Chương 228: [Chapter 229] The One the Dragon Truly Called
Nellusion laughed, baring his teeth.
"She doesn't spare her own body."
His image of Megara was simple.
A lady who needed to feel superior to others to be satisfied. She knew how to manipulate those around her to achieve that, but ultimately, her greed was too much, and she lost even the rabbit she had originally held in her hand.
He had extended a hand to her because she was one of the closest people to Abelus now and had nowhere else to turn, but he hadn't expected her to go to such lengths.
'She actually took poison? She could have just pretended.'
It was a good thing. The sharper the knife you wield, the better. For a while, the court would be at Megara's mercy.
"Your Grace."
Nellusion, lost in thought, heard his subordinate's voice.
"Come in."
The subordinate who entered bowed his head and presented a newspaper.
"What is this?"
"The serialized novel printed here has been the talk of the people for the past few days. I was going to summarize the trend of its popularity, thinking it was just a novel, but after hearing the content, I thought Your Grace should know."
"A novel?"
People in the Bista Empire had a low illiteracy rate, and in wealthy cities like the imperial capital, several newspapers were published. Some newspapers even included ridiculous content to outdo their competitors.
Nellusion had never been interested in novels, and he considered novels used to attract subscribers to be low-class. But there was something he needed to know about such a thing?
Nellusion received the newspaper and flipped through the pages, looking for the section where the novel was printed.
'The Prince in the Darkness'… This must be a subtle insult to Princess Keamil. 'Should the Next Crown Princess Greet the Mistress First?'… This must be a blatant insult to Megara.
Finally, his eyes stopped on a page filled with dense text, except for a cheap illustration.
The title of the novel was 'Betrayal'. It seemed that dozens of chapters had already been serialized, and the setting was around the time of the evil dragon, as monsters appeared from the first paragraph. And the protagonist was…
A girl with a purple jewel.
Nellusion's eyes narrowed cautiously. His eyes moved quickly, following the text.
After finishing reading, he instructed his subordinate.
"Investigate the author and the newspaper as thoroughly as possible. They wouldn't have chosen such a topic without any backing."
"Yes. If there is any situation that could be considered a defamation of the imperial family or the Elandria family, I will report it immediately."
The reason his subordinate had brought this newspaper was probably to be prepared in case the family's honor was tarnished by a sensational serialized novel. But Nellusion wasn't in the absurd situation his subordinate thought. It was the opposite.
'Neris.'
Do you know the family secret? Do you not? How?
He felt a thrill at the fact that he could feel her presence, even on this page, even though it took more than a week's journey by carriage to meet her.
'Did you orchestrate something?'
The author of the novel, and perhaps even the newspaper owner above him. Neris's hand must have reached out to many people. She wouldn't be directly involved without any middle managers, all the way from that far distance to here.
What she had buried was a spark. One that could make the imperial family go wild with just a small trigger.
'Not now.'
He couldn't rashly respond to the provocation, so he had to investigate carefully. Nellusion slowly fell into thought.
****
"The authors are doing well, aren't they?"
It was a starry night.
Cledwyn asked, looking at his wife with admiration as she read a letter. She was undeniably beautiful with her hair neatly styled, but he liked her best when she was like this, in white pajamas with her hair loose.
Especially when she was sitting in that chair, which he had prepared for her, in this bedroom he had decorated for her.
The chair was a symbol of qualification. The qualification to have one's achievements recorded in one's own name when the smartest woman in the world accomplished something great.
Like the throne prepared for the emperor.
Cledwyn wanted her to have exactly that. Even more so after hearing about her past.
'Fools.'
She was perfect even without the jewel. To not recognize her worth and waste talent for some petty ambition.
Neris replied without looking up.
"Yes. People read newspapers a lot these days. But it's doing better than I expected."
Neris remembered the writers from her previous life who had been talented but remained unknown for a long time because they couldn't get their work published, and then became famous through serialized novels in newspapers.
She remembered them and called a few of them. She commissioned them to write a story.
She asked them to write a novel based on what she had seen and heard in the ruins.
The writers wrote in the writing room prepared in the White Swan Castle. Cledwyn's subordinates took the manuscripts to the imperial capital and delivered them to the Morie Trading Company. Joan, under a pseudonym, had it printed in a newspaper she sponsored, under the title 'Betrayal'.
The success so far had been remarkable. People loved the story of the jewel. Especially since Neris Trude, a girl with nowhere to go, had suddenly become a grand duchess after marrying a great noble.
A girl with a purple jewel as the protagonist was bound to be popular. Especially if it was a story about adventures in the 'Age of the Evil Dragon', which was still considered one of the most popular settings in many works.
But Neris didn't just want the truth of the past to be read as 'an entertaining fiction'.
And for that, she needed testimony.
She needed a credible witness who could tell everyone that this had actually happened, that everyone had been deceived.
Cledwyn approached his wife and looked at the letter she was reading.
[My dearest Neris.]
…Just the salutation was enough to tell who had sent it. He understood what his wife was trying to say.
"There was a harvest from the Pope?"
"There was a great harvest."
Neris scoffed.
In summary, it's like this. The first Pope was a priest who served in the Bista army, or a priest as they called it back then. There were other priests who served in the army, but he was unique. Because he was the first, and the loudest, to proclaim that Bista was a hero given by God.
So, Bista became a hero?
He didn't exactly not do heroic things. Anyway, this guy followed Bista around and recorded the battle situation every day. And according to his records, yes, the visions we saw in the Evil Dragon's lair were all true. There's no room for misunderstanding.
The records of the first Pope that Ren copied and sent were incredibly detailed. They were so detailed that you could even tell that many of the achievements attributed to Bista as a hero were actually stolen from the other two heroes.
Bista had the blood of giants in him, but he claimed to be just a human. It worked out somehow. But the other two heroes were clearly of different races. Palos was already known as a descendant of the High Elves back then, and Elandria… had purple eyes.
Why?
Apparently, you can't have purple eyes unless you're a descendant of the demons. Unlike elves, who were admired even though they were different, demons were the object of terrible hatred among humans at the time, so Elandria was ostracized by those around him from a young age. Despite that, he still diligently saved people. That's probably why he became close to the dragon. He wasn't bound by race.
The damn traitor killed his comrades and stole their achievements.
It was something that happened 600 years ago, so Neris didn't feel angry now.
She just thought it was fortunate that she had gained a useful justification.
It's good that it's popular. The more effective the tool, the better. Since it's come to this, it would be good if people became familiar with this story. So that when this story is revealed to be true, it will be clear who to blame and who to pity.
In front of people who want moral judgment, some justifications become real power.
Just as there was always a justification for the violence inflicted on Neris by her classmates, the Elandria family, and the imperial family.
And what about diplomacy?
'Normally, there wouldn't be any country that would feel reluctant to help the imperial family attack Maindelant.'
The imperial family of the empire had close ties with the royal families of many countries, and they used the legitimacy of being descendants of the three heroes to make their passionate people raise their hands to enlist. It was incomparable to Maindelant, whose culture was barely known even within the same country.
'But that doesn't mean they're happy to send troops.'
What king would be happy to lose his people and gold for the desires of another imperial family?
If they could provide the people with a reason not to lend their strength to the Bista imperial family, it would be the best outcome for Maindelant.
Neris leaned her head against her husband's body, who had begun to comb her hair with his fingers.
She murmured quietly.
"You know? According to the records Ren found, Elandria is a name, not a surname. The same goes for the other two heroes."
"Really? I didn't know that. But wasn't it rare for people to have surnames in that era?"
"Yes. But interestingly, these people were among that minority."
Neris chuckled wryly.
Palos, a descendant of the noble High Elves, used his roots as his surname. And Elandria, who wandered alone, created a surname with the girl who shared his fate.
Bista disguised the heroes' names as surnames and passed them down to future generations. The exact reason was unknown now, but Neris guessed that it might have been because the name 'Elandria' was a female name, so it would have been awkward to give it to a man like the first Duke Elandria.
Bista also had a surname. It was 'Terwin', which is no longer found in any official documents.
Neris knew that word meant "lynx" in an ancient language that had long since disappeared.
Palos's surname was Maindelus. Perhaps the woman in the painting that Palos showed in the vision, or her descendant, escaped to this area. Bista went south and lived a luxurious life, so she chose the opposite direction.
And instead of using that surname as it was, they only kept the root "Main". Over time, this place became known as the land of Main, or Maindelant.
That's my guess. And Elandria's surname is, well, Gonestride.
A grand and complicated surname. Perhaps the girl who inherited the jewel from Elandria after his death was Neris's ancestor. The surname must have been simplified over time.
I've been wondering why I inherited the jewel even though my mother wasn't a true descendant of Elandria, ever since I saw the vision last time. Now I know.
And now I also know who the sleeping dragon truly wanted to call, who he truly longed for.
Neris hugged her husband tightly.
She was happy that nothing she possessed was truly related to the Duke Elandria family.
"My beloved wife."
Cledwyn whispered affectionately, stroking her hair. Neris replied sweetly.
"My beloved husband. Why?"
"There's no doubt that everything you do is great, but I'm a little lonely right now."
"Why?"
"Because you're talking about stories told by another man, even though you have me in front of you. I'm always thinking about you."
Neris's cheeks flushed. A playful, sticky gaze slowly swept over her golden eyelashes and flushed cheeks.
"Are you saying I don't think about you enough?"
"As proven now."
"Come here."
Neris released her arms from around Cledwyn. She stretched them up and wrapped them around his neck, which he naturally bent down for.
"We can find out if I think about you enough if we go to bed together."
Neris mustered her courage and put on a coy expression. A rough voice flowed out softly from Cledwyn's mouth, as if he was sighing, as he lightly brushed his lips against his wife's.
There was no playfulness anymore.
"How exactly are you going to show me?"
Neris was speechless for a moment. She was breathless.
Those gray eyes, filled only with her.
A dangerous expression, like a predator eyeing its prey.
It felt like he was strangling her neck. But there was no feeling of suffocation. Just…
She wanted to burn. Until there was only a handful of ashes left.
The woman, who looked captivating to herself for the first time in her life, smiled contentedly in her husband's eyes.
"It's a bit difficult to explain with words."
Neris's body was lifted lightly.
The man, who acted according to his wife's orders, soon received his answer and was satisfied.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực