The Terst Empire.
The Empire was at peace after Frondier's departure.
The great devil Frondier, who had planned to swallow the Empire whole, was driven from the Empire with minimal bloodshed.
People believed that the Empire's power was that strong, and they were more united as a result of the successful handling of the devil.
Now that trust in the Empire was high, Philly's work had become much easier. Tasks that would normally have caused friction with the citizens were now being resolved smoothly.
However, aside from that,
“…”
Philly Terst, the Empress of the Empire, had recently felt a growing unease creeping up her spine.
She was currently walking down the hallway, on her way to her next task.
In front of her, a maid carrying a pile of documents was walking briskly.
“Ahh!”
While walking quickly, the maid tripped and stumbled. Her arms instinctively flailed to regain her balance, sending the stack of documents flying through the air.
Swoosh!
With a flick of her wrist, Philly gathered the papers that were about to scatter across the floor. The maid, who was about to fall, felt a gentle buoyancy that kept her upright. She was able to stand up without a scratch.
“Y-Your Majesty! Forgive me!”
The maid immediately realized it was Philly’s magic and bowed deeply.
“It’s alright. You seem busy, so please hurry along.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”
The maid picked up the neatly stacked documents and continued on her way.
Anyone who witnessed the scene would have been astonished by Philly’s high-speed casting. To complete the spell in the short moment the maid tripped...
But for Philly, it wasn't like that at all.
‘…My foresight is getting sharper.’
That's right. Philly already knew.
The power of foresight, a gift passed down from her ancestor, Vala.
However, Philly’s foresight wasn't originally this accurate. It was more of a ‘feeling’ that warned her of impending danger.
‘The frequency, accuracy, and even how far into the future I can see. The power of my foresight is growing stronger.’
Philly’s foresight had allowed her to survive in the Imperial Palace and had also enabled her to protect her daughters. It was a powerful force.
So, naturally, it was a good thing that her power of foresight was getting stronger. The Philly of the past would have been happy about it.
But the current Philly felt uneasy.
Creak.
Philly entered her office, her eyes downcast.
“…Frondier. How should I interpret this?”
Philly suddenly spoke Frondier's name.
“My foresight has been getting stronger ever since you left.”
There was a time when Philly wished for Frondier to be by Aten's side.
She felt a sense of foreboding when Aten was with Aster, but that feeling disappeared when Frondier was around.
Therefore, she had judged that it was safer for Aten to be with Frondier, and in fact, she was right. It was thanks to Frondier that the Empire was able to win the war against Manggot.
However, as time passed, Philly realized something.
While trusting Frondier had turned out well, the basis for that judgment was her own misconception.
She felt uneasy about Aten being with Aster, but not with Frondier.
She had mistakenly believed that this meant Frondier was safer.
But the truth was different.
‘…My foresight doesn't work on Frondier.’
Philly felt nothing towards Frondier. Be it a premonition of danger, joy, or sorrow, her foresight didn’t react to him at all. Naturally, she didn't sense anything from Aten when she was with him either.
In fact, as the number of times she met Frondier increased, her foresight gradually diminished.
She didn’t know why. She didn’t understand the principle behind it.
But one thing was clear.
Frondier's mere presence weakened her foresight.
‘So, the closer I am to Frondier, the less my foresight reacts, and now that he’s left the continent, my foresight is constantly getting stronger…’
Looking at it simply as a mechanical relationship, Frondier and her seemed to repel each other. She didn’t know what this repulsion was, but it was there.
This meant that in order to maximize her foresight, she had to distance herself from Frondier.
Across the continent, to be exact.
“What is this nonsense?”
It was absurd.
Frondier was her greatest ally. She had never once considered him a hindrance.
Philly’s decision came surprisingly quickly.
If Frondier was her ally, then the answer was clear.
Her foresight was the obstacle.
“To be honest, it’s starting to scare me a bit.”
Philly realized that her foresight was pervading a significant part of her life.
Foresight was based on the present to see the near future. In other words, it ‘calculated.’ So it was more of a prediction than a premonition, but the probability of it being 100% accurate made it seem like foresight.
This meant it was modifiable. Just like how Philly had altered the future where the stack of documents would have spilled onto the floor.
Philly’s foresight wasn't a fixed destiny. It was simply a likely outcome if she did nothing.
So, when her foresight was triggered, it was better to check and try to modify it for a better outcome. She could almost certainly create a favorable result.
The problem was that the more frequent this became, the more her actions were divorced from her own will.
Philly’s own choices were almost nonexistent in altering the future her foresight showed her. It was practically like arithmetic.
But Philly couldn’t afford to not act. She was the Empress, the mother of three daughters, the pillar of the Empire that Frondier believed in, the one and only ‘Philly Terst.’
‘What if this foresight continues to grow stronger?’
Philly’s worry wasn’t just paranoia.
She didn’t know it, but Frondier knew the answer.
It was one of the many tragedies that could occur in the game ‘Etius.’
Philly becoming a complete ‘machine.’
Completely consumed by her perfect foresight, Philly would no longer have her own will, entrusting all her actions to her premonitions. This was possible because foresight itself was based on calculation and prediction.
This tragedy was often a path Philly chose herself, at the moment she felt there was no other way to save the Empire.
Of course, the current Philly would never think that way.
‘…Someday, I might have to…’
Knock, knock.
Just then, there was a knock on the office door.
“Your Majesty, Malia de Roach is here to see you.”
“…Malia?”
“She says it’s an urgent matter, so I let her through. What would you like me to do?”
“Let her in.”
Philly readily agreed.
She was secretly relieved. Her mind was troubled by her foresight, and she needed a change of pace.
Soon, the door opened, and Malia entered.
“Your Majesty, I am eternally grateful for your generosity in granting me this urgent audience. I sincerely apologize again for coming unannounced like this, as the information I received was too pressing…”
“You’re being too formal, Malia. There’s no need for that between us.”
Just as Philly was about to respond with a smile, as she always did,
“—Huh?”
Philly experienced a powerful premonition, unlike anything she had ever felt before.
The moment she looked into Malia’s eyes, she saw her future.
Malia, on her knees, weeping.
And lying before her, a collapsed man with black hair.
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