The right to choose.
As a child, she’d never had it, and now as an adult, choices were shoved upon her, branded with the phrase, “This is the decision you must make.”
Whether it was ordering the Guards into death’s grip or turning her back on the suffering of the people, she’d made each of her “choices” under her mother’s will.
In the past, she could convince herself that it was for the greater good of Belobog, but now—
“Stop…”
In Sebastian’s surprised gaze, Bronya’s whispered word escaped her, followed by an eruption of anger as intense as a volcano.
“Stop deceiving me with those words! I’ve respected both you and my mother, but why do you keep treating me like a heartless puppet?”
“Miss Bronya…”
Sebastian’s bewildered expression reflected his struggle to comprehend her accusations of “deception” and “manipulation.”
Bronya was trembling, her fists clenched tightly, on the verge of tears.
“I’ve always looked up to my mother and vowed to shoulder my duty as heir. I followed your teachings, striving to become a proper lady. But why… why are you both pushing me in the opposite direction now?”
“…I see. This is what you’ve been feeling…”
Sebastian had seen Bronya cry before.
Once, when she was young, trying to live up to the expectations of adults and hoping to impress her mother, she performed in a ceremony staged just for her. But her mother wasn’t there to watch.
The Supreme Guardian had grown distant, forgetting promises and often retreating alone to the city walls, her eyes fixed on the snowstorm beyond.
Though Bronya did her best on stage, one minor mistake set tongues wagging. Some even whispered that Cocolia’s absence was due to disappointment in her chosen heir…
Even then, Bronya hadn’t broken down. She had held back her tears until the end of the performance, retreating alone behind the curtain to cry.
By the time Sebastian found her, she’d cried herself to sleep, her young face streaked with dried tears.
In that moment, Sebastian realized the fragile side hidden beneath her facade of strength.
For children who grow up under such pressure, showing any sign of weakness is forbidden; they are always expected to perform flawlessly.
Yet when they reach adulthood and are told their whole path was wrong—
It’s no surprise that anger and frustration would reach a breaking point.
“…I failed to understand your feelings. That was my oversight.”
Sebastian felt the weight of his failure as a teacher as he watched her sorrowful gaze.
He had forgotten his own family’s mistakes, forgotten the injustice of imposing his thoughts upon a child who deserved to make her own way.
His care for her, his watchfulness, his guidance—it was all based on the adults’ expectations, not her own.
The moment the Architects chose her as Cocolia’s heir and moved her from the Underworld to the Overworld, it was all set in motion.
Fearful that her time in the Underworld would affect her character, they had used her education to steer her further and further from her past.
She became “Bronya Rand,” the adopted daughter of Cocolia, the Supreme Guardian.
“…I’m sorry. I need some time alone to think. Could you leave me for now, Sebastian?”
To him, her request was reasonable. He nodded, and the rigid pride in his posture softened into something more vulnerable.
Yet, before leaving, he turned to her, speaking earnestly.
“It has come to this. I won’t urge you further, but know that the Guardian will not easily relent… and her will is beyond my power to sway. If I can, I’ll buy you some time.”
“Thank you, Sebastian… that’s all I need. I’ll have my say with her soon enough.”
Bronya watched him pause as if wanting to say more, then sigh and turn away. It pained her to see him like that.
But she couldn’t go back now.
Returning would mean confinement once more, a “protection” that would only bind her in place.
She had only just glimpsed what freedom could look like and couldn’t bear to return to the cold, stifling walls of Qlipoth Fort.
The spirit of preservation within those walls had all but faded, and the city’s mighty walls were already showing cracks that no one could mend. A day of reckoning was inevitable.
Perhaps the dragon’s attack, which shattered the beliefs of the old era, was exactly what Belobog needed.
Oddly enough, whenever she thought of that dragon, she felt a strange… familiarity.
Almost as if she’d met it somewhere before.
Of course, she’d never actually seen it, and her childhood memories were filled with simple scenes, like playing in the dirt with Seele at the orphanage.
If she’d never encountered it, then why did she feel such an immediate connection?
Surely it couldn’t be… Venti?
At the thought, Bronya froze, then hurriedly began flipping through her intelligence files.
The sound of pages turning filled the room.
Her eyes grew sharper with each page until, at last, a fragment of a memory came back to her from a chat in the Underworld.
Venti had mentioned performing at the Goethe Hotel—and asked what sort of gift would be appropriate to bring along.
And where would be the perfect vantage point to watch the dragon’s assault on Belobog? Either Qlipoth Fort or the Goethe Hotel, of course.
The first was Venti’s so-called “enemy’s base,” so he wouldn’t likely show up there. The hotel, on the other hand, would provide a perfect view of both sides and make a fine stage for Venti’s “performance.”
Whether the dragon was Venti or not, he was certainly connected to it—
Otherwise, with that kind of power, the dragon wouldn’t have bothered slowly dismantling the Wall of Preservation, waiting for the people’s reaction like a frog in boiling water.
If its true goal was to destroy Belobog, one dragon breath over the front line would have wiped out the Guards without mercy.
To really crush Belobog, it only needed to take out its military force in one blow. The rest would easily fall to the invading Rift creatures.
No—everything pointed to one answer: the person behind this was someone capable of resolving it all… Venti.
That guy… what a daredevil! She clenched her fists. He’s probably sitting there with some grand plan, ready to brush me off with an “Eh-heh” when I confront him!
So, all his claims of not being much of a strategist were lies?
“When I find him, he’s getting a lecture for sure. If he really wanted to shake things up, it would have been much more intimidating to circle over Qlipoth Fort and breathe fire now and then.”
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