Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Or rather, the name of Noah.

Whether Noah admits it or not, he has already become a big man who can shake the great country of Victoria. It is precisely because of this that Duke Caister is very eager to bring Noah back to Victoria. On the one hand, the Kirilet family originally came from Victoria and is a famous unicorn family. It’s just that their horns were broken when they left Victoria.

After all, Victoria did not treat the Kirilet family unfairly, and even retained the position of Protector of the Realm, which is completely different from Casimir.

The Duke of Caster knew that Victoria needed someone to keep her composure, no matter what. Right now, it was her, but she was old—she knew full well that with age, she would gradually become confused, an irreversible decline in her brain, and that sooner or later, she would lose control of the political situation. And Vina… Vina was still young, and it was not possible to just hand the country over to her completely just yet.

——As for the other dukes, to be honest, Duke Caister completely despises these parasites.

After all, she is Caister and Victoria, and these two surnames give her a unique position.

"—Return to Victoria..." Noya looked at Duke Caister. Honestly, after delving into her memories, Noya realized she had misunderstood her. She was indeed a powerful monster, but at the same time, she was also a true patriot. Whether it was her betrayal of her brother or her current scheme against Kjerag, it was all for Victoria's benefit.

If she were an Aslan...perhaps she could become a queen whose name would go down in history.

Unlike other dukes, the only person she really cared about was Victoria, and this feeling even went beyond family affection.

Humans are indeed complex creatures, and the Duke of Caster is an example.

To say that she is a good person is definitely impossible. If I were to recount all the bad things she has done from beginning to end, it would probably take until the next morning. But is she really a bad person?

As for Victoria, she is not a bad person.

But she focused too much on Victoria herself and ignored the fact that what really made up Victoria were her people, the thriving factories, the soldiers who risked their lives to advance, and all the people who shouted Victoria's name and conveyed the breath of the kings.

"First of all, what exactly is Victoria?" Noah asked. "Can you tell me? What is Victoria?"

"..." Duke Caister was stunned for a moment, then frowned. "Are you kidding? Victoria, Victoria is the greatest country on this continent, the most extensive country, and has the most advanced industrial strength. We have been the overlord of this continent since the Four Emperors' War. How dare you ask me such a question?"

"You're all right, but... what I'm asking is, what is Victoria?" Noah shook her head. "Or, in other words, what is the real Victoria in your eyes?"

Noah knew that the Duke of Caster in front of him was not so much the Elizabeth Victoria of the past, but rather a monster whose life was distorted by his ancestor, the fairy.

She was almost deprived of everything she had in the past, including her brother and family affection. After being betrayed countless times, she could only pick up the belief left to her by the Duke of Caister and persisted to it until now.

As a descendant of the Protector of the Realm, he has the right and obligation to compensate the Duke of Caister as much as possible.

So, she made an exception.

She is using her own abilities, through dialogue, to gradually dissolve the long-term accumulated illness in the Duke of Caster's heart. The human soul is actually similar to the human body. If a person encounters too many blows, he or she will usually choose to be obsessed with something in order to have a reason to continue to survive. What the Duke of Caster did was to use old Caster's ideas as his or her own obsession - and therefore, she has become so twisted today.

What Noah did was to gradually remove these shackles that had formed on the soul.

What has been done cannot be undone. All Noah can do is to stop her from suffering, nothing more.

It could help her have fewer nightmares and make her less paranoid.

She could only do this...

Only when she carefully analyzed the Duke of Caister's soul did she discover to her surprise... beneath the countless blood-scab-like shells of the Duke of Caister, there was actually still a little warm glow.

Maybe she didn't give up?

Noah felt that... if he could break through her outer shell now...

"Elizabeth, what exactly is Victoria to you?"

Questioned again, this time, Noah truly saw that her outer shell began to crack.

Chapter 56: Healing

Many people tell their children to think more.

In short...think more.

But for Elizabeth Victoria, thinking itself seemed to be a painful thing.

She had been raised by palace tutors since she was a child. Her brother, who was several years older than her, had not been educated alongside her. Furthermore, her brother was Aslan, the chosen one to inherit the country, while she was just an ordinary Filin. Therefore, almost no one expected anything of her. She only needed to do what she was supposed to do, and no one would rebuke her.

In the royal family, she was like a transparent person. Even if someone occasionally approached her, it was mostly to get close to her brother...

Sometimes, stupidity is a way to protect oneself. Children who are too smart are more likely to see the meanness of others and thus become unfortunate. The girl's precocious wisdom is her greatest misfortune.

She was smart enough to see the despicable nature of these people, but not smart enough to take advantage of it. Not everyone is born with the ability to exploit human nature... Not everyone is a peerless genius like the Witch King...

The girl is smart, but that's all she is smart.

Elizabeth liked poetry, pictures, heroic biographies, and even more so, her brother who occasionally came to visit her.

They said that sooner or later the brother would become the emperor of Victoria and the supreme being.

They said that my brother was born with intelligence and was a wise king among millions.

They say Victoria will be forever in glory.

The sun never sets on the Empire.

Elizabeth Victoria still didn't know what her future fate would be, but since her brother said so... she might as well do it herself.

—Victoria above all else.

Victoria...

These four words weighed heavily on Elizabeth's heart. Noah asked the question again and again. This man who was a saint and a model of correctness in her mind was asking herself a question that she could not understand.

She wondered what Victoria she was talking about.

But, she should have known, known the real Victoria. She had information about almost all the dukes in Victoria. She might be the person with the most information about Victoria. She should have been able to blurt out what Victoria was.

It is an empire, a country with top industrial strength, a country with a total population of 40 million, a...

She racked her brains to choose the words, but found her mind was blank. She suddenly realized that she didn't seem to understand Victoria.

I don't understand the country where I was born.

Cracks...appeared.

Noah did not miss this opportunity and directly tore apart the originally unbreakable shell. As a result, the girl named Elizabeth Victoria who was surrounded by the shell was finally exposed in front of her. She curled up in a corner, desperately guarding a lamp... a broken lamp that could go out at any time.

Beneath the shell of the Grand Duke, Elizabeth Victoria seemed to have started at a certain moment... and has remained at this moment ever since.

That lamp was her Victoria.

-

"Brother, will you become the emperor in the end?"

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

"Will the Emperor protect everyone?"

"I don't know either, but after becoming emperor, I will definitely be able to protect more people. I want the people of Victoria to be proud of Victoria."

The young girl looked at the boy beside her, comforting her to sleep. The precocious girl had never felt love from anyone else, not even from her mother, who didn't even glance at her before she died. She simply stared at the portrait, the portrait of her father, her eyes never closing until her death. Later, she learned that after giving birth to her, her mother went mad after realizing she wasn't Aslan, and because of this, she was alienated by her father... In the end, her father never even returned to see her.

Only my brother would come to see me.

Whenever he was coming, Elizabeth Victoria would dress herself up. At first, she needed the help of her maid, but later she learned how to put on makeup by herself. In order to keep the only person who cared about her, she tried her best to show her best side, trying her best to keep her brother, or to keep his care.

Perhaps her feelings began to deteriorate from that moment...

When Elizabeth tried her best to please her brother, when she revolved around her brother, when her brother was the only one in her world who could give her love, it was not surprising that she fell in love with her brother.

What's even funnier is that people like me are not alone in Victoria's history...

And at that time, that brother was her Victoria.

In other words, for most of her life, her brother was her Victoria.

That was her lamp, a lamp that she knew could go out at any time, but she hunched over and protected it desperately, even though her own body was burned.

But even so, she was betrayed by her brother.

From then on, her Victoria disappeared.

She had to find something else, something that would convince herself to go on living, to replace the void.

So she chose the mission given to her by Old Castle.

She became Caister.

It seemed that no one ever mentioned the name Elizabeth again until today, when Noah called out her name.

Elizabeth Castle Victoria.

She closed her eyes, never having felt her mind so clear before. After a long moment, she opened them again, and they seemed much clearer than before, no longer filled with complex calculations or gloomy shadows. She looked at Noah Kyrielight and spoke.

"—what did you do to me?"

"As compensation to you, my ancestor, the Protector of the Country, must apologize for what he did to you." Noah breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Duke Caister's demeanor visibly relaxed. "That fairy, the Protector of the Country, will never again bestow blessings on anyone in Victoria. This is my promise. Her blessing (curse) has left Victoria, and Victoria no longer needs her."

This was not a verbal promise, but Clovisia really vowed that she would never bless anyone again. Of course, although it was called a blessing, in Noah's eyes, it was essentially no different from a curse.

Her blessings don't care whether the person is willing to accept them, nor do she consider after-sales issues. This guy really has no responsibility at all and just gives blessings.

Of course, Noah couldn't ignore this kind of thing...

"That fairy..."

"Just call her Clovisia. That's the name she uses now."

"Well, Clovisia, what did she do to me? To be honest, I still don't quite understand..."

"This is indeed difficult to explain, but I can put it this way. She will bestow [blessings] on any mortal she likes." In fact, Clovisia's ability is somewhat similar to Noah's, but Noah's seed is gentler. It will not force others to change, but will provide assistance when others try to change. Clovisia's ability is quite different.

You can think of Clovisia as a [wishing machine]. As long as you pray in front of her, she will grant the person she likes the power to make their wish come true.

Of course, this fulfillment might not be what the wisher envisioned... For example, when a dying person prays for life, Clovisia grants them immortality, allowing them to rapidly recover from injuries and prevent aging. Once this blessing is bestowed, it remains in effect unless Clovisia withdraws it. What Clovisia did for these two siblings could be considered a kind of wish fulfillment.

After Elizabeth was betrayed by her brother, Clovisia appeared before her again and bestowed upon her a blessing that buried her true nature, transforming her into a Caster. Only now has the original Elizabeth truly returned to this body. The blessing (and curse) has finally been lifted.

"...Actually, I was the one who prayed to her back then, so I can't blame her entirely." Elizabeth blinked, seemingly understanding Noah's explanation. "But...it's true, it's better not to have this kind of blessing."

"..." Noah seemed to be hesitant to speak. She didn't know whether telling her that even her brother's decision to abandon her was due to Clovisia's blessing would cause her stress.

What her brother wanted was different from what she wanted. If Elizabeth wanted to forget everything and hide her true feelings.

So her brother's wish...

"...Actually, it's not all my fault. The brother and sister both made wishes to me, and I fulfilled them. The brother hoped to draw a clear line between himself and his sister, and the sister wanted to forget everything. You see, both of their wishes came true, but... the final result was not what I wanted." This is what Clovisia said at the beginning, but Noah knew very well that it was because of these two wishes that the two siblings had come to this point.

But no matter what... my fist is hard.

"Anyway... how does it feel to be freed from the curse?" Noah thought that it would be better to wait until Elizabeth really calmed down before confessing, or let Clovisia come and confess herself. It would not be good for her heart to endure too much stimulation in a short period of time, so he changed the subject.

"It's amazing... It's like waking up from a long sleep. Everything I experienced before seems like a dream..." Elizabeth explained, "... And, I also remembered some things about my brother..."

"My condolences..." Noah could only offer such comfort, "This was not your intention."

"I know, I will accept all this myself. Moreover, I also understand that forgetting everything is just an escape. I will not deny everything I have done in the past." Elizabeth was not depressed because of this. Perhaps it was because of Clovisia's blessing that she knew that escape was useless and might even worsen the current situation, so she chose to try hard to accept everything in front of her.

"...Also, I should apologize to Vina...I didn't do what an aunt should do." After Elizabeth regained consciousness, she realized what she had done to her niece. Fortunately, compared to her brother, it was not too late. "Ms. Noah, thank you for everything you have done. I will take care of the next thing."

"...You're much calmer than I thought." Noah couldn't help but sigh at Elizabeth's calmness. "I thought you would be furious or something."

"I'm not some shrew... I did have a proper upbringing." Elizabeth blushed. She couldn't be said to be the same Elizabeth now. After all, the memories of her time as Duke of Caister wouldn't fade, so the current Elizabeth could be said to be in a state of fusion to some extent. She actually possessed Caister's methods and calmness. "...And, Enchiodis, I want to apologize to you, too."

"..." Enthiotis, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, finally realized that he had a role to play. However, from the previous conversation, he also understood that Duke Kast's previous plan for Kjerag was also influenced by the blessing. "I'm sorry, I'm not entirely clear on the current situation, but what do you mean?"

"I will not attack Kjerag again," Elizabeth stated her intentions bluntly. "The garrison will also be withdrawn, but as an apology, I will not break my promise. Kjerag will remain my partner. If possible, I seek your forgiveness."

"...That's enough." Enchiodis knew Victoria's ordeal was over, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He'd originally thought it would be difficult to get through without some bloodshed, but he hadn't expected Noya to resolve the situation so easily. "I must also thank you for your support. Without your help, Kjerag might not be where he is today."

"Honestly, if the talks fail, what are you going to do, Enthyotis?" Noah asked curiously. "You should have a backup plan, right?"

"...You should have guessed it a long time ago, right?"

"So you still want to involve Rhine Life?" Noah had indeed guessed that since Kjerag alone could not fight Victoria, he might as well tie Kjerag's interests together with those of other countries. He had already contacted Rhine Life in Colombia, and they had already discussed cooperation during the previous World Expo.

As long as Columbia enters the picture, it will be difficult for Victoria to achieve her goal.

Rhine Life needed a suitable space station, and Kjerag was the perfect choice, as it was one of the few pure lands that was not affected by natural disasters.

However, if a conflict between Victoria and Columbia were to ensue, Kjerag, caught between these two powerful nations, would face a difficult situation in avoiding being swept away by the aftermath...

Now that Noah had directly resolved Victoria's issues, Kjerag no longer needed to cede any more benefits to Rhine Life, saving Kjerag a considerable amount of money.

"...I didn't hold the World Expo just for you to speculate."

"But this is also good for RhineLife, so I think it's a win-win situation."

"...Winning twice is a win-win situation." Noah was speechless. "If I were still the acting general manager of Rhine Life, I would kick you right now."

"If a kick would calm you down, go ahead and kick me, but don't kick me too far."

Enchiodis's calm demeanor was indeed irritating, but Noah was in a good mood today, so he let him go.