Ch.BONUSEpilogue – 3 Weeks Later (1)

In the dead of night, Liliana awoke from her sleep. It was because of a noise. Tap, tap—the loose outer window rattled against the frame as it was shaken by the wind.

A single window couldn’t keep out the cold. Only by layering two or three could one feel somewhat less chilly. But the wind was as persistent as loneliness, somehow finding gaps to bite at people.

She spread her palm and swept across the empty space beside her on the wide bed. Thanks to the fireplace, it wasn’t cold. But the firmly settled, undisturbed blanket with its characteristic firmness made her heart ache.

It seemed to tell her bluntly that only she remained in this vast bed, that the man who had whispered words of love to her all night was no longer here. That he had been gone for a long time.

With a soft sigh, the White Blood Knight Commander finally rose. It was better to focus on troublesome tasks than to stare blankly at loneliness.

When she opened the inner window, cold air poured in. She could see the outer window rattling weakly. Judging by the extent of the damage, it didn’t seem like something that could be fixed with just a hammer and a few nails. The entire frame was warped and loose, requiring a completely new panel.

While contemplating what to do, Liliana spotted a rag. It was a towel that had belonged to her brother Atli, the former Knight Commander. It must have fallen while she was organizing his clothes.

At first, she tried to pick it up with her fingertips as if handling something dirty, but after all, it wasn’t her dead brother she resented but rather him personally, so she grabbed it firmly and secured the creaking outer window tightly.

“It’s cold.”

Sleep had already fled completely, and Liliana sat idly in the armchair. It was a slightly low, uncomfortable chair for someone as tall as she was with her long legs.

But there was no need to worry. At her command, carpenters would immediately bring her a chair that fit her body.

That is, after the funeral was over.

* * * * *

That day, when “white blood” flowed on the mountain, Atli collapsed and never rose again. He let out a mixture of high fever, fainting, groans, and delirious lamentations. No one could clearly hear his words.

Shortly after Liliana, Kairos, and the White Blood Knights returned to Valhalla, he finally breathed his last. His once dark face had turned deathly pale, and his eyes were wide open with an expression of fear and terror.

No one in the castle mourned, grieved, or pitied his death. Everyone knew about the greed and obsession of a man who had struggled with illness only to rise again.

Above all, the avalanche had been decisive.

To the White Blood Knights, who straddled the boundary between superstition and rationality, bravery and madness, the avalanche was not merely a natural phenomenon.

They took it as a rebuke from their ancestors that something was going terribly wrong. Perhaps Atli’s lingering illness was due to the deeply ingrained teachings of the White Blood.

‘Do not be arrogant. Be humble. If the Knight Commander acts recklessly without knowing how high the sky is, the ancestors will surely become angry.’

Nevertheless, he had been the Knight Commander. Even if he was a man who would have caused only harm had he remained active longer in good health, proper respect had to be paid.

The cleanup fell to Liliana, who had become the next Knight Commander. It was also her first official duty as the new Knight Commander.

“No. You don’t need to help me.”

Liliana drew a line with Kairos, who wore an extremely apologetic expression.

Even though they shared a room since that day, and Liliana was taking care of Kairos with utmost devotion, he was not yet a member of the White Blood. After all, they hadn’t held their wedding ceremony yet.

“Still.”

“I’m really fine. Besides, you have things to do, don’t you?”

“Boehm and Bom will wait.”

“Go. I’m really fine.”

After hearing the news from the northern wasteland, the capital moved busily.

First, the electors who received the summons gathered in the capital. Of course, the Emperor wasn’t trying to offer explanations to the electors. It was a move to keep them in the capital to prevent any subversive movements or attempts to take advantage of the confusion.

Next, they mobilized informants planted in the religious orders. Numerous pieces of intelligence and brief news were delivered. Among them was the news that the Pope, having received a great shock, had collapsed and fallen into a coma.

Finally, they sent envoys to the White Blood Knights. The message contained condolences for former Knight Commander Atli and the formal appointment of Liliana Brynhildr as the new White Blood Knight Commander.

Of course, the real intention was to safely escort Kairos to the capital.

The capital’s assessment of Kairos was evident enough by the fact that Director Verneith, disguised as part of the delegation, along with Boehm and Bom, were all present.

Though there was time to catch up, Liliana couldn’t go to the capital with them. It wasn’t just because of the funeral. With the sudden influx of nobles’ delegations coming to pay their respects, she simply couldn’t leave.

The electors and nobles already knew that the new White Blood Knight Commander was from the Security Bureau. Their children working at the Security Bureau had sent letters, either secretly or openly.

The head of a military organization that should be furthest from politics—and must remain so—was a former Security Bureau agent who had dug into the Empire’s darkest secrets.

The nobles wanted to know exactly what this young Knight Commander knew and what she was thinking. They feared what power she might wield with her knowledge of the nobles’ weaknesses and her formidable military force.

The letters they sent all contained reminders that “the White Blood Knights are solely the sword and shield protecting the Empire from external threats.” As if to say, “Don’t even think about meddling in domestic politics.”

Those tiresome letters. Liliana was exhausted.

She was also worried about Kairos. Though perfect as the head of the knightly order, she still lacked experience in the wordplay full of obscene verbal tricks. She wanted to be by his side to help read true intentions and offer assistance.

But Liliana refused all that. Instead, she embraced her lover and whispered:

“Stay with me tonight instead.”

The next day, Kairos and the Security Bureau agents slipped out of the castle.

That was already three weeks ago. He hadn’t returned, nor had he sent even a single letter. She could guess that he was under strict surveillance and protection, but she couldn’t help missing him.

‘Still, it’s better than back then.’ Leaning back in her chair, Liliana recalled the memory. That day in the warehouse in the wasteland.

That cold warehouse where they had briefly stopped while transporting the arrested Knight of the Scabbard, Laios, to the capital.

* * * * *

Her body felt refreshingly light.

With a premonition that something had gone terribly wrong, she hurriedly got up.

She was supposed to alternate watch duty with Kairos, but he hadn’t woken her. Instead, he had let her sleep soundly.

There was no one in the warehouse. Neither Kairos nor Laios, not even Maria. Only the abandoned carriage and horses remained.

A brief note was written on the carriage wall. The familiar handwriting belonged to Maria.

It said that Kairos and Laios had left for the wasteland to rescue Ismene, and that the place would be full of countless monsters.

She quickly gathered only what she needed. She led one leisurely swaying horse out of the warehouse.

Her hands trembled and her vision blurred. Her heart sank at the thought of being left behind again. Once more, Kairos was rushing off to die on his own.

It had always been like this. He was impulsive and made decisions quietly by himself. He shouldered more than he could bear and voluntarily undertook hardships.

‘Who would appreciate it? Who on earth would appreciate such actions…’

Just like when she first encountered Laios at the Monastery of St. Georgios. Like when he gave the absurd order for her to buy time by crossing swords with him while observing his movements and then fleeing.

Part of her heart wanted to collapse right there, another part was seething with anger, but some quiet corner was calmly asking her:

‘What should I do?’

Obviously, she had to save him.

‘What can I do?’

Rushing alone on horseback into a place overflowing with countless beasts and monsters would be suicide. She needed an army. An army that could face them. The knightly order.

She turned her horse southward, away from the wasteland. Toward Secundus Fortress, where the White Blood Knights were “training.”

* * * * *

Midnight. Secundus Fortress.

Astrid, the regent of the knightly order, welcomed her niece with complicated eyes. Boldly, she crossed the encampment “directly” without even surrendering her sword.

But when her niece came closer, Astrid tilted her head. To her, Liliana looked like someone deliberately suppressing intense emotions. She had never seen her like this before.

Rather, her current appearance more closely resembled her father, who had been practically a tyrant.

‘It seems one cannot hide the Brynhildr blood. Passionate and destructive. Not satisfied until getting what they want. And never easily bowing their heads.’

Hiding her secret satisfaction, the regent questioned her with feigned sternness.

Though she felt she was being cruel to Liliana, Astrid was also a Brynhildr. And a Brynhildr could be as mean as necessary to a family member.

If it could awaken the family temperament—which was almost like a curse.

And if it could wake up those lazy knights who had grown complacent in that cold castle, the old aunt was willing to do anything.

“How dare you return, one who abandoned both family and position?”

The moment Liliana left on her own, her position was as good as revoked. Her qualification as one of the Twelve Highest and the name of Valkyrja were erased. Only her knighthood remained, nothing more.

That’s why the regent further scolded the hesitant White Blood members.

“Why have you brought a knight without a banner?”

A knight without an order is never a good sign. Either they fled alone and lost their banner, became a bandit and could no longer carry a banner, or were disgracefully expelled.

Though it seemed like a rebuke to her subordinates, it was closer to an insult directed at Liliana. She understood her aunt’s insult but paid little attention to it.

It was a position she herself had given up. She didn’t want to cling to it. And she hadn’t come here as a knight.

“No. Astrid Brynhildr, Regent of the White Blood Knights, I come here as an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, Department 4. I am here to carry out the work of His Imperial Majesty and the Empire.”

Astrid turned her head. It was to hide her smile. Of course, to those around her, it would have looked like she was trying to contain her disbelief, but she was actually proud of her niece’s growth—her niece who had always been straightforward to the point of stubbornness.

“Then I shall gladly listen.”

“A threat to the Empire has arrived nearby,” Liliana began calmly.

“They are the countless beasts that some of you have already witnessed. There are more of them there than you have seen so far. The land defies itself, the sky tears itself apart, and hungry demons gather to devour one another.”

Those who had been assigned to guard the Seven Heroes tensed. Even those who hadn’t directly seen the beasts fell silent.

Secretly, unbelievable stories about those monsters had spread widely within the knightly order.

“That’s too vague, Agent. We need basic information about their numbers, composition, and exactly how they fight in order to reorganize our forces, don’t we?”

Astrid asked as if this were a final test. When Liliana turned her head, she was a little disappointed. But her disappointment soon turned to surprise.

Liliana hadn’t come alone. From the darkness behind her, large men approached. They had removed their helmets and handed them to the black sentries, but they still wore their armor. And the emblems on that armor were all too familiar.

They were the Pope’s knights. Among them, a man as solid as a rock and as large as a bear bowed deeply.

“I am Alegieri, from the Order of Knights Who Beseech Mercy from the Prophet of Life and Death.”

Astrid knew that name. He was not an Imperial citizen. He was from the Southern Kingdom and the Grand Marshal of the Pope’s Mercy Knights. Because of this, she too gave a brief bow.

“I am Astrid Brynhildr, Regent of the White Blood Knights. We have…”

“Yes. Much to discuss. Time is short, and there is much to decide. Things that can never be spoken of during the day.”

At the hint that they needed to handle secret matters, Astrid nodded. Thanks to this, Alegieri could continue more comfortably.

“On our way here, I discussed several alternatives with Agent Lily. Thanks to that, we were able to formulate a rather plausible strategy. I would very much like to hear your esteemed opinion.”

Astrid didn’t answer immediately. She looked up at the dark sky.

At the thought that her long days as regent were over, that she could now hand over the position with peace of mind, the tension in her body—which had carried the burden of her brother and Atli—relaxed.

At the thought that she could now retire with ease, she felt an unparalleled weariness. The test was over. Liliana was complete. But there was no time to enjoy the afterglow.

“Well, let’s hear it.”