“However, no matter what, you are too late. Truly too late”

 

That was what she meant by saying he was late. He had no peace of mind, yet she always walked in later than he wished.

 

‘Is it because I appear too relaxed on the outside? No, I wasn’t being relaxed.’

 

Whenever an opportunity arose, he would embrace her with dark intentions, just like in the morning. But each time, her reaction was always the same.

 

Startled, then familiar, then simple rationalization. 

 

And soon, it ended. It was a concise sequence.

 

‘I am…’

 

After several attempts, he calmly suppressed something bubbling up bitterly from the depths of his heart.

 

Anyway, she was the only one who came into his arms without hesitation now. He had meticulously and cleverly made it happen through calculated effort.

 

She does not reject him. 

 

For now, that was enough. It didn’t seem like it would be enough for long, but he forced himself to believe that for today, it was sufficient.

 

‘Little by little, slowly, and thus forever.’

 

A calm, secret satisfaction brainwashed him into forming a deep red smile on his face.

 

Suddenly, he straightened up at the sound of someone approaching from outside the door.

 

Already here? This quickly? Really?

 

With a joyful heart, he moved his legs and approached the door in one stride.

 

The doorknob turned all at once.

 

“Kise.”

 

🦋

 

“Kise? Who’s Kise?”

 

Plopping down onto the sofa without permission, Hert repeated the unfamiliar name.

 

But he was met with stony silence. 

 

Leonhardt closed his mouth, feeling utterly foolish. Mistaking someone and letting the wrong person in—what a ridiculous blunder. 

 

It was a mistake he never would have made if he’d been in his right mind.

 

He had been waiting for Kise like a puppy waiting for its owner, so reacting to the noise and flinging the door open was almost an accident.

 

…He knew it wasn’t time for her to arrive yet. He knew…

 

What a complete idiot!

 

A rare flicker of irritation crossed his fine brow. Watching Leonhardt press his fingers to his forehead, Hert spoke up as if it were nothing.

 

“Anyway, what’s going on? I expected to be turned away, but here you are, personally coming to the door to greet me. Did you know I was coming? Ah, well, I suppose you have more than one or two things to feel guilty about.”

 

“Not particularly. I wasn’t waiting for *you*.”

 

A smoldering violence swirled in the displeasure lining his eyes.

 

What’s with that? His reaction was far more sensitive than usual, making Hert sit up from his reclined position.

 

Why is this madman acting like a madman again? 

 

That was exactly the expression on his face. Leonhardt swept a dismissive, almost scornful glance over the figures standing behind Hert.

 

“Are you the leader of this bunch? My, my, you’re living in luxury.”

 

A luxury far beyond your station…

 

He sneered with all his might. Hert quickly pushed his seething colleagues back. As they filed out of the room, Leonhardt whispered softly once more.

 

“Congratulations. Playing the big fish in a small pond, I see. Must be a good experience.”

 

“Stop grinning and nagging.”

 

“State your business and get lost.”

 

“Drop the clumsy formalities.”

 

“I said, state your business and go.”

 

Hert seemed to be holding back his anger as he produced a badge with an intricate design. 

 

It was a kind of identification tag, a mark that guaranteed the legitimate pretext that his visit was on official business and not an obstruction of work.

 

A financial ministry administrator and revenue collector. Hert Withering.

 

Even though they were far from strangers and this was already well-known, he adhered to the principle without exception. 

 

Leonhardt turned his head away as if to tell him to cut it out.

 

“So, what is your business? You didn’t even make an appointment.”

 

“It’s a surprise inspection.”

 

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

 

Leonhardt clicked his tongue as if feeling sorry for him. It was a retort implying he was pathetic.

 

Hert was a capable official who became an administrator in his early twenties. His family was originally barons under the Holy Ruth Empire, but had gone into exile for religious reasons.

 

In short, they were originally nobility. 

 

His house had enjoyed generations of fame as mathematicians and politicians, a very enlightened family that created the concepts of pensions and insurance on the continent.

 

Even so, Leonhardt looked down on him.

 

“What a pointless conversation. May I yawn?”

 

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

 

Two men, positioned in that very awkward space between acquaintance and friend, stared quietly at each other.

Hert moved first.

 

“The Maryland Strait. You’re the one who pestered His Excellency the Prime Minister about acquiring the port facilities there, aren’t you?”

 

“Ah. That.”

 

Leonhardt pulled a map closer and replied lightly. Soon, the fingers of the man wearing a watch glided leisurely across the map.

 

As if to say he would kindly explain it to the foolish man, he pointed to the long, narrow sea squeezed between land masses.

 

“The Maryland Strait. If the facilities are properly developed, it will become a major trade artery in no time. Primary cargo will be unloaded here, and from there, smaller vessels will transport the goods across the entire continent. Imposing passage fees on foreign merchant ships will generate additional revenue… What, aren’t you pleased? The Republic will become the world’s number one maritime power. It will become more prosperous and powerful than it is now.”

 

“I don’t want to hear that kind of glib talk.”

 

“Then what do you want?”

 

“Because you stirred up His Excellency, that old man excitedly started the work even before getting parliamentary approval! I heard you dropped a hint at a tea gathering? What’s your game! Do you see procedures as such a joke that they can be ignored?”

 

The Prime Minister of the Republic and head of the assembly. 

 

Meeting such a figure, Leonhardt sweetly whispered this grand plan to him. 

 

Tempted, the Prime Minister made a lightning-fast decision on a matter of critical national importance without even consulting the assembly.

 

“It’s unfair. What exactly did I do?”

 

“You lent His Excellency the money to seize the port facilities! The initial amount alone was 1.8 million ducats! What kind of person can just hand over a fortune like that as if it were mere pocket change…”

 

“Well, I suppose there’s no one else but me.”

 

Leonhardt grinned, the corners of his mouth curling up.

 

“If you scoured the continent, you might find a few more… No, on second thought, it really is just me. I’m probably the only one who would throw that much money into an unseen future.”

 

“And in return, you got the mineral rights?!”

 

“I didn’t force it. His Excellency gave it to me as a tip.”

 

What am I supposed to do if he gives it willingly? 

 

It was the laugh of a corrupt god looking down on humanity.

 

Even as Hert trembled with rage, Leonhardt brushed it off with boredom. Then, crossing his legs loosely, his expression softened.

 

“I am taking the lead in building this great Republic. Just imagine if another country had taken those facilities. Isn’t it terrifying? His Excellency was quite frantic about it. Shouldn’t you be giving me a medal or something?”

 

“You didn’t inform the assembly. You decided and acted unilaterally.”

 

Decided and acted, he says.

 

Leonhardt, who had been smiling oddly, slowly ran his tongue over his wet lower lip. Then, a flood of crude words followed. 

 

All decorum had crumbled.

 

“So what? It’s not like it wasn’t your choice anyway.”

 

“What? You…!”

 

“You seem to want to lecture me on morality, but securing trade routes is an essential step for gaining maritime dominance. You can’t expect to walk only on flower-strewn paths forever just because you want to go to a flower garden.”

 

If a nation wishes to hold a certain position in world history, it absolutely requires economic backing. You cannot build a nation without money, and you cannot wage war without it.

 

Gathering money, sowing it into the land, and preparing the momentum to overturn the continent based on that foundation—this is the ironclad principle of the Rikent Republic. The republic has adhered to that simple principle to achieve today’s glory. 

 

Anyone who doesn’t know that is not a true citizen of Rikent.

 

Therefore, Herciana is not unaware of the essence of the situation. Leonhardt pressed on with a sneer.

 

“Hert, no, Viscount Boer. Didn’t I tell you to state your business clearly and then get lost? I’m not that idle. I have neither the inclination to deal with you one by one nor the time, as I have someone waiting for me now. That person is my priority. So, why don’t you just spit out your real business and then get lost?”

 

I have no time to waste with hypocrites like you, bickering over who’s the villain and who’s the saint.

 

After all, you and I are the same. 

 

When Hert smoothly ushered his companions outside, Leonhardt guessed what he was really thinking.

 

“Three minutes.”

 

“…!”

 

“Make it quick. I’ll at least pretend to listen.”

 

His rude, dismissive gesture to hurry up was arrogant.

 

Pricked by the remark, Hert this time didn’t bother to act coy either.

 

“What do you expect me to do in that time?”

 

“Then get out.”

 

“Just a bit more. Ten minutes, at least…”

 

“Get out.”

 

As if he had nothing more to say, Leonhardt stood up coldly. 

 

Damn it! Hert swore under his breath and spat out his words.

 

“Lend me some money.”

 

“How amusing.”

 

Weren’t you just calling me a villain and accusing me of playing games with money? 

 

As if he were someone with no regrets at all, Leonhardt clicked his tongue and shook his head side to side.

 

Agonized by his inability to bite off that smug neck, Hert suppressed his emotions and spoke.

 

“A civil war is going to break out in the Holy Ruth Empire. The anti-emperor faction is preparing a rebellion.”

 

“*Is going to* break out… future tense? Are you in contact with them, by any chance? What, did you make a secret pact to help their rebellion?”

 

“…That’s irrelevant, isn’t it?”

 

The Empire is the Republic’s long-standing rival.

 

The Republic was once its colony, and they are currently at odds religiously as well.

 

The Empire supports the Old Church, and the Republic supports the New Church. So, if they tear each other apart fighting and end up collapsing, that would be a welcome outcome.

 

“War requires a source of funds.”

 

“Well, I suppose so.”

 

“Just help us secure the supplies. The Republic government will cover the rest.”

 

“Did you get approval from the assembly?”

 

Hert could no longer contain herself at Leonhardt’s sarcastic echo of his own words.

 

“In the name of the Goddess, the Empire is an enemy that must be punished!”

 

“The Empire is overflowing with my precious clients. My losses would be too great. I don’t want to do it.”

 

“You already enjoy so much in this city! What more could you want?!”

 

Listening to Herciana’s accusation, Leonhardt shook his head.

 

The Goddess? The temple? A religious war? 

 

He was not one to be overwhelmed by the rigid ethics that land-dwellers had established.

 

Such things collapse easily. He had seen them collapse. When the wave that breaks the dike and thrusts a spear forward comes rushing in to swallow people whole. He saw who ran away first.

 

The only thing that had ever truly overwhelmed him was the sea. 

 

He thought that if they had ever properly seen what the sea was really like, even once, they would never dare say such things to him.