I Will Fulfill the Role of the Villain-Chapter 143

Theo didn’t say anything else beyond mentioning that he had something to give. When they arrived at the Commander’s Office, Zion greeted them both. They exchanged brief nods before stepping inside. The last time he’d come here flashed through his mind—when he had asked Fail to sign his retirement request.

The interior layout hadn’t changed much since Fail had used the room, but piles of documents and reports were stacked high in several corners. It was immediately obvious just how much time Theo spent buried in his work.

While Luke was casually looking around inside, Theo opened a drawer and pulled something out.

"What is it you’re giving me? I’m looking forward to this, you know?"

Luke grinned as he saw Theo approaching with something in his hand.

"I’m not sure if it’s something that’ll meet your expectations."

Luke reached out his hand. A moment later, the cool touch of metal brushed his palm. Luke’s eyes widened the moment he saw what it was.

"...A button?"

It was a button from a military academy uniform. Instinctively, Luke turned it over to look at the back. As expected, Theo’s name was engraved there.

A memory of the academy graduation tradition surfaced. It was customary for cadets to hand over a button from their uniform to a cherished comrade, a gesture wishing for their safety during the rough road ahead in military life.

"It’s yours?"

It was obvious, since Theo’s name was right there, but the fact that Theo still had his own button was hard to believe.

Theo had always gotten along well with his classmates. Luke had just assumed he would’ve handed something like this off to someone without much thought. Now that it was resting in his own hand, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

"I wanted to give it to you on graduation day."

"...To me?"

Theo gave a soft smile.

"But I couldn’t. You and I weren’t exactly close enough to be exchanging something like this back then."

Even in the academy, Luke and Theo had been rivals—well-known among their peers for their fierce clashes over the top ranking spot. The idea of the two of them exchanging buttons at graduation was utterly unimaginable.

"So you’ve been holding onto this all this time? Why didn’t you just give it to someone else?"

"Maybe I kept waiting... thinking someday there’d be a moment when I could finally hand it to you."

Theo had kept that button with him through everything. Even after graduating and enlisting, even after leaving the mansion and living at the military headquarters—he brought it along and kept it somewhere visible. But still, he never once considered giving it to Luke. Their relationship in the military wasn’t much different from the academy days.

Yet the reason he kept it was because of a sliver of hope. A stubborn belief that someday, he might actually get to press it into Luke’s hand.

"Today, I finally get to give it to you."

Luke stared down at the button. It was just a single button, and yet it carried such unusual weight. It must have been filled with all the unspoken sincerity Theo had never been able to express. Luke clenched his hand tightly around it.

"Luke."

Theo gently brought that clenched hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"Good luck."

"Yeah."

"It’s okay even if the mission fails. If it looks too dangerous, you can pull out and come back."

The warmth of Theo’s lips lingered on his hand.

"Doesn’t sound like something a Supreme Commander should say."

"That wasn’t the Supreme Commander talking."

Theo softly caressed Luke’s cheek.

"It’s coming from someone who treasures you more than anything."

"Got it. I won’t get hurt, and I won’t let things get dangerous. And..."

Luke paused for a moment, then lightly pressed his lips to the button in his hand.

"I’ll come back after successfully completing the mission."

That wasn’t just empty bravado. There was firm confidence burning in his eyes. Theo gave a slight nod. The die had already been cast. Luke would leave today for the mission. And there was only one thing Theo could do for him now.

"I’m sorry for putting so much on your shoulders. I believe in you, and I’ll be here waiting."

No matter how anxious, no matter how scared—trusting Luke was the best support Theo could offer him now.

"Oh, right. But I don’t have a button to give you."

Luke said as he tucked Theo’s button carefully into his chest pocket. He didn’t even know where his own button was anymore. He’d given it to Ria, but apparently she’d handed it off to some pitiful man. So getting it back was impossible.

"I wish I could’ve given you mine too."

If he’d known things would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have given it to Ria—he would’ve kept it.

"Ah, but don’t get the wrong idea. I really did keep it myself, you know? It’s not like I just handed it to someone thoughtlessly."

Luke quickly added the explanation, just in case Theo thought he’d given it to another classmate. But Theo only smiled, as if he found the whole thing adorable.

"If you still had it, would you have given it to me?"

"Of course."

Theo pulled Luke into an embrace. He rubbed his lips against Luke’s forehead, as if by habit, and gently ran his fingers through the back of Luke’s hair.

"Do you remember what I said before? That you’ve already given me so much."

Luke stayed quietly in Theo’s arms, soaking in the clumsy yet affectionate touch. Even though Theo was saying he was fine, the regret was still there. If the mission went well and he returned, maybe he should go find Ria and ask just what kind of “pitiful man” she gave it to.

And so, Luke swallowed down a completely misplaced sense of regret—never realizing that his own button was quietly sleeping in one corner of Theo’s drawer.

***

The Empire of Welharun, in the West.

During the former Emperor’s youth—his golden years—Welharun had once been a nation renowned for surpassing even the Hainern Empire in economic power and cultural development. But as time went on, its progress slowed. Now it lingered at a plateau and had already been overtaken by Hainern.

Even so, Welharun continued to thrive enough to maintain a long-standing peace treaty with Hainern and still held its place among the great powers.

Dozens of carriages stretched in a long line along the road to the Imperial Palace. Some bore the flag of Hainern—inside a few were the Foreign Minister and his subordinates; in others, tribute goods meant to symbolize the upcoming alliance with Welharun.

"The plaza kind of feels like Rudrain, doesn’t it?"

Paul commented, turning his gaze out the window. Behind the carriage carrying the Foreign Minister at the front, Luke’s group—the detachment unit for this mission—was seated.

"Yeah."

Luke watched the scenery of the plaza flash by with a bored look. This was Saintelem, the capital of Welharun. As the commercial hub of the region, Saintelem Plaza was bustling with activity.

"But... something feels off..."

Just like Levi had pointed out, the mood wasn’t right. The merchants setting up stalls and the people walking around all wore gloomy expressions. It looked like their faces were weighed down with worry and concern—completely opposite from the bright, lively faces Luke had seen in Rudrain Plaza.

"Seems like the atmosphere inside Welharun isn’t too great, just {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} like Captain Leo’s report suggested."

Though not completely certain, at least from the looks of this plaza, Leo’s report that the palace had increased taxes and tightened restrictions on the people seemed accurate.

"It’s the First Prince who’s overseeing the government now, right?"

"Yes, that’s correct. It hasn’t been officially announced by Welharun, but the former Emperor hasn’t appeared in public in quite some time. The Foreign Ministry has even sent us an official notice."

"Then the one greeting the delegation will be the Prince."

Luke fell into thought. The former Emperor of Welharun was known to be a pacifist. Unless he’d gone senile, it was unlikely he would’ve betrayed an allied nation or tried to backstab them.

For example, the time Benzie had first come to the Hainern Empire coincided with the period when the First Prince took over state affairs. That made it highly probable that the betrayal of Hainern—and the collusion with Nox—had been the First Prince’s doing.

In that case, digging into the Prince’s connections with Nox might lead them to solid proof. Luke was curious about what exactly was happening in Welharun and why the former Emperor had suddenly gone into seclusion, but for now, Hainern’s safety was the top priority. To ensure that, they had to uncover exactly what Nox and Welharun were plotting and find solid evidence.

Just then, Paul cast a glance at Luke, who was deep in thought.

"What is it?"

Luke asked first, sensing the gaze.

"Ah, I was just curious about what you’ve been holding in your hand all this time."

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Paul motioned slightly toward Luke’s hand. He had, in fact, been clutching something ever since they crossed the Hainern border and entered Welharun.

"Oh, this?"

Luke glanced down at his palm and smiled faintly. The button engraved with Theo’s name caught the sunlight streaming through the window and shimmered.

"My lucky charm."