elko had stolen military documents? What if he had tampered with the contents of how large the enemy force was and where they were marching, where their unit should respond, and when the main force would be deployed in such and such a size? Alfonso and his unit would have been annihilated.
Was it only the military that was annihilated? If it had been a defensive war and not an aggressive war, the people living in that area would have also all fallen into a miserable state.
Because looting and arson were the victor's rights.
“If Elko were released into the human world, would he be able to live as a good part of society?”
Alfonso gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
“My judgment is, no.”
Sreung!
It was the sound of a sword coming out of its scabbard. And almost simultaneously, the sound of Elko's neck being cut off was heard.
Bam!
Elko's supply fell to the floor and rolled.
Blood spurted everywhere like a fountain, and the blood vessels in the cleanly cut cross-section of the neck constricted, struggling to hold on to the life force that was escaping.
It was all a vain struggle.
Ariadne unconsciously sat down with her legs losing strength.
Alfonso looked down at Elko, who was stuck to the floor of his office like a withered tree root, all the moisture drained away.
“For the crime of tampering with my letters while I was in Yesak to influence my judgment.”
All that is clear is one letter from Raphael.
The rest of the letters were mostly handled by the Kingdom of Gallico, with Elko only assisting in about 20% of them, but he made no effort to explain it.
Sir Elko's face already looked like that of a dead person.
“The crime of colluding with a spy of the Kingdom of Gallico and leaking state secrets.”
If he leaked the Prince's movements on the battlefield, it would be a military secret, and if he leaked it after returning to the capital, it would be a security secret.
“Is there anything else you would like to share?”
“...Your Highness, please take a look at this.”
Sir Desilio cautiously called Alfonso's attention.
Sir Manfredi was looking through the bundles of papers he had stuffed haphazardly into his pockets, waistband, and backpack when he found something.
“Attempted murder... I think it’s added as well.”
Alfonso received a notebook from Sir Desilio. It was a notebook in which the letters reported to the home country by the Gallican monks were summarized and organized by date.
The description on the page that Sir Desilio opened and gave to Prince Alfonso was as follows:
"April 12, 1027. The assassination attempt of the 'Etruscan Woman' by bribing a servant of the de Mare mansion failed. Thinking that the locals would be more knowledgeable, the follow-up action was left to 'Tail'.
...(omitted)...
May 18, 1027. The 'Tail' also failed. The carriage axle was cut, but the target was slightly injured. I plan to take refuge for the time being."
Alfonso's expression became terrifying. Raphael, who received the paper from Alfonso and read it, said in disbelief.
“Elko, you knew that my nickname was ‘Tail’ and you cooperated with Gallico, right?”
Even Elko's face, like that of a dead man, was overflowing with a hint of shame. Sir Manfredi, who heard those words, also said in a tone of astonishment.
“It’s really something that should be thrown away.”
Alfonso asked.
“Where did the investigation that wrote this document go?”
Sir Manfredi reported.
“When I got there, they had already kicked me out. Elko... didn’t seem to know that he had run away, so he kept knocking on the door to try to get into the locked house.”
He added proudly.
“Of course, I just broke the door down and went in.”
Raphael could be heard clicking his tongue. About 20% of it was directed at Sir Manfredi, and the rest was directed at Sir Elko, who had not even been informed in advance that his accomplice was on the run.
Raphael knew how to humiliate his listeners without saying a word. It was a natural talent.
But Alfonso was so angry at Elko for touching Ariadne that he didn't even feel like sneer at Elko.
If it were the original Alfonso, he would have said this.
“...Elko, I don’t think that all your devotion to me up to now has been a lie.”
Because Elko was more passionate and loyal to Alfonso than anyone else.
Elko never compromised by saying, "Hey, let's do this much," and never went beyond what he could do because Alfonso's orders were "someone else's business."
There were many knights and subordinates more capable than Elko, but this was a very rare advantage.
Alfonso received much help from Elko, including being able to save Ariadne.
And he was a man who truly appreciated such assistance.
Even if there was selfishness in that total dedication, Alfonso's gratitude did not change because the result was the same.
If it were him in the past, he would have sent it like this.
“Let’s go. This is the end of the road we’re on together.”
But Alfonso could no longer be generous when he learned what personal greed was driving Elko.
'How dare... How dare...!'
The sound was annoying, but that wasn't the only problem.
That woman, the living, breathing Ariadne de Mare, was someone Alfonso wanted to protect at all costs.
For the sake of her honor, he gave his beloved subordinate to Gallico and eventually went to the Kingdom of Gallico on his own two feet to deal with the aftermath.
Even though he was taken to Yesak and served on the battlefield, he never once harbored any resentment toward Ariadne.
All he could do was blame himself for not being able to look after her even after hearing that she was engaged to another man, his mortal enemy at that.
He wanted her happiness more than anything else. Happiness naturally includes safety.
He was so obsessed with the fact that she was not his woman that he never even dreamed of harming her.
But her safety, which he had so desperately protected, was threatened by his own subordinates? And the wounds he saw back then were those inflicted by Elko?
Ariadne de Mare almost didn't exist in this world?
And was it for the petty reason that she had no intention of accepting Elko's feelings?
Alfonso walked over and grabbed Elko by the collar.
“That carriage, was that your doing?”
Elko groaned in pain, unable to tell whether it was from the pain of suffocation or from the pain of Alfonso's complete disgust for him.
“I can forgive you for touching me.”
Anger like the growling of a beast seeped out through the gaps in the evil spell.
“But are you touching Ariadne?”
It was the worst kind of cowardice to touch a carriage, something Alfonso detested.
“I thought of you like family.”
Alfonso never had a brother. Cesare was no such person, except that they shared the same father's blood.
A relationship where they care for and protect each other, a relationship where love is the foundation and they care for and embrace each other.
Alfonso thought it was between him and his knights.
So, he was able to overlook Elko's occasional interference, thinking that it was out of affection. Family is closer than other people.
He glared at Sir Elko, who was lying on the floor of his office, with contempt.
“My eyes for seeing people are under the soles of my feet.”
Alfonso took out the longsword from the wall of his office, complete with its scabbard. It was a two-handed sword of enormous size.
The sword was sharply honed, but it was so large that it seemed more like a decoration than a weapon for combat.
But Alfonso picked up the sword lightly with one hand.
“!”
The expressions of the group changed as they realized what Prince Alfonso was trying to do.
Except for the heartless Raphael de Baldessar, most of the knights looked slightly shaken.
After all, they had shared joys and sorrows with Sir Elko on the battlefield.
However, no one raised an objection to the summary execution of soldiers who had committed treason.
So, the voice that stopped Alfonso was necessarily not theirs.
“Wait, just a moment...”
It was Ariadne who stopped Alfonso.
Alfonso thought she was afraid of seeing people die, so he gestured to Sir Manfredi, signaling for him to escort her out.
As Sir Manfredi approached to escort Ariadne, Ariadne stopped him with her hand.
“Ugh.”
Ariadne held back the urge to vomit. It was true that the thought of a person's head being cut off right before her nose made her feel somewhat sick.
But there was another main reason why she felt sick.
Elko looked exactly like her and the objects and their shadows from her past life.
A dedication that no one expected. A desire to be repaid. A vain expectation. A price that never comes back. Her investment was blown. A sense of betrayal, defeat, anger, hatred.
Ariadne felt disgusted as she delved into Elko's psychology.
So when Ilshe realized that Elko and her were operating on the same principle, it felt like she had been hit in the head with a blunt object. How much Cesare must have hated me at that time.
“Humans originally lived while committing sins. That’s why they are human.”
This was the story Raphael told Ariadne when she was having the hardest time.
That thought kept her going even as the people of the Kingdom of Gallico died like corn stalks because of the Black Death she had spread.
“When I want to condemn someone, I always think about my own sins. Am I truly clean? Can I confidently throw stones at that person?”
And today, Ariadne's answer to the question of conscience as to whether she could throw stones at Elko was 'No.'
In her own opinion, she was no purer than Elko, neither in the motives of her actions nor in the results of her actions.
All humans are sinners. Even without going into generalities, what Ariadne herself did was more outrageous than what Elko was trying to do.
Even she is alive and breathing, so if someone like her deserves to live, shouldn't someone like Elko, who couldn't even kill the person he was aiming for, deserve a second chance?
Shouldn't any evildoer be given a chance to atone if he has the potential to be rehabilitated?
Ariadne was not originally a person with particularly deep sympathy, but as her work and the decalcomania unfolded, she could not help but feel more sympathy than usual.
But even she couldn't possibly say, 'Let's give Sir Elko a second chance.'
Elko knew too much. Alfonso was the Prince's closest confidant and was in charge of the administration of the Yesak unit.
He knew the Prince's Knights, the most elite unit of the Etruscan kingdom—practically the only intact central army—and he knew everything about Prince Alfonso's personal habits, intentions, interests, customs, and routines.
He is a great man who cannot be sent out of the palace.
“The trial is... Even a trial... A chance for atonement...”
She muttered uncertainly. Even if he went to trial, Elko would probably be sentenced to death.
The only chance for Elko to survive is if this escalates into a political conflict on the side of Leo III or Rubina, a dire scenario for Alfonso.
“...I’m sorry.”
Ariadne bit her lip.
“Just pretend you didn’t hear it.”
“...Ari.”
Alfonso opened his mouth.
“I know why you do that.”
He looked at Ariadne with calm blue-gray eyes.
She probably felt guilty towards Sir Elko, the man who had ruined his life because of her.
Here in the Etruscan kingdom, a man who would be second to none in terms of morality looked at the woman he liked, thinking that it was a problem because she was so kind.
“But even if you want it, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is my decision.”
Alfonso was now waking up with a clear head.
As the anger subsided, Elko realized just how far-reaching the impact of what he had done could be.
“Did you think he could reflect and become a new person?”
It was a crude but penetrating remark. Ariadne nodded cautiously.
“Some people can do it, and some can’t.... And I’m the one who makes the judgment call.”
The final judicial power of the state was vested in the King. Alfonso was the future Etruscan King. Also, the right to give or take the life of a knight was vested in his lord.
Even though Alfonso was not yet King, he had the authority to take Elko's life as the master of a knight who had sworn fealty.
“Trust my judgment.”
What Elko stole were Alfonso's private letters.
What he whispered in his master's ear was merely a lover's solicitation, and the secrets he stole and smuggled out turned out to be nothing more than Alfonso's personal affairs.
But what if Elko had stolen military documents? What if he had tampered with the contents of how large the enemy force was and where they were marching, where their unit should respond, and when the main force would be deployed in such and such a size? Alfonso and his unit would have been annihilated.
Was it only the military that was annihilated? If it had been a defensive war and not an aggressive war, the people living in that area would have also all fallen into a miserable state.
Because looting and arson were the victor's rights.
“If Elko were released into the human world, would he be able to live as a good part of society?”
Alfonso gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
“My judgment is, no.”
Sreung!
It was the sound of a sword coming out of its scabbard. And almost simultaneously, the sound of Elko's neck being cut off was heard.
Bam!
Elko's supply fell to the floor and rolled.
Blood spurted everywhere like a fountain, and the blood vessels in the cleanly cut cross-section of the neck constricted, struggling to hold on to the life force that was escaping.
It was all a vain struggle.
Ariadne unconsciously sat down with her legs losing strength.
Thud.
A large tear fell from her eye to the floor.
She didn't even know why she was crying. She felt relieved somewhere. It was the end of a chapter.
A hand was held out in front of her. It was a thin, white hand. She looked up.
Raphael de Baldessar was reaching out to her.
A large tear fell from her eye to the floor.
She didn't even know why she was crying. She felt relieved somewhere. It was the end of a chapter.
A hand was held out in front of her. It was a thin, white hand. She looked up.
Raphael de Baldessar was reaching out to her.
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