Chapter 1

Chapter 1

1. The beginning of the story (1)

This story began with one line:

[ The Kingdom of Sorano was destroyed on Year N Month M. ]

It was a novel I read a long time ago, so I couldn’t remember the exact date. However, what was certain was that Arne would die shortly after her twenty-year-old coming-of-age ceremony.

When I entered the book, Arne was nineteen.

In other words, there was about a year left until the story began. To be precise, it would be ten months until Arne’s birthday.

It may be deplorable to others to hear that a long-established kingdom would be destroyed in ten months, but it was not the case for me. Besides, even if someone other than me possessed it, it was leisurely enough time for them to run away.

I languorously ate at a table in the garden, served with tea and freshly baked cookies, I was enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

Since the weather was cold, there were not many flowers in the garden yet. Still, it was nice to see the green grass neatly organized.

Even though the Kingdom of Sorano was small, it was a country with a deep history.

For that reason, for a small country, there were a lot of items from the time when ancient magic could be used. However, items that required direct magic injection among them could not be used.

The only things that could be used are those that emitted light with magical power. It felt like the current fluorescent light? Like street lights. Nonetheless, there were only a few places where even that was installed.

As a modern person, I was embarrassed by a civilization that was lagging behind what I expected, but since humans were accustomed to being animals of adaptation, it was quite livable. Above all, when the sun went down and darkness came, the starlight embroidering the black sky was so beautiful.

As I was immersed in such a nonsensical thought, I could hear a voice.

“There are nobles meeting at seven pm tonight.”

I nodded and got up from my soft chair.

Behind them stood Arne’s aide, two knights and maids. Although it was a small number for the number of people who came to meet the king of a country, Arne hated the cumbersome thing.

I slowly rose up from my seat and headed for the office.

The appearance of the small but old-fashioned royal castle came into view. The beautiful stone castle was fading as if to prove the time the Kingdom of Sorano spent. Regardless, it was cleanly maintained, and there was no moss or grass growing.

Arriving at the office, I glanced at the documents neatly arranged on the desk. I sighed for a moment and thought about a man for a moment as I prepared the meeting materials.

Sinensis Rewan.

As the eldest son of the duke, he had promised to marry Arne politically. He was one of the top ten knights in the Kingdom, though he claimed to be an escort knight because he promised to marry Arne.

He had gray hair and gray eyes, and his expression did not change so much that I thought he was a blunt person to the point where I even wondered if it was true that he loved Arne.

Still, he was the one who would one day die for me. Just like in the original story, he died trying to save Arne. Even though he seemed indifferent, he was the only person here who truly loved Arne.

It was terrifying in words of pure love.

[ The white knight’s uniform was stained with red blood. Rewan, whose limbs were tied and bound, gazed at the Princess swaying in front of his eyes. She was shaken by others, not her will.

She closed her tight eyes and opened them. Yet she was still shaking and crying.

“Save me.”

“No, kill me. No more… like this…I don’t want to live.”

He heard things he shouldn’t have heard.

Rewan saw his own king howling. It was pathetic that he couldn’t do anything. He hoped all of this was a dream. Even though the wound that pierced the abdomen was still bleeding red blood, strangely, his heart ached more. ]

I thought I was lost in thought for a moment, but the clock was only running towards seven in the evening.

Rewan was standing in front of the open office as if it was natural. In the original work that came to mind, I grabbed Rewan’s outstretched arm while mourning the death that was to come to those in front of me in advance.

He familiarly led my body into the conference hall.

Now, the original story had not started. Despite the fact that it might have been possible to prevent Rewan from dying, I didn’t really want to try. I don’t know what he meant to Arne, but to me, it was just that.

I already erased her thoughts and feelings for him—meaning, I could stand by Rewan’s death for my own pleasure.

There was no sympathy for him, who was supposed to die.

It was frankly easy to take care of affairs as the King in the Kingdom.

Arne’s memories of all the knowledge and the experience of working all night in Korea was just right for playing and eating. With the speed of work progressing quite quickly, the aide told me to take it easy and expressed worries.

I gave a light smile to the aide who cared for me.

Arne ascended to the throne at the youngest age in the history of the Kingdom of Sorano.

It was partly because the King and Queen had died before Arne reached adulthood, though Arne’s supreme power also helped her become King. As such, she was sincere and principled, and she neither rested nor leaned.

The burden was on her at a young age, and she could not express her sorrow even when it was hard. She thought it would be a weakness. Arne tried not to show any gaps. She wanted to be perfect, and because of that, it made her lonely.

The original spot was like that.

Had she known she could lean on others a little bit, she wouldn’t have been so horribly devastated.

Her upright personality made me feel sad, but I didn’t feel common sense.

She was too flat and straight, to be a character in the book. As she devoted herself to the Kingdom day and night, she did not purchase more items than necessary. Even for such a small snack like chocolate, for example.

I put the cut chocolate in front of me into my mouth. The overly sweet scent filled my mouth.

“…Bitter.”

The end of its sweetness was bittersweet.

Time passed quickly and it was the day of the coming-of-age ceremony.

After the High Priest put on the crown, I drank the holy water called tears of God and ate the sacrament called the wings of God. Since I had quite comfortable and peaceful days, I was looking forward to the events that would follow.

Such non-ideal, destructive days that begin with the destruction of the Kingdom…

“God bless you. I wish you peace in your future, may God bless you.”

Putting on the crown, the staff struck the floor once. From low-ranking nobles to high-ranking nobles who lined up in the Royal Palace, they knelt on the floor.

“May you become a noble light and protect the Kingdom.”

“May the light never fade in the Kingdom.”

If it were anyone else, it was an amazing sight that would have made their body tremble. The shouts of the people could be heard in the distance. Loyalty and pride were felt in each and every action of the nobles.

For a moment, I felt that this perishing Kingdom, which for me was somewhere to pass by after staying for a while, could be everything to some. However, it didn’t mean anything to me.

If life here was fun and enjoyable, I might have tried to change my destiny, though it doesn’t mean anything to me unless I have the pleasure I desire.

“Sorano von Arne. You’ll serve as a pillar of the Kingdom of Sorano.”

“Everything you do is the right answer.”

I gazed down indifferently at those who swore allegiance.

A country to fall, a noble to disappear, a glory to perish.

It was just how it was worth to me.

So, without hesitation, I turned around and left the banquet hall. Finally, Arne’s huge and magnificent coming-of-age ceremony was over.

Entering the room, with the help of the maids, I took off the crown and the red cloak I was wearing. At my simple gesture, the curtains pulled and the windows opened. I sent the maids and glanced out the window.

A cool night breeze filled the room in an instant. The scent of flowers was carried into the room by the wind.

It was then that I realized that the day I had so longed for and imagined was not far away… Flowers that were about to fall were in full bloom.

[ On July 26, Year 726, the kingdom of Sorano was destroyed.

It was a day when white and red lily-of-the-valley flowers bloomed harmoniously in the garden. The pure white flowers were dyed red, and the red ones did not maintain their light for a hundred days and were lost.

Blood dripped every time the long sword was swung. They didn’t even notice. Because of the friendly relationship they had maintained, it was easy to open the palace gates to rude imperial envoys who suddenly came without a word.

They lost the King on the day they opened the gates of the Royal Palace, and they also lost their country as a foothold. ]

There was only one reason they came to Sorano Kingdom without notice.

To see the beautiful King Sorano von Arne.

That was it.

The Emperor of the Empire, Carwen de Distria, looked fine on the outside, although on the inside he was a madman.

Distria wanted to see Arne, who was known for her beauty. Nonetheless, he did not have time to spare due to the excessive workload, so he ordered the King to come by herself.

That was the starting point of the destruction of the kingdom of Sorano.

The Kingdom, which had been in existence for seven hundred years, was destroyed by the Emperor’s command, “I want to see Arne’s face.”

Originally, Distria tried to send Arne back only after seeing her face. Although he threatened the King when he first brought her in, he did not harm the lives of the nobles and the people of the Kingdom who opposed it.

In addition, the foreign minister was sent to see the government affairs of the Kingdom, and the country returned to normal.

Of course, as soon as Distria became interested in Arne, it was all wiped out.

While she had been captured, even in the face of her death, the upright and fearless figure of the King was pitiful and curious, so Distria kept her by his side.

Upright Arne. Straight Arne…

The appearance of Arne, whom everyone loved and respected, strangled by him.

The gatekeeper delivered the news that an envoy from the Carwen Empire had arrived.

In an instant, the nobles who were working in the royal palace held an emergency meeting. Not everyone knew the intentions of the Empire.

The Kingdom of Sorano has a friendly relationship with the Carwen Empire, which borders on it, but was not well aware of Carwen’s political tendencies or trends. In fact, no country anywhere on the continent could grasp the purpose of the Empire.

The Emperor of the Carwen Empire was famous for being crazy people from generation to generation.

Some Emperors were crazy about blood, some were crazy about women, and there were records that some emperors ate human flesh. In the Empire there was a book called the forbidden book and had to be burned as soon as it was read or seen.

“Isn’t it a gift to celebrate Her Majesty’s coming-of-age ceremony?”

A nobleman said through the silence.

The hall fell into silence again at the ridiculous speculation. The beginning of the original story was just around the corner. Excitement and tension coexisted.

My heart started beating fast. I was as excited as a little child with a toy in front of my eyes.

“But, what if they are an uninvited guest, and they have other impure intentions?”

“Even so, if they came to celebrate the coming-of-age ceremony, we can’t avoid getting them angry when we send them back.”

Several opinions came and went.

I was getting bored. Either way, they would open the door. I wanted to quickly get rid of the meaningless public opinion of a small country. As my moment of decision came quickly, the nobles were staring at me before I knew it.

As if to make a decision. I pretended to be in my thoughts for a moment, then barely opened my mouth as if I worried too much.

“Please, open it. No matter how it is the Empire, they can’t harm the Kingdom recklessly.”

Even though I knew the end, the sense of immorality that opened the way to destruction shook my body. Perhaps, they would resent me for ordering the gates to open.

In that way, I opened the beginning of the original story with my own hands.

Nevertheless, if I wanted to avoid it, I could avoid it, thinking about Arne’s feelings, who had tried to run away, even giving her life.

———

Hooo, so a different isekai FL now? Rather than trying not to get involved in the story, this one tried to get into the story~