Chapter 63: The next steps
The truth is, she had actually received a letter from an unknown person before she lied to her family and made a story about it like the duke wanted.
She covered the lie with the truth, and ultimately, she had deceived the very people she was supposed to look after to save their life, and her own...
She had her suspicions on who might have asked him to send that letter which, instead of having coded information on the betrayal, had a detailed account on what might happen, how she should react, and what she should be careful of.
She did not believe a word it had said at first, but her intuition told her to follow the content for the time being.
She then lied to her own son and his family, to the rest of the council, and then at the sacrifice of many innocent people, she was captured by the rebel forces.
Still, this was the best case scenario for them.
"When I first heard about your strange activities from Emilia, she asked me not to tell that to anyone since Flora shared those things with her in great confidence. And yet, here we are now, chatting once again like this."
Over the last few days, she had been hearing talks of how he had been changing the training methods that the family had used over the decades.
She was already shocked to hear that he was allowed inside the treasury, but the things that followed after that were not small either.
He was a cute baby in her oldest memories and a neglected, miserable child that she wanted to help in the most recent of her memories.
Sadly, she could never help him in ways that mattered.
He was alone back then... but it seemed like things had changed since she was away from her house.
"I won’t ask how you know all those things, but you want me to do something for you as well, right?"
He wanted her to act as he wanted, that was the only reason he had suggested to her to do all the things that she had done until now.
"Just know that I won’t be a puppet in your-."
"All I want is peace, m’Lady." He lifted off his hood, revealing his distinct blue hair and his eyes that resembled the ones that she was married to.
He had a sad expression, and looking at him, she felt as if the young boy was carrying a burden that was bigger than their family, bigger than the empire or, perhaps even bigger than this world.
He seemed like an ancient figure like the elders of their family in her eyes for a moment. But, just as she blinked a few times, the young boy had returned to her with a smile on his face.
"And for that, I want your help." He was genuine with his words, her intuition told her as much.
As someone who knew what was going to happen some time later, he was also obligated to change the course of things as much as possible.
He knew the future could change. The world was ever-changing so, if he changed a few things in the right direction, the future that he knew would change as well.
It also meant that he would not know what happens in the near future, but even if the future changes, things that were factual information from his past life would remain the same.
He just had to use everything he had on him to get what he wanted in this falling world.
"Please help me, Lady Mililian." There was no one else here asking for her help but him alone. Because he alone was going to bear all the burden that his changes would cause to this world.
She was just one of the many people he needed to succeed with all those things. And together, they needed to fool even their own family.
That’d be the only way to save themselves. At the very least, that would be the only way for them to get away from the conflicts of the empire in a worst case scenario.
"I don’t have a choice anyway, dear. I must help you." She was smart enough to know the position she was in right now.
She was a pawn of the rebel forces that didn’t like the position of the crown, and she was a part of the house that had supposed the crown for generations.
Her husband was a prominent aide of the old emperor, and she was his cherished wife.
She’d hide the truth about the rebels, about Sam’s involvement, and the truth about what they were going to do from now on.
She did not like it, but she had no choice anymore now that the arrow was already shot from the bow.
"So? What are we going to do now?"
Soon, the empire will face a dangerous power struggle. And to save themselves and the people of the empire, they needed to move cautiously.
"Firstly, the Sungrades and the Serulians will go and kill a calamity."
At the same time, they will have to deal with the elements that will add fuel to the power struggle and take more lives than currently imaginable.
"Huh?"
There were a number of things that they needed to tackle but, right now, she needed to return home first.
"Let us talk again when you are back home." For the time being, she needed to return to the family and break all the news that she was supposed to as someone who had made it out safely from that dangerous situation.
She was oathbound to follow the rebel forces if she wanted to keep her children and grandchild safe.
They may not be in any danger right now, but she knew what those people were capable of.
And to make things worse, they aren’t even the worst group of rebels.
’There are two different rebellions taking place within the empire.’
And the group that wants their own freedom instead of supporting the official heir of the old emperor is way worse than those noble could ever hope to be.
’I’d rather kill them myself than see the people suffer under their rule.’
They were savages, followers of demons, and damned heathens that knew nothing about the constraints of human freedom.
She did not want to see the same dark nights from those old times once again...