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Chapter 9
Chapter 9 Not Asking the Future
The day time flowed backward was, to Maria, a day no less terrible than an apocalypse.
If the moment of time reversal were frozen, and one looked down upon that vast battlefield from above the earth, one would discover that everyone on that day was very busy...
First was the Hero, Thorne, surrounded layer upon layer by enemies, covered in wounds, and still fighting like a cornered beast. In front of him was the demon army’s trump-card force, the Armored Butchers, a terrifying infantry unit formed from towering ogres clad in armor weighing more than fifty kilograms.
Behind him were the last lance cavalrymen of the Northern Territory. Every one of them was an elite trained over many years, and they were also the battle-hardened vanguard in Oswald’s hands. They had once achieved the glorious military feat of eight hundred men trampling through a demon battle formation of thirty thousand.
Е n̆ ů m̆ ӑ
And yet, at that moment, neither side paid any attention to the sworn enemy opposite them. Instead, as if fighting over who would claim his head, they swarmed toward Thorne.
Next was the other side of the battlefield, where Princess Diana, supported by the Royal Knights, held a staff in her hand while her face was deathly pale. Under the pincer attack of the Northern Territory’s army and the demon army, their battle line had long since collapsed, and at that moment, they were fleeing in panic.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Blocking the front for the princess was naturally Royal Knight Commander Lilith. Her iconic great shield had already shattered, and she was covered in blood from head to toe, looking especially battered.
At the center of the battlefield was Annie, leading the Hero’s army as it tangled with the Northern Rebel Army. The fighting there was the bloodiest and most tragic.
The soldiers on both sides braved dense arrow rain and clashed at close quarters like two starving wolves, tearing savagely into one another, determined not to stop until one side had bled completely dry.
Finally, there was Maria’s side. Eileen, leading three thousand assault vanguard troops, had pierced through the battle formation and fought all the way to her. In order to protect Maria, Nicole had both hands severed by Eileen, and the spear she had always been so proud of had fallen to the ground.
Е n u m̊ ā. id̆.
To treat Nicole, Maria knelt on the blood-soaked mud and cast Holy Healing on her. Meanwhile, Eileen stood before them, holding Nicole’s Wishing Star high in her hand, her eyes crimson yet silent.
If that scene were frozen in place, it might have become the strangest painting in the entire world...
But everything, all of it, ended in that one second.
That brutal war ended in a way no one had expected.
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“There is no need for you to lie to me, Miss Eileen. At that time, only the three of us were present. If Nicole has no memories, then the person who retained those memories must be you.”
Eileen tilted her head. She did not even blink as she asked in confusion, “Commander? Memories? I do not understand what you are talking about, Miss Maria. Please forgive my rudeness, but if you intend to use some divine oracle to push forward the prayer event, it may very well trigger unrest.”
Е̃ ň ü m̂ӓ. і̀ d̃
“After all, the last person who did that has already had her head cut off, has she not?”
Eileen calmly stood up, smiled faintly, and continued, “I have said before that I am merely the secretary assisting the duke with government affairs. If you truly wish to make this happen, why not have me write a letter so that you can go to Broad Valley City and meet the duke in person?”
Maria walked out of the Ducal Estate with a heavy heart. As the Saintess, she believed she had seen countless people and witnessed every manner of human life.
Yet she still could not see through Eileen... That woman rarely showed emotional fluctuations. Her eyes were calm as water, making it impossible to judge whether her words were true or false.
Besides, in the end, the number of times the two had met could be counted on one hand, and most of them had been in the previous life.
The first time was when she had come to the Northern Territory with the Hero’s party, and Oswald had brought Eileen, dressed in a maid outfit, to receive them.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
At the time, everyone had thought Eileen was merely a personal maid. Aside from being surprised by her beauty, they had not paid much attention to her. After all, the Hero encountering beautiful women wherever he went had already become an unspoken common sense within the party.
The second time was an accidental encounter. It was an autumn day, and Maria, who had gone out alone to clear her mind, happened to encounter Oswald admiring the scenery on the city wall with his subordinates.
Beneath the distant snow mountains, the setting sun was as red as blood. Ten thousand mountains were crimson, and layer upon layer of forest was dyed in color.
Oswald was displeased with the entire Hero’s party, yet he alone showed Maria a measure of respect. He jokingly drew her into conversation and said, “Does the Saintess know that my Northern Territory has four treasures?”
He pointed at the cavalry patrolling outside the city wall and said proudly, “The first is our lance cavalry. Heavy armor, great horses, peerless courage. Wherever they attack, they win; wherever they fight, they conquer.”
Then he turned and pointed at the people in the city, continuing with a smile, “The second is the people of my North. Steady and resilient, their temper fierce as fire. When summoned, they come. When recruited, they can fight.”
Е n̆ um̆_а
“The third is the generals in my army.” He slapped Federico on the shoulder and lifted his head proudly. “Foremost in a hundred battles, possessing both wisdom and courage, shaking the world with their might.”
“As for the fourth...” This time, he did not point with his hand. Instead, he shifted his gaze. Whether he was looking at the red-haired Eileen or the forest in the distance was unclear as he murmured, “It is the red frost of this snowfield.”
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At that time, Maria had felt a powerful premonition in her heart. The Hero’s party’s intelligence was incomplete. They must have overlooked something.
Then she heard Oswald sigh with emotion and say, “The eagle strikes the vast sky; the fish glides through the shallow depths. Under frosty heavens, ten thousand creatures vie for freedom. In this boundless expanse, I ask the vast earth: who rules over rise and fall?”
As he recited those lines, the scene shifted. When Maria saw Eileen again, she was already dressed in military attire, holding cold-iron twin blades in her hands. Behind her stood an army of more than one hundred thousand. With a single order, heaven and earth collapsed, and she violently overturned the chessboard of the Northern Territory, and even the entire kingdom.
Why had they failed?
Ë n̊ um_а̇. і̀ḋ
Walking along the streets of Ice City, Maria could not find an answer. Although Ice City’s atmosphere was livelier than that of the Royal Capital, its residents were still just as ignorant and reckless.
A group of loud and careless workers had gathered together merely to try the unlicensed wine they had brewed themselves. In the end, after half a cup went down, several of them collapsed one after another.
To be honest, even now, Maria still could not believe that it was precisely such a group of people who had preferred death over allowing the Hero’s rule in the Northern Territory to continue.
She sighed and walked toward the city gates.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Not long after she left, Eileen arrived at the scene with a gloomy expression. Following the method taught by the duke, she arranged for soldiers to force the workers to vomit harshly.
After presenting her token and walking out of the city gates, Maria found that the Church’s convoy had already been waiting for her for some time. Clearly, none of the Church personnel held any confidence in the Northern Territory.
Е̃nù m̃ а
Maria slowly shook her head, confirming the guess in their hearts.
She boarded the carriage, and the whip cracked as they returned to the Royal Capital.
The spring day was beautiful, and the scenery outside was lovely. Maria propped up her head and looked out the window at the wildflowers blooming across the grassland, slightly lost in thought.
But very soon, she saw a familiar figure.
Pale-blue long hair fluttered in the wind. In the girl’s arms, she seemed to be holding a dangerous creature.
“Stop.”
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Maria called the carriage to a halt and got out alone, crossing the grass. Before she could draw close, squads of cavalry came galloping over and hurriedly blocked her path.
These soldiers seemed to have just experienced some kind of battle, and every one of them was sweating. However, after seeing the Saintess’ distinctive attire, they still checked whether she was carrying any weapons before politely allowing her through.
Luna sat on a blanket. When she saw who had come, she said excitedly, “Saintess, look! I picked up a little black dog.”
“That is a bear cub, Miss Luna. Please be careful not to get scratched.”
Maria slowly stepped forward and reminded her with a mixture of speechlessness and warning, “Also, if the cub is here, then the mother bear must be nearby.”
The female soldier glanced at the bear cub and explained, “The mother bear is already dead. She was killed by a very large male bear. We only just drove the male bear away.”
Ẃе b n̆ o v̊е l̇ Е̊n u̇ m̌а
“Bears must eat a lot of food, right?” Luna picked up the trembling bear cub and said with difficulty, “It seems I cannot afford to raise it. Oh, right, Saintess, can bear meat be eaten?”
“Cough, cough.”
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Maria was left speechless. Should she say this was only to be expected of someone from the Charles family? They were born knowing how to weigh benefits and losses.
However, when facing a young girl, she always maintained great patience.
“I believe that with the Ducal Estate’s financial strength, raising one bear would not be a problem. Look, the nobles in the Royal Capital also keep tigers and pythons. Even if their wealth were added together, it would still not reach half of your family’s.”
Luna was somewhat tempted, but very soon, she set the bear cub down and handed it to Maria with a trace of easygoing openness.
W̌.е̃bñ о v̊ еl̀ Е nŭm̃а
“Then please take it to the Royal Capital, Saintess, and find a family willing to raise it.”
“Why?” Maria accepted the bear cub, but she was still puzzled.
She had heard that Oswald doted on his younger sister to the utmost. Even something like surrounding the Ducal Estate could be brushed over in a single stroke. Afterward, he had even specially given her an exclusive cavalry unit.
She was only sixteen years old. What military noble family would arrange three hundred elite cavalrymen for their sixteen-year-old young lady? Even the princess had only fifty-some guards at that age.
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Logically speaking, as long as Luna’s request was not too excessive, Oswald would agree. Besides, the Ducal Estate had vast family wealth and property. Could they really not afford to raise one bear?
“Because my elder brother taught me that one may be freely generous when spending the nobles’ money, but when spending one’s own money and the commoners’ money, one must be extremely stingy.”
Е́ṅ üm а̂..і́_d̂
Luna puffed out her chest as if she had learned some extraordinary piece of knowledge.
“Wait, wait. Did you truly learn that sentence from the duke?” Maria hurriedly steadied herself. She thought that perhaps it was merely a careless joke. For the kingdom, after all, the nobility was the foundation of rule.
“Yes. My elder brother even specially wrote a book for me. He told me to read more, observe more, and understand more.”
Luna smugly took out the book and handed it to Maria. In truth, she had been reading it the whole time just now, only to be distracted by the bear cub’s sudden intrusion.
Books written by others: Hmph, what sour, pretentious words. This is considered a masterpiece?
A book written by her elder brother: Damn, amazing. So cultured. As expected, when others say we Charles only know how to ride horses and wage war, it is out of jealousy. My elder brother is the true literary giant of this age. The Charles family is both cultured and martial. Invincible.
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Maria smiled politely. Oswald, a privileged noble who had not even passed the Central Academy’s entrance exam—what could he possibly write?
She took it and looked at the cover.
《The Prince》
Maria’s brows jumped. Could it be filled with Oswald’s arrogant and rebellious words attacking other nobles and the royal family?
But after casually flipping open to one page, Maria froze. Oswald’s neat handwriting entered her eyes line by line.
[Those who obtain the right to rule a state all rely either on the people or on the powerful. Therefore, in every state, there naturally exist two mutually opposed factions. This is born from the people’s unwillingness to be oppressed and ruled by the nobility, while the nobility demands to oppress and rule the people.]
Ёn̄ ů m̀á . íď
...
[Those who rely on the powerful to become monarchs will discover that many nobles take it for granted that they are equal to the monarch. Therefore, the monarch cannot command and manage the nobles according to his own will. Conversely, a person who obtains sovereign power through the help of the people will discover that he stands above others. So long as he treats the people justly and fairly, the entire state will obey his commands from the bottom up.]
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...
[The monarch’s fairness should naturally lean more toward the common people, because the will of the people is more honorable and aboveboard than that of the nobility, while the desires of the nobility are difficult to satisfy. The people hope not to be oppressed, while the nobility expects greater exploitation. If the people harbor dissatisfaction, the monarch will have no sense of safety, because the people always occupy the majority, and they possess more strength than weak nobles.]
Maria snapped the book shut with a bang. A storm raged in her heart, and she no longer dared to read further.
What exactly did Oswald want to do?! What exactly was he trying to do? Did he not know that he himself was also a noble? Also, when had he become so cultured...
Еn ů m а. і̃ d
Maria felt as if she had lifted one corner of the veil, and behind that veil was the truth of why the entire Northern Territory’s people had resisted the Hero.
Look at the people around the Hero: the kingdom’s princess, the Knight Commander, the northern marquis, the merchant council heiress, and Maria herself, the Church’s Saintess...
Among these people, which one was not high above others? Which one had not grown up in luxury and privilege?
When they helped Annie seize control of the Northern Territory, they had never once thought about how those farmers, who had received the marquis’ land from Oswald’s hands, would view them.
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The savior chosen by the goddess? The Hero destined to defeat the Demon King? No. In the eyes of those farmers, they were nothing but a group of thieves. A group of thieves who had been driven away by the duke, only to return after his death and continue enslaving and oppressing the farmers!
Maria no longer dared to read further, nor did she want to know any more of the truth. She suddenly understood the princess, who had hidden in her room and still did not dare go out. Needless to say, Diana must still retain the memories of the previous life.
Е̂n ŭṁ а
As a princess, wherever she went, was she not welcomed wholeheartedly by the people, occupying every advantage of time, place, and support? That realm of all things bursting with vigorous life still seemed to stand before her eyes.
But in the Northern Territory, Princess Diana had seen only pairs of eyes filled with fury.
That anger was so vivid and intense. The princess’ noble status was nothing more than oil poured onto the flames. What it ignited was only endless hatred.
Maria hurriedly threw the book back to the bewildered Luna, picked up the bear cub, and ran toward the carriage without looking back.
She thought that she would never come to the Northern Territory again.
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