“…….”
Sopien had fallen asleep. Keiron watched over her in the form of a knight.
Though she had clearly collapsed as if fainting from agony, her face was more peaceful than ever.
Whether she had escaped the golden prohibition through this, or been liberated from the fate bestowed by God, was not yet known.
But in the eyes of Keiron, the Emperor’s Knight, at least his liege’s countenance was peaceful now. Devoid of worry or concern, it was filled with confidence. The smile at the corners of her mouth was vivid.
“It is a smile Your Majesty has never once shown before.”
Gently, and with quiet pride. A smile neither too deep nor too faint.
A humble beauty, like any other ordinary human of this continent; a humble beauty, like wildflowers swaying by the roadside…….
“……Who is it?”
Then, a voice came from behind. Keiron turned toward it.
It was Ipeurin, who had hurriedly returned to the sanctuary.
Her eyes went wide as she saw Keiron and Sopien lying on the floor.
“Huh?!”
“Ipeurin, is it?”
Keiron hoisted Sopien onto his back. Ipeurin swallowed drily and nodded.
“You have done a good thing.”
Keiron gestured with his eyes toward Yulri inside the tube. Ipeurin scratched the back of her neck hesitantly.
“Ah, well, that’s…….”
“Knight Yulri deserves to be saved for a better life.”
Keiron’s words were, at the very least, no empty platitude.
“……Yes.”
She nodded curtly.
“Very well. Hurry and check Yulri’s condition. Furthermore, if there is anything you need from now on.”
Keiron took out a knight figurine the size of a finger from an inner pocket of his armor. And placed it on the table.
“Speak to me.”
“……Is this you, Sir Knight?”
“It is.”
Ipeurin nodded for the moment, but soon asked the most fundamental question.
“But why did you come here? Her Majesty?”
“To kill Yulri.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Because Yulri stole Dekyulrein’s heart.”
“What!”
Ipeurin’s eyes flared wide. She rushed over and peered at Yulri inside the tube.
Fortunately, Yulri was unharmed.
“……She seems fine, though?”
“Because Her Majesty changed her mind.”
“Huh? What do you mean…….”
——At that very moment.
The reverberation of demonic energy flashed through Ipeurin’s mind.
The faint approach of someone’s presence.
“It’s Dekyulrein!”
“……Dekyulrein?”
“Hide, hide quickly! If he finds out you’re here, you’ll be in trouble too!”
Ipeurin hastily dug a pit with magic. She pushed Keiron and Sopien inside and covered them with a barrier of mana. This, too, was an application of the ‘nanotube’.
Thud—
Thud—
Footsteps echoed.
Ipeurin let out a dry cough and turned around. In the darkness, a figure flickering with demonic energy.
He had indeed killed the demon, yet Dekyulrein was still engulfed in that demonic energy.
“……Professor.”
Dekyulrein was dangerous right now. It was right after fighting the demon. His eyes were purple even now.
“…….”
He stood silently, casting his gaze about his surroundings. Silence pressed down upon the space, and Ipeurin’s tension gripped her up to her jaw. She couldn’t help but worry about the pit where she had hidden Sopien and Keiron.
“So you were here.”
Demonic energy wafted from Dekyulrein’s mouth like smoke as he spoke.
Ipeurin spoke.
“I’m trying to save the Knight.”
“…….”
Even so, Dekyulrein remained composed. He merely stared at her without any reaction.
Ipeurin added as if making excuses.
“It’s true. How I’m going to save her…… I’ll explain all of that too.”
The principle by which she would save Yulri. A ‘time magic’ unique to Ipeurin, blending science and magic, as well as natural medicinal herbs.
Ipeurin explained it.
However, there was one crucial part that still weighed on her mind.
“Of course. If we turn back time, Knight Yulri will forget all the memories from this period.”
That Yulri would forget her own memories.
Dekyulrein would never accept that fact.
Because he was the one who loved Yulri more than anyone. Because he would be unable to bear being forgotten in Yulri’s mind.
“But!”
Ipeurin, whose legs had been trembling, shouted first in a burst of courage. She picked up the diary on the table.
“In this diary, Knight Yulri wrote entries. In her own handwriting, imbued with her own mana. So when Knight Yulri awakens, she will learn of everything again.”
Thud—
Then, Dekyulrein moved again. He approached. In the form of a Yukeurain more threatening than ever, with demonic energy flickering across his entire body.
Ipeurin blocked his path.
“What are you trying to do?”
“……Such things are nothing more than fake memories.”
“Huh?”
His words were somehow ambiguous.
Ipeurin frowned and asked again.
“Then, are you telling me to let her die while remembering you?”
Dekyulrein looked down at her wordlessly. Ipeurin grew slightly angry.
“Is it better for you that she dies while remembering you right now? Better than Knight Yulri coming back to life?”
“Even if she comes back to life in this manner, she would be living with fake memories. A life without any meaning or value.”
“……Wow.”
Heat flared up in her head.
Had she misjudged this professor all this time?
Who would have thought—did he really mean for her to just die rather than forget him?
Dekyulrein spoke.
“Step aside.”
“I won’t let you. If you want to go, you’ll have to knock me down first.”
Ipeurin spread her arms wide. She intended to block Dekyulrein’s advance with her own body.
“Foolish, Ipeurin.”
“Hmph! I’m pretty strong now— ugh!”
Kwaaaaah——!
An enormous force of mana pushed her aside.
As if struck by a car, she fluttered through the air like a paper doll before crashing to the ground.
“……Ugh, kuh…….”
A 「Telekinesis」 of overwhelming mass.
Her whole body ached as if a tidal wave of steel had surged into her.
And it was even a surprise attack. He could have at least given her time to put on her armor…….
While she groaned in pain, Dekyulrein had already reached Yulri.
“Wait!”
That shout was lightly ignored.
He gazed at Yulri inside the tube for a moment, his face rather wistful and affectionate.
Then he picked up the diary with one hand.
“What…… are you doing……!”
Ipeurin forced her battered body up. Dekyulrein glared at her and spoke.
“Do not overstep yourself.”
“……What.”
“I am telling you not to reverse it.”
“No!”
In an instant, mana blazed in his grip. A destructive inferno mixed with demonic energy.
It was obvious what it would destroy. At least, that was what Ipeurin thought.
She reached out and cried.
“Don’t!”
Fwoooosh—!
Something burst into flames.
And…….
“…….”
Ipeurin blinked blankly.
The sanctuary was steeped in silence.
“……Huh.”
Something had definitely burst into flames.
Yet, it was something different from what she had expected.
“……?”
In Dekyulrein’s hand, which the dazed Ipeurin was watching.
Black powder…… trickling between his fingers.
What had crumbled to ash was not the ‘temporal cylinder’ in which Yulri slept.
But Yulri’s diary.
“……Why?”
Ipeurin asked again with a vacant expression. Then Dekyulrein turned around. Ipeurin’s body flinched.
He spoke as he approached her.
“……The reason I let Yulri go.”
His voice echoed calmly in the dark sanctuary.
“It was because I wished for her to live freely.”
Dekyulrein knew.
Escaping from Dekyulrein—no.
Only by escaping from Dekyulrein could Yulri finally obtain freedom.
“It was because I wished for her to spend her remaining life solely for herself.”
“……!”
Ipeurin’s pupils trembled.
She realized his heart, a little too late.
“……I acknowledge you for trying to save Yulri.”
Dekyulrein said, walking slowly.
Step, step.
Was it merely her imagination that his gait felt especially forlorn?
“However…… do not rob her of the chance to live freely.”
Ipeurin looked up at him.
He extended his hand to her, who had fallen.
“Her second life must belong to her alone.”
“…….”
“I must not exist within it.”
Gazing at that hand, Ipeurin thought.
She had indeed misjudged Dekyulrein.
Truly, she had judged him differently.
This professor was a mage so dogmatic it bordered on excess, and at times too arrogant and haughty, dismissing and scorning people too easily, yet when it came to the heart that loved a single person, more than anyone else…….
Thud-
Dekyulrein’s eyes suddenly closed. He collapsed just as he was, hand still outstretched.
“Huh?”
……In such a cliché situation, the direction of the fall was usually the problem.
“Uh.”
Dekyulrein fell over Ipeurin, as if embracing her, collapsing on top of her body.
Poof—
The sound of enveloping.
“…….”
Ipeurin’s face turned beet red as she unconsciously held him in her arms, and Keiron, watching them, stood up.
Ipeurin asked him for help.
“Sir Knight! H-help me—”
“You look well together.”
“What do you mean, well! Take him away, hurry—”
Ipeurin shook her head violently, but Keiron coldly exited the sanctuary.
* * *
……Three days later.
Quite a few matters had been decided following the demon intrusion incident.
First, Bel’s dismissal and imprisonment.
It was a severe punishment for daring to conceal the demon’s appearance.
Second, Emperor Sopien’s return to the Empire.
Because the great incident of the demon threatening Sopien’s life had occurred while the shock of the Imperial Palace raid had not yet faded.
Sopien had no choice but to return.
“This is the blueprint for the Grand Self-Destruction (大自滅) magic circle.”
As a result, I was negotiating with Ideunik.
Emperor Sopien and Ideunik of the desert were together engaging in formal negotiations and discourse.
“In exchange for submitting this blueprint, what we desire is autonomy for the desert. It matters not whether the Empire annexes the desert as territory or erects borders. We merely wish for the continued existence of the desert and the tribes, and their proper preservation.”
“…….”
I looked at the grand magic blueprint that Ideunik had modified at will. It was considerable enough to be called a strategic weapon.
“Your Majesty. Are you all right?”
Behind him, in the back room concealed by a partition, Sopien—who had been observing the negotiations—let out a dry cough.
—Very well. However, in the annihilation expedition, you must cooperate.
“Of course. Our human intelligence network controls the information in the desert. We also have spies in the temple, so we shall aid Your Majesty with all our resources.”
Ideunik, having finished speaking, handed documents to me.
“Furthermore, while the desert can sustain itself to a certain degree, it is not without need for external supplies. Thus, some agreements related to trade may be necessary.”
—Trade, you say.
Sopien used 「Telekinesis」 to bring the documents over and read them.
—……Nothing of note. I permit it. However, do not employ Jeokgwae in all this process. I am not yet ready to face Jeokgwae.
“Yes. Your Imperial Grace is boundless.”
Ideunik bowed his head once more, then brought up a slightly uncomfortable topic next.
“However, while we are fully prepared to cooperate with Your Majesty in this way, there are many desert tribes hostile to the Empire. Because of this recent tribe suppression incident—”
“There is someone I have prepared for such an eventuality.”
This time, I spoke.
Ideunik had no idea, but I said the name.
“Bel.”
The bastard currently locked in the underground dungeon, his arms and legs severed.
“Take Bel. He will serve perfectly as an outlet for their anger. After all, Bel was the one who most directly perpetrated the tribe suppression.”
For a moment, a smile spread across Ideunik’s lips, but he quickly composed his expression and spoke.
“……Your Majesty. Is this truly acceptable?”
—Take him. Raise him in a pigsty if you wish, or let him live as a plaything for life before killing him. Do as you please.
Sopien, having finished speaking, held out two letters patent.
One was the Emperor’s consent to this agreement, the other an order to hand over Bel from the underground dungeon to the desert.
Ideunik asked, as if amazed.
“Surely, did you intend this from the moment you seated Bel in a key position?”
—Hmph. It was likely Dekyulrein’s idea. Truly, he is a man who slays his political enemies with terrifying precision. No wonder he didn’t lift a finger regarding the minority tribe affairs.
At that, Ideunik looked back at me, but I said nothing.
Sopien waved her hand.
—The negotiations end here.
“……Yes. Your Imperial Grace is boundless.”
Idnik gave me a look and went outside, and I rose from my seat as well.
“Your Majesty. I will also convey this matter to the retain—”
—Deculein.
Sophien cut me off and opened the screen.
Shrrrk— As the screen rose, Sophien’s face appeared between the gaps, somehow looking embarrassed.
“……Wait. I have a gift for you.”
“A gift, you say.”
“Yes.”
Ahem. Sophien cleared her throat and said,
“It is both a reconciliation I offer you and—”
“Your Majesty’s sentiments are gift enough for me.”
“You little shit.”
Her face crumpled fiercely as she cut me off.
Left with no choice, I nodded.
“Yes. I will accept it.”
“……Good. There is no need for such pointless words. And it is nothing much, so just shut your mouth and take it.”
Sophien held something out from behind her back.
“…….”
At the sight of it, my mind stopped thinking for a moment.
“……What is the matter?”
It was a small flowerpot.
In her hands was a very small flowerpot.
“Is it too small and worthless……?”
Her voice asked anxiously.
As she said, there was only a very shabby cactus in the pot, blooming a very tiny flower.
“……Say something.”
It was so small and shabby, so ugly that it could hardly be called a flower.
And yet, here and there it bore the traces of Sophien’s hands and care, looking very much like a child she had treasured and raised with affection.
“…….”
I stared at it without a word.
I could not think of what to say, or how to answer.
It had been far too long since I had felt this flustered. It was partly because it was so unexpected, but also because memories from long ago surfaced all at once.
Receiving something like a flower as a gift was, since becoming Deculein, the very first time in my life……
No.
Since “that person” from the days when I had been Kim Woojin, it truly was the first time.
“Deculein?”
“I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s grace.”
I spoke hurriedly.
Because my heart was pounding with an agitation so strong that even I was surprised.
“I shall take my leave.”
And so, after only bowing at the waist, I quickly left outside……
* * *
Creeeak—
Deculein left as though fleeing, and the door closed.
Immediately afterward, Sophien muttered blankly.
“……It worked.”
She was certain.
It still seemed as though the aftereffects of “emotional injury” had broken various senses in her body, but this was not because of that.
She was simply certain.
“That heartbeat just now.”
The moment she handed him the cactus flower.
In Deculein’s heart, without a doubt.
There had been a very great emotional disturbance……
“Keiron! Call Lia!”
—Yes.
Sophien cried out urgently. She summoned “that child” who had given her such precious advice.
Creeeak—
Before long, the door opened, and Lia came in, asking back with an innocent face.
“Yes, Your Majesty. What is the matter?”
“It worked!”
“……Worked, Your Majesty?”
As Sophien rejoiced like a child, Lia tilted her head with her eyes wide in puzzlement.
“What you told me. It worked.”
“……?”
“The flower. I am talking about the flower!”
Sophien elaborated. She proudly laid out this tremendous achievement.
“At a single shabby little flower, Deculein’s heart trembled.”
“Ah…….”
Only then did Lia seem to understand.
“That man’s heart beat in a meaningful way. I heard that sound.”
Sophien spoke excitedly, but Lia’s complexion was not entirely good.
“……That is fortunate, Your Majesty.”
“Yes. Then, recite them.”
However, at this moment, Sophien had no attention to spare for Lia’s condition.
“What…… do you mean?”
“There must be more, must there not? Anything at all. Tell me the things Deculein might like.”
Of course, Sophien wished for Deculein’s happiness. Even if she herself was not part of that happiness, if Deculein could be happy, she could willingly give him up.
Because that was love.
——However.
Not even attempting it did not suit her nature.
No, a coward who did not challenge had no qualifications to be Emperor.
“Each time one thing works.”
Therefore, this time, she would be fair and square.
In a head-on match.
Without killing someone or engaging in schemes and stratagems.
She would approach Deculein with her own sincerity.
“I shall give you any treasure you desire. A treasure of the Empire, that is.”
Sophien declared, thumping her own chest.
“…….”
Yet Lia, the one concerned, gave no answer.
Surely she ought to have been happy.
But for some reason, Lia’s heart felt dark, as though it were rotting away……
“Lia?”
Sophien asked in puzzlement.
Lia clenched her teeth and said,
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
However, it was necessary to distinguish public from private.
Because Deculein was not Kim Woojin, and for the sake of clearing the main quest, for the sake of Sophien’s mental health, and to obtain the treasures that filled the Imperial Palace.
“I shall assist you.”
Above all, as “Lia,” not Yu Ara.
It was something she absolutely had to do.
“……Good. I shall trust you.”
Sophien smiled brightly and clasped Lia’s hands.