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He seemed to think that I would no longer chase him away after he stated his business. And he was right.

“Raise your head.”

As soon as I spoke, his stiff shoulders relaxed naturally. The moment he raised his head, the glasses plastered on his face flashed the way it did earlier in the day. His deep gaze stood out from behind the glasses.

“Did you say that you were called Dike?”

“It is an honour that you remember this humble name of mine.”

“When you say the barrier, you must be referring to the one that protects the Empire, right?”

“I thought it might be the case but just as I expected, you do not know anything, Your Majesty.”

I frowned momentarily. Before I was struck with a sudden thought.

This man seemed determined to get on my nerves. As if that was what he planned to do all along.

‘He also looked very proud talking earlier in the day.’

Who else would dare nitpick the emperor’s gender? The opposition as well as all those who were in their faction voiced similar dissentients.

I turned towards Rebecca to find her nodding. Perhaps it was because we had been together for so long but Rebecca would sometimes read my mind and answer with her gaze before I could say anything

“Alright. If you have to come visit at this time, it must be urgent. However,”

I leaned back on my chair before quietly giving a warning. He needed to realise. No matter what trick he was trying to pull, I would not fall for whatever lowly scheme he had.

“Whatever you want from me, you won’t be getting it for as long as you try to anger me. So, will you continue acting like that?”

I nailed the end of my sentence with a sigh. To be honest, his actions barely left a scratch on me.

“My deepest apologies. Please take it as the ignorance of an uncultured and be merciful.”

“Ignorant? That’s not something the Head Templar of Wisdom should be saying about himself.”

His eyes momentarily widened behind his glasses.

“Not all Templars of Wisdom are wise and smart. Sometimes I make foolish judgments as well. As my late brother did.”

Soon, his dark eyes slightly curled pleasantly.

“What I wanted to inform you of is a secret that has passed from generation to generation in the Temple of Wisdom.”

His relaxed expression took a serious turn.

“But I feel that you should be aware of it now, Your Majesty. Especially since the barrier has disappeared.”

“So what on earth do you want to say?”

“It is a way to set up the barrier again.”

I lashed out at his words.

“The marble or tools needed for the barrier were made by the God of Blacksmiths and the spell and sorcery needed for it was created by the God of Wisdom. 2000 years later, the specific techniques were still handed down to the next generation of each temple.”

“Are you saying that it is possible to reestablish the barrier?”

“In theory, yes. If we manage to set up the barrier again, the war may swing in our favour.”

“… This plan wouldn’t turn out fruitless, would it?”

We also needed to protect this land from the powerful Castor. However, the person who was delivering this message was the same man who had been casting doubt on my legitimacy just earlier this afternoon.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Purple butterflies appeared around the corner and surrounded the Head Templar, moving according to my emotions. He flinched. The Head Templar immediately caved to the pressure and confessed his real intentions.

“The Goddess of Wisdom is one who has been eaten by the Lord of the Gods and lives in his head while whispering to him wisdom. Perhaps it is because of her close relationship to the Lord of the Gods but we are also able to mimic the Power of the Lord to a certain extent.”

“Mimic?”

“I can feel the future.”

The Head Templar calmly explained his point.

“Of course, I cannot prophesise as accurately as a Templar of the Lord. It’s something more like a vague feeling I get. I sensed a chill as though everything will go to ruin if I do not follow you, Your Majesty.”

As he spoke, his business-like expression faltered. His doubtful gaze behind his glasses turned to me.

“But the strangest thing is that the feeling changes from day to day. One day I would sense ruin looming while on another, I could see the future being completely fine.”

I noticed instinctively.

‘The future has not been completely set in stone yet.’

The race to the future was tight. The future Castor might destroy and the future I might change.

The Head Templar, Dike’s, words gave me a ray of hope. At very least, there was a possibility which was why my voice softened.

“Yeah. Now I understand why he was so subservient now.”

“Have you been bothered by what happened in the afternoon?”

“Well, are you referring to the show you put on with Julian?”

The Head Templar merely blinked for a moment as though he was surprised before smiling politely.

“I think I thought too lightly of you, Your Majesty.”

In other words, he was acknowledging me.

“I was Lord Julian’s aide before I became the Head Templar of Wisdom.”

During the meeting we had in the day, the Head Templar of Wisdom pointed out the emperor’s gender–something everyone knew but did not dare to address–to become the public enemy which was quickly followed by Julian’s oath of loyalty. As if it had all been planned.

Looking back, I realised that it had all been a well-planned play. It was all so that there wouldn’t be a rift amongst the templars.

“Alright, so what do we need to do to set up the barrier again?”

“First, we will need to gather the remaining Templars of Vulcanus.”

I nodded. I thought about Rex, the Templar of Vulcanus Fleon had saved during his final moments.

“What we need is an opportune time, a Templar of Wisdom and Templar of Vulcanus, in addition to a great amount of divinity, to summon the barrier again.”

Perhaps I could take care of the amount of divinity needed.

“When would that opportune time come and how can you tell?”

“It’ll take a long time to build up the barrier again. That means we need to be able to hold out against the invasion in the meantime. In other words, we cannot allow the western front to collapse while we rebuild the barrier.”

“And…”

“Hold on.”

Just then. Amor, who had remained silent all this while, interjected at the speed of lightning.

“Amor?”

When he reached his hand out, screech, an unpleasant sound scratched my ears. Looking back, I noticed something black in his hands. Amor had caught something.

“… A raven?”

It was a black crow. However, it looked to be half the size of a regular bird and the colour of its eyes were surprisingly gold.

“It’s brother’s animal.”

At the end of his words, the bird disappeared right in front of me.

“Brother has sent a messenger.”

No one understood the meaning behind his words. But I did.

Castor must have heard everything.

***

Before the next assembly, which was held three days later, the attendants had informed me that there would be more in attendance compared to the last one.

‘It must be because Julian had sworn his allegiance to me.’

It meant that people who had still held false hope had given up. Moreover, he said that after news of the war had spread, templars who had been living in reclusion were gathering again one after the other.

‘It’s all thanks to Pontus.’

Anyway, because my subordinates were so competent, we were able to gather an army without much difficulty.

“You look worried.”

“My decision will either save or kill lives. It is all up to me.”

I turned my head to face Julian. The steaming cup of tea he was holding suited him so well I thought he was a painting.

Julian flashed a mellow smile.

“Making a decision. It is indeed a very difficult thing to do.”

The time when I once thought I was living in a world inside a novel felt so distant. It felt so vague I wasn’t sure if I ever felt that way before at all.

I robbed the people I loved and had decided to escape from it all. Because I was that distant and nonchalant about everything.

“Yes. It’s funny how a minor character has ended up with the decisive role to end the story.”

“Do you consider yourself to be a minor character?”

I stared at him instead of answering. I had summoned him for a chat before heading for the assembly. I had business to discuss with him but I unknowingly brought up irrelevant topics.

“Well. If I really was a minor character, I wouldn’t be standing here like that.”

I was happy to use honorifics with him in respect of his resignation.

“But why do you look so sad?”

“You must be mistaken. Forget the useless chatter. What do you think about our current situation?”

Julian was a competent man. Immediately after he backed off, he stepped up to be my aide and began his duties surprisingly quickly. To the point where his performance stood out only after three days of work.

‘If this man became emperor, he would for sure be worshipped for being a benevolent one.’

Moreover, the Head Templar of Wisdom, who joined my side out of nowhere, was as competent as he was, which was why I could be relieved. I had been stressed because other than Granius, I had no other person to take charge of the administrative and resource matters.

“The preparations are going smoothly.”

“War does not run on ammunition alone. Isn’t that so?”

“Yes. You are right.”

Already, in our western front, there would be two or three battles every three days with two skirmishes a day at most.

The Templars of Diana were fighting valiantly. But no one knew how long they could last.

‘Pontus’ army from the City of Snow and Sea is heading west…’

That would also take awhile.

“You must have heard from the Head Templar of Wisdom, right? About rebuilding the barrier.”

“Yes, I did.”

I halted my thoughts before staring straight at Julian.

“If Castor reappears before us, will you be willing to be held hostage?”

Julian flinched. He looked calm but I spotted his hands trembling temporarily.

“That will be difficult.”

“Why’s that?”

“If I really was his weakness, he would have taken me along with him.”

He admitted the reality of the situation with a wry smile.

“No, I realise now. He is willing to kill me without any hesitation. I don’t think I’ll be able to work as a hostage.”

“I see.”

“The reason why you asked… is it because you’re worried I might take brother’s side?”

Julian asked while flashing a gentle smile. I felt it back in the North Tower… He would pierce one’s heart with such a beautiful expression that made himself look like he had not a care in the world.

“That’s not it. If I thought that, I wouldn’t have tried to bring you to my side.”

“I just… No, it’s nothing. By the way, I heard that the Templar of Wisdom became your other aide.”

“Yes. He did.”

“Ah, let me apologise.”

I shot him an incredulous look.

“You’d have to first get up from your chair to kneel on your knees.”

No, he hadn’t seemed to have realised it yet?

“Aha. I had never knelt in front of a table before, so I didn’t know.”

“Isn’t it common sense?”

Why was he such a clumsy man? Instead of asking him that, I shot Amor, who had been standing silently thus far, a look.

‘Has he always been like that?’

Amor nodded as if he had been waiting. One of this world’s greatest mysteries was this man who was more intelligent and brilliant than anyone else falling after taking less than three steps.

“Get up.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Excuse me for asking but what do you think of your other aide?”

Suddenly, the Head Templar of Wisdom came to mind. He was never the one to be polite enough to hold himself back in front of other Head Templars or stop himself from coming in the middle of the night to give the emperor a visit.

“Hm, perhaps he’d prefer if I had not become emperor or he has been lamenting under his breath to have a mistress like me.”

He smiled broadly.

“He’s a good man.”

Where was he going with this?

“… You know him well.”

I wondered what kind of relationship they had.

The emperor’s children had cat-like eyes because they had inherited it from the sinful emperor. But Julian’s eyes were the opposite. His eyes drooped at the ends like a dog’s, much like Hernan’s, before they folded gently.

“I will keep my oath. However, there is a truth I cannot reveal to you.”

“What’s that?”

After hearing him out, I promised to forget whatever he said which prompted Julian to thank me before he smiled and continued talking.

“I just wish to see brother’s face once more after the war ends.”

“… You must have lots to say bottle up inside you, don’t you?”

He smiled wordlessly before falling over again after getting up from his seat. Ultimately, Amor sighed before summoning his vines.

“You’re quite high-maintenance, brother.”

“Ah, you still consider me your brother?”

Amor looked annoyed as Julian smiled softly and reached his hand out towards him.