Episode 58. Meeting Beloveye
“No, that’s right. My servant died, so why aren’t you holding Lacrahan accountable? Shouldn’t he be arrested or imprisoned?”
“Because this is the North, Your Majesty, the Emperor.”
Lyone emerged from a dark corner where she had previously assumed no one was present.
She had always walked with the click of her shoes, but this time, she approached Gerard without a sound.
“Even in the North, as the Emperor of the Empire, shouldn’t my word take precedence?”
“Yes. Of course. That’s true. But the law of the North takes precedence over words. Your Majesty, the Emperor, wherever you go, the law of that country takes precedence. After that, you can do whatever you want. That’s why our Emperor is the greatest among humans.”
Gerard, listening to Lyone’s long speech, pondered her words for a moment before smiling.
“You said a lot, but in the end, it means I’m number one.”
“Well, then you do as you please.”
Gerard walked outside, as if his business was now finished.
Bercheria and Dickfer were sitting in a corner of Muha’s nest.
Even though they had roughly blocked the wind with branches, the sound of the wind was painful to the ears.
The cold at the edge of the cliff was completely different from the cold on the ground.
Bercheria, who had just emerged from her sleep, was wearing only a thin one-piece dress, and Dipper was shivering in his sleeveless shirt.
“I don’t usually catch the cold, but ugh. This place is seriously no joke... Achoo!”
Bercheria was also curled up, unable to bear the cold.
Dipper was fussing about the cold weather here, but to Bercheria, it wasn’t all that different from the tower.
It was just a feeling she had forgotten for a while, so it felt unfamiliar.
At least here, the air filtered through the branches, making it feel a little warmer. It was on a completely different level from the cold stone floor of the tower.
“Isn’t it cold, Bercheria?”
“It’s cold.”
Unlike Dipper, who was shivering as he spoke, Bercheria’s voice was calm.
He shook his head.
Then, as if a thought suddenly occurred to him, he clapped his hands together.
“What if we changed the weather?”
“...”
Dipper rubbed his arm, which was covered in goosebumps, and said,
“I thought maybe doing something would help. If it snowed, maybe it would help the wind a little.”
She tore her gaze away from Dipper and spoke in a deliberately blunt voice.
“It’s the sea breeze, so I can’t stop it.”
“Oh. I see.”
She was the type who would get in trouble if she tried to be kind and then asked for various abilities. She didn’t mind being unfriendly, but it would be bad if someone found out that her strength had disappeared.
“I want to get down quickly,” she thought.
But she was also worried about where she would end up once she got down.
Emperor Gerard would still be in Lacrahan's castle, so if she went back and made trouble, the point of her escape would be lost.
“No, that’s right. My servant died, so why aren’t you holding Lacrahan accountable? Shouldn’t he be arrested or imprisoned?”
“Because this is the North, Your Majesty, the Emperor.”
Lyone emerged from a dark corner where she had previously assumed no one was present.
She had always walked with the click of her shoes, but this time, she approached Gerard without a sound.
“Even in the North, as the Emperor of the Empire, shouldn’t my word take precedence?”
“Yes. Of course. That’s true. But the law of the North takes precedence over words. Your Majesty, the Emperor, wherever you go, the law of that country takes precedence. After that, you can do whatever you want. That’s why our Emperor is the greatest among humans.”
Gerard, listening to Lyone’s long speech, pondered her words for a moment before smiling.
“You said a lot, but in the end, it means I’m number one.”
“Well, then you do as you please.”
Gerard walked outside, as if his business was now finished.
***
Bercheria and Dickfer were sitting in a corner of Muha’s nest.
Even though they had roughly blocked the wind with branches, the sound of the wind was painful to the ears.
The cold at the edge of the cliff was completely different from the cold on the ground.
Bercheria, who had just emerged from her sleep, was wearing only a thin one-piece dress, and Dipper was shivering in his sleeveless shirt.
“I don’t usually catch the cold, but ugh. This place is seriously no joke... Achoo!”
Bercheria was also curled up, unable to bear the cold.
Dipper was fussing about the cold weather here, but to Bercheria, it wasn’t all that different from the tower.
It was just a feeling she had forgotten for a while, so it felt unfamiliar.
At least here, the air filtered through the branches, making it feel a little warmer. It was on a completely different level from the cold stone floor of the tower.
“Isn’t it cold, Bercheria?”
“It’s cold.”
Unlike Dipper, who was shivering as he spoke, Bercheria’s voice was calm.
He shook his head.
Then, as if a thought suddenly occurred to him, he clapped his hands together.
“What if we changed the weather?”
“...”
Dipper rubbed his arm, which was covered in goosebumps, and said,
“I thought maybe doing something would help. If it snowed, maybe it would help the wind a little.”
She tore her gaze away from Dipper and spoke in a deliberately blunt voice.
“It’s the sea breeze, so I can’t stop it.”
“Oh. I see.”
She was the type who would get in trouble if she tried to be kind and then asked for various abilities. She didn’t mind being unfriendly, but it would be bad if someone found out that her strength had disappeared.
“I want to get down quickly,” she thought.
But she was also worried about where she would end up once she got down.
Emperor Gerard would still be in Lacrahan's castle, so if she went back and made trouble, the point of her escape would be lost.
So she couldn't go.
Bercheria raised her knee, resting her chin on it, and quietly recalled Lacrahan's words.
He had said he loved her.
He had said he wouldn't break up with her unless she brought it up first.
He had said he would do everything he could.
Perhaps because no one had ever said such things to Bercheria in her life, it hadn't felt real.
She'd never seen it in the memories of an Awakened, nor in real life, so she dismissed it as a fantasy, a tale that could never come true.
So she believed it couldn't happen to her.
It was absurd.
Every time Bercheria faced such a situation, the very fact that she had confessed everything to Lacrahan in the first place felt even more strange.
Meeting someone else made her realize how cautious she had been.
'Was I weakened because I had lost my power?'
She opened her hand, drawing strength into it.
But still, as if air were circulating in an empty space, she felt no sensation at all.
'But if that's the case, shouldn't I be more vigilant now?'
If Princess Kelita hadn't brought her the sweets through Tatiana, Bercheria wouldn't have even touched them.
It was for the same reason she didn't drink the tea served during tea time.
It was not only Kelita's behavior that was particularly strange, but Bercheria's wariness was also to blame.
She turned her head slightly and looked at the shivering Dipper.
Somehow, she felt like this man wasn't trustworthy either.
In fact, she trusted Laurent's sly demeanor even more.
Bercheria left Dipper, who was shivering from the cold, and walked toward the beach.
"Where are you going in this cold?"
"Just to see if Muha is coming. Don't worry about it, just stay there."
Because Muha had built his home in so many places, the sparsely woven trees were easy to trip over.
A misstep here could lead to injury.
"I can't let anyone else see that my wound isn't healing."
As she looked around for another way out,
"Bercheria."
A rustling sound was heard, and a strangely shaped lizard was staring at her.
"Ugh!"
Bercheria's face turned pale at the sight of this horrifying combination: a human male's head and a lizard's body.
***
"Wait a minute. What did you just say?"
“Bercheria is in that bastard’s nest! Bercheria!”
Lacrahan looked suspicious, unable to believe Laurent's sudden words.
Then he pounded his chest in frustration.
“Listen carefully to me.”
Laurent told of seeing Muha in a tree, following him, and finding Bercheria hanging from the railing.
“On the railing...”
Lacrahan’s voice was hoarse and strained.
“Anyway, it seems they had some kind of arrangement. Bercheria smoked, and Muha came and took her away. To be exact, he’s the god of the earth, Dipper.”
Lacrahan frowned for a moment.
“Dipper?”
It wasn’t a familiar name, but he knew who he was and what he protected.
He was one of only three gods on the continent.
“Why on earth is the god of the Kingdom of Contana in Periat?”
“That... I don’t know about that. Hmm. Why is he here?”
Lacrahan pressed his temples, as if in pain.
“How did you know that Bercheria was in the nest?”
“Ah. That.”
When Laurent paused, Lacrahan lifted his head slightly, as if to encourage him to continue.
Laurent smiled awkwardly.
“I can’t tell you that.”
He didn’t want to say that he was too slow to keep up with Muha.
Eventually, Beloveye remembered that condors nested on cliffs, so he searched the sea for all the nests and eventually discovered Bercheria.
But explaining all of this to Lacrahan might require going back to the beginning of the Supreme Being.
Besides, telling him too much about Belofeye would be problematic.
“Lacrahan. Just trust me for now.”
“What do I believe in you, Prince Laurent?”
“Ah! Seriously! It’s so frustrating!”
Still, he couldn’t help but go rescue Bercheria, so he grabbed Lacrahan by the collar and pulled him close.
Laurent's completely unexpected actions caused Lacrahan to lose his balance, and his face almost touched Laurent's.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Lacrahan frowned and shouted.
"Why have you been clinging to people all this time!"
This made him suspicious of Bercheria's story, making him untrustworthy.
If he believed Laurent and left the castle, Bercheria might run into Emperor Gerard's men, which could lead to even bigger trouble. If a portal opened while Lacrahan was away and he went to the imperial palace, the time difference would be too great, and it could be dangerous.
"Excuse me, Your Highness. If I just tell you to trust me, why don't you trust me? Why do you keep doubting me? I'm the Prince of Der'Ansis?"
"Even a Prince or something, you have to say something obvious to me to believe you. If I suddenly shout at you to trust me, will Prince Laurent believe me?"
"What nonsense. Why would I trust Grand Duke Lacrahan?"
"Why would I trust you?"
“It’s true!”
“Prince Laurent. Are you kidding me?”
“Oh, really! This is driving me crazy!”
Laurent’s voice was truly irritated.
“If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t believe it! How could I tell my rival about Bercheria’s whereabouts just to enjoy some kind of wealth and honor? I’m crazy.”
As Laurent turned around and started to leave, Lacrahan grabbed Laurent’s clothes this time.
“Ugh!”
Laurent was suddenly forced to stop as her breathing became tight.
“Understood. I trust you. So where is she now?”
Although Laurent was a man he couldn’t trust, Lacrahan was desperate.
Bercheria, who had left on her own, was unlikely to return to Lacrahan’s castle as long as Emperor Gerard was present.
Therefore, knowing where she was, whether she was okay, and whether she was currently safe was essential for Lacrahan to lead a normal life.
He couldn’t waste time worrying about Bercheria.
“But if Bercheria isn’t there, you’ll need to brace yourself.”
When Laurent glared, Lacrahan called a nearby knight and ordered him to prepare two horses.
“Let’s go check quickly.”
He walked to the stables, his cloak flying, and Laurent followed him, his hands in his pockets.
***
Bercheria had never seen such a horrifying sight in her life.
A man with blue hair and blue eyes, with the body of a lizard.
It was so terrifying that it almost seemed like a dream.
“Ugh!”
The male lizard spoke as Bercheria tried to run away.
“Lacrahan.”
Bercheria turned her head with a puzzled expression.
Beloveye, who had maintained an indifferent expression the entire time, frowned at Bercheria.
When Beloveye transformed into Owl, his senses and thoughts also diminished as his size decreased.
While that was certainly better than a human’s, it meant that he wasn’t as normal.
“As expected. You’re turning around.”
Beloveye smiled with satisfaction.
He glanced at Dipper and gestured in Bercheria’s direction.
“Come closer. I won’t be here for long.”
Bercheria looked at Beloveye with a suspicious look.
“Quickly.”
When she ignored him and tried to turn away, he began listing names endlessly.
“Owl, Laurent, Lacrahan, Timothy...”
Bercheria finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and stepped closer to the lizard-man.
“Ugh.”
Still, it was so strange that it made her groan involuntarily.
"I felt like you had some strength before, if not all, but why can't I feel anything now?"
"...What?"
Beloveye's blue eyes crinkled as he turned to Bercheria.
"All your strength gone?"
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