I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess - Chapter 209



209 – Mildam Under the Moonlight

Bartheus, caught behind, answered the intruder’s questions one by one.

Even though I couldn’t speak, I could only nod or shake my head according to the other person’s request.

“Is it true that you are looking after the Marquis Albrich Bertus?”

“…”

Nod.

Bartheus nodded without hesitation because it felt like a reconfirmation of almost certain information rather than a question.

In the first place, I never thought that a great man who would commit such a bold act as invading the imperial palace on this late night would come without this level of investigation.

“Second question. Are you cooperating with Albrich because you share the same ideas? Or did it have to be that way for some reason? If it’s the former, please nod your head. If it’s the latter, shake your head.”

“… !?”

However, his calm expression quickly collapsed at the second question.

Like the previous question, I was somewhat certain, but the content was not something that could be accepted calmly this time.

Bartheus, who hesitated, pursed his lips and nodded.

In response, the masked man stared at him with barely revealed golden eyes, and opened his mouth as if he knew that.

“It’s as expected. From the beginning, I was sure that you would answer this question falsely, no matter what situation you were in.”

‘Was it a trap?’

The man’s confident answer made Bartheus feel like he had read his thoughts, and he smiled bitterly.

“If you were intentionally cooperating with him, you would have shook your head to somehow get over this situation. “Unless you’re an idiot, you know that nodding your head right now would be tantamount to suicide.”

“… “Maybe he told the truth just to survive.”

Before he knew it, the hand covering his mouth his was released, so Bartheus cautiously protested.

However, the masked man shook his head slightly, made him sit back down, and added an explanation.

“Your friend said so. “If he knew you, even if he lent his strength because he was threatened by the enemy, he would respond by saying that he intentionally cooperated for atonement.”

“Friend?”

As Bartheus was guessing who the unidentified man was, he thought of people around him who could be considered his friends.

Then, a man’s face was quickly drawn.

“Is it Yulken?”

“Seeing as you guessed well, I guess you also know my identity.”

“They couldn’t hide all his hair. That burning red hair is not something you can easily see.”

Bartheus ‘warning his, the masked man, Edgar, sat across from him, despite shrugging his shoulders as if he had deliberately tried to get caught.

As soon as he did that, the emperor gave him advice.

“… Hurry and run away. Now I have his mark on my body. “Maybe I can hear the conversation right now.”

“So, isn’t this advice too dangerous?”

“Anyway, if he finds out you’re here, I’ll be killed by him. Before that, shouldn’t I leave a young friend alive?”

Although he answered calmly, Bartheus felt that his mouth was dry.

It’s been a long time since he put his life down in the first place, but it doesn’t end there, and Albrich might even try to kill his family.

However, it was thanks to a glimmer of hope that I was able to say this boldly.

For Albrich, the disappearance of the current imperial family means the disappearance of those who would replace his shield

Therefore, I thought that he would not use such harsh methods when he had not yet reached his goal.

Sreuk.

After hearing his advice, Edgar opened his mouth with only the cloth covering his mouth.

I had already predicted that if he was coercing Albrich, he would have used such a trick.

“Thank you for the advice. But you probably don’t need to worry.”

“What does it mean?”

When Bartheus asked again, wriggling his eyebrows, Edgar’s lips, which emerged from the cloth, drew a small line and he added an explanation.

“I expected that to happen, so I placed a scroll that blocks magical power at your Majesty’s feet a little while ago. “Don’t worry, he won’t be able to hear this conversation for the next hour or two.”

“He is a thorough man. But it would be better not to look down on him.”

Exhaling pure admiration, Bartheus shook his head as if he understood.

I felt that way when I heard that Yulken had been rescued and when I heard that Albrich was watching him closely, but when I met him like this again, I realized that he was an unusual man.

Nevertheless, the reason I said the last word out of anger is because the more energetic a man like this is, the more times he breaks down.

Edgar also understood Bartheus’s feelings and happily accepted his advice, responding with a confident smile.

“I’m not belittling you. “I just trust this helper.”

“… Right. “So there was a reliable swordsman there too?”

If so, it’s somewhat understandable.

Although he could not know the identity of the person who was said to be the helper, for a man of this size to be trusted this much, it must mean that he was a considerable person.

If possible, he wanted to ask for more detailed information, but Bartheus soon realized that it was time to stop telling trivial stories.

The reason this man came here in the first place must be somewhere else.

“It’s too late to ask the truth. So what do you want from me?”

“This is the answer.”

“What more answers do we need when the truth has already been revealed? I have already told you two truths. That I became his backbone, and that for some reason I had no choice but to ride in the same boat.”

Rather, in this situation, although it would have been Edgar who should have asked the question, it was Bartheus who had the question.

Of course, if I wanted to resolve this situation quietly, I would have just killed him right away when I caught him a little while ago.

Of course, assassinating an emperor is not a trivial matter, and the repercussions it will bring must be dealt with.

Nevertheless, once he disappears, the shield that protects Albrich will disappear.

Moreover, considering the chaos that will come to the palace right now, it will be easier to lead the situation later.

‘Still, I don’t know why you asked me to talk.’

Perhaps there was something more he didn’t have in mind.

He was deep in thought and looked at Edgar’s intentions, but nothing came to mind.

In the end, I ended up in a position where I had to ask the man in front of me for an answer without even being able to figure out a clue.

“Even if it is an answer, it is not a grand one. Just your majesty… No, I just wanted to see the will of his man, Bartheus Hellvenir.”

“You mean will?”

“Yes, I want to know what you really want. Will it just end like this, being eaten by a snake, and not even being able to meet her wife properly? Or not…”

Bartheus’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of her as his wife, but she quickly returned her expression to its original state.

He said he had met Beatria before, so assuming he made an inference based on what he heard then, it wouldn’t be impossible to point out that point.

Immediately afterwards, Edgar’s lips parted again, and Bartheus’ eyes calmed down.

“I will fight back, prepared to lose everything.”

Silence followed for a moment.

In the meantime, what Bartheus was most worried about was not himself, but his family.

I don’t think that the man in front of me will easily change what he said, but it was just one thing.

“… Will the treatment of me and my family change depending on this answer?”

“Nothing will happen today. However, my lover and master said so. If you point your swords at each other, be prepared to destroy one side.”

In other words, even if I take Albrich’s side, I will quietly retreat today.

However, I can’t make any guarantees the next time we meet again.

Considering each other’s positions, this answer could be said to be quite mild.

“Can’t you give us time?”

“I expected it to come out like that. However, I won’t be able to give it to you for long.”

I never thought they had that in mind.

Bartheus smiled as if he had raised both his hands and feet at the truly generous gesture.

“You are truly generous to your enemies. So, how much grace can you give?”

“It’s a day. What Her Majesty wants is to discuss this matter with Her Majesty the Empress.”

“I guess I could be a fortune teller.”

From noble mtl dot come

“I often hear this from lovers. So, would one day be enough?”

In response to Edgar’s question, Bartheus jokingly said that he had no choice.

From his perspective, the fact that he was given a one-day reprieve in the first place was so grateful that he had to bow down.

What I want more from here is that it is not ignorance, but ignorance.

“Okay, it’ll just take a day. “Can you help me with one thing instead?”

“What do you want?”

“I would like you to lend me one of the ones you used a while ago.”

In other words, you need a means to have a private conversation with your wife.

Conveying it through writing or letters is meaningless because it has to go through someone anyway. There is also the risk of being caught along the way.

However, perhaps because Albrich could hear most of their conversations due to the curse and mark placed on the Helvenir family, he did not pay much attention to their conversations.

The defenses are so strong that it’s easy to let down one’s guard.

That was the only way to target that gap.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

At his request, Edgar did not hesitate and handed him the same item he had used earlier, and Bartheus gratefully accepted it and placed it in his bosom.

“Anyway, what would you have done if I didn’t have any more of this left?”

“I don’t know because I haven’t thought about it. For some reason, it seemed like you might be holding one or two more.”

To be precise, it was when I heard the nuance that he expected to ask for one more day of grace.

Maybe this man is giving himself a chance.

In that case, it may be a messenger from God who has come to provide the means to seize that opportunity.

“… “This time, my true intentions were revealed.”

“I’m probably twice as old, but can I just live with this?”

Bartheus smiled as if he was truly happy for the first time in a while.

Even though it’s not really a situation to laugh at.

In some ways, even though I was forced into the worst easy choice of choosing which of the two hells was better.

“Tomorrow, according to the conversation you two had, please change the flag displayed in front of the imperial palace.”

“Of course. “Maybe it will work?”

“If you want to resist with us until the sun sets, please raise the red flag. If you want to follow Albrich, please raise the blue flag.”

“I understand. “Then can I ask you one last question?”

Edgar, who was about to get up, stopped and slightly turned his head.

Bartheus, facing his golden eyes, spoke the final question that had been buried in his heart.

“Why are you doing this? From your perspective, it would be easier to use this as an excuse to overthrow the royal family and take power.”

“Okay. Honestly, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it. But…”

Edgar and other members of the Robeheim family also did not consider this option from the beginning.

Rather, opinions were often raised that it would be better to quickly spread this fact abroad and publicly expose the imperial family and the Bertus family, and that approach was closer to the royal capital.

However, when Yulken handed over the decision-making power to Edgar, the person with the greatest achievement, a thought occurred to him.

“… Although I am not a hero, it would be difficult to save everyone, but at least I hoped that there would be fewer people who would die unjustly.”

“There is nothing to feel unfair about. Even though I was forced to do it under unavoidable circumstances, that alone cannot wash away my sins.”

“Yes, that would be the correct opinion. “A man in my castle also said that.”

Edgar also agreed with Bartheus’ words.

More precisely, he nodded his head at the same sentence that Kel Rag had said earlier.

But there was one thing that I thought a little differently from them.

“At least this is what I think. It is not giving you a chance to wash away your sins, but giving you a chance to fulfill your will. “If this is not the future that His Majesty truly wanted, I wanted to give him the opportunity to gamble at least once.”

“You have a soft personality.”

“You don’t know if there’s something you can save because you have a soft personality.”

Despite Bartheus’ mild rebuke, Edgar smiled brightly and responded.

If there is a hero in the world who realistically only wants to save half of a hundred people, there may also be a hero who wants to save all of a hundred people.

Although Edgar’s thoughts were not that grand, he just did not want to distinguish between those who could be saved and those who could not be saved, at least from the beginning.

Even if you try to save 100 people and end up saving 50 people, if you’re a hero, wouldn’t it be better to try to save all 100 people from the beginning?

There is an old saying that the higher the goal, the better.

“It seems like the effect is slowly running out, so I’ll just go.”

“Go safely. By the way, you managed to sneak in here, avoiding the barrier and security.”

“I was born with a strange side. “Then.”

Edgar raised his hand in greeting, as if he had come to see his friend, and then disappeared into the darkness.

Even though the moon was still shining brightly on such a quiet night, Bartheus was unable to properly follow his presence or even his disappearing appearance.

‘Is this why the moon was bright today?’

Even though Bartheus had such a heavy heart, he was able to guess why the moon looked particularly bright today.

Since ancient times, it has been said that the sky is clear on days when distinguished guests come, so isn’t this proof?

Of course, it remains to be seen whether he is a VIP who will save the Hellvenir family, or whether he is just a water demon who is trying to drag them into the pit of hell together.

‘It’s a pity that we can’t call ourselves allies now.’

That will be decided tomorrow depending on the answer.

In any case, all he wanted was to ensure a happy daily life for his family.

Even if you sell your soul to the devil.