Chapter 45
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45
Edric moved with purpose, weaving through the frantic bustle of soldiers.
Less than an hour had passed since the battle ended, yet the campsite—which had been reduced to a total shambles—was being restored to order with remarkable speed.
While soldiers recovered weapons from the wyvern carcasses and cleared away ruined tents, laborers loaded crates and bundles onto wagons. Nearby, maids performed the grim duty of collecting the fallen, shrouding the bodies tightly in silk.
As he hurried through the camp, Edric took a silent count of the dead.
Seventeen.
If he factored in those swallowed whole by the wyverns, the death toll likely sat between twenty-five and thirty. Considering the number of wounded as well, the scale of the damage was staggering. He clenched his fists.
‘To think a pack of wyverns would appear during the Season of Fire...’
Typically, wyverns woke from hibernation at the end of the Season of Rest and only began to form packs once the Season of Water arrived. Since they usually scattered in pairs after the breeding season, it was extremely rare to see more than a dozen appearing at once during the Season of Fire. Furthermore, this region was hardly a suitable habitat for such large monsters.
‘This is more than just foul luck.’
Edric scanned the wyvern carcasses strewn across the hills with narrowed eyes, but he quickly pushed the rising doubts from his mind. Now was not the time for idle speculation. He strode forward on his long legs, heading toward the clearing where the knights had gathered.
"Commander!"
Barkas, who was shouting orders to the knights, turned his head.
Edric flinched involuntarily, his feet coming to a halt. Under the flickering torchlight, his superior’s face was stained with dark red blood. Edric knew his own appearance likely wasn’t much better, but seeing Barkas—his cold, chiseled features drenched in gore and his eyes shining with a chilling light—felt strangely eerie.
"Did you find it?" Lord Sieorkan asked, his voice characteristically flat.
Snapping back to his senses, Edric hastily delivered his report.
"We found traces of a wyvern crash to the north. It appears to have fallen into the canyon."
Barkas turned his gaze northward. The torches held by the knights cast dim, flickering light against the ominous shadows of the forest. There was no telling what other savage monsters might be lurking within those woods.
Edric spoke up anxiously. "We must organize a search party immediately. There’s no time to—"
"What search party?!"
Edric whipped his head around at the sudden, snarling interruption. The Crown Prince, his thick black hair as wild as a lion’s mane, approached them followed by his retinue.
Edric hurried to bow in respect. Gareth didn’t even acknowledge him, stepping right up to Barkas.
"She’s obviously dead anyway! Don’t waste time on useless errands and get ready to move out now! What if we linger and get ambushed by another swarm?"
Edric’s expression hardened at the heartless words.
Gareth’s face was paler than usual, likely rattled by the sudden ordeal. It wasn’t entirely unreasonable for a man who had never faced so much as an ogre in his life to be terrified after such chaos. However, Edric couldn’t feel a shred of sympathy for the Prince, who seemed on edge to a pathetic degree.
Glaring at the Crown Prince with suppressed resentment, Edric shifted his gaze to gauge Barkas’s reaction. The Commander was strangely silent.
Surely, he isn’t planning to follow the Crown Prince’s lead?
Even if she was born illegitimate, Thalia Roem Guirta was the Emperor’s daughter. Moreover, was she not the eldest daughter of the current Empress? They could not allow an Imperial Princess to become carrion for monsters just because of the Crown Prince’s personal grudge. This was a matter of knightly honor.
Edric spoke up urgently. "If you authorize a search party, I will go look for the Second Imperial Princess myself. So please..."
"You arrogant whelp! How dare you speak up in my presence!" Gareth exploded in a fit of rage, grabbing Edric by the collar.
Edric looked up at him with calm eyes. He was well-acquainted with the Prince’s violent temperament. He spoke as politely as possible. "My apologies. But we cannot simply leave the Princess behind..."
"Princess?" Gareth let out a dry, mocking laugh and spat each word directly into Edric’s face. "Listen well, boy. There is only one Princess in this Empire, and that is Aila Roem Guirta. That bitch Thalia should never have been born in the first place. Ending up as monster bait is a fitting conclusion for a bastard like—"
"Enough."
At the low voice, Edric flinched and looked at his superior. No matter how insolently Gareth acted, Barkas had always maintained formal decorum. The fact that he had not only cut off the Crown Prince but had also addressed him without formal honorifics left Edric momentarily stunned.
He wasn’t the only one surprised; the Crown Prince turned to Barkas with wide, shocked eyes. Barkas, however, remained perfectly composed.
"Your Highness should return to your quarters and rest."
Barkas spoke flatly, then gestured to the knights standing behind the Prince.
"Fetch a mage immediately. Select ten of the most agile men and form a search party."
The knights scattered instantly to follow his orders. Gareth watched them go with a dazed expression before shoving Edric away and stepping toward Barkas.
"Are you... are you defying me because of that girl?"
"I was ordered by His Imperial Majesty to escort all three of you," Barkas replied tonelessly. "Surely the Crown Prince’s instructions do not take precedence over the Emperor’s command?"
"Don’t give me excuses!" Gareth blocked Barkas’s path. "Do you think I haven’t noticed how strangely protective you’ve been of that girl Thalia? Tell me the truth. You and that girl—!"
"Gareth!"
A voice, sharp and crystalline, sliced through the tense air.
Edric, who had been watching the two men with bated breath, turned his head. The First Imperial Princess was walking toward them with an elegant stride, accompanied by two attendants.
Immediately after the wyverns were defeated, the Princess had taken charge of the maids to tend to the wounded. Though she carried a heavy veil of exhaustion she hadn’t yet been able to wash away, she approached her brother with a firm gaze.
"Lord Sieorkan is right. We cannot leave Thalia behind like this. Regardless of anything else, she is our flesh and blood."
"Are you in your right mind?" The Crown Prince glared at his sister with eyes full of betrayal. "After the humiliation our mother suffered because of that bitch, you’re saying that?"
"Please, act rationally," the Princess interrupted her brother with an authoritative tone. Though they had entered the world only minutes apart, she seemed far more mature than the Crown Prince.
She looked directly up at her brother and continued calmly. "If we return to the Imperial Palace having abandoned Thalia, not only Lord Sieorkan but you as well will become the subject of unnecessary scandal. Why take such a risk?"
Edric was momentarily speechless at the cold words coming from the First Imperial Princess, who was famous for her benevolent nature.
She added softly, as if soothing her fuming brother. "At the very least, let us recover the body so we can give her a proper funeral."