16. A Crown Woven from Branches
2016.02.25
Rumors that the Caliph had left the Sultan’s palace without staying even a single night spread across the entire empire as if they had wings.
Within the Ahalah Order, an official complaint was lodged against Sultan Hashar for failing to properly receive and host the Caliph.
However, the Sultan showed no signs of offering an apology. Given his actions, it would not have been strange for the Caliph to be angered—but, strangely enough, the Caliph forgave him.
Moreover, despite such a dangerous incident, he continued to remain in the Alshatra Empire and even declared that he would meet with his followers.
From a logical standpoint, his behavior was difficult to understand. The shrewd emirs quickly sensed that there was something behind the way this incident had been quietly settled.
Of course, they did not know all the details.
They could only infer that the Sultan and the Caliph had engaged in a confrontation of power—and that the victor was Hashar.
Very few people knew that the King of Devaris had been involved in the middle of it all.
“An assassination request has arrived from Katakum.”
And Ilshia returned to Dekarim as if nothing had happened. Sitting in her office and reviewing the incoming requests was just another part of her everyday routine.
“Katakum? From that far away? Isn’t that near the border region?”
“Border region” referred to areas located along the boundaries between continents. Katakum was a kingdom near such a border, meaning it was quite far from the Alshatra Empire where Dekarim was located.
“Yes. The target appears to be quite a prominent figure, so no one seems willing to take the request. It likely ended up coming to us.”
Ilshia responded warmly to Shukri as he handed her the document.
“I’ll take a look.”
In truth, after the day she had visited the Caliph’s chamber, she had a heated argument with Shukri. It had been about her decision to choose Hashar.
That argument ended when Ilshia brought up resonance. Though it could not be explained logically, her intuition—felt through resonance—had told her to choose Hashar. Shukri had no way to refute that.
In the end, he followed her decision. Above all, it had been a choice extracted by striking at his weakness—his prioritization of Ilshia’s safety—so she couldn’t help but feel apologetic.
Because of that, Ilshia had been trying to treat Shukri more kindly than usual lately. She sighed and looked out the window.
“Haah…”
White clouds drifted slowly across the sky. It appeared to be a peaceful daily life… but it was the calm before a sandstorm.
Shukri must have already guessed that Ilshia had fully chosen Hashar. Even so, the reason the Caliph remained in the Alshatra Empire was obvious.
It was because he had not given up on Ilshia.
He was likely lying low while preparing for a full confrontation with Hashar from behind the scenes. Just thinking about the Caliph made her head ache.
“So frustrating…”
Muttering, Ilshia glanced at Shukri, who was organizing documents beside her.
“Should we go for a walk?”
“No.”
Ilshia stretched lazily and gave him a small smile. Knowing she was asking for something, Shukri adopted a guarded stance. Ilshia began to coax him gently.
“Let’s just step out to the nearby commercial district for a bit. I feel like having some chilled fruit wine.”
Before Shukri could refuse again, Ilshia quickly continued speaking.
“We can also check the information we got from Hashar! It’s not just a random outing!”
Shukri paused, his firm refusal wavering as he seemed to consider it. Ilshia watched his expression closely.
The information about the secret auction house she had obtained from Hashar had already been handed over to Shukri. Everyone in Dekarim knew how hard he had worked to stop Ilshia from rushing out immediately.
They were currently verifying whether the information was true, but Ilshia wanted to see it with her own eyes. And of course, she also wanted to go out after a long time.
As she nervously watched him, Shukri finally sighed.
“…Very well. But only for a short time.”
“Wooah!! What’s gotten into you, Shukri?”
Since he rarely agreed to such things, Ilshia exclaimed in surprise and delight. Shukri neatly stacked the documents and replied:
“You’ve been dealing with many matters lately. It would be good to go out together after a while. And…”
Shukri avoided Ilshia’s gaze, fiddling with already-organized papers as he muttered:
“…Think of it as a date request.”
“Huh?”
Did I hear that wrong? Ilshia blinked. Shukri, pretending he hadn’t said anything, quickly changed the subject.
“Please get ready. I’ll bring you your outer clothes.”
Honestly… what a strange thing to say. Was that supposed to be a joke?
Still, Ilshia felt happy about going outside. However, as she had told Shukri, this wasn’t merely a casual outing.
The information about the slave traders that Hashar had provided—details only a Sultan could know—was extremely valuable. Among that information was also the suspected location of the auction building.
“Hashar said for sure that Devaris are being traded at that auction. Let’s at least confirm the location today.”
Ilshia had no intention of acting recklessly. But she couldn’t afford to wait too long. The more time passed, the more she worried about what kind of suffering the Devaris might endure.
Although Shukri and the Dekarim always shielded her to ensure she never got her hands dirty, that did not mean Ilshia lacked the abilities befitting the leader of assassins.
Ilshia stretched out her hand and examined her palm. Her sky-blue eyes turned cold as ice. Her small, pale hand bore calluses at every joint. For her, cutting down a grown man’s throat was no difficult task.
“Those slave traders… I will take their lives with my own hands.”
She clenched her fist tightly.
“Master, I’ve brought your clothes!”
At Shukri’s voice, Ilshia immediately smiled brightly as if nothing had happened and turned to him.
“Thank you, Shukri! I’ll change right away.”
There was no need to show him that side of herself. As Shukri and the Dekarim wished, it was better for her to pretend ignorance.
Small lies told for each other were always the most beautiful.
* * *
The bustling district at night was lively.
Voices of people, music, and even the cries of animals blended together into a noisy yet energizing atmosphere.
“Waaah…!”
Ilshia, her face wrapped tightly in cloth, let out a quiet exclamation.
Perhaps because of the Caliph’s arrival, the district was more crowded than before. Among the gathered crowd were many who appeared to be from other kingdoms.
Since Ilshia rarely had opportunities to go outside, she always found herself wandering curiously whenever she did. But now, there was so much to see that she didn’t even know where to begin.
As she drifted aimlessly, overwhelmed, Shukri took her hand and led her.
“The building suspected to be the auction house is this way.”
“Ah… okay…”
“Master?”
Ignoring him, Ilshia pointed toward a corner.
“Hey… can we take a quick look over there before going?”
Her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes made it hard to refuse. Shukri’s ears turned slightly red at her lively expression—fortunately hidden in the darkness.
“Just for a little while.”
He reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged along. Ilshia was brimming with excitement. Watching her, Shukri’s lips formed a faint, bittersweet smile.
‘I wish I could bring Master out more often.’
But it was impossible. Ilshia’s striking appearance made her easily recognizable.
No matter how much they protected her, the desert was a place where anything could happen at any time. Especially for women, it was a harsh place.
“Shukri, this! This!”
Whether she knew his thoughts or not, Ilshia called out enthusiastically. It was a street stall selling skewers of roasted lizards in various colors.
“Try this!”
Street food was typically made with inexpensive ingredients. Shukri subtly tried to refuse.
“Ladies usually don’t eat things like roasted lizard.”
But Ilshia was unmoved. She couldn’t take her eyes off the glistening skewers.
“So what? Let’s just have one each.”
Despite knowing she shouldn’t be eating such things, Shukri had already taken out his wallet and bought two skewers.
“Here.”
He handed one to Ilshia while holding one himself. Before he had even taken a closer look, she was already eager to eat.
Watching her struggle to eat under the veil, Shukri led her into a quiet alley.
Once there, Ilshia quickly lifted her veil and began happily eating.
“It’s delicious! It reminds me of the old days, doesn’t it?”
“Old days…?”
“When we were in the desert.”
“Ah…”
Unlike her cheerful tone, Shukri suddenly felt a lump in his throat. The chewy texture of the grilled lizard felt like biting into stone.
The “old days” she spoke of referred to the time before the Devaris settled in the Alshatra Empire.
That period had been their darkest age.
Shukri quietly recalled the past.
They had been driven into the desert with only a few dozen survivors, without any preparation…
A stateless people with nowhere to go, unable to trust anyone, unable to accept help—because revealing their identity as Devaris meant certain death.
They wandered aimlessly across the vast desert, stepping on scorching sand, catching and eating scorpions and lizards.
Even having something to eat was a luxury. Many days passed without food or water. Tormented by the heat of the day and the cold of the night, they gradually fell ill one by one.
Yet they were able to hold onto hope because of Ilshia.
She had been the only shining star in their darkest abyss.
“Snap out of it! Here… drink this.”
It was Ilshia who fed blood to the dying Devaris herself. She cared for each and every one of them, even as she herself grew weak and anemic, barely able to walk…
The former king had placed a child in Shukri’s care, but in truth, it was Shukri who was being protected.
“Please kill me! Just kill me instead!”
He had once begged her to kill him. If she used his body as food, he thought she could survive longer.
Perhaps he had simply wanted to escape the unbearable reality into the deepest darkness of death.
He just wanted to die.
“You promised to protect me. I won’t let you go.”
But unlike Shukri, who was drowning in despair, Ilshia never gave up—not on the Devaris, and not on herself.
“So drink.”
She shone brighter than any star in the desert night sky. She was the North Star guiding those lost in the nightmare of their fallen kingdom.
“Lady Ilshia…”
Even now, Shukri remembered clearly the words she had whispered while holding his hand:
“Survive. That is an order.”
Every Devaris clung desperately to that command.
And they survived.
Through scorching days that melted flesh and freezing desert nights, they endured.
On the night of the fullest moon, Ilshia’s coronation was held somewhere in the desert.
A crown woven from branches, a cloak stitched from tattered clothes—everything about the ceremony was pitiful.
With nothing to eat or drink, it resembled a funeral more than a celebration. Though she must have longed for fine clothes and beautiful ornaments like any girl her age, Ilshia showed no such desire and carried out the coronation with composure.
Among the Devaris, only those who accepted the fate of kingship possessed white skin.
When they saw Ilshia’s skin turn pale as she accepted that destiny, the Devaris clung to her and wept like children.
“Why is everyone crying at a coronation? This should be a time for joy… Don’t cry.”
Yet tears welled in Ilshia’s own eyes as she wiped theirs away. No matter how much she bit her lip to hold them back, she could not stop the tears from falling.
Shukri too wept—because of the sorrow of their people’s fate, and because he hated himself for placing such a burden on such a young girl.
When Ilshia wiped his tears, he had not offered congratulations. Instead, he had sworn through tears to serve her as a loyal dog for life.
That vow still held true.
“Shukri? Does it not taste good?”
Her clear voice pulled him out of his dark reverie.
“Ah…”
Ilshia looked at him with concern. Shukri shook his head to dispel his thoughts.
“It’s nothing.”
He stared at the lizard skewer in his hand, then ate it in a single bite.
“Shukri!”
Ilshia called his name in surprise, but he had already chewed and swallowed it.
Seeing him finish it in one go, Ilshia’s eyes widened—then curved into a smile. Her clear laughter rang out.
“Pfft, what was that!”
“….”
“Were you saving it because you felt it was too precious to eat?”
“It’s not that.”
Shukri did not speak of what he was thinking. Today, in this moment, was too happy to be clouded by sorrowful memories.
“Master.”
“Hmm?”
Shukri carefully wrapped her face again with the cloth, his movements gentle and full of affection. After adjusting it properly, he lingered for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh. Ilshia blinked in surprise at the unexpected sound.
Shukri looked into her sky-colored eyes. Those clear, pure eyes like a bright day sky made him feel grateful. Being by her side, able to talk like this—it was truly happiness.
Unable to contain the emotions swelling inside him, Shukri impulsively whispered:
“…Thank you.”
“??”
Ilshia tilted her head in confusion. Shukri repeated himself.
“Thank you… for being by my side.”
“Huh?”
She looked at him with puzzled eyes, her head tilted.
Thinking the skewer might have gone bad, she examined it carefully, but there was nothing wrong with it. Eventually, she asked:
“Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”
But Shukri could say no more. Even that much had been embarrassing enough. Instead of explaining, he gently pulled at her sleeve.
“We should head to our destination. We’ve already lost quite a bit of time.”
Acting suspiciously, Ilshia tried to question him further, but Shukri had already started walking ahead briskly. She hurried to follow.
Despite walking ahead, Shukri kept glancing back to make sure she was following well. Confirming that she was keeping up, he quietly wiped the corner of his eye without her noticing.
