Nighttime.
"That's a relief."
Having heard Ludwig's story, Christina closed the book and silently nodded.
Almost everyone in the camp had fallen asleep after the day's march.
Inside a portable tent, Christina was talking with Ludwig and two others.
Everyone, except Christina, had grim expressions on their faces.
Ludwig, in particular, seemed unable to forgive himself for what he had done and hung his head.
They had essentially decided to confine their friend, until everything was resolved.
No matter how much they did it for Scarlett's safety, she had to endure confinement without any explanation, not knowing where she was or how long she would be there.
The expressions of Louis, Anna, and Ludwig were grim, but Christina's was slightly different.
"Hmm…"
There was definitely a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
"Scarlett agreed to do as we said, so what's the problem?"
Louis Ancton asked Christina with a slightly sharp tone.
After all, it was Christina who had suggested confining Scarlett, and everything had been carried out according to Christina's will.
"Don't be so sensitive. This was necessary."
Louis Ancton gritted his teeth.
Eventually, someone had to make a decision.
Christina was merely playing that role.
"Did Scarlett seem off to you?"
"If it was off, then what?"
Ludwig couldn't hide his discomfort at Christina's seemingly suspicious question.
"No, I mean, anything at all."
"Nothing."
Ludwig cut off Christina's question as if it wasn't worth considering.
At Ludwig's words, Christina sighed.
"I know I'm a bitch, but why do you guys seem more emotional than me?"
Christina's gaze turned cold.
"Do you think this is a time for petty arguments or emotional fights? The Immortals may be the most powerful army, but Scarlett is the only person who can instantly and perfectly neutralize them. With the Immortals alone, we can kill the empire and the demon king, but they can't even inflict a minor wound on Scarlett."
If Scarlett wanted to, she could erase the Immortals as easily as erasing with a rubber eraser.
"So what are you getting at? That we should suspect Scarlett?"
At Louis's words, Christina clenched her teeth.
"I'm grateful that Scarlett followed our instructions, but is it so strange for me to say we should be prepared for anything?"
"…"
"We're not the only ones who know about Scarlett's power. Adelia knew from the beginning."
"No way… now even Adelia?"
"Who do you think Adelia is with right now!"
"!"
"Have you already forgotten who the daughter of Duke Saint Owan is?"
When Christina raised her voice, the others finally realized that what she was saying was true.
It wasn't Adelia they were doubting.
It was the other three who were emotional, not Christina.
Feeling wretched for confining their friend, they hadn't been thinking about what they should have.
"The Holy Order has already fallen to the demon king. The Alliance is slowly turning everyone to their side, but don't you think Duke Saint Owan is an exception? Duke Saint Owan has undoubtedly, almost certainly, sided with the demon king. He may have even joined that side before the Holy Order!"
As the Demon King began to show signs of movement, it was inevitable that he would make contact with Archduke Saint Owan.
It was a matter that could be understood without seeing it with one's own eyes.
Discussing the possibility of Archduke Saint Owan not siding with the Demon King was a ridiculous endeavor.
"The Demon King must be diligently searching for a way to neutralize the Immortals. Even if he knows the method right now, he won't use it immediately, but he will definitely want to have it in his grasp."
The side that absolutely had to use Scarlett's power.
The side that absolutely had to block Scarlett's power.
All of them must have started to move as soon as they confirmed that information.
It was rather strange that Archduke Saint Owan did not side with the Demon King, and it was only natural that the Demon King would have acted.
However, the result showed that Ludwig was faster.
"If we were faster, that would be a strange situation in itself."
Though the other party could have moved faster, the side that obtained the information later ended up being faster.
"No matter how quickly Scarlett returned to the temple, if those bastards were in collusion with Bertus, entering the temple would be no problem."
Everyone realized from Christina's words that they were more emotional than Christina herself and had failed to reach the obvious conclusion.
"But in the end… Scarlett is… being… protected… by our side…"
Anna said, her face distorted as if using the word "protection" left her with a miserable feeling.
Was it truly protection?
Wasn't it more like imprisonment and surveillance?
However, there was some truth to Anna's argument that there was no need to doubt, since Scarlett was ultimately in their custody.
"Yes, it's definitely fortunate. It's a lucky thing. But… that's why I'm asking. We must eliminate even the slightest possibility."
Christina looked towards Ludwig.
"Didn't you feel anything strange?"
Ludwig was the only one who had faced Scarlett directly.
If something was off, he was the only one who could confirm it.
Ludwig pondered.
Was it strange, or not?
Scarlett was undoubtedly terrified in the midst of an unknown situation.
She had said she needed time to think.
Then, after a brief moment of thought, she decided to follow Ludwig.
And so, in the end, Scarlett was taken.
Ludwig had a dangerous thought, wondering if Scarlett might have disappeared during that brief moment.
However, in the end, Scarlett had merely gone to the library to fetch a book and had not vanished.
She returned, dragging a large trunk.
Was that strange?
"…"
Should he be suspicious of such behavior?
It couldn't be called strange, but there was something.
He hadn't checked what was inside the trunk.
But should he have opened it and searched it, even though it probably only contained clothes or books?
Scarlett, who had accepted being confined without any explanation, was for her own good.
Was it really right to doubt her?
"No, there was nothing."
Ludwig's answer remained the same.
Christina asked.
"Are you sure?"
If they had to doubt Scarlett any further, it would be better to be betrayed.
"I'm sure."
Ludwig came to that conclusion.
However.
"That has to be the truth."
Under Christina's threatening gaze, Ludwig no longer had any response.
——
The Imperial Capital.
Imperial City Emperatos.
Central Palace Tetra.
"Now, it seems that everything is slipping out of my hands."
"Your Majesty."
"I may be able to control the Immortals for now, and the Allied Forces as well…"
The distance between the heart of the empire and the Allied Forces was great.
But that physical distance could be reduced at any time.
The Allied Forces could always be observed and manipulated as if they were in the palm of one's hand.
However, after the Demon King revealed his demonic power, the situation changed rapidly, and the Allied Forces were moving into an area beyond the Emperor's sight.
It was a natural phenomenon.
From the beginning, it was a situation induced not by the Demon King but by Bertus.
He had given the signal that it was time to start, and they had begun to move accordingly.
However, since the beginning of that induction, the situation was slipping out of Bertus's hands.
The Allied Forces were now physically and politically distant from the Emperor.
The leadership of the Allied Forces was in turmoil, and they would gradually be devoured by the Demon King.
The Immortals followed the Emperor's orders for the time being, but once everything reached its destination, they would no longer belong to the Emperor.
The empire was gradually losing power.
Saviolin Turner looked sternly at the Emperor, who had designed and orchestrated the situation to deliberately lose everything.
The Emperor was constantly losing something.
No.
To be precise, he was letting go of something.
One by one.
One by one.
He was not designing and arranging the situation to gain something, but to let go of something.
The Emperor had not yet lost everything.
"Your Majesty still holds Shanafel and the Imperial Mage Corps. You have not lost everything."
The Emperor had too much to let go of all at once.
The Immortals were a very powerful army, but the empire had Shanafel and the Imperial Mage Corps. Those two forces were also formidable armies that could not be ignored.
Upon hearing Saviolin Turner's words, Bertus stared at her.
"That's the problem."
It was not a relief.
Rather, it was a problem, as the Emperor said, and Turner bit her lip.
"Why do I have to drag so many people down with me, even though I don't want to?"
The Emperor smirked.
The Emperor had too much, and some things could not be let go of, even if he wanted to.
The Emperor had a lot.
Some things could not be abandoned.
So.
The Emperor could not die alone, even if he wanted to.
"Lady Turner."
"…"
"If I asked you to disappear with the Imperial Mage Corps and Shanafel, would you do it?"
At those words, Saviolin Turner clenched her eyes shut.
"I don't understand… why it has to be like this. Why… you have to do this…"
Saviolin Turner had been a knight who had dedicated her entire life to the empire.
She had no other way to live.
She was someone who knew nothing of a life beyond that.
The Emperor's last command to such a knight was to abandon the empire.
In the end, clear tears began to flow between her tightly closed eyes.
"Your Majesty is too young. I don't understand why you have to bear such a burden… why it has to be you…"
What did being young and mature have to do with being an emperor?
An emperor must be an emperor.
Saviolin Turner, who had served the empire closely for a long time, knew how absurd her words were.
It was just regrettable.
He had dreamed of becoming an emperor, but he had not become one in the way he had wished.
Bertus had suddenly become an emperor without a proper coronation amidst the chaos of war.
The crown prince, who had longed to be an emperor, had fulfilled his wish to become one.
However, he had only become the emperor of an empire on the verge of collapse.
The last wish of such an emperor was singular.
To become the last emperor of humanity.
"Do you really need a reason to stay on a sinking ship until the end?"
When everyone was abandoning the ship, why did she have to stay on it until the end?
The last emperor of a vanishing nation.
Where could there be a reason to become a loyal subject in that grave?
The last emperor of the Gardias Royal Family.
He would be remembered as a dark tyrant in history, never to be repeated.