I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 763 - Side Story 36: Torch of the Frozen Land (2)

Rudger and Yekaterina walked along the forest path.

When had they last walked quietly together like this?

He recalled that there hadn't been such an opportunity even during the civil war because her faction's people had kept their eyes peeled to protect Yekaterina.

At that time, spies from the prince's faction had infiltrated internally, making the atmosphere unsettled.

Not knowing when or where the enemy might come, people always stuck close to protect Yekaterina.

Especially the Vatali and Varenchina siblings, who were her adjutants and outstanding knights.

So walking on a forest path in such a quiet environment, where no one's gaze could reach them, could be said to be a first.

Yekaterina seemed to have similar thoughts.

"Being alone together like this is almost a first, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Before, the circumstances were what they were, so it was hard to even make the opportunity."

"Actually, I prefer having conversations one-on-one like this. I think that to know someone in more detail, you shouldn't need to be conscious of others' gazes."

"You're someone who needs to be a bit conscious though."

It was his own sarcasm about her coming alone to such a place after becoming queen, but Yekaterina seemed to take it as a joke.

"Ohohoho! Your jokes have improved since we last met!"

"It's not a joke. And when are you going to fix that laugh?"

"What's wrong with this? Isn't it the hearty laugh representing a noble royal?"

"No, it's not noble at all."

If anything, it was like the laugh of a foolish young lady from a good family with nothing in her head.

Well, to put it a bit more harshly, it was like a villainess young lady's laugh, but since Yekaterina was so far from being a villain anyway, it didn't seem necessary to go that far.

"Even if you say that, this is my nature. And young ladies have their own world!"

"A world I have absolutely no interest in knowing about."

"More importantly, what on earth happened to you?"

Yekaterina asked, brushing off the snow that had gently settled on her shoulder with her hand.

"Didn't you hear?"

"I did hear later about what happened at the holy war. But even so, I don't know the detailed circumstances."

Even though she's a queen of an entire kingdom!

Yekaterina seemed quite dissatisfied about that.

"Well, it wasn't a particularly good story to have spread around."

"You're talking about your origins, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Though I've severed everything now, they were things that were nothing but curses to me."

The bloodline of Holy Emperor Bretus still flowed in Rudger's body.

If he had his way, he would have wanted to wipe out every seed of the Holy Emperor's family, but he couldn't very well commit suicide.

Besides, Rudger wasn't the one who ended the Holy Emperor's family in the first place.

The moment Salesin modified his siblings at will, doom was already foretold.

'Well, I did end everything by defeating Salesin in the end though.'

While Rudger was having such comfortable thoughts, Yekaterina showed a guilty expression as if she had asked something unnecessary.

"I'm sorry. I asked about painful memories."

"It's all in the past. Anyway, the holy war at that time was indeed an important battle with the fate of this world at stake."

Lumensis created a cage to suppress humanity's progress.

Not satisfied with that, he made followers to continue the oppression even within the cage.

Distorting memories, erasing recollections, and even hiding the truth.

Such acts were done for a long time, very long time.

"So, you fought against it. To resist the world's suppression."

"I simply pursued freedom while holding onto dreams."

"That was the same for me too."

At first, there would have been no civil war in the Kingdom of Yuta because Yekaterina had planned to disappear while being remembered by the people as an evil princess.

"Even when father passed away and my brother framed me as a woman of luxury and pleasure, I thought that was okay. If that could unite the people, if the kingdom could move forward, I was willing to climb onto the guillotine."

Yes. This was Yekaterina's personality.

She seemed light but was heavy, seemed oblivious but was thoughtful.

"But what my brother wanted wasn't something like the kingdom's freedom. Rather, he tried to oppress the people even more thoroughly and manipulate them according to his will."

If only the prince had held even slightly more noble thoughts.

Yekaterina might have harbored dissatisfaction but would never have refused.

But what the prince's faction desired was complete rule.

They wanted a monarchy filled only with blood and ice, tolerating not even the slightest resistance.

"I couldn't tolerate that."

So Yekaterina raised her banner for the future of the Kingdom of Yuta and for the precious people living in this harsh frozen environment.

What this cold land needed was not iron discipline but a warm torch to heat people's hearts.

That's why Yekaterina raised the sacred flame.

The torch queen who led the way through the blizzard, becoming everyone's lighthouse, was born that way.

"Many people died in the civil war that ensued. But sometimes I think this: would they have survived if I hadn't started the rebellion that day?"

"But if you had done that, many more people would have died afterward."

Rudger asserted that absolutely would not have been the case.

"If you succumb to momentary temptation, what follows is only an endless quagmire. If you had given up there, the prince's faction would have turned the Kingdom of Yuta into hell afterward."

"Would that be the case?"

"And even if... many people died because of the civil war..."

Rudger stared intently at Yekaterina and said,

"You must not regret that choice."

"Why not? Too many of those who followed me died."

"That's exactly why I'm saying this. Do you think they served you with a light heart?"

That wasn't the case.

The princess's faction that Rudger had seen always did their best even in those disadvantageous situations.

"It wasn't only you who willingly gave your life for a better future for the Kingdom of Yuta. Everyone who followed you was prepared. Even if they died, as long as their corpses could become stepping stones for the comrades following behind, they didn't care. They could willingly throw away their lives."

"That's..."

"They could be so prepared because you were there, raising the beacon ahead of everyone else. They could have courage because you were there."

Yekaterina's eyes trembled at Rudger's words.

"So don't grieve their deaths. No pity or sympathy is needed. Just, like today, don't forget their nobility and praise their brave history."

The dead would gladly wish for that too.

Rudger's final words caused ripples deep in Yekaterina's heart.

"You're right. I was too emotional, nothing more. To think I forgot that bravery."

"That emotional part is also your strength."

People didn't want to be ruled by an iron-blooded monarch.

Even if dignity as royalty was lacking, they hoped for someone warmer than anyone else to hold their hands and lead them.

A world covered in snow was a place too barren and cold.

That's why they needed fire.

"I saw a nearby city on the way. It's become more prosperous than before."

"With the contract with Theon maintained, our finances have improved considerably in many ways."

Of course, that was largely thanks to Rudger, who had been the planning director at the time.

The Kingdom of Yuta, having gained patent rights to magical tools made in Theon, was able to leap forward even beyond what had collapsed due to the civil war.

A contract that had continued for 3 years since the holy war—it must be because Yekaterina worked hard all that time.

"What about you for those 3 years? You suddenly disappeared, then suddenly appeared, and then suddenly an execution ceremony proceeded. Do you know how surprised I was?"

"Hmm. Well, that's how it went."

Rudger explained what he had been doing for the past 3 years.

There wasn't really much to explain.

He had simply been trapped in null space.

Having heard all that, Yekaterina was shocked.

"Oh my, 3 years?! That's really terrible! What about food?!"

"That was fine. Since I was protected by divine power, necessary nutrients were automatically supplied without having to consume them."

"Then you didn't poop either?!"

"..."

Rudger stared intently at Yekaterina with cold, sunken eyes.

He was now seriously seized by an urge to squeeze this princess's head.

Yekaterina instinctively sensed something and hurriedly stepped back.

"I-I could be curious!"

"I told you to maintain some dignity as a princess, didn't I? No, you're a queen now. Isn't it about time you started maintaining it?"

"If I keep maintaining dignity all the time, I'll break down as a person. Sometimes I need to let loose freely like this!"

"That's true, but why are you doing it in front of me?"

It meant she trusted him enough to show her true self.

Rudger let out a small sigh.

He couldn't tell whether to be happy about this tomboy lady's behavior or to be angry.

He wondered if it was okay for a nation's leader to be like this, but if Yekaterina acted too much like Aileen von Exilion, that would be strange in its own way.

'Hmm. If Aileen found out I was having such thoughts, she'd be angry too.'

The person truly suited to an iron-blooded monarch was precisely Aileen.

She would be displeased just by being compared to Yekaterina.

Well, but what of it.

They say even the king is cursed in his absence, so thinking it inwardly in such a distant northern kingdom shouldn't matter.

"Still, I'm really glad."

"About what?"

"You've obtained the freedom you so desired. Now you don't have to live as hard as before, and you can do what you want."

"What I want to do."

"Don't tell me you still haven't found it? Everyone has at least one thing like that."

"What do you want to do?"

Even at Rudger's sudden question, Yekaterina wasn't flustered.

"That's obviously to become a splendid queen who'll remain in history and make the Kingdom of Yuta prosper!"

"Aren't you already doing that well enough?"

"Maybe so. But there's no such thing as a perfect nation. The kingdom still has more than one or two problems to fix. So I need to work harder. And I need many talented people too."

Yekaterina subtly asked Rudger,

"The kingdom is currently short on talented people. So we're looking for outstanding people—might you be interested?"

"My."

Rudger let out a chuckle.

"Indeed, a queen is a queen. To make a recruitment offer in this situation."

"If it's you, we're willing to meet any difficult conditions."

"I'm grateful for the offer itself, but if you want to recruit me, you'll have to get in line."

It sounded like a joke, but it was sincere.

There were many places that needed Rudger.

Hadn't Aileen been the first to try to recruit him with burning eyes?

For now, she had let him go, respecting the freedom he had finally obtained.

But when the time came, she would definitely come persistently seeking him and urging him to become a subject of the Empire.

"To take me away, you should at least be prepared to face the current emperor."

"Eek."

When Aileen was mentioned, Yekaterina reacted violently.

It's funny to say this, but it was like a child's reaction to eating bitter vegetables.

"Ugh. Even so, facing the emperor is a bit..."

"Well, then there's nothing I can do."

"N-no! That can't be! To recruit a talent like you, I have to try!"

"Well, besides that, you'd also have to face Chancellor Elisa."

"Eeeeek."

When Elisa was mentioned, Yekaterina showed an even stronger reaction.

While Aileen might be okay since they didn't meet that often, Elisa was different.

Even now, the Kingdom of Yuta maintained a close collaborative relationship with Theon.

As a result, the two had quite a few personal meetings, and each time Yekaterina felt drained.

The first meeting was better because Rudger, who was the planning director at the time, supported her from the side, but now there was nothing like that.

Should it be called human compatibility?

Yekaterina felt like a mouse before a cat in front of Elisa.

That was the moment.

Two presences crossing through the forest rapidly approached Rudger.

Chaeng!

The blizzard scattered as a pair of man and woman appeared before and behind Rudger.

The swords they drew were aimed at Rudger's neck.

"You bastard, who are you? Who dares to approach Her Majesty the Queen?"

"State your purpose."

The man and woman looked similar to each other. They had to. The two were blood-related siblings.

"We meet after so long, and you start by pointing swords. Still charging ahead without looking back when it comes to matters related to this one."

When Rudger smoothly lifted his hat, the eyes of the Vatali and Varenchina who recognized him widened.