Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: 59. Connection (2)
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Yuri summoned Graham to his residence.
His palace rarely saw visitors. The owner himself was always out and about except when he was sleeping.
So there wasn't much to offer a guest.
Yuri whispered with Ena, leaving Graham seated across from him.
"Ena."
"Yes..."
"Sh-shouldn't we bring out some snacks or something...?"
"I already sent someone. They'll be here soon..."
"Nothing right now?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Your Highness never eats snacks anyway..."
"Hmm..."
"And you never have guests..."
"Hmmm..."
"They'll come quickly. In the meantime, use your silver tongue to distract him from the awkwardness. I believe in you, Your Highness."
"It all comes down to my skills, huh."
"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."
"Ugh..."
Ena hurried away with quick steps.
Now that they were alone, the atmosphere felt strangely awkward.
Yuri cleared his throat.
"Sir Graham. Calling on me so suddenly—you could have given some prior notice..."
Two cups of black tea sat forlornly on the table.
Yuri forced a smile and lifted his cup.
"This is Helgray tea. It has a really nice aroma."
"Is that so?"
"I enjoy it quite a bit. Drinking it calms the mind, you could say..."
The two men raised their cups like a toast and took a sip.
Graham, eyes closed as if savoring the tea, soon smiled faintly.
"It's good."
"Right?"
"Yes."
And silence fell again. The mood somehow felt heavy.
Yuri's plan to dazzle him with eloquent speech had failed from the start.
As Yuri pondered what to say next, Graham spoke first.
"Your Highness."
"Hm?"
"The snacks are fine."
"Huh?"
"I want to talk alone."
"You heard all that?"
"Yes."
"Ahem..."
Caught in such a ridiculous exchange, Yuri felt a bit embarrassed.
Yuri stood with his teacup in hand.
"If you want to talk quietly, let's go inside."
"Yes."
The two left the drawing room and headed to the study deeper within.
A neatly arranged bookshelf flanked a table, and beside it, a window opened to a vast blue sky.
With the open heavens beyond the bars as their backdrop, Yuri and Graham sat facing each other.
"Something secretive?"
"You could say that."
"Got it."
Yuri touched the magic stone under the table. The embedded spell activated, cutting off all sound from inside the study to the outside.
Now their conversation wouldn't leak out.
Yuri took a sip of his tea and asked,
"I was surprised by your sudden visit. But a secret talk? That's even more nerve-wracking."
"Hahaha..."
"My offer still stands. So, any thoughts on coming to Brioll?"
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I figured..."
Yuri knew Graham wouldn't defect.
That made him all the more curious.
"Then, what brings you to me?"
Graham fixed his gaze on his teacup instead of answering. Something rippled in his eyes as he stared at the tea.
"Your Highness."
"Hm?"
"I have one question."
"Ask away."
"Your Highness, by any chance..."
"By any chance?"
"Did you come from the future?"
"What?"
Yuri nearly spat out his tea. He barely kept his composure. His heart raced, so he calmed it with his mana circulation method.
Yuri forced the corners of his mouth up.
"Th-that's ridiculous, Sir Graham. Quite the amusing notion."
"Isn't it? Hahaha..."
Graham chuckled lowly in response.
"Just a thought I had. You seem like someone who never makes mistakes, Your Highness."
"Me?"
"Yes."
He leaned back, tilting his eyes as if reminiscing.
"In the Allied Forces, you were remarkably calm for your age. Everything you attempted succeeded. Your actions so far make you seem like someone who knows the future and acts accordingly."
"I got lucky."
"It's more than luck—you always seemed so certain."
"Just acting the part."
"Is that so..."
Graham lowered his eyes.
"Coming here was an impulse. I suddenly wanted to ask you. You're the one person I know who doubts his decisions the least."
"Someone who doubts their decisions the least? Sounds like there's one in the Empire."
Graham shook his head at Yuri's jest.
"That's confidence in power, not in himself."
"Sir Graham, you can be quite irreverent."
"I didn't name anyone."
"Neither did I."
They both laughed. Yuri continued,
"Fine. Though I don't see it that way at all, let's say—as you put it—I'm a man brimming with unshakable confidence in my decisions."
"Yes."
"What advice does such a man have that made you travel all this way?"
"Your Highness..."
Graham chose his words carefully.
"Do you believe in a meaningful death?"
The sudden question made Yuri set down his teacup.
"Let me ask again. Abandoning honor to survive, or upholding honor and dying. Which would you choose, Your Highness?"
Yuri stared at Graham with a hardened expression.
On Graham's face floated the same melancholic look from his previous life, when Yuri had let him go.
It was as if the Graham from that life had returned to ask.
You survived ignobly.
How did that feel?
Was surviving worth it that way, or would death have been better?
Yuri already had his answer.
But the words wouldn't come.
He lowered his head, gazing into his teacup, reflecting on the past.
In the end, surviving had been a blessing.
Because of it, he returned to the past and got a chance to atone for his sins.
But it was mere coincidence.
Originally, he was fated to lose his head to Rolang and end up as a corpse discarded in the wilderness.
For failing to die where he should have, he wouldn't have found rest even in death.
Abandoning honor left him with no place in the world to call home.
So how fortunate it would be to die where one must.
But.
Graham Hartpol.
How could he tell this honorable knight—with that expression—that it was the right path?
Part of him wanted to say no.
Yuri looked up at Graham.
He was smiling.
As if to say he was fine, just hurry and answer.
Yuri spoke.
"Sir Graham."
"Yes."
"I'd like to tell you about someone I know."
"Sounds good. Do I know him?"
"Maybe."
"Can I ask who?"
"That's a secret."
"Is he dead?"
"You could say that."
"Understood."
"Now that I'm about to tell it, I don't know where to start..."
"You're the one who brought it up, Your Highness."
"True."
"Haha, then let me ask the questions."
"Fine."
"First..."
Graham tilted his head slightly and asked.
—What kind of person was he?
I didn't know how it had come to this.
Ireine sat facing the Emperor's daughter in her room.
Ekaterina, the Empire's treasure.
Even to another woman, she was impossibly beautiful.
Ireine had heard she was a beauty many times and had some confidence in her own looks.
But seeing the princess made her ashamed of even thinking that.
They truly seemed to exist on different planes.
"..."
Ekaterina sipped her tea with a serene air.
"Nice aroma."
"Isn't it?"
"Helgray?"
"You know it?"
"Someone I like enjoys it..."
Her green eyes were unrealistically clear, like a doll with jewels embedded in its sockets.
At first, her lack of emotion felt eerie.
But when she smiled while talking about the tea, her whole face lit up with life.
She was stunning.
It made Ireine curious about who could make her smile like that.
Just changing expressions could stir so many thoughts in others—it was truly a face blessed by the heavens.
But a merchant couldn't be swayed by appearances.
"So, why did you come to see me?"
"I heard you imported goods from the East."
"Yes, that's right."
Ireine pulled out a thin catalog she'd prepared.
"Then take a look at this. It's a rough list of the items..."
"No need."
Ekaterina shook her head.
"I'm not here for the goods."
"Then..."
"Is the soundproofing good here?"
"Pardon?"
"I want to have a secret talk."
"Ah, yes."
Ireine hid her bewilderment and took an artifact from her bosom.
The mana within the magic stone spread a soundproof barrier over the room.
Now their conversation wouldn't leak out.
"This'll do it properly?"
"Of course."
As Ekaterina eyed the artifact suspiciously, Ireine explained.
"This came straight from a master wizard of the Magic Tower..."
"Sorry. It's a very secret matter."
"I'm Ireine Wood. I value trust like my life. It won't leak."
"Got it."
Ireine expected her to dive right in, but Ekaterina hesitated.
In such cases, it was best to wait silently.
Ireine waited for Ekaterina to speak first.
"Can I call you Ireine?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Ireine. Truth is, I've been watching you for a long time."
"Pardon?"
Ireine looked up. Ekaterina wore an enigmatic smile.
"Something I thought while watching you..."
And at her next words, Ireine momentarily forgot how to respond.
"Did you come from the future?"
Staying silent like a fool was admitting defeat.
So she always responded first, no matter the situation.
But this time, she truly couldn't speak.
It wasn't just sheer absurdity.
Because Ireine herself had once had similar thoughts.
"From when, exactly?"
"You're more fun than I expected, Your Highness. Hahaha..."
"Or maybe not you, but someone around you from the future?"
"Your jokes are amusing."
Ireine barely kept her composure. Sure, it was possible.
She had expanded her business without a single failure. To onlookers, it might seem like she knew the future.
"Asking if I came from the future means you think highly of my foresight. Thank you for the high praise."
"It's not a metaphor. I'm asking literally."
"If I came from the future?"
"Yes."
"Any particular reason for the question...?"
"You just seem like it."
"Just because I seem like it?"
"Yeah."
Now Ireine desperately wanted to know what was going through the princess's head.
She put force into her voice.
"Your Highness."
Ireine wouldn't yield just because she was imperial.
"There's no way the noble princess would rush here on a mere whim that I 'seem' like it. Especially not showing up right on cue. Given your personality, it's even stranger."
"You know my personality too?"
"I thought you'd be a major client."
"Got something to sell me?"
"I do, but let's get back to the point."
"I thought you'd take it as a joke, but you're serious?"
"Yes."
"Hit a nerve?"
"Your Highness. If you don't tell me honestly why you're here, I have no reason to continue this conversation."
"Hehe..."
Ekaterina laughed playfully.
It was a new expression she'd shown today. Ireine, about to press further, shut her mouth for a moment.
No real reason. She just wanted to see more of that face.
To silence her with mere expressions—it was an utterly unreasonable beauty.
Ireine sighed deeply.
"Anyway..."
She tried considering things from Ekaterina's perspective.
No clue how much was true, but she didn't seem insane.
Nor the type to visit for idle jokes.
"Tell me properly. I'm tired too."
"Fine. You still seem guarded, so maybe I should go first?"
Ekaterina toyed with her teacup and said casually,
"I came from the future too. That's why I'm asking."
Ireine forgot her words again.
Most would doubt the princess's sanity or assume she was teasing.
Yet Ireine found herself taking it seriously.
That reaction itself meant she harbored the same suspicion.
From the moment Ekaterina mentioned the future, Ireine had thought of him.
Yuri Brioll.
Her partner, who always seemed to know the future and had all the answers.
"Ahahaha..."
As Ireine fell silent, Ekaterina burst into laughter.
"Must be tough hearing this out of nowhere."
"I don't follow."
"I get it."
That inscrutable smile resembled him too.
As she pondered, Ekaterina spoke in a light, amused tone.
"No helping it now. I'll tell you. Feel free to ignore it."
"Understood."
"This is just a story about someone I know. Got it?"
"Yes."
"So..."
She lowered her long lashes and said,
"Someone I know said that one day, memories of the future suddenly surfaced. Like returning from the future to the past."
"I see."
"But the memories weren't complete—just fragments, like torn pages. At first, he thought it was a delusion. But then the future he knew started happening exactly."
"I see."
"So I looked around wondering if there were others. And I found you. A merchant succeeding in business like she knows the future."
"I was just lucky."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Not you then."
"Pardon?"
"There's actually another one. Someone taking a different path from the future I know."
The subject had shifted unnoticed, but neither minded.
"Your early business success was thanks to that person's help, right? Am I correct?"
"Hard to say. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Be honest."
"You speak as if you're certain someone is behind me."
"I am."
Ireine couldn't deny her interest in Ekaterina's tale.
She too suspected Yuri Brioll, and the bit about her early success caught her ear.
She wanted to know what future Ekaterina knew.
What about her? Would she have built Ireine Merchant Company eventually?
And Yuri Brioll—what would he have been like? As wonderful as now?
So many questions.
But first, Ireine asked the most important one.
"Your Highness. Suppose."
"Yeah, suppose."
"Just adding to the story since it's interesting. If there is someone behind me, as you say. And that person truly has knowledge of the future."
"Then?"
"What would you do with them?"
It was a light probe.
But Ekaterina's face darkened instantly. Like a blooming flower suddenly wilting, a deep melancholy shadowed her radiant features.
What had happened between them?
Ireine waited calmly.
But Ekaterina struggled to speak.
Better to coax gently in such cases.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"If it's hard to talk about, let me rephrase."
"Okay."
"We have time, so take it slow. First..."
Ireine chose her words and asked what she was most curious about.
—What kind of person was he?