<strong>Chapter 113: The Hound</strong>
*
Hearing her words, I asked Serpina over and over again if it was true.
I thought it could be possible, but when it actually happened, I couldn’t believe it.
“What would I gain by lying to you?”
Serpina said, smiling again.
It didn’t seem like she was testing my reaction with a lie.
“Looking like a discarded hound.”
“A hound…”
Hearing that made me sigh even more.
“I was never… Yuri’s hound to begin with.”
After all, she never made use of me.
Though my time there wasn’t long, I spent more time teaching Reika than on any mission.
That’s why I felt I had more leisure time there than when I was under Lynn.
Leaving Serpina without an answer, I took stock of the situation.
So, Yuri has ultimately discarded me for Anima.
She might not have known about Reika being with me, but she knew Airen was accompanying me as a guard.
Even so, to make such a decision meant-
Both Airen and I… in her eyes, we were less than Anima.
It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
The bond among the Aeshers Five was impenetrable.
Yuri, Anima, Emma, Epinel, Ernandorf.
From the start, the country of Aeshers Army was determined by those five.
Adding to this, let’s be frank.
I had no intention of saying I was devastated or questioning how Yuri could do this to me.
From the beginning, I had never sincerely served her as my lord.
She was just a passage in my journey, and my heart was always with Lunarien.
I didn’t want to play the tragic victim now. Doing so would undoubtedly shatter something within me.
Airen probably felt the same, so there was no great regret.
Having frequently rewarded her during my service, I owed her no debt of gratitude.
If anything concerned me, it was Reika.
Unlike Airen and me, she wasn’t a warrior, just an ordinary woman who could use magic.
Saying she’s ordinary might be stretching it due to her magic, but she wasn’t a state servant, so there was no reason for her to be detained here with me.
If she wishes… it would be best to safely send her back.
Being Jinor’s adopted daughter, they wouldn’t dare touch her.
As I was assessing the situation, Serpina’s voice reached me again.
“So, what will you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s right.”
Did she want to hear me officially declare my defeat?
Though a perverse hobby, absolute rulers like her often fixated on such trivialities.
Well, I managed well enough under Lynn, so I’d probably manage here too.
“Haven’t I told you? I lost the bet I proposed. As promised, I will become Serpina’s faithful servant.”
Would this response suffice?
“Faithful servant” might have been a bit over the top, but then Serpina surprised me with an unexpected response.
“That’s not what I was asking.”
“…?”
“Swen, I’m asking about your intentions.”
When I asked if she meant my intentions regarding serving under her, she replied,
“Didn’t you tell me before? That if you were to be won over, it couldn’t be through coercion.”
“That’s true, but…”
“I’ve said it multiple times. I want you. I want you to deeply pledge loyalty to me, believing I am a sovereign worthy of your service. What point is there in winning a contest and forcing you to kneel at my feet?”
Hearing this left me in a peculiar mood-
Completely, utterly astonished.
For someone rumored to be a tyrant, her approach to handling subordinates was remarkably straightforward.
One might think she’d act more whimsically given her position.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I bluntly asked,
“If I were to change my answer here, saying I cannot serve under you, what would you do?”
“I’d send you back to Balhart Castle.”
“And what of Anima?”
“I’d release her. I said I would do so if I won the bet.”
“But then, wouldn’t you, Serpina, gain nothing from capturing a prisoner?”
Hearing this, Serpina approached me again.
The scent of her perfume, which I now recognized as yuzu, assaulted my nose once more.
Now I understand. This scent is yuzu.
“Foolish talk. Haven’t you seen everything with your own eyes?”
Despite having her motives exposed, she didn’t falter and smiled enchantingly again.
“Didn’t you watch how I made my decision in this contest? To me… Swen, your gaze remains. The way you look at me.”
“!!!”
“Even if you leave my side, you will always remember this moment. That alone is enough gain for me, don’t you think?”
Wow.
This is dizzying.
I genuinely thought, “Serpina is someone worth serving.”
Beyond her sophisticated beauty, her royal Aingart bloodline, her background, and her nickname “the Tyrant”…
The title that suits her best at this moment is – the Absolute Ruler.
I had to admit it.
Of all the sovereigns I’ve met, the one closest to being an Absolute Ruler was Serpina standing before me.
Not even Lynn Brans, with her charisma and madness that could control a crowd, nor Yuri Brans, who would abandon everything for her sworn siblings, could match the weight of the crown of an Absolute Ruler.
Only someone like Serpina, who could speak so candidly, might bear it.
In that brief moment, she made me think such incredible thoughts.
A regular person might have sworn fealty to her by now, but I think I understand why she can act so leisurely.
“Remarkable, Serpina. If you treat those you wish to recruit with such respect, indeed, anyone would want to dedicate their loyalty wholeheartedly.”
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?”
“Well, at this moment, technically, I don’t really have a choice.”
“I gave you a choice, didn’t I?”
“It may seem so, but hear me out.”
Sure, taking the situation at face value, she was correct.
But having been discarded once, I couldn’t choose to return.
Even if Anima and I were released and returned to Aeshers Army-
Would Yuri welcome me back?
Could I live there peacefully day by day?
Yuri might sincerely apologize, but I’d always be walking on eggshells.
After openly trading me away, my existence would inherently be an obstacle to them.
It would continuously remind them of that situation.
It’s highly probable that Epinel and others tried to “fix” the situation by lying that “Swen was already killed.”
After making such a speech justifying their decision to cut ties, my presence would only further mess things up.
Naturally, they’d try to get rid of me somehow.
So, essentially, I had no other choice but to join Serpina.
Actually, resigning might be an option, but as a mere envoy with only the diplomatic gold to my name, figuring out how to sustain myself, let alone find a place to live, was daunting.
There were three mouths to feed, including me. It was a perfect storm.
And-
“I believe someone of your
stature, Serpina, would surely be aware of this.”
There were other reasons, of course.
I can predict accurately within the scope of national or warfare-related issues, but I’m no magician or seer like Jinor thinks.
With my abilities, there’s no way I could outmaneuver Epinel’s strategies.
Even if Jinor protected me, who knew when my life might be in danger.
So, my conclusion was singular.
Obviously, she couldn’t have known all these detailed circumstances about me-
But at the very least, she must have deduced that returning would put me in a difficult position.
“…That’s what I think, but what about you?”
“So, you’re saying, while it may seem like you’re being merciful, it’s really not the case?”
“That’s right.”
After hearing my explanation, she smiled again as if amused.
Every time she smiled at me, her golden eyes seemed to soak me through.
“I see why Yuri didn’t use you as a hound, Swen.”
“What do you mean?”
“A hound that doesn’t serve its master but rather might turn on them is loved by no one in this world. Deep insight sometimes turns against its owner.”
Is that how you take it?
Acknowledging my abilities while simultaneously highlighting my unchosen status, she never let the conversation’s control slip from her grasp.
Even after having her motives laid bare, her unflappable demeanor forced me to respect her anew.
If there hadn’t been a prediction that “Lunarien would unite the continent.”
And if I, with a prediction success rate of 100%, hadn’t possessed prior knowledge of the game without such abilities-
I would have unhesitatingly bet everything on her.
“Swen.”
She gently lifted my chin with two fingers.
An action that could feel extremely humiliating to some…
But her beauty, the scent of yuzu emanating from her, and her aura all consoled me enough not to feel too aggrieved.
“Yuri might not have been able to use you as a hound, but I am different. I can harbor your talent. I am confident I can do so. Come under my command. I will dye your body and soul with golden hues. I ask you once more. What will you do? Can you become my faithful hound?”
Truthfully.
I hadn’t thought about joining Serpina’s army.
I planned to spend time in Brans’s army until the situation clarified, and after learning Lunarien was destined to be the unifying monarch, the current allegiance seemed irrelevant.
But, if being transferred to Serpina’s army was the result predicted by my intelligence of 100-
“I understand.”
I looked into Serpina’s eyes and said,
“From today onwards, I, Swen, will become your loyal hound.”
Having been recommended to Lunarien, witnessing the downfall of my country, joining Brans’s army, betraying Lynn, and ultimately being discarded to end up sold to Serpina.
A general who changes sovereigns like changing clothes.
Regardless of the context, just by the sentence, my life seems remarkably tragic.
*
Exiting the room and walking down the guesthouse corridor-
Suddenly, I felt the urge to ask her a question.
“Sovereign.”
“Speak.”
“It might be presumptuous, but… just in case, I thought to ask.”
She stopped without turning around, signaling she was willing to listen.
“Have we… met before?”
There was no response, but I continued my question.
“Not necessarily face-to-face, but perhaps just seeing each other. Maybe in a dream… or somewhere similar.”
To an outsider, it was a bizarre inquiry, but what could I do? It was the only way I could ask.
Just as Serpina had appeared in my dreams, I wondered if I had appeared in hers. If so, maybe she’d be slightly surprised.
At least from the back, she seemed utterly unfazed.
“I’ve heard rumors. A white-haired man performed mysterious feats against our army. It was unbelievable even to me until I saw it with my own eyes.”
Turning to face me, she looked directly into my eyes.
“But this is the first time seeing your face.”
“I see.”
“Is that answer sufficient?”
When I said yes, she turned and walked away again.
“Maybe it was just in my dreams?”
Considering I thought there was something since she knew my name from the start…
But her reaction suggested it wasn’t the case.
Was the name just circulating as a rumor?
While she might be lying, she clearly didn’t intend to tell me more, so I couldn’t press further.
“Maybe more time by her side will naturally reveal the answer?”
My prediction, the reason I was sent here, must have a purpose.
With that thought, I followed my new golden-haired sovereign down the corridor.
