"That is indeed a point worth questioning."
The Emperor appeared to understand perfectly. He gave a slow nod, then reached a hand into the inner pocket of his ornate robes and produced something that looked very much like a pocket watch.
"This is a magic tool that blocks mental intrusion," he explained simply, then extended it toward Fíliya.
"With this, you can verify things for yourself, young one."
His voice carried not the slightest trace of emotion.
"...Your Majesty, your emotional stability is frankly a little suspicious."
Even Fíliya was mildly taken aback by the gesture.
"If I actually look through your mind... aren't you worried I'll uncover the Empire's secrets?"
The Emperor simply looked unconcerned. He glanced around the banquet hall — at the perfectly kneeling, wall-to-wall crowd — and then turned back to her.
"Do you think a group capable of producing this would have any interest in the Empire's so-called 'secrets'? And frankly, I've always wondered myself whether what I'm permitted to know even constitutes the Empire's most important secrets.
"Judging from the current situation, Lord Levi's plan did apparently factor me into it as well... but Lord Levi is dead. Whatever I say now, you may well interpret it as a man pushing all blame onto a corpse to avoid accountability. So it truly is better for you to confirm it yourself, young one."
Hm... he has a silver tongue.
Fíliya hesitated after hearing that — though only for two or three seconds.
She immediately set about examining whether this Emperor was lying. Hah, you think playing the self-deprecating retreat is going to fool me? Not a chance.
It seemed that after being well and truly played once, Miss Fíliya had indeed sharpened her guard considerably.
She swept swiftly through the Emperor's recent memories — but this time, for once, she exercised proper restraint, carefully avoiding anything that wasn't her business to see.
"Alright. It does seem like you weren't involved... But you must have known what Levi was planning, right? You're the Emperor. Are you really saying there was nothing you could do?"
"Haven't you already figured it out, young one? In this country, the Emperor is simply the person best suited to standing in the light. Even if I had just died under Lord Levi's sword just now, it would have amounted to nothing more than swapping in someone else for the role."
What on earth...
Fíliya curled her lip. The Emperor's mental state, she decided, was not quite that of a normal person.
As that thought crossed her mind, her peripheral vision caught the figure of Fres, Captain of the Magical Special Operations Unit.
A small, wicked smile kindled on her face.
"Even so, Your Majesty, for someone who makes himself sound utterly worthless, you still have loyal retainers willing to follow you."
"That is only natural. What sort of Emperor would have not even one loyal subject?"
The Emperor's tone remained, as ever, completely devoid of inflection.
Tch. What a boring man. Not even a flicker.
At this point, Fíliya had lost all interest in the Emperor as a person.
"Fine... so how exactly is this farce supposed to end?"
She shrugged and swept her gaze over the kneeling crowd.
"...Shall we call it a coup attempt by Lord Levi — an act of treason and rebellion?"
The Emperor posed the suggestion after a brief pause.
"Oh... framing it that way, hm. I don't have a problem with it — but will the people actually believe it?"
Fíliya asked, genuinely curious.
"Naturally."
For the first time, the Emperor's tone carried a note of absolute, unquestionable conviction.
"Fine by me. No objections."
Fíliya said this and immediately turned and walked away — flipping the pocket-watch-like magic tool back into the Emperor's hands in the same motion as she turned.
She could have simply walked off with the thing; given the Emperor's personality, he wouldn't have said a word about it. But she couldn't be bothered stealing such a dull little prize.
Once Fíliya had stepped away, the Emperor finally turned his gaze toward Serie.
"Now that the chief culprit has been dealt with, I would like to discuss the matter of appropriate punishment for the Shadow Warriors and Captain Fres."
He met Serie's eyes levelly. He was clearly well aware that the woman before him could end his life with a single thought — and yet the Emperor's expression remained entirely unmoved.
"Oh? Though we've already met in that dream... meeting in person, you turn out to be even more boring than I imagined, young man."
Serie offered her unvarnished opinion of the Emperor without a moment's hesitation.
"You are correct. I am indeed a mediocre Emperor with neither great talent nor great ambition. But the greatest advantage of the Empire is that it continues to develop and function well regardless of how unremarkable its Emperor may be — and all of that is owed entirely to the mechanisms of governance left behind by Lady Flamme."
Whether by design or by pure instinct, the Emperor had opened with praise for Flamme the moment he began speaking to Serie.
Either way, hearing someone speak well of Flamme had its effect. Serie's expression visibly softened.
"Is that so. Since you wish to talk, young man... I find myself curious what proposal you could possibly offer."
Serie studied the Emperor with a look of genuine interest. And for the first time, the faintest trace of a smile crossed the Emperor's lips.
"Rest assured. I believe these are terms that will satisfy you."
---
The messy business of cleaning up the aftermath could be left to the important people. Dealing with this sort of tedious, pointless administrative wreckage was the single most torturous thing imaginable for Miss Fíliya, so she simply fled.
She took Solitär and Aura with her, and the three of them walked over to where Sense still stood, bound by the Magic of Obedience.
"Would it kill you to free our own people without me having to say so? Do you really have zero initiative?" Fíliya fixed Aura with a long-suffering look.
How can this girl be this dense, she thought. She should have undone it ages ago. She's really going to make me spell it out?
"...Oh."
Aura blinked first, then released the Magic of Obedience from everyone in their own group.
"Lady Serie?!"
The first word out of Sense's mouth the instant she was freed was the name of the goddess herself.
"Relax. Everything is fine," Fíliya said, her tone soothing, as she called up a simple cleansing magic and scrubbed away the remaining bloodstains from both Sense and herself.
When she had first caught sight of Sense covered in blood, Fíliya's heart had lurched — but in the very next second, she understood. The blood on Sense belonged entirely to the Shadow Warriors.
Yeah... in this whole ugly farce, Sense was probably the one who fought the hardest of all.
If the number of people surrounding her hadn't been quite so overwhelming, Sense would have absolutely broken through to the center of the battle.
"Is that so..."
Sense looked blankly around her, then toward where Serie stood — and only then did the tension drain from her face, replaced by something that looked like pure relief.
"Is it... all over now?"
The question slipped out of Sense reflexively, in that loosening moment.
But Fíliya seemed to catch on something, and didn't answer right away.
"...Why did you say 'I'm sorry,' back then?"
Sense noticed the hesitation immediately. She pressed, a hint of anxiety creeping into her voice.
"Mm... it's just... I've been away from home for so long without coming to see you. I'm sorry for that."
Fíliya gave the explanation with a light smile.
Is that so...
Sense bit the inside of her lip. Her instincts told her something was off — but she also desperately wanted to believe what Fíliya was saying.
"Well... anyway. Things have settled down for now... Get some rest first."
Fíliya said the words with her head lowered, carefully not meeting Sense's eyes.
____
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