Chapter 20: Jerond’s Thought

If Helter’s mad king truly had the key in his hands, war would break out again. The lands beyond Nifles, reduced to a vassal state, would once more be soaked in blood, and all those who had driven the king mad would be executed. But Jerond’s thoughts were different. His premonition was turning in a completely different direction.

“The king will die soon. Then the subsidies will be cut off.”

“…What?”

“After he dies miserably without even recovering the money we poured in, a new king will take the throne. Who do you think that king will be?”

That was obvious. It would be the one who brought the sorcerer, the queen’s cousin, and ultimately turned the country into a war-crazed nation.

“If that monster’s spawn ascends the throne, our emperor will start thinking differently too. He will try by any means to summon monsters and evil spirits again, and by then our emperor will have a justification.”

The reason Islram had not coveted Helter’s empire was the treaty made by previous emperors. Based on Nifles, they would not invade the continent beyond it, and in return the nations that held the forest would not harm the Islram Empire.

“So that means Islram intends to take even the lands beyond Nifles?”

“Probably.”

Jerond did not continue right away. As if checking again whether his thoughts were right, he resumed after a while in a clear tone.

“It’s a bloody chunk of land, but soil soaked in blood is fertile. It fattens people and animals and makes grass and trees abundant.”

Nothing is as covetable as fertile land. For people to eat and live, land was absolute. Even if it had soaked up blood, the land would embrace and grow even more crops. So as a precondition, it was not bad.

“People exhausted by war will see the emperor from the new nation as a savior. They will accept the seeds he gives, and they will worship him like a god when he provides new wells and fresh food. The people trapped in fear and hunger will not accept a king who is a sorcerer. They are trembling in fear, living a dead life, so they would rather have Islram’s new emperor invade and swallow their country.”

“…”

“You know it. Nothing can overcome fear and hunger.”

If the real emperor truly harbored such intentions, as Jerond said, it would break a promise kept since the previous generation. It was also highly unusual, and something the seventeen priests protecting the temple would criticize.

“He could be recorded as the first emperor to defy the promise of his predecessors. He could also be branded a traitor.”

“But he will gain the continent, including Helter. He will win over more scholars, and high-quality grain will grow in the fields diligently tended by good people. If he also claims justice by beheading the mad sorcerer and the counts and nobles, what do you think the priests will say?”

The Islram Empire would gain everything. Under the pretext of punishing those who drove Helter’s king mad, the emperor of Islram would be revered as a god. In a way that was very natural and not humiliating.

“They will call him the greatest emperor who achieved it through rebellion. He broke the promise of his predecessors, but no flaw will be attached to him. History will record that he saved tens of thousands of slaves and poor people and freed them from hunger. There is no way the emperor has not calculated that.”

There must already be a force halfway in motion. That was why the emperor’s knights had suddenly begun to move. And the one who would know that better than anyone was his father, the captain of the knights.

“Helter is doomed. It’s impressive that it held out this long. It’s also destined that Islram will devour even that land in time.”

Jerond spoke indifferently, as if talking about someone else. He took a sip of wine from his cup, and Clom, who had been listening gravely to all this, opened his mouth.

“Then that woman…”

“Amblin.”

At Jerond’s cold correction, Clom changed his words.

“Right, Amblin. So do you plan to keep Amblin with you until Helter’s king dies?”

At Clom’s question, Jerond slowly turned his head. It was a question with an obvious answer, but for some reason Jerond’s eyes had only grown fiercer.

“Is it because you’re curious about my intentions? Or are you interested in her?”

His black irises seemed especially black today. He had felt it since first seeing him, but Jerond’s eyes somehow did not seem human. His unusually dark pupils were one thing, and though the upturned shape of his eyes was clearly human, there was a chilly air about them. His strong stamina, elastic body, and unbelievably great strength could be said to come from his father, but the sharp edge he revealed moment by moment was always cold, unlike Clom, even if they were not brothers by blood.

“You’re a bit too sharp.”

“The problem is the one who thinks that.”

“That’s why women are afraid of you.”

“For that, they cling too much, don’t they?”

Clom looked over Jerond’s clothes, which were far too plain for a lord. The clothes he wore without a single ornament were almost all cotton, and the belt at his waist was only for carrying a sword, not for style. Even his trousers, wrapped around firm thighs, were tied with only the minimum knots and had not a single glittering emblem embedded in them.

Even so, the women of the empire acted as if they would give their lives to Jerond. Even without the halo he possessed, there were plenty of modest women desperate to have even a one-night affair with this man.

“So why do they send love letters to someone as rough as you?”

At Clom’s question, Jerond looked as if asking why he would ask something he already knew.

“Why else? Because I take after my father.”

Clom let out a sigh while holding his cup. Well, who was Jerond’s father? Wasn’t he Perel Gladzor, rumored to be the most handsome and beautiful man in the empire? A man with wealth and power second only to the emperor and empress. Though born the son of a poor noble, he had risen to captain of the emperor’s knights through strong stamina and unbelievable combat skill. On top of that, he was a widower whose wife had died early, so women of all ages admired him one after another.

“Hmm, anyway, the source of that confidence is his father. How can an adopted child live without resentment?”

Clom emptied his cup and stretched with a groan. When he turned his head, Jerond was crumpling the letters piled all over the desk with an indifferent face.

“They’re love letters from women. Couldn’t you at least pretend to read them?”

“Boring. They’re just a string of useless sentences.”

Clom shook his head at Jerond’s unchanging response. If it were him, he would at least untie the pretty rolled ribbons, but Jerond found even that troublesome.

“Anyway, I’ll keep the matter of Amblin secret for now, but we’ll have to send her somewhere else soon. If the king dies as you say, it means the emperor will make his move, and there’s no need to cause unnecessary trouble.”

“That goes for me too.”

“Good.”

Clom agreed without hesitation. He no longer wanted to get tangled with the forest, and if the emperor took Helter’s land, the forest would lose any chance of revival anyway.

“Only that woman is pitiful…”

“Her name is Amblin. Call her properly.”

Jerond’s cold eyes corrected him again. He did not quite understand why he was being so persistent, but since her identity was secret, covering for her perfectly was the basics of secrecy.

“Fine, Amblin. She must be sad about losing her home, so when we send her later, let’s at least create a proper new identity for her. If we slip her a bundle of money, she won’t have to work as a maid somewhere.”

“…”

“You’re not going to keep her, so let’s do as much as we can for her.”

Jerond gave no reply. It was not as if Clom had spoken to gain his agreement, but the lack of an answer bothered him somehow.

Leaving Jerond behind as he crumpled the love letters as if they were trash, Clom emptied his cup and left the room. He felt uneasy for some reason, but there was nothing he could do about Jerond once he clamped his mouth shut.

The door thudded, and Clom disappeared. Jerond crumpled the love letters ruthlessly. Then he remembered Luti, who had fallen into a deep sleep after eating the candy he gave her, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.

The kitchen was bustling. Since the lord of the castle had returned, the kitchen was naturally frantic preparing all kinds of food. On top of that, a banquet would be held to welcome the lord’s return, and the dusty banquet hall would be packed with people.

Nobles, and the lords and their daughters who had rushed over after hearing the news and dressed to the nines. To catch the eyes of Jerond and Clom, who were of marriageable age, they would show off their beauty with every kind of coquettish charm, and their parents would hover around Jerond, eager to hear all sorts of news about the palace.

But there was a problem. It lay with the two sons of the Gladzor family. The eldest son, Clom, and the second, Jerond. First, Jerond, the knight captain’s true son, never gave women an inch. No matter how beautiful a woman approached and spoke to him, he would coldly snap at her, and he showed no interest in the princesses of neighboring countries. When he went on inspections with the emperor, he should have met princesses from various nations, so as a butler, it was impossible to understand how he returned without a single scandal.

And Clom, one year older than Jerond. He was the son of a wealthy farmer who had been adopted five years ago. His parents had him too late in life and, unable to protect him from their other children, sent the young child to the empire. Clom, who had been raised as a knight before he was even six, started as a page and grew into a squire. He was especially skilled at handling black horses, which caught Perel’s eye, and after achieving great merit as a squire in a battle, he became Perel’s adopted son five years ago.

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