A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

308 – The End of Dragons, the Beginning of Humans (1)

I close my eyes for a moment and when I open them, the Habsburg Emperor is sitting next to me.

“…How long have you been asleep?”

“It hasn’t been that long. It’s now… 5 in the morning.”

The Habsburg Emperor pointed to the watch on his wrist

“I see. Did I say anything strange while I was dozing?”

“I wondered what it would be like if there was such a thing, but unfortunately, he slept like a rat dying without making any noise.”

Thanks goodness.

I don’t think he ever said anything about killing the emperor, even in his dreams.

I don’t talk in my sleep.

If that were the case, I wouldn’t have slept in the same room as Astasia or Naria at the age of 13.

“What about the incompetent king?”

“It’s still hardening. It’s not like it’s squirming inside, but it seems like it’s taking longer than I thought.”

Not much time has passed since I arrived here and turned the Incompetent King into bricks.

Considering the time spent talking in the dream, it seems like it took much longer than that, but time does not necessarily flow 1:1 between thoughts and reality.

Even if it were only at the end of time, would it be any different from a dream?

“First of all, let me start by saying, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The emperor suddenly expressed his gratitude to me.

“You eliminated Saint Geo Nostrum. If it weren’t for you, I would still be holding my head against the infinite amount of gold.”

“…It is a difficult problem to respond to through human social science.”

“Difficult to respond to? No, it’s just an impossible problem to deal with. Gold is pouring in like water, and it might have been foolish to try to respond with the logic of the market.”

The emperor lightly raised his hands.

“You won brilliantly against the Miracle of Nostrum.”

“I won because the person who used miracles and powers was Saint Geo Nostrum.”

“No. Even if another king had that kind of power or even more, you would have been able to overcome it.”

At that moment, I felt something strange in the Habsburg Emperor’s words.

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“Why but?”

“You have something to tell me, but you can’t say it right now?”

“…It’s you, after all.”

I kept feeling a subtle discomfort in the emperor’s words, but for some reason it was not a topic he wanted to talk about.

“Gray Gibraltar. Do you believe in Nostrum?”

“I don’t believe it.”

“So, what do you think about ending Nostrum?”

“…Your Majesty.”

I adjusted my posture and sat down.

“If the Nostrum does not exist, the Empire will not shine either.”

“I guess so. But it’s the Thersian Empire.”

“Even if it becomes the Habsburg Empire, it will be the same. Or, you should wait a little longer.”

“Wait?”

“I think Queen Naria should also have one chance.”

As soon as I woke up, I was faced with a very serious situation and felt urgent, but the confusion in my dream disappeared in an instant.

“Now that the uncertainty of Saint Geo Nostrum is gone, Nostrum will begin to turn the gears of the nation on a human level. Yes, man to man.”

“I guess so.”

It must be stopped.

“Queen Naria can still communicate with each other. Yes, people are different. After getting rid of those with whom you cannot communicate, it doesn’t matter much as long as you can talk to them at the negotiation table.”

“Hapsburg Majesty.”

“But it matters, the miracle of the dragon in Nostrum is out of the question.”

The Habsburg Emperor hardens his expression.

“Saint Geo Nostrum must have traveled throughout the Kingdom of Nostrum and found miracles. He lived a debaucherous life and enjoyed luxury and pleasure, but that was because he did not know that this was how it would end. If he had known, he would never have lived his life like this. It wouldn’t have broken it.”

The emperor knows.

The miracle of the golden dragon in the body of the Nostrum royal family.

“Are you sure that I, Ria Zionostrum, will not follow in her father’s footsteps?”

“…”

“It is not enough in many ways to leave the world to one person’s emotions.”

The emperor pointed at me with one hand.

“If Gray Gibraltar says he will do it, I can trust it. But I cannot trust Naria Geo Nostrum. So, I will do as I think.”

“Your Majesty.”

“I gave birth to so many children. And I couldn’t be said to be a good father to those children.”

The emperor stood up and turned his back.

“In the first place, I didn’t even know who my father was. The first time I met him was when I first entered the imperial palace after killing my half-brother and being recognized as the 18th heir to the throne.”

This is my first time hearing a story like this.

“What is a father? Is he someone who can do anything for his children? I saw many men in the empire, and I killed many fathers. In the process, I realized something. “I am a different father than ordinary fathers.”

“That’s it… “

Wouldn’t it be strange not to be aware of it?

“Do you think so too?”

“You know what I was thinking.”

“Hapsburg von Tersian’s family concept is not normal.”

“…I think it’s because of the difference in environment.”

I swallowed my saliva with difficulty.

“If I had been born in the imperial palace of the Thersian Empire, I would have had similar thoughts to Your Majesty the Emperor, and if Your Majesty had been born in my family, I might have become someone similar to me.”

“I am from Gibraltar.”

The emperor’s shoulders trembled lightly.

“That’s an interesting idea. You can’t turn back time.”

“…”

“I know. Everything. Just the one thing you’re trying to hide. Even now that I think about it, I’m not sure what that is.”

“That’s… “

“Why do you want to kill me?”

The emperor asks with a smile.

“You wanted to kill me from the moment you first saw me.”

“…”

As expected.

As expected, it is not.

‘Damn.’

I did my best to hide it from the beginning, but I couldn’t suppress it.

“I’ve thought about that too. As the protector of Nostrum, if it were the Gray Margrave who had taken 12 wives, it would be natural for him to try to kill me.”

“…”

This man knew better than anyone else the gaze of those who had a grudge against him due to past grudges.

“But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why you, who returned to the past, were only looking for Astasia. So I thought about it. I came to a conclusion. What people saw as false gold was The world that Saint Geo rewinded.”

The Habsburg Emperor slowly stood up.

“About an hour ago. While you were asleep, a report came in from the shadows in the County of Sirene.”

The moment I tried to get up.

“Stay still and listen.”

The Habsburg Emperor extended his finger straight toward the back of my hand.

“…!!”

I can’t move.

Just before he stretched out his hand, his hand was blocked by the emperor.

“That’s an overreaction. What I was trying to say was not the story of ‘your time period’, but the current situation.”

“…”

“But you reacted. Why did you do that? The sword came out without you knowing because you have a serious problem to hide from me about the world that Queen Naria has created for you.”

The emperor smiled bitterly at me.

“I thought it was a leap, but it seems to be true. It’s sad. Didn’t I tell you last time? The past is just the past, let’s live by looking only at the present.”

“…So, what are you going to do if you try to pull out your sword?”

“It would be nice to persuade, compromise, and discuss, but it would be great if national affairs were resolved so peacefully.”

The Emperor removes his hand from the back of my hand.

“As expected, you are exactly what I’ve been looking for. There’s probably no one in the empire who can beat you… I can’t even count on one finger.”

Then, I take three steps back, increasing the distance enough to deal with whatever I do.

“I still don’t know why you tried to kill me. But worst-case scenario, you would have to kill me… For example, if I killed Astasia in your timeline or something like that.”

The emperor placed one of his hands on his chest.

“I ask you to trust this Habsburg von Tersian just as you trust Naria Geo Nostrum. If I talk like that, you won’t even hear it.”

“…”

“If you could have been persuaded by something like that, you wouldn’t have been trying to kill me just because of something like that. I know you. You know me.”

The emperor squeezed his chest with one hand.

“There must have been an occasion during your time when ‘I’ had no choice but to suppress this torn heart and cut you off.”

“…”

“And he must have thought, ‘Even if time passes, my past self will be able to persuade the regressed Gray Gibraltar. No matter what he has in mind, you will definitely be able to do it.’ Actually, I also had that thought. There is, and I didn’t give up on it.”

Was it a mistake to have created an aura without my knowledge?

No.

This man has never been nervous about me for even a single moment.

“You are such an amazing being. You have gone beyond simply saying you are of Gibraltar blood. What is the result when a person with countless talents shows a genius effort that no one can match? “I was able to understand through you.”

The reason I have never imagined killing Habsburg von Tersian even in my dreams is because I have an intuition that I cannot kill him even in the present reality.

“It’s the difference between two pieces of paper, or even just one piece of paper. It’s amazing, really.”

A piece of paper.

“If you had gone back a year earlier, you would have blown my head off a long time ago. The Golden Dragon of Nostrum was 10 years old…? I’m so glad I decided to rewind back then. Instead of 9 years old.”

Even so, this is the ‘enemy camp.’

“I briefly talked about something else to ease your curiosity and anxiety, but now let’s talk about the present.”

The Habsburg Emperor picked up an object lying on the table.

“Saint Geonostrum died. However, the false gold did not disappear.”

Something that looks like a gold bar.

There was the imperial central bank, gold exchange, and the imperial seal.

99% similar, 1% crude.

“The man named Saint Geo Nostrum is dead, but Nostrum is still overflowing with gold. This is a very serious problem for the current empire.”

“…No way.”

“Let’s not think about complicated things like regression or anything like that.”

The emperor clapped his hands lightly.

“I, Habsburg von Tersian, have declared war on the Kingdom of Nostrum.”

The emperor laughs.

“As a personal cause, to destroy the nation overshadowed by the miracle of the Golden Dragon and open an era of humanity driven solely by human social science.”

From noble mtl dot come

The emperor winds his watch ‘forward’.

“As the emperor of the empire, based on the legacy of the dragon, I conquered kingdoms that were having a serious negative impact on the empire’s economy to stabilize prices, maintain the value of currency, and protect the families of the empire’s citizens.”

Before I knew it, the hour hand was pointing to ‘6’.

“Between you and me, I want you to be able to make love to Astasia without worrying. So that you can be happy.”

The emperor looks out the window.

“As the father who will pass on a perfectly unified continent to you, I am willing to have blood on my hands. I will cover all the filth and leave you the cleanest and most beautiful continent.”

“…What happens to Nostrum?”

“Nostrum, yes. …Is trash. The trash needs to be cleaned up.”

The emperor concluded.

“Nostrum may exist in my history, but there should not be nostrum in the era you are creating. So, I will cover myself with blood. Yes, war.”

“Declaration of war…No.”

I asked, calming my trembling heart.

“How many hours ago did you do this?”

“There’s no stain. It’s perfect.”

The emperor laughed mischievously.

“January 1, 100 years Imperial Calendar, 4:33 a.M. The time you fell into bed.”

The emperor committed a crime the moment I collapsed from exhaustion.

“Starting with the County of Sirene, war was declared on ‘all the territories of Nostrum, not Gibraltar.’ Just like a territory war.”

“Well, what… “

“Is it far-fetched? Of course it is far-fetched. Or… Can I use a nostrum analogy?”

The emperor laughs.

“I just challenged those who called my son-in-law a traitor to a duel. Most upstanding fathers step forward when their children are insulted.”

Like.

“That means fatherhood, right?”

Like taking out a learned smile.

“I am the one who will end the era of dragons. Instead, I will hand over to you, Gray, the beginning of the human era. That beginning is the County of Sirene.”

Time is.

“An hour ago, a report came in from the shadows.”

Can’t rewind.

“The count of Sirene was occupied by the imperial army.”