The Emperor Has Returned

The North would snow for at least half a year, so winter was the subject of both love and hatred in the North.

Winter was the northerner’s most feared enemy and grave, but it was also a shield and cradle. It was common to see northerners walking around with their tops off in the Capital of the empire, even in the middle of winter.

For such a reason, there was a popular rumor about how northerners were numb to cold or they had been blessed by winter, but this wasn’t the case.

The rate of incidence was less frequent than in the other regions, but the northerners could also catch a cold. After all, they were human beings. The northerners would dress up properly in the North but wore thin clothing in the other regions during winter to boast their resistance to cold.

It was a popular bluff that the winter in the North was cold beyond imagination.

However, there were times when even the cold-hardened northerners would lock their doors and only stay indoors.

Those times were whenever the Winter Duke was about to visit.

An old man with pale eyes and stooped posture wearing the biggest cape in the world around his shoulder would apparently visit the North. The old man’s cape was so long that it was measured by days rather than inches.

It took six days to measure the distance from the Winter Duke’s shoulder to the end of his cape. The Winter Duke dragged his cape while patrolling his territory, and then he would return to his land in the North, where spring could never arrive.

During the Winter Duke’s visit, he would sweep past the entire North. The Winter Duke’s visit only lasted for six days in a year, but everything in the North would freeze during those six days, which was a phenomenon called the Winter Duke’s Cape.

The cycle wasn’t exactly accurate, but the cold would always subside whenever the Winter Duke’s Cape disappeared.

Northerners would plan their year accordingly because there was a huge chance that even their strongest warriors would get lost in a snowstorm if they wandered around recklessly during those six days.

Therefore, Ivy Isildin couldn’t help but doubt her ears when someone knocked on her door. It was only three days into the Winter Duke’s Cape. At first, Ivy thought that it had to have been the wind. After all, the only possible visitor she could have these days would be the Winter Duke.

However, Ivy Isildin was once a saintess, so she didn’t really believe in the legend of the Winter Duke.

Knock! Knock!

However, it seemed that the cold outside had become corporeal. The knocking was too loud and clear for it to be a mere illusion.

“Who, who is it?”

No one answered. Ivy grabbed her spear anxiously. The windows were boarded up, so she didn’t have to worry about someone breaking in through the windows.

Honestly, she highly doubted that there was someone outside her door. The Winter Duke’s Cape wasn’t just a severe cold. It brought about it a cold that was too intense that even white bears would freeze, and it had long been terrorizing the northerners.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The knock didn’t stop.

Ivy was frightened, but she thought that she should open her door just in case.

‘What if someone got cast away, and they came across my cabin? What if they’re asking for help from their severe injuries?’

Ivy wouldn’t have such thoughts if she had been born in the North. The Northerners would never step outside during the Winter Duke’s Cape sweeping the North unless they were wearing a rope tied to their house.

It was all because getting lost in the wild in the middle of the Winter Duke’s Cape meant freezing to death in the proverbial blink of an eye.

However, it had only been six months since Ivy started living in the North. Despite the countless warnings she had heard before she settled in the North, Ivy went against those warnings and decided to open the door.

‘There could be a poor wanderer out there in desperate need of help.’

Ivy couldn’t be blamed for having such thoughts.

After all, it was very shocking to even the northerners that there was someone knocking on the door during this period. Most northerners would have covered their ears, started praying, and nailed their doors shut if they were in Ivy’s shoes.

Ivy carefully unlocked the door and opened it slightly. A gust of cold wind squeezed through the small gap in the door.

Ivy felt a burning pain on her face, even though the wind was cold.

Ivy tried to close the door because of the unexpected pain, but the individual outside the door quickly grabbed the handle of the door.

The stranger hurriedly squeezed in through the gap and shut the door.

“I made it!” The stranger was a child in northern winter clothing. The child was wearing all kinds of animal furs, and only her eyes could be seen. Ivy wouldn’t have known that the child was a girl if she didn’t hear her voice.

The girl hurriedly shook off the snow from all over her. Just like any other ordinary house in the North, there was a space at the entrance dedicated to shaking off the snow on one’s body.

The girl shook off all the snow and started taking off her jacket, coat, hat, scarf, boots, mask, gloves, and all sorts of clothes. It was only after throwing off her clothes like peeling an onion and hanging them in the doorway that the girl could finally be seen.

The girl looked like a white cyclamen.

Many northerners called cyclamen a winter flower. They were huge fans of the flower because of its tough vitality. The girl was as lively and vivid as a cyclamen sprouting in the middle of winter.

“Thank you so much! No one opened the door for me for the past three days!”

The girl’s words didn’t make sense in Ivy’s ears.

‘This girl was outside the whole time while the Winter Duke’s Cape was sweeping past the North? How is she still alive? No, how does she still have so much energy?’

“I thought I’d have to stay outside for six days wearing those clothes. I don’t really like wearing them because they’re hot and stuffy!”

Ivy found it strange and surreal.

‘Who the heck is this girl?’

“What’s your name? My name is Nimeria Nelben.”

‘Nelben?’

Ivy inadvertently looked up and stared at the girl’s hair. A silver-haired general immediately came to her mind—she was the woman who once ruled the North and devoted her entire life fighting the Crack.

In the end, she finally disappeared beyond the Crack.

Most of the imperial people remembered her as the emperor’s eldest daughter, but she was more famous in the North because of her other titles—the daughter of the Winter Duke and the ruler of the North.

Ivy could only think of one question upon looking at the girl with hair and eyes resembling Nienna Nelben.

“What’s your relationship with General Nienna Nelben?”

Ivy found it strange that she was asking such a question. Nelben was not a family name but the name of the area where Nienna was found. Nienna’s relatives had died in her hands when the Crack encroached on them.

Nienna also hadn’t left any children. In addition, it had only been five years since Nienna disappeared beyond the Crack, so there was no way that the girl in front of Ivy was related to Nienna.

“She’s my mother.”

At the unexpected answer, Ivy collapsed to the floor. The spear helplessly slipped out of her hand as well. Ivy doubted the girl, but Nienna’s image kept on coming to her mind whenever she glanced at Nimeria’s hair.

“Do you know my mother?”

“...Of course I do. Everyone knows her.”

“Wow, as expected… Mother did say that she was a very famous person. She had told me that everyone would keep on asking me about her because everyone knew her. She told me not to tell anyone that she’s my mother to avoid being bothered, but I guess she was right.”

“I suppose so…” Ivy finally realized that she still hadn’t told Nimeria her own name. “Anyway, my name is Ivy Isildin. Have you ever heard of me?”

Nimeria frowned. She looked troubled as she tried her best to remember Nimeria groaned and agonized for a long time. Eventually, she carefully observed Ivy’s expression and said, “I think I’ve heard of you.”

“...I mean, well. I wasn’t very important, anyway…”

Ivy wasn’t disappointed at all despite Nimeria’s efforts to avoid hurting her. After all, Ivy wasn’t really close to Nienna. The only time they truly interacted was when Nienna rooted for Ivy when she took part in the Western expedition.

Ivy staggered up and started preparing to properly welcome her strange visitor. In the meantime, she made a decision to think of more useful questions she should ask her visitor.

***

Nimeria was staring intently at the spear on the floor when Ivy came back with some tea and snacks.

The spear was taller than her, but Nimeria seemed like she would have no issues handling the spear. Ivy had no choice but to believe that Nimeria was Nienna’s daughter. It seemed that the daughter had taken after her mother.

“This is a unique spear. It is entirely made out of iron, but it’s not heavy at all. In addition, the core material is unknown. Honestly, it looks like a big awl rather than a spear,” said Nimeria.

Ivy couldn’t afford to answer Nimeria. She decided to ask the most important question she had come up with while preparing their snacks and tea.

“Has General Nienna returned?”

‘Then, has His Majesty…’

Ivy wanted to ask about Juan, but she was ashamed of herself, so she couldn’t quite bring herself to ask such a question. Moreover, the mistakes she had committed back then were still haunting her.

As far as Ivy knew, Nienna had certainly disappeared beyond the Crack. If her daughter had come from the Crack, it meant that the others could return as well.

“No, Mother hasn’t come back. Grandfather allowed no one else but me to come here.”

‘Grandfather? Who’s that?’

There was a rumor in the North that Nienna was the daughter of the legendary Winter Duke. In other words, Nimeria’s grandfather was the Winter Duke.

‘The blood relative of an ancient existence with an unknown history, huh…’

“...How is General Nienna doing? What about the warriors of the Northern Amy that crossed over the Crack together with her?” Ivy asked.

“As always, my mother is still doing what she likes...”

Ivy couldn’t help but wonder what Nienna liked to do. As far as she could remember, Nienna had no other hobbies other than killing monsters from the Crack.

However, Ivy suddenly recalled that there were a ton of monsters in the Crack.

“So she’s still alive, even beyond the Crack…”

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Ivy had heard about the final showdown, and she thought that it would be wishful thinking to say that Nienna was still alive, even beyond the Crack. After all, it wasn’t a hospitable world for humans, thanks to the countless hostile creatures living there.

“The Crack?” Nimeria asked, seemingly curious. However, she soon understood what Ivy was talking about as she repeatedly nodded. “You’re talking about the gap in the world, right? The Crack is just a gap. There is a huge world beyond the gap. Naturally, my mother has enough space to stay in that huge world.”

Nimeria smiled and continued. “However, I heard that it was a barren land when she first arrived. But… um, many people offered to help her at the time.”

“Help?”

“The Thornbush Priest Organization wasn’t the only organization that felt Qzatquizail’s awakening. If Qzatquizail truly awakened, then a cosmic disaster would have transpired. Many people had gathered to stop it—including my grandfather.”

Ivy was disturbed by Nimeria’s horrible story.

Hearing Qzatquizail’s name alone made Ivy feel a shiver down her spine.

“No one knows who it was that played a critical role in stopping Qzatquizail from awakening, but—anyway, it seems that my mother is respected in this world as well, not just in that world. She’s currently living well and is having fun with her life.”

Ivy was relieved to hear that there was a hospitable world for humans beyond the Crack. After all, the many people who had disappeared into the Crack had always been one of the empire’s debt to the people they had left behind.

In addition, Ivy felt like she could finally let go of a burden.

Upon letting it go, Ivy started seeing other things.