Chapter 244
Chapter 244
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 244
Go Jin-cheon, Eulji, and Princess Yunias were strolling through the forest with their royal guards trailing behind them.
Clop, clop, clop.
Jin-cheon, who had always ridden at a relentless gallop, was savoring a truly peaceful moment for the first time in ages, listening to the laughter of the two women.
"I arranged this time for His Majesty the Yeolje and Princess Yunias, so let's make sure to enjoy it fully today."
Eulji looked back at Jin-cheon and Yunias with a lively expression.
"So the activity you prepared is monster hunting."
"......Hehe."
Eulji's awkward laugh echoed between Jin-cheon and Yunias.
Still, it wasn't as though Eulji's consideration was completely absent.
She was the one who had dragged out Jin-cheon, who buried himself in the Imperial Hall every day running state affairs and never came up for air, and she was the one who had coaxed Princess Yunias, who only ever went back and forth to the flower gardens, into coming along.
Knowing this, Jin-cheon and Yunias exchanged a brief glance and smiled.
"Oh my, a cute baby orc."
"......."
"Gotta catch it!"
Clatter clatter!
Eulji exclaimed at the sight of the baby orc—cute wasn't exactly the word for it—and took off at a run, nocking an arrow to her bowstring.
Her actions completely contradicted her words.
After several armed guards had followed after her, Jin-cheon let out a soft chuckle and murmured.
"She's trying hard."
"Pardon?"
"Eulji."
"Ah......."
As Jin-cheon's gaze lingered on the receding figure of Eulji, Yunias realized what he meant and lowered her head.
If it were truly Eulji, she would have loosed an arrow without any need to ride off in pursuit like that. Eulji was someone who could hit a target at that distance with her eyes closed.
"How many years has it been since I met you?"
"It was a night thirteen years ago."
"It was."
Jin-cheon gave a faint nod, and Yunias continued.
"I was eighteen years old at the time."
"Has that much time already passed?"
"That was the night you set fire to an innocent maiden's heart. Heh heh."
"Ahem."
As Yunias covered her mouth and laughed, Jin-cheon coughed dryly, looking slightly embarrassed.
"I still remember that night as vividly as if it were yesterday."
"I haven't forgotten either."
At Jin-cheon's unexpected reply, Yunias's eyes widened and she asked back.
"You haven't?"
"I'd only ever smelled blood before. For a moment, your fragrance almost drove me out of my mind."
"Pfft!"
"It's no joke. When I was riding with you on horseback, I almost unconsciously steered toward a dark corner somewhere."
At Jin-cheon's utterly shameless confession delivered with total confidence, Yunias's expression cooled and she retorted sharply.
"Hmph! You don't really mean 'almost,' do you?"
"......."
At Yunias's words, Jin-cheon's hand on the reins tightened slightly.
"You rode all around the dark corners of the royal palace one by one before you finally went outside......."
"......I don't recall that."
"I was terribly startled back then."
"Hm? An orc!"
Abruptly, he nocked an arrow and sent it flying.
Gweeeeek!
An orc's death squeal echoed from the distance.
"Since then, for thirteen years...... from that day onward, this girl has never once regretted loving Your Majesty."
"And you will never regret it in the future."
It was a blunt response, but very much like Jin-cheon.
"I caught it!"
Eulji's laughter rang out from afar.
* * *
Although it was a matter of taking a consort, because it was a state marriage between nations, the procedures were complicated.
The hooves of the envoys traveling officially between Roselin and Gauri nearly caught fire, and as if that weren't enough, Risel voluntarily(?) stepped in, squeezing out every last drop of mana he had—and didn't have—to cast teleportation spells and shuttle between the two countries.
Once the date was set, Princess Yunias could not hide her excitement, her face perpetually glowing pink.
"Sis, just listen to me."
"......."
"You have to take control of a man on the first night, you know?"
Eulji was chattering away tirelessly in front of Princess Yunias. She had undoubtedly learned this from Sara, Eulji Buru's wife.
"And isn't a first impression the most important thing?"
"Uh, uh-huh."
Under Eulji's almost painfully sparkling gaze, Yunias was becoming increasingly afraid to answer.
"Ta-da!"
"......."
Yunias stared at the thing Eulji had pulled out from behind her back, remaining silent for a long moment before slowly parting her lips.
"May I ask what the purpose of that is?"
"Huh? Oh, come on~. They're undergarments."
"Well....... To my eyes, it looks half-finished."
As Yunias noted, the lower-body undergarment Eulji had produced was, by any reasonable standard, severely lacking in surface area. Wearing it hardly seemed different from wearing nothing at all.
"Everyone wears things like this. I was told it's better to wear something that's barely there, sort of visible but not, than to wear nothing at all."
"......."
Feeling the weight of Yunias's highly skeptical gaze, Eulji hurriedly shouted as if making an excuse.
"It's true! His Majesty the Yeolje really loves it when you wear this kind of thing!"
"Alright."
"......."
The mysterious undergarment that had been in Eulji's hand had somehow already ended up in Princess Yunias's hands.
Eulji herself had actually worn such a garment once.
Though she had nearly gotten her backside tanned for the first time in a long while that day.
While the two women were in the thick of their preparations and many others bustled about readying the feast, there were some men sighing heavily as though praying for the heavens to fall and the earth to collapse.......
"Hoo."
"Hooo."
"Tch."
"The world is truly unfair."
It was Gye Ung-sam and the trio.
They were close in age to Jin-cheon or only a year or two older, but they had not yet managed to start families of their own.
"Damn it, I'm always being dragged around to battlefields or dragged around for work. When would I possibly have time to get married?"
At Ung-sam's grumbling, the trio's heads nodded simultaneously.
"Ahem, do you know something?"
"What."
Ung-sam answered Dupyo's question curtly, his chin still propped on his hand.
"The fact is that among our original Gauri-born people, the only unmarried ones left among the original Gauri people are us and General Yeon."
"......No way. Elder Jang is still unmarried too."
"Heh heh, exactly."
Thinking of Elder Jang, the chief of the craftsmen, they snickered among themselves. But Giyul, who had been silent off to one side, spoke shortly.
"He went last month."
"What?"
"Remarried."
"......."
Ung-sam and the trio sank back into silence.
They were simply endlessly envious of Jin-cheon.
Several days before the wedding, the Haian Kingdom, the Marlon Kingdom, and the Roselin Kingdom had all sent gifts as if competing with one another. It was effectively a form of tribute.
Envoys also arrived one after another.
From the Haian Kingdom, First Prince Seil Han personally visited, bearing a personal letter from King Bera Han. From the Marlon Kingdom, First Prince Ssen visited once again, this time accompanied by Duke Ken.
And the day before the ceremony, King Alsein arrived alongside Risel. Since Alsein was her sole blood relative, Jin-cheon had extended special consideration.
Their marriage became known even to the empires.
Since it was going to be known sooner or later anyway, they had judged it better to publicize it broadly rather than clumsily try to hide it.
"Sister."
As the burst of light dispersed and a familiar landscape unfolded, King Alsein saw Princess Yunias, who was gazing at him with her eyes brimming with tears.
It had only been a few months since they last saw each other, but perhaps because it was just before her wedding, Yunias burst into tears the moment she laid eyes on Alsein.
"Don't cry, Sister."
Alsein patted his sobbing sister's back and comforted her. He too felt the tears welling up, gradually blurring his own vision.
Just when so many people were arriving in quick succession, amid unprecedented attention, an emergency arose.
"What?"
Mong Ryu-hwa, upon hearing the news, doubted his own ears and asked again.
"Who's coming?"
Ryu-hwa had good reason to be surprised.
It was a congratulatory delegation from the Holy Empire. Was this not an entirely unexpected party?
All of Gauri's armed men and the knights around King Alsein moved busily, working to discern their true intentions.
Even after the people monitoring them had grown weary, the Holy Empire's congratulatory delegation remained quietly silent and simply waited for the wedding ceremony.
Their excessive quiet only made the unease continue to mount.
* * *
Duke Schung stood at attention before Emperor Shau Hwan Millior.
"So, they have arrived safely......."
"However, word is that although the Gauri side is not making it obvious, they are under considerable surveillance."
"Naturally. Remaining quiet will only confuse them further. Isn't that right, Schung?"
"It is."
That the congratulatory delegation dispatched by the Holy Empire had not been sent for genuine congratulations was something Gauri knew perfectly well.
That was precisely what the Holy Empire was aiming for.
Amidst the large-scale movement of goods and personnel, a substantial number of spies had already infiltrated Gauri. This was something Gauri could not prevent no matter how hard they tried.
The intelligence war had already begun the moment they opened trade with the outside. The delegation had been sent on purpose to aid the activities of those spies.
If even a small amount of confusion were created, wouldn't the real spies find it a little easier to move around?
"But still, it's quite something, isn't it? I never imagined they would send envoys from even the Marlon Kingdom."
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. That part was somewhat unexpected."
"The United Empire must be frantic to know our intentions as well."
"They must be."
The reasoning was simple.
Given the situation of sharp confrontation among the Three Great Empires, this was an effect they could achieve naturally.
In practice, the Holy Empire had pulled back far too easily from a situation in which it had sustained damage. Because of that, the United Empire and the Maritime Empire had also missed their window to intervene.
Under such circumstances, the official attendance of a delegation at this event would throw their intelligence-gathering activities into even greater confusion.
"Ah, by the way, who was sent as the head of the delegation, Schung?"
"We selected and dispatched a figure with less obvious political affiliations."
"Is that so? Well, fine. So whom did you send?"
"Priest Palo II, of the Papal Office."
"......."
For the first time, the smile vanished from Emperor Millior's face.