IBWCD 21

Chapter 21

Meanwhile, Kalian was in a carriage on the way to the palace.

Benjamin, who was working across from him at a small table, opened a letter from someone and spoke up.

“Your Majesty, information has arrived regarding the birth mother of the young lady you spoke of last time.”

“Tell me.”

“Apparently, some twenty years ago, while wandering amnesiacally in the hunting grounds of Lawrence’s realm, she was rescued by the Count and employed as his personal maid.”

Kalian’s eyes narrowed.

“Lost her memory?”

“Rumor has it that she used to sell herself to mercenaries in a tavern near the port of Litchev, but the truth is unknown.”

A woman who traveled from harbor to harbor until she landed in the realm of Lawrence. With no memory of it.

He leaned back with a faint suspicion.

“We’ll have to find out more.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Having said all that he had to say, Kalian turned to stare out the window, his gaze numb.

Benjamin lowered his head back down to his papers, and then said, “Ah,” as if remembering something.

“I hope you don’t need sleeping pills, I have them prescribed for you, but if you do, let me know.”

“I’m fine, I have a cure.”

“If it’s a cure…”

The only thing he could think of that could be called a cure was the tiny, slender woman.

The owner of the bedroom, whose obsessive avoidance of women is said to have worn down the door jamb to the point of obsession.

Benjamin coughed loudly, remembering the rumors that circulated among the staff.

“Ah… Well, at least you’re sleeping well these days.”

The offhand comment did not reach Kalian’s ears.

He was staring out the window, lost in thought.

Over the rapidly passing colorless landscape, a colorful woman was drawn and then erased.

With her fair skin, long lashes, full lips, and fine lines, she was holy at first glance.

“You’re doing something new.”

Whenever he made contact with her, he fell into a deep sleep without the aid of the medicine.

He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since he was born with the Guardian’s mark.

He woke up in the morning with a feeling of freshness and warmth that he hadn’t tasted in a long time.

The effects were remarkable.

Hishead was spinning faster than usual, and his body felt lighter. The needle-like sensitivity that had been piercing his senses had subsided, though not completely.

‘I don’t need to overthink this. It’s a common occurrence when magical compatibility is achieved.’

Compatibility refers to the nature of the magic between the healer and the one being healed.

In other words, a good compatibility maximizes the purification effect, while a bad compatibility reduces its effectiveness and makes it unpleasant to even touch.

In Kalian’s case, he had the worst compatibility with every healer on the continent except Evelyn.

As such, the act of cleansing for the first time in his life brought him an indescribable sense of ecstasy.

Even when he resisted with all his might, the magic within him seemed to draw them together as strongly as gravity.

Every night, when he woke up, he was half-naked and frantically sucking on a woman’s lips.

It wasn’t that he lusted after her.

He had no desire to do that with any woman.

He’d worked so hard, flesh and blood, to not be a variable in the destruction of Babel, and he couldn’t be addicted to its healing powers and abandon the cause.

One thing is for sure, being with the woman clears his head.

No more ringing in his bones, no more tinnitus and hallucinations of someone screaming for help while engulfed in flames.

The longer he stayed as close together as possible, the better he felt.

It was enough for now, now that he was free from what seemed like an eternity.

* * *

The Great Council Chamber of the Imperial Palace.

Kalian has been away for a while, seeking the Emperor’s approval for his marriage.

Nobles representing each of the provinces filled the long table with a head table in the center.

“This is troubling. The fiend has never left Bellatra and the north, let alone raided a private residence.”

“Isn’t this all Babel’s way of stirring up trouble for his minions, trouble that would never have happened if the First Empress hadn’t summoned the demon in the first place?”

“Then what do you propose we do about the current situation? The plague has begun to spread, and I’m worried.”

To those who were not immune to magic, the existence of the Gate was as great a terror as the end of the world.

The Temple had to assuage the people’s anxiety by increasing the number of dioceses in the Empire.

As the people grew increasingly restless, the nobles, who had previously left the matter of demons to the grand duke, began to demand this responsibility.

“Now, who will take this matter to the Grand Duke?”

At that moment, they were all looking at each other in disbelief as they remembered the frighteningly imposing figure of the Grand Duke.

BANG!

The door to the conference room, which could only be opened with the help of four servants, flew open without warning.

Silence descended.

The mouths of those who had been talking about whether or not they were going to be set ablaze fell silent in unison.

Not a breath was heard in the chamber as heavy footsteps echoed across the smooth marble floor.

Kalian, clad in a cloak woven of demonic byproducts, soon took his place at the head of the room.

The wolf-demon’s eyes twinkled as it rested decoratively on his shoulder.

“…So.”

Kalian tapped his fingers on the armrest. Then, as if he’d already heard it all, he added, as if he didn’t need to say it.

“To summarize the sages’ words, I am the cause of all this.”

His voice was as low as his gaze, and his golden eyes drifted lazily down to the faces of the nobles who had been ranting a moment ago.

“It is you, my lords, who have been turning your noses up at the request for troops and supplies to cleanse the dungeons.”

With a click, the cigar with the cut end sparked in Kalian’s fingertips.

His lean face flashed in and out of the flames, and thick smoke surrounded him like a sea mist.

“What should I do, go back in time and slit the throat of the first empress who summoned Babel? Then the empire would never have existed in the first place, and we wouldn’t be in all this trouble.”

Despite his somewhat mischievous tone, there was no one who could not read the anger beneath his voice.

The nobles of Cardassian were not unaware of his efforts, but the grand duke’s ever-increasing prominence was certainly something to be wary of.

“But, Grand Duke, the South is not like the North, with its four distinct seasons, fertile plains and seas, long coastlines, and even gorgeous mountain ranges.”

Someone said in a creeping voice.

A bark of laughter escaped Kalian’s lips.

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s less tacky to be honest about it, but…”

It takes a lot of money to fund so many knights. The loot and paltry rewards from the dungeons were not enough to cover it.

Despite their years of wealth and the many mines they owned, the supplies and costs of war were beyond their imagination.

“You must remember that it is Johansen’s goodwill and sacrifice that has brought the Empire to the edge of the Dark Curtain.”

So far, he’s been unfazed by the selfishness of the nobles.

He was destined to cleanse the dungeons in the first place, and as a descendant of a cursed family, he felt it was his karma.

But he couldn’t stand the selfishness of blowing his nose without lifting a finger.

“Don’t forget. Nothing else can be a priority for me but Johansen.”

He didn’t want to stay in the palace for long. He desperately needed the healing power to calm his raging anger in a place where there were worse things than demons hunting for his life.

Lips with the warmest, softest touch he’d ever known, saliva flavored with dried roses, and a breath that was clean and soothing.

The thought of the one and only being who possessed it calmed his frazzled nerves, but he didn’t realize it.

“That’s enough for today.”

Kalian looked around the frozen hall, then pushed himself to his feet.

There was no one to hold him back.

The sound of the door slamming shut was followed only by the sighs that barely escaped their lungs.

* * *

Outside the conference room, Kalian found someone waiting for him.

“Kal, will you give me a moment of your time?”

It was not a particularly welcome visitor.

There was only one person in the palace who could call him by a nickname, not a title or rank.

Kalian bowed to the woman as she approached, her shoes echoing off the floor.

“You have been gracious. Your Majesty.”

Claudia.

She was the sister of the late grand duke and heir to the blood of House Orpheus.

“Thank you for your kind words, but today,…”

The Empress flashed a venomous smile, as if she couldn’t take no for an answer.

“This will only take a moment, so please have a cup of tea and go.”

Unable to see her niece’s face set in displeasure, the Empress intertwined her arm with Kalian’s forearm.

“There is something I must say to you, and since you rarely come to me, I, your aunt, must come to you myself.”

He forced his foot off the ground. There were too many eyes on them to turn away from her now.

The Empress led Kalian to her office and poured him a cup of reddish tea. As always, she left her own cup empty.

“Sit down.”

The Empress’s seemingly gentle eyes were tinged with anxiety.

She was both fearful and wary of her nephew, a force to be reckoned with.

He was destined to defend the empire, and he had sworn undying loyalty to the emperor, so why should he be held back?

The cause lay close at hand.