Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 85

A bouquet.

Holding a bouquet of roses, I walk towards the royal tomb.

Surely, it is cursed.

Queen Liesenlotte, and Lord Michael, must have been cursed too.

Cursed by the deep love of Robert-sama.

That’s why those two are still alive.

Her Majesty the Queen, only slightly in this world.

Lord Michael, living on despite everything.

“I have something I want to ask Robert-sama,” I mutter alone as I walk towards the grave.

Too much.

Too intelligent.

Indeed, there are superhumans of clear intellect in this world, like Martina in my Polydoro territory now.

There must be universal geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci in historical reality.

But.

Their sensibility is somehow.

Even in this disjointed and mad world, it’s bizarrely extraordinary.

Just like me.

I have reached the tomb.

So, I shall ask.

I understand that there will be no answer from the grave.

“Were you a fellow countryman?” I ask.

Meaning from the same hometown.

Strictly speaking, it’s not that.

At least not in terms of actions, different from those of a Japanese.

In the very least, the era “when I lived” in my previous life was not like that.

Measures like actively rectifying disparities for nomadic people who cannot help themselves would hardly be typical of the Japanese.

If it were me, I would completely abandon nomadic peoples and if they entered my territory and harmed my people, I would kill them immediately.

The knightly education as a blue-blood and the moral sense of a Japanese from my past life combined devilishly.

Even with that, I wouldn’t think of saving them.

Just as I was reincarnated into this disjointed world, there was never a zero chance that Robert-sama had reincarnated too.

In the past, the “Empress” from historical reality chose the final solution for the nomadic people issue.

Enlightened by her ideas, she opted for humanistic settlement policies that came with modernization.

This has been denied by some in later generations.

No matter how humane it was from the perspective of the previous life, it meant nothing.

She is denied for the results, which were a failure, and her methods.

She is criticized for not understanding and protecting all cultures.

No consideration was given for the limits of the leaders and the values of that time.

It lacked this.

It lacked that.

There was not enough consideration for the pitiful discriminated peoples.

She is criticized from later generations not so much for her own failures, but for the cultural-centric enlightenment of that time.

Some wise people may say that the “Empress” did nothing wrong, but what I read in books from my previous life was only criticism about the terrible things the “Empress” did.

“In the values of later generations, you are denied. You, Robert, are blamed for acting when no one else did at that time,” I thought.

I think he knew.

If Robert-sama was a fellow countryman like me, I think he knew.

Knowing, he made efforts as a strict realist, knowing what should and should not be done.

This is a hypothetical.

If it’s hypothetical.

I can’t understand what he thought, as Faust von Polydoro in this current life.

Allowed to exist in this world by being born from my mother Marianne.

It’s beyond the understanding of a single frontier lord knight.

Even if successful, he would be criticized.

Robert-sama is discussed only in terms of being a merciless realist and harshly criticized in later generations.

Even I, lacking in profound learning, understand this.

Therefore, I think that Robert-sama, being wiser than me, fully understood.

Even his resolve, did he devote everything to all his actions?

Loved so much by Queen Liesenlotte.

I don’t understand anything.

The principles behind Robert-sama’s actions are unclear.

As a result of his actions, he died.

Robert-sama was betrayed by everything he had done.

Everyone would think so.

But.

To decisively conclude, there is an absurd sense of Robert-sama having “done everything he could.”

Was I, was Queen Liesenlotte, was Lord Michael, was Lord Wesperman free to act in resolving this incident?

If we had been free, the Wesperman family would have resolved it long ago.

Everyone seemed to move while trying to please Robert-sama.

Our actions felt restricted.

Everything was as it was during the lifetime of Robert-sama.

That’s why I, being a fellow countryman, was the only one who reached the truth.

“Yes,” I thought, I have pondered, unknown.

The being that is Faust von Polydoro, I do not know such things.

I have worried much, but the voice of the dead is unheard.

I should dismiss it.

Whatever I think, since Robert-sama has passed away, his true intentions are unknowable.

I offer the bouquet at the tomb.

“…”

As Faust von Polydoro, I find Robert-sama incomprehensible.

Robert-sama lived too freely.

He was too dazzling for me.

A few days ago, Queen Liesenlotte asked me to lay a bouquet at Robert-sama’s grave, and I have pondered repeatedly since then.

If I continue to think about it, I might go mad.

The emotions I hold towards Robert-sama are similar to how a leader of a nomadic tribe might harbor ill will towards him.

Is this the feeling one gets from someone being too dazzling?

“Was it necessary to do what you did, even if it saddened and troubled the beautiful Queen Liesenlotte?”

I find myself voicing complaints.

I want to decide that I don’t know, but something feels off.

It doesn’t sit right with me.

Robert-sama, a man who possessed all that is true, good, and beautiful, could have won even my allegiance if we had met.

What he really wanted to do…

— I recall a monologue by Queen Liesenlotte.

What he really wanted to do, that was…

completely unrelated to Robert-sama’s previous life.

“Could it be that you just hated the idea of your wife being spoken ill of in future generations?”

Initially, it seemed a far-fetched possibility.

That conclusion suddenly slipped out.

Just that.

Really, just that?

He came into the public eye to show that all measures against the nomadic tribes were carried out by King Consort Robert, not to claim the glory for himself but prepared to be criticized in future generations.

There was undoubtedly compassion for the nomadic tribes and constraints from his own virtues.

In the end, the chaos he caused involved everyone and everything in the world at that time.

It was all for the love of his wife.

“No, if I think about it that way, at least I…”

I stroke my chin.

If everything was for the woman he loved, it naturally makes sense.

Whether anyone acknowledges it or not, only to me.

Robert-sama would dislike any policy of extermination against the nomadic tribes, contrary to the wishes of the woman he loved.

And he would have hated to be criticized in later generations.

Just that.

Wasn’t that his conclusion, that it was better if he did it himself?

…Of course, whether this is true or not, I do not know.

The probability is low.

In my previous life, I was a daydreamer.

I was said to have thoughts that floated aimlessly.

But well, Robert-sama would probably say that the thoughts of this Faust von Polydoro don’t matter to him.

“Time to go home,” I slap my knees.

Even if I want to stop daydreaming, I can’t.

These past few days, I have been deeply troubled by Consort King Robert-sama of Anhalt.

When I let my thoughts wander to what he might have been thinking, I can’t stop.

But, I must return to the Polydoro territory soon.

It’s time to return to reality.

“Goodbye, Robert-sama. If you were indeed the figment of my imagination as I supposed—”

I would have been completely devoted to you.

I could have dedicated everything as a knight.

Well, assuming the constraints of a frontier lord knight bound to his territory and people of Polydoro.

I chuckle lightly.

Nevertheless, whatever is said, well, I couldn’t bring myself to dislike you.

Faust von Polydoro, in conclusion, decided to leave it at that and depart from the place.

※

“What are you talking about, old lady.”

That’s what I thought.

“Um, could you say that again, please?”

“Well, I don’t mind repeating myself. Did you not hear me?”

“I’ve been through a lot recently, and I’m beginning to doubt my own ears because of the fatigue.”

In the royal chambers of Queen Liesenlotte at Anhalt Palace.

While Lord Polydoro was visiting the royal family’s tomb, I, Michael, was conversing with Queen Liesenlotte. That night, when the moon was slightly waning, Queen Liesenlotte said she had made a decision — a decision I wanted to know about. It was a thought that she believed could save everything, and I wanted to understand it. So, I asked. And the response now came from Queen Liesenlotte herself.

“I am thinking of conceiving a child with Faust von Polydoro.”

What is she saying, this old woman? Has she lost her mind?

The fact that I didn’t voice that thought out loud was proof that there was still some rationality left in me, Michael.

“Your Majesty Queen Liesenlotte, if I may be so bold, your age is…”

“I’m a mother who gave birth to two daughters at the age of 32. I see no problem with it.”

“No, indeed, as you say…”

Indeed, I had inadvertently spoken of her age, but she was still of childbearing age. There was no problem. I had misspoken slightly. What I wanted to say was not about whether she could bear a child or not.

“Your Majesty, at 32 years old and having tasted both the sweet and the bitter, what could possibly be clouding your judgment now?”

“I am not delusional. This has been well thought out.”

Hmm.

As Queen Liesenlotte said this with a flushed face and heavy breath, I realized I needed to bring some rationality into this.

“Your Majesty, even if you were to bear a third child, there would be issues with the rights of succession.”

“By that time, I will have abdicated the throne to Anastasia, and she does not have a hobby of tormenting her sister. It would be allowable to give the third child a suitable noble title. Even after I abdicate, with the power I retain, finding an adoptive family with no children would be easy.”

“Hmm.”

There was much I wanted to say. That the 32-year-old Queen Liesenlotte was infatuated with Lord Polydoro, her daughter’s fiancé, who was only 22, was an issue, as well as the problem of succession rights. But what concerned me, Michael, more than anything else was…

“Your Majesty, when you were persuading me, you said that whether we go to heaven or fall into hell, you love Lord Robert.”

“I said so. And at the same time, I confessed my love for Lord Polydoro. I have mixed feelings of love and desire.”

She clenched her fist. As a descendant of berserkers who could bend a dagger with her bare hands, she made a fist and thrust it in front of her. It was a punch aimed at the closed society.

“If I could embrace both Robert and Faust in my bedroom at the same time, it would be perfect. Just fantasizing about it makes the bread taste three times better.”

This old woman is hopeless.

I involuntarily covered my face. It wasn’t uncommon in a world where men were extremely scarce for multiple women to share one man, but there were also powerful women who kept several men. However, the 32-year-old widow in front of me seemed completely blinded by lust.

Yet, despite this, the person before me was still the sacred Elector and Queen of Anhalt. What made things worse was that this old woman, despite her age, had likely thought through various scenarios for her child born out of lust.

But, old woman…

“Your Majesty. What does Lord Polydoro think of this? It’s hard to imagine that the serious and straightforward Lord Polydoro would respond to such an invitation…”

“Marina, that girl, I didn’t like her. Occasionally, she looks at Faust with a disgustingly lascivious gaze. I dislike bat-like women who can’t decide between a daughter and her rival. I was so annoyed that after resolving the incident, I nearly beat her to death in the rose garden. I was thinking of breaking a rib or two.”

I wish she wouldn’t mete out private justice in Lord Robert’s rose garden.

It was concerning, but somehow, it had turned into a conversation about the irrelevant Lord Wesperman.

“Then that girl, unable to endure the pain when I tried to break her arm, spilled the beans. I never imagined that Lord Polydoro, while maintaining his purity, had such an interest in sexuality.”

The old woman’s expression twisted lasciviously.

I didn’t know what Wesperman had revealed.

But surely, the old woman before me had devised some plan to seduce or coerce Lord Polydoro.

So, then…

“After all, Your Majesty Queen Liesenlotte, what was that word about saving everything? What was it?”

I sighed deeply. As a blessed and cursed son of Lord Robert, I could no longer die.

Though it might be irrelevant to me.

That word had intrigued me. Queen Liesenlotte smiled.

“I am thinking of bearing your sister— or perhaps brother, though it’s less likely. If my wish comes true, would you dote on them as a brother? Anastasia will inherit the throne, and Valiere was raised as her spare. You were not particularly close to her, but the child I plan to bear might have a different life.”

Her smile and the words that followed made me think.

As someone who could not have children, it was a little sad.

Yet, Queen Liesenlotte was acknowledging me, Michael, as if I were her own son.

If I were to have a younger sister or brother, I found myself fantasizing about it.

It was an irresistibly appealing prospect.