Chapter 197

Chapter 197

If only it had rained.

Elizaveta turned her gaze away, lightly blaming the clear sky.

Prichenkaya was welcoming spring. In Krasilov, spring was merely “a slightly less cold winter,” and the outer roads, made muddy by the awful rasputitsa, had turned into slush.

Still, it was spring nonetheless. The gray sky was disappearing, and little by little, the weather was clearing up.

Because of that.

“Your Majesty. Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Cherkatov is here to report.”

“Let him... come in.”

Without rain, there was no way to hide her face.

“Your Majesty. I, Dmitri Cherkatov, report my return.”

“I’ve... already received the report. There was no need for you to come here yourself...”

“As the person in charge, I must report to Your Majesty directly.”

“Who in this world has more responsibility than you in this matter?”

Dmitri smiled wearily from his wheelchair. Elizabeta staggered as she stood up and walked toward Dmitri, who was quietly sitting by the door of the chancellor’s office.

“I, Dmitri Cherkatov, and my total of three subordinates, have returned.”

“...You yourself....”

Unlike the dry words laid out in the report, the survival report of the loyal subject who had lost both legs was enough to crumble Elizabeta’s body.

At that moment, she staggered and leaned on the table. A nearby maid rushed over to support her.

“What face do you have to ...?”

“Your Majesty.”

Elizabeta’s blue eyes gradually clouded over. Drip, drip. Moisture fell onto the wooden table.

The attendants and guards hurriedly turned their heads. The King of Krasilov could not show tears in front of anyone, not even under God.

However, Dmitri said, without turning his face away from her, even while bowing his head.

“Your Majesty. Do not insult their deaths.”

“...Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Cherkatov....”

“They did not die by Your Majesty’s orders. Not at all. We, my subordinates and I, and our senior... Colonel Ivan Petrovich Yeremov, did not go to our doom by Your Majesty’s command.”

It is different from that time.

It is different from the time when they had to go to their doom under Alexander’s command.

Believing so, and saying so.

“We have saved the world. We lived our lives as sinners who could not leave a mark in history, yet in that moment, we became the righteous as we walked towards our own demise. Your Majesty, please smile.”

Elizaveta raised her head. Dmitri’s face came into view.

With tears streaming down his face, he struggled to lift the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“On that day, we finally shone brilliantly.”

He placed the box he had brought on the table and stepped back.

Elizaveta’s trembling hand opened the small wooden box. Inside, a hand preserved with chemicals was wrapped in silk.

It was a man’s hand with prominent veins. Not rough, but elegant. And it was a right hand with a thick ring on the index finger.

She took the thick, black ring off the finger. It was a seal ring with the crest of Krasilov engraved on it. And it was, in itself, like an imperial seal.

It could seal all royal orders with wax. A long-standing relic of the royal family.

Elizaveta slowly slipped the ring onto her finger. The enchanted ring shrank perfectly to fit her ring finger.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty. Long live Krasilov.”

“Long live Krasilov!!”

The attendants and the knight commander shouted simultaneously.

“...So, did you say Uncle suddenly moved the ward?”

“Yes, oh dear, what can I do? It’s a royal command. You know, we’re all public servants. If the king says to do it, what can we do?”

“....”

Isabel bit her lips as she glared at Dmitri, who was lying in a single room, chuckling.

In response to her fierce expression, Dmitri shrugged and indicated the place where his legs used to be.

“I’m a patient, you know? A rather serious one at that.”

“Can I just hit you once?”

“Hold on, Bella.”

Ecdysis put down the instrument and sat glumly in a chair.

This was clearly the hospital room that said Ivan Petrovich Yeremov, but when she came in, there was an uncle with a snake-like appearance sitting there without a lower body.

She began to hum mournfully.

“To save these people, I need a lot of uncles...”

“What a revitalizing visit, everyone.”

Dmitri replied with a grin.

“Just give up already. I’ve been cheering for you all as much as I could, you know? But what can I do? The person I cheer for the most is our Majesty.”

“Alright, now the distinction is clear.”

“That’s good. Wars always begin with that.”

As Dmitri smirked, Isabel’s brows furrowed deeply.

“What exactly do you want? Sharing such information... There’s no need for that.”

“Hmmm... I don’t know. I just want someone I respect to be happy, but even after seeing them for a lifetime, I still don’t quite know how they can be happy. I have a very curious job, so what can I do? I guess I have to find out myself.”

Dmitri finished speaking with a wave of his hands.

“So I’ll gather as many as possible to test it out. Now go do your tasks. Time is short, isn’t it?”

It seems like that person, who has spent a lifetime in winter, might face a spring someday.

If there are many candidates, isn’t there a chance that one of them holds spring?

Isabel was a sensible person, so she wasn’t particularly surprised to find herself in the situation of being a “party companion” kidnapped by a “lascivious high noble.”

After all, isn’t such a story far too common? In the cultural powerhouse of Tylesse, this was already an outdated topic. (It mainly appeared in adult-oriented novels.)

Therefore, after quickly assessing the situation, she picked up her sword and chalk instead of succumbing to rage and horror.

“Ah, this familiar sensation.”

One by one, those who had been lazing around during vacation started to gather.

Surveying the solid potential competitors gathered in the club room, she spoke grimly.

“It’s time to return to the Hero Party.”

[Protecting the Princess’s Purity from the Demon King]

Eugene pressed his forehead as he looked at the bold letters written on the chalkboard.

“Everyone, we are now second-year students. We are adults.”

“So we’ve reached an age even more suitable for monitoring adult materials.”

“Exactly!”

“Where’s the party withdrawal application?”

“I want to leave too. Humans are just vulgar.”

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