LIGHTNOVELONLINE Side Story Chapter 317
Side Story Chapter 317
The sensational news from the palace hit Avalon like a hurricane.
“S-So the new emperor of Avalon will be His Highness Selim.”
“And His Highness Kireua will marry the empress of Swallow? Then what will his title be...?”
“He’s going to become the empress’s husband, so he’ll probably become a grand duke.”
“So he’s going to be like Grand Duke Lucifer...?”
The people couldn’t stop talking about it. To the entirety of Igrant, especially Swallow, the title of grand duke carried a lot of meaning because of Lucifer, the Crimson Sky, who had ruled the Swallow Empire for decades.
“In any case, that basically means that both princes will rule a nation!”
“Everything worked out perfectly!”
Even before the people had recovered from the war, the entire country was in a festive mood.
However, not everyone was enjoying themselves. After the duel ended, Kireua was mobbed by nobles and Imperial Knights coming to congratulate him even though Kireua wasn’t the victor. It took a tremendous effort for Kireua to escape them, so the first thing he did was to go and take it up with the person who was responsible for the whole mess.
“Are you out of your mind?!” Kireua yelled.
“What?”
“How can you just say that in front of that many people without talking to me first? Do you know how much I’ve had to put up with because of you?!”
“Your face is redder than a tomato.” Anna giggled. “You’re cute.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Why do you keep playing hard to get? You said you loved me too, didn’t you?” Anna asked with a grin.
“You could have at least given me a heads-up!”
“Well, you might take back your confession. This way, you’ll be mine forever.” She tugged Kireua closer by his collar. “Just trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
Kireua gave up on fighting and let out a long sigh.
A quiet knock on the door dragged their attention away.
“Come in.”
“...Excuse me.”
Kireua’s and Anna’s eyes widened.
“This voice is—”
“I-It’s your mother!” Anna shouted. She hastily straightened out her clothes, but Charles stepped inside before she was finished.
“...Oh? I didn’t know you were here, Empress Anna. I’m sorry I interrupted...” Charles covered her mouth with her hand.
Anna quickly shook her head. “N-no, you didn’t.”
Despite her confident personality, Anna couldn’t get used to meeting her future mother-in-law in private like this. She would rather confess her love in front of a crowd again.
“That’s good to hear. Can I have a moment of your time, both of you?”
“O-Of course.” Anna nodded obediently.
In contrast to Anna, Kireua swallowed nervously. He worried that his mother would oppose the marriage. Since the groom and bride-to-be were certain about their marriage, they would still go through with it, but the opposition would be a tragic start to their married life. It was only natural to want to not be hated by their significant other’s parents even if they didn’t have their blessings.
“I was flustered, honestly.”
Both Kireua and Anna stiffened. They tried putting themselves in Charles’s shoes: her son suddenly brought a woman home and told her that he and this woman already had the wedding scheduled. What would they have done if they were Charles?
‘Over my dead body,’
Kireua and Anna thought to themselves. It did anything but calm their nerves.“I’m especially disappointed in you, Kireua.” Charles scowled at him for a moment.
“I-I’m sorry, Mother.”
“This is all my fault. I should have told you about the wedding sooner...” Anna trailed off, restlessly twiddling her fingers.
“...Empress Anna.”
“Y-Yes?!” Anna sat up. It was rare for her to be this tense.
“When are you planning to have children?”
“...Children?” Anna’s jaw dropped.
“W-Wait a minute, Mother. Isn’t it too early to ask that question—??
Charles narrowed her eyes. “Be quiet.”
“Yes, ma’am...”
Charles sighed and put her hands on her waist. “You’re a man, so what do you know? You’re still young, but Empress Anna over here is older than you are. You two might miss your chance.”
“F-First of all, please call me Anna. Don’t be too formal.”
“But...”
“A-And I’m pretty confident about my health. Yes, it’s true that I’m older than most women who give birth, but I’m sure I can give birth to at least three children.”
Charles eyes sparkled as if she’d been hoping to hear exactly that.
“...Then can I expect to see my grandchildren within this year?”
Anna’s jaw dropped again.
“Mom!” Kireua hissed.
“Gosh, you surprised me...”
“We haven’t even had a proper date yet. It’s too soon to ask that kind of question—and besides it’s already spring. Even if we get married right now...” Kireua’s voice petered out.
It was the most embarrassing conversation someone could have in front of their mother. However, Anna, who was a lot more experienced in life than Kireua, held his hand.
“I heard that it’s trendy to have a wedding with a baby in the womb already.”
“Are you saying—”
Anna beamed. “We’ll get it done today.”
*
Sighs filled the Second Queen Consort’s palace.
“Phew...”
Unsurprisingly, the sighs belonged to Icarus, who had recently been separated from her husband against her will. Iruca smiled bitterly as she watched her mother. She’d visited the palace to report on the progress of the restorations; she was taking charge of the field work so that Icarus wouldn’t have to force herself to act cheerful.
“Are you hiding in your room again?” Iruca asked.
“...Hey.”
“You didn’t even notice me coming in, did you. Isn’t it about time you think about getting married to someone else?”
“...Stop joking around.”
“Everyone will understand. You have my blessing, and I’m sure that Kireua, Selim, and the other Queen Consorts would give you theirs.”
“If you’re going to keep this up, get out. I’m not in the mood to joke with you.”
“You know I’m right. What Dad has done is very cruel—in fact, calling him a bad husband would be an understatement. When his wives were at the most beautiful time of their lives, he forced you and the others to live like widows for decades. What did he do in the end? He went up to the heavens.”
Icarus’s lips slowly twisted. Even though she could ignore someone insulting her, she would not let anyone talk badly about her husband. As her daughter, Iruca knew that fact better than anyone, but Iruca couldn’t bear to watch her mother torture herself like this anymore.
Iruca shut her eyes before she got to the main reason why she was here today.
“Besides, you have someone decent nearby—”
“Iruca—!”
Someone knocked on the door at the perfect time.
“Yes, I’m coming!” Iruca immediately ran for the door. When she saw who the visitor was, her eyes widened like a child who was caught doing something naughty.
“Huh...? Si-Sir Cain...?” she stammered.
“I didn’t know you were here, Your Highness.”
“Oh, my business here is done!” Iruca knew how to read the room. “I’ll excuse myself, Your Majesty.”
“Iruca!”
Iruca slammed the door shut, her heart thumping loudly. Instead of leaving the palace—which she knew would be a huge mistake—she put her ear to the door, focusing all her senses on the conversation happening within.
Since Cain was far greater than a Superhuman, he knew that Iruca was lurking outside, but he still asked, “I assume you’ve been holed up inside your room?”
“...It’s not easy to pull myself together. I feel like my heart is empty.”
Cain suddenly had a good idea. It would be perfect to lighten the mood and give Iruca a good teasing.
“I know it’s disrespectful of me, but... I thought you had feelings for me, Your Majesty.”
There was a muffled thump outside the door.
“Huhhhhhh?” Icarus gave Cain a dumb look.
Cain guffawed. “We’ve been together for a long time and had more than our fair share of brushes with death.”
“What in the world do you mean I had feelings for you?”
“Pardon?”
“I thought you were the one who liked me. I told you about our age gap back then, didn’t I?”
Cain readily nodded. “I agreed with you, so I gave up long ago. But now that I think about it, it wouldn't have been a problem since His Highness Kireua has also made it work.”
Icarus quietly looked into Cain’s eyes. The man she knew wasn’t someone who would make an overdue love confession because although he looked carefree, he was very serious.
“I don’t even remember when it all started, but maybe making all kinds of excuses is just in my bones.” Cain chuckled.
“What do you mean?”
“I gave up everything, one after the other, all for my family—or so I told myself. When I met my master, I told myself I had to do it because he was the first one to acknowledge my abilities. I kept making my life harder even though no one asked me to do it.”
“...The problem was your master, not you. I can guarantee that.”
Cain smiled bitterly. “But I don’t have the slightest regret in my life. I wanted to make those choices, and people envied me for serving the strongest man on the continent... Hahaha! Who else would get to live such a life?”
Cain quietly looked up at the ceiling as if Joshua was there. “I can be certain that I wouldn’t have been who I am if that hadn’t been for my master.”
“...His Majesty would think the same.”
“Pardon...?”
“If it hadn’t been for Cain de Harry, there wouldn’t have been Joshua Sanders, the Martial God.”
Their eyes met for a moment before faint smiles crept onto their faces.
“...How close I got to death gave me a chance to reflect on my life, and... it made me think about living a different life. That is why, with your permission, I would like to spend the rest of my life for myself, not for other people.”
“You want to...” Icarus’s eyes gradually widened.
“I’m going to enjoy the twilight years of my life and go on a journey. I’ll meet new people; maybe I’ll also date and marry someone. I’d love to raise a family of my own like other people.”
“Sir Cain...”
Cain bowed politely. “I would like to retire. Please accept my resignation, Your Majesty.”