The Emperor Has Returned

“It’s such a relief that General Nienna is still alive. I remember hearing that she’s very picky when it comes to choosing men. Did she manage to find a good husband? I thought she was a bit too old to have a child, but I’m glad to see that you’re healthy. Come to think of it, how did you even get here? You’re so young, but you’ve already left your mother’s side…”

Ivy’s questions poured out like a waterfall after she was convinced that Nimeria was Nienna’s child.

Nimeria seemed perplexed by Ivy’s questions.

“Um… actually, my mother wasn’t as sad as you think when she sent me here. She has twelve more children aside from me, after all.”

“...Did you say twelve children?”

“Yes.”

Ivy was momentarily confused. Nimeria looked like a child around the age of ten years old, no matter how much she stared at Nimeria. Considering that it was only five years ago when Nienna disappeared beyond the Crack, Nimeria’s age didn’t make sense.

‘And she even has thirteen kids in total?’

“My mother has been quite… motivated to make a family ever since she crossed over the gap of the world,” Nimeria said.

“What about your father?”

“I have more fathers than siblings, so I don’t know their names. She also has a few wives as well.”

‘She has so many husbands that her children don’t even know their names, and she even has wives?’

Ivy wrapped her hand around her head and decided to bring this matter to the grave.

“...Nimeria, perhaps it’s for the best that you don’t talk about General Nienna to other people.”

Ivy found it a bit worrying, but she understood Nimeria’s story since she was a Westerner. However, the northerners would definitely faint once they heard stories about what Nienna was up to.

Nimeria nodded as if she understood.

Ivy figured that Nienna definitely seemed strange, even in Nimeria’s eyes.

‘I think it’s too much to have as many husbands as my mother. So, I’m planning to have only three husbands.’

Ivy remained silent. She contemplated if she should teach Nimeria common sense or morals, but it didn’t seem like Nimeria lacked manners or knowledge. Compared to Nienna, Nimeria was gentler and more polite.

This meant that she was well educated despite living in a barren world.

‘Then, I guess there is no need for me to give her unnecessary advice.’

Ivy thought of Nienna as a more respectable person compared to herself, anyway.

“What brings you here?” Ivy asked.

“I’m ten years old now, so it’s about time I have to start adulting.”

Ivy was speechless.

“My mother said that she became the leader of her tribe when she was only ten years old, so she said that we should also do something big. You know, something like preventing the end of the world or becoming a king of a country… grandfather also just told me that the time has come.”

Ivy seriously considered taking back her thought that everything Nienna had been doing had to have a deep meaning behind them.

Nimeria looked serious.

At the sight, Ivy wondered what would happen if Nimeria appeared in the empire after the Winter Duke’s Cape.

***

Nimeria stayed at Ivy’s place throughout the end of the Winter Duke’s Cape.

The freezing cold didn’t seem to bother Nimeria that much, but she chose to stay in the house and behave after she almost got buried alive in the falling snow. Ivy wondered how Nimeria managed to make it to this cabin for three entire days on her own.

“My grandfather must have been watching over me.”

“Are you talking about the Winter Duke?”

The day after the Winter Duke’s Cape ended, Nimeria stopped swinging a spear in the snowy yard upon hearing Ivy’s question.

“I don’t know if Winter Duke… is the title referring to my grandfather, but the others used to call him Frozen Star.”

“But he must have a real name...”

“My mother did call him a bastard quite often.”

“...Let’s just call him Winter Duke, then.”

Nimeria shrugged. “It’s very rare to see my grandfather in person. He doesn’t get along with my mother very well either.”

With that being said, Nimeria began to swing the spear again. Her movements had gotten much more elaborate and precise. Nimeria had been playing around with the spear indoors throughout her stay in the cabin during the Winter Duke’s Cape.

She seemed quite pleased with the spear.

“Do you like that spear?” Ivy asked.

Nimeria shook Ivy’s spear around with wonder as if she was curious.

“I like it because it’s perfectly balanced and light in weight. It’s strong, and it seems to have magical power. I feel like the previous owner of this spear was no ordinary human.”

“Is that so? I suppose you’re right, but I don’t know much about that,” Ivy replied feebly, “I found it while searching through the ruins of the Walls of Nulvin. I brought it with me because it was light and it seemed easy to use. I’ve been digging up the ruins of the Walls of Nulvin with a team of investigators to research the traces of that time. We recover corpses and search for traces of the missing. Their possibility of survival is very low, but still…”

Ivy smiled at Nimeria.

“I’m glad to hear that one of the missing people is still alive and in good health. She even has twelve children. You can keep the spear if you like it. I’m pretty sure that one of your mother’s subordinates used that spear long ago.”

“Really? I think this spear is better than my mother’s Oberon.”

‘Is it that good of a spear?’

Ivy was surprised to hear that the weapon she had been keeping for self-defense was better than Nienna’s magic weapon. As far as she was concerned, Oberon was a powerful weapon capable of almost killing Dismas Dilver, the emperor’s third son.

Ivy wondered if it would be okay to leave such a powerful weapon in Nimeria’s hands, but she was once again reminded that Nimeria was Nienna’s daughter.

“It’s fine, you can keep it. It will be better for you to keep that powerful weapon because you can actually use it, unlike me. Besides, I still have many other weapons that I can use here.”

Ivy retrieved a sparkler covered with black coals from the stove. It was once a holy sword used by the Templars, but it had become nothing more than just an ordinary sword after the power of the emperor was exhausted.

“That sword doesn’t seem like an ordinary sword either. It must have been crafted with great care.”

“You think so?”

It looked dirty, but Nimeria immediately recognized that it was a very strong weapon.

The sword was also one of the objects that Ivy had found in the ruins of the Walls of Nulvin. There was no way that the weapons of a Temple Order would be in such a remote area, but Ivy knew of one knight who had taken his holy sword to the Walls of Nulvin—the knight who was once the captain of the emperor’s Imperial Guards.

It was actually unknown if the sword actually belonged to that knight, but it was Ivy’s educated guess.

“I’m using it as a sparkler because I don’t have one. I’m planning on sending it to Torra and having it melted when spring comes since the empire owns it. The empire won’t have to use any weapons for the time being as long as the current emperor doesn’t start kicking up a fuss.”

“Hm, is that so?” Nimeria tilted her head. All of a sudden, her new spear caught her attention, and she stared at it intently. “Its name is apparently Solvane.”

Ivy revealed a complicated look and asked, “Solvane?”

“Yes, the spear told me that its name is Solvane.”

Ivy’s expression became even stranger. There were often people who spoke nonsense about how they could speak to their armor or weapon. Perhaps Nimeria was one of those people.

In addition, Ivy had never heard of magical weapons that could speak despite containing Spirits like Oberon.

“That’s unusual. I know someone who has the same last name, but she doesn’t wield the spear.”

“Oh, really?” Nimeria nodded as if she weren’t very interested. Ivy wondered if Nimeria was joking about the spear telling her its name.

However, Nimeria seemed like she wasn’t the type to make jokes.

Nimeria swung the spear, carving a long arc in the air. The spearhead shone yellow, and it started heating up. It became so hot that the snow melted along the arc that the spear had drawn, which rained down and formed a puddle of water.

Ivy flinched and stepped back. She was standing near the door and was a bit distant from Nimeria, but she could still feel the heat from all the way here. Nimeria looked at the spearhead and nodded, seemingly satisfied.

The spear cooled down.

“This is all that it’s got at the moment, but it’s still pretty useful.”

“...Are you going to be fine?” Ivy asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Nimeria asked back.

Ivy didn’t bother asking if Nimeria could handle the cold like Nienna.

However, Nimeria had never shown that she could handle the cold.

Nienna could handle the cold because of magic, blessings, and armor. Nimeria wasn’t the daughter of the Winter Duke, and she had neither blessings nor the appropriate armor, so she couldn’t have inherited the ability to resist the cold.

In the end, Ivy said something that was a bit off. “Don’t you think your mother will feel uncomfortable?”

Nimeria’s eyes widened at the unexpected question, but she quickly burst into laughter.

“My mother has always told me that children should try their best to overcome their parents. She said that parents are objects of respect, but they are also the children’s very first obstacles.”

Ivy suddenly remembered a certain someone. She recalled Gerard, the adopted son who resembled the emperor more than anyone else. He had a father that he respected from the bottom of his heart, but he had never managed to overcome.

‘I wonder what his thoughts were after he made the decision to destroy the world just to overcome His Majesty.’

Ivy couldn’t help but think about what meaning the emperor’s children still had in this world. After all, they weren’t really related to each other.

‘And I wonder what General Nienna thought when she pushed her brother to death?’

Ivy thought that Nienna could have simply felt exhilarated because Nienna was Nienna.

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Listening to Nimeria, it seemed that Nienna hadn’t changed that much despite going beyond the Crack.

However, the fact that Nienna had thirteen children made Ivy think that her children had definitely changed her life. Ivy felt that she could finally somewhat understand Nienna’s reasoning about why she still hadn’t returned to the empire.

The empire wasn’t just a battlefield. It was also a tomb to Nienna, who had been fighting since she was old enough to hold a sword. After defeating the Crack that she despised a lot, Nienna could finally live her life as a human being rather than as a mere weapon.

“I see,” Ivy answered with much difficulty.

Nimeria grinned and turned toward the South.

The sky was finally clear after the Winter Duke’s Cape. Ivy realized that Nimeria was about to leave. A midwinter trip was something even the northerners wouldn’t want to do, but it wouldn’t be a huge problem for Nimeria.

“Where are you going?” Ivy asked.

“There’s someone I’d like to visit first. My mother said that he is the only person she respects and admires, but I have never met him before.”

Ivy thought about the identity of the individual that Nienna respected and admired, but only one person came to mind.

Ivy thought that it couldn’t be him, but she also wondered why it couldn’t be him.

Ivy had a burning question, and it appeared when Nimeria visited her.

‘Will His Majesty return one day?’

However, Ivy decided not to say anything. The world would bow down at His Majesty’s return, just like a few years ago when he woke up in the South and started taking down the empire.

There was a chance that he had already returned, but if that was the case, then why was the world so quiet? There could only be one answer—it was His Majesty’s will.

“Once you meet him…” Ivy gulped and asked Nimeria for a favor. “Can you tell him that there’s someone who has always been praying for him?”

Ivy wasn’t a real Saintess, but she had always been sincere whenever she prayed for him. However, there was someone else who prayed for him much more earnestly than her.

Nimeria vigorously nodded.

The Winter Duke’s Cape had just swept across the North, and the North was now racing toward the end of winter. There were many places in the North with snow even in the middle of summer, but life in those places was as strong as the North’s climate.

Among them, winter flowers were bound to flourish first. The winter flowers started approaching the South while carrying a brand-new spring in their arms.

-The End-