EFMDAH~28

Chapter 28

Joint Sword Dance (1)

If one followed the path most people had already taken, it was possible to cross the Red Desert more safely and quickly.

‘That’s why, even if there are assassins, they won’t be able to kill the Emperor here.’

‘Without the Emperor’s eyes, they’d only end up lost.’

Even if assassins did appear, it felt like they would be cut down by Kallio’s sword first.

Thus, when Emperor Kallio rode ahead and led the way through the Red Desert, the destination—the White Desert—came into view.

This White Desert possessed a very unique characteristic.

Whooo—!

It was this wind.

A fiercely blowing, “cold” wind, even within the desert.

When people hear the word desert, they tend to imagine a hot place, but the White Desert had an unusual climate.

Unlike the Red Desert, where hot winds blew, a wind carrying a chill coiled like a snake around the White Desert, which spread out white like a snowfield.

How could a hot terrain and a cold terrain coexist so closely together?

The reason lay in mana.

In this world, mana was spread everywhere.

Among those places, abnormal climates appeared where mana gathered strangely or where its state was unstable.

‘Among abnormal climate regions, the representative terrains are the Red Desert and the White Desert.’

To think I would get caught up in the setting values I had scribbled down without much thought when writing the novel.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just set it as some vaguely warm island nation!’

I shivered as I sat astride my horse.

Even layered in thick, padded clothes, it was still cold as we headed deeper into the frigid terrain.

On the other hand, Kallio, who was dressed more lightly than I was, stood closest to the boundary of the White Desert and looked perfectly fine.

He was the one who dragged me all the way to this frozen land, yet he alone was unaffected.

No matter how I looked at it, he was an infuriating man.

Feeling petty for no reason, I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

Then Kallio rode closer and suddenly shook a flask in front of my eyes.

“You look cold.”

Was he telling me to drink it?

I cautiously accepted the flask and opened the cap to smell it.

‘A sweet scent?’

When I took a sip, warm honeyed water spread across my tongue.

“Feels a bit better after drinking it, right?”

“Well… it’s okay.”

“That’s it?”

What else was I supposed to do?

To begin with, who was it that dragged me to such a cold place?

I was about to retort when I noticed the people behind us.

They were all staring with sparkling eyes, as if expecting something from Kallio and me.

Ah.

“Th-this… I am deeply honored by Your Majesty’s grace?”

“Kuh!”

When I hastily dressed up my words using a tone I’d heard in historical dramas, Kallio turned his head away and laughed quietly.

You’re even stranger for laughing at that…

Still, I couldn’t frown, so instead I relaxed the tension around my eyes.

Unlike my own weak, awkward laughter, Kallio smiled brightly and tightened my outer garment more securely around me.

“Do you feel the cold easily?”

“I suppose I do…”

Compared to my previous life, this possessed body seemed to suffer more from the cold than from the heat.

As I kept rubbing my arms, Kallio suddenly made an unexpected suggestion.

“Could you pull your body forward a bit, Radi?”

Was he planning to put some kind of heating pack behind me?

I didn’t understand the reason, but I followed his request anyway.

When I leaned forward, Kallio suddenly dismounted and smoothly stepped onto my horse from behind.

The motion was so natural it flowed like water.

I, and even the ministers riding behind us, were left speechless.

In the silence that followed, his voice rang out.

“Then let’s depart.”

“Pardon? N-no, th-this posture is…”

“You said you were cold, didn’t you?”

“If we ride together, we can share body heat, so it should be better.”

He wasn’t wrong, but still.

Because Kallio was holding the reins, my hand—which had been holding them—ended up overlapping with his, and our bodies were close enough to almost touch.

I tensed up instinctively.

Regardless of my feelings, Kallio’s body ran warm, and heat seeped into my back, making it pleasantly warm.

Just like before, and again this time, I couldn’t get used to this warmth.

Restless, I shifted my gaze around.

He leaned his head slightly toward my ear and whispered.

“What are you thinking about?”

If I answered that I was thinking about how warm his body was, he’d probably laugh again.

I turned my face slightly to the side and replied.

“At least, not about you.”

“Then are you thinking about another man?”

Something about the cool tone of his voice made me turn toward him.

When I looked back, he was already wearing a smile like a painted picture.

Why was he suddenly asking something like that?

As I was feeling puzzled, Kallio smoothly changed the subject.

“From here on, we’ll be riding for quite a while, so it’d be better to get some sleep.”

“I’m not going to fall asleep.”

“Then stay awake.”

Why did he never let a single word slide?

He was a character I had created myself, yet he remained completely unreadable.

Still, I couldn’t tell him to get off.

I had put on a show of bravado in front of Kallio, but in my current state, I was on the verge of nodding off on horseback.

I gripped the reins tightly and forced my eyes open.

It was a desperate attempt not to let my guard down with Kallio behind me.

.

.

.

However, those earnest efforts to stay awake were useless.

“Ugh…”

Not letting my guard down, my foot.

My head bobbed forward, and my mouth hung open so much that I nearly drooled.

Fortunately, before I could show such an unsightly 모습, a large hand supported my chin.

“I-I wasn’t asleep…”

But Kallio’s hand propping up my chin was far too visible, making me want to crawl into a hole.

‘Well, we’ve been riding for hours, and my back is warm…’

No, even that was just an excuse.

I lowered his hand and wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

Was it just my imagination, or did I hear a soft laugh from behind me?

“You should wake up now.”

“We’ve arrived at our destination.”

I was about to respond when a completely different scenery unfolded before my eyes.

The moment Kallio’s golden eyes met the sunlight and turned into pure gold.

In the direction of the horizon, where only white sand had existed, four lion-statue pillars stood tall as if piercing the sky.

Beyond the great gate guarded by the lions, buildings supported by countless pillars could be glimpsed.

The City of Snow, which had served as the capital before the Empire became the Empire.

It was the moment we arrived at Isir.

***

By the time we entered the city, Kallio dismounted from my horse and returned to his own.

Riding alongside me, he occasionally lifted his hand slightly to greet the citizens.

As we entered the city, golden banners fluttered in the wind like the tail of a dragon.

Among them, tiny flowers scattered into the air like grains of sand.

The petals fell like snow, fluttering like a bride’s veil.

It wasn’t only the procession that was splendid.

Though I expected a dry atmosphere from a city in the middle of a cold desert, there were refined fountains and arched waterways here.

It looked peaceful at a glance, leaving me unsure why we had even come on an inspection.

Having just arrived in the city, I thought we’d at least be able to rest.

But not long after I smiled brightly at that thought, it was mercilessly shattered.

Clang!

Whoosh!

Thud—!

The Emperor’s separate palace prepared in Isir.

In the training ground, a sword flew through the air.

The man who had thrown the slender sword planted the other sword he held into the ground and rested both hands on its hilt.

“You should pick it up.”

The man was Kallio.

The one who had thrown the sword was me.

Why were we engaging in something like a sword spar in a city we had arrived at for an inspection?

The reason lay in the true purpose of the inspection.

Kallio, a conquering ruler, personally traveled on inspections to prevent rebellions in the conquered lands.

Among those journeys, in the former capital—the starting point of the inspection route—there was a ritual.

As a performance to promote unity, the Emperor and Empress would perform a joint sword dance.

‘And of all people, it had to be me, the Empress!’

Of course, there was another reason beyond that.

Thus, after my first night with Kallio, I once again found myself holding a sword.

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t holding one right now.

“I’m done.”

I spread my arms wide and flopped straight onto the ground.