Pr: Helen
When the unprecedentedly heavy snowfall stopped, Djerba regained its original season. In the warm wind, the snow that had piled up on his clothes suddenly melted and disappeared without a shape, and the bare tree branches sprouted green leaves. It was spring now. At least it would be, if he left this room, which still felt like the middle of winter.
Everyone noticed the frosty demeanor of Erhart.
“So.”
Smack~ Erhart threw down the papers with a frosty expression and looked around his audience. Every time their eyes met, his subjects would hurriedly lower their heads as though they were mimosa that retracted its leaves when one touched it. Erhart glared at them with a sharp expression.
“… I’m sorry. Our wizards immediately headed to Argen to detect magic waves, but found no other characteristics.”
In the end, the imperial palace’s chief wizard could not overcome the silent pressure and gave an answer while sweating profusely.
“It wasn’t a storm, or being stuck on a reef, and it was just a coincidence that not one, but five ships were wrecked?”
The emperor had a face bright as the sun, but looked gloomier than the darkness.
Roman really wanted to run away if the situation allowed it. He had been a head wizard in name only for a long time. He was considered to be no less famous than the founding emperor, Albert I. Since the return of the emperor, the empire that has regained its status as a magic empire had long since fallen into disrepair.
He was sure he was not the only one who felt this way, wondering if everyone here felt the same way. Indeed. As proof of that, a faint sigh and swallowing sound was heard from behind.
“Roman. I don’t think I gave you all that time for an answer like that.”
“As Your Majesty said, five ships, from fishing boats to warships, were wrecked. If this was magical power, there should have been traces left, but we couldn’t find any.”
“It’s not the work of pirates either.”
Nils Canavan, who came from Arhen on behalf of the Count, also seriously added that it was virtually impossible for pirates to sink a warship anchored in the port.
Even if it wasn’t Nils Canavan’s report, he never thought it could be the work of pirates. Erhart glared at the papers spread out on the table.
[One warship, four fishing boats, reason unknown. There are no victims and survivors have incomplete memories.]
It was an urgent dispatch from Arhen. Except for one fishing boat, none of them were caught in a storm while out at sea. The day was clear, the sea breeze was calm, and the storm was calm.
However, the ships that were anchored were unable to withstand the sudden turning of the water and were pushed away, ending up in the deep sea where the depth of the water could not even be measured.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The memories of those who had gone out to sea to lower fishing nets and survived were incomplete and could not be relied upon, and since answers could not be sought from nature, Erhart ordered an investigation for traces of magic as soon as the urgent news arrived.
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At the beginning of his reign, he stayed at the main palace for a long time because he needed time to deal with what the previous emperor had done and to wipe away all traces of him, and in recent years, he often stayed at the main palace out of necessity, so even though there was no inconvenience or lack of anything, dissatisfaction built up.
“…”
Also, the sharp fatigue caused by the nightmare that started again.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty.”
Erhart lowered his hand from his temple to rub his puffy eyes, then glanced at Roman, who cautiously opened his mouth. At the sight of his blood-lined, blue eyes, Roman flinched and took a step back, but then he thought about his reputation and cleared his throat.
“I looked into past literature just in case, and I found a similar case from hundreds of years ago.”
“… What?”
“Unfortunately, most of the records were lost, so we were unable to find out the context.”
The fact that something similar had happened in the past meant that this was definitely not a natural disaster. Erhart’s gaze turned to Nils Canavan.
“Canavan.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Are there any legends or rumors floating around in Arhen?”
Nils Canavan rolled his eyes and pondered. Legend. … Legend. He searched his mind, but there was no way he knew such things, as he had only been interested in swordsmanship, horseback riding, or estate management his whole life.
“Ah!”
When he answered that he had no idea, how cold and pitiful would the emperor look at him? Nils Canavan, who was furiously racking his brain, could only think of one thing.
“Well, there is a legend about mermaids.”
Snickers and sighs came from all directions. In the face of reactions questioning whether a subject fit for children’s fairy tales would be brought up in the presence of the emperor, Nils Canavan braced himself for a reprimand and closed his eyes tightly. However, contrary to expectations, the emperor did not speak sharply.
Normally, Erhart would have also reprimanded Nils Canavan for discussing beings in fairy tales. However, the moment the head wizard mentioned a document from the past, the ancient document I read in Arhen came to mind. The reason was unknown, but he had encountered ancient literature about mermaids there.
“… Mermaid.”
As he muttered, the bright blue sea and something of flowing turquoise came to mind like a dream. A vague shape was pictured in my mind, but before it became clear, it dissipated along with a crushing headache.
“How about taking a short break?”
Jurgen, who was closely watching Erhart’s rib cage rising and falling, intervened at an appropriate time.
Jurgen was good at being perceptive and intervening. The reason he, who had been staying at the palace for the past few days, was called back to the main palace to help was because he knew how to serve Erhart without getting on his nerves.
“… That would be a good idea.”
Putting his physical condition aside, it wasn’t something that could be answered right away anyway. It was even more ridiculous, but…if it was truly a mermaid’s doing, was it even possible to resolve the issue? How do they fight against an entity that could not be reached?
“Next time, you should come up with at least a plausible answer.”
Erhart gave detailed instructions for them to search the old documents again and offered to open the imperial library if necessary. As he waved his hands and gestured for them to leave, his subjects took in a breather as he gestured for them to leave. He looked around at it with pitiful eyes and turned his head.
Only after everyone had left did he loosen his tight cravat and sink into the chair. Erhart’s face was filled with deep fatigue.
These days, he hadn’t had enough sleep again. Perhaps it was to some extent because of what happened to Arhen, but he couldn’t fall asleep again. He often fell into a light sleep, and when he finally fell asleep, he suffered from unclear nightmares. Even if it was tolerable, the thing that made him particularly sensitive was…
“By the way, Your Majesty. There is someone who wants to see you.”
“I don’t feel like it, send them away.”
His nerves were already getting the best of him. He wasn’t in a situation or mood to meet anyone. Erhart briefly considered whether to move to the sleeping palace, but he shook it off. Even if it wasn’t Arhen’s business, he still had a lot of work to take care of, and if he went and saw that guy’s face and even talked to him, he didn’t think he would want to come back.
“I took him to the drawing room.”
“Jurgen.”
Erhart’s voice became fierce. The drawing room’s adjacent room was the bedroom connected to the main palace. So, the drawing room, being a drawing room, was a place that opened only with his permission. Most official matters in the main palace were conducted in places like the office or study. However, Jurgen opened the drawing room on his own.
“You’re being arrogant. What are you doing now?”
“If you see who it is, Your Majesty will praise Jurgen.”
Instead of being intimidated, Jurgen smiled softly and assured. Who did he bring in that he thought he was going to be praised? Erhart was about to laugh and tell them to toss him out right away, but he paused for a moment.
As he was leaning back, He got up and strode out of the office.
Erhart’s steps quickly reached the drawing room. Before the servant could open the door, he pulled the doorknob with his own hand. He cast his gaze at the being that remained like a landscape. A black, round crown was visible.
“…”
Rayan also raised his head from his lowered position, hearing the door opening. Erhart couldn’t help but frown before the familiar green eyes seemed strangely welcoming.
“It’s not like the servants would dare to starve you.”
Rayan’s complexion became pale.
When the insomnia, arising from an inexplicable anxiety, became unbearable, he would occasionally lie down briefly by his side at the break of dawn. However, it was dark, and Erich himself did not have the capacity to discern such things, so he did not realize it.
“I’m okay. Everyone is nice to me.”
“That’s natural.”
It was only been a few days since he hadn’t seen him. But was it possible to lose weight like this in the meantime? He wondered if he had any illness, or if it would be better to send an imperial doctor immediately to look into it? Erhart sat closer, thinking about this and that in his head.
“How long did you wait?”
“Only a little.”
Rayan, with a smile at the corner of his eyes, stretched out his hand. A white and delicate hand wrapped around the back of his hand. If someone else had done that, he would have shook it off, but he just raised his eyebrows and stayed silent.
Because deep down, he was happy with this temperature.
Erhart slowly lowered his body and rested his face on his shoulder. It had a familiar smell. The pounding headache subsided. The nerves that had been standing upright as if he was going to stab someone also felt like they were calming down. His stiff expression relaxed.
“…”
“…”
Since no one spoke first, there was silence, but it was not uncomfortable or annoying.
“Your Majesty.”
It was Rayan who caused a stir in the short silence. Instead of raising his head, Erhart slightly turned it to look up at him. His delicate jawline, and if one’s gaze went on, would be able to see his slim cheeks and fluttering eyelashes.
“When will I be going?”
Okay, will that misunderstanding be cleared fast or not?
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Holy moly, I caught up??? It’s a cliffhanger too noooooo
Thank you for the chapters. 🩷
Ahhh, tengo tantas ganas de saber cómo continúa la historia.
😭😭😭😭