****
I was planning on having breakfast at some restaurant, but this freezing cold made it impossible, so I returned to my room and had a meal with Euphemia in front of the hearth.
"Euphemia, Sebas will take care of the necessary procedures regarding the takeover, and we will return to the Marquisate of Brutein immediately".
"….."
"The monsters that come down from the Lutein Mountains have been killed, so you have nothing to worry about".
"….. "
"Brutein has the capabilities to make mountains of gold, so it's not difficult to develop this barren land to a level where people can live".
Euphemia, who was quietly eating her food, raised her head.
"You don't need to take me with you… You just want to brag about your spoils to your family, don't you?"
Since I could control some variables through Euphemia, it would be foolish to keep her away from me.
Even if I can't find the main character, Ciel Midford, there is a high possibility that he will approach Euphemia one day.
With that in mind, I have taken the caution of never talking about Ciel Midford in front of Euphemia.
I have to pretend I don't care about him so that they can lower their guard.
In fact, when Euphemia saw that the main character would fight until the end for her, she said "You are not my Knight, so there's no need to die for me, but if you want to protect me, next time come back to me as a Knight". Ferzen would have believed that this wasn't going to happen.
But I won't fall for that.
I'm sure that someday the Main Character will come for her
Because I clearly remember how emotional were the lines used to describe the Main Character's feelings when he fled from the estate with Euphemia's help.
Of course, this was the rational reason for taking Euphemia with me, not to mention I ignore Ferzen's obsession.
"Well… … "
Of course, I couldn't tell her the reasons for my decision, so Euphemia spoke to me in a challenging tone.
"You just want to take me with you, to kill me on the way and disguise it as an accident."
"It's not going to happen, so don't worry."
At this point when Ferzen's ego was completely assimilated, it was nearly impossible for me to kill Euphemia.
This body liked her more than I could have imagined and that was the secondary reason for taking her with me, aside from my rational conclusion.
A severe obsessive-compulsive disorder that is focused on possession and symmetry.
But among my traits, symmetry seems to take precedence over my obsessions.
In fact, since a young age, Ferzen has purposely lowered his line of sight in fear of seeing something asymmetrical on people.
And thanks to his poor eyesight, when I keep a certain distance, some things look blurry so I can't be sure if they are symmetrical or not.
If Ferzen spots something asymmetrical on someone, he will feel an intense desire to fix it, and this can lead to him murdering the person.
In fact, there were times when this happened.
That's why despite his poor eyesight, Ferzen deliberately fails to focus properly when he meets someone.
The only things he could observe with peace of mind are the sky or a lake.
But now Euphemia provided Ferzen with the same comfort as those natural panoramas.
But calling this feeling love was absurd.
Ferzen feelings are more like a collector who takes care of his finest items.
Because of this, Ferzen attacked Louerg, forcibly married Euphemia, and raped her
Ferzen didn't have the need for emotions
"Then why… … "
But now I couldn't keep taking that stance.
No, to be precise, I decided not to take it.
Seo-jin Lee's ego has a much more kind personality than Ferzen, and has a good affinity for Euphemia.
Yes, I could be more kind to her, but… …
I couldn't really think of what to say to the woman whom I raped after forcing her to get married.
"I just don't want to be separated from my wife."
And this was the answer that I came up with after squeezing my brains. However, Euphemia frowned and grabbed the knife she used to cut her food.
"Put it down. If you kill me, you will have no choice but to be executed. And the province of Louerg will be incorporated into the Imperial territory until it's granted to someone else, and the temporarily dispatched officials will not take care of this place with any sincerity."
"If you're that smart then, don't ever say bullshit like that to my face ever again. You don't have that right…"
Euphemia's words were understandable, but for some reason, I became extremely triggered by them and opened my mouth.
"It must have been hard being a woman who was born and raised in Louerg, but surprisingly your head is as empty as a field of flowers. Do you really think that with your resources, you can give this province the same things as I can? Give up Euphemia, even if the process was unpleasant, the result was the best it could ever be".
"... "
"If your father was alive, do you really think he would have turned me down if I said I wanted you?"
I lost my appetite.
After I finished eating, I wiped my lips with a napkin and got up, staring at Euphemia coldly.
"Euphemia El Lauren Louerg. Be grateful that I care about you. You speak of my rights? The name of Brutein is already enough. You really think you worth more than that?"
"... "
"If it rains in a dry desert, shouldn't they be thankful for it? You ungrateful wench with your tainted commoner lineage."
"... "
"Know your place, Euphemia."
Aside from my personal feelings, there was nothing wrong with what I said, but when I saw Euphemia bowing her head in acceptance of her fate…
'Ah... '
I had no intention of hurting her, but then again why did I say those things?
Does he like it when Euphemia defies him?
Even though I had assimilated Ferzen's ego, it's hard to even begin understanding how much of a crazy bastard he must have been in the first place.
Realizing that I wasn't in the best of moods right now, I calmly got up, opened the door, and went out into the hallway.
"Did you enjoy your meal, Lord?"
"When Euphemia finishes her food, call the maids right away and… tell the hired mercenaries to gather in the backyard of the mansion"
"Right away Lord"
Having finished my business with Sebas, I pulled out a letter from my pocket as the sun had risen and had driven back the cold to some extent.
'Is it related to the next chapters that the author had planned?'
A letter bearing the Imperial seal.
Inside was a request to appoint me as a professor of black magic for the Imperial Academy in the capital.
Although being a professor was annoying, rejection was not an option, so this letter is more of a notification than a request.
The imperial family had no choice but to keep the Bruteins in check.
I knew the power of the current imperial family from Ferzen's memories. But even I could see the high status of the imperial family when they established such a grand academy in a feudal system.
The academy was a good place for the noble's sons to study, but in truth, the imperial family now held them as hostages in the capital.
An extreme analogy of this could be if the only college in the world was in the United States, and citizens of other countries are now forced to enter the school in order to obtain a diploma.
Moreover, the children of nobility who were being tutored from an early age has nothing new to learn.
There is a high possibility that the academy will be transformed into a social center where people can form connections rather than a school that is a place of learning.
That is why the Imperial family also wants to appoint me, the second son of the Brutein family, as a professor.
If an aristocrat from the Marquis family of Brutein is a professor, no matter how cheeky those nobles were, they would have no choice but to lie low and accept me as their teacher.
'And there's the setting that even commoners can attend the academy if they have a sponsor… will I face the Main Character there?'
I don't know.
I don't know, but even if we can't meet, the academy is a place where the children of nobles from each region gather, so it'll be fairly easy to get the information I want.
– Scrunch
After folding the letter and putting it back in my pocket, I went out to the backyard and walked slowly in front of the mercenaries who were lined up in the snow.
* * * * *
'Sigh…'
Roem, the leader of the Raffles mercenaries, looked down at the trembling new recruits with a frown.
A long-term contract from the Brutein family.
As they are the wealthiest family in the empire, the pay is quite high, so I was excited until yesterday, but after learning that my boys had stolen and sold the cold protection equipment we received, I had a headache as to how to deal with this.
"Boss… "
"Shut up."
The cold weather equipment was loaned to us, so it's clearly the property of the Brutein family.
This meant that once this contract was completed, they all had to be returned spotless, except the ones that got damaged while we were fulfilling the contract.
If they had sold only one or two pieces, it would be fine, but those guys….
Roem still clearly remembers the look on the butler's face when they moved the equipment to the warehouse last night and the quantity didn't match.
"Leader! Will the Bruteins really come after us just for some pieces of gear? Sure they were made from silver mane wolfskin but…"
"Shut up! Listen, Nobles may spend a lot of money, but they aren't stupid. Besides this has to do with their honor. If word gets out that some commoners stole their stuff and sold them, they would be ridiculed."
Except for summer, this land is truly a freezing hell.
However, the contract remuneration was too good to pass, so I brought some new blood with the intention of toughening them up a bit and giving them some experience, but that was a mistake.
"You guys are still too green, you don't know how scary a noble can be, so take this opportunity and keep an eye on it."
Roem sighed as he wiped his face.
And at the same time, when he felt a commotion behind him, Roem turned his head and hurriedly bowed to Ferzen who was walking by.
"Why is this mercenary doing this?"
"That… … "
After skillfully explaining what happened, Roem waited patiently for Ferzen's reply, who remained silent.
* * * * *
"I sentence you to death."
Because of Seo-jin Lee's ego, from a moral point of view, even if a nefarious convict committed a crime, I would hesitate on whether it was right to kill him or not.
But, since I had to hurry to the capital, I thought there would be no harm in making an example out of these mercenaries, so they would behave while I'm away.
"Do it."
At my words, the leader of the mercenary corps drew his sword, stood next to the young mercenary with a pale complexion, and raised his sword.
"Please my lord, have mercy!… I have a small child and my wife is dead, so the child will have to live as an orphan!"
"Execute him."
"My lord, I beg you – !"
I don't know if what he said is true or not.
It may be an improvised lie to save himself, or there may be a child who is eagerly awaiting his father's return from his job.
In fact, I was a little moved by his pleas, but rather than that, I thought that if his mother has passed away, then it would have been symmetrical if the father dies as well.
Truly this mental illness has no limits or moral standards.
When something is asymmetrical, then I have this compulsion to fix it
But there are times when I feel a strong desire to do so, but sometimes this feeling is not so strong that it can't be ignored.
This time it belonged to the latter, but it is not wrong to fulfill my compulsion when I had to make an example of him anyway.
Then is a single cut, without any pain, the kneeling mercenary's head rolled down, dyeing the snow in a red shade.
"Well… "
But when I looked at his severed head as I stepped back to avoid getting splattered by blood on my clothes, I saw that the cut wasn't clean.
Not a straight line, but an oblique line.
"Hey"
"Yes sir!"
"Cut it again. No. I'll cut it myself, give me a dagger."
The mercenaries were confused about my request, but I didn't care and after getting the dagger, I carefully made an even and symmetrical line on the body's neck, where the blood was still dripping out.
And with the help of Digitalization, the cut line was perfect.
"Cut it one more time, but this time do it along this line"
"... "
"Can't you hear me?"
"Yes Sir!"
As if terrified at my words, the mercenary corps commander, who responded with a hoarse voice, unsheathed his sword and cut his throat again along the line I drew.
"Take care of the corpse."
"Yes… "
As I looked at the cross-section of the neck that had been cut cleanly without any deviation, the corners of my mouth turned up to form a lopsided smile without even realizing.
And looking at me like this, the surrounding mercenaries were making a face as if they saw a ghost, but now I have to get used to that kind of gaze.
****
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