By Zephyria 
Deep red flags, flickering like flames, were plastered everywhere in the capital. But the atmosphere of the people was completely different. Now, people no longer greeted each other warmly unless they had known each other from the start, and the kindness that had been shown to the starving, ragged children had long disappeared.
It was the aftermath of the bizarre signs of destruction that had been smoldering from the outskirts of the Empire for months. Even though the Crown Prince made the great decision to leave the capital and personally inspect the affected areas, the uneasy atmosphere was not easily quelled.
The fact that several villages, where people had been living well, had disappeared without a trace was the better part of it. The real big problem that was immediately facing them was that, as the land became empty, the monsters and wild animals that had been biding their time began to proliferate as if they had found their world.
The situation was the same not only in the Empire but also in neighboring countries, and the adjacent countries exchanged scholars to try to grasp the beginning of the inexplicable chaos, but it was in vain. They were too busy exhausting all the administrative power of each country just to stop the monsters that were fearlessly rampaging and to respond to the refugees who were gathering in the cities.
As Count Hamilton, who held many of the major Sacred Ropes in the country, even the head of our family had been taken to the Imperial Palace as if he had been arrested and had not returned for several days. It was not just our family that was like that, but every family that had any wealth to spare was gathered in the Imperial Palace, and they were so busy putting out fires here and there that they were said to be working tirelessly.
“…Can you be alone?”
“Alone? Anyone would think that Brother and I have been living alone in this mansion until now.”
In this chaos, my brother, the Little Count of Hamilton, also had to return to the territory urgently. In normal times, it would not have been a big problem for all the direct descendants to be in the capital, but now it was different. In order to manage the restless public sentiment and maintain the state of the territory to a minimum, someone suitable needed to go down.
“Haa… I can’t rest assured at all.”
It wasn’t just him going down alone, and there were many young heads of families who were stationed in the capital and were going down to the territories for the sake of stabilizing the people’s livelihood, but Andrew was worrying about unnecessary things. Still, the feeling of being worried about wasn’t so bad. His clumsy inner thoughts, not even holding my hand and just hovering around my sleeve, looked quite cute.
“…”
Behind Andrew, Kyle was standing as if he was being punished, with a worried expression on his face as well. Monsters and wild animals had not yet invaded the Hamilton territory, but the atmosphere nearby was so chaotic that he decided to go down together. No one questioned the choice, as Kyle was the best knight in our family. Rather, it was a waste of manpower to have someone as skilled as Kyle Gray as just one person’s escort.
“If anything happens, contact me immediately. I’ll tell them to connect you to me immediately, no matter when it is.”
It seemed like he was telling me to use the Magic Stone between the Lord’s Castle and the capital townhouse, which was only allowed to be used in times of war. It would be a big deal to be beheaded for treason if the unauthorized use was discovered. I didn’t think there would be a need to actually use it, so I just nodded without saying anything.
“Then I’ll be back. It won’t take long, so take care. And stay away from Mother as much as possible.”
The Countess, who had been reclusive lately, would get angry several times a day just thinking about me, throwing teacups and tearing apart perfectly good cushions. The kind of anger she had towards me had subsided a bit after Allen had found a flawless marriage partner named Carlisle, but after Carlisle turned to me, it completely broke loose and went wild. Logically speaking, Allen was the one who was wrong for lying in the first place, or that Carlisle’s inability to distinguish between my and Allen’s appearances was the beginning of the matter, but she didn’t listen to any of it. Perhaps it was because she had a good excuse while she was already looking for a reason to hate and resent me. Well… I don’t care much anymore. I’ve already earned the hatred of the gods, so what’s the hatred of ordinary humans?
“Brother!”
Andrew, who had barely finished his long farewell that was still not enough, was just about to turn around. Allen’s voice, who should have been by the Countess’s side, poured out cheerfully.
“Ah. Allen.”
“I’m sorry, am I a little late?”
“No, don’t worry about it. It’s enough to see your face.”
“Brother Noah was here too? That’s too much, you should have called me too.”
Allen smiled innocently with a face that was hard to predict from his delicate and refined appearance, and put his arm around mine. The strong grip, which was hard to imagine, tightened painfully on my arm.
“…It’s already late, Brother. Hurry up and leave. You can’t delay the schedule any longer.”
“That’s right. You’re right.”
“Then goodbye.”
“Noah…!”
Andrew called me with an exclamation as if he had something more to say, but I turned around resolutely without looking back. One of my arms was still tightly held by Allen.
“Oh, my. Are you that scared?”
His mocking and relaxed voice seemed to poke at my tense shoulders.
“That’s too much, Noah. Do you think I’m going to eat your brother or something? You don’t have to treat me like a germ and keep me away.”
I’d rather he was a germ. I could disinfect him and erase him without a trace. His smiling face was perfect without a single flaw. The System, wearing Allen’s mask, reconfirmed the promise to me with a miserable appearance that was only half left, and when I lost consciousness and woke up again the next day, Allen’s collapsed form had been perfectly restored. And it was from that day that the outer regions began to collapse rapidly. I instinctively realized it. In order to maintain the appearance of that mask that he cherished so much, the System had used another pile of lives as energy.
“Hmm…”
“…”
“Are you going to stay silent like this? It’s inconvenient not being able to read your mind at times like this. Should I just push everything away…? No, I don’t want to destroy ‘this body’, so I’ll bear with it for now.”
He muttered with a smiling voice as if he was watching my reaction. I decided not to react on purpose. There was no need to fall for unnecessary provocations against someone who couldn’t communicate.
“I’ll let you go today. I think some good news will arrive soon.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to say thank you.”
The whimsical god was harder to grasp than a toddler who had just started babbling. The good news he was talking about was unlikely to be good for me as well. I gave up on predicting and suspiciously watched his back as he took his arms off me and walked away with light steps, then went up to my room.
“Young Master! Why are you only coming now! I thought you were just going to see Andrew off!”
Just as I was about to open the door and enter, Nicole popped out like an arrow. Then, before I could come to my senses, she rattled off words. Her hand movements, pushing my shoulders and back and sending me inside, were also unusual. What’s wrong, what’s going on, I asked, but Nicole urged me to go in quickly instead of answering. Pushed by her touch, I reluctantly poked my head into the drawing room attached to the room and saw…
“Have you arrived, Crown Princess Consort!”
“We have been waiting for you, Little Duke’s wife!”
Two men, who seemed to be unmatched in size and fierce looks, were waiting for me with a determined spirit, kneeling down.
Both of them were wearing plain black clothes and black masks, as if they were trying not to reveal their identities, but just by listening to the titles they called me, I could guess where they came from. One was the Crown Prince, and the other was clearly someone sent by Carlisle.
The two men, who greeted me at the same time, rolled their eyes fiercely as if they were trying to keep each other in check. The atmosphere quickly became sharp. I don’t know when they had been together, but it seemed like they had been like this for a long time. Nicole’s voice, chirping like a bird that had finally found a place to go, was almost tearful.
“Quickly, quickly! Finish your business and kick them out, quickly! Both of them are insisting that they can’t leave until they see the Young Master and deliver their messages…!”
I ordered Nicole to stay outside for a while, then slowly walked to the sofa and sat down. The eyes of the two men were fixed on me as if they were nailed to me.
“So. Who arrived first?”
“…! It’s me!”
The Crown Prince’s side had the upper hand. I nodded my chin to mean that he should reveal his business, and he approached on his knees and offered a rolled-up parchment with both hands.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Crown Prince’s seal stamped at the bottom of the parchment. It was proof that it was a handwritten letter without any manipulation. The Crown Prince said that the war situation was not as easy as he had thought, and that if the situation became urgent or if I needed a place to evacuate urgently, I could go to such-and-such place in the capital. He had already revealed that he had me in his heart, and now if something happened to him, Duke Grachio would never leave me alone.
Was it because it was written in plain letters without a mocking voice or a condescending look? The bleak instructions, which didn’t have a single word of worry or caution, sounded more like he was worried to death. He should have treated me like a person when he was by my side.
“Little Duke’s wife! No, Little Madam!”
While I was looking at the Crown Prince’s message and couldn’t hide my complicated expression, the man presumed to be Carlisle’s subordinate tried to take away my attention by bringing up an alarming title.
“Please take a look at the letter sent by our Little Duke!”
Then he prostrated himself and offered another letter. The letter didn’t deviate much from what I had expected. Like Andrew, who had just left for the territory, Carlisle, the Little Duke, had to return to the north for a while.
“Is there anything else you want to leave for the Little Duke?”
Carlisle’s subordinate shot me a hopeful look, but I just told him to tell him to have a good trip. The Crown Prince would hear this scene as it was, so any further action was forbidden.
“If you’ve delivered all the news, then leave now. I have a lot on my mind and I need to rest.”
The two men exchanged strange glances with only their eyes until the end, then opened the windows and jumped out in turn. …Anyway, what good news is it when none of it is welcome? The System can’t be trusted after all.
Andrew and Kyle left for the Hamilton territory, and Lennox had been out of contact for a long time, saying that he was looking for a way to stop the System’s power. And now that the Crown Prince and Carlisle have also left. Only I and the System are left in the capital.
It was news that I had no reason to welcome at all, really only welcome to the System.