Bloodline is a Cheat Code - Chapter 43
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43
“Tiae, what’s wrong? Did you see something that wasn’t there? What exactly did you want to introduce?”
“There was someone, but now there isn’t. Let’s just forget about it. There was definitely a person here a moment ago.”
So Haeston really is someone who moves without leaving a trace.
Serpina Rosena was staring at the spot where he’d vanished with an uncertain expression.
“Aden Prince said he’d assign me a guard today, remember? I was trying to introduce him, but the moment I brought him here, he just disappeared.”
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen someone disappear without leaving any presence like that. Come to think of it, there was a man like that around the Third Prince last time too. I think he died sometime next year, though.”
Serpina Rosena casually dropped that bombshell and headed into the Mansion first.
What on earth did she just say?
* * *
“Aden Prince told me to relay this message to you.”
“Yes.”
Serpina Rosena wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that Violet was operating under Aden’s instructions.
In fact, when she investigated how the Merchant Guild was extending its reach in the Holy Kingdom, she learned they’d opened distribution channels that would be impossible to secure unless someone had deep knowledge of both the Holy Kingdom and The Empire.
And they possessed remarkably detailed information about the plague afflicting both nations. It was as if they’d created the sacred artifacts specifically for this purpose.
“So is the Merchant Guild’s ultimate goal to create a society where people can receive treatment without relying on sacred power?”
“Hardly. If they had such a goal, they couldn’t do business in the Holy Kingdom. In the Holy Kingdom, sacred artifacts are used as emergency measures, and ultimately, it seems they’re trying to prevent The Empire from rejecting sacred power altogether.”
And the Violet Family is taking charge of that.
Before Serpina Rosena’s regression, Aubrey Violet had apparently appeared like a comet and dominated high society.
While House Faneshula captivated people with gossip, Aubrey attracted them with her distinctive beauty, eloquence, and new magical artifacts.
“When Aubrey, who had been so sickly, suddenly appeared completely recovered and took control of high society, people fell for it immediately.”
And so magical artifacts naturally began flowing from the nobility to commoners, and distribution channels formed that went through the black market and back into the Holy Kingdom.
“So Minabell took that position from her now. House Faneshula was completely broken.”
“Before, it wasn’t Violet and Aden, but Violet and the Holy Temple of the Holy Kingdom that had a kind of cooperative relationship. Violet Lady died because of the Empire’s policy banning sacred power entirely. That’s probably why she harbored resentment toward The Empire.”
For some reason, having heard such a dark backstory left a bitter taste in my mouth.
So every story ultimately requires someone’s death to be complete?
“But that’s not the case now. Why did things change?”
Serpina Rosena was speaking more like she was talking to herself than asking a question.
“Serpina Rosena, what kind of relationship did you have with Aden Prince in your previous life?”
“Hm?”
At that moment, Serpina Rosena faltered for the first time.
“Tiae, what we need to focus on right now is the Holy Kingdom, yes, but since we’ve opened a line of communication with Violet, we should now deal with Vincent Crown Prince and Elian…”
Even that uncharacteristic attempt to dodge the question—I cut her off and spoke firmly.
“No, our first priority right now is Aden Prince. The Crown Prince comes second.”
Whether we’ll handle it or resolve it, I’m not sure yet.
“Isn’t the order completely wrong?”
Serpina Rosena, who always agreed with everything I said, was raising an objection for the first time, timidly.
She’s avoiding this so much that it’s unlike her—I’d like to let it go if I could…
“Serpina Rosena, as I always say, there’s only one purpose to all my actions. The peace of Rosena.”
Haven’t we already proven that running away won’t allow us to maintain that peace?
“As you said, there are two things we need to focus on right now. One is placing Lucian Advein on the throne, and the other is bringing the Violet Family under our control. If we’re being honest, the latter is merely a stepping stone to achieve the former.”
“But we’ve already accomplished the latter, so shouldn’t we prioritize obtaining our reward for it?”
By reward, she must mean arranging a meeting between Vincent Crown Prince and Elian.
But if we do that, the Violet Family will be pushed to the background.
It may be a narrow perspective on my part, but Vincent Crown Prince is one of the major obstacles we’ll ultimately have to overcome.
There’s a higher chance we’ll suffer a setback if we rush in without proper preparation.
I wish Elian and Vincent’s conversation would go smoothly and he’d become our ally, but that possibility seems distant, so we’ll inevitably end up at odds with him anyway.
“It would be more advantageous in a tug-of-war to first bring the Holy Kingdom to our side, increase our forces, and then meet with Vincent Crown Prince. You know that too.”
“I know, Tiae. You’re right—I was just trying to avoid that situation.”
In the end, she admitted it.
I wish everything in this world would proceed so simply. If only things would happen that I could resolve without asking the questions she hates to answer.
But the fastest path to bringing the Holy Kingdom under our control ultimately leads through Aden Prince.
“At first, you didn’t seem to react much when I mentioned Aden Prince, but lately it seems like you’re paying more attention to him. I’m worried about that.”
As I carefully revealed what was on my mind, her expression became troubled.
It wasn’t embarrassment at being found out, but rather the look of someone who doesn’t know how to explain this feeling.
“Tiae, have you ever abandoned someone?”
“What? You’re asking if I’ve ever abandoned someone?”
At only seventeen years old, I have little memory of ever coldly rejecting or abandoning anyone.
I’ve had experience dismissing servants or accepting their resignations for personal reasons, but that’s all. Those actions are ambiguous to call abandonment.
How could I call something abandonment when there were legitimate reasons for doing it?
After thinking it through, I slowly shook my head, and she laughed as if the taste in her mouth had turned bitter, then shifted her posture.
“There comes a moment when, in pursuit of something more important to me, I must inevitably choose between the things I love. In those moments, we usually have to abandon someone in order to protect someone else.”
“Because we can’t protect and keep everything?”
“That’s right. Some would insist they want to protect everything and have a beautiful future, but if that were possible, wouldn’t I have already done it? Yet even now, having turned back time once, I still can’t accomplish everything perfectly.”
“Hmm….”
What was she trying to say by bringing up such a heavy topic?
I wish I had an adult’s soul in this body so I could understand her heart a little better.
Perhaps through a sacred object, I could dream again about fragments of her.
But before I could ask her about that, she told me what I had truly been curious about.
“My choosing regression meant I was choosing to abandon everything I had accomplished in my previous life and return to this moment again.”
“I see.”
“I could certainly undo the people I lost, erase the moments I was betrayed as if they never happened, but it also means that the person I loved in that world, the friend I cherished, would become a relationship that never existed.”
Yet whenever I asked if she regretted that choice, she answered firmly. That it was her own decision.
That saving me was worth enduring all of that.
“At least I’m grateful I didn’t marry anyone. If I had, I might not have been able to make that decision.”
‘And if necessary, I can grow close to them again. I won’t be able to share the exact same memories or have identical experiences, but I can share similar feelings. So you don’t need to worry too much.’
Though she spoke in a joking tone, her expression looked as if the regression itself had been a wrong choice.
I blinked slowly and waited for her explanation.
“But the foundation of all my actions was the belief that only I would remember all of these choices. Yet when I looked into ancient sorcery again, there was no mention of such a thing.”
“What does that mean?”
“I thought the world would forget that I had returned, and since I wouldn’t forget the memories I’d lived through, I assumed everyone else would simply let it slip away. But I overlooked something crucial—there’s a qualifier attached to me that exists independent of the world’s will.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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