Chapter 19: The Elder Council - (5)
The next morning, Lincia looked at me with a worried expression.
“Freud? You don’t look well.”
“…I’m fine.”
I forced myself to smile as reassuringly as possible.
But Lincia, hands on her hips, shot back sharply.
“You’re overworking yourself, aren’t you? Overexertion is bad for you.”
“I’m really fine.”
“I’m not fine with it.”
Truthfully, this body never really got tired. Even if I pulled all-nighters or pushed it past its limits, Freud’s physique was practically superhuman.
However, Lincia seemed to interpret my stiff expression differently. As a result, she spent the entire morning fussing over me—smoothing my bangs, handing me water, and so on.
“Hold on. I’ll bring you something to drink.”
While Lincia stepped away, I finally let out a small breath.
I was in the waiting room in front of the council chamber.
Today’s meeting would begin soon, though there was still a little time left.
“Haaah.”
Sitting in a chair, I sank into thought once again.
Last night, the woman from the Cult had disappeared into the darkness after leaving me with one final command—to fulfill the covenant.
Ever since hearing that shocking revelation, my mind had been spinning, probably making me look even more unwell.
I had somewhat suspected it already, but to think Freud was truly a hidden villain.
And not just that—he was in direct contact with high-ranking members of the Cult.
-’Kill Lincia.’
That was the mission the Cult had entrusted to Freud.
As proof, the woman had mentioned the ‘covenant.’
When I saw the necklace, Freud’s body had reacted instinctively. My heart had thundered in my chest. Cold sweat had poured down my back.
I knew immediately.
The covenant was not something I could defy.
“Damn it.”
I glanced at Lincia, who was pouring water into a teacup with her back turned.
Kill Lincia? Me?
I shook my head. There was no way.
And yet, my rational mind understood all too well.
Even in the original game, Freud ultimately followed through on the covenant.
‘That woman said... if we don’t act, they will.’
She had made it clear: if I failed to carry out the deed, they would take matters into their own hands.
When exactly that would happen, I didn’t know.
Could I really protect Lincia?
The intruder who had slipped through Lautrec’s guards and Rowan’s barrier without a trace was no ordinary threat.
If it had been the original Freud, maybe.
But the current me? I stood no chance.
I had asked Rowan and Lautrec at dawn whether any intruders had been detected, and they said no.
If even they couldn’t sense anything, it spoke volumes about the enemy’s skill.
More than anything, if what that woman said was true, it meant that even inside this very council chamber, there were Cult operatives lurking.
A headache began to pound in my skull.
The secretary, Millia, Melina, Rowan, and other council members—I scanned them all carefully.
There could be a spy among them.
Which meant…
If they judged that I refused to fulfill the covenant, they could strike at Lincia at any time.
“This is the worst.”
I buried my head in my hands and sighed heavily.
As always, this world was thoroughly, completely screwed.
****
The second day of the council meeting ended in much the same way.
Continuously derailing the conversation proved to be an effective tactic.
The meeting spiraled into chaos without pause, culminating in a shouting match that brought the session to a messy close.
Watching the whole thing unfold, I couldn’t help but sigh.
Frankly, even a grade school classroom debate would have been more dignified.
“Hoo...”
Leaving the chamber without achieving anything, I found Lincia looking utterly exhausted too.
She heaved a heavy sigh and suddenly grabbed my hand.
Ever since she had asked me to become a Guardian Knight, she had been acting far more casual with me.
I really wished she’d be a little more aware of the people around us.
Just look at Melina, glaring at me like she wanted to murder me.
“Sir Freud.”
As we walked down the corridor side by side, Rowan approached us.
He called me quietly and showed me two Spellstones he produced from inside his robe.
“These are—!”
“I searched during the meeting. No mistake.”
Honestly, I hadn’t expected much, but this was an unexpected harvest.
Good job, Rowan. You’re more useful than I thought.
“Oh.”
I even gained a survival point.
Given the situation, every survival point was like a precious treasure.
Rowan wore a meaningful expression.
“You think this is the end?”
“I doubt it. They won’t give up that easily.”
Edwin Faylid would persistently target Lincia throughout Act 1.
However, every assassination attempt using the Spellstones would fail in ways just like this.
Growing desperate, Edwin would eventually try to kill Lincia himself.
That failure would lead to his downfall.
But that was still a few days away.
For now, all they could do was continue plotting behind the scenes.
At my words, Rowan sagged his shoulders, looking as if the future weighed heavily on him.
“Anyway, I’ll continue the search.”
“I’m counting on you.”
As I nodded and started to walk away, Rowan stopped me again.
“Sir Freud, may I ask something?”
When I turned back, he spoke with an unusually serious tone.
“What does Her Highness mean to you?”
“Hm?”
“I’ve heard... rumors about you. Unintentionally, of course.”
I could roughly guess what kind of rumors he meant.
“But the Sir Freud I see now is an honorable knight in every sense of the word.”
“……”
“So I wonder... What does Her Highness mean to you, that you would become such a righteous knight?”
It was only natural for him to be curious.
Why would a known scoundrel so passionately protect Lincia?
What did the princess mean to me, for me to act this way?
Truth be told, it wasn’t about meaning or anything sentimental.
I had possessed this body from another world.
Of course, that wasn’t something I could explain.
Instead, I just shrugged.
“It’s... complicated, if I had to put it into words.”
Lincia Airen.
The protagonist of Raising the Empress — and the ill-fated Empress who dies more than a hundred times.
I must have been incredibly attached to this character.
Otherwise, why would I have spent over 500 hours playing a janky fifteen-dollar indie game?
All because of Lincia’s story — I had fallen for it completely.
Despite losing everything, despite facing overwhelming adversity, she never gave up.
She endured and fought her way forward, eventually ushering in a new era of peace for the Empire—a true Empress of the Dawn.
Maybe it was her dignified, commanding presence that had drawn me to her.
And so, once I found myself inside this world, I had only one goal:
To lead Lincia to her perfect happy ending.
Of course, securing my own safety was also part of the reason.
“Well, let’s just say... there are a lot of reasons.”
In the end, I could only leave it vague like that.
But judging from Rowan’s face, he seemed to get the general idea.
He gazed off into the distance and said quietly:
“There will be many dangers ahead. Sir Freud will surely face harm... perhaps even threats to your life. Are you still willing to go through with this?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
If the Empress died, this world was doomed anyway.
I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if I abandoned Lincia just to save my own skin.
Surely, this wouldn’t turn into some ‘Game Over—return to checkpoint’ situation… right?
“…Hmph.”
Rowan stayed silent for a moment, then muttered softly:
“Truly, Sir Freud... you’re impossible to understand.”
Honestly?
I agreed with him.
****
That afternoon was completely free.
Since the meeting had ended before noon, the whole rest of the day was left open.
I was idly staring out the window when Lincia suddenly tugged at my arm.
“The weather’s so nice! Want to go for a walk to clear your head?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“You’ll protect me, won’t you, Freud?”
There was a playful glint in her voice.
And realistically speaking, after finding the Spellstones and dodging a major dead-end event, today was relatively safe.
Even if something did happen, I didn’t doubt I could protect her.
Of course, it was always better to be cautious… but with her insisting like that—
“Come on! Let’s go already!”
There was no refusing her once she got stubborn like this.
Reluctantly, I followed her outside.
“Wow! It’s my first time seeing this place during the day. They maintain it so well! What do you think, Freud? Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s nice.”
We strolled through the gardens together.
Last time I had been here, it was night, so I hadn’t realized how beautiful it truly was.
Under the bright daylight, the blooming flowers and endless blue sky made it feel like a slice of paradise.
Lincia, clearly savoring her newfound freedom, hummed a cheerful tune as she walked across the grass.
I trailed behind her by a few steps, watching as she happily bounded ahead.
“So—”
All of a sudden, Lincia spun around to face me.
“What’s bothering you? I’ll listen.”
“You mean me?”
“Who else is here besides you and me?”
Lincia stepped closer and looked up at me.
The height difference was significant—she had to tilt her head way back just to meet my gaze.
“Tell me. Just like you helped me, I have a duty to help with your troubles too.”
“Is that why you dragged me out here?”
“Of course! I wouldn’t have come all the way here for no reason.”
Lincia beamed brightly.
“So? What’s bothering you?”
“Well…”
I opened my mouth to answer—but found myself stuck.
How was I supposed to say it?
“I’m supposed to kill you,” was definitely not an option.
Yeah... that would be bad.
“There’s something... I cannot disobey. And yet, I want to defy it.”
In the end, that’s how I chose to put it.
Lincia tilted her head, clearly puzzled by my words.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure myself.”
“What kind of answer is that? That’s so weird.”
“I agree.”
“Are you teasing me right now?”
“Not at all.”
Lincia puffed out her cheeks in a tiny sulk.
With her face flushed from the sunlight and her cheeks adorably puffed out like that, she looked even more vibrant.
Seeing her like this, I felt the tension in my heart melt away.
Lincia had that kind of mysterious power—one that could soften even the hardest resolve.
I let out a long, slow breath and relaxed my expression.
“…Hm?”
And then—I saw it.
Something glinting sharply in the corner of my eye.
More precisely, something shooting up from beyond the council building.
At first glance, it almost looked like a bird.
But it was too thin, too sharp.
“Ah.”
The object reached its peak—and then began to fall, headfirst, like a viper poised to strike.
Hanging in midair for a brief second, it slowly turned its head toward us.
Only then did I realize.
It wasn’t a bird.
It was a blade.
“Get down!”
In the blink of an eye, I grabbed Lincia’s shoulder.
But the blade came hurtling toward her with terrifying speed.
There wasn’t enough time to shield her completely.
“Tch—!”
I didn’t hesitate.
Without thinking, I threw my arm around Lincia to shield her.
A sharp, slicing sound tore through the air—
Slaaash!
The sickening sound of steel sinking into flesh.
And then—a searing, burning pain exploded through my arm.
Blood bloomed across the grass like crimson flowers.
“Haa… Haaah…”
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to breathe through the pain.
The blade had pierced straight through my hand.
The only silver lining?
The attack hadn’t been powerful enough to punch through the thick gauntlet entirely.
The blade had stabbed through the back of my hand, but hadn’t reached Lincia.
Blood trickled down between my fingers.
“Freud!”
A moment of stunned silence—and then Lincia screamed.
Her voice sent the council into chaos.
Guards on patrol immediately rushed toward us.
Clutching my bleeding hand, I glared up at the rooftop from where the attack had come.
Thanks to Freud’s enhanced eyesight, I could make out a figure peering down at us.
A hooded figure.
Half their body was hidden, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
The backlight obscured their face.
But one thing was clear:
They were grinning at me.
No way that was Edwin.
That guy would never attempt such a blatant ambush.
And just as proof, no system notification appeared saying I had dodged a Dead Ending.
In fact, in the original game, there had never been an event like this.
There was no scenario where a sudden rooftop assassination attempt happened.
This was a new twist—a ripple effect caused by my existence.
“The Cult…”
I muttered under my breath.
This had the Cult’s fingerprints all over it.
The woman from last night had warned me—
If I refused to act, they would step in themselves.
“Still... starting this soon? Seriously?”
Not even a full day had passed.
What the hell did they expect me to do?
---The End Of The Chapter---
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