The World I Was Supporting Was Real - Chapter 79



79. Sister and Brother (3)

* * *

“So! How is this done?”

“Yes. But, well, there’s nothing wrong with it rules-wise, but if you play like this, you’ll lose later on. If you look closely…”

At Ares’ explanation, Karen nodded her head enthusiastically, a look of interest on her face.

I had sensed it from the beginning, but this woman – she was the type with extremely rich reactions.

“Oh? It’s true? I almost got completely swept away by you, Your Highness.”

“Actually, that’s how it was designed. If you don’t know what’s going to happen later, learn by dying at this point… something like that, I guess.”

“I see… So that means you’re telling me beforehand so I don’t have to die?”

“Huh? Is that… how it comes across?”

“Ehehe, thank you. You’re so kind, Your Highness.”

Ares avoided Karen’s gaze, scratching his heated cheek with a finger.

Honestly, when his secret hobby he didn’t want anyone to see was discovered, he’d felt like hiding in a mouse hole –

But now, he wanted to praise himself for purposely not cleaning the room, so she’d pick up the cards.

Having spent a few dozen minutes or so playing various board games with her…

“I guess I should head back now.”

“Ah…”

Ares turned his head to look out the window.

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The sun was already sinking low on the horizon.

After Eirene’s conversion, when he’d been so consumed by the despair of having nothing he could do himself, time had seemed to stand still… It felt like it had flown by in the blink of an eye.

“Well, Your Highness. I had a wonderful time today! Let’s be sure to see each other again!”

“Please get home safely.”

After seeing Karen off, Ares sat on the chair, staring blankly straight ahead.

What on earth had happened today?

‘…Stay calm.’

Ares slowly replayed the day.

Just a few hours ago, he’d been summoned by the Emperor, abruptly encouraged to study religion, and had felt wary of Erin who was trying to win him over…

Yet, here he was, having truly enjoyed spending time with her.

‘It’s an obvious tactic. They’re trying to soften my guard against religion.’

Did they really think he’d fall for such a transparent trick?

Ares scoffed. What did the cult think he was?

They’d be sorely mistaken if they thought he’d just let them play him.

Yes.

Even now, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pack his things and move to the separate villa he had prepared for just such an emergency…

Thinking this, he slowly rose from his seat—

Strangely enough.

I couldn’t, for the life of me, easily lift my feet.

If I were to disappear… What kind of face would Karen make, the one I promised to see again, that thought arose.

Humans had a talent, almost supernatural, for rationalizing things when what they wanted and what they pursued were wildly different.

Ares was, in the end, just human—and he naturally began to construct a ‘thesis’.

‘Wait a minute. If I disappear, the Order will certainly strengthen their vigilance, thinking, “This trick doesn’t work.”

‘Wouldn’t it be wiser to play along with Karen-ssi here and let them think, “He’s nothing special” and underestimate me?’

That thought, was easily refuted if he only acknowledged that ‘even if the Order’s power had grown strong, the greatest power dominating the continent still belonged to the Imperial Family, so Ares’ position would not change no matter how the Order appraised him.’

Wasn’t the reason Ares even considered moving to the annex because he knew that if he decided to flee, the Order could do nothing?

However.

If he didn’t ignore that fact, he couldn’t equate his hidden desire to ‘want to spend time with Karen’ with his conviction—

Ares nodded, as if that were the only viable option.

Once his thoughts were sorted, it felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart.

What was that weight?

The fear that he almost fell for the Order’s ploy?

Or was it… a tinge of regret about perhaps not seeing Karen?

—In the end, it was up to Ares to decide—

‘Yes. Rather than hiding unnecessarily, it’s much better to handle Karen-ssi properly.’

He chose an all-too-sweet rationalization.

* * *

Since that fateful day I met Karen.

Ares’s life, like a dish with just a touch of seasoning—just a slight change—became incredibly rich.

The ’cause’ he was preparing for, went down the drain with Eirene’s awakening.

To overthrow a wise ruler who loves his people and carries out policies for all?

Frankly, if Ares himself were just an ordinary citizen, he’d see it as nothing more than a power-mad little brat trying to overthrow the Emperor, his benefactor and the one who raised him in place of his mother, who cares for the people.

As the world was growing more peaceful thanks to the Guodon Church, Ares found himself powerless, each day a dull, colorless affair—

But then Karen, that presence, started to return color to Ares’s gray days.

And then,

One day, they had a conversation that felt a bit deeper, more serious.

“Your younger brother is around my age, you said?”

“Yes! He’s in a monastery now, walking the path of a priest. Even though it’s a hard path, the fact that he chose to walk it with me, it makes me so proud as his sister! Still, I do feel a little We won’t get to see each other often now.”

“Why is that?”

“I work as a nun at the Cathedral, and my brother entered a monastery far away. We won’t be able to see each other for several years.”

It seemed religious people had a lot of hardships as well, I thought – and at the same time-

Something.

A feeling, hard to put into words, bloomed deep within my heart.

“…Do you miss him a lot?”

“Yes, very much. We were really close. We played chess and talked every day… After losing our parents when we were little, he’s the only blood relative I have left. We leaned on each other a lot.”

‘… .’

It was hardly a strange thing for siblings to be close.

But why, while listening to her talk about her younger brother with such obvious joy, did I feel this strange sense of deprivation?

‘This is ridiculous.’

Barely a week had passed since we’d met, and the fact that I was feeling these things made me think I was pathetic. Just then—

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to be my little brother?”

“Wha…!!!”

Smiling bashfully, she tossed out that completely unexpected question, and Ares couldn’t even meet her gaze properly.

As I stood there flustered and unsure what to do, Karen’s lips curved into that striking arc again.

“Ehehe. Just kidding. You just seemed a bit down, so I was just messing around.”

“……”

She was truly a type of person I’d never met before.

Who else would have the gall to pull such a ridiculous prank on a prince like me?

So…

I had to make her take responsibility for the joke she’d just pulled.

With that preposterous thought, somehow filling my mind—

“…I will.”

“Pardon?”

“Little brother… I’ll be your little brother. If…if you’re okay with me…”

—And just like that, wearing an expression that would have made his actual older sisters, Linea and Yuria, horrified, he cautiously offered his sincerity.

Karen, without a word, just stared blankly at Ares… then, she smiled again –

“Okay! Yeah! Please take care of me, our little brother!”

“…Y-yes, please… take care of me too, Karen Noona….”

“Yup yup!”

—It wasn’t just color that had returned to Ares’s world.

Thump, thump.

The sound of his heart pounding.

The heart sounds that proved he was alive… were relentlessly hammering in his ears.

* * *

How many days had passed like that?

It happened when Ares was talking about chess.

“So! In this situation, do you know what the best move is?”

“Hmm… Is it right if I do this, Noona?”

“Wow! That’s correct! You’re amazing, little brother! You’re learning so fast. It feels like you’ll beat me soon, huh?”

Ares unconsciously smiled.

Now, getting praised by Karen… by Noona, felt so good.

“Do you know the next move too?”

“No.”

He actually thought he knew, but he lied because he wanted to see Karen explaining excitedly.

“Then Noona will tell you. Here, you take a leap of faith and move the Queen—”

—*BANG!*

“—That’s the throw!”

‘Queen sacrifice…!’

The moment Black sacrificed their queen, it wasn’t hard to see that White’s defeat was sealed.

“Ta-da! Now White can’t avoid checkmate in three moves.”

“Sacrificing the queen for checkmate… someone who doesn’t understand might call it excessive, but it’s truly beautiful play.”

In truth, this part resonated most deeply with Ares, who believed unequivocally in the virtue of sacrifice.

Ultimate victory gained through the sacrifice of something great—could there be a more beautiful tactic?

Then.

Karen, staring intently at Ares after hearing those words—

Fidgeted with the sacrificed, dead queen, picked it up—

“Of course. It’s a game, so I think you can make bold plays. No matter how many times you sacrifice on the chessboard—”

She placed it back on the board.

“—You can always start over.”

“…!”

“If it wasn’t a game, if we couldn’t start over… I wouldn’t have been able to recklessly sacrifice a living queen, even if she was just a piece.”

Ares slowly looked at Karen’s face.

“You understand what I’m saying, if you’re my little brother, right?”

It was as if.

She had seen right through his thoughts, a chilling feeling… Karen’s smiling face felt different, somehow.

The cult clearly knew a great deal about him.

Normally, Ares would have just brushed it off with a laugh.

Then, he’d have sorted through the insignificant feelings he held for Karen and gotten serious about watching the cult.

He’d have either handled them on a reasonable timeline, or even hidden himself away in the villa right now, then investigated where the information leak came from.

After all, he had to figure out just how much the cult—the Saint—knew about him, to be able to prepare thoroughly.

But.

Strangely, instead of taking the safe, efficient path—Ares

“…Nothing can be achieved without sacrifice. If more people can be happy as a result, then a certain degree of sacrifice is inevitable, isn’t it?”

—He chose to confront her with his unvarnished truth.

“To do nothing because you fear sacrifice is just cowardly. I’ll shoulder the spirits of those who sacrificed themselves; that’s all there is to it.”

“Then, who decides who those sacrifices will be?”

“That’s…”

“If the range of sacrifice for the sake of everyone is bound to become broad, what will the criteria be?”

“… … ”

If.

If Ares were to put his ’cause’ into action himself—it was clear that many lives would be lost.

And, though he hadn’t told anyone—he was also ready to sacrifice any allies he needed to.

To say he’d ask his companions for their opinions beforehand… that would be a lie.

Not only his own life, but innocent others would inevitably get dragged into it.

But what choice did he have? That’s the nature of change.

Even if someone dies… if no one dies, nothing will change.

You, as my sister, shouldn’t you understand me?

“Sister Karen, are you saying my thoughts are wrong?”

“It’s not that…”

Ares let out a sigh inwardly. It was directed at himself.

To expect someone I barely know to understand me.

What a weak and utterly pathetic thought.

“Well, I suppose it’s understandable. In the first place, Sister Karen- no.”

“The nun, she’s just been dispatched by the Order to dissuade me from doing anything reckless beforehand.”

“……!!!”

“Is it the Saintess? Did she attach you to me?”

Karen only stared at Ares with trembling eyes, offering no reply.

“I was naive. Thinking you’d understand my intentions just because you played along with my little game… in hindsight, it’s rather laughable.”

“Ares, that’s not what I meant-“

“I don’t want to hear anymore!”

Ares shouted, cutting Karen off.

And then, he turned away… retreating back into his own world once more.

“…Tell the Saintess. I’ll obediently study the Gueden Doctrine that’s become the state religion, as I’m told… but I have no intention of changing my mind.”

“……”

Karen, without a word, just looked at Ares–

Instantly, he bowed, lowering his waist.

“Understood, Your Highness. I am truly sorry for speaking out of turn.”

The sound of the door closing followed-

In the silent room, Ares threw himself onto the bed.

‘Tired… ‘

Right now, he just wanted to sleep without thinking.

* * *

The next morning.

The first thought that struck Ares as soon as he woke was regret.

‘I didn’t need to take it out on Sister Karen… ‘

Karen was just a simple nun who’d come because the Order told her to.

What could she possibly know?

Besides…

The reason he got angry hearing her questions wasn’t just because she said things that seemed to deny his way.

Being speechless at the question of who the standard for a sacrifice should be was the decisive factor.

Up until now, he’d believed that sacrifice for change was inevitable.

He had been prepared to sacrifice not only himself, but even his allies if needed.

He felt sorry, sure, but what else could he do? If there was a path to a better world, he thought it was right to take it.

As she said, without any real standard – vaguely, simply under the pretense of it being the right thing to do – he’d been trying to use the corpses of others as stepping stones.

Suddenly, Duke Kal Bayan’s words resurfaced in his mind.

“If nothing happened, if we could just play chess together, wouldn’t that be best?”

‘… … .’

I need to apologize.

When Karen comes later, in a few hours… I was resolved to tell her I’m sorry for getting angry.

As an apology, I’ll make her some tea. She showed interest in the teapot, so surely she’d be happy.

Thinking that, I calmed myself and waited for her to arrive.

But.

After a few hours passed.

After a day, two days, three days passed―

Karen, who always greeted him with a smile like sunshine, didn’t come to Ares’ room even once.