Ezra Kaelus had always hated nobles.
That much had never changed, and it likely never would.
But if he were to claim he still hated every noble the sa way he once did, that would no longer be the truth.
So when that sudden revelation was thrown at him, a truth he had once tried to suppress and forget, it felt as though everything inside him collapsed at once.
——My mother... the Imperial Queen... ordered the purge.
What unsettled him the most was the indifferent way Astrid had delivered it. She had simply laid the truth out before him and let it stand on its own.
For a mont, Ezra had wondered if it was so kind of cruel joke.
The Astrid he rembered had been a blunt and spoiled girl who grew up in the comfort of royal gardens. Soone like her openly condemning her own family for the sake of his truth felt almost absurd.
If Ezra did not know any better, he might have taken it as so subtle form of manipulation. A confession ant to prevent him from directing his hatred toward her.
Even now, he did not know how he was supposed to take it.
Before everything fell apart, that village had been his entire world.
It was where he had grown up with his family.
Back then, he believed he would spend his whole life there and eventually die in that sa place.
But life had other plans.
Before he even realized what had happened, Ezra had been left with no one he could call family anymore.
Perhaps that was the very reason he had clung so closely to Vanitas. The man who had acted as his benefactor without asking for anything in return. And that was why, even now, while the rest of the world condemned him, Ezra still believed in the purpose behind Vanitas Astrea’s actions.
Because in every sense of the word, Vanitas Astrea had never been an unreasonable man.
Every move he made always had more than one purpose. One action often served two or three different outcos at once.
That was the kind of person Vanitas Astrea was.
And that was the person Ezra Kaelus had chosen to follow.
——Wait for Astrid.
Those had been the Professor’s final instructions before departing for Zyphran. It was almost as if Vanitas had already known she would appear.
For that reason, Ezra swallowed the lump in his throat. He forced his heart to calm, pushing aside the storm of emotions.
This was no longer about him.
"Sigh."
Ezra pushed the door open and stepped back into the room, only to find Astrid’s head still lowered in the sa position he had left her in. Five minutes had passed, and yet she remained standing there without a word.
Ezra frowned. What the hell was this stupid woman doing?
"Raise your head."
Astrid slowly lifted her gaze.
Silas, who had been standing awkwardly near the table the entire ti, finally let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.
Ezra crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"You’re really going to stay like that forever?"
Astrid remained silent for a mont before speaking.
"I thought you needed ti."
"I did." Ezra rubbed his face. "But you don’t need to act like you’re waiting for a verdict."
"I was prepared to offer my head."
"Like hell you were."
"Well..." Astrid tilted her head. "At the very least, my brother’s..."
"Hah."
That was the Astrid he knew.
There were still a hundred questions he wanted to ask her. But he pushed those thoughts aside for the mont. As long as she was here, that was all that mattered.
"So what are we dealing with?" Astrid asked as she took a seat across from Silas.
"Civil war," Ezra answered. "Pretty much all of Aetherion against your brother and the Professor."
Astrid’s eyes narrowed.
"There are several factions moving throughout the Empire," Ezra continued. "But the largest one has your sister acting as its figurehead."
"Irene?"
"Yes."
Ezra leaned back in his chair.
"From what we’ve gathered, they want to put her on the throne. Or at least use her na to legitimize their movent. Either way, she’s furious and apparently out for my head."
He shrugged.
"She would’ve gone after Silas too if he hadn’t volunteered himself as a figurehead and... sothing like a double spy."
Astrid turned toward Silas.
"A double spy?"
Ezra gestured toward him. "Go on. Tell her."
Silas scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Let’s just say I’m playing both sides," he said, leaning forward. "Most of the Ainsley assets are technically under Astrea control. But with the Professor gone, the authority over those assets defaults to ."
Astrid listened carefully.
"The revolutionaries see as soone close to Vanitas," Silas continued. "So I offered to betray him. Or at least that’s the story I gave them."
"And they believed you?"
"People believe what they want to believe. Since I’m still young, they think there’s so plausibility in my words."
Silas gave a small shrug.
"So I let them think I’m their insider. In the anti, I’ve set up a figurehead to lead their faction while I secretly manage the real flow of resources."
Astrid rested her chin on her hand, crossing her legs together. "So you’re feeding information both ways?"
"Yep." Silas nodded. "They think I’m helping them dismantle Astrea influence. In reality, I’m making sure things don’t spiral completely out of control before the Professor returns."
The room remained quiet for a mont before Astrid finally spoke.
"So where does that place ?"
"That depends," Ezra responded. "What role do you want to play? Truthfully, this whole civil war is a complete ss."
Astrid waited as he continued.
"There’s a democratic faction that doesn’t want anyone from the Imperial Family taking the throne ever again. They’re basically a third force right now. They oppose both sides. That ans Irene’s revolutionary movent and Franz Barielle Aetherion’s loyalists."
Silas nodded. "They’re growing fast, too."
"But they’re missing sothing important."
"A leader," Astrid said.
"Exactly." Ezra tapped the table. "They don’t have a proper figurehead yet. Soone who can legitimize their authority in the eyes of the public."
Astrid tilted her head. "So who’s leading them right now?"
"Mostly intellectuals," Silas said. "Scholars from the Institute. Alumni from the Silver University Tower. A handful of lower noble houses who turned their backs on the aristocracy."
Astrid leaned back in her chair. "So they have ideology, but no symbol."
"Pretty much," Ezra said.
Silas glanced between the two of them before speaking again.
"And that’s where things get interesting."
Astrid raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
Silas crossed his arms. "Because if soone like you showed up among them..."
"You’d instantly beco the most powerful figure they have." Ezra finished the thought.
Astrid considered the idea for a mont.
"Do you really think they would accept ?"
"Highly likely," Ezra replied. "You currently have the best reputation among the Imperial siblings. Out of all of you, you’re the one people consider reasonable."
He began counting on his fingers.
"You were the student council president of the University Tower. You never prioritized social status when treating patients as a licensed dical practitioner. You funded several philanthropic programs across the capital."
Ezra continued speaking as if reading from a prepared list.
"You’re basically the one mber of the Imperial Family that people don’t imdiately want to hang in the streets."
"Alright, alright." Astrid raised a hand. "Stop embarrassing ..."
Silas chuckled from the side.
"He’s not wrong, though."
Astrid leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temple. "So in other words..."
She looked between the two of them.
"You want to beco the face of a democratic movent that wants to dismantle the very system my family built."
"Pretty much."
Silas tilted his head. "Think of it this way. You’d be the one making sure the country doesn’t completely implode while everyone else fights for the throne."
Astrid let out a quiet breath.
"And the Professor?"
"He already knew sothing like this would happen."
Astrid’s eyes sharpened. "...You’re sure about that."
Ezra nodded.
"He told us to wait for you."
Following Vanitas Astrea’s thought process, surely this was what he wished for Astrid to do?
* * *
The battlefield along the coast had beco a barren wasteland.
The fighting had dragged on for hours. Endless waves of monsters crashed against the defensive lines as the soldiers struggled to hold their ground. These creatures, the so-called Chiras, showed no fear and no sign of exhaustion.
The battle had seed endless.
———!
Then suddenly, everything stopped.
The Chiras froze.
"Huh?"
"They’re not moving?"
"Step back!"
Margaret Illenia tightened her grip on her blade. Only monts ago, she had cut down yet another Chira that lunged at her from the surf. Now she watched as the rest of the monsters froze in place as if soone had stolen the life from their bodies.
All along the shoreline, the Bundesritter Navy fell silent. They stared at the frozen monsters scattered across the battlefield.
Margaret slowly lowered her sword but did not relax her stance.
"...Could they have succeeded?" soone muttered from the line.
"That must be it."
Another voice answered quickly. With this sudden change, there was only one explanation that made sense. The group that had boarded the Eisenreich to confront the phenonon behind all of this must have succeeded.
The next mont, soone tapped Margaret on the shoulder.
"...!"
Margaret reacted instantly. Her blade flashed through the air in a swift arc before colliding with steel.
Clang——!
Standing behind her was Franz Barielle Aetherion.
"Woah, easy."
Margaret imdiately stepped back and lowered her weapon.
"My apologies, Emperor."
"It’s alright."
Ever since their duel, Franz had been noticeably cautious around her. That match had ended with Margaret’s overwhelming victory, and ever since then, he had been behaving around her like a startled cat that had learned its lesson.
Margaret had made her position clear long ago.
She did not like him. She did not like the way he hung around Vanitas either. But Franz was the Emperor they served, and that reality was unavoidable.
That did not an she had to enjoy his presence.
Still, professionalism mattered. Margaret knew how to separate personal feelings from the responsibilities of her position.
Franz leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"They’ve succeeded," he whispered. "Or rather... Vanitas did."
Margaret’s eyes narrowed. "What does that an?"
"Keep your guard up."
He glanced toward the surrounding soldiers.
"In a matter of monts, every blade here will be pointed at us."
"...."
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