Chapter 232 – Juan Calberg (1)

Chapter 232 – Juan Calberg (1)

It was raining in the holy city of Torra.

The raindrops that fell after the long winter did not feel as cold as before. As the moisture containing the spring breeze surged North, the spring arrived throughout the empire.

People of the empire felt relieved to see the end of the seemingly eternal winter and the start of spring. Above all, it was the news of the emperor’s victory over the West that made everyone feel the warmth of the spring.

The civil war, which had been keeping people on edge, had finally come to an end.

When people first heard the rumor of the returning emperor, they had all been skeptical and felt uneasy about the feeling of the empire being attacked for the first time.

Then, the emperor finally returned and established his rule once again. But then, the emperor’s third son, Dismas Dilver, made a fuss, causing the people to feel at risk once again.

Unlike the battle against Barth Baltic, which ended more peacefully than anyone had expected, the dead gods were raised up and two of the emperor’s direct subordinates ended up dying.

There was a massive amount of damage and there was a rumor the civil war would get even worse.

However, as if to quench the anxiety of the people, the emperor instantly brought with him an army to barge into the West and crack down on the rebels.

Amidst all this, the emperor’s Grace which was controlled and distributed by the Church disappeared completely after the Pope’s death.

Thus, there was no one left to resist the returned emperor now.

The empire had its peace restored completely when nobles from all over the empire took their vows of loyalty.

Everything seemed to be perfect—at least on the surface.

“Dad!”

Nienna hastily broke into the conference room of the Imperial Palace located in the holy city of Torra, and rushed to find Juan.

“You almost broke the damn door. I’m going to charge the North for it if it breaks,” Juan answered with a frown.

Nienna’s eyes widened. Contrary to her expectations that Juan would be ill and on his sickbed, he looked to be perfectly fine as he sat on the chair in the conference room in a normal state; however, he looked a little tired.

Nienna glared at Pavan, who was sitting next to Juan.

“Pavan told me to come here as soon as possible because something had happened to you, Dad. So I left everything behind, including the army, and came all the way here on my own. There’s still a lot of restoration work left in the North.”

“Yes, Pavan did well. I ordered him to call all the people who I could trust to Torra.”

Most of the people that were considered close to Juan, including Heretia, seemed to have already arrived at the conference room.

But there were far too many empty seats.

In addition, Horhell was sitting on the right side of Juan. Nienna thought that such a scene was strange. Now that Haild’s identity had been revealed, his official position was that of the leader of the East. But Horhell was sitting on the seat that belonged to the leader of the East instead of Haild.

“I don’t know. I feel like a lot of people are missing,” Nienna murmured.

Nienna immediately noticed the absence of one person—she couldn’t find Sina Solvane, the female knight who was always following Juan.

Juan remained silent for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Haild is currently recuperating. He has passed through the immediate crisis, but we are still examining his condition. Anya is still in the South. I received a message that she will arrive a little later than expected.”

“Haild is recuperating? Was there someone capable of hurting Haild? I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about him even if he were facing Cainheryars as long as he had Elkihel with him.”

“You are right. He didn’t get hurt at all when he fought against one of the Cainheryars. He got hurt when he teleported to me through the Crack after all the Cainheryars had been destroyed.”

Nienna frowned upon hearing Juan’s explanation.

“Did he fight against Dismas or something?”

“No. Dismas was... dealt with by someone else. And he ended up dying. I retrieved my essence from him when he was dying. He will no longer be able to recover or come back to life. The fact that all Cainheryars have collapsed is evidence.”

“...I see,” Nienna murmured bitterly.

She had little contact with Dismas ever since the emperor’s assassination, but the death of her brother was still heartbreaking for her.

Nienna purposefully showed a casual smile and opened her mouth.

“I guess the only brother I have left now is Gerard—that is if he is still alive.”

“He is alive.”

“What?”

***

“...A cold?”

“Yes.”

“Say that again. Did you actually say that he has a cold? His Majesty has caught a cold?”

“Yes. He has a terrible fever. I think he has been sick for a long time... you might have felt that he was burning hot as a ball of fire when you grabbed his hand. But have you really not noticed at all?”

Nienna bit her lips with a perplexed expression upon hearing the words of the doctor who was invited to the Imperial Palace.

“I did think that his body temperature was a little lower than usual, but... how’s his condition? Is it dangerous?” Nienna mumbled and asked.

“...I’m not sure what his normal body temperature is like, but he would continue to be unconscious for a while if he was a normal human being. I’ve done everything I can for now, so please keep your eye on him and make sure that he isn’t skipping meals. Also, make sure he rests well.”

The doctor stepped back after he finished speaking. Before he left, Nienna grabbed him and opened her mouth with her index finger over her lips.

“Once again. This has to be...”

“This has to be kept a secret, and even my family could be in danger if anyone finds out about it. I think I’ve already heard it at least a hundred times on my way here. And I heard it from a lot of different people. So there is no need to worry, General.”

The doctor patted himself on the chest with an exhausted expression on his face.

“My son is a soldier. When I heard that he was being drafted by Barth Baltic to fight against the returning emperor, I thought he would either come back dead or at least be crippled. But he came back safe and alive. So how could I betray His Majesty, who was so benevolent?”

Nienna nodded.

The doctor bowed and headed out of the Imperial Palace. After watching the doctor leave, Nienna entered the room once again.

Inside the room was Ivy who was sitting alone.

Nienna looked around at the surroundings and asked.

“Where did everyone else go?”

“Miss Heretia kicked all of them out when she heard that His Majesty had a cold. Captain Pavan went to check the status of the Imperial Guards, and Sir Horhell went to check on Mr. Haild. As for Miss Heretia, as far as I know, she went to crack down on the nobles,” Ivy answered.

“I see that you naturally took on the burden.”

Nienna sat down face to face with Ivy in front of Juan.

Meanwhile, Ivy quietly looked down at Juan.

“I was given the most important job.”

Nienna nodded and looked down at Juan’s face, which was red with fever. Juan’s shallow groans reminded Nienna of the time right after his battle with Barth Baltic. As always, Juan’s weak appearance felt quite unfamiliar to her.

Nienna slowly reached out and placed her hand on Juan’s forehead. He looked much more comfortable when Nienna’s cold hand cooled him down. Upon seeing this sight, Nienna opened her mouth again.

“Can’t I just freeze him like this?”

“I’ll go and grab a new wet towel.”

When Ivy quickly stood up from her seat, Nienna shook her head, causing Ivy to sit back down.

“I was just joking. Sit down.”

Ivy looked relieved.

Then, Nienna mumbled as she rubbed Juan’s forehead.

“It’s rather fortunate that Anya is only arriving later.”

“Anya... are you talking about the Captain of the Order of Huginn?” Ivy asked.

“Yes. If she was here, she would have been crying and hanging on to Dad’s feet. It would have taken a lot of effort to get her off of Dad. No—she might even go and try to kill Gerard right away.”

Ivy shook her head as she imagined such a scene. Just imagining it gave her a headache.

“It’s a relief that he seems to just have a cold. When he was stabbed by Barth Baltic’s horns before, I almost handed His Majesty over to the hands of the enemy without even knowing what the cause was.”

“Ah, yes. I heard that Dame Sina helped His Majesty at that time.”

“Yes, that’s the one. But... she’s not here right now.”

Nienna grinned and bent down toward Ivy.

“I could feel that Dad was avoiding bringing up Sina’s name. Ivy, will you tell me what happened?”