Chapter 269
Be More Dignified Than Anyone (2)
The door soon burst open, and a handsome court knight ran into the room, looked at me, his expression eventually hardening.
“Carls.”
No matter how many times I called his name, he did not approach, rather standing there for a long time.
‘Dump!’
Then, he suddenly got down on his knees.
“…I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
The feelings contained in the sorrowed words that he barely managed to utter were so complicated that they ate even at my heart. I felt that I wanted to reach out and raise him to his feet right away, but my body refused to obey. Even Adelia, who was clinging to me, was already too much of a match for my fatigue to contend with. By that time, I had already given up on trying to push her away. My clothes had long since become wet from her tears and runny nose anyway, so I didn’t even feel like pushing the matter any farther.
“Stand up, Carls.”
Inevitably, I encouraged him to rise, but Carls was more solid than a stone statue. He shook his head, and I sighed as I looked at him when-
‘Kudangtang’
Someone opened the door loudly and entered the room.
“My lord! Ah! Ah!”
It was the Marquis of Bielefeld. However, his usually neat appearance was truly a spectacle to behold. His clothes were crumpled, and his hair, not properly trimmed, was all messed up. Tears lingered in his eyes, so I tried not to laugh at once. Forcing myself to hold back my laughter, I gently spoke to the marquis.
“Will you raise up Carls next to you there? I haven’t slept properly and skipped some meals, so I’m afraid I’ll end up falling.”
The marshal opened his eyes wide. Carls also raised his head, trembling as if he had been hit by a lightning bolt. Even Adelia, who was wriggling in my arms, looked up at me as she stemmed her tears.
“Why?” I demanded with a frown. I couldn’t understand why they found my words to be so amazing. Meanwhile, Carls, who seemed as if he would kneel there for days, arose.
“I’m sorry. Recent events have caused great concern,” Carls stated.
“Well, so far, we all feel that way,” the marquis brusquely answered Carls, and I felt that he spoke more openly than was necessary. I turned my head to Bielefeld.
“By the way, seeing you appear so quickly, it looks like you were in my palace.”
“I… happened to be here,” the old man answered, and I saw he tried to hide his face from me. I felt even more troubled about his attitude. While I blatantly stared at the marquis, a nasty smell pierced into my nose.
“Did you drink?”
“Because of my heart…” Bielefeld did not deny my observation.
“I think you’ve been drinking my liquor,” I told him, narrowing my eyes.
“That’s not what matters now!” the marquis suddenly shouted.
While I, the owner, had lost my mind, the thief had drunk my alcohol at will. I saw that he shuffled his feet, and wondered if he was back to his bad old habits, but it didn’t seem like it. Bielefeld’s expression was too serious for that.
“The Duke of the North has said he will take revenge for your Highness, and is attracting troops to his cause!”
My heart pounded, sinking into my chest. My head was dizzy. I saw Vincent, his neckless body, his head rolling over the floor before me. My breath ran out.
“Well, Your Highness?”
Hearing Adelia’s voice, I snapped awake. It seemed that I had inadvertently hugged her tighter, squeezing her against me. She frowned, and I saw subtle traces of pain on her face.
“Ah, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Adelia shook her head, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Her feelings of concern and dearness were so clearly conveyed by her gentle touches that I was able to forget, if only a little, about the terrible visions that had beset my mind. However, the cold panic in my heart remained the same.
“Where’s Vincent now?” I asked in a cracking voice, and the old man’s mouth clenched shut tighter. He had lost the self-confidence he had possessed when I had just woke up, and it took him several attempts before I was finally able to hear his answer.
“He is stationed at Templar Castle with the northern army. His Majesty has left the palace to persuade the duke from his course of action.”
I became out of breath again. Thoughts of Vincent occupied my mind, he who had proclaimed bloody revenge along with countless frontline soldiers. It seemed that the scene I saw had happened around this time, and my heart throbbed at the thought. At the same time, I was relieved. Inwardly, I constantly told myself that I was glad to wake up now, glad that I was not too late.
After a while, I said to the marquis, “Quickly, send a messenger.”
Bielefeld didn’t ask me what to say because both he and I knew that all that was needed was word that I had woken up, word that I was waiting for Vincent. That simple message would be enough for the duke, maddened by his drive for revenge, to come to his senses.
The marquis didn’t hesitate, and immediately ordered a nearby palace knight to find the sharpest riders among the cavalry squadrons and send them out as messengers.
‘…er…sir..’
At that moment, I heard a faint voice come from outside the palace.
‘…ther! … Brother!’
Little by little, the voice got closer, and it seemed as desperate as the quacking of an abandoned duckling looking for its mother.
“It seems that his Highness the Second Prince also heard the news,” the old marshal said with a bloody smile, also having heard the voice.
“Brother!”
And soon after, the master of the voice appeared.
“Maximil-”
Before I was finished speaking, Maximilian had already run into my arms.
“Brother! Brother!”
He even forgot to keep his face princely as he sorrowfully wept, calling out to me countless times.
“Brother!”
“Okay-”
“Brother! Brother!”
“Yes, here I am.”
I tried to express my gratitude for his meaningless, fervent outcries “Brother! Brother!”
However, it was all too much, and I became completely exhausted by Maximilian calling me over a hundred times.
“You’re driving me crazy.”
I looked at Maximilian, who clung to me like a sticky leech, and I looked at Adelia, right next to him.
As I watched them both, occupied by sharing the left and right of my body like brother and sister, a sigh came from me. Looking at me like that, Bielefeld chuckled, then laughed.
“Marquis- Don’t laugh like that. What did you do?”
“This is all your Highness’s own work.”
“Then, will they keep coming to see me like this?”
“Just be patient.”
For some reason, Bielefeld’s way of trying to calm me was very annoying, but he wasn’t really wrong, so I just repeatedly sighed. And so, countless people visited my palace. However, the marquis made sure all of them left, saying that I needed absolute stability considering my condition after just waking up. This time, I felt grateful toward the marquis.
If everyone had pushed into my room at once, I would have soon lost the joy of life.
Night came.
Maximilian, who had resisted leaving until the end, had also gotten dragged away by Bielefeld, and only Adelia remained by my side. I asked her what had happened after I had failed to wake up. Holding my hand firmly, Adelia looked at me with her puffy eyes. After a long time, still looking at me, she said that I had been dead, and was then revived once again.
It was only then that I realized how little she knew. However, she was Adelia, not anyone else. She didn’t know how the fundamentals of mana and souls functioned, and she must have stuck by my side, crying all the time.
“Yeah. What’s important is not the past.”
I reached out and touched Adelia’s cheek, and she rested her face lightly on my hand. She looked sad as my fingertips touched her skin; her once-plump cheeks were so thin.
“Now it’s done. It’s done, and I’m back.”
Adelia, whose tears always came so quickly, nodded her head at my words. She squeezed her lips as if she would burst out crying right away. I whispered to her that it was okay again and again. How much time passed with the two of us like that?
Adelia fell asleep. I haven’t been able to get proper sleep for a while, but I felt relaxed. While trying to stand up, I realized that she was still tightly gripping my hand in sleep, laying on her back.
“Don’t just stand there, come in,” I said. I stared at the door; everything was quiet, I didn’t hear the person answer.
“Will you come in?” I said again, not giving up. The person must have been very hesitant, for the door opened only after a long time. Beyond the open portal, I saw a woman who was dear to me. It was Arwen. She stood tall within the doorframe, just looking at me. Her usual piercing eyes were lowered as if she had committed some great sin, and she constantly touched her one hand with the other.
I sighed.
Arwen Kirgayen, as I remembered her, was a knight more confident than any other; now, she looked small and slender. She hadn’t known back then what I was asking of her, and she surely believed my death was partly because of her. All of this must have brought great hurt to her heart, and many troubles. She must have pushed herself endlessly down because of her guilt at having brought me to my death. As I looked at her emaciated form, I wondered if I had asked too much of her.
I opened my mouth again and again, not able to think about what I could say to comfort her.
“It won’t happen again.”
I only spoke after a long time, and the words I uttered were very insignificant in my opinion. Arwen still didn’t answer me.
She just looked at me now and again, constantly gazing down. Numerous emotions flared up in her eyes and then gradually faded. Finally, her feelings became completely imperceptible.
“You are back well.”
Her words, which she hesitated a long while before uttering, were as crude as mine. However, neither one of us rebuked the other for our shared crudeness. We merely looked at each other for a long time.
Then, after a while, she silently nodded, closed the door behind her, and was gone.
I sighed without thinking and suddenly saw Adelia’s eyes move beneath her eyelids. She had apparently awakened to the sound of Arwen and I speaking. I didn’t know why I thought about it, but the terrible future Ophelia had shown me came to my mind. In that reality, Adelia had regarded Arwen as her enemy. I didn’t know for sure but had I never woken up, Adelia would have hurt Arwen countless times with words that were contrary to her nature.
That might be why she did not have the courage to face Arwen this night.
“It’s all my fault.”
I still held onto Adelia’s hand, with her eyes remaining closed.
“I did something that I could do to no one else.”
I whispered again and again until Adelia once more fell asleep.
**
The next day, as the sun rose, Bernardo Eli visited my palace.
The smell of alcohol emanated from his entire body, and I figured he had still been drinking before hearing the news and running straight here.
“Do some washing and then come back.”
Even in the face of my rebuke, Eli just blankly stared at me.
“You… It’s really true what they told me?”
Then, after a time, still stupefied, he spoke. I could see the emotions on his face. That was the nice thing about Eli.
“Then who else can I be?” I inquired.
At my words, Eli bared his teeth and breathed heavily. His red face seemed as if it would shed tears right away.
“Really!” He exclaimed.
“What really?”
“Really, really!”
Eli, repeating the same words without end, suddenly raised his hands and ran to me—as if he would hug me right away.
“No!”
However, he was stopped by Adelia before even reaching me.
“Why do you bring that filthy smell closer?”
Faced with Adelia’s innocent words, his face showed his shock.
“I… I’ll be back soon.”
The guy left without saying goodbye, and soon returned dressed in clothes that were not soaked in alcohol.
“Is he decent now?” I asked quietly, meeting Adelia’s eyes. She gave a small nod.
“My lord, ah!” Eli cried.
“Don’t come! Just stay there!” I shouted at him with disgust.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a hug?”
I neatly disregarded the guy’s question, which he asked with a wounded expression.
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