Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: A Wife's Plea
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In front of the castle gate.
Rianna stared blankly at the soldiers blocking her path.
The soldiers' shoulders hunched under her gaze, chillier than the northern winds, as they instinctively drew closer together.
Even with the gap narrowed, it felt as cold as a raging bull's breath.
Finally, a savior appeared for the soldiers enduring that indescribably sharp something.
"Ha."
Mallidan's guardian deity.
It was Uldiran Caldias's arrival.
"To think such a humble one graces our precious gates."
"……."
Rianna showed no particular reaction to Uldiran's wordplay.
It might seem like Caldias was provoking her outright, but in truth, Rianna's mere presence here was an immense rudeness to him.
"Helmunt's daughter greets the Margrave."
Rianna offered a formal bow.
Her voice and expression were calm, yet to those around her, an odd tension hung in the air.
"Surely the Margrave has heard the gravity of the situation."
"Hmph."
"Let me go. Rianna Helmunt swears on the Helmunt name to resolve it and return."
"Refused."
Rianna's request was cut down like a blade.
"Sorry, Helmunt, but you'll have to head straight to the underground dungeon. I need to know why you're here—"
If the situation worsened.
"—keep in mind it could even lead to a military tribunal."
The already heavy atmosphere turned even more vicious.
"The Helmunt name might buy you indulgence in that grand mansion of yours, but that's it."
With those words, Uldiran's spear slowly aimed at Rianna's throat.
Close enough that a mere extension of his hand would pierce her neck.
Her unwavering crimson eyes met Uldiran's gaze.
"I'll take responsibility for disrupting the front lines. But first, we must resolve the situation—that's the right course."
"That's not for the criminal to decide."
"Margrave, it's no boast, but I am Helmunt. No one here can reach the site faster or resolve it than I."
"……."
"If we delay, nearby villagers could be at risk. Please, let me go."
"Helmunt, you don't grasp the point."
Uldiran clicked his tongue.
His spear tip didn't waver even slightly despite her plea.
"I already said it's not for the criminal to meddle in. Helmunt, worry about what excuse you'll spit in prison to survive."
Rianna took a moment to steady her breath.
Her blank expression began to melt away.
"Margrave."
A faint tremor.
Not from fear of the spear tip at her throat.
From dread of the future beyond the wall she couldn't reach in time.
"I beg you earnestly."
Not as Helmunt.
As Rianna.
She slowly dropped to one knee and bowed her head.
"Please... allow me to go save my husband."
A hush fell instantly.
The northern winds themselves seemed to still in the profound silence.
The sight of Helmunt's eldest daughter kneeling to Caldias would be talked about for ages.
"Who do you stand before me as right now?"
But Uldiran, who should have reveled in superiority most, furrowed his brow and asked back.
"Just Rianna. As Isaac's wife."
Uldiran's lips twisted into a grin at her answer.
His hearty uncle-like smile and weary exhale made him look as if he were puffing on a cigar in delight.
"I've been mistaken all this time. You're no Helmunt daughter standing before me."
Laughing heartily, Uldiran shook his head and clutched his forehead with his palm.
"My wife told me northerners lack romance. Honestly, I wondered what need there was for such things—"
"……."
"—but perhaps there's something to learn from your romance after all."
His thick spear didn't descend toward the kneeling Rianna but rose toward the sky.
"Open the gates! Should a wife not go welcome her husband?"
"Grrrrraaah!"
As the Red Aura pouring from the greatsword faded and dimmed, Sharen desperately turned her back.
"This is really pushing it now!"
Behind the fleeing Sharen stretched a sticky, black pool.
The shadow thralls spread deep and wide, playing territory like a game on unoccupied ground.
Where they passed, no light could reach.
A scene as if the world had lost its sun.
Even Silberna, blocking the thralls head-on, seemed to be reaching her limit.
Grind.
Gritting her teeth, she swung her spear wrapped in white aura.
Her aura swirled along the spear's path, unleashing a storm-like momentum.
But like slicing water, it briefly restored color—
only for darkness to swarm back and reclaim the space.
It's not enough.
She felt it in her bones: her aura couldn't hold them back.
To be cold about it.
In this regard, Sharen's Red Aura was actually more useful than her own.
How am I so powerless—
Pushing her aura to the brink for explosive growth.
But the tragedy was its timing, right now.
Enlightenment always comes too late.
Her guts twisted inside.
No one could point fingers at Silberna.
Yet she blamed herself—that was Silberna.
If only I'd trained my aura harder—!
"Silberna!"
A cry pierced her tangled thoughts.
She whipped her head toward Isaac, who had called her.
"Don't get lost in your emotions!"
"……!"
It felt like a club to the back of her head.
I almost messed up again.
The same mistake from the yeti incident.
Getting swept by emotions and losing cool judgment—she'd been through that.
If Isaac hadn't pointed it out early, she'd have stood there swinging her spear until buried in darkness.
You really—
How do you know me so well?
To others, she just looked like she was swinging her spear.
Did Isaac see something more?
It was too much to chalk up to mere insight; something warm lingered in Silberna's chest.
He was, after all.
Witness to how her enlightenment lagged a step behind.
"We retreat."
She yanked the reins, turning her horse.
If they'd held this long, reinforcements from Mallidan Wall should be coming.
Join them and figure out a plan.
The pursuing shadow thralls.
Swimming through the massive pool.
Contaminating everything from Andes Village onward.
Nortemus's shadow still pointed at Isaac.
"Think you can hold them?"
"Just need to break through the shadow thralls around Nortemus. That's enough."
Call in aura users to carve a path and strike him down.
All roots led back to Nortemus, after all.
"Yeah, right."
"Hah! Hah!"
Silberna and Sharen's faces were ashen.
Having squeezed every last drop, it was expected, but Isaac couldn't help the ache watching them.
What's the difference between my injured leg then and now?
It pissed him off.
So Isaac buried the emotion deep in his chest.
To press forward.
"Huh?"
Then.
A faint fragrance rode the wind.
Silberna blinked in confusion at the sudden scent.
But Isaac and Sharen tensed, gripping their reins tighter.
Atop their galloping horses, they scanned the distance.
There stood a lone woman, gripping a greatsword.
Her long red hair whipped in the wind as an intensely vivid crimson light exploded from her entire body.
"Whoa."
Sharen, of the same house, gasped in admiration.
"……!"
Silberna, her peer, felt the gap keenly.
And.
"Ha—."
Absurdly, Isaac.
Amid his wretched life.
Recalled a day he could never forget.
That day had been like this.
The wind carrying rose scent out of nowhere—
[Let's get married.]
And she proposed, just like that.
Let's get married.
Absurdly, Rianna thought that day and now felt strikingly similar.
Searching for Isaac.
Without context, emotion, or romance.
Just like the day she proposed.
"Sisiiiister!"
"Please, Rianna Helmunt."
She gave no response to the greetings from the two women riding past.
Finally.
After seeing Isaac pass by.
Rianna raised her greatsword high.
The white bandages wrapping the blade unraveled like mist in the Red Aura.
The aura overflowing beyond the sword scattered everywhere, evoking a strike she'd thought she'd never unleash again in life.
A once-in-a-lifetime blow.
[Huh?]
Let's get married.
Was he playing ronin or something?
The twig fell from his mouth as Isaac stared in bewilderment.
[Isn't this too sudden?]
Is it?
[Yeah, usually you set the mood first.]
Wasn't the mood good enough?
[We haven't even greeted each other today.]
She felt a bit wronged.
Every moment seeing you.
Anytime.
Was I the only one who felt the mood was perfect?
Don't want to?
Hiding her anxiety in the question, his evasive reply came.
[No, it's not that I don't want to.]
Good.
[But wouldn't it be troublesome for you?]
How so?
She thought it might be about the family, but no.
[I'll be the one to row your boat.]
[How will you cross this river without me?]
She got it now.
You were just shy, dragging it out.
Good.
Her answer was the same as now.
Toward the sky-high.
Raised greatsword.
Aimed at the scarlet river holding the sunset.
I want you.
She swung her life's most desperate strike.
Everything before her.
Began to split.
The shadow world split in two.
Just like that river cleaved in half that day.
Her smiling amid the pouring rainwater.
Could someone so innocently say she no longer needed to row?
Yet that's why she was lovable.
And why she was admired.
Probably...
No, surely.
The reason I can't set down my sword.
Is because that proposal day lingers unforgettable.
"The horse won't budge."
"W-Wait, Sis was holding back that much?!"
One swing.
Darkness receded, light returned, and the two gaped in shock.
Seeing their reaction mirror her first time witnessing it.
"I told you."
She added with a small smile.
"I could split the river."