Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 306

306―――――

I will give up on you.

We left Nudia’s territory without a single straggler or abandoned supply.

Once we crossed the border and were fully within Hispania, Marquis Volko could finally inform the soldiers about the situation.

Our late King had passed away.

Though he had his flaws, he wasn’t someone we could call incompetent. He celebrated our victory with us and then departed on his final journey.

The soldiers, who had been excited about their triumphant return, couldn’t hide their gloom at the sudden news.

As Marquis Volko said, though Edgar IV wasn’t a perfect king, he wasn’t a terrible ruler either. He was above average, so the soldiers couldn’t help but feel regret.

However, as they approached the royal capital, the soldiers, the command staff, the Nudian delegation, Military Commander Marquis Volko, and even Zion were shocked.

“You’ve worked hard, Marquis Volko Ledenen.”

“No, this is…”

“It is the late King’s will, and also the Queen’s will.”

What greeted them was not a funeral procession nearing its end after a two-week mourning period, but a triumphal return for those who had won the war against Nudia, complete with the Royal Knights waiting in formation.

Fully equipped, they welcomed Marquis Volko and his men as if they were holding a regular triumphal ceremony.

Following them, soldiers and citizens who had gathered beforehand offered their congratulations and wreaths to those who had returned victorious from the war against Nudia.

However, the soldiers’ shouts and the spectators’ cheers were muted.

It was clear that this had been planned in advance, so the Hispanian army received the welcome without much fanfare.

“…”

“…”

They simply raised their hands to acknowledge the congratulations and expressed their gratitude with smiles.

“What is going on…?”

The Nudian delegation, who had secretly received news of Edgar IV’s death, also looked bewildered.

Clearly, the late King had died, and it hadn’t even been a month, so there should have been a mourning period, not a grand event like a triumphal return. It was far beyond their expectations.

Meanwhile, Marquis Volko and Zion, who were at the front, spotted a group of people waiting for them. They immediately dismounted and paid their respects.

“Your Majesty.”

“Welcome. I have been waiting for you all.”

Queen Vanessa of Hispania, with a subtle smile, exuded an unusually beautiful and unapproachable aura.

As Marquis Volko bowed deeply and was about to speak, she raised her hand to stop him and continued.

“You must have a lot to say, but shouldn’t you pay your respects to the late King first?”

“That…”

“It was truly fortunate. In his last moments, I was able to tell him about Hispania’s magnificent power.

So don’t worry that you are late. He heard your news, smiled, and departed on his final journey.”

“Your Majesty, this triumphal return is…”

“It was the late King’s will. It was also my will.

He didn’t want Hispania’s greatest moment to be filled with gloom because of his passing. On the very day that Hispania’s heroes triumphantly return to their homeland, he could smile and leave without a shred of worry.”

Then, Vanessa said something unprecedented.

Normally, when a king dies, the Royal Knights escort the body to the royal burial grounds, but this time, she would entrust the final journey to those who were triumphantly returning.

Entrusting the late King’s final journey to the Royal Knights, who are considered the best in the kingdom and prioritize loyalty to the royal family above all else, was an enormous reward and a sign of trust.

“…”

Zion Klausen briefly looked up at the massive coffin, preparing for a long journey from which he would never return, in accordance with the return of those who had rewritten Hispania’s history.

Although he hadn’t spent much time with him, and he wasn’t as important to him as Kim Yu-hyun or others, he was a decent human being, a king, and a father.

Feeling inexplicably melancholic, Zion felt very bitter.

He had become too assimilated here to simply accept it as a plot point in a novel.

“Marquis Volko Ledenen, may I entrust the final journey of the late King, and myself who is seeing him off, to those who have brought glory to Hispania’s might?”

“…It will be an honor that will last forever.”

Thus, the soldiers of Hispania, who had achieved great feats and triumphantly returned to grace the triumphal return, were also entrusted with the extremely honorable task of escorting the late King’s final journey.

The road was not long, and the Royal Knights and the Royal Capital Defense Forces were already on standby, so nothing unfortunate could happen.

Zion moved forward and looked at Vanessa, who was trying not to show her sadness.

Until recently, she had seemed somewhat lacking as a princess, but as the saying goes, the position makes the person. Now, she looked like a perfect queen, without any shortcomings.

Looking at her, Zion was certain that Vanessa, who had once been the cause of the royal palace being attacked in the novel due to her affection for Kim Yu-hyun and her momentary inability to resist the temptation to disable the magic defense system that was spread throughout the royal capital, was no longer present.

―

“Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen of Hispania!”

After Edgar IV’s funeral, Vanessa immediately greeted the Nudian delegation without taking time to recover and received their greetings.

The delegation conveyed their condolences and presented her with a personal letter written by the King of Nudia.

“…The new King of Nudia has had the same experience as me, so he says the pain must be indescribable. He conveys his condolences once again.”

The current King of Nudia was the nephew of the former king who had been ousted by Ibe, that is, the son of the man who should have been king but died too early.

Therefore, he expressed his sympathy for the pain of losing parents and conveyed words of sincerity as someone who knew the pain all too well, rather than empty words of comfort from someone who knew nothing.

“Nudia and Hispania have had many conflicts due to long-standing animosity. But this time, it was very severe.

Shamefully, those with impure intentions infiltrated our country, defiled the royal family, and disturbed the kingdom.”

“Is that so.”

“We have now purged all those who tarnished the name of Nudia, and we will continue to trace their traces and strive to erase them completely. We have come to earnestly ask the Queen of Hispania to understand Nudia’s situation and to work for peace between the two countries.”

Depending on who was listening, it might have seemed that Nudia was taking a very humble stance.

In fact, it was natural, because Hispania had won a complete victory in the war, and Nudia had suffered a complete defeat. If the war continued, it was certain that they would suffer astronomical damage, so it was natural to take a humble stance.

In addition, the new king needed stability, and Ibe and other nobles who were reorganizing the board, and the people of the kingdom who had to endure all the chaos, needed time.

Peace with Hispania was not an option but a necessity for Nudia’s stability.

Vanessa looked back and forth between the head of the Nudian delegation and the personal letter sent by the King of Nudia, then smiled and opened her mouth.

“The King of Nudia has taken on many tasks.”

“That is correct.”

“As you said, Hispania and Nudia have certainly had many things happen, both good and bad. Of course, you know that the bad has increased rapidly recently.”

“…”

“Many people feel very sorry and disappointed about that. And there are certainly some who are angry.”

At those words, the head of the delegation swallowed hard.

Improving relations with Hispania was the mission given to him. If he failed that mission, he didn’t know what kind of punishment he would receive back home.

“But in the end, the two countries are neighbors adjacent to each other. Whether we like it or not, we have no choice but to live together.

If that neighbor is just an uncomfortable relationship, it will only lead to mutual exhaustion. Isn’t that so?”

“Y-yes, that is correct.”

“I, Vanessa Rinkle Hispania, the rightful ruler of Hispania and the head of the royal family, will answer. As long as Nudia shows the appropriate attitude, Hispania has no intention of engaging in or showing hostile behavior.

Furthermore, we understand that this incident was a tragedy caused by those with impure thoughts, and we would like to express our gratitude to Nudia for sending people first.”

Vanessa was giving Hispania an advantage while also saving Nudia’s face.

Thanks to this, the head of the delegation was able to smile brightly and express his gratitude.

After the meeting with the Nudian delegation was over, Zion was summoned by the Queen and met with her.

“Your Majesty.”

“You’ve come, Duke Zion Klausen.”

Vanessa, who accepted Zion with a smile as he paid his respects, offered him a seat.

“I have been hearing news. You completely separated Nudia and the fairies with just your words, without any major battles, right?”

“I was just stalling for time with light banter. It wasn’t me who did my job, but the loyalists of Nudia who remained in Nudia.”

“And you sent back the young woman who led those loyalists.”

“If you’re going to talk about that…”

“Enough. All events on the battlefield always prioritize the judgment and decisions of the field commanders. A monarch who argues about that later is not qualified.

If you trust them and send them with military power, it is right not to mention anything about what happens afterward.”

Zion smiled in gratitude at Vanessa’s words.

Afterward, she wanted to hear Zion’s stories that she hadn’t heard before while drinking tea, starting from the time when he was leading the Hispanian army and was ambushed by the enemy and hit by an arrow.

The part where he used that to lure Nudia’s 1st army deep into the area, using a magician (Trisha’s existence is still known as a trainee knight) to artificially create a wall, corner the enemy in a narrow place, and intentionally open the back to allow the enemy to escape.

Using the northern tribes, who had completely turned to the pro-kingdom side thanks to Zion’s efforts, to completely annihilate them, achieving a great victory that would go down in the kingdom’s history.

“At that time, I captured Ibe, the only daughter of the Nudian chancellor.”

“That woman who came to our Hispania as Chess King before.”

“At the time, I didn’t realize she was the chancellor’s only daughter.”

“Yes. She was such a veiled figure that we missed it. Anyway, it was a really good move to save her and send her back to her country.”

“I was lucky.”

At Zion’s answer, Vanessa suddenly smiled meaningfully and stared at Zion.

Zion wondered if there was a problem.

As he looked at her, she opened her mouth with an ambiguous expression.

“Tell me honestly. Did you have any other thoughts?”

“Yes?”

“Did you think she would do such a big thing in Nudia from the beginning?”

“There’s no way that could be the case. I just…”

“If not, did you secretly have feelings for her?”

Zion was speechless at Vanessa’s sudden question.

He had no feelings for Ibe, so he didn’t feel like he had been caught, but the look in Vanessa’s eyes as she asked that question made him feel uneasy, and he kept thinking about Vanessa in the novel, who had a history of blowing up the entire royal palace.

“Your Majesty, even if I’m a reckless young nobleman, I’m not the kind of person who would be so obsessed with a woman in a war situation that I would do such a stupid thing.”

“Ahaha! I’m just kidding. I don’t think you, of all people, would be shaken at such an important moment because of just one woman.

Aren’t you the one who even rejected the past me who would become queen?”

Zion had to feel the discomfort of sitting on thorns because it felt like there was a barb in that last word for some reason.

He didn’t know her when she was a princess, but now that she had become queen, she suddenly had so much dignity that he wondered if she was really the same woman.

“When the late King heard your news and left my side after leaving a few words, do you know who I desperately thought of first?”

“…”

“It’s you. Duke Zion Klausen, it was you. At that moment, I just wanted to cry in your arms, tears that I would never be able to shed again in my life.”

“…”

“Of course, you were in Nudia at that time. Above all, I thought that you and I were not right for each other. Even so, I desperately thought of you at that time.

I even thought about grabbing you now, keeping you by my side, and making you a man that only I could hold.”

*This is dangerous. Should I just run away?*

He had all sorts of thoughts.

As Zion couldn’t answer and was just avoiding Vanessa’s gaze, she smiled as if she knew this would happen and continued.

“So I called you like this, and I will declare my intentions again in front of you, for me, for you, for the royal family and Klausen, and even for all of Hispania.”

Those words that he had practiced in his heart hundreds and thousands of times, but those words that he couldn’t say because of the lingering feelings he still had.

Nevertheless, those words that he eventually had to say for himself and for the man in front of him.

Vanessa, now that she was queen, slowly recited as if swearing to herself.

“…I… I… you, Zion Klausen. I will give up on you.”

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

I think we’re about 70 percent there…!