Ch.116Smoothly (6)

Every time I dream, new memories come back to life.

Memories that I didn’t know before, yet settle naturally as if I had known them all along.

At first, they were fleeting recollections, but now Evan felt confused by the memories that took root every night.

Why on earth would memories from before the possession be surfacing now?

If they had emerged right after the possession, I would have interpreted it as part of the process.

But why are these memories surfacing now, after four years have passed, just as we’re reaching the original timeline?

Evan frowned, clutching his throbbing head.

A kind of overload caused by fourteen years of completely vanished memories returning to his mind.

Pressing his temples firmly relieved the pain momentarily, but the jumbled memories still made his head spin.

‘…Now I understand why I looked like death warmed over.’

The reason why the original Evan Fried had been confused, as Lord Chris kept mentioning, was indeed because of that letter.

Though he couldn’t interpret the prophecy, the dragon blood in his body prevented complete brainwashing, twisting his mind.

Perhaps his mind was already collapsing at the moment of possession.

The reason he never appeared in the original story was probably due to this mental breakdown.

While the recovered memories provided clues about many unknown things,

he could only speculate about why the memories had started to resurface.

As if he had been Evan Fried all along… these naturally returning memories felt uncomfortable to Evan.

If there was one thing certain, it might be that he wasn’t destined to have good parents.

Evan smiled quietly and moved his lips while staring into space.

“Fried, huh.”

In the recovered memories, young Evan Fried also appeared.

Following his father with a blurry face, swinging a sword, and even the day he first felt mana and met Lord Chris.

Lord Chris, looking much younger than now, had quite an ambiguous expression when looking at him.

It was confusing whether to call the young Evan Fried himself or a completely different person.

Evan shook his head once and got up from the bed.

Turning the calendar page revealed the number ’11’ – already November. It had been eight weeks since Aileen conceived.

Though she didn’t look much different yet, she seemed slightly swollen, which made him concerned in many ways.

Eight more months until birth, and two months until the red moon rises.

Though he finally felt like he could see the end, whether they could actually reach it remained uncertain.

Could they do it? After being lost in thought for a moment, Evan sighed and moved his feet.

After all, seeing Aileen was probably the best remedy for a headache.

#

Warm water instead of Darjeeling tea, garden walks instead of swordplay – these had naturally become part of Aileen’s daily routine.

With fewer duties assigned to her now, her only remaining concern was informing her father about her pregnancy.

If he said anything to her, he would truly be without conscience, an unforgivable person.

But she couldn’t rule out the possibility that he might say something to Evan.

She wondered if her father’s frequent summons for Evan lately might be because he had noticed and wanted to scold him.

But the maids said they hadn’t breathed a word to the Duke yet.

It was something she would have to tell him eventually, but how would her father react?

Thinking about this, Aileen sighed, lowering her long eyelashes.

“My lady, a letter has arrived from the gathering.”

After receiving and checking the letter, Aileen slightly furrowed her brow.

The “gathering” referred to a faction Aileen had built up over time.

They brought information to Aileen who couldn’t move freely, and she collected this information to determine the faction’s direction.

Perhaps it was natural that Aileen became the leader, as she was the future head of House Yuris, the most influential among the Empire’s four great houses.

The faction had grown naturally over time and was now large enough to easily collect information from across the Empire.

She knew she couldn’t wield a sword and move directly like Evan.

Even if she could have done so when she was alone before, she was no longer alone.

Evan wouldn’t want her moving about either, so Aileen chose to support him from behind the lines.

“Terazein has made a move.”

The contents of the letter were full of potentially problematic information.

The news that Terazein, whom even the Emperor was watching, was showing signs of movement.

With the lunar eclipse just two months away, this was hardly good news.

‘The fact that they’re moving now… does it mean they intend to carry out their plan as stated?’

With the Crown Prince and Scarlet growing quite close now, it seemed reasonable to assume they would use Scarlet, but

Aileen felt it would be better to think more carefully.

There were still two months left, and for now, it would be better to focus on Hatan rather than Terazein.

There wasn’t much written about Hatan, but even that was enough evidence that they might have contacted the Annihilation.

The fact that Hatan, which handled most of the Empire’s information, was restricting information leaking outside meant they were acting against the Empire’s interests.

The subjugation of Hatan would probably begin within this month.

It was natural that Evan would participate in the subjugation, but this time Aileen intended to help in her own way.

“Rofena, what is Chris doing now?”

“He should be doing what you asked, my lady. He said it might take some time to select the people.”

“Good, that’s fortunate.”

A special knight order composed of Expert-level knights or higher.

With these elite members of House Yuris, assuming they received help from Count Kasim, they could deal effective damage to the black mages.

Having already attempted verification several times, Aileen’s eyes curved gently as she checked the documents about “weapons” with special power against black mages.

These weapons would probably not be used often. No, they absolutely should not be used frequently.

If these weapons needed to be used after this year passed… it would likely be problematic in many ways.

Aileen continued to feel anxious about the future.

Since Evan became a Master, her anxiety about him getting seriously injured had diminished significantly,

but fear of some being incomparable to even Biltain filled a corner of her heart.

‘The ancient dragon Mabet.’

Though it was said to be a dragon that Alar himself had slain with Ascalon long ago,

the fact that the Annihilation aimed to resurrect it caused a vague sense of unease.

Was it because of the new life in her womb, or was there some other reason for this anxiety?

After staring into space for a moment with her chin resting on her hand, Aileen’s face brightened slightly at the sound of footsteps from the corridor.

She carefully smoothed her disheveled hair and licked her dry lips to make them glossy.

As Aileen looked toward the door, a familiar face opened it and entered.

Aileen smiled faintly at the sight of those unchanging green eyes.

Perhaps what never changes, no matter how much time passes, is the warmth in those eyes.

As the anxiety she had felt until just now completely dissipated, Aileen opened her arms.

Evan fell into her embrace and pressed his ear against her stomach.

“You won’t be able to hear anything yet.”

“I know, but checking like this has become a habit now.”

Though her belly hadn’t swollen yet, once it started to grow…

Evan smiled quietly with his ear pressed against the belly where no sound could be heard yet.

Thump-thump – would he someday hear a heartbeat from inside?

Though eight months remained until delivery, time passed so quickly that the due date might arrive in the blink of an eye.

Pulling away from Aileen’s embrace, Evan narrowed his eyes at the documents on the desk.

Though he only caught a glimpse of the contents, he could tell what Aileen was planning.

Weapons effective against black mages. Probably because of Ascalon, which had now become his possession,

it was quite surprising that such things were already being planned.

These weapons effective against black mages had appeared in the original story too.

Back then, they were also modeled after the Ascalon wielded by the Crown Prince.

It was quite fascinating that such things remained the same even though the original storyline had completely changed.

They would probably be quite effective. Enough for a knight order of ordinary Experts to fight sufficiently against black mages.

The reason why the subjugation of black mages progressed so rapidly in the latter part of the original story was precisely because of those weapons.

Now that they no longer had to rely solely on the power of Masters for subjugation,

Evan couldn’t help but look forward to the weapons being produced.

“You seem quite busy these days. I heard you’re directly operating that ‘gathering.’ Are you alright?”

“I’m doing it because I want to. I want to be of some help to you, and someday I’ll be the head of House Yuris. I’m just preparing in advance.”

Hearing Aileen’s words, Evan sat on the sofa with a pleased smile.

He never imagined that Aileen would step into high society on her own and create such a large force.

Evan’s eyes were filled with affection as he looked at his lover who had become a prominent figure in high society.

But he couldn’t keep staring at Aileen forever, so when he eventually turned his gaze, the scenery outside the window caught his eye.

The northern snowfield, now in full winter.

Snow fell from the desolate trees, creating small mounds on the pristine white snow where not a single footprint had been made.

Though it was only just November, the snow was piled so high.

The winter that had come too early to the north was causing various problems.

“I heard the elves are gradually coming down. Is there no problem yet?”

As the weather grew colder, contact with non-human races became more frequent.

No matter how friendly these races might be with humans, humans were just as sensitive about their territory being invaded.

It was fortunate they were elves; if orcs or ogres started coming down, it would mean another war with non-human races.

Winter was the season that robbed the forest of its vitality.

Of course, thanks to elven magic, lush forests remained in the north, but that was purely a small part.

The increasing contact with elves due to the winter that had arrived much earlier than usual was one of the problems House Yuris was facing recently.

“Well, I’m trying to figure out how to handle it… but I think I’ll need to speak directly with the elves.”

“Perhaps we’ll get to see the World Tree.”

Yggdrasil, the World Tree, was the symbol of elves and represented the places where their leaders resided.

Though they were said to be offshoots from the enormous World Tree that existed since the beginning of time, they were still beings far beyond human imagination.

The elven leaders lived inside it for their entire lives.

For humans to negotiate with them, they had to visit the World Tree directly – remembering this, Aileen slightly furrowed her brow.

“…It would be good if they joined the subjugation of the Annihilation.”

Offering them residence in exchange for helping with the subjugation of the Annihilation.

As elves were the only beings who could communicate with spirits, elven cooperation was the most effective method against black mages.

With the dwarven blacksmiths Kasim and Gerard already cooperating on this matter, perhaps they could secure the cooperation of the elves as well?

Of course, the probability wasn’t very high, but Aileen wanted to place her hopes on that slim possibility.

“We might be able to get their help. If the Empire falls to the Annihilation, they would be the ones most affected.”

“But the elves haven’t suffered any damage from the Annihilation yet. Since black mages intentionally avoid harming nature, perhaps the elves think they have no reason to confront them.”

Evan was well aware that the Annihilation intentionally avoided harming nature.

But still, wouldn’t it be good to meet the World Tree?

Aside from securing elven cooperation, what Evan was most curious about was the World Tree itself, which was said to see through one’s essence.

The memories from before his possession that kept mixing in against his will lately.

He wanted to know what these memories meant, emerging so naturally as if he had been Evan Fried from the beginning.

If this wasn’t possession, then what was the novel he had read before?

The World Tree, sacred to the elves, might be able to define his existence.

That was why Evan had brought up the topic of elves.

Perhaps he could follow the elves to Yggdrasil.

Of course, the possibility would only arise when winter deepened a bit more… but still, it felt like a possibility he couldn’t miss.

“So, your father still hasn’t said anything?”

At Aileen’s question, Evan nodded with a slight smile.

It was a bit pitiful that the Duke still didn’t know about Aileen’s pregnancy after a month had passed,

but it was quite surprising that neither the maids nor the knights revealed this information on their own.

Perhaps it was natural that the Duke didn’t know, given how busy he must be with the Annihilation lately.

Evan took a sip of the cold water Rofena had brought and smiled bitterly.

He had no idea how the Duke would react if he found out.

He might explode in anger, or perhaps he might just quietly let it pass after gauging Aileen’s reaction.

He would have to tell him someday… but when should he do it?

“If you think Father might say something to you, tell me. I’ll go talk to him separately.”

“…You don’t need to do that. He’ll probably just end up getting hurt.”

If the Duke, who still regretted his past actions, received a scolding from Aileen, he might grab Evan and drink again.

The reason he had been calling for Evan lately was to have a drinking companion while complaining that Aileen was being cold to him.

Evan didn’t particularly like it, but now that he thought about becoming a father himself, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the Duke.

Even though it was self-inflicted, if his only daughter disliked her father…

‘He would probably want to die.’

The Duke was an excellent cautionary tale for Evan.

He would never become such a father.

Whether it was a son or daughter, he intended to do his utmost to raise a kind and upright child together with Aileen.

Aileen had suggested Beryllude for a boy and Robelia for a girl… but it was still too early to decide on names.

As Evan spent time chatting with Aileen about various things, time flew by and night fell.

In the time when only the white snow remained in solitude, as the crescent moon hanging in the sky began to shine, Aileen rubbed her sleepy eyes and slowly rested her head on Evan’s lap.

Though they couldn’t sleep together, a lap pillow was now familiar enough for the two of them.

In the past, even an arm pillow would have made them embarrassed all day, but to think this would become familiar.

As Evan stared into space, caught in a strange emotion while recalling past memories,

Aileen raised her head at the sound of urgent footsteps from the corridor.

“My lady! Sir!”

Rofena’s face, as she burst through the door, was pale as if she had seen something shocking.

With an expression like she had seen a ghost, Evan chuckled, but Rofena grabbed his shoulder and stammered with trembling lips.

“The Duke has found out.”

At those words, Aileen’s expression hardened. The same was true for Evan,

who quietly opened his mouth after glancing at Aileen.

“…No way?”

“The Duke just found out that my lady is pregnant!”

Like the white snow falling outside,

it didn’t take long for Evan’s face to turn deathly pale.