Eileen was completely stunned, her mind seemingly struck blank by this sudden, utterly absurd declaration.
She even doubted whether the howling wind and snow had frozen her hearing.
“Me?” she repeated instinctively, her golden eyes filled with incredulous confusion. “You… you waged war, broke through three kingdoms’ century-old fortresses at any cost, caused countless soldiers to bleed and die… just to… get me?”
That reason was more absurd than the most bizarre opera!
“Exactly.” Frederica spoke resolutely, her gaze burning with a near-crazed intensity—a flame mixed with extreme possessiveness and obsessive fanaticism. “To leave you nowhere to go, no path to retreat! To let you see the world’s hypocrisy and coldness clearly! To make you finally understand that only by my side is your one and only warm home!”
Her voice slightly rose with excitement, carrying a sickly sense of satisfaction. “See, I succeeded, didn’t I? You ended up right in front of me!”
Eileen struggled free from the overwhelming absurdity, replaced by deeper confusion and a hint of betrayed anger. “Why? Frederica! Just because you’re ‘Claret’? Just because you’re my maid? This is madness! It doesn’t make sense at all!”
“No, even earlier than that, Eileen.” Frederica’s eyes suddenly softened and became distant, as if piercing through time and snow back to a remote, unforgettable moment.
The fanaticism on her face faded slightly, replaced by a nearly reverent remembrance. “Eileen, do you remember? Many, many years ago, also in a bitterly cold winter, on the vast snowy plains of the kingdom’s northern border… a little girl collapsed in thick snow, battered and bleeding dry, her consciousness fading, nearly frozen stiff, on the brink of death…”
As Frederica spoke in a low voice imbued with strange magic, those long-buried, blurred memories suddenly surged like pages torn open by a fierce wind!
The biting cold, the thick, inescapable stench of blood, endless despair… then, amidst that pale symbol of death, a figure emanating warm light stubbornly and resolutely moved forward despite family worries and opposition, using young yet incredibly warm hands to pull the little figure from the edge of hell…
Eileen’s golden pupils suddenly shrank as if struck by a strong shock!
She took a sharp step back, her voice trembling uncontrollably: “… It was you?! That little girl, covered in blood, with eyes fierce like a wounded wolf… was it really you?!”
“It was me.” Frederica stepped forward, her eyes clearly reflecting Eileen’s shocked face, the tears shining genuine and burning. “You saved me! You gave me the only warmth and shelter on that cold, desperate path of escape! It was your clear, pure golden eyes that made me believe, for the first time, that there was still light in this world!”
Her voice choked but unshakably firm. “From that moment on, the flame lit in my heart never went out—I, Frederica, must have you in this life! To make you belong only to me forever! No one and nothing can stop this!”
The massive flood of information crashed against Eileen’s mental dam like a tsunami.
She suddenly recalled the rumors and defamations that had shadowed and almost utterly destroyed her!
The filthy slanders that dragged her down from “Marquis’s daughter” to “villainous noble heiress,” finally branding her a “traitor”!
A terrifying conspiracy stretching over years instantly took shape in her mind!
“The slanders against me,” Eileen’s voice was icy and sharp, filled with barely contained anger, her golden eyes molten like lava, “those rumors spread among the capital’s noble circles about me being arrogant and bullying the weak; those accusations of colluding with the enemy and plotting treason; and this time… the Marquis Cecil being framed, the border troops withdrawn, the fortress falling, and the ‘treason’ charges pinned on me immediately… all pushed secretly by your people?!”
She nearly gritted her teeth as she asked.
“Yes.” Frederica admitted calmly, without guilt, even with a hint of triumphant cunning. “To isolate you from that hypocritical, filthy noble circle; to drive away those so-called ‘friends’ and ‘family’ who would betray you; to make you see clearly who truly stands by your side in times of crisis and is willing to sacrifice everything for you!”
Her gaze was fervent and obsessive. “Only by cutting off all your retreat and support will you truly, without reservation, see me and come to me! The fact proves my plan was flawless.”
“To drive me into a dead end?” Eileen’s voice had frozen to the extreme, as if the temperature around her dropped sharply.
“Yes.” Frederica’s gaze still locked on her, fiery and fanatical beyond dispute. “Only absolute despair can bring absolute loyalty and… dependence. See? You’re standing here now, aren’t you? Standing before me, in my world.”
She opened her arms, as if to embrace the entire empire amid the snowstorm, like a deity welcoming a lover home.
Eileen closed her eyes and took a deep, deep breath.
The cold air flooded her lungs, smelling of rust and gunpowder, carrying a weariness and resignation that reached deep into her bones.
When she opened her eyes again, those golden eyes that once shone like sunlight now held only bottomless fatigue and a barren icefield.
She looked at Frederica’s stunning yet twisted face, and in a voice as light as a sigh, full of endless desolation, she said:
“Yes, you succeeded. Frederica. Now I am the kingdom’s traitor, the heretic the church wants to eliminate, the sinner who disgraces her family. Except for this ‘pure land’ you cleared with iron and fire, I truly… have nowhere else to go.”
“I’m sorry, Eileen.” Frederica’s voice suddenly dropped very low, carrying a strange, almost tender sincerity. She stepped forward, seeming to want to touch Eileen’s cold hand, but Eileen instinctively pulled away.
Frederica’s hand stopped midair, her eyes darkening, but her tone remained seductive: “I know my methods are despicable and have caused you unimaginable pain. But I had no choice!”
“I couldn’t bear to see you return to a place that only harms and uses you! I can’t bear to see you surrounded by those hypocritical maggots! Only by my side, under the mighty wings of the empire, can you find true safety, freedom, and… happiness!”
She emphasized again, her voice full of hypnotic power: “Come back with me to the empire! I swear by the name of the Empress of the empire! The moment you agree, I will immediately order the troops to withdraw! The fortresses of Maria, Rose, and Hina will be returned intact and spotless to that decaying kingdom!”
“Not only that, I will mobilize the entire strength of the empire to help you, help your beloved Shadow Sword Order, reclaim the Holy City defiled by evil! Crush that madwoman Cherrel’s wicked reign! Let your companions wash away the stigma and regain their honor and freedom!”
Eileen’s heart thudded violently inside her chest, like a trapped beast’s final struggle.
Her mind raced, weighing the consequences of every choice.
The church’s power was deeply entrenched; Cherrel’s rule over the Holy City had only escalated her madness and made her strength unfathomable.
The Shadow Sword Order was strong, but to openly challenge the entire church meant slim chances of victory.
The kingdom? It was barely holding on, swaying in the storm, and the nobles would only seize the opportunity to stab her in the back or loot the ruins.
And now— the empire’s iron hoof had shattered the kingdom’s northern gates. If Frederica insisted on marching south, the kingdom’s fall was only a matter of time.
Her so-called “choice” had long since been paved by Frederica with conspiracy and iron blood—a one-way path to a golden cage.
After all this thought, a heavy, helpless numbness washed over her like an icy tide, drowning her completely.
She realized she truly… had no other choice. All struggles and resistance seemed so pale and laughable against absolute power and a carefully woven web.
Eileen lifted her head, no longer looking at Frederica but at the gray, snow-drifting sky.
Her golden eyes were empty, reflecting no light, only a void of gray and white.
Her voice was as light as a snowflake landing, filled with bone-deep helplessness and a trace of unspeakable sorrow:
“Your way, Frederica, makes me very, very unhappy, even… disgusted.” She enunciated every word clearly, as if cutting her own soul. “But…”
She paused, as if summoning all her remaining strength to say what followed, her voice laden with the dust-settled exhaustion of finality, “… I agree.”
In that instant, Frederica’s eyes exploded with light brighter than stars!
A wave of overwhelming joy crashed down, shattering all her restraint! She nearly threw caution to the wind and pulled Eileen into her arms, proclaiming this belated victory!
She forced her trembling body under control, her voice hoarse and shrill with extreme excitement: “G-great! Eileen! My dear Eileen!”
She couldn’t help but reach out her hand, this time with irresistible force, gripping Eileen’s cold wrist tightly, as if afraid she would disappear in the next second. “Trust me! Once you reach the empire, you’ll fall in love with that land! There are no corrupt noble maggots, no greedy, hypocritical church fanatics, only strong order, unparalleled power, prosperous splendor… and everything I have prepared for you! A world that belongs only to us!”
Eileen didn’t pull away, only letting that burning, possessive heat scorch her skin.
Her golden eyes still stared at the dim sky, offering no reply.
To agree did not mean approval, let alone surrender.
This was just a transaction—a trade of freedom for the kingdom’s last gasp, for the Shadow Sword Order’s fragile chance of survival.
Her heart, at the moment of this decision, seemed to sink into a bottomless frozen sea.
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