Chapter 270

The steward entered the room and gave me the Anhalt formal attire before leaving.

Naturally, like all the other servants I had met so far, he had tried to dress me as well, but my request worked on the steward. I took the formal attire and said seriously.

“I will dress myself.”

“Then do so.”

The steward smiled and went out of the room.

His constant smiling felt somehow suspicious, but the very fact that he could converse with me seemed to be something he always regarded as new. And rightly so, since after Luka became a shut-in and until I came to this world, Luka hadn’t properly conversed with anyone.

Anyway, my modern self finally felt a bit at ease. No matter how much being attended to even with clothing was a privilege among privileges, since I hadn’t lived as a noble, having a stranger dress me didn’t feel like a privilege but just embarrassing. Wouldn’t anyone from the modern world empathize?

[May I come in now?]

“You may, but why do you intend to come in?”

“I must do the final adjustments.”

He entered with a beaming smile and straightened my clothes. As he readjusted the seams of my shirt and vest, he said.

“I am truly proud that you have grown up like this.”

“There is no need for you to feel proud.”

“From your expression to your speech, it feels like seeing His Grace in his childhood. His Grace was quite different in his youth. At exactly this age, His Grace resembled the young master now so much….”

It was something I already knew. The steward had graduated from the Imperial Second Academy alongside Georg Askanian. The two were childhood friends like Elias and Leo. I couldn’t understand how that ice-block of a man resembled me in any way—especially in this situation—but from my position of knowing that Georg Askanian had changed into what he was now only after Luka was known to possess the Pleroma temperament, I could understand. The deep furrows between his brows and the cold, indifferent eyes toward everything were not his original state but had come from the subsequent lethargy and fatigue.

“I am curious about him from that time.”

“You will never see that side of him again.”

A gentle smile still played on the steward’s lips, but he spoke more firmly than I expected.

I could understand his resignation. Time corrodes people.

He patted my jacket and grinned.

“You look splendid. Now, you will soon be taller than me, won’t you?”

“Haha.”

I wasn’t sure how much taller I could grow. Since both Adrian Askanian and Georg were on the tall side, perhaps I could expect a bit more.

The steward glanced at his watch and said.

“Now, young master, you will move to the ball room. It has been nearly ten years since you last entered, hasn’t it.”

“Yes.”

“Your friends will all go as well, but since there is a scheduled event time, we have set it for entry ten minutes before that time. Now, shall we lift your chin a bit?”

The steward brought his hand to my chin. I gently pushed his hand away and recited what I knew.

“I know. The eyes should be slightly lowered. No need for unnecessary smiles, pull the neck back slightly but without tensing the body. That’s it, right?”

“You know it well.”

Where else would I have learned it?

From Leo. That’s why I couldn’t help but call that guy my teacher.

He looked at me quietly for a moment and then asked.

“Will you go see His Grace first now?”

“No.”

Did I have to go see my father just because he had arrived? He wouldn’t want that either. And I had no particular desire for it.

When noon, as promised, arrived, that was when I would meet him.

“…I see. Then I will come back here later. At that time, you must move directly to the ball room.”

I nodded and sent the steward away.

Every time the door opened, the noisy sounds of my friends outside could be heard.

I put the shellac plate that Adrian Askanian must have bought as a gift for his little brother into the phonograph. Clear sound quality classical music flowed out, comparable even to LP. LP probably wouldn’t exist in this world. The mages had developed it by compensating for the shortcomings of shellac plates. In this way, the things I knew drifted further from me.

Even I was the same. When I was here, I became Luka more than anyone else in the world. To everyone except me, the fact that I was Luka was an utterly obvious truth, but it was gradually becoming that way for me too. Perhaps it had been that way from the beginning, but I hadn’t noticed because I had been away from this place. His memories and emotions seeped into me more vividly than usual.

Not long after, Leo opened the door and entered.

“Time?”

“No.”

Though I said that, Leo locked the door with a refreshed face and sat on the sofa in my room. He looked around slowly and said.

“This building is similar to how it was ten years ago.”

“Good memory.”

What more could Georg Askanian have done here anyway. Maintaining the status quo would be fortunate. While I turned my back to him and watched over the shellac plate and needle, he quietly called me.

“Lukas.”

“Don’t call my name; get to the point.”

“You must be very tired.”

I stomped my foot to cast a soundproofing spell enveloping Leo and me. If he wasn’t going to get to the point right away, I should say what I had to say. As if sensing I was about to speak, Leo layered another soundproofing spell over it.

“I was going to discuss this with you anyway. Let’s talk about Nicolaus.”

“Hm. It is about time for your brother to start moving.”

Leo immediately understood my meaning. He had noticed that I was considering integrating Nicolaus to me first to prepare for my brother’s attack.

“Then you already know without me saying. We have to decide whether to aim for high return high risk or low return low risk.”

“Risk? The priority is to prevent the Lukas Askanian identity from collapsing in the first place.”

Of course that was obvious. I was merely preparing assuming the worst case. It didn’t mean it would happen right away, nor that I would let it be.

As I shrugged with that intent, Leo nodded as if he understood.

“I didn’t come to say things like this… but fine. Nicolaus Ernst is an identity made to neutralize your brother’s attack. So, timing-wise, revealing the identity now, when your brother isn’t moving, is right. But the problem is that even if we reveal it, we haven’t caught evidence to send your brother away, so in the end, Nicolaus and your brother will have to continue fighting. Moreover, we would be in a state with no insurance since we’ve already used the trump card called Nicolaus. From this perspective, it’s still too early to reveal your identity.”

“Exactly. So it’s time to prepare for attack beyond defense.”

As I said that, I offered the hip flask I had refilled with whiskey from the train. Uncharacteristically, Leo took the alcohol and drank while looking out the window.

“…But it is true that now is the perfect opportunity to reveal your identity. So you’re worrying about this now, right? If we don’t integrate, your body is one, but you have to manage two identities politically. It’s inevitable to neglect one. Moreover, your brother is already sufficiently wary of the possibility that Nicolaus is you, so even if we don’t reveal now, you have to block attacks on both identities. In that sense, if the benefits of revealing are certainly great, it might be better to do it now.”

Leo shook his head as if it had become complicated and fell deep into thought. Soon, he opened his mouth again.

“Lukas. Perhaps an opportunity to start this splendidly may never come again. Integrating Nicolaus now can immediately solidify Lukas Askanian’s position. Of course, you would have to accept that the enemies you face in politics increase….”

I nodded.

In fact, it should be normal for such an opportunity to never come again. If it came twice, that would mean another crazy incident like this one happening again, and me getting caught up in it again.

‘…There’s no guarantee it won’t come twice….’

I didn’t want to think about it.

From my position of hoping such an incident never happens again, revealing the identity now is right. There’s no law saying I must always choose the latter between high risk high return and low risk low return. Sometimes the latter is excessively stability-oriented, missing out on gains, a foolish choice.

Leo closed the hip flask and placed it on the table.

“You are worried about risks like perhaps your brother is waiting for the day Nicolaus reveals his identity himself, or he brings an attack beyond our imagination to completely collapse your two identities.”

“You know well.”

“But the possibility of return is much greater. Wait until your brother’s prepared attack comes.”

“…….”

“If I say possibility rather than value of return, you’ll understand, but your brother is now in a situation where it’s hard to land an effective hit on you no matter what attack we can imagine he uses. Of course, he’s not the type to be complacent despite that, so I know well that you’re worrying now. You’re concerned if perhaps he has a plan to collapse you. So, rewind time based on the degree of the attack. Announce your identity then.”

“That’s your conclusion.”

Wise answer. Pursuing gains stably, just like Leo. For now, it’s the best method. I hadn’t not considered it either.

“Leo. The thing you said you’d tell me before….”

“That’s not something to discuss while playing around? And that’s not for you to consider in your strategy.”

He cut off my words decisively, checked his watch, and stood up.

“I came to talk about something else now. Don’t we have to go out in 30 minutes?”

“Yeah. You too.”

“I actually have to go out even earlier.”

As Leo said that, he took out a small box from his pocket.

“Here.”

“Hm?”

I frowned, doubting what I was seeing. In his hand was an artifact box covered in a familiar blue velvet. So, it was exactly that artifact box I had left behind.

“…You brought this? How? Your preparedness is giving me chills.”

“What do you mean…. You have 24-hour access to my core, so you wouldn’t notice the difference, but I can’t not know my magic power is gone. You don’t expect me to live like this alone, do you?”

Leo shot back with a smiling face.

To call it access was nice; it was more accurate to say he had arranged it so I could destroy the core at my will if I wanted. He didn’t seem to want to say it that directly.

“Then you could have said it on the train earlier. Why hand it over so ominously late. You have something in mind.”

“I didn’t want to say it there.”

“…….”

Didn’t want to say it there?

Was it because the atmosphere was too light? Since friends could barge in at any time.

I fell into thought.

If I were to summarize the intent of what he said on the train in one word, it was this.

If you absolutely have to use yourself as a means to deal with the archbishop, are you prepared to deal with the archbishop even resorting to the worst method?

It had been that from beginning to end.

The decision I made to half-destroy the archbishop’s core, and even matching the archbishop’s engagement rhythm—it had appeared to him as the possibility of mutual destruction with the archbishop using me as the means.

This was an extension of the concern he had had since the Primrose Path. I had saved 1.9 million lives, but from then on, I hadn’t been able to quell my friend’s anxiety.

‘…Bitter.’

Let’s go back and think again. If I resolve to mutual destruction, it would have to be done in secret from my friends. In other words, the remark he made from the start that had baffled me was to turn the words back to me or not give me a subtle way to avoid. While I had primarily panicked in an Old Human way, he had tried to baffle me with a rather New Human basis, and naturally, the first words he uttered were ones that would baffle a New Human twice as much as an Old Human. Among New Humans who produce people via contracts, marriage sounds like a declaration of seeking a magic power provider from the other side of the Earth with no ties and contracting. It can be done, but there’s no particular reason to, and though it happens occasionally, it’s just someone else’s story, nothing more or less. Yet he fully knew what marriage meant to Old Humans. The bafflement amplifies between absurdity and nausea.

On the other hand, he had discerned the fundamental commonality between the archbishop and me, and I had panicked as a New Human at the point of realizing he might know that, just as Leo intended. Of course, thanks to that, I could once again confirm his concern regarding mutual destruction.

So, this issue was quite complex. The basis was first, because it lay between Leo’s two sincere questions and his intentional probing, and second, because in his view, I was someone who could find a compromise point—compromised between love and justice—even if my desires conflicted, using marriage to perish together with the archbishop.

Since actions rarely stem from just one basis, they inevitably become complex, and oversimplifying leads to the intent collapsing.

An initiate striving in scholarship must ultimately step out of the simple framework prepared for initiation.

The moment I truly face a person, instead of skimming the surface heard by the ears, I must seize the other’s complex, multifaceted psychology. This should be enough without thinking more. I had already given him my answer then.

“I have always moved presupposing your help. Shamelessly, I will continue to do so. You’re handing this over now because you want me to answer a bit more seriously, right?”

“Shameless? That’s what we want. From what I hear in Anhalt, it’s touching.”

As Leo said that, he shifted his gaze around and continued.

“You always make me feel seen through. Yes, when I first gave you the artifact, it was to watch over your safety. Honestly, I can’t say there was no intent in what you meant this time either. But this time is a bit different. The reason I didn’t want to say I brought the artifact on the train isn’t the reason you think.”

As I raised an eyebrow, he gestured toward the window and said.

“Lukas. You have come justly to the land that cast you out. The broken core has regained its original state and become stronger than anyone, and your honor, mired in malice you didn’t need to suffer, is rising against all interference.”

“…….”

“You have returned once again to that land where you had to drink your brother’s poison all your life.”

I let out a hollow laugh and twisted one corner of my mouth. Leo, who was saying this now, was smiling.

“Come on, interpret this one too. I’m curious what you’ll say.”

From the middle, I had a hunch. From the moment he said ‘that land where you had to drink your brother’s poison all your life,’ I was certain of the intent behind offering the Wittelsbach artifact.

What else could it be? The core I had shattered with my brother’s poison was now under the protection of Wittelsbach’s healing magic power. He had delayed until here to recreate the reversal of the situation in Anhalt as a symbol.

Sometimes this guy made me laugh hollowly. Anyone could see he had the air of a prince born and raised pampered, and somewhere between orthodoxy and strange madness, he subtly annoyed people. It was an undeniable fact to me.

But one thing remained the same. Despite that, he was a friend who gave his all in every moment to everything. I held my forehead and let out a hollow laugh as I said.

“Aren’t you too obsessed with symbolism? In my view, you’re too sentimental.”

“Is that so? But it’s you who’s strange, not me.”

“…….”

He boldly said I was strange…. By this era’s standards, it might indeed be natural.

I mulled over his words again and quietly opened my mouth.

“…This… honestly, you packaged what could have been infuriating quite well.”

“Packaged? Isn’t it a thought worth having as the first person to hear your circumstances?”

As he said that, he turned his gaze back to the window.

“Lukas. Anhalt. I…”

His gaze lingered on the Anhalt emblems scattered throughout the castle building and beyond, at the confluence of the two rivers. Soon, Leo looked at me and smiled brightly.

“I’m really glad that I’ve come here, more than the fact that I could invite you to Bavaria.”

Is that so. I pulled up the corner of my mouth and smiled. Leo’s pure smile, like that of boys his age, reached me as sincere.

How many times in life can one meet a friend who worries and rejoices over others’ affairs as if they were his own. Whether he used me as Bavaria’s human capital or not, his heart thinking of people and justice was true. I already saw in him the light that had once gone out in me. Now, I couldn’t even tell if such a light had been in me, but since I wasn’t completely blind, I knew that the light he showed me was bright.

“Give it.”

I gestured toward the artifact in his hand.

There was no room for my usual curt words or dismissal.

I hoped this uprightness, able to truly think of others, would not be dyed with fatigue and pessimism. Whether possible or not, I wanted to hold onto for him what I had already failed once. I was merely relieved that I had failed a little earlier than him, allowing him to give his all to this shining uprightness.

Even if his bestowed meaning didn’t seem that grand to me already, I wanted to accept the respect and support he showed me as it was, without distorting or glossing it over.

Piercing the skin with the end of the artifact instead of the needle was a bit excessive. I wiped the blood with gauze and threw it into the fireplace flames. Unlike the burning sensation in my ear, the core gradually cooled refreshingly. The magic power that should carry aggressiveness filled the minute cracks in my core and wrapped around them. I squeezed my ear with another gauze and let out a sigh-mixed words.

“It depends on how you package it. If this feels more valuable than what I’ll soon receive….”

“Package, you say. But what?”

Leo tilted his head. I ignored his question and said what I had to say.

“Just a while ago, my brother’s poison broke my core, and now Wittelsbach’s healing magic power protects it, so yes, it’s a bit new. I’ve returned to this land that made me no different from a non-mage in the exact opposite situation. I never specifically imagined a day like this would come….”

“…….”

“It’s nostalgic. I said it as I felt. Did I interpret right?”

“Yes.”

Leo smiled and replied.

As the conversation seemed to be wrapping up, I approached the hearth, burned the other gauze in the flames, and said.

“Without your help, I wouldn’t be here. You probably didn’t want to hear this specifically.”

“You know well. I didn’t expect to hear thanks from you already.”

“That would be so. I haven’t said everything yet.”

I turned around, looked at him, and said.

“Please take care of me from now on.”

“…….”

Leo’s blue eyes burned with resolve. The corners of his mouth curved softly.

“Yes. Me too.”

*  *  *

“This is the second time, isn’t it.”

The steward said that as he led me. I didn’t reply, but he continued.

“It is truly an honor to see this sight.”

Now, I was moving to the banquet hall for Anhalt’s medal conferment ceremony. It was the first official schedule of the day.

I moved under the escort of the guard corps, listening to his one-sided words. Not long after, a familiar yet unfamiliar door came into view.

“Lukas von Anhalt, the young lord of Anhalt, has arrived.”

The old-fashioned name rang out again. The guards standing on both sides of the door opened the thick doors of the banquet hall.

Sunlight flooded in, and I squinted slightly.

The banquet hall was a place I had seen a few times in Luka’s childhood memories. The structure with a podium at the end of the passage was similar to Bavaria’s, but there were no frescoes or statues like in the Antiquarium. A massive chandelier, a skylight made for natural lighting, and a ceiling height much higher than other places by connecting two floors stood out. The sunlight pouring from above made the chandelier’s light almost meaningless.

On the seats on both sides of the hall, collateral Askanians, Anhalt politicians, and my friends were visible. Anhalt nobles from Luka’s memories were also there.

I walked through the aisle between the seats.

—“Lukas.”

A voice speaking with divine power registered to me. Looking that way, Narce standing next to Elias showed a clenched fist. It seemed to mean good luck.

I didn’t lack strength anyway. Rather now, I had so much leeway that a sneer formed unconsciously. I smiled at him and stood on the right side in front of the podium.

The steward seemed to have brought me earlier than in Bavaria. About three minutes after I stood with hands behind my back, the noon bell from the distant church rang.

Creak—

[His Grace the Duke of Anhalt has arrived.]

“…….”

A mage with a familiar face entered through the open door. Luka’s, my heart began to beat faster gradually. I realized that the sneer I had held back until earlier was mild. I tried to compose my expression while looking at him.

He paused briefly at his seat, then gazed at me with that characteristic chilling gaze that looked down on everything. Then, like Leo, he walked to the podium accompanied by the guard captain and the prime minister.

Anhalt’s national anthem began to play. It was music Luka didn’t like. Therefore, influenced by him, I couldn’t like it either, but since it was music I would make mine from now on, I needed to change my taste.

As Georg Askanian stood at the podium, I turned my body toward him. A low voice, quite different from mine, flowed from that face resembling mine.

“Can Lukas von Anhalt swear to become a member of the Albrecht Knight Order and pledge loyalty to the Duchy of Anhalt.”

Not a single breath could be heard. It was probably because of that chilling, hollow voice that gave an inhuman impression.

Unlike Bavaria, there was no explanation whatsoever about the medal being conferred. It was his personality, but in fact, it was natural. Anhalt’s medal was only one, the Albrecht Medal. This medal was one that all direct descendants of Askanian rightfully received. The reason Luka hadn’t received this medal until now was because Georg Askanian hadn’t recognized him as part of the ruling family.

If only briefly mentioned, one might not know, but listing my merits here like in foreign countries would rather be a minus.

“I swear.”

I replied without averting my gaze from those icy blue eyes. And as before, I knelt on my left knee and bowed my head.

Georg Askanian raised the sword he held. A chilling wind brushed past my cheek. The blade flashing in my left peripheral vision slowly turned to the right.

“…….”

Georg Askanian sheathed the sword and grasped the hilt with both hands, lightly pressing the tip to the floor.

It was the second knighting ceremony I experienced. The still lowly hollow voice echoed through the hall.

“From this moment, Lukas von Anhalt is a member of the Albrecht Knight Order, and in commemoration of Lukas von Anhalt’s feats and merits, the Duchy of Anhalt bestows the Grand Cross of the Albrecht Knight Order.”

Grand Cross.

A medal that only those close to founding merits or the ruling family could receive. Adrian Askanian had already received it long ago, and all my ruling family friends would have as well.

The Grand Cross meant that I was in a position to stand comparable to my brother as Askanian’s rightful heir. In this world where birth order didn’t signify succession rights, it meant that the play Adrian Askanian had built over more than ten years now reached its end, and only the fight between Adrian Askanian and me remained.

Of course, the evaluation of this small duchy couldn’t instantly move me to Adrian Askanian’s side. Especially since this was my family. As such, I had no choice but to accept the Grand Cross.

However, because it was my family, this was a monumental event.

I had earned with my own hands the highest medal that one born as the family’s rightful heir could receive. The fate that Adrian Askanian had thrown off the cliff, I had personally dragged up to this position.

With this, no one in the world could deny that Askanian’s second son, who had been confined to an empty mansion in the corner of Anhalt against his will, was now undeniably a member of the ruling family. Whether I was thinking of Luka or myself, I couldn’t tell. Since I had to live with one name, now he was me and I was him.

Now, the ceremony in the Duchy of Anhalt ended with this.

I rose from my seat and looked at the impassive-faced mage standing before me. He merely looked down at me without saying a word.

One of the people who had driven Luka to death, and one who would drive me to death in the future as well. The memories of him swirling in my head like my own were enough to confuse me. He was Luka’s father. Yet since I had to live in Luka’s name, he was unreservedly my father as well. The body I was trapped in was born of his blood, if I died it would be because of this man, and if I lived I had to become the next generation’s monarch as his son. So at this moment, distinction was meaningless.

What was important was one thing.

Gazing into his blue eyes reflecting my red pupils, I said.

“It took a long time, Father.”

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