Chapter 537
Heinrich refused to join them, but that didn't mean he would be left to die.
Therefore, Sarkegaar continued to report on the situation at the Kernstadt garrison, and I was also keeping an eye on things.
Believing that an assassination was likely, I followed them with Harriet.
It seemed that Louise von Schwarz would lay a hand on Heinrich, but quite unexpectedly, she ended up killing her own siblings.
Moreover, I could hear the shocking truth that the illegitimate child was indeed Louise's, not the king's.
Charlotte had said this when she heard about the assassination attempt on Heinrich.
'Louise von Schwarz couldn't possibly be involved in such foolishness.'
The siblings conspired to assassinate Heinrich.
It wasn't a conspiracy of all the siblings, but rather the second and third siblings, or perhaps the independent actions of either one.
Louise von Schwarz was a person entirely unrelated to the original incident.
She lost her son due to her siblings' foolishness.
And whether she knew the truth or not, she was executed alongside her siblings under the emperor's wrath.
In the original work, there were moments that passed too quickly, with reasons and hidden stories that I didn't know.
It was the same this time as well.
Charlotte's suspicion that Heinrich might be an illegitimate child.
And the truth that the child was indeed illegitimate but belonged to the princess, not the king and queen.
While there were events that hadn't happened in the original work, Louise von Schwarz did not stand idly by but killed her siblings with her own hands.
I don't know what triggered this: which event, emotion, or circumstance.
However, Heinrich survived.
Louise von Schwarz, who was thought to be one of the main culprits, was actually the person who had to protect Heinrich.
Seeing her devastated after killing her siblings, it seemed she was shocked by her own actions.
In the original work, Louise couldn't choose between her siblings and Heinrich.
As a result of her indecision, Heinrich died, and she too perished.
But now, Louise had made a choice.
I don't know what excuse she, as the commander of the Kernstadt forces, will make for her siblings' deaths.
Although the deceased had their roles and problems would arise, it was a better situation than Louise or Heinrich dying.
Staying put would be enough.
It truly was enough just to stay put.
The changed world showed a different development, but I couldn't know specifically how and what had changed to lead to this outcome.
Harriet and I left the abandoned warehouse area and hid in a nearby forest.
"I don't know what happened, but… it's alright, isn't it?"
"Yes, it seems we don't need to worry any further."
Harriet nodded at my words.
We knew who really intended to kill Heinrich, and Louise intervened.
There would be issues and complications, but Heinrich's life was no longer in danger.
If Louise von Schwarz had been the actual monster, things would have become more complicated. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
However, we learned of a more complex family situation.
The definite advice of the oracle was that the changed world would show a changed ending, so we should just watch.
I couldn't help but understand the ambiguous advice of the oracle as well.
"That's right… The fact that Heinrich has been alive until now… It actually doesn't make sense…"
"What do you mean?"
"If Heinrich really were the king's illegitimate child, there would be no need to accept him into the royal family."
The queen was not a person of high enough standing to acknowledge a bastard child.
Charlotte suspected that it might have been the stubbornness of the King of Kernstadt that had forced the situation.
Even some members of the royal family went so far as to try to kill Heinrich.
But in the end, all they did was banish him to the temple.
It was strange that Heinrich was alive in the first place.
"Louise von Schwarz must have tried her best to save Heinrich…that's what happened."
"…I guess so."
How Louise von Schwarz gave birth to Heinrich and how that secret has been kept until now is unknown.
But even the other royals had no idea that Louise had a bastard child.
Only the king, queen, and Louise herself would have known for sure.
During past incidents, Louise would have pleaded.
Please, do not kill him.
Just let him live outside of our sight.
Perhaps such a deal had taken place.
The only reason a bastard who would be better off dead survived this long was because he was the son of Louise von Schwarz, who had the most outstanding qualities in the history of the Schwarz royal family.
Just as Louise had tried her best to use her status and position to save Heinrich.
Heinrich's very existence might have been a gag for Louise in some way.
They might have held Heinrich's life hostage to control Louise's actions.
Heinrich would have been used by the current King of Kernstadt to manipulate the first princess.
That's why he survived.
If Heinrich died, they couldn't predict the actions of the kingdom's heirs.
Why did Heinrich survive?
If he was just a king's bastard, he would have died long ago. It's an obvious situation, so how could he have survived this long?
It's because there was a use and need for Heinrich.
Heinrich was precious to Louise.
Heinrich was useful to the royal family.
If I had realized the truth, I would have known that Louise von Schwarz could not be the culprit, and I could have resolved this matter more easily or just stood by.
The oracle's guidance was of that nature.
And the oracle's guidance had the potential to bring about both good and bad outcomes.
The good outcome would be that Heinrich's assassination had been averted without major bloodshed.
The bad outcome would, of course, be the other issues that might arise from this situation.
Those issues could potentially lead to more bad outcomes.
"What will…happen?"
"Indeed."
Bad things can happen at any time on a battlefield.
Therefore, predicting them was meaningless.
——
Heinrich had always thought that his siblings twisted his words, no matter what he said.
But, the same applied to himself.
‘Ah, you're here, youngest. Take a seat.’
‘There must be a reason for the siblings to gather. Your affiliation is not with our army, so it's hard to see your face. I called you to have a meal together.’
‘Will you return to Kernstadt when this situation is resolved?’
‘That's a shame, really.’
‘You must be tired. Go ahead and rest first.’
In hindsight, she was just a woman of few words.
There was no difference between the other siblings and himself when it came to attributing too much meaning to her words and feeling upset on their own.
He just didn't know.
He couldn't help but face her, carrying complex emotions after such a long time apart.
He didn't know how to deal with someone he had no choice but to face with such mixed feelings.
All he could think of were those words, and nothing else came to mind.
Naturally a taciturn person, he could only say so much when his heart was weighed down by even more complicated emotions.
It was merely a misunderstanding of those few words he could muster from his tangled heart.
He was no different from his other siblings.
And in the end, unable to bear watching her other two brothers make extreme choices, Louise made another extreme choice of her own – to kill her brothers with her own hands.
"…"
"…"
On their way back to the garrison.
The horses walked slowly, and no conversation passed between Heinrich and Louise.
Because she had killed her brothers with her own hands, Louise's complexion had turned deathly pale, and Heinrich, who had witnessed the scene and heard the shocking truth, was in no better state.
No conversation passed between them.
It was not a situation for conversation, and nothing had been settled yet.
A person who had much to say.
A person who had many questions.
None could speak a word.
"I'm sorry. For everything. All of it."
The two horses walked quietly.
"It's all… my fault."
In the end, that was the only apology Louise could barely manage.
——
The two princes of Kernstadt had died. Not executed publicly, but assassinated by Louise von Schwarz's arbitrary decision.
It was illegal and procedurally unjust.
The information Louise von Schwarz shared with the army was simple.
Missing.
The two princes had their own forces as well.
However, they were no match for Louise von Schwarz.
It could be a desertion disguised as a disappearance for the honor of the Schwarz royal family, and most of the high-ranking officers knew there were undisclosed details.
But Louise offered no explanation.
As Emperor Bertus had said, it was a war for a greater cause.
The disappearance or desertion of the two princes.
Or their death.
It was a significant problem, but Commander Louise von Schwarz was alive and well.
The void left by the two princes could somehow be filled by reorganizing the command structure.
Ultimately, the two irreplaceable beings had survived, and the two replaceable beings had tried to kill the youngest, fearing their own positions would become unstable.
Therefore, the void left by the relatively weaker two princes could be filled easily.
Emperor Bertus knew what had happened but made no mention of it.
Since the Emperor remained silent, the high command, who were aware of the suspicious circumstances, also kept silent.
Though the Kernstadt army was in disarray due to the sudden disappearance of the two princes, it wasn't enough to cause a rift.
Even with two legs lost, the head was still alive, so there was no fighting over who would be the next head.
The allied forces left Senkelien and began to march towards the next operation site.
Although the situation had settled for the time being, the relationship that had changed could not be turned back.
Once a secret is revealed, it cannot be undone.
The assassination threat had disappeared, and Heinrich learned that he was the child of his elder sister.
"…"
"…"
The relationship between the two hadn't worsened.
She had to kill her brothers with her own hands to protect her child and even lie about it.
Louise von Schwarz killed her brothers to protect her child.
They just didn't know what to say to each other.
Not knowing how to rebuild their relationship from the beginning or what bricks of words to stack.
A person who had given birth but never lived as a parent.
A person who had been born but never experienced having parents.
Neither knew how to rebuild this misaligned relationship from the beginning.
Louise and Heinrich had not exchanged any conversation since then.
Beyond work-related discussions, there was no personal interaction.
Until recently, they at least exchanged customary greetings, but now even that had ceased.
Despite knowing that they could never be strangers to one another, for some reason, Heinrich felt as if they had become even less than that.
Beside Louise, who led the army and drove the horses without conversation, was Heinrich.
Suddenly, Louise tensed her whole body as a voice invaded her mind.
'I have something to report to the commander.'
"…What is it?"
Telepathy.
Just as Heinrich received messages from the general command via Evia's telepathy, commanders of each unit also received the general command's intentions through telepathy.
It wasn't that messengers or communication magic were not used, but telepathy was immediate and fast since it didn't require magical tools.
Of course, many officers found the sensation of this unannounced telepathy quite unpleasant. As a result, a considerable number of people had their adjutants receive the telepathy instead.
Louise von Schwarz found the telepathy quite uncomfortable.
It felt like an invasion of her personal space.
She experienced a strange sensation, as if someone were witnessing something no one else should be able to see.
However, Louise was not one to pass this on to someone else.
'The small warp gate in Lagirian, which was the next target, has already been destroyed, so the alliance will continue to advance to the Seta location instead of the next planned garrison.'
"Hmm… Understood. Carry on."
'Yes, Commander.'
Heinrich realized that Louise had received telepathy when he heard her murmuring.
Louise looked at Heinrich.
"The next operation area has already been cleared. That's why we continue to advance."
"I see…"
Though they didn't engage in personal conversation, they had to have these dry exchanges due to their positions.
Heinrich quietly watched as Louise informed her adjutants of the army-wide broadcast. He observed the messengers riding between the marching armies to relay the new operation changes to each unit commander.
Louise gazed at the endless procession of marching troops.
Not having to face death in battle at the next operation area would be a good thing.
But the extended march was just another hardship for the soldiers who had to walk the distance.
Louise pondered what would be better and couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.
The Emperor, Bertus.
It was Bertus who had personally told her that if she didn't kill her brothers, Heinrich would be murdered.
What would have happened if the two had known that their youngest brother Heinrich was actually their illegitimate nephew?
'Perhaps they would have wanted to kill him even more.'
Louise had never married.
If Louise von Schwarz died in this war, the eldest son, German von Schwarz, would become the next heir to the throne since Louise had no official children.
Deep down, he might have hoped for her own death.
Now that she had realized how foolish and short-sighted her brothers were, that suspicion had turned into certainty.
If Louise von Schwarz died during the war, German would become the next heir to the Schwarz royal family.
If that happened, perhaps Alphonse, who could never have dreamt of becoming the heir, would have been jealous of his brother and tried to kill him to inherit the throne.
Without Heinrich, could German have tried to kill her instead? Then, would Alphonse have killed German, and the Schwarz royal throne would have gone to Alphonse?
"…"
Louise found it amusing that she would even entertain such thoughts.
Attempting to weigh the foolishness of her brothers after killing them with her own hands was nothing more than self-justification for their deserving deaths.
There were choices and consequences.
She killed her brothers because they had tried to kill her child.
In exchange, the child survived.
All other judgments were meaningless.
She never managed to have any real conversation with the child.
It couldn't be right to leave things like this.
How she had resisted the urge to abandon everything, knowing what had happened, why it had happened, and what words had been exchanged. How many times her life had been weighed on the scales.
How many days she had swallowed her tears, thinking only of how well the child would fare at the temple, while living a life forced upon her.
Louise wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn't bring herself to speak, fearing that it would only come off as an excuse for not fulfilling her parental duties.
When the war ends…
Will they be able to talk once everything is settled?
After the veil of darkness shrouding humanity's fate has been lifted, will they be able to share all their stories?
The battlefield was too heavy a place for sharing stories of sorrow and pain.
And so, the only story they could share now was that of the war.
"Youngest one…"
Louise opened her mouth to speak but found herself tongue-tied.
Was it appropriate to call him the youngest?
But she couldn't call him her son. In this situation, with watchful eyes and attentive ears, wasn't it impossible to raise the subject of her illegitimate child, just as it was for the eldest sister to call the youngest her son?
However, it seemed as if Heinrich understood her, looking at Louise.
"Yes, Sister."
"…"
Things they knew but couldn't say.
His expression showed that he understood well enough. Louise felt miserable and bit her lip slightly.
But it was a conversation about the war, their current situation.
They couldn't avoid discussing it just because of petty matters.
"Do you think you're close to Emperor Bertus?"
At the mention of the Emperor's name, Heinrich fell silent for a moment.
"To be honest… I don't think I am close to him. However, we did spend time together in the same class at the temple…"
"I see."
Had it not been for Emperor Bertus' words, Louise might have failed to weigh her brothers' foolishness and lost Heinrich.
The Emperor knew that Heinrich was her illegitimate child and even knew the name of the man she had once loved.
But that wasn't the issue Louise was currently pondering.
"The Supreme Command is hiding something."
The excessively rapid advance, the abnormal weather on the level of natural disasters, and the preemption of operational zones.
Only good things were happening to the Allied Forces.
Ellen Artorius, Saviolin Turner, Shanafel, and the royal mages.
They might have achieved this speed by pooling all their resources, but Louise couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off about the whole process.
"What are they hiding? Do you know?"
Heinrich stared at the marching route in response to Louise's question.
"…I don't know."
Just as Heinrich didn't know his mother well.
Louise didn't know her son well either.
However, she had now learned one thing.
"I see…"
Louise discovered that her son was not skilled at lying.