Chapter 210

There were two Yulans.

One was asleep, and one was awake.

I had brought one out from the underworld, and one had been in the depths of the Schmeizen imperial palace for fourteen years.

Yulan saw Yulan.

However, Yulan was fast asleep.

Aida stroked the sleeping Yulan’s face.

“Poor Yulan…….”

Yulan felt a strange sensation.

He was here, but he was also there.

A dizziness crept up on him.

Seeing a self that was not oneself broke down the boundary between the subjective and the objective.

Yulan became certain that if he hadn’t lost his memories to the ‘Name-eater’, he might have been consumed by madness.

“The whole country knows you are dead. That you were caught in a riot and died fourteen years ago, around the time the ‘Mimic Crumb’ began to fall. We had no choice but to say that…….”

Aida caressed the sleeping Yulan’s face with a very gentle touch.

However, the sleeping Yulan showed no signs of waking.

Yulan was confused, unable to say whether that Yulan was himself or not.

“No, now that it’s come to this, it’s no different from being dead. He hasn’t opened his eyes once since then…….”

“…….”

“It’s been fourteen years. I’ve waited for fourteen years, just waiting for you to wake up.”

The skin under the Widow Queen’s eyes was dark.

A fatigue and sadness that could not be completely covered even by black makeup peeked through.

Her sadness was sharp.

It seemed ready to stab someone at any moment.

“It’s been a long time, worrying and fretting like that. A long, very long time…….”

Aida raised her eyes.

Her aura was incredibly fierce.

She glared at the awake Yulan as if to kill him, but as if she couldn’t bring herself to hate him completely, her expression soon softened.

She asked in an interrogating tone.

“Who are you, Yulan?”

“…I am Yulan.”

“Then who is this Yulan?”

“…I don’t know.”

Yulan Etgendorher was simply bewildered.

It had only been a few days since he had heard his own name.

He could not answer her question with confidence.

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Then I suppose I must change the subject of my question.”

The Widow Queen swept back her black hair.

The eyes that looked at someone other than Yulan were endlessly cold.

“Shion of Merion.”

I answered with a smile.

“Is he Yulan?”

“It is as you see, Your Majesty.”

“In that case, who is the Yulan sleeping here?”

“Who do you think? There are two Yulans, but both cannot be real, can they?”

“…….”

Aida bit her lip.

Firmly, until it bled.

A drop of blood formed and glistened.

A sense of resentment could be felt from her.

It was an emotion directed at me, the one who had brought this confusion.

“…Is he real?”

“Well. He is certainly not a fake.”

I said with conviction.

“Because I rescued him from the underworld myself.”

“I do not trust you. But I have no reason not to trust you yet, either.”

Her attitude was imperious.

It was natural, as she was the ruler of the great nation of Schmeizen and had lived amidst suspicion for a long time.

Since I had known her from before the regression, I didn’t find it particularly unpleasant.

“The only reason I am willing to listen to your story is that you did not move for three whole days.”

“Ahem?”

“I have met my fill of those with ulterior motives. But you were steadfast to the point of being somewhat foolish. So much so that you didn’t even move when someone mimicking my appearance visited you…….”

“There was no reason to move.”

“If you were someone with other schemes, you would have moved.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

‘So this was the reason.’

I shook my head slightly.

I was finally beginning to understand a little of why the Widow Queen from before the regression had told me to stay put for three days.

‘She was paranoid back then too, but it’s worse now. So she sent a minister, the prime minister, and even a replica of herself, and only then did her suspicion subside…….’

“In any case, I am grateful that you wish to trust me.”

“It is too early for thanks, Shion of Merion.”

The Widow Queen lifted her head.

Her eyes glistened with a black madness.

I felt a sense of foreboding.

“If the Yulan you brought is a fake, you will have to pay the price.”

…The price? I muttered.

“Once the trial is over, we will all know who is real and who is fake.”

“And when is this to be held?”

“Now.”

The Widow Queen stood up and dusted off her hands.

One of the walls began to open.

Beyond it were many people.

There seemed to be at least several thousand.

Every one of them was waiting for them.

“It is time for the trial.”

***

“……A trial?”

The one who asked the question was Yulan.

The one who was not asleep, of course.

“That’s right, a trial.”

The Widow Queen answered.

She spoke with a sharp heart wrapped in a polite tone, but when addressing Yulan, the sharpness softened a little.

Though one couldn’t know what would happen if she thought he was a fake.

“Ever since that golden snow started falling… we began to hold trials.”

“…….”

“To find out who is real and who is fake when they look and act the same.”

There were no exceptions.

If a replica appeared, even a noble had to stand before the trial bench.

The Widow Queen Aida had not allowed a single exception thus far.

And this was the same, even for the husband she loved so dearly.

“…This is sudden.”

“It has to be sudden.”

She said firmly.

“I cannot give you time and allow you to prepare any schemes.”

As she gestured, the wall opened even wider.

She showed the reclining Yulan and the awake Yulan to the thousands of people standing outside.

This was deep within the Schmeizen imperial palace, but she showed no hesitation in revealing it.

“Listen, Schmeizen.”

The Widow Queen’s voice was quiet.

However, there was no one who could not hear it.

Before the queen’s unveiled face, the thousands of people knelt without hesitation.

The queen accepted their reverence with a very natural demeanor.

“The man lying here is Yulan Etgendorher. My husband. He was known to have died fourteen years ago, but he had only lost consciousness.”

A slight murmur arose.

It was because this overturned their common sense.

But Aida looked down at the people without wavering.

“This man here also claims to be Yulan Etgendorher. He says he has lost his memory but is my husband.”

The gathered people understood the queen’s intention.

They had been puzzled when the palace soldiers suddenly gathered people, but now the mystery was solved.

“It is time for the trial.”

Aida said.

“There are no exceptions for anyone.”

***

The Widow Queen Aida was an adept of an ancient weapon.

She could command the land she owned and the things that came from it as she willed.

With a single gesture, a wall opened.

With another gesture, the ground flattened itself, and after a few more waves, a jury box, a judge’s bench, and… in any case, a plausible-looking trial ground appeared.

‘Oh, a trial. It’s been so long.’

‘Don’t get too happy, you fool! It’s Lord Yulan’s trial, how can you be happy!’

‘That’s why I’m happy! Lord Yulan was alive!’

‘More importantly, this is going to displease Prime Minister Belrsasal…….’

The sound of people talking.

Some of the comments displeased the Widow Queen Aida.

To worry about Prime Minister Belrsasal’s mood in front of her, the monarch of Schmeizen, was an insult like no other.

She had been quiet for a long time.

Fourteen years ago, when Yulan fell, she too was very young.

Just past twenty.

That was why she couldn’t maintain the upper hand against Prime Minister Belrsasal.

She couldn’t stop him even as she watched him run the country as he pleased.

But it would be different now.

A long time had passed, and she had aged and become seasoned.

She had observed Belrsasal’s methods for a long time and had come to know his weaknesses.

“I, Aida, am the monarch of Schmeizen. I have nothing to hide from you.”

This trial was a move to strike at Prime Minister Belrsasal, while at the same time ascertaining Yulan’s authenticity.

“This trial has no exceptions, and that is the same for me and my husband.”

Her firm voice bred trust.

Some people’s eyes reddened with emotion.

It was as she intended.

Watching the situation unfold without any room for him to intervene, I clicked my tongue with a tsk.

‘That’s Aida for you. A natural-born politician. Not a single word or action is wasted.’

That was why I felt a bit of kin-loathing.

Obro Denoebang was a swordsman by birth, so he was very different from me.

But the Widow Queen Aida resembled me.

Sometimes, enough to feel like a sister.

She knew how to move people to her will without lying.

She also knew how to pretend not to be mad while being mad, and how to deceive even herself.

‘I let my guard down for a moment and got completely entangled in the board she set. It doesn’t matter much to me, but…….’

I glanced sideways.

I saw a group of people rushing from a distance.

Among them was the old man who resembled a fierce goat, Prime Minister Belrsasal.

‘…Belrsasal must be quite bewildered.’

“Your Majesty!”

Prime Minister Belrsasal rushed over, letting out a booming shout.

He didn’t care if thousands of people were watching.

He was the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Chief Secretary of Schmeizen.

He was, in name and reality, the second most powerful person after the Widow Queen, and no, a man who sometimes wielded even more power than she did.

“What is the meaning of this! Without a single word of discussion with me!”

“You’ve come at a good time, Prime Minister.”

At her gesture, knights stepped forward.

They drew their sharp-edged swords.

Belrsasal flinched before the sharp glint of the blades.

“Take this Yulan and go stand on that side.”

“…Pardon?”

“It is an imperial command, Prime Minister. Will you not obey?”

There were thousands of pairs of eyes watching.

Even Belrsasal could not defy an imperial command.

‘Insolent little girl! Who do you think put you on that throne…….’ Belrsasal grumbled angrily for the queen to hear. The queen pretended not to hear.

“Let us resume the trial.”

She placed the two Yulans on her left and right respectively.

“The Yulan on my left was brought from the underworld by Shion of Merion. He claims to have lost his memory.”

“…Uh, hello, everyone. I’m Yulan. Probably…….”

Yulan gave an awkward greeting. Amethus and I stood by his side.

“The Yulan on my right has been asleep for a long time. I thought he was missing after being caught in a riot, but… Prime Minister Belrsasal brought him to me after he lost consciousness.”

“……”

Belrsasal did not answer.

The sleeping Yulan, likewise, could not answer.

Two Yulans.

One was brought by me, the other by Belrsasal.

By placing them on her left and right, the queen’s intentions were made clear.

Belrsasal cursed, and I smiled faintly.

“We do not yet know which one is the fake. But the one who is fake, and the one who brought the fake, will surely be……”

The Widow Queen’s eyes glinted sharply.

“Someone who intends to overthrow Schmeizen.”

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