A Momentary Farewell
Time flew by, and another month passed in the blink of an eye.
And finally, the seemingly endless winter in the Dukedom came to an end.
"Thank you for everything, Viscount Weinstein."
On a bright afternoon with a warm breeze, Leje bowed her head to Carlos in front of a carriage bearing the Dukedom's insignia.
"Don't mention it. It was lively thanks to you."
"You're always welcome, Princess."
Carlos and Maria said with a faint smile as they looked at her.
All things must come to an end.
It had been three months since Leje stayed at the Viscounty.
Now it was time for her to return to the Dukedom.
"My lady, this way..."
"Yes."
Alma, who had gotten off the carriage, received Leje's bag and loaded it onto the carriage. Leje carefully stepped onto the carriage.
And then...
"Hey. Don't you have anything to say to me since I'm leaving?"
"Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
Leje, who was about to get on the carriage, turned her head, saying so abruptly.
And Rudell, who was suddenly targeted, had a puzzled expression on his face.
"What's the big deal... And we'll see each other again in a month anyway."
"You're always like this...!!"
'Hold on. Hold on.'
You know very well that he's always like this, Leje.
You know very well that he has a natural talent for getting under people's skin.
Leje tried to calm her anger, which was starting to boil for some reason.
And then.
"Still... It'll be quiet in the Viscounty without you."
"..."
Rudell said in a voice filled with regret.
At the same time, Leje's eyes widened as she looked at Rudell.
"Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Rudell asked in a puzzled voice at her actions.
And...
"Rudell. You're quite something, aren't you?"
"F-father!?"
"Rudell is fifteen now, after all."
"Mother!?"
"You've grown a lot, Young Master Weinstein."
"Even Alma!?"
Carlos and Maria, who were watching the scene from the side, put their hands on Rudell's shoulders.
Rudell looked flustered as even Alma chimed in.
What was so wrong with what he just said that they were reacting like this?
"Hey! You say something to-!!"
In a strange atmosphere that was hard to describe, Rudell shouted at Leje.
But.
"..."
"Leje...?"
Rudell opened his mouth as he saw Leje looking down, fiddling with her index fingers.
She's getting this flustered just from those words?
That Leje?
In a situation he couldn't understand, Rudell desperately racked his brain to try to make sense of it.
Naturally, even if he did, he couldn't understand the situation.
At that moment.
"You... You'll come to my birthday, right?"
"Huh? Uh... Yeah, okay."
Rudell nodded with a flustered face as he looked at Leje, who muttered in a small voice.
At the same time, a giggle escaped Leje's lips, and she got on the carriage with Alma, looking much happier.
"You have to! You have to come!!"
As her shout faded away, the carriage began to move further and further away until it completely disappeared from Rudell's sight.
"Now, let's go inside."
"It'll be quiet in the mansion again for a while."
Carlos and Maria turned towards the mansion.
The maids of the mansion followed them, and silence fell over the surroundings as if the commotion from a moment ago had never happened.
"..."
But Rudell was still standing there, looking in the direction where the carriage had disappeared.
To be honest, it was a refreshing feeling.
Now there was no one to nag him even if he read his favorite books all day long.
No one would say anything even if he stayed up late at night.
He didn't have to worry about his favorite snacks being stolen.
But why did he feel a sense of loss?
He asked himself, but naturally, there was no answer.
"Sigh..."
An inexplicable feeling of frustration.
Rudell shook his head with a short sigh and turned towards the mansion.
"Well, I have to work now. Work."
Muttering to himself, he headed towards the mansion.
* * *
Somewhere on the continent.
There was nothing but snow and ice, and rocks carved like thorns, their origin unknown.
-Woooooooooooo!!
The sound of the strong wind sounded like the mournful groans of countless people.
Beasts covered in thick fur roamed the plains in search of prey, and the cries of the hunted prey...
The roars of the hunters mixed with the sound of the wind, creating a chilling sound.
And in the middle of the barren snowy field stood a giant tower.
A tower that seemed to pierce the sky.
Despite its enormous height, the tower stood its ground, seemingly unaffected by the harsh wind.
At the foot of the tower.
Countless people gathered in front of an altar, bowing their heads, as torches brightly illuminated the surroundings.
A group of people clad in black hoods.
They all held rosaries in their hands.
A symbol based on the cross, with a red eye carved in the center.
"It won't be long now, brothers and sisters."
The voice of the man on the altar echoed through the fierce wind.
Despite being a low-pitched voice, it clearly reached everyone present, piercing through the raging wind.
"He will return soon. And He will lead us all to paradise."
[Oooooh-!!]
[He!! He is returning!!]
[Paradise!! We will all go to paradise!!]
Frenzied voices erupted from the crowd, and the excitement soon turned into madness, sweeping through them.
As if in response, the wind around them grew stronger, spreading an ominous sound.
"Now... Now it won't be long."
Hidden in the shadows of history, causing countless deaths for hundreds of years.
Kingdoms rose, empires rose, and they burned down again dozens of times.
In the distant past, the long-cherished wish that began with the first Cult leader was finally about to bear fruit.
"..."
His heart swelled with the thought, but he could never reveal it to others.
Because he had a mission to lead the lost lambs.
"Cult leader."
At that moment.
A man approached him from below the altar and bowed his head respectfully.
"What is it?"
"Well..."
At the Cult leader's words, the approaching man whispered in his ear, and the Cult leader's eyelids twitched as he listened.
"You're saying that all the assassins who targeted Princess Lagrind were defeated?"
"Yes."
"..."
He almost frowned for a moment, but he suppressed it with superhuman patience and spoke to the man.
"It doesn't matter. It was just a task to remove uncertain risk factors. It wasn't absolutely necessary."
Not everything goes 100% perfectly.
There were those who failed their missions, but there were also many who succeeded.
His plan to spread chaos across the continent was nearing its final stage, thanks to the efforts so far.
The probability of his plan failing just because a few nobles survived was infinitely close to zero.
"Still, we should be prepared just in case. Send more assassins."
"Understood."
The man nodded at the Cult leader's words and slowly descended from the altar. Watching him, the Cult leader let out a short sigh.
It was a plan that spanned hundreds of years.
A plan that had taken so much time could not be shaken by such trivial matters.
"..."
Leaving behind the frenzied followers, the Cult leader descended from the altar and headed towards the entrance of the tower, guarded by knights in black armor.
The black steel door opened with a heavy thud, and the Cult leader stepped into the tower, escorted by the knights.
"Now... It truly won't be long now."
In the center of the tower.
There was a deep, dark cavity that seemed to have no end.
What was inside was a giant statue.
The overall angular shape was reminiscent of a giant golem, but the pressure emanating from the statue was overwhelming enough to make a golem seem insignificant.
Black light flowed like a stream along the engravings on the surface of the statue, made of a metal whose nature was impossible to guess.
Standing in front of the statue, which seemed both sacrilegious and sacred, the man raised his arms in ecstasy.
"Soon... He will descend."
Then this world would be cleansed.
Lies, truth, sorrow, joy, light, darkness.
Everything would disappear, but it didn't matter.
Destruction was necessary for creation.
Paradise would be built upon a world where everything had vanished.
"And He will lead us all to paradise."
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