- I speak the truth, I would swear my life on it!
Duke Aegir has become that horrible man's puppet,
[cdb]dancing in the palm of his hand.
- And his stewardship? Naught but a farce to pacify
[cdb]the masses.
- Thales and his ilk are the ones who truly hold the
[cdb]reins of this Empire!
- You mean the mages we saw at Arianrhod. So Duke
Aegir's under their control, too...
- Yes. And what's more, though you may find it difficult
[cdb]to accept...
- Thales and the former Lord Arundel are one and the
[cdb]same! I overheard as much cross his own lips.
- Then it's as we feared. And what of Edelgard?
- Her Majesty? I cannot explain what has befallen her.
- She does as Duke Aegir bids her, and nothing more.
Though of course, Thales is the one whispering those
[cdb]orders to him from the shadows.
- She follows his every word, issuing his orders in
[cdb]her name.
- Now, surely I have shared secrets enough to earn my
[cdb]salvation?
- That will require formal deliberation. You may await
[cdb]your verdict from the inside of your cell.
- What?! No, wait, there's more! Please, I beg of you!
- How much of Fenja's prattling do you believe?
- Certainly not all of it. But a great deal of what she
[cdb]said rings true.
- Lord Arundel's contributions to the church must have
[cdb]ceased because he was no longer Lord Arundel—
[cdb]but Thales instead.
- It's almost identical to how the librarian, Tomas,
[cdb]was replaced by that dark mage.
- At the time the donations stopped, Lord Arundel was
[cdb]living in Faerghus, having fled from the Empire.
- So Cornelia may have been the one who arranged
[cdb]to have Lord Arundel replaced.
- They were both deeply involved in the Tragedy of
Duscur.
- But to what end? Why would the Empire abduct
[cdb]the queen consort?
- There is no way of knowing those answers now.
Not until we defeat Thales and launch a full
[cdb]investigation into his activities.
- What I can say is, everything would be different if not
[cdb]for those mages.
- My father, his knights, the citizens of Duscur...
None would have met the fate that befell them.
- ...
- No doubt they had a reason for what they did—
[cdb]a sense of justice that rationalized their savagery,
[cdb]even if to no one but themselves.
- But we have the right to seek our own justice for
[cdb]those actions in the way we see fit—by the sword.
- We will prevail, Your Majesty. And we will finally
[cdb]avenge the dead.
- Once Thales is gone, we will finally be able to put all
[cdb]this behind us...and look toward a new future.
- Indeed. We will have no satisfaction while these
[cdb]demons still draw breath.
- If we ever hope to greet those we've lost with our
[cdb]heads held high, we must settle this here and now.
- Then we are all in agreement. Let us go.