The Emperor Has Returned

The forest was densely filled with trees that were at least a hundred years old. There were so many trees that the sky looked like puzzle pieces.

The forest was called Fog Forest, and it truly deserved its name because the forest was humid with wet trees but with dry ground.

Juan was walking along the clean stone pavement, which was neatly laid out with nary a single gap. Juan’s relationship with the elves wasn’t exactly amicable, but Juan could still see that the elves had to have agonized over how they should welcome him.

“We’re surrounded by fog,” Winoa said, seemingly bothered.

Winoa and Juan were walking on a train without any fog, but they couldn’t see even a single gap in the fog around them, especially around the trees. Winoa was nervous that there could be an ambush behind the fog. It seemed that he was still nervous that Haranbal’s wedding was a trap.

“This fog is their line of defense. This is rather a polite way of opening the way to their residence. I heard that they usually send someone as a guide to greet people and make them walk in the fog.”

“Will we really be fine? There are only the two of us…”

Winoa looked behind him as if he still had lingering feelings. The road they had already passed was covered with white fog, but the troops they had left on the outskirts of the forest could enter at any time if they gave a signal.

“I told you that I could go alone, but you kept on whining, so I had no choice but to let you join.”

“That’s true, but…” Winoa groaned like a puppy. He didn’t say anything anymore as he followed Juan on high alert. Winoa was about to have a breakdown out of anxiety, but a group of people finally appeared in front of them.

They were the elves…

Winoa held the hilt of his weapon nervously, and the elves responded by gripping their bows tightly.

Juan raised his hand to stop Winoa. “We’ve arrived.”

However, Winoa was still on high alert while holding his spear.

At the sight, Juan explained calmly, “We’re already on the periphery of their residence, so we’re deep enough in the forest. If they had bad intentions, then they would have already ambushed us…”

”However, they’re carrying decorative bows with them rather than proper bows. It seems that they aren’t here to fight, are they?”

“No, they aren’t…” Winoa muttered.

Juan nodded and said, “Lower your spear, then.”

The elves’ decorative bows couldn’t even bend.

Winoa nodded and loosened his grip on his spear.

The elves seemed just as nervous as Winoa, so when Winoa withdrew his weapon, the elves hurriedly put down the decorative bows in their hands.

They hesitated for a moment, but the youngest-looking elf among them slowly approached Juan and said, “Are you His Majesty Juan Calberg Kennosis, the emperor of the empire?”

“I am.”

The elf looked like a young child, but he was certainly older than Juan.

However, Juan wasn’t the type to use honorifics on anyone unless they were a respectable opponent. It wasn’t a matter of status.

The elf nodded and politely guided Juan and Winoa.

“His Highness Aunkel is waiting for you. Please allow me to show you around.”

“Arunkel? Not Haranbal?”

The elf nodded. “Haranbal is His Highness Aunkel’s daughter. He wanted to meet Your Majesty first.”

Winoa looked at Juan, and Juan simply shrugged. “It’s just right to meet the bride and the groom’s parents first at a wedding. Don’t you think so?”

***

The wedding’s atmosphere was solemn and mellow. It wasn’t as festive as the weddings of humans.

The elves were busy chatting beneath the somber tent set up in the open space surrounded by tall trees. Young elves were moving back and forth between the elves at the tent while carrying plates of food.

Spirits were flying around to spray powders of light, but there was no splendor.

However, the rowdy open space went silent the moment Juan appeared.

Everyone was looking at Juan—the new divine of the continent, a god–eating monster, or perhaps a different type of god. The person in those rumors was standing in front of them.

Juan calmly walked beneath the elves’ gazes.

Winoa followed Juan’s back, but he looked stiff, obviously nervous.

Juan sensed that the elves were staring at him in frustration, curiosity, and fear.

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“Winoa. If you’re going to be so nervous, you should walk a bit further away from me. You’re making me nervous, too.”

“I never thought that Your Majesty could get nervous.”

“I’m so nervous that I feel like breaking down.”

At that moment, the young elf leading the way came to a halt. Then, one of the elves who had been quietly talking under the tent soon rose from his seat. The elf was a long-haired man whose hair was a mixture of gray and gold.

He was dressed so modestly that he could not be distinguished from other elves.

Although it was strange to compare a person to a plant, Juan thought that the man looked like a weeping willow. The elf man stepped barefoot onto the grass and approached Juan.

He reached out with his hand and smiled before saying, “Your Majesty, Juan Calberg. Thank you for coming this far to visit us.”

“Your Highness Aunkel.”

Juan responded by politely bowing and receiving Aunkel’s hand.

Even among humans, many people respected Aunkel. It had been a while since he was last active, but the legends he had left throughout the continent remained the subject of the many knights’ admiration.

Aunkel had saved many cities and towns, and the stories of his feat could still be heard and read in many songs and records. It wouldn’t be strange if he were a member of Aruntal. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to join officially because he was an elf royalty.

“I have heard a lot about Your Highness’s legend. Someone who had raised me—and who is like a sister to me—had once told me that I should be a great man like Your Highness,” Juan said.

“Those are stories from a distant past. Compared to Your Majesty’s achievements, what I have achieved is like a candle in front of the sun.”

Neither of them was talking out of modesty.

Juan and Aunkel truly respected each other.

Aunkel glanced at Winoa standing behind Juan.

Aunkel smiled upon seeing the nervous Winoa and said, “It seems like your attendant is a bit nervous. I promise that there’s nothing to be worried about here. The people here are acquaintances of mine and Haranbal’s. No one has any weapons except those in charge of security.”

“It seems like they don’t really need weapons.”

Juan could tell from a single glance that the elves here possessed extraordinary battle prowess. Elves were masters of more than just one or two weapons because of their long lifespan. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that many of the elves here were on the same level as the empire’s elite knights.

Aunkel smiled awkwardly as if he could not help it. “Haranbal’s interpersonal relationship seems to be somewhat biased. The same is true of me as well.”

“Where’s Haranbal?” Juan asked.

“She’s this way.”

Juan followed Aunkel to one of the largest and most beautiful tents surrounding the open space. Aunkel carefully rolled up the veil hanging at the entrance.

Haranbal was just beyond the veil.

Juan momentarily felt out of breath.

Haranbal was breathtakingly beautiful in her white wedding dress decorated with all kinds of rare jewels. The sunlight leaking from the ceiling also made her seem as if she was shining brilliantly.

Haranbal’s fancy but natural appearance reminded Juan of a lily in full bloom. It was a type of beauty beyond humanity’s reach. Juan looked at Haranbal in admiration. He felt like he was witnessing the meaning of pure beauty itself.

“I think it’s my first time meeting you in a dress, Your Majesty.”

Haranbal smiled and elegantly bowed.

She was using honorifics, perhaps due to the special occasion.

Winoa started coughing from the side. Winoa had been holding his breath until Haranbal opened her mouth. He looked back and forth between Haranbal and Juan in disbelief.

“Is she really Haranbal? Is she really that Haranbal—who used to look like a member of a gang?”

“You shouldn’t be saying that in front of a bride on her wedding day,” Juan said and kicked Winoa’s foot.

Winoa abruptly closed his mouth.

Haranbal smiled and pointed to the seat on the right. It was the seat for the bride’s closest guests, and it was the nearest seat to Aunkel.

“We have prepared the most special seat for Your Majesty.”

Juan glanced at the seat, but he didn’t take a seat. He looked around in silence and sighed. The individual he was looking for couldn’t be found, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Where’s the groom, Haranbal?”

“The groom hasn’t been decided yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re choosing the groom today. When the groom is chosen, the wedding will be held the next morning.”

Juan grew curious at Haranbal’s answer.

Juan was aware that that wasn’t how elves would get married.

This type of wedding was closer to weddings between humans who were members of the nobility. It was a type of wedding that would allow humans to obtain power through marriage and establish alliances through blood ties.

In fact, the term for this type of wedding had already been coined long ago.

“So you’re selecting a spouse for the royal family.”

There was no reason for an elf with high status and capability like Haranbal to select a spouse to gain more power for the royal family. Aunkel also wasn’t the type of person to force his daughter into marrying someone for more power.

If Haranbal liked someone, she could simply do the first move and propose.

In other words, this only meant one thing…

“I believe you’ll participate until the end, Your Majesty.”

Juan realized that he had fallen into a trap, but it was a different kind of trap than what he had in mind.

***

“Your Majesty has to participate in the groom search?”

“It seems that Haranbal’s intentions are indeed like that.”

Juan sat in the seat Haranbal had assigned to him on the right side of the tent and stared at the flames burning in the middle of the open space.

Winoa glared at Haranbal, but he kept on zoning out while doing so. It seemed that Haranbal was beautiful enough to make any ordinary humans fall into a daze while looking at her.

Winoa coughed and whispered to Juan, “But when Miss Elaine finds out…”

“I’m going to tell her about it anyway, and I highly doubt she’ll care.”

Juan recalled Elaine, who should be waiting for him in Torra. Of course, Elaine had also met Haranbal before. He didn’t know what Haranbal thought of Elaine, but Elaine had never thought of Haranbal as her rival.

It was all because Elaine believed that Haranbal was no match for her, and Elaine was right.

The rule of the spouse selection was simple—the strongest would win the bride.

The elves were currently fighting each other in a one-on-one duel out in the open space, and the first one to lose their weapons or become incapacitated would lose.

Most of the challengers were men, but there were a few women as well. They were young and capable elves, but the duel wasn’t very fierce. It was more like a gladiatorial exhibition than a duel.

Winoa tilted his head in wonder and muttered, “Hmm. From what I have seen so far, I feel like I can win if I step up.”

“You’re a married man with a child, Winoa.”

“I-it’s not that I want to be the groom! I just thought that I could win, that’s all!”

“Don’t get your hopes up. It seems that the groom has already been decided.”

Juan quietly examined the elves’ prowess. None of the elves so far had fought with all their might, and none of them kept on winning as well.

Juan figured that someone would eventually step up to end this gladiatorial exhibition.

“By the way, is there any reason why Haranbal thinks Your Majesty will participate in the selection process? Your Majesty could have simply rejected it as well.”

“We’ll see what happens,” replied Juan. Afterward, he glanced at Haranbal.

However, Haranbal only smiled ambiguously at him without saying anything. Elves had good hearing, which meant that she was probably listening to Juan’s conversation with Winoa.

At that moment, a gray-haired elf stepped out into the open space. His entrance was grandiose because he kicked off the ground and landed on the open space. The slender and tall elf with gray hair looked much older than Aunkel, Haranbal’s father.

The young female elf standing in front of him humbly bent down, and powerful energy suddenly pervaded the open space. The energy was so powerful that it made Winoa instinctively flinch.

The sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard throughout the open space as the white-haired elf and the gray-haired elf exchanged moves.

They swung their swords so quickly that the spectators couldn’t catch up to their movements. The spectators were aware that the two were still fighting because of the loud noise of metal clashing against metal.

Their attacks sent sparks flying everywhere.

For a short moment, a spark could be seen in the young female elf’s eyes.

The young female elf flinched, and the gray-haired elf took advantage of that opportunity to strike the back of the young female elf’s hand with his sword.

The young female elf lost her sword, and the murderous intent which had pervaded the open space vanished in the proverbial blink of an eye.

Winoa couldn’t help but admire the gray-haired elf’s control over his murderous intent. It was such a thick murderous intent as well—as if the gray-haired elf had been standing in front of the person who had murdered his parents rather than in front of a young elf.

Winoa clapped with the spectators.

“He is amazing. He looks quite old, though. It doesn’t look like he came out to be selected as the groom. Is it a scripted performance to make the actual groom look better?”

Juan didn’t answer.

Another elf walked over to the gray-haired elf.

The second duel quickly started.

Haranbal leaned toward Juan and said, “That man’s name is Berinsil.”

“What a peculiar name.”

“Well, it’s a very old name...”

The elves’ naming sense was unique, but their predecessors had much stranger names. Haranbal and Aunkel’s names were relatively ordinary.

Juan had never heard of Berinsil’s name before, but he seemed to be a powerful man among the elves.

When Haranbal mentioned Berinsil, Juan deduced that Berinsil was the main character of this play. As expected, Berinsil was expertly beating up the challengers without much difficulty. After beating another challenger, Berinsil glared at Haranbal with fiery eyes.

Haranbal gracefully stared at him without saying anything.

“He seems to be a bit too old to be your groom.”

“Do you really think that elves care about the age gap?”

“The age gap seems to be too huge, even though you’re an elf. I bet that man saw the rise and collapse of at least two or maybe even three kingdoms.”

Haranbal chuckled. Then, she whispered into Juan’s ears. “Why don’t you save me from the clutches of a greedy and disgusting old man, then?”

Juan looked at Haranbal in silence.

However, Haranbal was still smiling.

“This is an overly cheap and childish way to get me involved.”

“Well, many people are fans of cliched fairytales.”

‘A young warrior saving the princess from being forced to marry an evil villain, huh.’

It was indeed a suitable role for Juan. After all, he was both a hero and a warrior. It was a story that most people liked as well, but Haranbal made a mistake.

“The warrior might not necessarily marry the princess.”

“Are you even willing to be a warrior?”

Juan knew that Haranbal would actually marry Berinsil for real just to guilt trip Juan.

Haranbal was trying to manipulate Juan, but Juan could see her desperation.

“How much weight do I have in your life, Juan?”

Haranbal quietly reached out with her hand and pointed at Juan’s fingertip.

“Do I have at least this much space inside your heart?”

Juan grabbed Haranbal’s fingertip. At the end of her thin finger was a thick callus that formed after pulling the bowstring too often.

She had saved Juan’s life many times before with her callused fingers, and she had also stayed next to him as a comrade for a long time.

There was a heavy bond between Juan and Haranbal.

“How could I not make a space for you in my heart, Haranbal?” Juan whispered, “I couldn’t even fill your gap after you left. I have always been feeling empty because I left a space for you in one corner of my heart. Cold and dry winds are blowing through the gap you left in my heart.”

Juan fiddled with Haranbal’s finger, but he soon let her go.

Haranbal’s hand remained suspended in the air.

Meanwhile, Berinsil had just defeated the last remaining challenger.

Every participating elf had already been defeated aside from Berinsil, but Berinsil didn’t seem to be tired at all.

At this rate, Berinsil would truly become Haranbal’s groom.

“Moreover, you’re more suitable for the role of the female knight who will save the prince rather than the role of the princess in distress.”

Juan stood up and started walking toward the open space.