Mastiff asked.
“Is Emperor Mayer III useless?”
Those swept away by the great changes of the times. Emperor Mayer will be reduced to a monarch representing the collapse of the caste system. While the majority of the capitalist class is aristocrats, their efforts to abolish the caste system may seem like equality and fairness, but they cannot be considered justice. It was more like ambition and greed, a desire to transcend the limitations imposed upon them from birth.
“I promised to make you a useful person.”
Mastiff nodded at Noah's quiet voice. He figured it didn't matter if the plan wasn't solely for his own benefit.
Noah sat with one hand supporting his chin and the other holding a teacup. His upright posture and the air of dignity he exuded suggested a life of noble birth.
Mastiff poured brandy into a crystal goblet. The cup touched Noah's lips and slowly tilted. Mastiff watched him intently. Noah hadn't had a drink since he arrived here.
“Noah, why don’t you tell me more about your plan?”
The drooping eyelashes slowly lifted. Cloudy eyes fixed on Mastiff, and the sound of a teacup being set down was heard. A monotonous response followed.
“Because you don’t know how to play chess.”
Noah leaned over and picked up the bottle of liquor on the table. He refilled Mastiff's empty glass and added coolly.
“You just do what I tell you. It’s up to you to choose whether or not to do it.”
To him, Mastiff was a chess piece heading for checkmate. Mastiff knew this well, but the fact that he needed him was enough.
“Mastiff, an abnormal world requires abnormal methods.1)”
“I know. You and I are both abnormal, so we survived.”
Mastiff fell silent for a moment. The words he couldn't quite utter were tumultuous. Instead of mulling over the words he'd been mulling over, he asked another question.
“Was the woman named Diana precious to you?”
'Was my existence meaningful to you?'
The question he had originally intended to ask ended up buried. Noah smiled brightly and stroked the rim of his teacup.
"Mastiff, you ordered Diana to be killed. I think you would have done it."
“If you're right, will you kill me?”
Noah lowered his eyes and shook his head.
"No."
"When I heard the news of that insignificant maid's death, I was furious. Then I felt so disgusted I almost vomited, and finally, I just didn't care. Were you like that?"
“Well, you and I are different people, you know that?”
Mastiff tilted his head with a puzzled expression. A deep shadow fell over Noah's face. His blue eyes narrowed into crescent moons. Noah's gaze turned to the dimly lit window, as if he were grasping at the end of a fading day.
“Ayla Delson and your child are alive.”
Noah, who had stopped by the palace, was approached by Crown Princess Penelope. She was a beautiful woman with flowing flaxen hair and blue-green eyes. Her darkened eyes, slender neck, and gaunt shoulders belied the loss of her husband, the Crown Prince. She was holding a beautiful baby, who looked just like herself.
“Duke, how have you been?”
“I've been well.”
“The child’s name is Natalie. She is a pretty Princess.”
Penelope smiled faintly as she showed the baby's face.
Noah watched the baby wiggling her tiny fingers, reminding himself of the doll he'd played with as a child. "Her cheeks are pink," he thought to himself, reaching out and gently pressing her soft cheek.
“Whoa.”
The baby smiled brightly and squeezed his finger. Noah's eyes softened as he watched.
“Hello, Natalie.”
"Lord Rotsilt. Could we talk for a moment?"
Penelope asked, placing Natalie in the maid's arms. Noah, who had been following Natalie, who was whining away from her mother, turned his gaze back to Penelope.
“Yes.”
Penelope entered the room and turned sharply toward Noah. She was struggling to hold back her tears.
“Noah, have you seen the last of His Highness the Crown Prince?”
"Yes."
“Really... I.”
Penelope, her head bowed, began to weep. The news of the murder of the man she had spent her entire life with since childhood had left her in shock. She lacked the confidence to protect her child under a mad Emperor. Her lips quivered.
“I didn’t know the Emperor would send his son to the battlefield to die.”
“I know.”
"You were there too, weren't you? Couldn't you have helped him escape? You must have felt a sense of friendship, too."
Penelope asked, pressing her eyes with a handkerchief.
“Was he in pain?”
"So I shot him in the head. He died instantly. He didn't even feel any pain."
“...What are you talking about now?”
“I wanted to tell you that was the best I could do.”
“Are you saying that you were the one who killed His Highness the Crown Prince?”
"Yes."
Penelope's lips trembled, and her face grew increasingly pale. Finally, losing her composure, she grabbed Noah by the collar and hung on.
"Why are you doing this! We were friends! Are you here to kill Natalie, too? I'm her mother. I can't let you do that."
"No."
"But how did you get here? No. The Emperor isn't in his right mind anyway. Just like this crazy world."
Half-conscious, she muttered like a madman, then collapsed to the floor. Outwardly, she appeared still, as if not even breathing, but her inner being was turbulent.
Penelope licked her dry lips.
“What did he say at the end? His last words.”
“I came to tell you that.”
“You’re telling me? You?”
“Tell Natalie I’m sorry, too.”
Penelope's eyes grew blurry, and tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. Noah simply sat on the floor, weeping, and stared down at the poor woman.
"You kill people without hesitation, don't you? You don't understand emotions, you don't empathize. You can't understand the grief of losing a family member, the heartache of losing a loved one forever, even if you die! You know full well that man is a kind person with a soft heart who can't hurt others! How could you kill your childhood friend like that?"
Noah's face was extremely expressionless as he looked at the woman who was screaming and wailing.
"Sorry."
Penelope's heartbroken sobs suddenly ceased at the unexpected apology. She lifted her tear-stained face.
“You’re sorry, are you talking to me?”
"Yes."
"Enough with the superficial apologies you offer without any understanding of others' suffering. When you experience the same thing someday, you'll understand."
Noah slowly turned his gaze. His cloudy blue eyes, filled with loneliness, were fixed somewhere. After a heavy silence, he answered in a low voice laced with a sigh.
“I know, it’s not the same, but I’ve been there.”
He didn't cry at the funeral of his parents, the Duke and Duchess. He greeted the mourners with a gentlemanly smile, so much so that rumors circulated that Prince Rotsilt was "abnormal." Clearly, he seemed perfectly fine then.
Penelope recalled rumors that Princess Medea, whom he had divorced after a short marriage, had died. Most of the Frogenites believed that Noah had pretended to marry the exiled Princess, murdered her, and then returned after achieving his goal.
"Wasn't that the plan from the beginning? You were planning to kill the useless Crown Prince who betrayed your country, kill the Princess of Medea, and then return like a triumphant general."
Penelope viewed the deaths of the Crown Prince and Princess Medea as "a pretext to make a bastard a leader." However, the expression on the man's face before her revealed not a shred of satisfaction or accomplishment. Ijs once sharp eyes darkened and slowly rusted. She had discovered in him a shared pain. Noah shook his head.
"That's not it. She was the first precious person I ever had, and I came here to get her back."
Getting her back? That was an incomprehensible statement.
Penelope, who had lowered her gaze to Noah, swallowed the bitter resentment and curses that were escaping her lips and shut her mouth. The sight of the man she had seen so long ago was terribly unfamiliar.
She slowly rose, leaned back against the armchair, and sighed. Like a Crown Princess, Penelope quickly regained her composure and muttered in a slightly calmer voice.
"His Royal Highness never wanted to hate or harm others, and he longed for peace. Is it normal for a world where losing a colony is all that matters, and the suffering of an individual sacrificing everything for a nation is of no concern? I'm not forgiving you, but I'm sure you're already feeling it deeply, so I'll refrain from expressing further resentment."
Noah slowly raised his head and faced Penelope.
“Penelope, take Princess Natalie and leave.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
"Just because you're my friend too. So I think this is right. If you stay here, you and your daughter will die."
It was a vague statement, with many details omitted, but the implication of death was clear. She had subconsciously anticipated this. Mastiff wouldn't leave Natalie, the heir, alone. But she couldn't understand why the man was trying to help her.
“How can I believe you? A man who shot his friend in the head?”
"I had no choice because there was someone more important to me. When I was little, I'd tear off your doll's arm and turn its head, but I never lied to you, did I?"
He smiled like the innocent boy he once was. Penelope had known him since childhood, and while he had some peculiar and unusual traits, in her personal opinion, he wasn't fundamentally evil.
He was just ignorant in other ways.
It was the Emperor who provoked the Crown Prince by sending him to the front lines and refusing to exchange prisoners, so her husband's death was not really only Noah's fault.
'If you are weak, you will die, and if you hesitate, you will die.'
It was a widespread belief in this country. The Crown Prince, once a kind and compassionate man, was seen here as weak and useless. Lions push their cubs off cliffs, only raising the survivors. It was the same fate for a fawn born to a lion. She bit her lip, reminded of the law of the jungle. Noah added to Penelope, who was lost in thought.
"It was a precious doll your grandmother bought you. I'm sorry it's late."
He always wanted to know what precious things meant. He twisted the doll's neck, which made young Penelope cry. Unlike back then, when his own curiosity was more important than others' feelings, he now had a keen sense of what preciousness meant.
“Noah, you’ve changed.”
Penelope stood up from her listless slump and approached Noah.
“Did you love the Princess?”
“I don’t know yet.”
"Sometimes you act like a clueless kid. I think it's love. I've known you for nearly 20 years, but I've never seen you look like that."
Noah's cloudy blue eyes gazed far out the window beyond Penelope's shoulder. Silent, he pulled a note from inside his coat and handed it to her.
"Go to your parents' house for the time being, then head to the place written on the note. My black-haired friend will take you there safely. He's a resourceful guy, and he's quite well-respected in Capel."
She asked, a worried look on her face, as she fiddled with the note.
"Is the illegitimate son really starting a revolution? A plan to overthrow the Emperor and change the government system."
"Will the Freudian lineage allow a Belford-born bastard to become leader of the Frogen Empire and the Federation? Another war will break out, using legitimacy as a pretext."
“Francia was successful.”
"The King there was incompetent, and the majority of the nation raised the issue. But now, fearing the spread of that revolutionary ideology, the Frogen and the conquering powers invaded and destroyed it."
“In the end, will nothing change?”
"Well, it'll be a long time before we're all dead. I'll be going now, Penelope. Take care, Natalie."
"Noah, even though I hate you now, I don't want you to die. Revenge only transfers the tragedy to another innocent person. So... I mean, I forgive you."
Penelope's voice became muffled as she clenched her fists.
Noah let out a characteristic, faint laugh from the tip of his nose. The Princess, that man's wife, must have loved that gentle laugh and those beautiful eyes. Penelope stood there, clutching the piece of paper tightly, muttering to herself.
“Honey, will Natalie ever be able to live in the world you envisioned?”
She recalled the distant past, when the three of them had played together as children. It was a peaceful, carefree time, just like children should be. Sebastian always longed for those days and hoped his loved ones could live in that peaceful world, too.
Penelope stood still, watching Noah's back as he walked away. It seemed as if even that precarious-looking man, like her husband, would be swept away by the dark tragedy of war and disappear somewhere.
Within a nation, within a smaller class, within an even smaller group of friends and family. Ultimately, people are guided by the choices and destinies of the smallest individuals who make up their entire being. Penelope, anticipating the choice he would make, clasped her hands together in prayer.
"God, I have forgiven him according to your teachings. Please guide my friend on the right path, and may he find peace in the future. And..."
May we be liberated from the pain of loss and despair, even in this way. May the destination of this era be peace.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
1) “Abnormal times may call for unusual methods.” - From the movie Operation Valkyrie. 2008. Bryan Singer.
“Is Emperor Mayer III useless?”
Those swept away by the great changes of the times. Emperor Mayer will be reduced to a monarch representing the collapse of the caste system. While the majority of the capitalist class is aristocrats, their efforts to abolish the caste system may seem like equality and fairness, but they cannot be considered justice. It was more like ambition and greed, a desire to transcend the limitations imposed upon them from birth.
“I promised to make you a useful person.”
Mastiff nodded at Noah's quiet voice. He figured it didn't matter if the plan wasn't solely for his own benefit.
Noah sat with one hand supporting his chin and the other holding a teacup. His upright posture and the air of dignity he exuded suggested a life of noble birth.
Mastiff poured brandy into a crystal goblet. The cup touched Noah's lips and slowly tilted. Mastiff watched him intently. Noah hadn't had a drink since he arrived here.
“Noah, why don’t you tell me more about your plan?”
The drooping eyelashes slowly lifted. Cloudy eyes fixed on Mastiff, and the sound of a teacup being set down was heard. A monotonous response followed.
“Because you don’t know how to play chess.”
Noah leaned over and picked up the bottle of liquor on the table. He refilled Mastiff's empty glass and added coolly.
“You just do what I tell you. It’s up to you to choose whether or not to do it.”
To him, Mastiff was a chess piece heading for checkmate. Mastiff knew this well, but the fact that he needed him was enough.
“Mastiff, an abnormal world requires abnormal methods.1)”
“I know. You and I are both abnormal, so we survived.”
Mastiff fell silent for a moment. The words he couldn't quite utter were tumultuous. Instead of mulling over the words he'd been mulling over, he asked another question.
“Was the woman named Diana precious to you?”
'Was my existence meaningful to you?'
The question he had originally intended to ask ended up buried. Noah smiled brightly and stroked the rim of his teacup.
"Mastiff, you ordered Diana to be killed. I think you would have done it."
“If you're right, will you kill me?”
Noah lowered his eyes and shook his head.
"No."
"When I heard the news of that insignificant maid's death, I was furious. Then I felt so disgusted I almost vomited, and finally, I just didn't care. Were you like that?"
“Well, you and I are different people, you know that?”
Mastiff tilted his head with a puzzled expression. A deep shadow fell over Noah's face. His blue eyes narrowed into crescent moons. Noah's gaze turned to the dimly lit window, as if he were grasping at the end of a fading day.
“Ayla Delson and your child are alive.”
***
Noah, who had stopped by the palace, was approached by Crown Princess Penelope. She was a beautiful woman with flowing flaxen hair and blue-green eyes. Her darkened eyes, slender neck, and gaunt shoulders belied the loss of her husband, the Crown Prince. She was holding a beautiful baby, who looked just like herself.
“Duke, how have you been?”
“I've been well.”
“The child’s name is Natalie. She is a pretty Princess.”
Penelope smiled faintly as she showed the baby's face.
Noah watched the baby wiggling her tiny fingers, reminding himself of the doll he'd played with as a child. "Her cheeks are pink," he thought to himself, reaching out and gently pressing her soft cheek.
“Whoa.”
The baby smiled brightly and squeezed his finger. Noah's eyes softened as he watched.
“Hello, Natalie.”
"Lord Rotsilt. Could we talk for a moment?"
Penelope asked, placing Natalie in the maid's arms. Noah, who had been following Natalie, who was whining away from her mother, turned his gaze back to Penelope.
“Yes.”
Penelope entered the room and turned sharply toward Noah. She was struggling to hold back her tears.
“Noah, have you seen the last of His Highness the Crown Prince?”
"Yes."
“Really... I.”
Penelope, her head bowed, began to weep. The news of the murder of the man she had spent her entire life with since childhood had left her in shock. She lacked the confidence to protect her child under a mad Emperor. Her lips quivered.
“I didn’t know the Emperor would send his son to the battlefield to die.”
“I know.”
"You were there too, weren't you? Couldn't you have helped him escape? You must have felt a sense of friendship, too."
“It didn't work out. I thought someone like the commander would agree to a prisoner exchange.”
“Was he in pain?”
"So I shot him in the head. He died instantly. He didn't even feel any pain."
“...What are you talking about now?”
“I wanted to tell you that was the best I could do.”
“Are you saying that you were the one who killed His Highness the Crown Prince?”
"Yes."
Penelope's lips trembled, and her face grew increasingly pale. Finally, losing her composure, she grabbed Noah by the collar and hung on.
"Why are you doing this! We were friends! Are you here to kill Natalie, too? I'm her mother. I can't let you do that."
"No."
"But how did you get here? No. The Emperor isn't in his right mind anyway. Just like this crazy world."
Half-conscious, she muttered like a madman, then collapsed to the floor. Outwardly, she appeared still, as if not even breathing, but her inner being was turbulent.
Penelope licked her dry lips.
“What did he say at the end? His last words.”
“I came to tell you that.”
“You’re telling me? You?”
“Tell Natalie I’m sorry, too.”
Penelope's eyes grew blurry, and tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. Noah simply sat on the floor, weeping, and stared down at the poor woman.
"You kill people without hesitation, don't you? You don't understand emotions, you don't empathize. You can't understand the grief of losing a family member, the heartache of losing a loved one forever, even if you die! You know full well that man is a kind person with a soft heart who can't hurt others! How could you kill your childhood friend like that?"
Noah's face was extremely expressionless as he looked at the woman who was screaming and wailing.
"Sorry."
Penelope's heartbroken sobs suddenly ceased at the unexpected apology. She lifted her tear-stained face.
“You’re sorry, are you talking to me?”
"Yes."
"Enough with the superficial apologies you offer without any understanding of others' suffering. When you experience the same thing someday, you'll understand."
Noah slowly turned his gaze. His cloudy blue eyes, filled with loneliness, were fixed somewhere. After a heavy silence, he answered in a low voice laced with a sigh.
“I know, it’s not the same, but I’ve been there.”
He didn't cry at the funeral of his parents, the Duke and Duchess. He greeted the mourners with a gentlemanly smile, so much so that rumors circulated that Prince Rotsilt was "abnormal." Clearly, he seemed perfectly fine then.
Penelope recalled rumors that Princess Medea, whom he had divorced after a short marriage, had died. Most of the Frogenites believed that Noah had pretended to marry the exiled Princess, murdered her, and then returned after achieving his goal.
"Wasn't that the plan from the beginning? You were planning to kill the useless Crown Prince who betrayed your country, kill the Princess of Medea, and then return like a triumphant general."
Penelope viewed the deaths of the Crown Prince and Princess Medea as "a pretext to make a bastard a leader." However, the expression on the man's face before her revealed not a shred of satisfaction or accomplishment. Ijs once sharp eyes darkened and slowly rusted. She had discovered in him a shared pain. Noah shook his head.
"That's not it. She was the first precious person I ever had, and I came here to get her back."
Getting her back? That was an incomprehensible statement.
Penelope, who had lowered her gaze to Noah, swallowed the bitter resentment and curses that were escaping her lips and shut her mouth. The sight of the man she had seen so long ago was terribly unfamiliar.
She slowly rose, leaned back against the armchair, and sighed. Like a Crown Princess, Penelope quickly regained her composure and muttered in a slightly calmer voice.
"His Royal Highness never wanted to hate or harm others, and he longed for peace. Is it normal for a world where losing a colony is all that matters, and the suffering of an individual sacrificing everything for a nation is of no concern? I'm not forgiving you, but I'm sure you're already feeling it deeply, so I'll refrain from expressing further resentment."
Noah slowly raised his head and faced Penelope.
“Penelope, take Princess Natalie and leave.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
"Just because you're my friend too. So I think this is right. If you stay here, you and your daughter will die."
It was a vague statement, with many details omitted, but the implication of death was clear. She had subconsciously anticipated this. Mastiff wouldn't leave Natalie, the heir, alone. But she couldn't understand why the man was trying to help her.
“How can I believe you? A man who shot his friend in the head?”
"I had no choice because there was someone more important to me. When I was little, I'd tear off your doll's arm and turn its head, but I never lied to you, did I?"
He smiled like the innocent boy he once was. Penelope had known him since childhood, and while he had some peculiar and unusual traits, in her personal opinion, he wasn't fundamentally evil.
He was just ignorant in other ways.
It was the Emperor who provoked the Crown Prince by sending him to the front lines and refusing to exchange prisoners, so her husband's death was not really only Noah's fault.
'If you are weak, you will die, and if you hesitate, you will die.'
It was a widespread belief in this country. The Crown Prince, once a kind and compassionate man, was seen here as weak and useless. Lions push their cubs off cliffs, only raising the survivors. It was the same fate for a fawn born to a lion. She bit her lip, reminded of the law of the jungle. Noah added to Penelope, who was lost in thought.
"It was a precious doll your grandmother bought you. I'm sorry it's late."
He always wanted to know what precious things meant. He twisted the doll's neck, which made young Penelope cry. Unlike back then, when his own curiosity was more important than others' feelings, he now had a keen sense of what preciousness meant.
“Noah, you’ve changed.”
Penelope stood up from her listless slump and approached Noah.
“Did you love the Princess?”
“I don’t know yet.”
"Sometimes you act like a clueless kid. I think it's love. I've known you for nearly 20 years, but I've never seen you look like that."
Noah's cloudy blue eyes gazed far out the window beyond Penelope's shoulder. Silent, he pulled a note from inside his coat and handed it to her.
"Go to your parents' house for the time being, then head to the place written on the note. My black-haired friend will take you there safely. He's a resourceful guy, and he's quite well-respected in Capel."
She asked, a worried look on her face, as she fiddled with the note.
"Is the illegitimate son really starting a revolution? A plan to overthrow the Emperor and change the government system."
"Will the Freudian lineage allow a Belford-born bastard to become leader of the Frogen Empire and the Federation? Another war will break out, using legitimacy as a pretext."
“Francia was successful.”
"The King there was incompetent, and the majority of the nation raised the issue. But now, fearing the spread of that revolutionary ideology, the Frogen and the conquering powers invaded and destroyed it."
“In the end, will nothing change?”
"Well, it'll be a long time before we're all dead. I'll be going now, Penelope. Take care, Natalie."
"Noah, even though I hate you now, I don't want you to die. Revenge only transfers the tragedy to another innocent person. So... I mean, I forgive you."
Penelope's voice became muffled as she clenched her fists.
Noah let out a characteristic, faint laugh from the tip of his nose. The Princess, that man's wife, must have loved that gentle laugh and those beautiful eyes. Penelope stood there, clutching the piece of paper tightly, muttering to herself.
“Honey, will Natalie ever be able to live in the world you envisioned?”
She recalled the distant past, when the three of them had played together as children. It was a peaceful, carefree time, just like children should be. Sebastian always longed for those days and hoped his loved ones could live in that peaceful world, too.
Penelope stood still, watching Noah's back as he walked away. It seemed as if even that precarious-looking man, like her husband, would be swept away by the dark tragedy of war and disappear somewhere.
Within a nation, within a smaller class, within an even smaller group of friends and family. Ultimately, people are guided by the choices and destinies of the smallest individuals who make up their entire being. Penelope, anticipating the choice he would make, clasped her hands together in prayer.
"God, I have forgiven him according to your teachings. Please guide my friend on the right path, and may he find peace in the future. And..."
May we be liberated from the pain of loss and despair, even in this way. May the destination of this era be peace.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
1) “Abnormal times may call for unusual methods.” - From the movie Operation Valkyrie. 2008. Bryan Singer.
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