The Serpent family’s domain is not the land. However, as members of the aristocratic families that officially rule the Republic, they naturally possess their own territory.
Sicily, an island in the southern part of the Republic of Veneto.
It is a land blessed by nature, blocked on all sides by the sea and rocky reefs. It is an isolated fiefdom, the Duchy of the Serpent, where one can neither set foot nor leave without the Serpent family’s permission.
“Well, now. I suppose the sun really will rise in the west today.”
A handsome man with hair as blue as the sea and a pure white coat shrugged his shoulders.
“To think that the ones who walk the night would actually grace this humble island with their presence.”
Unexpected faces were standing in the fortress of their family, a place where people rarely ventured.
“You haven’t changed, Admiral Rafaello.”
The two members of the Nightwalker family—the head, Laila, and Sien.
“I greet the esteemed Grand Duke of Nightwalker and Don Sien.”
“Lady Marine.”
The young head of the Serpent family and his younger sister, along with quite a few other members of the family, appeared before them.
“It has been far too long, Duke Nightwalker.”
They were there as well.
“It is good to see you looking so healthy, Don Ursulak.”
The man’s hair had long since fallen out, and his wrinkled skin barely clung to his bones as if it were sagging.
“Your jokes are a bit much, Donna Laila.”
His appearance could only be described as that of someone on the verge of death.
Nonetheless, the man was an ancient monster who had stubbornly clung to the end of his life, ruling the Serpent family for an unimaginable amount of time.
Don Ursulak and everyone else there were no exception. All nine of them were ancient monsters, their backs hunched and their skin as shriveled and gaunt as mummies.
“I greet the nine elders of the Hydra, the esteemed Council of Sages of the Serpent family.”
The Hydra, the mythical serpent with nine heads.
“And I behold the Mother of Assassins, the Duke of Nightwalker.”
***
Officially, the head of the family is the one who rules. However, just as the title of ‘Governor’ who officially rules this country is nothing more than a figurehead, the same is true for the Serpent family.
And those currently standing before Sien and Laila were the true rulers who practically governed the Serpent family.
The conference hall within the fortress.
Even inside the stone-walled room, the scent of the sea breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks felt faint but present.
“I won’t make this long.”
Laila spoke as she looked down at the breaking waves and ripples beyond the window.
“Withdraw the marriage proposal between Lady Marine and the Third Prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom, Eric Charlemagne.”
“And accept our family’s proposal instead.”
A cold silence, as if things were freezing over, settled upon the conference table.
“Regrettably, we cannot do that.”
After the silence, Ursulak, the head of the Council of Sages, answered.
“We shall also keep it brief. Withdraw Don Sien’s engagement proposal immediately.”
The heads of the Council of Sages, who called themselves the nine-headed serpent Hydra, continued one after another.
“As a ‘woman of the Serpent family,’ that child has a duty to spread our family’s bloodline and influence far and wide.”
At those words, a dark shadow cast over the expression of Marine, who was sitting with them.
“Grandfather, I…”
“Silence.”
Before Marine could even open her mouth, one of the sages who claimed to be one of the nine heads of the Hydra answered.
“This is not a place for a mere girl like you to intervene.”
“And why is that?”
“!”
Sien asked back. His voice was incredibly bold.
“She, Lady Marine, is the party involved in this marriage proposal. How can you have any discussion while ignoring the will of the party concerned?”
“How dare a girl interfere in the family’s political affairs?” one of the Serpent family sages said.
Sien burst into laughter at those words.
“Did you say a girl shouldn’t interfere in family matters?”
He simply laughed because it was so absurd.
“Ah, those are truly heartbreaking words.”
Laila, the Mother of Assassins standing beside Sien, also burst into laughter.
“….The case is different from the Nightwalker family.”
“Well, let’s say it is.”
The Hydra sage belatedly tried to fix the situation while breaking a cold sweat. Laila continued speaking without concern.
“By the way, it’s very strange.”
“What is strange?”
“A mermaid who has a child with a human becomes a human.”
Laila tilted her head as she continued. At her words, an even deeper shadow cast over Marine’s face.
“So, what kind of influence does a ‘monster’ that cannot be called human intend to exercise over a child between Lady Marine, who has become human, and a Prince of Charlemagne?”
“Duke Nightwalker, we have tolerated your rudeness and tyranny long enough.”
It was then.
Don Ursulak, the head of the Hydra, spoke up.
“But do not mistake that your stubbornness will be justified just because you put forward the name of the Star and Dagger.”
He did not shrink back, even before the pinnacle of the Nightwalker family, the Mother of Assassins.
“I don’t know how well that childish intimidation worked on the humans on land, but you should know it won’t work here.”
Ursulak replied coldly.
“That is, if you want to leave this island alive.”
Even though this Sicily was land, it was the territory of the Serpent family. No one could enter or leave without their permission.
Because this was, quite literally, their domain.
‘Leave alive—is it.’
Moreover, it was even more so since they had already entered.
“It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
Laila gave a nonchalant smile.
“I came here strictly to speak of peace.”
“Peace!”
Ursulak snorted at those words. He looked as if he found it truly ridiculous and absurd.
At that moment, seawater from somewhere unknown began to surge and fill the room where they were.
“You people always commit atrocities under the name of the Star and Dagger, then force compromise and peace upon your enemies.”
“Because peace is better than war.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Is there anything in the world as precious as peace?”
Laila answered calmly, and Ursulak’s expression distorted even more coldly.
“War and peace. That is your family’s way.”
Ursulak, the leader of the Hydra, said.
“You mean to say it’s better to yield to your demands and cater to your whims than to wage war with the Nightwalker family.”
“Of course. As I said, I dislike war.”
Laila said with a smile. It wasn’t a lie. She did not like war.
To be precise, she disliked wars where they were the ones fighting.
“Do you think I don’t know what the Nightwalker family has gained so far by forcing cowardly peace and surrender upon its enemies?”
Ursulak asked back.
“I have watched along with the history of this country as your enemies catered to your whims and listened to your demands—repeatedly surrendering in a compromise that peace is better than war—only to eventually have everything taken from them.”
He spoke with the dignity befitting the head leading a family.
“History has taught me.”
War and peace are not a matter of choice between the two.
“What you are proposing is nothing more than surrender, beautifully packaged under the name of peace.”
Whenever the enemies of the Nightwalker family compromised and chose peace to step back, they would eventually reach a point where they could no longer retreat.
And the Nightwalker family does not desire ‘peace’ from an enemy that has lost its will to fight.
Because peace was not what they wanted from the beginning.
“My, how wise you are.”
Laila laughed coldly. It was a chilling smile.
“Truly, I’m no match for Don Ursulak.”
“Our family will not choose a cowardly peace. Even if we lose everything.”
Because that was the way to protect true peace.
“Then, I shall ask one last time.”
Laila asked again in response to Ursulak’s words.
“War or peace? Which is it?”
“It is war.”
Laila nodded.
In a voice that was cold and devoid of any trace of emotion, with the previous leisure and smile nowhere to be found.
“Is that truly the will of the Council of Sages?”
“There is no need to ask twice. We shall fight.”
Don Ursulak answered. He spoke with a determination that held not a single shred of hesitation or doubt.
“It seems you have misunderstood my meaning.”
“What?”
“What I asked was strictly for the consensus of the Serpent family’s Council of Sages—the nine-headed Hydra.”
As she spoke, the corners of Laila’s mouth twisted coldly.
“Not just you alone.”
In an instant, Ursulak’s face turned white. The color drained from his face, and he gasped for breath with a pale complexion.
The nine members of the Council of Sages who claimed the name of the Hydra, the mythical nine-headed serpent.
“Just when did you—”
However, not a single ‘head’ among them… except for one, raised their hand.
“Ah, as I thought.”
In the silence, no one raised their hand. There was only a freezing silence.
“It seems the consensus of the nine-headed serpent is that ‘peace’ is better than war.”
Laila chuckled with a smile as creepy as a snake’s.
“See? Isn’t it great because it’s peaceful?”
Ursulak’s limbs were trembling. It wasn’t because of fear or terror. He simply could not contain his rage.
“Now then, shall we have a peaceful conversation according to the proud tradition of this country… the Republican ideology?”
Laila continued speaking, unconcerned.
Not to Don Ursulak alone, but to all nine sages.
“Is there anyone here who agrees to cut off the head of the foolish warmonger and attach a new head right now?”
Eight sages raised their hands simultaneously.
—And that was precisely what Republicanism was.
“You bastards, you actually…”
“War isn’t the only way to achieve peace in this world.”
Laila said.
Furthermore, that was precisely one of the things the Nightwalker family was best at in this world.
“As you said, Don Ursulak, the Star and Dagger is not an opponent you can compromise with by weighing options.”
Therefore, Laila continued speaking in an emotionless voice. Without an easy smile or anything of the sort.
“We have already made a promise, and to truly fulfill this promise, we are prepared to endure ‘any bloodshed.'”
True to those words, war and peace were not a matter of choosing between the two. The Nightwalker family knew that fact better than anyone.
At the same time, this was how they obtained peace.
Bribery, schemes…
“You… you damn traitors!”
And finally, assassination.
*Slash!*
Before anyone realized it, Ursulak’s body collapsed on the spot.
Like undoing a knot that loosens when pulled, the seams holding the living form together came undone all too easily.
*Thud.*
The severed head rolled hollowly across the floor. Only then did the silent Admiral Rafaello stand up.
“With this, the promise with the Nightwalker family shall be kept, esteemed elders.”
He was the young and ambitious head of the Serpent family, the party involved in the bribery and schemes who had connected Laila with the ‘remaining eight heads of the Hydra.’
“As well as the promise made to me.”
He was the man who had now taken the position of the leader of the nine-headed serpent, which had become vacant.