The year 997 in the Ines calendar was a year with an unusually large number of incidents and accidents.
All sorts of scandals that shook the capital city continued to break out without a break throughout the year. The scandals showed no signs of cooling down even at the end of the year, and instead, they ended in a flashy ending. This was thanks to the sex scandal involving the noble and perfect Duke Seraph, who had not a single flaw in his life.
The sex scandal that exposed the sex life of the Duke of Seraph shook the noble society. Even nobles who were not interested in social circles knew about the sex scandal of the Duke of Seraph.
Even though Duke Seraph tried to deny the rumors, the rumors showed no sign of dying down.
Rather, it was like a spark was thrown into a dry straw, and it quickly spread and burned fiercely, becoming a fait accompli.
Thanks to this, Duke Seraph was able to avoid making public appearances as much as possible. He was afraid that if he showed up at a banquet hall or something, it would cause more useless rumors.
In fact, if it had been just a rumor, it would have been defendable by Duke Seraph’s line. However, the reason why Duke Seraph failed to extinguish the rumor despite his best efforts was simple. It was because there was a force that controlled the rumor so that it would not be extinguished, but would spread further and grow in size.
It was none other than Duke Wade.
By betrothing Heyla Wade, the only daughter of the Duke, to Astin Targayel, the Wade family became completely bound to Targayel.
Shan wanted to keep the threat at bay in the capital while Targayel was gaining ground on the borders. Duke Wade was dutifully carrying out this role alongside Targayel's vassal, Marle Sephir.
Duke Wade, who was busy working in his office today, stopped signing the end of a document and looked out the window. It was snowing. Duke Wade muttered as he looked at the falling snow.
“It’s almost New Year’s.”
As the new year approached, Duke Wade was busy with year-end work. He was also busy with the tasks requested by Cirxus, and he felt like he had ten bodies.
While he was busy working, Duke Wade's secretary came into the office. He was holding a letter tray in his hand. On the tray were various letters sent to Duke Wade's family, arranged in order of importance. The secretary picked out two letters that Duke Wade needed to check first and placed them separately on the desk, saying:
“These are letters from the Princess and the Count Targayel.”
Duke Wade nodded slightly and opened the letter from Heyla. It was a letter asking for his well-being, saying that she had safely arrived at the dormitory and unpacked. Duke Wade stared blankly at one of the phrases written in the letter.
"...I always celebrated New Year’s with my father, but I regret not being able to do so this year. Instead, I decided to celebrate New Year’s with Astin."
Heyla returned to Aquis College before the end of the vacation. She would not be back in Baluar for a long time. The inevitable separation was bittersweet.
Duke Wade carefully placed Heyla's letter in the top drawer of his desk. Then he picked up the letter from Targayel.
Unlike Heyla's rambling letter, Targayel's was a single, brief word. Duke Wade read it aloud.
“Getting going...”
The next target that Shan Cirxus designated after Duke Seraph was Marquis Geth.
The Marquis of Geth was one of the major forces following the Duke Seraph. However, they were not a family that would rank high on Targayel's list of murders. Many other families would have been better to defeat first.
Nevertheless, the reason Geth was nominated after Seraph was simple: Shan Cirxus held a personal grudge against him.
Cirxus had not forgotten what Geth had done at the trial for the murder of the Crown Princess. Under the orders of Duke Seraph, they attacked Targayel in the courtroom and revealed that Erzenes of Targayel was the same person as Elze of Elijah.
In addition, according to Cirxus, the Marquis of Geth had been rude to the Countess. In full view of Shan Kiraxus.
“It’s the law that you have to pick out people and then attack them... No, isn’t it an animal rather than a person?”
Duke Wade put down the letter with a smirk to himself. In any case, the Geth who had fearlessly attacked the foul-tempered beast was going to pay dearly for it. While he was organizing the letter with his secretary, a second knock was heard.
“Your Excellency, Sir Lovell has arrived.”
“Catinson Lovell? Take him to the reception room.”
Duke Wade roughly organized what he was looking at and stood up. Catinson Lovell was a new knight who had recently joined the Imperial Knights. He had passed the Imperial Knights’ entrance exam, called the Needle Hole Test, with flying colors, and was a talented person who was drawing attention for his tall appearance and outstanding skills.
Several nobles have already been eyeing him, but surprisingly, Catinson is a follower of Targayel. The Duke heard he has a connection to the Countess of Targayel.
But all Duke Wade knew was the incident at the previous masquerade ball. He had unknowingly challenged Shan Cirxus to a duel and was beaten to a pulp.
A normal man would have been resentful of being treated so humiliatingly. But for some reason, Catinson contacted Targayel as soon as he joined the Imperial Knights.
In Targayel, they decided to recruit Catinson to the rebellion and connected him with Duke Wade, which is how they made the appointment to meet today.
When Duke Wade entered the drawing room, Catinson, who was sitting in his seat, jumped up and greeted him.
“This is Catinson from Lovell.”
After exchanging greetings, Duke Wade drank wine with him and had a light conversation. While chatting with him, Duke Wade felt inwardly impressed. Targayel was outwardly banished to the border and had lost all ties. However, he was so loyal that he contacted him first to help.
The young knight who was loyal, and the Count of Targayel who brought out such loyalty, were both great. Duke Wade smiled and said to Catinson.
“I never thought you would follow Count Targayel... I had no idea he had accumulated so many virtues.”
Then Catinson, who was sitting upright and taking a sip of wine, answered quickly.
"No."
Duke Wade looked at him curiously. Catinson spoke confidently.
“I swore allegiance to the Countess, not to the Count.”
“...?”
“The reason I became a knight of the Imperial Order was to help Countess Targayel.”
It was Catinson who spoke like an honest and pure-hearted person.
Duke Wade sighed and drank his wine in silence. He thought that the jealous Count Targayel had somehow managed to leave him alone.
But in the current situation, it was obvious that Catinson, a member of the Imperial Knights, would be of great help. Duke Wade put down his wine glass and began to speak seriously.
“Then, without further ado, let’s get to the point.”
And he said it bluntly.
“Create a force in the Imperial Knights. As soon as possible, and on a large scale.”
Catinson asked, a little embarrassed.
“May I ask why you say that?”
Duke Wade burst into laughter at Catinson's reaction, then slowly opened his mouth.
"We are..."
The old Duke declared with more lively eyes than ever before.
“Because we plan to devour Baluar.”
Elze was handcuffed to him and forced to roll around on the bed.
Lying in bed, her whole body ached. Of course, it was partly because she had been in a heated relationship while she was sick, but it wasn't a very pleasant experience.
But unlike Elze, who was depressed, Shan was the complete opposite. He seemed so happy that he was humming a tune. It seemed that he really liked having Elze handcuffed and stuck together. He was worried that it wouldn't work if he asked her to do this often.
Being locked in a windowless barracks, she lost all sense of time. However, judging by the number of times she ate, it felt like she was held captive for a whole day.
Meals had to be taken inside the barracks with Shan, and it felt really strange to eat with him while handcuffed.
“Yes. You should eat this too.”
She had to sit across from Shan at the table and quietly eat the things he handed her. Elze felt a familiar sense of unease as she munched on the pieces of ripe vegetables Shan handed her.
Thinking about it, he had fed her when she had injured her right arm before. This time, her injured arm was her left, and she felt bad for always relying on him, so she snatched the bowl from Shan.
“I can do this much.”
Then she swung the knife with only her right hand. After the chain clanked a few times, the vegetables on the plate were cut into small pieces of exactly the same size. Elze looked at Shan triumphantly and asked.
"How is it?"
But he didn't seem to like it very much. Shan snatched the plate from Elze again and said discontentedly.
“Don’t try to do it alone. Just rely on me.”
“But I’m afraid you might have a hard time...”
“What’s so hard about it? It’s a rare opportunity for me to take care of you.”
Elze looked at him with a mixture of embarrassment and incredulity.. Shan stubbornly stabbed the cut vegetables with his fork and offered them to Elze. Elze muttered as she took the food.
“...I didn’t know you had a hobby of raising children.”
“Raising a child? It’s just good to take care of you.”
Despite Shan's excuses, Elze looked at him suspiciously. Then, she showed him the handcuffs tied to her right hand by shaking them, and Shan smiled.
“Oh, I can’t lie.”
How could she ask him any further when he was talking so slyly as if he had already found out? Elze just laughed along with Shan.
After dinner, Shan and Elze lay down next to each other on the bed, hugging each other tightly and talking in soft voices.
The conversation was really trivial. It was nothing special, just small talk.
But Shan, who was holding Elze in his arms, looked at Elze with happy eyes as if she was enjoying the story more than anything else. Her eyes were like the warm sunlight of midday, and after a while, she felt drowsy. Elze nodded off, continued talking, and eventually fell asleep.
How long had she been asleep? Elze stretched out her body and looked around.
“...?”
Shan was nowhere to be seen, and the handcuffs were unlocked.
“!!”
Elze jumped up from her seat. Now was the time to escape. If only she could sneak out and come back later... or at least have a chat with the knights in front of the barracks. Elze was wrapping herself in the blanket and preparing to run away in earnest.
“Elze.”
Shan came inside, pushing the barracks open. Elze quickly jumped onto the bed and covered herself again with the blanket. Then she blinked and looked at Shan as if nothing had happened.
“...”
Shan raised his eyebrows at Elze's appearance. He probably noticed Elze's escape attempt. However, he pretended not to notice. Instead, he showed her what he was holding in his hand. Elze said with wide eyes.
"Flothes?"
What Shan had brought were Elze's clothes. Elze happily accepted the clothes he offered her. With Shan's help, Elze put on the clothes and asked quietly.
“Are I free now?”
“Yes, a free body.”
He said with a smile.
“I’m afraid that if I keep you locked up any longer, you’ll run out of the barracks naked.”
“...”
Elze, who had just attempted something similar, felt a little guilty. Shan grinned and said to Elze,
“You know what?”
"What?"
“It’s almost New Year.”
Elze was so surprised that she opened her eyes wide and asked Shan again.
"New Year?"
“Yes. Ines calendar year 998.”
“Oh my God... Already like that.”
It was a frightening New Year. Come to think of it, she's been out of her mind lately. Elze was swept up in all sorts of events like a torrential downpour, and she didn't even know how time passed.
In the year 998 of the Ines calendar...
Elze felt strange as she pondered the number 998. Now that it was 998, there were only two years left until the millennium. If it was short, it was short, and if it was long, it was long.
And on the day that marks the 1000th anniversary, it will be determined whether Shan Cirxus is truly the demon who will destroy the continent.
Suddenly, her heart became heavy. When Elze showed a slightly gloomy face, Shan seemed to have guessed the other way. He brought a comb and combed Elze’s hair, muttering softly.
“We have to have a New Year’s party... This year, let’s just keep it small, just us.”
It was traditional for Baluar to throw a grand party on the last night of December. The capital city would host a grand fireworks display every year, hosted by the royal family, and it was truly a spectacle.
At New Year's parties, crispy pies were baked and shared. Inside the pies, small porcelain dolls were placed. There was a superstition that if a doll was in one's slice of pie, one would have good luck for the year. At the party, the person who had the doll in the pie became the king of the party and would shout orders.
In addition, there were all kinds of parties and events. The New Year of Baluar was a week of delicious food and fragrant wine.
But no matter how hard they tried in the outskirts, they couldn't have parties like those in the capital. Shan seemed to feel sorry for not being able to throw Elze a grand New Year's party. That wasn't the reason Elze was depressed at all.
After combing all of her hair, Shan tied Elze's hair up into a ponytail. Elze, who was ready to go out, called Shan's name softly.
“Shan.”
And she kissed Shan's forehead softly and said:
“Being with you is the most important thing. I don’t even like parties.”
Instead, she enthusiastically listed the names of the foods, saying, “Let’s eat a lot of delicious food.” Shan couldn’t help but laugh in front of Elze like that. He hugged Elze tightly and said.
“You always say things that make me feel good.”
Then he whispered, rubbing Elze's lips with his finger.
“How much should I believe what you say....”
Elze playfully bit his finger and said confidently,
“Why is this happening? I am a person who only tells the truth.”
Shan burst out laughing and kissed Elze on the lips.
Elze finally escaped from the barracks.
The first person to find was Elijah. Shan told Elze where Elijah and the others were gathered. But he didn't go with them. He said indifferently.
“Because they’re not faces I really want to see.”
Shan looked quite uncomfortable. He was deeply hurt by the incident of leaving Elze behind and returning.
In fact, to be exact, Shan was not just hurt. He was angry at them. If Elze had not returned safely from Heglatan, Shan would have cut off Elijah's head first.
Elze knew that fact. So she didn't say anything to Shan and quietly went to see Elijah. Elze quietly approached the barracks where Elijah and the others were staying and opened the door wide.
“...?”
But there was no one inside. Elze was tilting her head wondering where everyone had gone.
"Captain!"
Rapine and Tarkun entered the barracks. They rushed towards Elze and started asking her questions.
“I was worried a lot. Are you feeling better?”
“How’s your body? They said your arm was hurt!”
The two of them were asking questions so recklessly that she was completely out of her mind. Elze barely managed to calm them down and asked them questions.
“I’m okay, I’m really okay! But what about Ivanna?”
“To the barracks next door. I’ll bring her.”
Tarkun jumped up and went outside. Rapine gave a brief explanation.
“Ivanna received an additional barracks and is using it as a research lab.”
“I see. What were you two doing?”
Rapine paused for a moment at Elze's question before answering.
“I was in the middle of a duel.”
“Duel?”
Just as Elze was about to ask in detail, the sound of someone running towards her was heard from far away.
“Captaaaaaaain!”
And then, with a bang, the barracks door swung open and a little girl ran towards Elze.
“Ivanna!”
Elze hugged Ivanna, who was running towards her. Ivanna was so happy that she didn't know what to do. She kept asking Elze for a long time, like Tarkun and Rapine, whether she was okay and if there was anything wrong. After a long time, she finally told her what she was doing.
“I’m filling new glass bottles based on what I brought from Heglatan.”
Ivanna unfolded the hem of her coat and showed Elze. Inside were a few glass bottles scattered here and there.
All she brought from Heglatan were hard-to-find materials and key research data.
Ivan couldn't take much with her because she had to blow up the Crown Prince's palace and escape. She only brought the most important things, and there was nothing finished.
“We’re starting from scratch again. It’ll probably take some time to fill the vials as tightly as before. But I think we’ll be able to fill them quickly thanks to the many valuables we’ve acquired from Heglatan.”
Ivanna added that she was making something urgent to use first. After Ivanna finished explaining, Rapine, who was standing next to her, quietly opened her mouth.
“Captain, everyone has had a lot to think about this time.”
The atmosphere became serious at Rapine's words. Elze was embarrassed by this atmosphere and tried to cheer it up somehow.
“What’s wrong, everyone?”
But none of the three of them lifted their stiff faces. Rapine spoke slowly.
“We need more power.”
Elze, who had been listening quietly, suddenly waved her hand.
“Power? What are you talking about! It’s already strong enough.”
"No."
But Rapine shook his head heavily. He continued quietly with a dark expression.
“This incident made us painfully aware of our arrogance and shortcomings.”
Tarkun and Ivanna also agreed with Rapine's words. The expressions on the three people's faces were so solemn that there was no trace of playfulness. Tarkun said bluntly.
“We are Elijah.”
His face was unusually serious. Tarkun continued speaking clearly, although he felt a little embarrassed.
“Just as the captain protects us, we also want to protect the captain. If there had been no captain in the first place, Elijah would not have even existed.”
“So we will become stronger.”
Ivanna followed Tarkun's lead. She clenched her fists and declared with determination.
“So I will never again... leave the captain alone.”
The three people all looked at Elze. Elze stared blankly at them for a moment. She knew what they were suffering from.
It was a feeling of guilt.
Just as Elze is distressed because of the children she could not save from Teslaon's mansion, Elijah is also distressed because they were unable to save Elze.
And Elze knew exactly what to do now. Elze smiled brightly and said.
“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. It was an unavoidable situation. And I’m alive and well.”
“...”
To those who still couldn't raise their heads, Elze winked playfully and continued.
“But from now on, never abandon me.”
At Elze's words, the Elijahs simultaneously shouted, "Damn it!" and hugged Elze. Buried in the middle of the Elijahs rushing toward her, Elze burst into a happy laugh.
Ivanna and Tarkun told Elze what had happened in Heglatan. When Ivanna went to find her master's laboratory, it had already been reduced to ruins. She was about to turn back in despair after not getting any results when she was suddenly attacked by strange men.
“It was almost as if they knew we were coming.”
The number of villains was in the tens. Since Ivanna had lost all of her research and was unable to fight, Tarkun had to fight off all of them alone. While protecting Ivanna.
The two men resisted fiercely but were eventually caught. They were dragged away to a laboratory in the Crown Prince's palace.
They isolated Ivanna and Tarkun and threatened each other by mentioning each other's safety. They made Ivanna do chimera experiments using Tarkun as bait and made Tarkun take medicine obediently using Ivanna as bait. Ivanna clicked her tongue when talking about that part.
“The medicine was so toxic! I thought I was going to die trying to detoxify it.”
Tarkun looked a little embarrassed. He moved on to the next topic.
“It seems certain that Heglatan is preparing for war.”
Everyone nodded at Tarkun's words. It was not just the ambition of Blahar alone, but the entire Heglatan imperial family seemed to be preparing for war. Elze quietly stated her guess.
“But Blahar wants to become the emperor... He will take action after taking care of internal affairs.”
“That’s right. Even if Blahar ascends to the throne, there will be time to stabilize the government, so I don’t think there’s any need to worry right now.”
Elze nodded at Rapine's words and said.
“So, you’re saying that a war will break out within five years after Blahar ascends to the throne?”
“I guess we have to see it that way.”
At the end of Rapine’s words, everyone was in silence for a moment. Blahar was not an easy opponent to take. He was a man with considerable ambition and the talent to back it up.
Elze felt this clearly when she took action at Blahar's request. If she were to meet him as an enemy, it would not be easy.
She wished the Crown Prince of Heglatan would show some strength, but no matter how much she thought about it, it didn't seem like he could stand up to Blahar. It was only a matter of time before Blahar would rise to the top of Heglatan.
Rapine added a few more words while standing next to Elze, who was lost in thought about Blahar.
“And while the captain was recovering, it seems that Blahar had contact with Cirxus.”
“With Shan?”
“I don’t know the details, but it seems like there were some discussions about this situation.”
“Shan didn’t say anything to me...”
Perhaps he had deliberately not told her to get some rest. Elze thought she would ask Shan later, and then asked the question she had been curious about since earlier.
“But what about Ilwooz?”
"Ah..."
Everyone's faces darkened at Elze's question. Seeing them avoiding eye contact, Elze intuitively felt that something ominous had happened.
Rapine hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Mr. Ilwooz is lying in a sickbed.”
As soon as Elze heard Rapine's words, she went to find Ilwooz.
The area around the barracks where he was staying was strangely calm. Even though it was in the middle of a noisy campsite, there was a quiet atmosphere as if it was completely isolated. As she looked at the quiet barracks, a feeling of anxiety crept up her body. Elze quickened her pace.
The knights standing guard in front of the barracks greeted Elze. Elze received their greetings roughly and shouted in front of the barracks.
“Serhil! It’s Elze! May I come in?”
After some time, Ilwooz's answer came.
“Come in...”
As soon as Elze heard the answer, she ran into the barracks as if she were going on a raid. Then she was shocked by the sight of Ilwooz.
“Ilwoos!”
Ilwooz, who was lying on the bed, got up weakly.
“Elze...”
“No, lie down.”
Elze hurriedly sat down next to Ilwooz, who was trying to sit up and laid him back on the bed. Her head was spinning.
Originally, Ilwooz had a dreamy atmosphere. However, it had now gone beyond that level and was becoming faintly blurred. It was as if he was about to wake up from a dream.
As Elze hesitated and was unable to speak easily, Ilwooz spoke first.
“I’m sorry... for showing you a bad side of myself...”
“No, what are you sorry about! What the hell is going on?”
Ilwooz smiled faintly in front of the demanding Elze. He whispered with a bitter smile.
“The power of God intervened in the world of mankind, so punishment was meted out...”
The moment she heard those words, Elze stopped. With a hardened face, Elze asked him a question.
“But, you used divine power before too... Why...”
In the past, Ilwooz had used his divine powers in the mansion of Teslaon. He had used enough divine powers to create a huge curtain of light, but he was not bedridden like this at that time.
At Elze's question, Ilwooz slightly lowered his head. He spoke in a slightly smaller voice.
“Because instead of using it to save lives, I used it for personal gain...”
"But!"
Elze tried to say something to him but then closed her mouth. She bit her lower lip.
She received a lot of help from Ilwooz at the Crown Prince's Palace. Thanks to his divine power, she was able to find Ivanna and escape safely.
But they were not meant to save lives. According to Ilwooz, he was using their divine powers for personal use, for Elze.
“...”
Elze opened and closed her mouth several times. Words she couldn't say lingered in her mouth.
She wanted to refute the will of God. She found the Chimera with divine power and returned the suffering of countless people to Ines’ arms, so isn’t it for the sake of life? Why is Ines causing suffering to his first servant...?
But Ilwooz is the Pope who serves Ines. Such words were blasphemous and might have offended Ilwooz.
Elze couldn't bring herself to say it, but Ilwooz seemed to have guessed what Elze wanted to say. He smiled slowly and said.
“All things are for Ines to judge... How can man fathom His profound meaning...”
Ilwooz fiddled with the string covering his eyes with his hand. His fingers traced the pattern on the string. After a while, he spoke quietly.
“And... I abandoned Lady Elze and ran away alone... Isn’t that truly a great sin...?”
“Ilwooz!”
“This is why I have no right to stand before the believers as the first servant of Ines... It is only natural that I was punished...”
“No, Ilwooz! Absolutely not! These are all things I asked for.”
Elze cut off Ilwooz's words in a hurry. She still didn't know what criteria God used to punish him, but it seemed that guilt was part of the reason he was sick. Elze tried her best to explain that he had done nothing wrong.
“If Ilwooz hadn’t helped, we wouldn’t have found Ivanna and Tarkun, and those who had become chimeras would still be suffering...!”
The light gradually covered Elze's arm. The slow movement of the light even seemed difficult.
“But now I think I understand a little bit why Elze became the savior....”
However, the light did not give up and continued to climb steadily, soon succeeding in covering Elze's entire left arm. Elze enveloped in light, looked at Ilwooz as if she was a little possessed. He was smiling.
“It’s so wonderful and beautiful that I don’t regret having waited a thousand years for it...”
As Ilwooz continued to speak, the light grew stronger. The light that had been like a thin mist became dazzlingly bright, illuminating all around. And with a holy smile pouring down light, Ilwooz whispered in a clear voice.
“My savior.”
All sorts of scandals that shook the capital city continued to break out without a break throughout the year. The scandals showed no signs of cooling down even at the end of the year, and instead, they ended in a flashy ending. This was thanks to the sex scandal involving the noble and perfect Duke Seraph, who had not a single flaw in his life.
The sex scandal that exposed the sex life of the Duke of Seraph shook the noble society. Even nobles who were not interested in social circles knew about the sex scandal of the Duke of Seraph.
Even though Duke Seraph tried to deny the rumors, the rumors showed no sign of dying down.
Rather, it was like a spark was thrown into a dry straw, and it quickly spread and burned fiercely, becoming a fait accompli.
Thanks to this, Duke Seraph was able to avoid making public appearances as much as possible. He was afraid that if he showed up at a banquet hall or something, it would cause more useless rumors.
In fact, if it had been just a rumor, it would have been defendable by Duke Seraph’s line. However, the reason why Duke Seraph failed to extinguish the rumor despite his best efforts was simple. It was because there was a force that controlled the rumor so that it would not be extinguished, but would spread further and grow in size.
It was none other than Duke Wade.
By betrothing Heyla Wade, the only daughter of the Duke, to Astin Targayel, the Wade family became completely bound to Targayel.
Shan wanted to keep the threat at bay in the capital while Targayel was gaining ground on the borders. Duke Wade was dutifully carrying out this role alongside Targayel's vassal, Marle Sephir.
Duke Wade, who was busy working in his office today, stopped signing the end of a document and looked out the window. It was snowing. Duke Wade muttered as he looked at the falling snow.
“It’s almost New Year’s.”
As the new year approached, Duke Wade was busy with year-end work. He was also busy with the tasks requested by Cirxus, and he felt like he had ten bodies.
While he was busy working, Duke Wade's secretary came into the office. He was holding a letter tray in his hand. On the tray were various letters sent to Duke Wade's family, arranged in order of importance. The secretary picked out two letters that Duke Wade needed to check first and placed them separately on the desk, saying:
“These are letters from the Princess and the Count Targayel.”
Duke Wade nodded slightly and opened the letter from Heyla. It was a letter asking for his well-being, saying that she had safely arrived at the dormitory and unpacked. Duke Wade stared blankly at one of the phrases written in the letter.
"...I always celebrated New Year’s with my father, but I regret not being able to do so this year. Instead, I decided to celebrate New Year’s with Astin."
Heyla returned to Aquis College before the end of the vacation. She would not be back in Baluar for a long time. The inevitable separation was bittersweet.
Duke Wade carefully placed Heyla's letter in the top drawer of his desk. Then he picked up the letter from Targayel.
Unlike Heyla's rambling letter, Targayel's was a single, brief word. Duke Wade read it aloud.
“Getting going...”
The next target that Shan Cirxus designated after Duke Seraph was Marquis Geth.
The Marquis of Geth was one of the major forces following the Duke Seraph. However, they were not a family that would rank high on Targayel's list of murders. Many other families would have been better to defeat first.
Nevertheless, the reason Geth was nominated after Seraph was simple: Shan Cirxus held a personal grudge against him.
Cirxus had not forgotten what Geth had done at the trial for the murder of the Crown Princess. Under the orders of Duke Seraph, they attacked Targayel in the courtroom and revealed that Erzenes of Targayel was the same person as Elze of Elijah.
In addition, according to Cirxus, the Marquis of Geth had been rude to the Countess. In full view of Shan Kiraxus.
“It’s the law that you have to pick out people and then attack them... No, isn’t it an animal rather than a person?”
Duke Wade put down the letter with a smirk to himself. In any case, the Geth who had fearlessly attacked the foul-tempered beast was going to pay dearly for it. While he was organizing the letter with his secretary, a second knock was heard.
“Your Excellency, Sir Lovell has arrived.”
“Catinson Lovell? Take him to the reception room.”
Duke Wade roughly organized what he was looking at and stood up. Catinson Lovell was a new knight who had recently joined the Imperial Knights. He had passed the Imperial Knights’ entrance exam, called the Needle Hole Test, with flying colors, and was a talented person who was drawing attention for his tall appearance and outstanding skills.
Several nobles have already been eyeing him, but surprisingly, Catinson is a follower of Targayel. The Duke heard he has a connection to the Countess of Targayel.
But all Duke Wade knew was the incident at the previous masquerade ball. He had unknowingly challenged Shan Cirxus to a duel and was beaten to a pulp.
A normal man would have been resentful of being treated so humiliatingly. But for some reason, Catinson contacted Targayel as soon as he joined the Imperial Knights.
In Targayel, they decided to recruit Catinson to the rebellion and connected him with Duke Wade, which is how they made the appointment to meet today.
When Duke Wade entered the drawing room, Catinson, who was sitting in his seat, jumped up and greeted him.
“This is Catinson from Lovell.”
After exchanging greetings, Duke Wade drank wine with him and had a light conversation. While chatting with him, Duke Wade felt inwardly impressed. Targayel was outwardly banished to the border and had lost all ties. However, he was so loyal that he contacted him first to help.
The young knight who was loyal, and the Count of Targayel who brought out such loyalty, were both great. Duke Wade smiled and said to Catinson.
“I never thought you would follow Count Targayel... I had no idea he had accumulated so many virtues.”
Then Catinson, who was sitting upright and taking a sip of wine, answered quickly.
"No."
Duke Wade looked at him curiously. Catinson spoke confidently.
“I swore allegiance to the Countess, not to the Count.”
“...?”
“The reason I became a knight of the Imperial Order was to help Countess Targayel.”
It was Catinson who spoke like an honest and pure-hearted person.
Duke Wade sighed and drank his wine in silence. He thought that the jealous Count Targayel had somehow managed to leave him alone.
But in the current situation, it was obvious that Catinson, a member of the Imperial Knights, would be of great help. Duke Wade put down his wine glass and began to speak seriously.
“Then, without further ado, let’s get to the point.”
And he said it bluntly.
“Create a force in the Imperial Knights. As soon as possible, and on a large scale.”
Catinson asked, a little embarrassed.
“May I ask why you say that?”
Duke Wade burst into laughter at Catinson's reaction, then slowly opened his mouth.
"We are..."
The old Duke declared with more lively eyes than ever before.
“Because we plan to devour Baluar.”
***
Elze was handcuffed to him and forced to roll around on the bed.
Lying in bed, her whole body ached. Of course, it was partly because she had been in a heated relationship while she was sick, but it wasn't a very pleasant experience.
But unlike Elze, who was depressed, Shan was the complete opposite. He seemed so happy that he was humming a tune. It seemed that he really liked having Elze handcuffed and stuck together. He was worried that it wouldn't work if he asked her to do this often.
Being locked in a windowless barracks, she lost all sense of time. However, judging by the number of times she ate, it felt like she was held captive for a whole day.
Meals had to be taken inside the barracks with Shan, and it felt really strange to eat with him while handcuffed.
“Yes. You should eat this too.”
She had to sit across from Shan at the table and quietly eat the things he handed her. Elze felt a familiar sense of unease as she munched on the pieces of ripe vegetables Shan handed her.
Thinking about it, he had fed her when she had injured her right arm before. This time, her injured arm was her left, and she felt bad for always relying on him, so she snatched the bowl from Shan.
“I can do this much.”
Then she swung the knife with only her right hand. After the chain clanked a few times, the vegetables on the plate were cut into small pieces of exactly the same size. Elze looked at Shan triumphantly and asked.
"How is it?"
But he didn't seem to like it very much. Shan snatched the plate from Elze again and said discontentedly.
“Don’t try to do it alone. Just rely on me.”
“But I’m afraid you might have a hard time...”
“What’s so hard about it? It’s a rare opportunity for me to take care of you.”
Elze looked at him with a mixture of embarrassment and incredulity.. Shan stubbornly stabbed the cut vegetables with his fork and offered them to Elze. Elze muttered as she took the food.
“...I didn’t know you had a hobby of raising children.”
“Raising a child? It’s just good to take care of you.”
Despite Shan's excuses, Elze looked at him suspiciously. Then, she showed him the handcuffs tied to her right hand by shaking them, and Shan smiled.
“Oh, I can’t lie.”
How could she ask him any further when he was talking so slyly as if he had already found out? Elze just laughed along with Shan.
After dinner, Shan and Elze lay down next to each other on the bed, hugging each other tightly and talking in soft voices.
The conversation was really trivial. It was nothing special, just small talk.
But Shan, who was holding Elze in his arms, looked at Elze with happy eyes as if she was enjoying the story more than anything else. Her eyes were like the warm sunlight of midday, and after a while, she felt drowsy. Elze nodded off, continued talking, and eventually fell asleep.
How long had she been asleep? Elze stretched out her body and looked around.
“...?”
Shan was nowhere to be seen, and the handcuffs were unlocked.
“!!”
Elze jumped up from her seat. Now was the time to escape. If only she could sneak out and come back later... or at least have a chat with the knights in front of the barracks. Elze was wrapping herself in the blanket and preparing to run away in earnest.
“Elze.”
Shan came inside, pushing the barracks open. Elze quickly jumped onto the bed and covered herself again with the blanket. Then she blinked and looked at Shan as if nothing had happened.
“...”
Shan raised his eyebrows at Elze's appearance. He probably noticed Elze's escape attempt. However, he pretended not to notice. Instead, he showed her what he was holding in his hand. Elze said with wide eyes.
"Flothes?"
What Shan had brought were Elze's clothes. Elze happily accepted the clothes he offered her. With Shan's help, Elze put on the clothes and asked quietly.
“Are I free now?”
“Yes, a free body.”
He said with a smile.
“I’m afraid that if I keep you locked up any longer, you’ll run out of the barracks naked.”
“...”
Elze, who had just attempted something similar, felt a little guilty. Shan grinned and said to Elze,
“You know what?”
"What?"
“It’s almost New Year.”
Elze was so surprised that she opened her eyes wide and asked Shan again.
"New Year?"
“Yes. Ines calendar year 998.”
“Oh my God... Already like that.”
It was a frightening New Year. Come to think of it, she's been out of her mind lately. Elze was swept up in all sorts of events like a torrential downpour, and she didn't even know how time passed.
In the year 998 of the Ines calendar...
Elze felt strange as she pondered the number 998. Now that it was 998, there were only two years left until the millennium. If it was short, it was short, and if it was long, it was long.
And on the day that marks the 1000th anniversary, it will be determined whether Shan Cirxus is truly the demon who will destroy the continent.
Suddenly, her heart became heavy. When Elze showed a slightly gloomy face, Shan seemed to have guessed the other way. He brought a comb and combed Elze’s hair, muttering softly.
“We have to have a New Year’s party... This year, let’s just keep it small, just us.”
It was traditional for Baluar to throw a grand party on the last night of December. The capital city would host a grand fireworks display every year, hosted by the royal family, and it was truly a spectacle.
At New Year's parties, crispy pies were baked and shared. Inside the pies, small porcelain dolls were placed. There was a superstition that if a doll was in one's slice of pie, one would have good luck for the year. At the party, the person who had the doll in the pie became the king of the party and would shout orders.
In addition, there were all kinds of parties and events. The New Year of Baluar was a week of delicious food and fragrant wine.
But no matter how hard they tried in the outskirts, they couldn't have parties like those in the capital. Shan seemed to feel sorry for not being able to throw Elze a grand New Year's party. That wasn't the reason Elze was depressed at all.
After combing all of her hair, Shan tied Elze's hair up into a ponytail. Elze, who was ready to go out, called Shan's name softly.
“Shan.”
And she kissed Shan's forehead softly and said:
“Being with you is the most important thing. I don’t even like parties.”
Instead, she enthusiastically listed the names of the foods, saying, “Let’s eat a lot of delicious food.” Shan couldn’t help but laugh in front of Elze like that. He hugged Elze tightly and said.
“You always say things that make me feel good.”
Then he whispered, rubbing Elze's lips with his finger.
“How much should I believe what you say....”
Elze playfully bit his finger and said confidently,
“Why is this happening? I am a person who only tells the truth.”
Shan burst out laughing and kissed Elze on the lips.
***
Elze finally escaped from the barracks.
The first person to find was Elijah. Shan told Elze where Elijah and the others were gathered. But he didn't go with them. He said indifferently.
“Because they’re not faces I really want to see.”
Shan looked quite uncomfortable. He was deeply hurt by the incident of leaving Elze behind and returning.
In fact, to be exact, Shan was not just hurt. He was angry at them. If Elze had not returned safely from Heglatan, Shan would have cut off Elijah's head first.
Elze knew that fact. So she didn't say anything to Shan and quietly went to see Elijah. Elze quietly approached the barracks where Elijah and the others were staying and opened the door wide.
“...?”
But there was no one inside. Elze was tilting her head wondering where everyone had gone.
"Captain!"
Rapine and Tarkun entered the barracks. They rushed towards Elze and started asking her questions.
“I was worried a lot. Are you feeling better?”
“How’s your body? They said your arm was hurt!”
The two of them were asking questions so recklessly that she was completely out of her mind. Elze barely managed to calm them down and asked them questions.
“I’m okay, I’m really okay! But what about Ivanna?”
“To the barracks next door. I’ll bring her.”
Tarkun jumped up and went outside. Rapine gave a brief explanation.
“Ivanna received an additional barracks and is using it as a research lab.”
“I see. What were you two doing?”
Rapine paused for a moment at Elze's question before answering.
“I was in the middle of a duel.”
“Duel?”
Just as Elze was about to ask in detail, the sound of someone running towards her was heard from far away.
“Captaaaaaaain!”
And then, with a bang, the barracks door swung open and a little girl ran towards Elze.
“Ivanna!”
Elze hugged Ivanna, who was running towards her. Ivanna was so happy that she didn't know what to do. She kept asking Elze for a long time, like Tarkun and Rapine, whether she was okay and if there was anything wrong. After a long time, she finally told her what she was doing.
“I’m filling new glass bottles based on what I brought from Heglatan.”
Ivanna unfolded the hem of her coat and showed Elze. Inside were a few glass bottles scattered here and there.
All she brought from Heglatan were hard-to-find materials and key research data.
Ivan couldn't take much with her because she had to blow up the Crown Prince's palace and escape. She only brought the most important things, and there was nothing finished.
“We’re starting from scratch again. It’ll probably take some time to fill the vials as tightly as before. But I think we’ll be able to fill them quickly thanks to the many valuables we’ve acquired from Heglatan.”
Ivanna added that she was making something urgent to use first. After Ivanna finished explaining, Rapine, who was standing next to her, quietly opened her mouth.
“Captain, everyone has had a lot to think about this time.”
The atmosphere became serious at Rapine's words. Elze was embarrassed by this atmosphere and tried to cheer it up somehow.
“What’s wrong, everyone?”
But none of the three of them lifted their stiff faces. Rapine spoke slowly.
“We need more power.”
Elze, who had been listening quietly, suddenly waved her hand.
“Power? What are you talking about! It’s already strong enough.”
"No."
But Rapine shook his head heavily. He continued quietly with a dark expression.
“This incident made us painfully aware of our arrogance and shortcomings.”
Tarkun and Ivanna also agreed with Rapine's words. The expressions on the three people's faces were so solemn that there was no trace of playfulness. Tarkun said bluntly.
“We are Elijah.”
His face was unusually serious. Tarkun continued speaking clearly, although he felt a little embarrassed.
“Just as the captain protects us, we also want to protect the captain. If there had been no captain in the first place, Elijah would not have even existed.”
“So we will become stronger.”
Ivanna followed Tarkun's lead. She clenched her fists and declared with determination.
“So I will never again... leave the captain alone.”
The three people all looked at Elze. Elze stared blankly at them for a moment. She knew what they were suffering from.
It was a feeling of guilt.
Just as Elze is distressed because of the children she could not save from Teslaon's mansion, Elijah is also distressed because they were unable to save Elze.
And Elze knew exactly what to do now. Elze smiled brightly and said.
“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. It was an unavoidable situation. And I’m alive and well.”
“...”
To those who still couldn't raise their heads, Elze winked playfully and continued.
“But from now on, never abandon me.”
At Elze's words, the Elijahs simultaneously shouted, "Damn it!" and hugged Elze. Buried in the middle of the Elijahs rushing toward her, Elze burst into a happy laugh.
***
Ivanna and Tarkun told Elze what had happened in Heglatan. When Ivanna went to find her master's laboratory, it had already been reduced to ruins. She was about to turn back in despair after not getting any results when she was suddenly attacked by strange men.
“It was almost as if they knew we were coming.”
The number of villains was in the tens. Since Ivanna had lost all of her research and was unable to fight, Tarkun had to fight off all of them alone. While protecting Ivanna.
The two men resisted fiercely but were eventually caught. They were dragged away to a laboratory in the Crown Prince's palace.
They isolated Ivanna and Tarkun and threatened each other by mentioning each other's safety. They made Ivanna do chimera experiments using Tarkun as bait and made Tarkun take medicine obediently using Ivanna as bait. Ivanna clicked her tongue when talking about that part.
“The medicine was so toxic! I thought I was going to die trying to detoxify it.”
Tarkun looked a little embarrassed. He moved on to the next topic.
“It seems certain that Heglatan is preparing for war.”
Everyone nodded at Tarkun's words. It was not just the ambition of Blahar alone, but the entire Heglatan imperial family seemed to be preparing for war. Elze quietly stated her guess.
“But Blahar wants to become the emperor... He will take action after taking care of internal affairs.”
“That’s right. Even if Blahar ascends to the throne, there will be time to stabilize the government, so I don’t think there’s any need to worry right now.”
Elze nodded at Rapine's words and said.
“So, you’re saying that a war will break out within five years after Blahar ascends to the throne?”
“I guess we have to see it that way.”
At the end of Rapine’s words, everyone was in silence for a moment. Blahar was not an easy opponent to take. He was a man with considerable ambition and the talent to back it up.
Elze felt this clearly when she took action at Blahar's request. If she were to meet him as an enemy, it would not be easy.
She wished the Crown Prince of Heglatan would show some strength, but no matter how much she thought about it, it didn't seem like he could stand up to Blahar. It was only a matter of time before Blahar would rise to the top of Heglatan.
Rapine added a few more words while standing next to Elze, who was lost in thought about Blahar.
“And while the captain was recovering, it seems that Blahar had contact with Cirxus.”
“With Shan?”
“I don’t know the details, but it seems like there were some discussions about this situation.”
“Shan didn’t say anything to me...”
Perhaps he had deliberately not told her to get some rest. Elze thought she would ask Shan later, and then asked the question she had been curious about since earlier.
“But what about Ilwooz?”
"Ah..."
Everyone's faces darkened at Elze's question. Seeing them avoiding eye contact, Elze intuitively felt that something ominous had happened.
Rapine hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Mr. Ilwooz is lying in a sickbed.”
***
As soon as Elze heard Rapine's words, she went to find Ilwooz.
The area around the barracks where he was staying was strangely calm. Even though it was in the middle of a noisy campsite, there was a quiet atmosphere as if it was completely isolated. As she looked at the quiet barracks, a feeling of anxiety crept up her body. Elze quickened her pace.
The knights standing guard in front of the barracks greeted Elze. Elze received their greetings roughly and shouted in front of the barracks.
“Serhil! It’s Elze! May I come in?”
After some time, Ilwooz's answer came.
“Come in...”
As soon as Elze heard the answer, she ran into the barracks as if she were going on a raid. Then she was shocked by the sight of Ilwooz.
“Ilwoos!”
Ilwooz, who was lying on the bed, got up weakly.
“Elze...”
“No, lie down.”
Elze hurriedly sat down next to Ilwooz, who was trying to sit up and laid him back on the bed. Her head was spinning.
Originally, Ilwooz had a dreamy atmosphere. However, it had now gone beyond that level and was becoming faintly blurred. It was as if he was about to wake up from a dream.
As Elze hesitated and was unable to speak easily, Ilwooz spoke first.
“I’m sorry... for showing you a bad side of myself...”
“No, what are you sorry about! What the hell is going on?”
Ilwooz smiled faintly in front of the demanding Elze. He whispered with a bitter smile.
“The power of God intervened in the world of mankind, so punishment was meted out...”
The moment she heard those words, Elze stopped. With a hardened face, Elze asked him a question.
“But, you used divine power before too... Why...”
In the past, Ilwooz had used his divine powers in the mansion of Teslaon. He had used enough divine powers to create a huge curtain of light, but he was not bedridden like this at that time.
At Elze's question, Ilwooz slightly lowered his head. He spoke in a slightly smaller voice.
“Because instead of using it to save lives, I used it for personal gain...”
"But!"
Elze tried to say something to him but then closed her mouth. She bit her lower lip.
She received a lot of help from Ilwooz at the Crown Prince's Palace. Thanks to his divine power, she was able to find Ivanna and escape safely.
But they were not meant to save lives. According to Ilwooz, he was using their divine powers for personal use, for Elze.
“...”
Elze opened and closed her mouth several times. Words she couldn't say lingered in her mouth.
She wanted to refute the will of God. She found the Chimera with divine power and returned the suffering of countless people to Ines’ arms, so isn’t it for the sake of life? Why is Ines causing suffering to his first servant...?
But Ilwooz is the Pope who serves Ines. Such words were blasphemous and might have offended Ilwooz.
Elze couldn't bring herself to say it, but Ilwooz seemed to have guessed what Elze wanted to say. He smiled slowly and said.
“All things are for Ines to judge... How can man fathom His profound meaning...”
Ilwooz fiddled with the string covering his eyes with his hand. His fingers traced the pattern on the string. After a while, he spoke quietly.
“And... I abandoned Lady Elze and ran away alone... Isn’t that truly a great sin...?”
“Ilwooz!”
“This is why I have no right to stand before the believers as the first servant of Ines... It is only natural that I was punished...”
“No, Ilwooz! Absolutely not! These are all things I asked for.”
Elze cut off Ilwooz's words in a hurry. She still didn't know what criteria God used to punish him, but it seemed that guilt was part of the reason he was sick. Elze tried her best to explain that he had done nothing wrong.
“If Ilwooz hadn’t helped, we wouldn’t have found Ivanna and Tarkun, and those who had become chimeras would still be suffering...!”
Elze, who had been talking incoherently, suddenly stopped talking. There was no use talking at length. In the end, there was only one thing Elze wanted to say. Elze carefully brought it out.
“There’s no need for you to feel guilty, Ilwooz. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just an unavoidable situation. So...”
And then she lowered her head and muttered.
“Don’t be sick...”
“...”
Ilwooz was silent for a moment. Then he slowly called Elze's name.
“Elze...”
Ilwooz slowly moved his hand and gently stroked Elze's left arm.
“You hurt your arm...”
The light slowly flowed out of his hand. The white light was so faint that it seemed as if it would disappear if blown. With the very slow and faint light, Ilwooz continued to speak.
“Elze was not the savior I thought she was...”
“There’s no need for you to feel guilty, Ilwooz. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just an unavoidable situation. So...”
And then she lowered her head and muttered.
“Don’t be sick...”
“...”
Ilwooz was silent for a moment. Then he slowly called Elze's name.
“Elze...”
Ilwooz slowly moved his hand and gently stroked Elze's left arm.
“You hurt your arm...”
The light slowly flowed out of his hand. The white light was so faint that it seemed as if it would disappear if blown. With the very slow and faint light, Ilwooz continued to speak.
“Elze was not the savior I thought she was...”
The light gradually covered Elze's arm. The slow movement of the light even seemed difficult.
“But now I think I understand a little bit why Elze became the savior....”
However, the light did not give up and continued to climb steadily, soon succeeding in covering Elze's entire left arm. Elze enveloped in light, looked at Ilwooz as if she was a little possessed. He was smiling.
“It’s so wonderful and beautiful that I don’t regret having waited a thousand years for it...”
As Ilwooz continued to speak, the light grew stronger. The light that had been like a thin mist became dazzlingly bright, illuminating all around. And with a holy smile pouring down light, Ilwooz whispered in a clear voice.
“My savior.”
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