Chapter 46 - Vain Hope

Leaving behind Burnel, who had a vacant look on his face, Ferda conversed with Count Concillus.

"About the Grand Council..."

The topic of conversation was the Grand Council, which all high-ranking nobles attended.

"I received a reply saying they would like me to attend."

"Ah, that is wonderful news. To think a voice capable of representing the far east will finally emerge..."

A teardrop fell from the wrinkled corners of Count Concillus's eyes.

"I apologize. It seems I am getting more tearful in my old age."

"Do not worry about it. I am told only those of duke rank and above can attend; do you know anything about that information?"

"I cannot say I know it inside and out, but I will rack my brain to answer your questions as best as I can."

"Where do you think my standing will be over there?"

Count Concillus let out a breath at that question and chose his words carefully.

It was undoubtedly not going to be a good story.

"To be frank, it will not be good. You are young, Regent, and a novice who has not even been in the position for a year. Furthermore, yours is the status of a proxy rather than a joint ruler. To interpret what that means..."

Count Concillus answered while stroking his beard, playing the part of an arrogant person.

"It will feel like... they handed a real sword as a test to a greenhorn who should be playing with a toy sword."

"Is that how you see it as well?"

Ferda threw the question sharply.

Count Concillus let out a hearty laugh.

"How could that be? Although you have your inexperienced points, seeing as you ask for my advice for the development of the Grand Duchy's territory, I know at least that you sincerely wish for its progress."

"Thank you for saying so."

"Anyway, only five people, including attendants, are allowed to enter the White House, Blancaros's neutral zone. They forbid bringing an unnecessarily large entourage."

"There is nothing quite as unsightly as trying to show off in front of an expert. Do most nobles go with that quota completely filled?"

"Yes. They dress their attendants as attendants and their children as children, showing themselves off. If you wish, Regent, I will attach my knights as your escort and prepare everything so you may enter as extravagantly as possible."

"There is no need for that."

They said a noble's face was important, but he did not want to compete with fake smiles and adornments.

"If you already have people you wish to take, it does not matter, but could you please take just one of my boys? He will not smear mud on the Grand Duchess's face."

Ferda furrowed his brow.

He was sick and tired of the noble way of speaking, where they hid their true intentions and slyly asked for favors to slip someone in.

"I hate beating around the bush. If you trust me, and I trust you, tell it to me straight. What is your goal? Are you asking me to take you?"

"What wealth and glory would this old man hope to enjoy by showing his face at the Grand Council? *Ahem*..."

Ferda had asked point-blank, and Count Concillus let out a dry cough with an embarrassed face.

"You know the knight named Arwen, do you not?"

"You mean your knight."

He was a knight Ferda had run into often, starting from their first meeting when going to hunt the bear monster, and even escorting him to the Empire.

"It is my wish for that child to witness the Grand Council."

"You want to give experience to a mere knight?"

"He is a mere knight, but he is loyal, and his chivalric spirit is excellent. It is a shame that his horizons are so narrow, perhaps because he has only served the far east his entire life. He has never seen things as they truly are. I think showing him the wider world at the Grand Council will be a good stimulus."

Count Concillus's demand was an unusual request even among nobles.

Taking a mere knight to the Grand Council to broaden his horizons...

It raised the question of whether they might be blood relatives.

"What exactly is your relationship with Arwen, by the way?"

"Haha, we are complete strangers, of course. It is just a relationship where I saw him on the battlefield once—an encounter forgotten in my memories, but unforgotten by the child."

Count Concillus had no family.

To be precise, they had all died.

When his wife died, and even his son died, he gave up on remarrying.

And he stepped into the far east of his own accord.

To Concillus, who did not have a single child, an existence like Arwen would be like a son.

"Understood. I will bring Arwen along."

"Thank you for humoring this old man's useless stubbornness. Do you have any other questions?"

"What do you think about bringing an agenda to the Grand Council?"

"An agenda... Of course, since you have equal authority, no one will object, but..."

His reaction was worse than when Ferda had asked about his standing.

"It could go beyond being bad and have the opposite effect. There is a higher probability of making enemies rather than allies."

"It does not matter."

Ferda looked fully determined.

"Pardon me, but would it be alright for this humble self to hear what that agenda is?"

"I will ask if it is right to call Valdrova an Evil Dragon."

"Valdrova..."

Count Concillus reflexively brought a finger to his temple.

"You know she is not an Evil Dragon, do you not?"

"Of course. I cannot say I know her well, but I at least know that her nature is nowhere near as wicked as the rumors claim."

"The reason she is designated as an Evil Dragon is that she cannot suppress her true nature. Is that not so?"

"From what is known... that is correct."

"But what if she can suppress that boiling nature?"

"If she can suppress her bloodlust and has no intention of harming humans, then the false charge of being an Evil Dragon can easily be cleared. However, it would be best not to get your hopes up too high. There will be no one taking Valdrova's side at the Grand Council."

"Then I just have to change that. Of course, if they accept my explanation but insist on being stubborn until the end..."

Killing intent filled Ferda's eyes.

"I will naturally have to exact a corresponding answer or price from them."

Count Concillus's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.

The suffocating sensation he had felt when he first saw him.

It was the same look in his eyes when he killed Thessalos Vulture without blinking.

"The assembly hall is Blancaros's domain. I pray there will be no incidents of violence."

"Do not worry. I am not an idiot."

Ferda rested a hand on his chin.

Was it one month from now?

Those attending the Grand Council were nobles of duke rank and above, and kings.

'And dragon spawns.'

The spokespersons of absolutes capable of overturning entire nations.

He was diving into human society and dragon society at the same time.

It would be a lie to say Ferda's shoulders were not heavy with the burden of handling both.

Still, he had to do it.

Because that was the reason for Ferda's existence here.

* * *

Ferda decided on the people who would accompany him.

First and foremost, the knight Arwen, just as Count Concillus had requested.

Zed Swallow, who was excellent at acting as a figurehead.

'Including me, three people should be enough.'

Taking three more people would be fitting for a noble attending the Grand Council, but Ferda did not bother trying to fill the quota.

Bringing along other lords did not suit his temperament, and they did not dare to ask him either.

Just as he was thinking of going with the three of them, an unexpected person came to Ferda and made a request.

"I will accompany you to the Grand Council as well."

It was Luri.

Ferda said to her.

"There won't be anything tasty to eat there."

"Do you think I'm some sort of pig?"

"A dog and a p—"

"If you say anything weird, I will scrub your dead skin off again."

Ferda shut his mouth.

She was a woman who did what she said she would do.

"At the very least, I will not cause any damage to your dignity, Sir Ferda. So will you grant me permission?"

"I'll say it again, no good will come from you going there. I heard Silverwind participates there regularly."

Silver Dragon, Silverwind.

Luri was not Valdrova's spawn, but a Silver Dragon who inherited Silverwind's blood.

Silver Dragon spawns hated Valdrova.

Because she had killed Silverwind.

They would already disapprove of her Regent, so what would they think of Luri, a Silver Dragon spawn?

To them, Luri's existence was no different from that of a traitor.

There was no reason for her to insert herself into a place where she would absolutely never hear a single kind word.

Contrary to Ferda's thought that she would have understood clearly, she reacted differently.

"That is exactly why I am going."

Hearing those words, Ferda put on an even more serious face and asked.

"Then tell me clearly what your purpose for going is. Do not even think about hiding it from me."

Ferda's voice turned fierce.

"... I simply wish to exchange information."

Luri mumbled something under her breath and answered like that.

"I have lived a life too cut off from Silverwind until now. I need to find out if they still hold a grudge against my master."

"Is that not something that doesn't even need checking?"

Luri was a dragon spawn.

And a Silver Dragon's spawn at that.

That meant she knew the mindset of Silver Dragons better than anyone.

"They will harbor no goodwill toward Valdrova."

"Since a long time has passed, that hatred may have settled down."

"When a dragon bears a grudge, it does not stop. You know that too, do you not?"

Dragons did not give up on revenge.

Even if the party harboring the grudge died, that revenge would be carried on to the next generation.

Silverwind would never forgive Valdrova.

A dragon spawn as skilled as Luri could not possibly be unaware of that.

"That is why I just want to try talking to them."

Ferda looked into Luri's eyes.

She, too, wanted to bet on a hope named 'what if'.

"No."

Ferda's eyes coldly drew a line.

That was exactly why she could not go.

Because he knew that hope was futile.

"The three of us will go, so stay and guard this place quietly."

Luri's body trembled greatly.

She tried to hide her true feelings with an expressionless face.

But a deep resentment could be felt.

"... Understood."

Luri turned around and left without even bowing.

* * *

Ferda occasionally tried the cultivation method again.

Entering a state of concentration and awakening was perfect.

However, there was no rotation of the Red Circle to support it.

'What am I lacking?'

If he lacked a desire for revenge, he just needed to fill himself with it.

To do that, Ferda was jealous of opponents stronger than himself, and he strived to fight against their status and power.

But how was he supposed to fill this feeling?

Every year, every month, every day, every hour, every minute, every second.

Would it only be satisfied if he looked at her alone?

'Satisfaction, huh...'

It was a funny word.

Greed was not thirst.

When thirst disappeared, an even greater thirst would only take its place.

If he kept repeatedly filling and filling that thirst, at some point, reason would be reduced to a mere tool to satisfy that desire.

Ferda had sought revenge for the sake of revenge, and he had killed countless people.

Emotions welled up entirely from Ferda's heart.

Thus, the more hastily he tried to resolve this emotion, the more he was bound to fall down the wrong path.

'What in the world is missing?'

Closing his eyes, he quietly entered his mental world.

Her face.

His greatest desire was to see her face again, which he had only encountered exactly once.

But Valdrova would not show her face.

Because she has severe social anxiety.

That was why he erased the thought from his mind.

This would eventually swallow him whole someday.

"... Meditation really isn't my style."

He was a man who was more accustomed to filling his mind than emptying it.

It was better to fill his head with other idle thoughts by taking a walk than to sit and fill it with delusions.

And so, Ferda stood up from his seat.

The time was late at night, with the moon leaning toward the west.

What filled the quiet hallway was blue moonlight.

Ferda stood by the window and looked up at the moon.

It was a full moon.

"Anna Rosnova."

A name that flowed out like a breath.

It was his mother's name.

On nights when a full moon rose, he always thought of his mother.

Ferda had hated the night when he was a child.

He used to imagine monsters lurking in the dark shadows and those monsters pouncing on him.

Of course, he still did not like the night even now.

Because whenever Ferda unknowingly found himself in danger, it was always at night.

Even though he hated the night so much, looking up at the moon brought him what little comfort he had.

That thing, which shone brightest in the darkest of places, was the only way he could recall his mother's faint smile.

Until the very moment he was consumed and devoured by his desire for revenge,

he had found his comfort there.

'Mother...'

His beautiful mother, who had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Ferda filled his mind with thoughts of her.

He filled himself with his mother's existence so that he could distance himself slightly from his obsession and view himself objectively.

It was then.

The sound of footsteps walking down the long hallway began to reach his ears.

CLINK, CLINK.

If it were any other castle, he might have thought it was a guard or knight on patrol.

However, the only one who could patrol Valdrova Castle was Luri.

And Luri wore a maid outfit instead of armor.

'If that's the case...'

Ferda doubted his own thoughts.

There was no way such an unbelievable thing could happen at a time like this.

However, the approaching sound and the revealing silhouette made Ferda certain.

What emerged from the darkness was the armor of a dragon knight.

There was only one person who could wander this castle wearing that.

My fiancée.

Valdrova.

She was right before his eyes.