Linel's heart tightened at her words.
His whole body's muscles froze in frustration.
He opened his mouth with a pitiful look in his eyes.
"Zelda, we..."
“Of the remaining potions, Prince Tesla just threw one bottle away in a rose vase, and the other one was not taken because I felt some kind of rejection reaction in my body.”
She continued her explanation calmly, then grabbed his hand.
“Your Majesty happened to bring me a new magic potion.”
“Really... really? You really didn’t... take those potions that Prince Tesla tricked you into?”
Zelda smiled brightly and nodded her head vigorously.
He was overcome with a strange emotion.
Although it was clearly a fortunate thing, his heart ached more than he was happy.
“So let’s have a child, okay?”
Zelda urged, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I might already have one.”
She touched her flat stomach with both hands and laughed playfully.
Linel’s expression darkened infinitely.
“...I’m just joking. Why are you so nervous?”
Zelda felt embarrassed by his serious face.
“No. I’m just a little surprised. It’s really fortunate...”
Linel patted her back as he held her in his arms. He was smiling on the outside, but sobbing on the inside.
“Yes, let’s do that. When we meet again in the Tebello Empire, let’s work hard day and night.”
He managed to speak, barely holding back his sobs.
Zelda’s happy laughter in his arms resonated through his entire body.
The morning when the sun began to rise.
Bellos, Commander Macrom, and Bonis, the group that was leaving for the Tebello Empire with Zelda, all gathered at the back door of the monastery.
Sharon and Rosie held back their tears and loaded the food and supplies they needed onto the horses.
Prince Norton, Raphael, and Stiane, who had come out to see them off, watched them with mixed feelings.
The three of them vaguely realized that the reason Linel sent the Empress to the Tebello Empire first was not just for healing. They felt like something huge was going to happen.
However, since the Emperor wouldn’t tell them what it was, they had no way of knowing.
As time passed, their anxiety only grew.
The Emperor would not have let the Empress go first without a serious incident.
Linel’s aides, who knew this well, kept glancing at him.
Linel’s face had been greatly damaged in just a few days.
His face, which was getting darker by the day, was soaked in fatigue. He had not looked like this even when he had fought in the Valley of Death three years ago.
His complexion was poor, but his eyes still shone blue when he looked at the Empress.
“I have finished preparing to leave.”
Bellos approached Linel and said.
“Magic Tower Lord, I entrust the Empress to you.”
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”
Bellos answered sincerely.
“After you treat her in the Tebello Empire and obtain the ‘Yakante’ herb... don’t return to the Lapion Empire. Absolutely.”
Linel earnestly begged.
Bellos could not respond.
In fact, he did not feel particularly sorry toward Emperor Linel.
He thought that all of this was just a process to get his companion Zelda back.
He only had to erase Emperor Linel's memories of her. He didn't feel too guilty because it wasn't threatening his life.
It was definitely like that...
But hr had a feeling that something was going wrong.
“Please.”
Linel held Bellos’ hand tightly and asked him, then approached Zelda, who was waiting for him.
“Goodbye.”
He said goodbye with all his might to her, who was smiling brightly at him.
Zelda, who had no idea what Linel meant by “goodbye,” answered him bravely.
“See you again soon. I’ll wait.”
He told me not to look back. Was it because his face looked so pretty from afar that it would be hard?
I snorted when I heard that, but it was true.
The face I saw when I glanced back a moment ago was hard on me in another sense.
“Why are you looking so dead?”
I felt uneasy, so I turned my head to look at him.
Even though the distance had widened a bit, he kept waving his hand. When I smiled, he smiled back.
Why was my heart so heavy even though we weren’t parting forever?
It was probably because of his expression.
He seemed to be happily sending me off, but he looked sad the whole time.
Wasn’t it?
Was it because I was infected with evil energy and felt everything negative?
I tried hard to drive away the bad thoughts and raised my hand toward him and shook it vigorously.
He...
is crying...
is crying. Why?
His face was clearly smiling, but tears were flowing from his eyes. His straight features were becoming more and more distorted.
His body looked precarious, as if it would collapse at any moment.
I wanted to turn around and go to him again.
He must have noticed my feelings because he was gesturing for me to continue forward. I would soon turn the large zelkova tree ahead of me, and Linel would no longer be visible.
If I turned the reins slightly to the side, I could go back to him.
My mind began to wander.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
I heard Bellos’ voice urging me from the side.
“You should turn around here.”
Magic Tower Lord said, pointing to Bonis and Commander Macrom, who had already turned the zelkova tree and were waiting for me.
“Oh, yes...”
I finally waved to Linel one last time and rode in the direction where the group was waiting.
“Your Majesty seems very worried.”
Magic Tower Lord asked as he sat next to me.
“That’s right. We’ll meet again soon, so don’t let the person leaving feel bad.”
“...Yes, that’s right.”
Matapju was taken aback by my words.
Oh no. My words came out loud again.
Still, it was fortunate that I didn’t say anything out loud to Linel.
It was around the time when my horse began walking alongside Bonis’s horse.
“Your Majesty, Sharon made me some lemon tea... Would you like some?”
Bonis asked me as she grabbed the small water jug attached to her horse’s saddle.
“No, I’ll drink it later. I’m fine for now.”
“Yes, if you’re thirsty, just let me know...”
Bonis’s smiling expression also looked dark.
She must be worried because she’s about to leave on a long journey.
The road from here, Elanji Forest, to the Tebello Empire would not be so easy.
Because of Galaco, Elanji Forest was no longer safe.
For Bonis, who couldn’t use a sword, it must have been scary and terrifying.
So before I left, I asked Commander Macrom to keep Bonis safe by his side.
Bonis continued to offer me lemon tea from time to time.
Sharon made it so deliciously, didn’t she?
Linel stood there for a long time after Zelda disappeared from sight.
Then, at Raphael’s urging, he turned back toward the monastery building.
He took only two or three steps before collapsing.
His legs had lost their strength, but maybe his will to live had also lost its power.
His love, happiness, and future... had all fallen away, like smoke.
It was an understatement to say that it was empty. It felt like a round hole had opened up in the middle of his chest, and the cold morning air was passing through it.
When he looked at Zelda’s back, tears flowed down without him realizing it, but now that she was gone, they dried up in an instant.
Now, his eyes and chest were filled with anger.
Even his body, which seemed like it could hold out for another day or two, was rapidly becoming tired.
The problem was not his physical strength but the drowsiness that was pouring down. His eyelids, which were gradually closing, tried to cover the world he had been in with Zelda. He shouldn’t fall asleep now.
No, maybe it would be less painful to fall asleep and then wake up.
A world where only Zelda’s memories were gone was waiting for him.
Just like before she appeared in his life.
Cool and emotionless.
Then he could deal with this shitty situation calmly.
But the reason he kept opening his eyes was because of regret.
The short married life he had with Zelda had been the happiest moment of his life...
Prince Norton and Raphael held his arms on both sides and supported him, but he shook off their hands and got up on his own.
Linel simply summarized everything as he got up.
Zelda, who had been infected with evil energy, would be completely cured.
And he had also saved the life of his younger brother, Joseph.
Yes, he had saved the two people he loved on the condition of accepting Roxana’s conditions.
Let’s just think about that.
Linel was worried that Zelda, who had recovered, might return to the palace.
However, if she heard the news of Roxana’s remarriage, she wouldn’t be able to move easily either.
Furthermore, if the rumor that she was the ‘acting Empress’ spread throughout the Lapion palace, it would be even worse...
When he imagined her being hurt by the news of his remarriage, it felt as if someone had cut into his heart and sprinkled salt on it.
‘Let’s have a child.’
Zelda’s words echoed.
He sighed and looked up at the sky.
“The sun is rising.”
My light had disappeared...
Keeeeek-!!
A creepy scream, like someone scraping an iron plate with the tip of a sword, could be heard from the forest on the other side of where Zelda had left.
It was Galaco’s scream.
“You’re finally here.”
Linel turned to where Galaco’s cries were coming from.
At that moment, the knight on guard on the monastery tower found Linel below the building and came down the stairs in a hurry.
“Your Majesty! A group that looks like the Allied Forces is approaching the monastery from the forest at 9 o’clock!”
Linel’s tired eyes sharpened.
He ordered Raphael.
“Gather all the guests in the dining hall right now.”
“Yes! Your Majesty, but does Your Majesty know who they are?”
Raphael calmly asked, watching him give orders without any panic.
“We will be surrounded soon.”
“Surrounded?!”
Prince Norton suddenly asked in surprise.
“Even if we prepare for an attack, it will be useless. It will only result in reckless casualties. So we should aim to deal with them with as little damage as possible.”
“What on earth are these people coming here?”
Prince Norton looked incredulous.
“They must be pirates from the Principality of Aklatto and Tanya Island.”
“Hah... T, is that true?!”
Raphael gulped and shouted.
“They want me. There’s no need for others to sacrifice themselves.”
Prince Norton and Raphael looked at him with bewildered expressions at the same time as Linel’s words.
Something is wrong.
I looked up at the sky and was convinced.
The Galacos jumped into the sky from the forest on the other side, ate something, and then fell down after being hit by arrows shot from below.
They weren’t monsters that would fall down helplessly after being hit by one or two arrows.
“Strange...”
At that moment, something rose into the sky again.
This time, I looked closely and figured out what it was.
“Beasts?”
“I see, really.”
Bellos, who was looking up at the sky with me, nodded.
Commander Macrom, who couldn’t see ahead, had already drawn his sword at Galacos’ screams.
“Lord of the Tower, why do you think someone is throwing dead animals at Galacos?”
“It seems like they’re trying to lure Galacos into revealing themselves by smelling the blood of the beasts and killing them.”
Lord of the Tower agreed with me.
“I guess so. Who on earth would do something like that?”
The problem was that the group that was luring Galaco by throwing the beast into the sky seemed to be heading towards the monastery.
“It’s war, Master?”
Moiya, who had transformed into a squirrel and was in my uniform pocket, stuck his head out and spat out the acorn he had in his mouth towards Galaco, who was far away with a 'whoosh!'
"Fighting is fun, Moiya~!"
The acorn that Moiya spat out flew much farther than I thought. It almost hit Galaco's head.
"Moiya, if you don't dare to face Galaco, just sit there quietly."
I stuffed Moiya's head back into my uniform pocket and looked back at the group, shouting.
"We should go back!"
I boldly turned my horse around.
His whole body's muscles froze in frustration.
He opened his mouth with a pitiful look in his eyes.
"Zelda, we..."
We can't have children.
He swallowed his words as he tried to say that.
There was no need to reveal in this situation that the magic potion that Prince Tesla had requested from the wizard Big contained a birth control pill that would prevent pregnancy.
"There's something I haven't told you before."
Zelda continued with a calm face.
"The magic potion I received before my wedding. Actually, there was a birth control pill in it. But I heard that if you take more than a certain amount of the pill, you won't be able to get pregnant at all."
She carefully began to speak, then paused for a moment to check his expression.
"Are you surprised?"
"...No, continue."
His head hummed.
'Zelda knew that, too.'
Linel held his breath as he looked at Zelda's face.
But the fact that she was talking so calmly about that horrible and enormous fact, could it be....
He swallowed his words as he tried to say that.
There was no need to reveal in this situation that the magic potion that Prince Tesla had requested from the wizard Big contained a birth control pill that would prevent pregnancy.
"There's something I haven't told you before."
Zelda continued with a calm face.
"The magic potion I received before my wedding. Actually, there was a birth control pill in it. But I heard that if you take more than a certain amount of the pill, you won't be able to get pregnant at all."
She carefully began to speak, then paused for a moment to check his expression.
"Are you surprised?"
"...No, continue."
His head hummed.
'Zelda knew that, too.'
Linel held his breath as he looked at Zelda's face.
But the fact that she was talking so calmly about that horrible and enormous fact, could it be....
“Of the remaining potions, Prince Tesla just threw one bottle away in a rose vase, and the other one was not taken because I felt some kind of rejection reaction in my body.”
She continued her explanation calmly, then grabbed his hand.
“Your Majesty happened to bring me a new magic potion.”
“Really... really? You really didn’t... take those potions that Prince Tesla tricked you into?”
Zelda smiled brightly and nodded her head vigorously.
He was overcome with a strange emotion.
Although it was clearly a fortunate thing, his heart ached more than he was happy.
“So let’s have a child, okay?”
Zelda urged, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I might already have one.”
She touched her flat stomach with both hands and laughed playfully.
Linel’s expression darkened infinitely.
“...I’m just joking. Why are you so nervous?”
Zelda felt embarrassed by his serious face.
“No. I’m just a little surprised. It’s really fortunate...”
Linel patted her back as he held her in his arms. He was smiling on the outside, but sobbing on the inside.
“Yes, let’s do that. When we meet again in the Tebello Empire, let’s work hard day and night.”
He managed to speak, barely holding back his sobs.
Zelda’s happy laughter in his arms resonated through his entire body.
***
The morning when the sun began to rise.
Bellos, Commander Macrom, and Bonis, the group that was leaving for the Tebello Empire with Zelda, all gathered at the back door of the monastery.
Sharon and Rosie held back their tears and loaded the food and supplies they needed onto the horses.
Prince Norton, Raphael, and Stiane, who had come out to see them off, watched them with mixed feelings.
The three of them vaguely realized that the reason Linel sent the Empress to the Tebello Empire first was not just for healing. They felt like something huge was going to happen.
However, since the Emperor wouldn’t tell them what it was, they had no way of knowing.
As time passed, their anxiety only grew.
The Emperor would not have let the Empress go first without a serious incident.
Linel’s aides, who knew this well, kept glancing at him.
Linel’s face had been greatly damaged in just a few days.
His face, which was getting darker by the day, was soaked in fatigue. He had not looked like this even when he had fought in the Valley of Death three years ago.
His complexion was poor, but his eyes still shone blue when he looked at the Empress.
“I have finished preparing to leave.”
Bellos approached Linel and said.
“Magic Tower Lord, I entrust the Empress to you.”
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”
Bellos answered sincerely.
“After you treat her in the Tebello Empire and obtain the ‘Yakante’ herb... don’t return to the Lapion Empire. Absolutely.”
Linel earnestly begged.
Bellos could not respond.
In fact, he did not feel particularly sorry toward Emperor Linel.
He thought that all of this was just a process to get his companion Zelda back.
He only had to erase Emperor Linel's memories of her. He didn't feel too guilty because it wasn't threatening his life.
It was definitely like that...
But hr had a feeling that something was going wrong.
“Please.”
Linel held Bellos’ hand tightly and asked him, then approached Zelda, who was waiting for him.
“Goodbye.”
He said goodbye with all his might to her, who was smiling brightly at him.
Zelda, who had no idea what Linel meant by “goodbye,” answered him bravely.
“See you again soon. I’ll wait.”
***
He told me not to look back. Was it because his face looked so pretty from afar that it would be hard?
I snorted when I heard that, but it was true.
The face I saw when I glanced back a moment ago was hard on me in another sense.
“Why are you looking so dead?”
I felt uneasy, so I turned my head to look at him.
Even though the distance had widened a bit, he kept waving his hand. When I smiled, he smiled back.
Why was my heart so heavy even though we weren’t parting forever?
It was probably because of his expression.
He seemed to be happily sending me off, but he looked sad the whole time.
Wasn’t it?
Was it because I was infected with evil energy and felt everything negative?
I tried hard to drive away the bad thoughts and raised my hand toward him and shook it vigorously.
He...
is crying...
is crying. Why?
His face was clearly smiling, but tears were flowing from his eyes. His straight features were becoming more and more distorted.
His body looked precarious, as if it would collapse at any moment.
I wanted to turn around and go to him again.
He must have noticed my feelings because he was gesturing for me to continue forward. I would soon turn the large zelkova tree ahead of me, and Linel would no longer be visible.
If I turned the reins slightly to the side, I could go back to him.
My mind began to wander.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
I heard Bellos’ voice urging me from the side.
“You should turn around here.”
Magic Tower Lord said, pointing to Bonis and Commander Macrom, who had already turned the zelkova tree and were waiting for me.
“Oh, yes...”
I finally waved to Linel one last time and rode in the direction where the group was waiting.
“Your Majesty seems very worried.”
Magic Tower Lord asked as he sat next to me.
“That’s right. We’ll meet again soon, so don’t let the person leaving feel bad.”
“...Yes, that’s right.”
Matapju was taken aback by my words.
Oh no. My words came out loud again.
Still, it was fortunate that I didn’t say anything out loud to Linel.
It was around the time when my horse began walking alongside Bonis’s horse.
“Your Majesty, Sharon made me some lemon tea... Would you like some?”
Bonis asked me as she grabbed the small water jug attached to her horse’s saddle.
“No, I’ll drink it later. I’m fine for now.”
“Yes, if you’re thirsty, just let me know...”
Bonis’s smiling expression also looked dark.
She must be worried because she’s about to leave on a long journey.
The road from here, Elanji Forest, to the Tebello Empire would not be so easy.
Because of Galaco, Elanji Forest was no longer safe.
For Bonis, who couldn’t use a sword, it must have been scary and terrifying.
So before I left, I asked Commander Macrom to keep Bonis safe by his side.
Bonis continued to offer me lemon tea from time to time.
Sharon made it so deliciously, didn’t she?
***
Linel stood there for a long time after Zelda disappeared from sight.
Then, at Raphael’s urging, he turned back toward the monastery building.
He took only two or three steps before collapsing.
His legs had lost their strength, but maybe his will to live had also lost its power.
His love, happiness, and future... had all fallen away, like smoke.
It was an understatement to say that it was empty. It felt like a round hole had opened up in the middle of his chest, and the cold morning air was passing through it.
When he looked at Zelda’s back, tears flowed down without him realizing it, but now that she was gone, they dried up in an instant.
Now, his eyes and chest were filled with anger.
Even his body, which seemed like it could hold out for another day or two, was rapidly becoming tired.
The problem was not his physical strength but the drowsiness that was pouring down. His eyelids, which were gradually closing, tried to cover the world he had been in with Zelda. He shouldn’t fall asleep now.
No, maybe it would be less painful to fall asleep and then wake up.
A world where only Zelda’s memories were gone was waiting for him.
Just like before she appeared in his life.
Cool and emotionless.
Then he could deal with this shitty situation calmly.
But the reason he kept opening his eyes was because of regret.
The short married life he had with Zelda had been the happiest moment of his life...
Prince Norton and Raphael held his arms on both sides and supported him, but he shook off their hands and got up on his own.
Linel simply summarized everything as he got up.
Zelda, who had been infected with evil energy, would be completely cured.
And he had also saved the life of his younger brother, Joseph.
Yes, he had saved the two people he loved on the condition of accepting Roxana’s conditions.
Let’s just think about that.
Linel was worried that Zelda, who had recovered, might return to the palace.
However, if she heard the news of Roxana’s remarriage, she wouldn’t be able to move easily either.
Furthermore, if the rumor that she was the ‘acting Empress’ spread throughout the Lapion palace, it would be even worse...
When he imagined her being hurt by the news of his remarriage, it felt as if someone had cut into his heart and sprinkled salt on it.
‘Let’s have a child.’
Zelda’s words echoed.
He sighed and looked up at the sky.
“The sun is rising.”
My light had disappeared...
Keeeeek-!!
A creepy scream, like someone scraping an iron plate with the tip of a sword, could be heard from the forest on the other side of where Zelda had left.
It was Galaco’s scream.
“You’re finally here.”
Linel turned to where Galaco’s cries were coming from.
At that moment, the knight on guard on the monastery tower found Linel below the building and came down the stairs in a hurry.
“Your Majesty! A group that looks like the Allied Forces is approaching the monastery from the forest at 9 o’clock!”
Linel’s tired eyes sharpened.
He ordered Raphael.
“Gather all the guests in the dining hall right now.”
“Yes! Your Majesty, but does Your Majesty know who they are?”
Raphael calmly asked, watching him give orders without any panic.
“We will be surrounded soon.”
“Surrounded?!”
Prince Norton suddenly asked in surprise.
“Even if we prepare for an attack, it will be useless. It will only result in reckless casualties. So we should aim to deal with them with as little damage as possible.”
“What on earth are these people coming here?”
Prince Norton looked incredulous.
“They must be pirates from the Principality of Aklatto and Tanya Island.”
“Hah... T, is that true?!”
Raphael gulped and shouted.
“They want me. There’s no need for others to sacrifice themselves.”
Prince Norton and Raphael looked at him with bewildered expressions at the same time as Linel’s words.
***
Something is wrong.
I looked up at the sky and was convinced.
The Galacos jumped into the sky from the forest on the other side, ate something, and then fell down after being hit by arrows shot from below.
They weren’t monsters that would fall down helplessly after being hit by one or two arrows.
“Strange...”
At that moment, something rose into the sky again.
This time, I looked closely and figured out what it was.
“Beasts?”
“I see, really.”
Bellos, who was looking up at the sky with me, nodded.
Commander Macrom, who couldn’t see ahead, had already drawn his sword at Galacos’ screams.
“Lord of the Tower, why do you think someone is throwing dead animals at Galacos?”
“It seems like they’re trying to lure Galacos into revealing themselves by smelling the blood of the beasts and killing them.”
Lord of the Tower agreed with me.
“I guess so. Who on earth would do something like that?”
The problem was that the group that was luring Galaco by throwing the beast into the sky seemed to be heading towards the monastery.
“It’s war, Master?”
Moiya, who had transformed into a squirrel and was in my uniform pocket, stuck his head out and spat out the acorn he had in his mouth towards Galaco, who was far away with a 'whoosh!'
"Fighting is fun, Moiya~!"
The acorn that Moiya spat out flew much farther than I thought. It almost hit Galaco's head.
"Moiya, if you don't dare to face Galaco, just sit there quietly."
I stuffed Moiya's head back into my uniform pocket and looked back at the group, shouting.
"We should go back!"
I boldly turned my horse around.
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