Episode 3. A Chance of Winning
“How was it?”
Terion quickly followed Cassius.
Not long after entering the banquet hall, he was out, striding away without a backward glance.
He wondered what had happened inside.
“Sir Cassius!”
“The Emperor is mad,”
Cassius said through gritted teeth.
Veins stood out on his thick neck.
The uniform he wore, tailored to the imperial etiquette, seemed utterly oppressive to Cassius.
His swollen chest threatened to burst the buttons of his shirt.
Cassius suddenly stopped and turned his head.
The dim lights of the banquet hall were still visible.
“Has the Emperor been mad for just one or two days? Sir Cassius, did you still receive what was promised?”
Terion stood, blocking Cassius’s view in frustration.
“At this rate, all the hardships we’ve endured so far will be truly miserable. Will the Emperor deliver on his promise?”
No matter how much Terion babbled, only one person remained in Cassius’ mind.
The Empress.
Even in such circumstances, the woman smiled with a deadly expression.
And then, her eyes gleamed with rage and hatred. She was a mysterious woman, clearly weak and petite, yet she held an intimidating presence that weighed heavily on Cassius.
Cassius could see the well-governed essence within her.
She was a woman far too precious for the maddened Emperor.
“Sir Cassius! What on earth are you thinking?”
Terion raised his voice in frustration.
“...What was the Empress’s name?”
“Huh? Why are you suddenly asking that? If she’s the Empress... isn’t she Renisha Loterra?”
“Loterra?”
Cassius lowered his gaze to Terion.
Cassius knew Loterra.
In this war, two knights had lost their lives unjustly before Cassius went into battle.
It was a battle they shouldn't have fought. The ambush was certain, and their forces were few.
The Emperor had started this absurd war from the start.
He had pushed the Duke of Lottera to reclaim the Chorpa Plain, once Hilstein's land.
There was no support from the imperial family.
The Duke of Lottera had to form a new knightly order with his own family's knights.
The Duke of Lottera's support was likely due to the nobles who supported him.
The war, raging over the Chorpa Plain in the Kingdom of Ferrisen, had been going on for eight years.
That was enough time for a boy to grow into a young man.
Cassius, too, grew up on the battlefield, fed by his knights.
He finally achieved great things and was granted an audience with the Duke of Lottera himself.
'...You have made a great contribution in this battle. No, I suppose I should now call you Sir. Sir Cassius.'
The softly curved eyes were etched with weariness and the passage of time.
However, they were beautiful eyes that never yielded.
The Duke of Loterra was no different from the noble black panther the knights had raved about.
Cassius admired the Duke of Loterra.
On the day the Duke of Loterra died, Cassius had rudely barged into his barracks to stop him.
Even the knights who had tried to stop him were powerless to stop Cassius, who charged like a bull.
"If you go, you will die. Even the children running errands here know this. You know that the Emperor ordered him to die in the first place. Instead, take his sword and cut off his head!"
Cassius's golden eyes clouded.
Memories of that day were returning.
The smell of sulfur on the battlefield, the raw smell of metal.
"There are things in this world that can be done, but must not be done, Sir Cassius."
"What is the reason? You still..."
“My daughter,”
Duke Loterra cut Cassius off.
“My daughter is being held captive by the Emperor. Should I beg for my life at the expense of hers? You must have something you want to protect, too.”
Cassius opened his mouth, but could do nothing but exhale.
Duke Lottera’s hand, patting his shoulder, was soaked with an indescribable sadness.
“...If you see my daughter, tell her. I absolutely do not blame her. This is not her fault either... Tell her that I love her. If I had known it would turn out this way, I should have been more affectionate. You have no idea how beautiful my daughter’s smile is. And I don’t think I will ever see that face again. Haha...”
And that truly was the last of Duke Loterra.
Cassius vividly remembered the hero's lonely, abandoned end.
He had watched the Duke and Duchess of Loterra's backs until the very end.
Cassius had grown up following in the Duke's footsteps.
From the day he left his life as a slave gladiator at the age of eighteen and enlisted in his army, he had been protected by the Duke and benefited from his generosity.
"Loterra."
"Yes, that Loterra."
Terion, not unaware of the weight of the name, was struck by awe.
Terion sighed.
"Have you seen Empress Renisha? What did she look like?"
All the knights who followed Loterra knew Renisha.
Suddenly, Cassius recalled a memory buried deep within his heart, and he understood why his gaze had been drawn to her.
Renisha had the same eyes as the Duke of Loterra.
"...She's alive,"
Cassius muttered, his gaze fixed on the palace.
"She's alive."
"Sir Cassius?"
Perhaps he could relay the Duke of Lottera's last words.
Cassius ruffled his hair, darkened by the night.
"Sir? Empress Renisha is fine, right? So what's the problem? Are you saying the Emperor won't do anything for us? Didn't he promise us a fief and a title if we reclaimed the Chorpa Plains?"
Cassius pushed Terion away from his eyes and stared intently at the palace.
Renisha Lottera.
She was absolutely not a woman worthy of the Emperor.
The Emperor, standing beside the Empress, looked worse than a squalid donkey.
"He told me to wait. Like a well-behaved dog."
"Huh?"
"He hasn't forgotten us, so that's fine. At least we can spend this winter under a roof."
"Waiting again? Good heavens. Come with me, Sir Cassius!"
Cassius took a long stride and walked away from the palace.
Renisha didn't look particularly happy today.
The Duke and Duchess of Lottera had sacrificed themselves to protect their daughter's life.
For some reason, his mouth was watering.
He wanted to smash the Emperor's despicable face.
Cassius's idol had to die for some absurd reason, yet the Emperor was calmly going about his business at the banquet hall.
Renisha's misfortune must have stemmed from the Emperor.
The Duke didn't refer to Renisha as Empress.
He described her as "captive."
Perhaps the Duke of Loterra already knew how Renisha was being treated.
His face darkened indescribably as he spoke.
"What will you do if the Emperor refuses to give you anything?"
Terion couldn't help but press Cassius.
Cassius's eyes burned fiercely.
"The Emperor will pay a price."
Dark red scales protruded along his neckline, then subsided.
The maids removed Renisha's hair ornaments one by one.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"It's okay. So don't worry."
Renisha nodded slightly and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Her face, covered in elaborate makeup, held no expression.
It was as emotionless as a well-dressed doll staring at its reflection.
Renisha touched her face.
The glamorous woman reflected in the mirror didn't seem like her, but rather like someone else.
Rather, the maids' expressions suppressed anger and sadness.
Renisha let out a wry laugh.
Then she revisited the thought she'd read from Laxus.
She was sending Renisha to Cassius.
He couldn't bring himself to kill his own wife, so he'd probably abandon her in the most miserable and gruesome way possible.
Looking at her dead face, Cassius suddenly came to mind.
The man who had burned like a brilliant flame.
'Cassius...'
Renisha rolled the name over in her mouth.
Everyone knew Cassius.
Renisha knew the same.
Cassius was a knight who had been a slave gladiator.
While his exact history remains unknown, he was a man who had risen from that position to become a hero. His vivid golden eyes, ablaze with vitality, were etched into her mind.
Renisha raised her right hand.
"Enough."
"Your Majesty?"
"Take the bathwater. You don't have to serve me."
"But, Your Majesty...!"
The maids and servants murmured.
Their faces seemed fearful that Renisha might make the wrong choice.
Renisha snickered.
When she first heard the news of the Duke and Duchess of Lottera's death, Renisha had made an extreme choice.
Even now, she wore a dazzling array of bracelets to hide the red scars.
Thanks to the maids' quick handling that day, they had managed to clear the matter without the Emperor's knowledge.
She must have been thinking about that day
"I won't do anything stupid anymore. I must find the living and protect them."
Renisha slowly rose to her feet.
She simply wanted to soak in the hot water and be left alone to sort out the situation.
Her mind was in turmoil.
How should she interpret the new card, Cassius, who had entered Renisha's life? ... She had to consider whether Cassius could be used to start a new game.
The maids quickly undressed Renisha.
The servants left the bath, which was so steamy that her vision was blurry.
Renisha immersed herself in the water.
"We still need to watch."
There was a way to abandon everything and run away.
But in this case, she really had to start from the bottom, crawling back up to confront Laxus.
Giving up and leaving wasn't an option for Renisha.
She had to appease the spirits of the Duke and Duchess, who had lost their lives so unjustly.
"What territory will be bestowed upon Cassius? If so...?"
Renisha lowered her eyes.
If it were Laxus, he would surely grant Cassius the most rugged and desolate territory.
Or perhaps some abandoned land.
"If it really is Hiloshine…"
She had a chance.
Renisha's eyes, which had been closed, suddenly opened.
Something intense took hold of her dead pink eyes.
After remaining underwater for a while, Renisha rose. She rang the bell the maids had left behind, and those waiting gathered.
The maids breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Renisha intact.
"Tell them that I want to see the Grand Chamberlain immediately."
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She had a good feeling about this.
“How was it?”
Terion quickly followed Cassius.
Not long after entering the banquet hall, he was out, striding away without a backward glance.
He wondered what had happened inside.
“Sir Cassius!”
“The Emperor is mad,”
Cassius said through gritted teeth.
Veins stood out on his thick neck.
The uniform he wore, tailored to the imperial etiquette, seemed utterly oppressive to Cassius.
His swollen chest threatened to burst the buttons of his shirt.
Cassius suddenly stopped and turned his head.
The dim lights of the banquet hall were still visible.
“Has the Emperor been mad for just one or two days? Sir Cassius, did you still receive what was promised?”
Terion stood, blocking Cassius’s view in frustration.
“At this rate, all the hardships we’ve endured so far will be truly miserable. Will the Emperor deliver on his promise?”
No matter how much Terion babbled, only one person remained in Cassius’ mind.
The Empress.
Even in such circumstances, the woman smiled with a deadly expression.
And then, her eyes gleamed with rage and hatred. She was a mysterious woman, clearly weak and petite, yet she held an intimidating presence that weighed heavily on Cassius.
Cassius could see the well-governed essence within her.
She was a woman far too precious for the maddened Emperor.
“Sir Cassius! What on earth are you thinking?”
Terion raised his voice in frustration.
“...What was the Empress’s name?”
“Huh? Why are you suddenly asking that? If she’s the Empress... isn’t she Renisha Loterra?”
“Loterra?”
Cassius lowered his gaze to Terion.
Cassius knew Loterra.
In this war, two knights had lost their lives unjustly before Cassius went into battle.
It was a battle they shouldn't have fought. The ambush was certain, and their forces were few.
The Emperor had started this absurd war from the start.
He had pushed the Duke of Lottera to reclaim the Chorpa Plain, once Hilstein's land.
There was no support from the imperial family.
The Duke of Lottera had to form a new knightly order with his own family's knights.
The Duke of Lottera's support was likely due to the nobles who supported him.
The war, raging over the Chorpa Plain in the Kingdom of Ferrisen, had been going on for eight years.
That was enough time for a boy to grow into a young man.
Cassius, too, grew up on the battlefield, fed by his knights.
He finally achieved great things and was granted an audience with the Duke of Lottera himself.
'...You have made a great contribution in this battle. No, I suppose I should now call you Sir. Sir Cassius.'
The softly curved eyes were etched with weariness and the passage of time.
However, they were beautiful eyes that never yielded.
The Duke of Loterra was no different from the noble black panther the knights had raved about.
Cassius admired the Duke of Loterra.
On the day the Duke of Loterra died, Cassius had rudely barged into his barracks to stop him.
Even the knights who had tried to stop him were powerless to stop Cassius, who charged like a bull.
"If you go, you will die. Even the children running errands here know this. You know that the Emperor ordered him to die in the first place. Instead, take his sword and cut off his head!"
Cassius's golden eyes clouded.
Memories of that day were returning.
The smell of sulfur on the battlefield, the raw smell of metal.
"There are things in this world that can be done, but must not be done, Sir Cassius."
"What is the reason? You still..."
“My daughter,”
Duke Loterra cut Cassius off.
“My daughter is being held captive by the Emperor. Should I beg for my life at the expense of hers? You must have something you want to protect, too.”
Cassius opened his mouth, but could do nothing but exhale.
Duke Lottera’s hand, patting his shoulder, was soaked with an indescribable sadness.
“...If you see my daughter, tell her. I absolutely do not blame her. This is not her fault either... Tell her that I love her. If I had known it would turn out this way, I should have been more affectionate. You have no idea how beautiful my daughter’s smile is. And I don’t think I will ever see that face again. Haha...”
And that truly was the last of Duke Loterra.
Cassius vividly remembered the hero's lonely, abandoned end.
He had watched the Duke and Duchess of Loterra's backs until the very end.
Cassius had grown up following in the Duke's footsteps.
From the day he left his life as a slave gladiator at the age of eighteen and enlisted in his army, he had been protected by the Duke and benefited from his generosity.
"Loterra."
"Yes, that Loterra."
Terion, not unaware of the weight of the name, was struck by awe.
Terion sighed.
"Have you seen Empress Renisha? What did she look like?"
All the knights who followed Loterra knew Renisha.
Suddenly, Cassius recalled a memory buried deep within his heart, and he understood why his gaze had been drawn to her.
Renisha had the same eyes as the Duke of Loterra.
"...She's alive,"
Cassius muttered, his gaze fixed on the palace.
"She's alive."
"Sir Cassius?"
Perhaps he could relay the Duke of Lottera's last words.
Cassius ruffled his hair, darkened by the night.
"Sir? Empress Renisha is fine, right? So what's the problem? Are you saying the Emperor won't do anything for us? Didn't he promise us a fief and a title if we reclaimed the Chorpa Plains?"
Cassius pushed Terion away from his eyes and stared intently at the palace.
Renisha Lottera.
She was absolutely not a woman worthy of the Emperor.
The Emperor, standing beside the Empress, looked worse than a squalid donkey.
"He told me to wait. Like a well-behaved dog."
"Huh?"
"He hasn't forgotten us, so that's fine. At least we can spend this winter under a roof."
"Waiting again? Good heavens. Come with me, Sir Cassius!"
Cassius took a long stride and walked away from the palace.
Renisha didn't look particularly happy today.
The Duke and Duchess of Lottera had sacrificed themselves to protect their daughter's life.
For some reason, his mouth was watering.
He wanted to smash the Emperor's despicable face.
Cassius's idol had to die for some absurd reason, yet the Emperor was calmly going about his business at the banquet hall.
Renisha's misfortune must have stemmed from the Emperor.
The Duke didn't refer to Renisha as Empress.
He described her as "captive."
Perhaps the Duke of Loterra already knew how Renisha was being treated.
His face darkened indescribably as he spoke.
"What will you do if the Emperor refuses to give you anything?"
Terion couldn't help but press Cassius.
Cassius's eyes burned fiercely.
"The Emperor will pay a price."
Dark red scales protruded along his neckline, then subsided.
***
The maids removed Renisha's hair ornaments one by one.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"It's okay. So don't worry."
Renisha nodded slightly and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Her face, covered in elaborate makeup, held no expression.
It was as emotionless as a well-dressed doll staring at its reflection.
Renisha touched her face.
The glamorous woman reflected in the mirror didn't seem like her, but rather like someone else.
Rather, the maids' expressions suppressed anger and sadness.
Renisha let out a wry laugh.
Then she revisited the thought she'd read from Laxus.
She was sending Renisha to Cassius.
He couldn't bring himself to kill his own wife, so he'd probably abandon her in the most miserable and gruesome way possible.
Looking at her dead face, Cassius suddenly came to mind.
The man who had burned like a brilliant flame.
'Cassius...'
Renisha rolled the name over in her mouth.
Everyone knew Cassius.
Renisha knew the same.
Cassius was a knight who had been a slave gladiator.
While his exact history remains unknown, he was a man who had risen from that position to become a hero. His vivid golden eyes, ablaze with vitality, were etched into her mind.
Renisha raised her right hand.
"Enough."
"Your Majesty?"
"Take the bathwater. You don't have to serve me."
"But, Your Majesty...!"
The maids and servants murmured.
Their faces seemed fearful that Renisha might make the wrong choice.
Renisha snickered.
When she first heard the news of the Duke and Duchess of Lottera's death, Renisha had made an extreme choice.
Even now, she wore a dazzling array of bracelets to hide the red scars.
Thanks to the maids' quick handling that day, they had managed to clear the matter without the Emperor's knowledge.
She must have been thinking about that day
"I won't do anything stupid anymore. I must find the living and protect them."
Renisha slowly rose to her feet.
She simply wanted to soak in the hot water and be left alone to sort out the situation.
Her mind was in turmoil.
How should she interpret the new card, Cassius, who had entered Renisha's life? ... She had to consider whether Cassius could be used to start a new game.
The maids quickly undressed Renisha.
The servants left the bath, which was so steamy that her vision was blurry.
Renisha immersed herself in the water.
"We still need to watch."
There was a way to abandon everything and run away.
But in this case, she really had to start from the bottom, crawling back up to confront Laxus.
Giving up and leaving wasn't an option for Renisha.
She had to appease the spirits of the Duke and Duchess, who had lost their lives so unjustly.
"What territory will be bestowed upon Cassius? If so...?"
Renisha lowered her eyes.
If it were Laxus, he would surely grant Cassius the most rugged and desolate territory.
Or perhaps some abandoned land.
"If it really is Hiloshine…"
She had a chance.
Renisha's eyes, which had been closed, suddenly opened.
Something intense took hold of her dead pink eyes.
After remaining underwater for a while, Renisha rose. She rang the bell the maids had left behind, and those waiting gathered.
The maids breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Renisha intact.
"Tell them that I want to see the Grand Chamberlain immediately."
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She had a good feeling about this.
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