Ch.178Ending (1)

When I first opened my eyes, when was that? It’s a thought I wouldn’t have had in the past.

I sink momentarily into memories at this sudden thought. The first scene I encountered when opening my eyes in that room.

In the corner of the room where old wooden swords once piled up, there now stood a bookshelf, and the door that Chris had once burst through had been completely replaced with a new one, leaving no trace of its former appearance.

A scene that remained only in memory now. Evan, leaning against the door and quietly surveying his room, looked completely lost in nostalgia.

What if he hadn’t seen the novel “Rose Thorn’s Beloved” in his dream? If he had awakened again to become a knight without knowing Irene’s future… could he have been here like this now?

He was still thinking about his past self.

If he had harbored even slightly different thoughts then, if he had been busy grumbling about Irene’s attitude without knowing anything, everything would have probably fallen apart. He might have died before even catching the great dragon Mavet, or he might have continued believing he was possessing a character in a novel until the end—the thought made him chuckle involuntarily.

Perhaps the modern world he had lived in was actually closer to fantasy. What he had seen in his dream years ago was vivid, but Evan’s world was still here in Yuris.

“My Lord? A letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”

“…Ah, I’ll check it myself. You may go.”

It was a letter with gold thread around the edges, still revealing that same flamboyant taste. Whether that taste remained unchanged over time, Evan’s expression looked happier than ever upon seeing the name written on the letter. Though the sender was the Emperor of the Empire, it was still a letter from Kaisel, his friend.

With advanced magic now, what was written on the paper wasn’t text but Kaisel’s voice. Carefully operating the magical engineering device—not yet distributed throughout the entire empire—that could transmit voices in real time, he soon heard Kaisel clearing his throat.

[Hmm, yes. Can you hear me?]

“I can hear you clearly. How many years has it been?”

Hearing Evan’s voice, Kaisel smiled and gazed quietly into the empty air. It had been three years since he had last contacted Evan, having been quite busy since becoming Emperor. He wanted to know how Evan had been doing all this time, especially regarding Kyle and Robelia, but if he brought that up first, he couldn’t predict what kind of response he’d get.

Evan would probably come to the Imperial Palace and yell at him.

There were only two people in the empire who could yell at the supreme Emperor—Scarlet and Evan. The Emperor Kaisel simply couldn’t win against those two. Evan might even win if he used force. Though it somewhat hurt his pride as Emperor, he didn’t want to care about such things when it came to his friend.

Smiling at old memories, Kaisel eventually fiddled with the device and carefully began to speak. Wondering what to bring up first, he decided the first thing to discuss should be checking on each other’s well-being.

[I wonder if you’ve been well. I heard you went to subjugate barbarians last year. Why did you go personally? You could have sent the knights you’ve trained.]

“If I had done that, Robelia probably wouldn’t have wanted to see my face for the rest of her life. If I sent the knights, I would have had to keep worrying about them, and it happened to be Robelia’s graduation ceremony at that time.”

[…Ah, graduation ceremony.]

“Wouldn’t it be faster for me to go myself than to send the knights? It was a subjugation that could be finished in half a day.”

Since the barbarians surrendered in droves as soon as Evan appeared, the subjugation proceeded dozens of times faster than it would have if the knights had done it. With the subjugation order issued just two days before Robelia’s academy graduation ceremony, and her coming-of-age ceremony following the graduation, Evan had no choice but to make that decision.

[Half a day… that’s quite convenient. It took 100 years to unify the northern half in the past.]

“There were no Masters back then, were there? I heard that now Irene, Your Majesty, and the Empress are all Masters.”

[Not Masters, but perhaps due to the fusion with Mavet, our mana has become strangely abundant. That’s why we don’t age like you do, I’ve heard.]

Not aging was a benefit enjoyed by knights and mages who had reached the level of Master or above. It somewhat lightened the weight that time imposed. Since mana was composed purely of natural energy, the effects of aging on humans were also reduced. Evan’s reflection in the window still retained the appearance of a twenty-year-old.

Irene hadn’t changed either, so sometimes he wondered if time had stopped flowing altogether.

Time, said to be fair to everyone, seemed to have no effect only on them. With that thought, Evan smiled faintly and began to continue the conversation.

“How is Kyle doing?”

Now that they were getting to the main topic, Kaisel adjusted his posture and listened carefully upon hearing Kyle’s name.

[Kyle?]

“Yes, that guy.”

[No matter what, he’s still my son, so calling him ‘that guy’ seems a bit harsh. Shouldn’t you give him some respect as the Crown Prince?]

“I’m about to become in-laws with Your Majesty, and that’s what you’re saying?”

His tightly closed lips trembled, and Evan unconsciously sighed as he clutched his throbbing head. He had roughly known about it for a few years, but suddenly they were dating? No matter what, shouldn’t they have explained the situation to him, the father? When he asked Robelia who was more important to her, him or Kyle, she hesitated, causing Evan to suffer for three days and nights.

He wanted to visit Kyle personally to evaluate various aspects of him, but why did he have to be the Crown Prince of all people? Evan had thought Robelia would live with him forever, but he never imagined getting backstabbed by Kyle like this.

[Well, ahem. Would it help if I said I was sorry?]

But Kaisel just kept smiling. Why would he oppose his only son finding his match and wanting to marry? Especially if it was Evan Yuris’s daughter… moreover, Robelia, whom he cherished and adored. Though he didn’t think highly of political marriages, from Kaisel’s perspective, there was no reason why the two shouldn’t be together.

If anything, he wanted to promote it as a national policy.

“If that’s all it would take to make me feel better, I wouldn’t be like this.”

[But aren’t you happy deep down? Robelia seems to like Kyle, very much.]

Though that tone emphasizing “very much” was irritating, Evan couldn’t deny that he was happy if Robelia was happy. Perhaps it was because he was a father, but it seemed quite nice that his daughter liked someone so much.

But regardless, it was inevitable to feel some lingering attachment. His cherished daughter having a relationship with another man. Arthur felt the same way, so Evan and Irene always put their heads together to worry about the news their children brought every day.

“I am happy. How could I deny that?”

[Then what’s the problem? They like each other, and you approve—]

“It seems Your Majesty is the main problem.”

[…Is that so? Anyway, how about meeting soon? It’s been years since we all gathered together.]

Thinking about it, they hadn’t all met as a family since their last picnic, so Evan nodded readily at Kaisel’s words. It would be much better to see Scarlet, Kaisel, and Kyle in person.

“Let’s meet in a few days then. It happens to be the year of the Founding Festival in the capital, isn’t it?”

Once the conversation started flowing, it quickly reached a conclusion. Thinking about meeting his friend in a few days made Evan feel somewhat refreshed, and he operated the device with a light smile.

#

“Dad, are we going fishing today too?”

Though he had thought only those with mana could bypass the passage of time, Ropena still maintained the appearance of her mid-twenties. Perhaps it was because she looked like a child even when she became an adult.

Now approaching forty, she finally looked mature, and whenever she attended gatherings with friends, she always received envious glances.

“I’m tired of fishing.”

“If you’re not going fishing, you’re going to play mahjong again. You should fish instead. You used to be busy teaching Arthur, but now why don’t you do anything?”

“Why would I teach someone who’s better than me? Besides, he has Levi. His girlfriend will teach him well. They’re always stuck together.”

Ropena smiled bitterly at Chris, whose white beard had grown thick. He had completely become an old man, and his once sturdy build had long disappeared. Only his loud voice remained the same, causing Ropena to naturally cover her ears as it filled every corner of the room.

“Well, then I’ll go to the capital alone. You stay home and play your fun mahjong.”

“The capital? Why there all of a sudden!”

As Chris asked with wide, surprised eyes, Ropena took a letter from her bosom and her lips curled into a smirk.

Taking out a letter bearing the Yuris family crest—all too familiar to Chris—Ropena slowly began to speak.

“They’re all gathering. We should go too, don’t you think?”

“…Of course we should.”

It had been such a long time since they had all gathered, and Chris felt the vitality finally returning to his aged body. What clothes to wear, how to greet the lady he had served.

But the first person who came to mind was Evan, whom he had taught, and Chris chuckled with quite a bit of joy.