CH 112

Subjugation and Rakain (3)

Kergel hugged her shoulder and said in a soft voice.

“You don’t have to rush at all, Roelin. If you look at it that way, there are still a lot of things that I’m not good at as well.”

“What are you actually bad at?”

Roelin shook her head and laughed. At that appearance, Kergel lightly grabbed the tip of her nose and released it before he continued jokingly.

“What are you not good at?”

“I’m just starting to learn everything……”

“Heinez would have been dumbfounded if he heard that. He had always grabbed the back of his neck because of me, but he never even needed to do it because of you.” (T/N: Grabbing the back of one’s neck is a saying that’s similar to ‘causing one to have headaches’.)

“Sir Bashel has always been a good judge.”

“If you go too far with those humble words, people who listen to it will think that you’re actually teasing me now.”

Roelin straight away closed her mouth tightly at Kergel’s words. A slight tinge of redness in her cheeks eventually caught his eye.

On the other hand, her face was so lovely that she seemed to have been reminded of compliments too.

Kergel’s hand, which had already wrapped around her shoulder, gradually became enlivened. It was such a petite, slender body. It was to the point where he wondered how she could actually get around with that body of hers.

……not something that he should truly utter if he hadn’t been letting her go all night.

Kergel smiled before taking a glance back at her.

Roelin’s birthday was just around the corner.

And everyone was secretly busy for that particular day. Gifts that had been prepared for her were also arriving one by one.

However, even though he had been careful when he was secretly preparing for it, Roelin still seemed to notice that something felt wrong.

‘I should tell everyone to be more careful.’

It was due to the fact that what he prepared at best should never be revealed in advance. Kergel murmured to himself and raised the corners of his mouth once again while gazing at Roelin.

He was so excited that she would definitely look surprised on her birthday and thus, become ultimately happy.

* * *

……but that expectation did not last for very long.

“Your Majesty!”

Kergel, who was continuing his stroll with Roelin, stopped walking when he saw that Heinez had rushed from the opposite side. Roelin also paused and looked worried when she saw him.

It was because of Heinez’s expression that appeared so stiff which could already be clearly seen from afar, unlike his usual self that had always been calm and collected.

“What’s going on?”

When Kergel noticed that Roelin who was next to him became nervous, he grabbed her hand at once and opened his mouth. Then Heinez, who eventually reached them in the meantime, first greeted Roelin with a simple courtesy before he immediately reported to Kergel.

“The head of the Samalta Mountains’ border has sent us an urgent message, Your Majesty.”

“The Samalta Mountains?”

Kergel’s expression also hardened in return. He didn’t feel at ease even though he hadn’t heard of the news just yet.

A herd of unidentified beasts.

When he had received a regular report not too long ago, what the person-in-charge added at the end of the report came to his mind anew. At the same time, Heinez’s mouth opened again.

“A group of monsters had raided a village near the mountain range and therefore, caused serious human and material damage.”

“A bunch of monsters raided? How serious is the damage…… Oh, it’s not something that should be talked about here.”

Kergel tried to ask Heinez a question, but instead, he shook his head and looked back at Roelin.

“Sorry, Roelin. I was planning on having a cup of tea after we finished our walk.”

“That’s all right, Kergel. Do go ahead. Lord Bashel.”

Roelin answered while trying to control her worried expression. Just by listening to the story from the side like this, she could already see that it was such a serious situation. Therefore, it was something that she shouldn’t be in the way of at all.

She turned her head and looked at the maid who was following her. Then, Lucy, the head maid, approached her quickly before giving a bow.

“I should return and get some rest then.”

“I’ll escort you, Empress.”

Roelin nodded at Lucy’s words before she looked at Kergel once again. Kergel gazed at her with an apologetic look as he opened his mouth.

“Let’s have dinner together later.”

“Yes, Kergel.”

Roelin nodded her head and answered before she finally turned around. He couldn’t turn around initially, so she thought that it would be better for her to turn around first.

Roelin, who began to walk just like that, soon stopped and looked back. She already noticed that the gaze which she felt from behind her back had disappeared, but by then, his appearance was nowhere to be seen as well.

It was proof that the situation had been urgent and the fact that his mind already grew impatient.

“I hope nothing big happened…”

Roelin murmured while swallowing a sigh. She didn’t really know why she became worried yet somehow, her heart was all trembling and upset.

* * *

“What’s the specific damage?”

As soon as Kergel entered the office, he began to ask a question. Heinez, who had followed suit, glanced next to him. Then, Bert came up with a report on the table.

Kergel scoured the report which Bert had brought upon. Heinez, who was looking at it, briefly mentioned the contents of the said report.

“Three villages had been completely devastated. There are no survivors in those three villages and although there are some survivors in other nearby villages, many of them have gotten seriously injured, so the number of victims is expected to increase even further.”

“……is this by the survivor from where the herd of monsters had raided before?”

“Yes, it is. And… as you can see from the report, more than half of the victims…….”

Heinez’s voice, which was calmly reporting, soon cracked. He eventually clenched his teeth in silence. Then, Kergel raised his eyes as he looked through the report, gazed at Heinez before looking back at the report once again.