SWNOVELXO Chapter 116
– 1 –
“Didn’t you only have to punish me…?”
That was Amelia’s first line after entering her private room, maintaining silence for quite some time.
“The child doesn’t even think of it as a punishment. She was actually happy that she could help her sister sooner.”
Libertus’s tone in response remained as gentle as ever, but Amelia’s body trembled as if she felt a chill.
Now she had enough experiences with this strange master and the monsters to understand that such words were ominous.
Thanks to that adaptation, she was able to stir up her anger even amidst her sense of helplessness.
“Did you change the way you think because you turned her into a monster?”
“That could be the case. But…”
Libertus’s eyes gently closed.
A warm aura enveloped her kind and benevolent face. Her tone was still soft, and her gestures graceful.
The ominous feeling Amelia sensed from her overshadowed the entire atmosphere.
“From what I have seen and heard, her words and actions before and after have been the same, so isn’t that the child’s true heart?”
“…”
With her eyes closed, Libertus casually beckoned Amelia with her hand.
“Come here.”
“…”
Upon hearing that short command, Amelia found herself moving closer to her without realizing it.
“Turn around. More. Good. Sit.”
“On the floor…?”
“Yes.”
Standing willingly before Libertus, she followed the command and sat down with a modest posture.
And soon.
‘Huh?’
She realized she was following Libertus’s orders without any reluctance.
‘Why am I…?’
Could it be a reaction from only following her words for several days?
Or perhaps it was due to the overwhelming helplessness in her body right now.
It was clear that her body and mind had no power left to resist Libertus’s words.
That alone would not justify her compliance with those commands.
‘It’s sunk in well.’
Libertus understood why Amelia felt helpless.
Pressured by the oppression felt from her, she acted freely, which led to irreversible consequences. Yet, she had a chance to live once because of her.
Though she tried to use that chance to protect her parents, that action brought about even worse results.
‘It’s natural to feel helpless.’
The helplessness felt from intense experiences over a short period had already subdued her instincts.
She just hadn’t accepted that rationally yet.
“Your hair is a mess.”
With the ivory comb handed to her by a skeletal hand from the shadows, she slowly began to comb Amelia’s hair.
As if nothing had happened.
Swaak. Swaak.
For a while, the only sound in the room was that of Libertus combing Amelia’s hair.
In the meantime, Amelia realized that the touch combing her hair was imbued with magic.
There was also a magical principle behind it.
‘Hah…’
She swallowed a hollow laugh.
Using magic just to groom hair was something unimaginable even for ordinary humans and Mages alike.
Who would waste such high-grade assets like magic on trivial matters like this?
If Mages witnessed this scene, they would surely be foaming at the mouth.
“So then. Is your whining all done?”
Having these thoughts in her head, she momentarily failed to react to Libertus’s peculiar statement.
“Whining…? You mean?”
Immediately, a surge of rage caused heat to rise in Amelia’s body as she turned and glared.
However, Libertus merely looked down at her with a still expression but a kind face.
“You made a verbal contract at the expense of your family’s safety. I agreed to take your freedom in exchange. That’s correct, isn’t it?”
“That was because of your coercion…!”
“Not all contracts in this world are made on equal footing. Human history has been the same. Are treaties between winners and losers made on equal terms?”
Amelia’s words were suddenly cut off.
The Kaisen Kingdom as well had established its current territory through victories and expansion over 200 years.
The land where Solemio currently exists was incorporated into Kaisen through such means, so denying the consequences of war treaties was effectively denying her family’s legitimacy.
Thus, she found herself compelled to repeat a statement that was close to common sense.
“That’s a matter between humans. You belong to a demon clan! This is human land…!”
“Then you should become a demon clan member.”
“Excuse…?”
“If the issue is the boundary between humans and other beings, I can simply make you into an otherworldly being. Then there’ll be no issue.”
As her chin was lifted by a grip, Amelia swallowed hard and looked into Libertus’s eyes.
Continuing on…
There seemed to be no abnormality or magic in Libertus’s eyes, yet somehow, she couldn’t take her gaze away.
“Your whining was worthless.”
“That’s not whining!”
“Why do you think so?”
“Freedom… Freedom is something that intelligent beings should possess! It’s something that should be naturally afforded! You can’t dismiss the actions taken to acquire it as mere whining!”
At Amelia’s desperate cry, Libertus’s lips finally curled into a smile for the first time.
“Freedom is for intelligent beings.”
“That’s right!”
Libertus got up from her seat, flung open the window and curtains, and stretched her hand towards the setting sun-filled sky before asking again.
“Then what about the commoners? Do they have freedom?”
“Of course! They have the right to accumulate property and pursue pleasure…!”
Libertus extended a finger to point between her eyes.
Amelia flinched and stepped back, having seen an illusion as if that finger would transform into a knife at any moment.
The questions continued without regard to her state.
“Who guarantees that right?”
“Our country…”
Libertus slowly walked toward Amelia.
“Indeed. The commoners have no freedom. They only possessed the right to move around restricted spaces and to climb to a limited position. Rights granted by others.”
Clack. Clack.
The sound of her boots echoing against the floor seemed to Amelia like the thunder of giant boulders rolling.
And the weight felt like it was pressing down on Amelia.
“How does your country have the authority to guarantee that right? Why does the state hold that right? If individuals are granted freedom, why would they need the guarantee of others?”
“That’s because the state protects them…!”
“That’s precisely it, Amelia.”
“Yes…?”
One of Libertus’s hands was directed at Amelia.
Whoosh!
A shadow with both a strong but gentle force seized her body and lifted her in one motion.
It wasn’t magic, but rather an astonishing manipulation of magical control through telekinesis.
Before Amelia could even calm down from the shock of that gentle force, Libertus held her hand for support and said with a smile.
“I am protecting you right now. Why do you try to escape from me?”
“What do you mean…?”
“Have you already forgotten that I protected you from my doppelganger and from my ‘need for slaughter’?”
Before Amelia, images of the blade and the first time she appeared in front of her flickered once more.
“I am guaranteeing your freedom, yet why do you try to abandon that freedom?”
Libertus’s words and face were gently looking down at her, shattering that illusion.
Once again, Amelia denied that statement.
“That isn’t freedom…!”
“Not freedom? Then what do you consider true freedom?”
“True freedom is… the right to choose for oneself without coercion!”
“Without coercion…I see.”
As Libertus nodded without hesitation, Amelia was left speechless, staring at her.
Her hand gently caressed Amelia’s cheek and led her to sit in the wide chair where she had been sitting.
Then she whispered even more kindly.
“If freedom requires the absence of coercion, then you’ve never had the freedom you desired in the life you’ve lived. Amelia.”
“How would a demon like you know…!”
“The expectations, the powers, the customs that bound you. All of them are visible to my eyes.”
Amelia’s parents had always had expectations of her.
Her father, Valeon, expected her to become a lord.
Her mother, Grelda, expected her to be a lady.
They always wanted to lead her down a predetermined path and never asked what her intentions were.
“Were you truly desiring the path of a lord? Or were you wanting to fulfill your mother’s wish of becoming a lady?”
“But that’s…”
“As you’ve said so far, you wanted freedom. So much so that you would even want to give it to your family if you couldn’t attain it yourself. But you’ve never truly enjoyed freedom, have you?”
In the midst of all this, Libertus knew very well how the so-called ‘good child’ would act.
She would choose to whittle herself away while fulfilling their expectations, just as she had once done herself.
“Everyone wished for you to sit on the throne or at the very least contribute to the family as a lady. You must have been suppressing yourself to care for them, right?”
“That’s… a balance between freedom and duty. Everyone lives that way.”
Placing her hand on Amelia’s shoulder and gently stroking it, Libertus raised Amelia’s chin to meet her gaze.
“That is not true.”
“What do you mean…”
“You had no freedom. You only had the self that conformed to others’ expectations. You already know that.”
The act of taking the gifted apple given by the commoners and placing it directly into her room without adding it to the family meal.
The stress caused by unknown reasons, swinging a sword until she fainted.
Pushing away a maid who was urging her schedule without realizing it.
Amelia’s own experiences, which she had thought of as her embarrassing history, spilled from Libertus’s mouth as if they were from another party.
“How would you know…?”
“All of that serves as evidence that you knew you have no freedom. Amelia.”
The explosive and violent reactions were soon evidence of her stress.
Yet, until now, Amelia had only met people who viewed those reactions as strange.
She had not met anyone, I swear.
“Is that really true…?”
“It is. It’s not your fault. It’s just… too much has been placed on your shoulders. A burden you cannot bear.”
At this moment, there was someone giving her legitimate reasons for those actions.
“That’s why you sought freedom, Amelia.”
Looking down at Amelia, Libertus wiped the smile off her face.
Her tone remained kind, but that expression gradually grew cold.
“So… what should I do?”
“You have already chosen, Amelia. You were simply still bound by existing common sense. Think of your sister. What was she afraid of?”
A smile surfaced on Amelia’s lips.
Innocent, just like her sister Yurianne’s.
“No… she looked very happy.”
“Yes… forget about the borders between humans and demon clans. I can give you that. Just… follow my words.”
“But that’s… that’s…”
It’s not freedom, it feels like slavery.
The final words did not escape her lips.
“That’s not it.”
Libertus whispered as if she had heard everything.
“That is the freedom you chose, Amelia.”
If one needs someone to grant them rights to freedom, make me your authority.
If true freedom is the absence of coercion, let go of everything.
“Then I shall guide you to freedom.”
Now Solemio is no longer just ‘mine’ but ‘my castle.’
And she is not the lord of the ‘enemy’ Solemio but merely the first administrator managing one of my properties.
“Yes. My… master.”
The second disciple and the first castle manager.
“That’s right, Amelia.”
She is no longer the enemy, just mine.
– 2 –
Once a land that made the people of the Kaisen Kingdom believe a new day would come to unify this region.
From that land which formed the integrity of their territory, an order began to sprout.
An order that would grant a new ‘freedom’ to humans and demons alike.
Under the will of Libertus, which severed inner conflicts and set a definite purpose.