Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Wind and Sand #4
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When we left the Angmar Kingdom, many people were worried.
Could that young Queen Aira really manage to live well in a distant foreign land? Honestly, even I had my share of concerns.
But compared to marching straight to the guillotine amid all the domestic troubles brewing at home, it seemed better to try something—anything—out in the wider world.
That was about two or three months ago.
The results had exceeded my expectations—beyond satisfactory, in fact.
Aira appeared to have found a certain peace in laying aside her queenly duties, settling into lazy yet docile days.
It was so serene that her past hysterics now seemed almost suspicious in retrospect. So why dredge all this up now?
Because the memories of me pacing anxiously before Angmar's throne were flashing through my mind like a vivid montage.
“…Serazade!”
Aira scowled fiercely, as if confronting a bitter old foe.
Her fury set my sensitive half-fairy senses ringing wildly, blaring a warning that something ugly was about to go down.
Strolling leisurely toward Aira was a woman in a black dress, shod in shoes with extraordinarily thick, towering heels.
Her short-cropped red hair swayed neatly against her shoulders, while her sun-bronzed skin gleamed like it had been slicked with oil.
She might have come across as sultry, but she didn’t—because her very presence evoked a nymph-like girlishness.
She let out a trill of laughter, that coquettish lilt unique to young girls: “Uhuhuhu-.”
“To think a self-styled queen would hole up in a dump like this, living like some peasant. Angmar’s destiny must flicker like a candle before the wind-!”
Her speech carried an oddly refined air. And that overbearing attitude, looking down her nose at everyone—no mystery there.
She was someone important.
She had to be Serazade, freshly crowned Empress of Turki after her coronation. Kasim’s half-sister.
It was my first time laying eyes on her, so everything felt alien, the whole scene awkward—but Aira was fuming like they went way back.
“Barging into a place like this out of nowhere. What’s Turki’s harlot scheming now?”
Aira’s barb cut unusually direct. Or maybe characteristically so in moments like these? It evoked her glory days, reigning aloof in Angmar’s palace.
Turki’s Empress Serazade shuddered as if utterly flustered.
“Ha, har…lot?”
Jangle.
The jewelry dangling from her arms and neck tinkled crisply as it quivered. Regaining her poise, Serazade flashed a leisurely smile.
“Your foul mouth hasn’t changed. And you’re no rightful heir to the throne. I am Serazade, descendant of Ibrahim. The one and only Lord of the Covenant—the Empress. You may kneel-!”
Her words brimmed with majesty.
The very essence of queenship, empresshood, you might say. Except her appearance was so bizarre it verged on the ridiculous.
“…….”
“…….”
Serazade’s enigmatic eyes—pale gray veering toward silver—locked with Aira’s pitch-black ones.
Neither Aira nor Serazade yielded an inch, as if embodying the ancient history and feuds between Angmar and Turki.
Gooooo-.
As the air around them churned violently, only Kasim—with his sword tucked at his waist—spoke up, relaxed and cheerful.
“Guess the post-duel drinks are off the table now. Who’d have thought my sister would hit Gracia this soon? I was hoping to keep you two apart.”
Kasim’s demeanor suggested he knew the bad blood between Serazade and Aira. I edged back slightly between them and asked.
“Do you two know each other?”
Queens and empresses of bordering realms. Odd if they didn’t; personal ties wouldn’t surprise either. But I’d heard nothing.
Kasim murmured in reply.
“Know each other? More like mortal enemies. They don’t mix—like oil and water.”
Fair enough.
You could see it from their looks alone.
One lithe, the other squat. Eyes bright and dark. Hair long and short. The only match: Serazade’s forced eye-level parity via those chunky heels.
Srrrr.
Serazade narrowed her silver eyes to slits.
“Best abandon that ill-suited throne, usurper. The promised land of Monarch belongs to Ibrahim’s bloodline. Far too heavy a burden for the likes of you, tainted by northern witch blood.”
Then, as if granting some grand boon, she slapped a palm to her modestly swelling chest.
“If it proves too much, I can lend aid. Turki’s Tanak dynasty shares blood with Angmar’s royals—claim to succession is ours by right-! Behold this covenant-red hair-.”
With the hand from her chest, Serazade flicked her bobbed locks near her shoulders. Red hair a hallmark of the Ibrahim line, apparently.
Confident to a fault, this one. All Tanaks cut from the same cloth?
The issue: her brash self-assurance was seriously grating on Aira. Back in the day, heads would’ve rolled without question.
“…….”
Still, Aira seemed to be holding it together—enduring, somehow. Were my efforts finally paying off?
No telling how long, though.
It felt like watching some intruder stomp my painstakingly tended lawn to ruins.
I needed to jump in before Aira’s psyche cracked further.
“Empress Serazade of Tanak. An honor to meet you.”
“Boy. Who are you to butt into discourse betwixt I and the usurper?”
Wrinkle.
Her brows furrowed outright at me. Those eyes brimmed with suspicion, disdain, intellect scolding my impudence—and a touch of condescending mercy.
“Yet I am a leader gracious enough to smile indulgently at a child’s rudeness. Speak: who are you, and why address me?”
“I am Theo Gospel: Angmar’s court scribe, gardener, and entertainer; overseer of pets and inspector; aide and attendant to Queen Aira.”
“Theo Gospel? You claim to be that Theo Gospel, boy? Word has it he’s a monstrous ascetic—eight limbs, bushy beard, bulging eyes.”
“I get that a lot. But the tales Serazade heard may stray from truth.”
“I see. The monk. The queen’s paramour, Theo Gospel. A mere boy, scarce twenty, not a whisker on his lip. Usurper—no shame?”
Serazade’s barbs swung back to Aira.
“Toying with a child not yet a man as your lover-!”
Only then did it click: Serazade had me all wrong. She took me for the kid I looked.
「Calm Situation Assessment!
EXP gained via Talent 《Calm Thinking》.
All Job EXP +5」
Got it.
To salvage Queen Aira’s honor, her battered prestige—and her mental state—I opted for clarification.
“Serazade, seems there’s a misunderstanding. I’ve passed twenty some time ago.”
“What? You’re a grown man?”
“Well, half-fairy, you see.”
“Half-fairy—so elf blood? Nay, nymph! Oh ho, what a marvel! Half-fairy indeed! Aye, those pointed ears!”
“But might Serazade herself carry nymph blood, perchance? A nymph for a mother, say…”
Serazade had made a fuss over my boyish looks, yet hers weren’t so different. Kasim’s sister, though—likely mid-twenties late side.
Shifting talk from Aira while scratching my itch, I asked—only for Serazade to counter in an icy tone.
“And why ask me that?”
Chillll.
Gooseflesh prickled my neck like spiders skittering. Her voice: frigid, devoid of feeling.
Time with Aira had honed my instincts—I’d triggered a landmine, plain as day.
Then actor Theo and lech Gold Theo whispered in my head. I voiced it verbatim.
“Your beauty—so pure, pristine, exalted as a nymph’s.”
“Not a slur, likening Turki’s Empress, mother to the masses, to some child?”
“Hardly. How dare I affront Serazade in her presence. Among half-fairies and nymphs, ‘nymph-like’ tops all praise—honeyed candy pales.”
“Hmph…”
Silver eyes slitted, Serazade snorted and wheeled about.
“Interest waned. I am a busy ruler. Count your blessings. And you, wastrel Kasim—cause no trouble!”
Click-clack, she retreated the way she’d come. Guards surged from nowhere, a chattering swarm in tow.
Once the rowdy lot cleared out, Aira erupted: “Huhuhu-.”
“As expected of my Theo. Insulting that stuck-up wench Serazade to her face.”
“I insulted her?”
“You did. Arrogant? Impudent? None her peer. Sly as a serpent, sharp as a raven—vicious to boot.”
Amusing, such venom from Aira’s lips. I kept a straight face, listening.
The rundown:
Empress Serazade: cunning, capable schemer. But oddly stalled in growth past a certain age.
A complex she nursed—no one dared broach her body or looks. Hence the nymph quip set her off.
News to me.
Knew bits on Kasim; zilch on Serazade. Their acquaintance? First I’d heard.
Spoke to her skill at spinning and burying intel.
Even I—palace ear to the ground on neighbors and borders—missed it. Master of cover-ups. Watchlist material.
Aira snorted.
“Stuck seeing that face I loathe in this ark—makes me crave the palace. Nothing left to learn here. Bored stiff. Shall we head back?”
Ice in my veins. Aira bolting now? Every plan down the drain!
Kasim soothed us.
“My sister won’t linger. That aside—fine wind magic. As promised, I’ll craft that tail wand.”
“Ah.”
At his words, I proffered the tail wand strapped to my arm. Kasim murmured a quick incantation, affixed a gem and gold leaf from his kit.
Marmar’s raw tail now sported proper wand flair.
「Angmar Tail Wand: Premium craft. Imp tail of high mana conductivity, enhanced with Tanak arcane engraving and gem. Trades minor power dip for sharp mana savings and precision boost.」
Oh. Full-fledged magic item now.
Nice.