Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 522

522.

I barely noticed how the next few months flew by. Despite numerous objections, the Emperor stubbornly initiated the war. He even punished those who strongly opposed him, eventually forcing everyone to back down. Lamias said he didn’t seem to be controlled by the Crown Prince’s power (there’s a treasure only the Emperor can wear, the strongest mental defense magic item, so he wouldn’t be swayed by a mermaid’s charm), but it seemed his reason was truly clouded by anger over his heir’s injury.

In any case, the Emperor decided to make an example of the closest Demon God Temple and sent his army with great fanfare. They didn’t even reach the temple, being blocked at the border, but that only made the situation worse.

Countries wary of the Empire didn’t trust the Emperor’s claim that he would only attack the Demon God Temple and would never allow the Imperial army to enter their territories. Apparently, the Emperor had indeed aspired to conquer the continent in his youth. They believed he was using a plausible excuse to reveal his ambition once more. Amidst this, several other religious orders’ temples declared their support for the Demon God Temple and their intention to resist together. As feared from the beginning, it showed signs of escalating into a continental war.

Already, small and large battles were continuously erupting on the outskirts. The atmosphere in the capital had been tense for a long time due to the news of the ever-changing war situation. Anxious people began to chase after sensational stories. A love story would undoubtedly be a popular topic. In such circumstances, the tale of ‘the pitiful princess who became a sacrifice to the Demon God’ and ‘the knight who controls the wind to protect her’ was more than enough to capture attention.

Seeing the increasingly sensational newspaper articles only brought sighs, and swallowing them only brought lamentation. How did things get so twisted? I understood why the princess had designated Aাইন Idris as her guardian knight. I was the one who made Karian step down at the banquet that day, but it was Aাইন Idris who properly protected the princess. Especially in that desperate situation where he couldn’t summon spirits, he risked his life and stood against them with his bare hands, which seemed to have deeply impressed her. Of course, I was also very impressed by that sight. I also realized anew that Aাইন Idris was a brave and good person. But that doesn’t mean things should be like this.

I never expected Aাইন Idris to readily accept the position of guardian knight. It wasn’t just the newspapers creating a strange atmosphere. He was someone who had rejected all the titles the Emperor had offered to settle him in the Empire. But he readily accepted the position to protect the princess, making him an easy target for speculation and romantic fantasies.

“You mustn’t interfere in my affairs. Do you want to regret it that much?”

That wasn’t supposed to mean this. Or was it? I tried to calm my churning stomach but failed and collapsed onto the table. Thump, thump, I banged my forehead, entrusting my body to the numbing sensation. Seriously! Why! Why did Karian have to deliver that message!

Even if things went wrong, if it wasn’t that guy, I wouldn’t feel this complicated. I wish Kanos had appeared before me himself! I was about to bang my head again when something soft touched my forehead. Eluien was covering the spot where my forehead was about to hit with the back of his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“…Ahaha. Just.”

“Just abusing yourself?”

His gaze, frowning as if displeased, landed on the newspapers sprawled beside me. Seeing the headlines plastered all over them, he made a knowing expression. He probably thought I was distressed because I was going to lose the bet with Troel.

“Isn’t it okay to ignore such absurd bets?”

“How can I? If things continue like this, Minerva will be betrayed, and Troel will end up exterminating humanity.”

“Even so, you don’t have an obligation to stop it. There are inevitable flows in the world. Troel’s prophecies aren’t all fluid either. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can control every situation.”

“That’s not it. I just… I just hate the situation where both of them get hurt.”

As I answered dejectedly, he stared at me silently for a moment. He seemed curious, or perhaps he was looking at me as if wondering who was worrying about whom.

“Well. Is it just my imagination that the more you get involved, the more the prophecy seems to be fulfilled?”

“…You didn’t have to point that out, you know?”

I collapsed back onto the table like a deflated balloon. Being hit right on the sore spot I was already concerned about, I didn’t even feel motivated to get angry. If even Eluien felt that way, it probably wasn’t my imagination. Is it really because of me? Because I came here, because I interfered, is the prophecy being fulfilled as a result? If that’s the case, what should I do? Even if everything ends and I return safely, how can I face everyone?

The worries that never ended no matter how many times I repeated them started to resurface. This thought had an obvious conclusion, so it was better not to start it. In times like these, moving my body was the answer.

“I’m going out for a bit!”

Seeing me 벌떡 일어나 허둥지둥 [boltteok ireona heodeungjideung – suddenly getting up in a fluster] grabbing my bag, Eluien lightly shook his head. Lately, my schedule had always been the same, so he probably thought I was going for another meaningless run. When my head gets complicated, I run aimlessly for hours. It’s good to focus more because I don’t think about anything while running. But today, I had a destination.

I ran and ran until my breath caught in my throat. I climbed up a mountain range with no path and jumped across steep rocky terrain several times. At the summit I arrived at, there was a small plain. The scenery spread out below the blue plateau looked quite similar to a dream I had once seen. The sky seemed within reach, nameless wildflowers covered the ground, the cliff looked dizzyingly far below, and the figure standing with their back to me at the end of it.

However, the scenery below the cliff wasn’t the sea, and the hair color of the figure wasn’t blue either. In this moment, with the wind blowing fiercely enough to feel overwhelmed, this scenery suited better.

Without approaching further, I stopped and quietly watched the transparently white silver hair fluttering for a while. Eventually, the person who already knew I was coming before I arrived slowly turned around. Silver-gray eyes that found me blinked with a sense of bewilderment.

“Hello, Minerva.”

I don’t know what my expression is right now. Hoping I was smiling, Minerva blinked slowly again at my greeting. The sight of a faint smile spreading across her lips felt like something that shouldn’t be happening, and I felt breathless.

“It’s nice to see you again, Child of Water.”

Minerva, officially the Wind Spirit King and Aাইন Idris’s contractor, rarely goes out. He doesn’t have much interest in the human world, doesn’t interact with humans other than Aাইন Idris, and mostly spends his time inside the mansion. And even then, he’s only known to visit the spirit realm for a while when he’s bored.

But I knew that Minerva sometimes toured the capital alone. I knew that he liked watching people busily commuting to and from work, and that he liked walking around the shopping streets without any particular purpose. Among them, there were several favorite regular spots. All of them were information obtained from friendly sylphs from time to time. This place was also a place where Minerva spent time alone.

“I didn’t expect you to come to see me.”

“Actually, me neither.”

This meeting was quite impulsive. Honestly, I don’t even know why I tried to meet Minerva. I just felt like I had to. I had to meet him before it got any later.

“Still… I always wanted to meet you.”

I was too ashamed to be brave, but I was always waiting for a day like this. I wanted to meet in a more comfortable mood, but that would be too greedy. As I swallowed my bitter feelings and smiled, Minerva’s expression became strange. I was puzzled by the gaze that seemed to be looking at me with a bit of wonder, but I soon realized why.

“Ah, do you hate it if I’m being rude?”

“No, I don’t hate it.”

Minerva, with a smile, lightly shook his head.

“Rather, I’m glad. You get along comfortably with all the spirit kings, but I felt a bit sad that you seemed to keep your distance from me.”

Ah, I hadn’t even thought about that. Come to think of it, Minerva was the only one among the spirit kings that I respected. I just thought I had to be polite in front of others since he was a publicly known being, but I realized that it could have felt like discrimination.

“Sorry, the situations we met in were a bit like that. But this is how I usually talk. I hope Minerva will speak more comfortably too.”

“Then shall I?”

Minerva readily accepted. I was the one who was flustered by the quickly lightened tone. I could feel my cheeks getting hot, and I knew my face was flushed without even looking. Minerva lightly laughed, amused that I was acting bold and then getting shy.

“Actually, it’s wrong for me to feel sad about you. I was the one who was building a wall. If I wanted to know you, I could have come to you, but I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Aাইন is 불안해 [buranhae – uneasy] if I become close with other humans.”

I frowned involuntarily at the unexpected answer. I wondered if it was like possessiveness between lovers, but it didn’t seem to be a problem of that dimension.

“He’s an ordinary human, so he’s always worried about situations changing. He imagines situations he can’t control and worries about things that won’t happen.”

“Situations he can’t control?”

“Me leaving his side.”

“…What?”

“Because it’s a 은사 [eunsa – grace/gift] contract. He thinks that I can withdraw my contract with him and contract with someone else at any time.”

No, what is that again? As I blinked in bewilderment, Minerva smiled again.

“Aাইন is 불안해 [buranhae – uneasy] about that, you have an unbelievable face.”

“…To be honest, yes. I’m not trying to insult him, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about 변심 [byeonsim – changing heart/infidelity]. I’m a bit taken aback that Aাইন Idris thinks that way.”

“Even that he thinks he won’t change is so human.”

I just gaped and swallowed without saying anything. I seemed to know one thing for sure. Minerva even likes that about Aাইন Idris. His eyes, his lips, every expression he makes, all say so. Just thinking about it made him feel affectionate, and a happy aura was rippling all around. I had seen this face before. When I first reunited in this world, Minerva’s smiling face felt like this. It’s the face of someone who loves someone.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

A phrase I had heard somewhere came to mind. It was probably written in the Bible. Those phrases, which I hadn’t paid much attention to, felt new to me at this moment. How great it was to endure all things and bear all things. That it’s not something anyone can easily do.

I didn’t ask why the other person was him because it was meaningless. If emotions were an area that could be controlled by reason, they wouldn’t be called emotions in the first place. So I just asked something else.

“Knowing that humans can change. Do you really think you can change Troel’s prophecy?”

“Yes. I think I can change it. Humans are beings who create miracles.”

“…Even though that prophecy has already begun?”

“I still believe it. I don’t even think it’s a futile hope. There’s even someone who’s come out to stop it like this now.”

I was speechless at the warm gaze. My heart felt heavy with a sense of guilt. I wanted to sew up the mouth that had easily made any oath to keep Troel by my side. I shouldn’t have done that then. Then Minerva, who doesn’t know my true intentions, wouldn’t think of me as a good person.

“I always wanted to thank you. When I came to tell him that, Troel seemed to be in a good mood for once. After that prophecy, he had a hard time seeing me. He must have felt frustrated and angry because I didn’t believe in his prophecy.”

No, that wasn’t the only reason. But I just chose to remain silent. What Troel’s hidden truth was, even if it was a glimpse of that truth 4,000 years away, and even if that was the time when Minerva disappeared. It wasn’t my place, as an outsider, to interfere.

“Thank you for getting along well with Aাইন too. It must be difficult for you, who knows the prophecy, to treat him without prejudice, but I’m glad you’re being a good friend.”

“No, I’m…”

“Aাইন still lacks experience. Because he’s young, he sometimes suffers from unnecessary jealousy and competitiveness. But he’s a growing person, so he’ll gradually get better. I hope you’ll continue to have a good relationship in the future.”

Competitiveness.

The word that was hard to ignore was etched in my ears. Come to think of it, I heard that Aাইন Idris has been focusing more on swordsmanship lately. That he was stimulated by my appearance when I faced him without weapons when spirit magic was sealed. Every newspaper was talking about it, so I couldn’t not know. Minerva said he would gradually get better, but Aাইন Idris will not give up this competitiveness. So you’ll end up creating Blaster after all.

“…Minerva. I hope you don’t get hurt.”

It was the only truth I could utter at this moment. Minerva’s eyes widened as if he had heard unexpected words. The eyes that held the moonlight narrowed and smiled.

“Of course, I won’t get hurt.”

‘If only Aাইন Idris is by my side.’ I didn’t bother to say it, but it felt like the omitted words were clearly audible. So to me, those words came with the opposite meaning.

Minerva will be greatly hurt.

And my fault, which stimulated all these situations, will definitely be in that process. I barely managed to control the surging sorrow. I don’t regret meeting Minerva today. Rather, I felt even more relieved. But it felt like I had confirmed something I shouldn’t have confirmed.