Ch.106105. The First Trial (8)

# 105. The First Trial (8)

She was always alone.

Though she was the reliable Empress everyone depended on, paradoxically, she had no one to depend on herself.

To be precise, she never opened her heart to anyone.

That would be the more accurate way to put it, but anyway…

The Empress was always alone.

Her heart, frozen like her abilities, showed no signs of thawing and only grew harder as time passed.

‘Was she always like this?’

Of course not.

She definitely had times when she was gentle and warm. When I first met her, and even “the current her” was like that.

But those times didn’t last long.

It wasn’t as if she changed overnight due to some incident.

It took a very long time for her to become that way.

The warm woman who had gifted me with infinite possibilities gradually grew colder until one day…

She froze completely, like ice.

Yet even that thoroughly frozen ice had moments when it melted.

‘What did she say back then…? I’m sure…’

***

In the quiet morning at the Imperial Palace, just like any other day, a young man was swinging his sword in the training grounds.

His swordsmanship, showing considerable expertise and clearly not that of a novice, was enough to draw the attention of other swordsmen.

Unfortunately, there was only one person watching his swordplay in the training grounds.

“You’re at it again today, Lord Albert.”

The young man answered his sovereign.

“I can’t afford to rest.”

“Didn’t you just return yesterday? I think you could rest a little…”

The young man had just completed a special mission and returned to the palace yesterday.

Moreover, he had eliminated a massive number of monsters that ordinary hunters couldn’t even dream of facing, so his physical exhaustion must have been extreme.

Yet even in such a condition, he didn’t neglect his training.

“I’m just following what Your Majesty taught me, and it’s not difficult enough to skip training.”

“Is that so? Then I’m glad.”

“But did something happen while I was away? You look quite troubled.”

Unlike usual, her complexion was dark, and her tone and voice were subdued.

“I suppose I’m just not feeling my best today…”

“Is it alright for you to be here then?”

“I’m fine. My condition isn’t bad enough to take time off to rest.”

But to the young man’s eyes, she looked unwell enough that she should take time to rest.

“But… still… you should rest a bit…”

“Indeed… Lord Albert is kind. If everyone in this world were like Lord Albert, it would be so nice…”

“What? What do you mean…”

“Why do you stay by my side, Lord Albert? With your skills, you could lead any major party…”

Whatever the issue was, she was clearly dejected, and the young man felt sorry seeing her like this.

“I’m here because Your Majesty came to me first.”

“You could leave anytime…”

“I will stay here until either I die or Your Majesty dies.”

Her eyes trembled violently at those words, and even her eyelids reddened.

She immediately turned around, not wanting to show him such a vulnerable side of herself.

“Having someone like Lord Albert makes me keep expecting things…”

“Please don’t expect too much. Greater expectations lead to greater disappointments.”

“That’s true… I shouldn’t expect too much… I should go now. I have mountains of work to handle…”

With those final words, she disappeared from the training grounds, and the young man stared blankly at the traces she left behind.

“Were those… tears?”

***

Back then, she was tired of people.

She must have been sick and tired of those who saw her only as a means to gain money and power.

In a way, her growing cold was inevitable.

To endure among such cold people, she had no choice but to become cold herself.

‘I should have done better…’

I should have shared my warmth with her, like that time when I briefly melted her ice.

But I couldn’t do that.

Maybe I didn’t notice her condition, or perhaps I didn’t have any warmth to share.

However, none of that matters now.

‘I’ll do better from now on.’

Unlike before, when everything was clumsy and unfamiliar.

Unlike before, when I barely had enough warmth for myself, this time I had plenty to spare.

Enough to warm her up, enough to help carry her crown.

So much that it would overflow.

While I was psychologically stable to that extent, this time I lacked in another area.

‘That damn bastard…’

In reality, the first battle with the Babylon Kingdom happened much earlier than originally planned.

And at the end of this year, an even bigger battle is scheduled.

As I was worrying about all these things, the Empress spoke to me.

“What are you so worried about, Albert?”

“Huh?”

“Your expression is like ‘Oh… what should I do?'”

“Ah… well…”

“Are you thinking about the war?”

When I nodded, the Empress smiled and said:

“At your age, you’re already worrying about such things? He just told you not to worry about that while he’s alive.”

“You’re right…”

As the Empress said, I was worrying unnecessarily.

It wasn’t just me who was different from before.

This wasn’t the incompetent Emperor who couldn’t participate in battle due to the mental illness caused by the Empress’s death.

“I was getting ahead of myself…”

“That’s fine. In Albert’s case, it can’t be helped, right?”

“You’ll end up joining that battle anyway, even while saying that.”

As Elin said, I do need to participate in that battle.

Of course…

“That’s obvious. You have to join too.”

“Just me?”

“No? All of our party members.”

“Why? Why go to such a dangerous place?”

“Didn’t you learn anything from this incident?”

At my words, Leo seemed more flustered than Elin, who was the one directly involved.

Seeing that reaction, it seemed Leo was the one who had learned something from this incident, not Elin.

“Learn something…? That demon folk are terrifyingly strong?”

Both she and the Empress burst into laughter at Elin’s words, while I let out a deep sigh.

“Sigh…”

“What! Then what is it?!”

“That you’re still lacking, and that you’ve grown through real combat experience. Didn’t you feel that?”

“Ah… I guess so…”

“You’re hopeless. Come out by 9 tomorrow. We’re going to clear a B-rank Superior dungeon.”

“Eh? No! What are you—”

“That’s an order from your sub-party leader.”

This guy needed to deeply realize his own shortcomings.

“But… I can’t even clear B-rank Intermediate…”

“That’s why we’re going.”

“Ah~ So you’ll help me?”

“Yeah… sure, I’ll help.”

Of course, I had no intention of helping unless he was on the verge of death.

It might seem harsh, but that’s how skills improve quickly.

And that’s how one realizes their own inadequacies.

“Isn’t it fun?”

“It’s certainly never boring with these siblings. Were they always like this?”

“Yes, always like this.”

The Empress looked me straight in the eyes and said:

“Knowing your shortcomings is important, but knowing your own worth is also important.”

“Of course. But the problem is that he knows it too well.”

The Empress’s words were absolutely right, but even that can be excessive.

In the end, those two aspects need to be well-balanced.

“But… can’t we lower it to Intermediate? I almost died last time I went to Superior…”

“I said I’ll go with you, didn’t I?”

“I’ll go with you too.”

“Really?! For real?!”

“Yes, of course.”

Elin was overjoyed at the fact that she would also enter the dungeon with him.

‘That’s not really something to be happy about…’

In fact, the original model for this Spartan-style education I was conducting with my party members was her.

Recently she’s been a bit more lenient, making me seem harsher, but I’m just following her method.

She looked at me and winked with just her right eye.

“This will be fun.”

I felt sorry for Elin, who didn’t understand the meaning of that wink.

And seeing him so happy without knowing what would happen tomorrow made me feel guilty.

Leo, unlike Elin, seemed to understand the meaning of that wink and said to Elin:

“Good luck.”

Then he left the infirmary.

“What does that mean?”

“Why are you asking me? It probably means ‘finals are coming up, so study hard.'”

“Would he say something like that to me?”

“He might…”

And I don’t know if it was just my feeling, but Leo seemed to give Elin special treatment.

‘Is it some kind of rivalry? But he can’t win…’

No matter how hard he’s been training lately, Elin was still Elin.

Maybe later, but right now he definitely can’t win.

Elin seemed to be thinking the same thing, and the Empress said to him:

“Are you close with Leo? You two seemed a bit friendly earlier.”

“Well… not particularly…”

“Really? That’s a shame… Still, try to get along with him.”

The Empress was treating Leo like her own child, even though he wasn’t.

She definitely had many similarities with her.

‘They’re really identical.’

If she maintained that warmth as she grew up, she would likely become like the current Empress.

The Empress, noticing that quite some time had passed, was preparing to leave the infirmary.

“Well, I should get going now. He’ll get bored if I leave him alone.”

“Rest well, and text me if you can’t get up tomorrow.”

The two of them left the infirmary, leaving only me and her.

I spoke to her, who seemed a bit awkward:

“It’s just the two of us now, isn’t it?”