Actually...
Naiya was halfway to meet this recently appointed expeditionary knight leader.
Starla's sister, René...?
She remembered what she's done, and Naiya's somewhat disoriented heart was touched again.
"Your Majesty, please don't feel so guilty... I'm sure that my sister already knew the consequences."
Although René was wearing a knight armour, she lived in the Royal Academy for so long, and the stuffy scent of old books still lingers around her. Naiya even doubted whether she was capable of swinging a sword before she put on the knight's armour.
"But ..."
After bumping into her, Naiya almost instinctively took the hand of René and apologized for the death of Starla, whom Naiya has always looked up to.
"Your Majesty did the right thing. She... that child was the leader of the "mourner" and always endangering the safety of innocent people in the world... Maybe this is fate. "
As expected from a person worthy of being a teacher for a long time. Seeing Naiya's uneasy appearance, René started to soothe Naiya and invited her to join the camp of Expeditionary Knights.
René might look like a twenty years old girl, but her age and wisdom were more befitting to be Naiya's mother.
So, a girl who is forever 17 years old really exists.
Time has not left any traces on her. The only thing that could prove it was probably her maturity and her prestige among the central capital.
Such a tender young girl has been chosen to be the head of the Imperial Expeditionary Knights. None of the iron-blooded hard men of the Expeditionary Knights dared to stand up and refute.
The reason was simple, more than half of the members of the Expeditionary Knights were the tutor of the Royal Academy of Central City's students.
Facing their teacher, of course, they didn't dare to squeak a word.
"But... she's your sister."
Listening to René's tone, it seemed that she didn't care much about her sister's death at all in general. There didn't seem to be any resentment about herself, the person who killed her sister.
This eldest sister could not have been less concerned about her own sister?
"It's because that child is my sister that I will continue to be strong like this." René spoke indifferently, uttering a reply that surprised Naiya a little.
"Do you know her identity?"
"I knew from the beginning." René nodded, and the pupils under the rimless glasses showed a hint of fatigue.
"That's why I live at the Royal Academy in Central City all year round and rarely return to the family premises ..."
"Why?"
If she was a member of the Empire, she should have reported her sister, an existence that endangered the Empire's security and was considered treason, and had someone come and erase it.
Only...instead, René chose to run away?
Or was it fear?
"Because... I'm afraid of my sister."
Sure enough...
Perhaps it was the first time she talked about her sister in front of others; René's face carried a deep weariness. Her sister's identity had always been a huge burden weighing down her heart.
"To say the least, it's a bit ridiculous, you know, Your Majesty? She is very strong, but not just in terms of raw power. Every time I am in the family, I can feel that everything within the family was controlled and arranged by my sister, even my life. My sister, who was many years younger than me, single-handedly has all of us under her control."
'I... also...'
Naiya was stunned and almost wanted to blurt it all out.
'My life… was it now just the same as her?'
'Freedom...'
That thing has long been deprived of her. Naiya was just a puppet, in front of the man obeying his wish, dancing at the top of his palm.
"Then why won't you go to the Empire? You were able to leave your family and enter the Royal Academy, surely you can tell the royal family these things too?! Why?"
'Why?'
Naiya also wanted to ask herself why ...
Naiya didn't want to see those innocent civilians die, didn't want to see one life after another die in front of him, but that man kept letting this scene play out, over and over again.
Naiya could have prevented all this from happening. She could have. She just needed to tell Emperor Dodran the Empire was facing a horrible crisis. Even if Lucius was powerful, he couldn't compete with the entire Empire's anger, but ... Naiya did not. Instead, she silently watched the innocent life died, silently watched everything fall apart in the hands of that man.
From the depth of her heart, Naiya would not allow it, but why did she choose to be silent anyway?
René's answer, however, represents Naiya perfectly.
"Because she is my sister, huh..."
René's with a bitter smile, as if in memory of something.
"I watched her born, watched her grow up, every day, every night, took care of her when she was young, even if what she was no longer recognized by the world, no matter how treacherous, she... is still my sister, my only sister. How in the world would there be a sister who would leave her sister in the hands of those who would kill her?"
In front of kinship and righteousness, she chose kinship.
René was just a woman, not some dang man, righteousness such things, René's could not do that. So even if her sister did the kind of thing that she was afraid of, she finally just silently forgave these.
"That is..."
Sensing Her Majesty's sadness, René made a small joke to lighten the mood.
But the words made Naiya's face flush.....
"Just like between relatives, I love Starla, but because of the fear of her, there was no way to approach her, and now it's too late."
René didn't bother about Naiya's flushed face, just realized that and spoke to Naiya.
"Your Majesty, when you feel the bitterness of losing someone, it might not be pleasant things, but it is useless to regret...Ah, let's not talk about these unhappy things, your Majesty, would you like to have a drink with me? "
Naiya couldn't do it. She couldn't figure out what she wanted to do now. So she just passively accepted Lucius's order.
Unwillingly ...
And now...it was the same.
"Hmm, it's better to go somewhere else rather than wandering around without meaning. I know a good place to have snacks, let's go there."
.....
Inside the back garden was a small table, probably to treat Naiya. René specially ordered it, with some tea and desserts on it.
Women generally didn't like to drink, even in this world.
A true lady must not drink alcohol.
Just after Naiya gently sipped the black tea handed by René, she could hear a chilling voice inside her head.
'Kill her....'
A voice so cold that it had no emotion resounded in Naiya's heart!
Naiya's body became stiff. Then, finally, she recognized whose voice that was!
'...why?'
This was the first time! For the first time, Naiya was able to question his command!
'Why don't you kill her?'
But what she replied with was a rhetorical question without any emotion.
'She... she's innocent...'
Naiya looked at René's somewhat tired face, and even though she knew it was useless, she still retorted feebly.
'Innocent...? Well, you continue to play this ridiculous Empress status of yours and let this woman walk in the middle of the garden at the back. You won't disobey my order, right? Little Naiya?'
'You... won't disobey my orders ...'
Naiya lowered her head and gritted her teeth, trying her best not to let the fearful expression on her face be seen by René, the cold sweat that overflowed from her forehead made Naiya look ill.
"What's wrong? Your Majesty? Are you not feeling well?"
René's words of concern made Naiya's heart even more messed up.
Naiya's heart won't allow her to do so, but ...
"Inside that garden, what are those flickering lights flying around?"
Naiya stretched out his hand, weakly pointing to the back of the garden, to the source of her concern, but those were just fireflies.
Naiya knew, but ... but ... in order to make her walk to the garden, she needed some kind of reason, right?
"Fireflies, Your Majesty, have you not seen any before?"
René suddenly took Naiya's hand.
"Do you want to go and see?"
"Well..."
Naiya answered her in a low voice.
'What am I doing?'
Naiya just wanted to tell her loudly not to go anywhere and run away quickly…
Run as far away as possible.
Only Naiya didn't. Naiya wasn't under anyone's control. It was her own will to do as Lucius said.
René, who didn't know a single clue about what happened inside Naiya's mind, pulled Naiya's hand into the centre of the garden. The fireflies were frightened by the two and started flying, just like stars in the sky...
But Naiya did not have time to look at this beautiful scenery.
Then…. She felt it.
That man's murderous aura!
Naiya looked around hastily, attempted to find the source of the murderous aura in panic.
"That said, this is the first time I've seen so many fireflies gathered together." René continued to talk to her kindly, and her body gradually leaned towards Naiya.
Naiya's whole body was so tense at this point. She wanted to know the source of this killing intent.
Was it really good to go on like this? Her sister has died because of her ... If this continues, Naiya could not forgive herself, impossible ...
Human...a creature that could not be understood, whose actions are ruled by emotions, Naiya, who has a human heart, finally, at the moment when the killing intent was almost burst out, she rushed to René side, opened her hands and tried to protect her.
"Stop!" Naiya shouted towards a direction in the night, where she knew where Lucius was.
But all of a sudden, Naiya suddenly felt something wrong within her body. She felt weak and numb.
No...it wasn't because of Lucius! The blood in her body wasn't being controlled by him, but ...
Rather...
Naiya turned her head in disbelief and looked at René with a smile on her face.
'Black tea...poisonous...'
This was the first thing that popped out of Naiya's head. The second was ...
'Why?'
"Sorry...Your Majesty, even if I know that my sister is wrong, she is still my sister, I... can't face an enemy who killed my loved ones openly, especially an enemy who almost destroyed my family to the ground. Humans are creatures ruled by their feelings, aren't they?"
The gentle temperament a moment ago seemed to be gone now. René's eyes were very gloomy as she looked at Naiya. Naiya's lips opened and closed for a moment but still did not say anything.
This feeling of being betrayed was hard to bear...especially for Naiya.
Now she only had one question on her head, who else could she trust in this world?
Lucius?
The answer seemed to be no.
Because...her life was worthless before him.
BANG!
Almost the entire city could hear the sound of gunfire.
Lucius, who was fifteen hundred meters away, barely even hesitated before firing!
The bullet pierced through Naiya's abdomen, who was in front of René!
The kinetic energy of the bullet did not stop at all even after it penetrated Naiya's abdomen and sank into the heart of René, who stood in the back.
After looking at the two figures that fell in the garden, once again with a sharp discharging action, yellow-orange shells popped out from the cartridge. There was no expression on his face. The only thought in his head was...
The leader of the Empire's strongest knight division is dead!
Tomorrow, the Central City will have no resistance and will be at his mercy!