Chapter 112 - Holy War (1)

1

Romantic Fantasy Rule 999

『Love Needs No Rules.』

2

Sometimes in life, you receive an unexpected gift.

“Lady Golden Silk Blossom, I have something important to tell you.”

“Oh? It’s been a while since you called me [Lady Golden Silk Blossom] instead of [my lady], Butler. Something ominous always happened whenever you did. Let me deduce what sort of incident it is this time.”

Golden Silk Blossom, the baron’s daughter, slowly lifted her teacup. She was elegance itself.

“Do I have a secret half sister?”

“No.”

“I see. Is my mother actually an illegitimate daughter of the previous Emperor, meaning that I, too, have some imperial blood? And that His Highness the Crown Prince and I share a forbidden love?”

“No.”

“Or do I have both a secret half sister and a secret bloodline, making me perfectly qualified to be the protagonist of some fucking awesome story?”

“No.”

“Then what is it, you fucking bastard?”

“I’m getting married soon.”

“Aha. Marriage. You’re getting married. Married...”

PFFFT!

Lady Golden Silk Blossom sprayed the tea she had been drinking. Mostly into my face.

There wasn’t a trace of elegant dignity left.

“Married?”

“Yes.”

“Maaaarried?”

“That’s right.”

“If this is a joke, it’s an utterly tasteless one, Butler! Do you want me to beat the shit out of you again? It’s been a while!”

“It’s not a joke.”

I wiped my face with a handkerchief.

“Why would I joke about something like this, my lady? I really am getting married. Trying to stop me won’t do any good. We’ve already set the wedding for a month from now.”

“T-to whom?”

“Lady Silver Lily, the duke’s daughter.”

“Oh, come on. You were bullshitting me after all.”

Lady Golden Silk Blossom heaved a sigh.

Relief crossed her face. Her expression said that even if the world ended, there was no chance Raviel and I would get married. Well, that was the normal reaction.

“You think I’m lying?”

“Yes. Not just lying, but spouting absolute bullshit. If you want to fool me, please come up with a slightly more plausible lie. You get a failing grade for creativity.”

“If it’s true, will you give me permission to marry?”

“Ahaha. Yes, yes. By all means, Butler. If it’s true, that is. In fact, having my servant engaged to the noblest house in the Empire would be an enormous gain for me personally, wouldn’t it? My family’s standing would shoot up six whole rungs at once, wouldn’t it?”

“Then please affix your seal here.”

“Hm?”

I held out the document I had prepared.

“What is this, Butler?”

“A document stating that, should I marry Lady Raviel Ivansia, you consent to the marriage as my original mistress. I will leave your protection, Lady Golden Silk Blossom, and become the wife of House Ivansia.”

“Pfft!”

Lady Golden Silk Blossom clutched her stomach with laughter.

“The w-wife of House Ivansia... Pffhaha! What is that supposed to be? A joke? A comedy routine? Are you saying my butler is going to be called [Her Grace, the Duchess of Ivansia]? Just imagining it is fucking hilarious. Me becoming empress of the Empire would be more plausible.”

Then, amid her laughter, Lady Golden Silk Blossom offered a smile of an entirely different kind.

“Well, that is what will happen this time.”

Hmm.

I recalled the synopsis I had read before entering this apocalypse.

‘A female lead on her second run.’

A great many things came to mind: Lady Golden Silk Blossom’s identity, which I could more or less guess by now; the Inquisitor, who had yet to possess her; and more.

I set all of it aside for the moment and spoke.

“Would you affix your seal?”

Lady Golden Silk Blossom clutched her stomach and laughed again.

“Oh, gladly. This will give you one more embarrassing episode to look back on, Butler. As a generous mistress, I couldn’t possibly pass up such entertainment.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll bring my future husband tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes, Your Grace, Duchess of Ivansia. O second-brightest moon in the Empire. By all means, go frolic with that husband of yours in your fantasies.”

The next day, I stood before Lady Golden Silk Blossom with Raviel.

“I’ve brought her, my lady.”

“...”

The baron’s daughter’s jaw dropped wide open.

“You already know me, but allow me to introduce myself once more.”

Raviel spoke as she fanned herself.

“I am Raviel Ivansia, legitimate daughter and heir of House Ivansia. His Majesty the Emperor bestowed upon me the title Silver Lily.”

“Huh? Ah, yes, of course I know, my lady...?”

“On this auspicious occasion, I have become engaged to your butler. He is bound to your service. Our marriage would have been troublesome without your consent, yet you gave it willingly. You have my thanks.”

“Pardon...?”

“This is your wedding invitation.”

Raviel tossed over a letter. Silver thread adorned its edges, and red wax in its center bore the ducal house’s seal. Lady Golden Silk Blossom accepted it with a dumbfounded look.

“Rejoice. You are the first to receive an invitation. I trust you will consider it a tremendous honor. Hmm. It is a modest gift to thank you for looking after him until now.”

“B-Butler...? This is a joke, right...?”

“How rude. As of today, this man is not your butler, but my fiancé. Surely you do not believe House Ivansia ranks below your baronial house. From now on, treat my fiancé with proper courtesy.”

“D-d-duchess...?”

Lady Golden Silk Blossom looked at me as though she had lost everything. Her gaze was desperate, begging me to deny the title she had just uttered.

I bowed politely.

“It has been a true honor to serve you, my lady.”

“...”

“But from now on, address me as Your Grace. Respectfully.”

“...”

“Shall we go, Raviel?”

“Goodness. I told you to call me husband in front of others.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, husband. I’m still not used to saying it...”

“My wife is such a little imp. Though that, too, is part of what I adore.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

We left side by side.

A little later, a distant scream reached us from behind.

“Whaaaat is thiiiis...!”

It was spring, and the magnolia blossoms were falling.

Our wedding was drawing near.

3

My lover, Raviel Ivansia, was a woman of her word.

If Raviel said we would hold our wedding within a month, then we really would hold it within a month.

“I have confined my father to a country house.”

Raviel said it calmly, as though it were nothing.

“Some within the house still follow him, but they are only a minority. Few enough to disregard. I negotiated with His Majesty and obtained formal recognition of my succession, so I am already Duchess of Ivansia in all but name. I shall now be called Duchess Silver Lily rather than Lady Silver Lily.”

“Uh...”

My father-in-law had abruptly been placed under confinement.

‘Is this really okay?’

As I grappled with an uneasy sense of guilt toward the father-in-law I had never even met, Raviel looked at me.

“Now you are the Duchess of Ivansia’s fiancé in every sense. You have become mistress of the highest-ranking house after the imperial family.”

“...”

“Apart from His Majesty the Emperor, the empress, and the Crown Prince, there is no one to whom you must bow first. At least, not within this Empire. Every imperial subject, regardless of rank, must bow to you. Wherever the imperial family is absent, you will rightfully receive the most honored treatment.”

Raviel was serious.

Only after hearing her words did I realize that [something extraordinarily momentous] was happening.

Until now, I had approached our wedding purely out of love for Raviel. That love was sweet. Romantic. But to Raviel, marriage meant something beyond romance.

Sensing the enormous reality of that something, I spoke.

“But I’m only a commoner...”

“Of course the vermin of high society will whisper. Gongja, your origins are like the hem of an uncomfortable dress: they will follow you wherever you go. But I have done everything possible to address that.”

Address it.

“What have you done?”

“First, you will be registered as the adopted son of the imperial chamberlain.”

Raviel handed me a document.

“The current chamberlain is a senior official who has served the imperial family for many years. He has been ennobled, and his impeccable private life has earned him great honor. Above all, he has no children. Becoming this elderly chamberlain’s adopted son will raise your status one step.”

Good heavens.

No, really. Good heavens.

“I-is that allowed?”

“It is. If I wish it.”

Even now, Raviel was working through a mountain of paperwork. Her quill scratched tirelessly across the pages. I could hardly begin to guess what those documents were, or what political repercussions they might cause.

“I have dispensed with all the bothersome procedures. Simply sign that document, and you will be recognized as the imperial chamberlain’s adopted son.”

“...”

Yes.

Marriage was reality.

A father-in-law I had never met had been confined. I had become the adopted son of someone else I had never met. Things were happening where I knew nothing about them.

As I signed the adoption papers, I finally realized just how monumental it was to [become the Duchess of Ivansia’s husband].

A scene I encountered a few days later proved it in stark detail.

“I offer my greetings to the one who shall become the Empire’s second-brightest moon.”

Even on a brief stroll through the academy, the young ladies and noble sons who recognized me bent their knees. They were impeccably courteous. Word had already spread through the academy.

“I pay my respects to the mistress of Ivansia.”

“Ah. Yes...”

“Congratulations on your engagement. May eternal glory be with Ivansia.”

“Th-thank you.”

The mere act of walking nearby made the young ladies and noble sons stop their conversations. They ceased whatever they were doing and maintained a respectful silence until I passed. The academy’s guards and knights also saluted me courteously whenever they saw me.

There were no exceptions.

Even the academy’s teachers bowed as though it were only natural.

“...”

Even when I reached third place in the Tower’s rankings, even when I became an overnight celebrity surrounded by crowds... I had never felt anything like this.

‘This is social rank.’

I wasn’t a popular star. I wasn’t a celebrity. They didn’t crowd around me or raise their smartphones to photograph my face.

They simply knelt.

‘... Incredible.’

They probably behaved this way only in my presence.

The moment I left, all sorts of filthy rumors and shabby gossip would circulate about my lowly origins and the suspicious dissolution of Raviel’s engagement to the crown prince.

But no one dared whisper in front of me.

“Eek!”

CRASH!

One day, an academy servant broke a water pitcher while carrying it. I happened to be passing nearby. Instinctively, I was about to ask, [“Are you all right?”], when all six servants in the vicinity dropped to their knees at once.

“M-my deepest apologies!”

“I have committed an offense worthy of death!”

“Please. It was the mistake of a fool, so please forgive...!”

I was speechless.

Nothing else had stunned me.

They were asking my forgiveness as though it were only natural. The fact that I possessed the [right to forgive] them paralyzed my thoughts.

In other words, I was also free to refuse forgiveness and punish them.

“...”

Insane.

This was insane.

“What’s wrong? This is perfectly normal.”

My attendant spirit spoke while leisurely swimming through the air.

“Your Tower is the strange one, with no statuses or social classes, even if that’s only in name. Didn’t know that, did you? You’ll find out when you reach the fiftieth floor, but most Towers are class societies.”

Hadn’t he said we would start competing in earnest with Towers from other worlds after the fiftieth floor?

The attendant spirit dug his little finger into his ear, then blew on it.

“That Ivansia or whatever house your future husband belongs to has the most clout here after the imperial family, right? Then you’re practically a queen consort now, Zombie.”

A queen consort.

“Congratulations on becoming Cinderella, you little punk.”

The servants lay prostrate in the corridor, their shoulders trembling.

Suddenly, I remembered what Raviel had said.

[“Every imperial subject must bless you.”]

[“If this is my world and my nation, then they ought to recognize my marriage.”]

This was exactly what she meant.

In just a few days, I had risen to the top of the pyramid.

I had reached the pinnacle of power.

‘So this... is Raviel’s world.’

Then...

‘How should I conduct myself?’

Not merely as [Kim Gongja].

Not as the hunter bearing the epithet [Death King].

But as the [spouse] of this nation’s noblest aristocrat.

“...”

I bent down and picked up a shard of the broken pitcher.

Quietly, I placed it in the palm of the servant who had made the mistake.

“Make that shard into a necklace and wear it.”

I began to speak.

“A necklace is the ornament closest to the heart. Keep your mistake as close to your heart as possible, and reflect upon and repent of your wrongdoing.”

“...”

“Do not wait for me to forgive you. When you have reflected and feel you have done enough, forgive yourself. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes...!”

I turned and walked away.

That evening, Raviel spoke of what had happened.

“My wife responded with great consideration.”

I cut my meat with a knife and fork. Dinner doubled as a lesson in table manners. Across from me, Raviel deliberately moved her hands slowly so I could watch and learn.

“Uh. Um. Did I really do well?”

“You could not have done better. Had you readily forgiven them, people would have said, [He cannot be stern with his inferiors, no doubt because of his lowly origins. How could he lead a ducal household with such an attitude?] Had you scolded them severely, rumors would have spread that [He has already grown arrogant, just as one would expect of an overnight upstart].”

Either way, I would lose.

“Whether you forgave or reprimanded them, people would have maligned you. In such cases, the substance of the incident does not matter. Its presentation does. By turning it into an edifying tale, you presented this incident wisely.”

Raviel smiled.

“Word of today’s incident has already spread throughout imperial high society. The merely curious will admire your character, and the astute will acknowledge your wisdom. I thought you knew nothing of politics. What magic has my lover worked?”

“... I simply thought of you, Raviel.”

My knife split an egg yolk.

The color of a little chick collapsed.

“I realized how hard you’ve been working in places I can’t see. Places I know nothing about.”

“Hmm.”

“When I thought about how hard you must be working for my sake, I naturally began thinking of you, too.”

I had simply thought from Raviel’s perspective.

‘How can I conduct myself in a way that will be best for my wife?’

“If I forgave the servant, I would have been seen as a generous duchess. If I scolded the servant, I would have become a stern duchess. But I thought being seen as a [wise wife] would help you most.”

“Why?”

“My behaving generously doesn’t make you generous. My being strict doesn’t make you strict, either.”

The candle on the table burned low.

“But if I’m wise, you become wise along with me. Because choosing a [wise spouse] is, in itself, proof of your wisdom.”

“...”

Raviel wiped her lips with a white napkin.

“You thought of me.”

“Yes.”

“Gongja, you have already helped me. Though the people of this world do not know it, you saved this world from destruction. And you will save it again. Surely you may indulge yourself a little?”

“No.”

I shook my head firmly.

“I’m going to spend my entire life with you, Raviel. My entire life. I don’t want to fixate on [what I’ve done for you]. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to give you more than I have so far. Things more precious than anything I’ve given you.”

“...”

“I hope meeting me will be the greatest stroke of luck in your life. I hope being with me will bring you your greatest happiness. I want me, and me alone, to mean more to you than anything else.”

“... This is not mere luck or happiness.”

Raviel rose from the table.

She slowly approached me and bent down.

“To me, you are a miracle.”

Our lips met.

* * *

Of course, not everyone submitted to the name of Ivansia.

“I! Object! To this marriage!”

The baron’s daughter, Golden Silk Blossom, came to complain to me every day. With the Crown Prince currently summoned away by the Emperor, Golden Silk Blossom apparently couldn’t bring herself to defy Raviel directly, so she protested only to me.

“Haven’t you already affixed your seal to the document?”

“It’s invalid! Invalid! I only stamped it because I thought it was a joke!”

“Whatever you may have thought, my lady, the document is legally impeccable.”

“Ugh... Ugggh!”

Lady Golden Silk Blossom gnawed on her fingertips.

“This is strange. So strange. This never happened last time... A butterfly effect caused by me? No, that couldn’t possibly explain... Ah, O Ox That Harvests Ruins, what on earth is happening...?”

The Ox That Harvests Ruins.

At those key words, I deliberately tilted my head as though I had never heard them before.

“What do you mean?”

“... Nothing!”

The baron’s daughter clenched her teeth.

“Fine. Obviously, this is another scheme of Lady Silver Lily’s!”

“Lady Silver Lily is a duke’s daughter, and will soon be a duchess herself. Show proper respect.”

“Ugh. I hate you, Butler! I’ll never forgive you!”

Golden Silk Blossom glared at me and left the room.

BANG!

The door slammed so violently that its hinges creaked. It was an open declaration that she would not stand by and allow this marriage. The baron’s daughter would probably be the greatest obstacle to our wedding.

But I wasn’t worried at all.

On the day our wedding was ten days away...

“Death King!”

Someone dressed as Lady Golden Silk Blossom flung open the door.

“I seem to have become the female lead of this apocalypse!”

Still seated in my chair, I smiled.

“Inquisitor.”

“Yes! Death King!”

“Ten days from now, constellations from other worlds will invade.”

I spoke to my companion, who had gone from the greatest obstacle to the best ally.

“Prepare for holy war, my SSS-class man of religion.”