The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent-Chapter 269

At this point, the Emperor must have started doubting my identity.

Even if what I said was “actually” true—if I were truly the child of the Emperor and a fallen noblewoman from the imperial family—I had far too much knowledge I shouldn’t possess.

Of course, the Emperor didn’t know everything about me yet. Leaving aside the fact that I could rewind time, things like my knowledge of the warship's internal structure or my familiarity with the palace’s layout were things the Emperor could never know from his perspective.

But even so...

The Emperor wasn’t the type to casually share state secrets with a woman he might spend a single night with and then forget.

Furthermore, while the Grace family traditionally stood by the Emperor, they weren’t particularly active in politics. They were a family that would step in to protect the system when needed but weren’t much help in the Emperor’s political maneuvers.

Yet here I was, someone who had grown up as a mere baron’s daughter in the Grace family, claiming not only to understand the Emperor’s ultimate goal but also offering to help achieve it—

“I’m curious about who you really are.”

It wasn’t surprising that he’d say something like that.

I had managed to brush past Earl Crowfield and Duke Lindborough. They were experienced in the noble art of gathering information and lived with the constant awareness of what they didn’t know about their opponents—and what their opponents didn’t know about them. As the eldest daughter of a baron family close to the imperial household, a family expected to act militarily in times of need, it wasn’t impossible for me to possess certain insights.

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And they would cross-check the information I gave them. It wouldn’t be easy, but they weren’t the type to stake their lives on my words alone. ...Or were they? Judging by the expression Earl Crowfield made back then, he did look like the kind of man who might ruin his life over one woman.

Well, anyway.

I wasn’t too worried about those two. Honestly, even if their plans failed, it wouldn’t matter much. They weren’t the type to lose sleep over a few subordinates dying because of their orders.

As long as the warship exploded in the sky and crashed, it didn’t matter who succeeded inside it. Both of them would see that scene and believe they were the ones who made it happen.

The important part was that the warship actually fell.

The Dreadnought Fleet’s location was highly symbolic within the Empire. Even the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Emperor himself occasionally forgot that the fleet’s position wasn’t all that significant to his plan.

“Your Majesty likely doesn’t remember my mother.”

“...”

I carefully spoke in a way that avoided any hint of resentment. It wasn’t difficult, since I truly felt no resentment.

“I remember her. My mother... was not an ordinary woman. She longed for your love, but at the same time, she harbored hatred toward you. And, for a brief moment—”

I carefully chose my words.

“She spoke of how the world’s order had become unbearably disturbed.”

I lifted my gaze to meet the Emperor’s.

The Emperor silently stared back at me.

Lucas and Bella, who were also in the room, looked utterly bewildered. There was clearly some exchange between the Emperor and me, but they couldn’t understand exactly what it was. It was information that only someone with the full picture could grasp.

“Then why are you helping me?”

“I don’t wish to live solely according to my mother’s will. Your Majesty, do you know what kind of life I’ve lived up until now?”

“I only know what is generally known.”

“But no one has been able to look inside my mind.”

“Inside your mind?”

“Yes. There is a curse that binds me—a curse inherited from my ‘mother.’ A compulsion to fulfill a certain duty. With each passing year, I feel this curse eating away at my freedom.”

“...”

“You might doubt me because of my words. You might distrust me because half of my blood comes from such a woman. But at the same time, the other half of my blood is Fangryphon blood.”

At my words, the Emperor looked down at me, as though trying to gauge me.

I, still kneeling on the floor, looked back up at him in silence.

“My half of freedom has brought me here.”

I pushed the relic fragment lying before me toward the Emperor as I spoke.

“Please, in the final moment, free me from this curse. That is my earnest wish.”

“...”

Whether they understood my words or not, everyone in the room remained silent, watching me.

“When the final moment comes, and Your Majesty wields all the power, it will be easier to distinguish between those who stand against you and those who do not. My suggestion regarding the warship is tied to that purpose. I’ve already taken measures. If Your Majesty delivers such a ‘symbolic spectacle,’ it will aid in the establishment of the new order Your Majesty seeks to create. That is what I concluded with my meager mind.”

I finished speaking, bowing my head deeply.

Even after I finished, the Emperor remained silent for a while.

Seated on his throne, he looked down at me for a long moment before his feet shifted slightly.

Step, step. The sound of the Emperor’s footsteps echoed as he slowly approached. When he was close, he must have leaned down, for I saw his hand suddenly appear in my line of sight.

The Emperor’s hand reached out and picked up the relic fragment lying before me.

“I understand your wish.”

Then, his other hand rested on my shoulder.

“You truly are my daughter.”

I’m not, though.

But, of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.

...Thank goodness the Emperor isn’t like Alice.

If Alice were here and saw my current expression, she’d probably ask, “Are you happy?”

*

What I heard was an explosion.

No, could it even be called an explosion?

The shockwave was so massive it was visible as it rippled through the air, an immense detonation that defied simple description.

I decided not to dwell on how many people had died in that explosion. From the moment I rejected the goddess’s offer, I had lost any right to comment on the deaths of those who met their end so tragically in this land.

If people had heard the goddess’s proposal, how many would have agreed with it? I couldn’t say for sure, but it would likely be far more than anyone might expect.

But let me emphasize again—I wanted a true happy ending. One where all the heroines survived and where I, too, made it out alive.

And in that vision of survival, there was no room for people I didn’t even know.

“How... could that...”

Alice, standing beside me, murmured blankly. Claire was equally speechless, unable to find any words.

It wasn’t just the two of them.

Even Charlotte, who had been opposing us, was no different.

Opposing, if you could call it that.

In the end, the war happened. The Empire had invaded the autonomous state, Belvur. The Imperial Navy advanced through the seas toward the Iberia Kingdom, and countless other nations had suffered in one way or another.

A war not fought for victory, but for a single, small objective buried within it.

The symbol of the Empire’s military might that erupted in a massive explosion in the sky was enough to capture the attention of every single army on the battlefield.

Even the soldiers of the Holy Nation hidden underground in Lutetia must have been staring upward at that moment.

By now, the Emperor and the children were likely ransacking the underground. In a world without the Masked Woman, there were no relics left aside from those they had already gathered.

“At the very least, this should keep the Lutetia Palace safe,” I said in a calm voice.

The warship was still falling. Even after all the helium had escaped, the wreckage, kept aloft by the enormous amount of Maramaros and mana stones used to stabilize it in the air, was descending at an eerily slow pace.

The biplanes escorting it were no different. Their canvas wings had caught fire, and their wooden fuselages burned as they glided downward like falling comets. The sight of countless planes crashing in slow motion was almost artistic.

...Once this world is successfully destroyed, even these sacrifices will cease to exist.

I lowered my gaze from the sky and looked at Charlotte.

“What... is this...?” she stammered, still unable to grasp the situation.

I took a step closer to her and spoke.

“Even in a situation like this, I didn’t want to see a friend’s home destroyed and their family killed.”

A contradictory statement. The complete opposite of my earlier thought that killing strangers and erasing this world would make all of it nonexistent anyway.

But that’s who I was. Someone who constantly shifted their words to sway others, who lied without hesitation to bring people to my side.

I was never someone destined to save the world.

The goddess couldn’t have chosen a worse person.

I walked toward Charlotte, spreading my empty hands wide.

“If you want to stab me, go ahead. I promise I’ll never harm you.”

“...”

I saw the hostility in Charlotte’s eyes begin to fade.

Yes, that’s enough.