Within Terrina Lionhowl’s cold eyes lingered a tangle of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) emotions.
‘Ludger Cherish.’
He was a man of considerable skill, a professor of Seorn Academy.
No—calling his skill merely “considerable” would be an insult to his true ability.
Terrina knew this well, for she had once fought beside him in the underground capital of the Empire.
Because of that, she also knew how reliable he was—how much she had trusted him as a comrade.
That was precisely why Terrina found this situation so unpleasant.
Outwardly she maintained an expression of cold impartiality, but somewhere deep inside, she could not help hoping things would not come to this.
“Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
The fact that Terrina—who normally would have arrested Ludger without hesitation—added that second sentence was proof enough of her inner conflict.
Lloyd and Enya Joinas, who both knew Terrina well, stared at her in disbelief.
The Terrina they knew would never speak in such a way.
That alone revealed how highly she regarded Ludger.
But Ludger only extended his hand without a word.
Terrina’s brow twitched at the sight.
“You...”
“Arrest me. That is your duty.”
“......”
Terrina glared silently at him for a long moment, then retrieved from her belt a mana-suppression artifact and locked it around his wrist.
Clack.
“Take him away.”
With that cold command, Terrina turned and left the staff room as though she could not bear to see him any longer.
Sedina, who had been anxiously watching from outside, opened her mouth to protest—but Ludger spoke first.
“Let’s go.”
For someone under arrest, his tone was audaciously calm. Yet that composure fit him so naturally that the Nightcrawler Knights, without question, led him out just as he wished.
Sedina could do nothing but watch his back as he was taken away, unable to say even a single word to him.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
“The Nightcrawler Knights? Who are they taking?”
The sudden arrival of the Nightcrawler Knights drew attention from students, servants, and several teachers.
They murmured in confusion, wondering who could possibly be under arrest at such a time—until they saw Ludger’s face.
“M–Mr. Ludger? You came back?”
“No, wait—why are they taking him? What happened?”
Just then, Rine, who had heard that Ludger had returned, arrived out of breath—only to freeze amid the crowd.
Through the shoulders of the onlookers, she glimpsed Ludger being led away by knights in black uniforms.
“Professor!”
At her shout, Ludger’s steps faltered for a brief moment.
But then, as if nothing had happened, he began walking again.
“What is the meaning of this commotion?”
The same question came from none other than Headmaster Elisa Willow.
At her appearance, the crowd instinctively parted to make way.
Elisa advanced to the front and stopped opposite Terrina.
“Terrina.”
“Elisa.”
“...You owe me an explanation.”
“Did you know?”
“...Know what, exactly?”
Terrina caught the faint hesitation in Elisa’s tone with a master’s intuition, but she feigned ignorance and explained.
“This man is not Ludger Cherish. He is an imposter who infiltrated Seorn under a false identity. Furthermore, he stands accused of murdering Cardinal Patricio Romelo.”
“What...?”
Elisa had known from the start that Ludger’s identity was not genuine.
But murder? Of Cardinal Patricio Romelo, who had vanished recently from Rederbelk?
A cardinal whose pure divine power rivaled even a 6th-Circle mage?
And Ludger had killed him?
“That’s not all. He is also accused of murdering several archbishops and massacring priests and paladins of the Theocracy of Bretus.”
“Don’t you think that’s going too far?”
At the word massacre, Elisa’s expression stiffened. Even for a false accusation, that sounded too extreme.
“You’ll see the truth when the reports arrive. What matters is that he did not deny the charges.”
“...Is that true, Professor Ludger?”
“You still call me Ludger?”
Ludger turned toward her—no, toward everyone—and spoke clearly.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself.”
The students gasped in confusion.
Rine stared at him with trembling eyes.
No... Brother, don’t do this.
At the same moment, Freuden Ulburk arrived, having rushed to the scene, and looked at Ludger’s restrained figure in disbelief.
“My name is Heathcliff.”
The murmuring crowd fell silent. Ludger’s calm voice rang through the air.
“Heathcliff von Bretus.”
“...Bretus?”
“Wait—did he say Bretus? That name can only be used by...”
“...Then that means...?”
No—it couldn’t be true. It had to be a lie, some misunderstanding.
The truth was too absurd, too overwhelming for anyone to accept.
And yet, instinctively, everyone held their breath, waiting for his next words.
“I am the illegitimate son of the late Holy Sovereign Benedict von Bretus—the bastard child who murdered the cardinals and archbishops of the Holy Nation.”
His words shattered all denial, detonating through the hall like a bomb.
* * *
Clank.
Ludger sat within an iron cell.
Mana-suppressing shackles bound his wrists, restraints held his ankles, and even his eyes were covered with a special blindfold.
Around the cell, guards maintained unbroken surveillance, changing shifts so that not even a single minute passed unwatched. If Ludger so much as twitched suspiciously, the entire prison would explode.
Such treatment was reserved only for criminals capable of toppling nations.
Yet Ludger accepted it quietly, without complaint, as though it were the natural order of things.
After some time, he sensed someone approaching.
“Stand back.”
At the voice of command, the knights obeyed immediately, retreating without protest.
Only Ludger and the new visitor remained.
“You moved faster than I expected.”
Without needing to look, Ludger knew who it was. The voice alone was unmistakable.
Across the bars, Princess Aileen von Exilion regarded him with a troubled gaze.
“...I was honestly shocked. When you told me your true identity, I almost wished it were a lie.”
“Unfortunately, I only speak the truth.”
“I know. That’s why I trusted you—and sent Terrina.”
Ludger’s arrest had been simple.
He himself had confessed everything to Aileen, instructing her to capture him.
“Revealing your identity means you’re putting your long-prepared plan into motion, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You really are heartless. To sever every bond you’ve formed as a teacher in this way.”
“They were unnecessary bonds to me.”
And what about me?
Aileen bit back the question with desperate restraint. Now was not the time for emotion.
“To think you’d even use the next Empress like this... The worst part is that the Theocracy already knows. You realize that, don’t you?”
She shook her head with a bitter smile.
“No—of course you do. You wanted them to know.”
Aileen understood him perfectly.
If she had been in his position, she would have done the same.
“Thanks to you, the Empire regained its crumbling dignity—if only for a moment. By exposing the man who slaughtered Bretus’s elite as Heathcliff and capturing him, we’ve forced the Holy Nation to bow and request extradition. They’ll have no choice.”
“Yes. But even the Empire won’t hold for long. There’s still the Second Prince.”
“...So you know about him too. Yes. My foolish brother has already acted on his own—he’s told the Holy Nation everything.”
Oddly enough, that worked in Aileen’s favor.
Until now, the Second Prince’s betrayal had been only a suspicion, without proof. Now, thanks to Ludger, he had exposed his fangs openly.
If Ludger hadn’t forced the issue, that hidden dagger might one day have been turned against her.
“Be wary of him. His ties with Bretus go far deeper than mere alliance. He’s hiding something else.”
“...I know. Dealing with that will be my next task.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Aileen bit her lip.
He could have chosen a peaceful life—he could have lived as Ludger Cherish, not Heathcliff.
Instead, he had cast himself into the mud, enlarging the chaos and sacrificing himself.
“...You really are infuriating.”
She had once thought herself his equal.
When she tracked down his traces and unmasked his identity, she’d felt triumphant—like she had finally caught up to him.
But now—now he had outplayed her completely.
“This is the worst. You lay a debt on me like this, and you don’t even give me a chance to repay it. I can’t remember ever feeling this humiliated in my life.”
“You’ll do well. You’ll become a fine Empress.”
Aileen exhaled a long sigh.
There was no point in anger; she understood that. Something else mattered more.
“...The Theocracy sent someone for you. Their movements were so fast it was as if they already knew this would happen. If I’d delayed your arrest by even half a day, we would’ve been too late.”
“I see.”
“The situation looks hopeless, but somehow I doubt you’ll give up so easily.”
“......”
Ludger gave no reply—but neither did he deny it.
That small silence brought a faint light to Aileen’s expression.
“Then do your best. I’ll do mine.”
No bars or shackles could sever the bond between them.
Just as Ludger had said only what he wished to say, Aileen did the same.
And because they trusted each other completely, neither of them argued.
Then, I’ll go.
Aileen left the cell.
And almost immediately, another visitor stepped forward to take her place.
“Even blindfolded, I can feel how unpleasant your presence is.”
“How cruel. I came because I was worried about you.”
The voice, bright and sweet as ever, belonged to Priestess Remria.
“Thanks to you, we were able to get rid of Cardinal Patricio too, weren’t we?”
“It was the outcome you desired.”
“How could you say that? I would never allow harm to a faithful cardinal of our Church.”
“Enough meaningless talk. Why are you here? To mock me for being imprisoned?”
“You know me better than that. You are of the Holy Sovereign’s blood. As a priestess, I cannot defy you.”
“Indeed.”
Ludger’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
“You cannot defy me—but what if there were someone with greater authority than mine?”
“......”
Though his eyes were still covered, Ludger’s gaze fixed squarely upon her.
Remria’s eyes were hidden by her white tiara, yet her face had lost its usual serene smile.
“...My role ends here,” she murmured, bowing her head—not to Ludger, but to someone else behind her.
“Well, well.”
A third voice echoed—a gentle, gracious voice eerily similar to Ludger’s own.
“I never thought we’d meet again under such circumstances.”
Without a sound of footsteps, a man approached the bars.
“Though your blood may be tainted, half of it still comes from our father, my dear brother.”
“......”
“Hmm. You can’t see me with that blindfold on, can you? Then let’s fix that.”
With a casual flick of his fingers, the man gestured toward Ludger.
The special artifact blindfold sliced cleanly in half and slipped down, yet the alarm wards never sounded.
That alone proved how extraordinary the man’s power was.
Light returned to Ludger’s eyes, and through the bars he saw the visitor clearly.
A young man with features much like his own—but gentler, softer. Long white hair, crimson eyes, and a smile warm enough to seem kind.
“Salesin von Bretus.”
“You should call me ‘Elder Brother.’”
The eldest son of the late Holy Sovereign Benedict—and the current Holy Sovereign himself—had come to meet him in person.