Will I end up abandoning Cesare? Will I just immediately wash my hands of the rebellion and everything else? Then is it right to undo this now?
No, wait—am I happy or sad about getting my hands on the artifact in the first place?
“Maa! Byobyot.”
I snapped back to my senses as Mitche tugged at my collar feathers with his byobyo-ing. Only then did I notice the memo inside the paper.
<Puppy. Contact me if this is the same as what Her Majesty the Empress is doing.>
I swallowed dry saliva and took a small deep breath. The other half of the pendant that Cedric must have came to mind. Right. Matching the pair should be the priority.
‘I need to meet Cedric.’
My eyes met Mitche’s as he fiddled with the wing part of the pendant. At the sight of Mitche’s face smiling broadly at me even though he might be forcibly evicted from my heart, I felt like I was about to cry and forced a smile as I asked.
“Do you like it?”
“Byo!”
“Then I should give it to our cute Mitche as a gift.”
“Maa! Chu!”
Mitche bounced up and gave my cheek a kiss. Tears slightly flowed out, so I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand.
* * *
After receiving Lampel’s pendant, I seemed to have been in a daze continuously. I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular. It was just that whenever I tried to think of anything, it immediately led back to thoughts of the Addiction, which was annoying and draining.
Of course, the tip of my nose stung every time I saw Cesare, and whenever Cedric’s silver hair, which I couldn’t help but see during every one of Professor Peter’s classes, caught my eye, my heart would drop.
If it were up to my impatient temperament, I would have gone to him right away and told him I’d found half of the pendant and to hurry up and give me the other half, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
Night after night, I took out the sword ornament Cedric had left behind, put it away, took it out again, and put it away for quite a while. In the end, I went out with my junior Thompson, who had become quite attached to me, to at least change my mood.
I watched a few games with him in a back alley where men placed betting fights, but my restlessness wouldn’t go away. Since I didn’t feel like going straight back to the academy, I stopped by a general store for a moment.
“You’re preparing a Rose Day gift, right, Senior Lionel?”
“Why does everyone say that whenever they see me?”
“Because it feels like you’d have a lover, senior?”
“Thompson Devier. Don’t you know I’m a hot topic among the girls?”
“The freshmen keep quiet about it because they’re watching Jaina’s reactions, but you’re popular too, senior.”
“Don’t try to butter me up.”
“It’s true though. Even though you work us hard, you also take really good care of us. People say when they see that, you’d probably treat your lover well too.”
I playfully threw a punch at Thompson’s shoulder and looked at the men’s accessories displayed in the showcase. Perhaps because it was summer, there were many light-feeling accessories, and among them, my eyes were drawn to a sleeve garter made with platinum ring decorations.
The Imperial Academy’s summer uniform top was a cream-colored ruffled shirt, but it wasn’t short-sleeved, which drew constant complaints from students. So there were often students who wore sleeve garters to fold up their sleeves.
‘Since Cedric said he uses the pendant to fasten his cape, this seems like it would be good. The platinum would probably go well with his silver hair too.’
Although we’d agreed to exchange it for the sword ornament I’d received before, since I was receiving an item from royalty, it felt a bit wrong to go empty-handed. So I intended to at least buy this.
“Are you buying this?”
“Hey, who do I think I am? I don’t just buy things as they are.”
Like a nouveau riche, I like shiny things. I called the general store owner and placed an additional order to have a deep red ruby that would match the platinum set and crafted into it.
“It’ll take two days. We can’t enter the academy, so I’ll write you a receipt, and if you bring it to the store, we’ll wrap it right up for you.”
At the clerk’s words, I handed the receipt to Thompson.
“Heh. Two days from now. Thompson. Don’t forget and bring it.”
“Sometimes I think you resemble Senior Cesare, senior.”
There’s a saying that you become like the one you love. I hummed softly, too quietly for Thompson to hear. The comment about resembling Cesare probably wasn’t meant positively, but somehow those words sounded quite pleasant to hear.
My mood suddenly improved, so I bought Thompson a nice fountain pen and plenty of snacks too before returning.
* * *
Deep within the Imperial Academy’s library.
Having rented a private study room and locked the door firmly, Cesare and Cain whispered secretively over a map spread on the desk.
“An additional 10,000 here. And 20,000 here. This side is still gathering, so about 8,000 or so.”
As Cain pointed to several places on the map with his finger, Cesare touched his chin as if troubled.
“I thought there would be at least 50,000.”
Originally, he’d planned to supplement by drawing in the principality’s anti-imperial faction, but because things flowed in an unexpected direction, the number of soldiers was less than expected.
“We can’t suddenly increase the scale of private soldiers that much, and when that many soldiers gather, keeping their mouths shut is important, so we can’t just recruit anyone recklessly.”
“You did order weapons and armor from multiple merchant guilds as instructed, right?”
“Yeah. I’m dividing up the distribution network to get materials from various places, worried that information might leak once resources gather. Still, I’m lucky there are many forges throughout Astol.”
“If we’re short on soldiers… we just need to plan our strategy well. I already factored in the possibility of not being able to persuade the anti-imperial faction anyway. That’s why I built the stronghold near the coast.”
Cain nodded, immediately understanding the plan to enter the capital directly through the sea route.
“You’re telling me to build ships? I’ll look into it.”
Cesare found it secretly amazing how Cain, who usually only talked like a birdbrain, understood military or sword-related talk perfectly.
“And since there’s been a variable, we should delay the timeline a bit…”
“Cesare. We can’t drag this out any longer. Even gathering the private soldiers I have now, I stole my father’s seal and impersonated him, so if I get caught, it won’t end with just exile.”
Cain firmly pressed his palm down on the map and glared at Cesare.
“You know. Astol is important to me.”
“I know. But right now, we don’t have much chance of winning. We need more thorough preparation.”
Cesare somehow soothed Cain with what felt like an excuse. But Cain, unable to hide his impatience, ground his lips and asked.
“If you’re going to increase the size of the soldiers further, someone will definitely find out. What will you do?”
Cesare looked at the map and pondered for a moment, then pointed to various places on it.
“This side and this side, divide the military forces in half and deploy them, and it would be good to build one more barracks here. That way, the concentration will decrease and it’ll be fine. For the cost, we can just extract more income sources from Lionel.”
“Remember this. The longer you drag it out, the higher the risk becomes. And it’s the same for Rye’s side. Rye needs to know now what kind of work he’s gotten involved in.”
“…Cain. I’m thinking of doing this without Lionel knowing.”
“What are you talking about?”
Cain’s eyes widened. Cesare deliberately ignored the piercing gaze and tidied up the map. At that reaction, Cain, overcome with anger, grabbed Cesare by the collar.
“I’m asking what you’re talking about! The original plan was for the three of us to do this together!”
Cesare calmly shook off his collar and said coldly.
“The two of us are enough.”
“No. It has to be the three of us.”
“Anyway, Lionel has nothing to do except provide money. Then he doesn’t need to be directly involved.”
“I said no!”
“After clinging to Lionel and hanging around him like that, are you planning to put him in danger? What we’re trying to do now isn’t some group project, Cain Astol!”
“Cesare. I’ve staked my life on this! If not this… I… I have nowhere that will accept me!”
Cain shouted as if screaming. If he hadn’t cast a silence spell, it would have been loud enough for his voice to echo outside the private study room.
“Even my father treated me like a nonexistent son after our mother died. The only ones who accepted me when my family abandoned me were you two…. Without you two, I couldn’t have come this far. It’s a life I barely endured because you were there…!”
Cain’s hands began to tremble. There was no way he wouldn’t be scared. No matter how carefree Cain’s personality was, he too was still under the age of majority.
A rebellion that meant only death if unsuccessful. In this ambiguous situation where he couldn’t even back out anymore, Cain wasn’t always relaxed and confident either. Moreover, it wasn’t even a rebellion he truly wanted, but a resolution covered over by Cesare’s Brainwashing Magic. There was no way it wouldn’t have flaws.
“…On the day I first met Rye, he said something.”
If it was the day Lionel first saw Cain, it was probably around the time Cain caused an assault incident and received disciplinary action.
“……”
“He said just trust you and him. That everything would be resolved. And like a lie, everything was resolved. You two are the only ones who accepted me.”
Cain clenched his fists tightly, but they were still trembling.
“I can’t run away anymore. That’s why I’m afraid. That’s why I need you two more desperately than ever. You and Rye. Both of you! I can’t do without even one! I can’t!”
Cesare could finally understand why the brainwashing to ask Cain to lend him soldiers had worked so well. Cain had filled the gaps in his conflicting subconscious with them. He’d filled the void with the subconscious belief that it would work out because Cesare and Lionel were there, that they would solve everything, and supported the rebellion.
—Bang.
Cain slammed his fist against the wall and declared.
“If you don’t tell Rye within a week, I’ll tell him everything. Including the situation where you’re ostracized by the imperial family and can’t spend a single penny. The three of us live together and die together.”
“Cain Astol!”
Cain’s eyes were filled with an abnormal gleam. Sensing danger, Cesare hastily emitted mana from his fingertips and cast a spell.
