Yekaterina stared down at them both with a hard expression, hiding her distracted gaze. Her son, who had been sobbing and clinging to her feet, was now looking up at her with a venomous gaze.
“Do you really hate your only son that much, Mother?”
“Do you hate your son so much? Isn’t he your own flesh and blood?”
Ivan glared at his mother, lips tightly pursed. Yekaterina sighed.
“This is how I raised you…”
She had raised Karnov, trying to redeem herself, and she had raised Ivan. Even if he was an unworthy son, he was still her son. She wanted to give him something more.
She wanted to tell him what was right. She wanted to tell him that one day he would pay the price for the rights he had enjoyed since birth. Otherwise, he would have no way to repay that debt in the future, leading to ruin and destruction.
However, no matter how hard she tried, her son refused to listen to her. People get worn out by meaningless efforts. The aging general could not continue to make fleeting efforts.
The day her bright grandson was born, Yekaterina acknowledged that she had to give up on her son, and that she, too, was paying the debt of that day.
Her dim son knew nothing else, but he was shrewd enough to recognize that he had been foolish enough not to get what he wanted.
Yekaterina would never understand why that perception was not a force to strive for and rise above, why it was a drive to pull down the clever and the powerful.
“I don’t hate him, I’ve cherished him, that’s why I’ve never been pleased with how you’ve disciplined my son…”
At the same time as that, Yekaterina slapped Ivan on the cheek. With a loud thud, Ivan collapsed. Startled, Yelizay wept profusely, pleading for forgiveness.
“If that’s your wish, then I’ll discipline you in the same way.”
“M… Mother…”
Ivan, whose cheeks were red, looked up at Yekaterina in tears. It was a face that did not understand how his mother could slap him. Because it had never happened before.
“Didn’t you discipline your child like this because he was stupid? Why are you looking at me like that? You’ve made a mistake, so you’ll be scolded.”
Ivan’s fingertips trembled. Yekaterina continued again.
“How did you come up with the idea of conspiring with the enemy to steal your son’s spirit? Did you ever consider why they made such a demand?”
“What’s the harm in killing a mere beast…”
Yekaterina was convinced by Ivan’s words. Ivan knew nothing.
“You should have thought that if you were given the rare gift of being able to change spirits in exchange for killing that one beast, there would be other implications! You should have known if it was real or not!”
Yekaterina’s shout echoed through the room, and Ivan cried out in frustration, his voice rising in anger.
“What… what have you got to fear from those things! This is Sedvoyer territory on imperial soil, if you wipe them out…”
“Who?”
“Yes… Yes?”
“Who will go to war with them again and wipe them out? Who?”
“The… the Imperial Army…”
Yekaterina slapped Ivan on the cheek again. Ivan crumpled more easily than the first time.
“Who will pay for the blood of the soldiers who will die there?”
“Mother, Mother, please forgive me. Mother, I have done wrong, and I will never again, never again, think foolishly, Mother…”
“Answer, Ivan. Who will pay?”
“It’s about protecting the land of the empire… Of course, the empire…”
Ivan stammered, filled with venom. Yekaterina raised her hand again, then slowly lowered it. Yekaterina looked at Ivan with a look of sadness somewhere.
“Right. If one person’s mistake means the entire empire must bear it, then you must also think about what’s best for the entire empire alone.”
“Mother! Mother, please…”
“I buried your alleged affair with the Noctis Elves when you bestowed the title on Karnov, but I cannot do so now.”
“Mother! Forgive me, Mother. I didn’t know, I didn’t know anything then, just, Mother…”
Yekaterina captured every image of her son and his wife in her eyes. They were all her karma.
Before leaving for the north after receiving a letter from Princess Anastasia, Yekaterina met with the emperor and shared a different story while receiving the position of an imperial investigator. What the real reason Princess Anastasia traveled north was.
What should she do with her son, who just thinks that he will be able to enjoy the things he enjoys if he takes away the spirit of Karnov?
He just became a puppet of others without knowing what he’s done.
He knew there was disappointment when he introduced the healer to Marquis Oleg, but he didn’t care what it was. He thought there might be some special meaning in the offer made to him, but he didn’t speculate.
Considering such trivial matters was not his concern. He didn’t believe it was his business. He didn’t think anyone would dare to harm him. Not even now that he was no longer a duke.
“The sin of hurting the royal family is punishable by death. So it is with your affair with the Noctis Elves. Bringing poison into a place where royalty resides is also unforgivable.”
The couple’s screaming cries continued. Yekaterina gripped her trousers and continued, looking down hard at her sobbing son and his wife.
“Karnov no longer has parents. I will clear your names from the family register. You will spend the rest of your lives in eternal penance in the tower on Shukotan Island, and you will not be allowed to leave. If the emperor has mercy, he may sentence you to death.”
“Mother! Mother, how can you do this to me for trying to kill a mere cat!”
“Do you even know what would have happened if that cat had been killed, and if it had been only a cat, why the Noctis Elves would have paid you to kill it?”
The two couldn’t answer Yekaterina’s question, but instead they changed the subject.
“Well, if we die of treason, what will happen to Karnov?”
“You never once worried about his future until he came of age, but now you’re worried.”
Yekaterina spoke in a soft voice, exhausted.
“Let yourself worry on the island, for that will be the most helpful thing for him, for everyone.”
When Yekaterina waved her hand, the soldiers who came down together with her from the capital overpowered the two and dragged them out. The screams reverberated and then died down.
“Constantin, you’re going through a lot.”
Constantin, who was waiting outside, shook his head.
“No… no. I just did what I had to do.”
“There’s more I need to know.”
“Please give me a command.”
“We need to find the one who made contact with those two who fell out of favor. Find out covertly.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“…How was Karnov in Sedvoyer, was he okay, when they came?”
Constantin was a little hesitant about what to say about this. The Karnov they’d known when he’d returned to Sedvoyer alone to take care of business was the Karnov they’d known; the Karnov they’d known when the princess had arrived was the Karnov they’d never known. And when the couple arrived, Karnov was…
“Maybe it’s because the princess was with him… but he didn’t mind too much.”
“Yes, I see.”
Yekaterina murmured.
I see…
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Asha, you were resting in your room, why did you come out?”
Karnov’s face, which was just stern in the room a little while ago, became softer as usual. Asha swallowed a sigh of relief inside, but playfully clenched her fist. The wound immediately stung and she grunted in pain.
“This princess… I’m enduring… Ouch. Ahem, this princess does not endure pain.”
“You’ll have to endure a bit more, Your Highness.”
“Hmph, how can I endure when I’m like this? We have to finish this.”
Asha turned her head away haughtily as she spoke. Karnov stared at her wound for a moment before finally speaking.
“You did it on purpose, right?”
“What?”
Asha feigned ignorance. Karnov’s violet eyes bore into hers intensely.
“You didn’t think that with the princess injured, it would surely come to an end?”
“What are you talking about? If the cat’s hurt, what could I do?”
Asha playfully shrugged. But Karnov still wore a look of disbelief.
“You said you wouldn’t raise him because you hated him.”
Asha shook her head.
“Even though they’re behaving this way, I don’t love Karnov any less, okay?”
Karnov crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“Hmm. That’s strange. You like me enough for that.”
Asha swallowed hard for a moment. Her face felt slightly flushed. Memories of having such conversations when she was young came flooding back. Back then, they were talking in reverse…
“That… that’s not what’s important.”
“Then what’s important?”
“That… Ah! Prasti! You have to plant Prasti. You took care of the seeds, right? I was in a hurry.”
At Asha’s words, Karnov nodded, seemingly willing to let this one slide.
“But there’s something strange about it.”
“Something weird?”
“About Prasti… The feeling that you’re not sure what you want to do?”
Asha tilted her head with a grave expression of concern.
“I think they spread this by planting it among people, but it’s only five pieces at most… I don’t know why they want to spread it. Even if Prasti is spread safely, the world is just going to collapse together.”
“I see. It’s not like they’re putting Prasti in people who mean anything in particular.”
“Isn’t this one a little late hitting puberty?”
Phoebe, perched on her shoulder, rubbed her beak thoughtfully at Asha’s comment.
“And the Noctis Elf who was supposedly in contact with the former duke… If they were going to retrieve Prasti, why did he have them poison him to death here?”
<Hmm. If the wicked cat had been poisoned and died, it would have further contaminated the Prasti. The animal’s unbridled hatred would have been concentrated in the Prasti as it died in agony.>
“Right? That’s what I’m saying. If you spread it like that, it’s just… It’s like a piece of cake… Can it be a mean tree…”
Asha looked back at Phoebe. Phoebe flew up and landed on Karnov’s head.
<When the World Tree is fully grown, it will be able to connect the spirit and human realms again. If all five pieces grow into the World Tree, humans and spirits will be able to communicate without this pact. But on the flip side… If tainted Prasti grows, or a Prasti is destroyed…>
Phoebe trailed off, and Kairos, who was on Karnov’s shoulder, pushed her away and spoke in a bitter voice. Phoebe, dazed, returned to Asha’s shoulder.
<A certain portion of the passageway between the human and elemental realms will be completely wiped out, and darkness will fall again on the earth.>
“If you say so, hasn’t the person who wants to do something with Prasti already failed? One has already been purified.”
<Sort of. But the darkness that one tainted Prasti can bring is no small thing. At the very least, it would add a few more scars to Karnov’s body.>
At Phoebe’s words, Asha bit her lips and looked at Karnov with stern eyes. Karnov raised both hands.
“I’ll make sure I don’t get hurt, Your Highness, Princess Anastasia.”
“Swear.”
“I swear.”
“Very well, this is imperial land, but it’s also close to the Noctis Elves. If tainted Prasti grows this large here, won’t it cause trouble for them as well?”
<Hmm…>
<It does seem a little self-destructive.>
“They’re all old enough to know better, they’re not kids, what’s wrong with them that they want to ruin everything because they don’t like something?”
Phoebe flattened her beak at Asha’s pathetic comment, hands on her hips.
<That’s… yeah… Why are they like that!>
<I don’t… I waited patiently until I could talk to Karnov…>
<Ha…>
Phoebe sighed and lowered her head. Asha held back her laughter and pulled Karnov’s sleeve.
“Let’s go then. Show them what we’re made of.”
“What do you mean by ‘what we’re made of’?”
“We’re going to grow the World Tree so big that it can be seen from afar. Whether they’re Noctis Elves or anyone else, they’ll be amazed and astounded.”
With determination in her stride, Asha spoke and led the way forward.
Karnov thought, ‘It’s more likely that the mansion’s residents will be amazed and astounded before the Noctis Elves.’ But instead of saying it aloud, he smiled and followed Asha.
