/
IWRYWYM Ch. 122 — The Citizens of the Empire
“No. The marquis has given a strict order.” Even as he bent with the momentum of crashing his head into the ground, Decal didn’t intend to open the blocked road. “That’s probably because he didn’t know if something like today would happen. Why don’t you go and ask? He will definitely agree.”
Eight out of ten would back down if the name of the marquis were mentioned, but there were one or two who didn’t. And this was such a time.
“The marquis said that there should never be any interruption. I’m also more comfortable letting the nobles in than blocking them. Still, I’m doing this because I could be associated with the rebel group on charges of almost harming the 2nd Consort in case of a problem. I won’t be safe if that happens either.”
Some people would back down upon hearing the word rebellion, but of course, not all were like that.
“Do you know who I am?!”
Whether it was the first time or the last time, Decal was at a loss as to why the aristocrats, who considered themselves so noble, kept coming to him to find the meaning of their existence, but what could he do?
“I’m sorry, I can do nothing for you.” His answer hadn’t changed. Staring at the man returning with a huff, he thought it was fortunate that he didn’t have to rush to pick up Sir Rohan like last night.
Decal was about to go inside when he suddenly stopped walking and turned around.
This mansion, officially known as the residence of the 2nd Consort, belonged to the upper gentry even within the central city, with a fairly large garden surrounding it. Instead of stone walls, the outside was surrounded by closely spaced, black-painted iron bars. The horizontal side of the two-meter-high iron bar had a long layer of wavy iron decoration, creating a sense of stability with its grid pattern.
It wasn’t just this mansion, but all the other mansions around it were similar in shape, so one could check if anything was disturbing by looking around so lightly.
“Hmm.”
Why did my spine get cold when there was nothing? But Decal didn’t think long and walked inside the front door of the same color and material that had made the middle of the iron bars. He thought it was one of them because he had often read the signs given by those who were sent to check the mansion’s trends.
Although the sky was clear and cloudless, the area around the mansion began to darken.
***
The Santiano Empire was where the change of seasons was clear enough to feel. The beautiful country and richness of the land made people easily indulge in pleasure.
The rich aroma of wine and greasy snacks loosened the disposition of those living on the land. So if one thought those people could be satisfied with the fact that they were not hungry when the luxuries they had enjoyed were reduced from three to one due to a terrible drought with poorer quality, one was wrong.
“My tongue is going to rot. You brought this for me to drink?”
Clank-kang!
The thrown glass shattered on the floor, and the wine inside spilled onto the white marble floor. And right after, a lavishly dressed middle-aged woman raised her hand and slapped the handmaid standing in front of her on the cheek.
“Ahh!”
No one around thought of supporting the maid who had fallen to the floor. Everyone was terrified of the middle-aged woman.
Then a young man approached the attendants. With his cream-colored hair and purple eyes, he approached, and the ladies-in-waiting looked relieved.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, you’ve arrived.” As the maid of honor bent her back, the other maids stepped back and cleared the way.
The man casually walking into the space stood before the middle-aged woman and smiled. “My beautiful mother. What else do you not like?”
“Prince, listen to me. They tried to humiliate me by serving that low-grade wine to the guests I invited to dinner today. This mother is going to die of upset.”
The crying woman was Sophia, the empress of the Santiano Empire. Ishmael didn’t bother pointing out that what had upset her wasn’t the wine but the fact that her husband and his father, the emperor, had a new lover. Instead…
“Doesn’t the wine that Mother enjoys come from the Heron Group, which has its headquarters in the Atien Empire? Currently, the situation is not good due to the recent rebellion in the Atien Empire, so the supply of wine has been delayed. Mother, please understand with an open heart.”
He comforted her.
“But…”
“Mother, there are good wines from the Kran Kingdom, even if not as good as those brought in from Atien. How about serving it to your guests today? Everyone knows that you have an excellent sense of taste, so if you recommend it, everyone will believe it and drink it. It’s not the famous wine, but you’re choosing the wine that will become famous.”
The sadness on Sophia’s face faded.
“Oh, yes, my son. How can our prince be so smart? What you said sounds good, too.”
Finally, Sophia smiled and wrapped her arms around Ishmael’s shoulders. Ishmael gently accepted his mother’s hand, then escorted her into the Empress’s Palace.
“I just dropped by.”
“You have a lot to deal with, right? Don’t worry about this mother and go quickly.” Sophia waved her hand, and Ishmael gently bent his eyes and went outside.
“You’ll be late for the meeting.” When Teo, the aide waiting outside the Empress’s Palace, spoke, Ishmael checked the time. It had taken longer than he had expected.
“It can’t be helped. Mother was so heartbroken. No matter how busy I am, I must make time for her.” Ishmael continued, brushing his long, wavy, cream-colored hair to the side. “Doesn’t she really look like a girl at that age? Because her heart is so fragile, even though His Majesty makes her sick of himself, she can’t let go of his hand and keep getting hurt.”
Teo, the aide, knew that without the crown prince, many of the ladies-in-waiting would have died today in the Empress’s Palace, so he couldn’t find words to answer. And he had decided to remain silent because he knew that in the eyes of the crown prince, the empress would only look like that.
“Is this meeting about the future trend of the Atien Empire, which had successfully subjugated the Western Rebellion?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Teo showed a cautious expression as he constantly looked at the prince he served. Because when the story of Atien came to mind, it was not about that powerful country and the three men who represented it but about a woman. The woman the crown prince cared about the most these days.
Currently, she was the most famous in the Paracion Continent and was considered the best summoner in history. Unlike knights and mages, she brought out the spirits hidden in mystery into reality, and the amount she’d done with them…
The biggest reason was that her contract spirit was Undine, a low-level water spirit. How could she achieve merits with such a spirit?
But in other words, that was also why she was called the best summoner and not the strongest summoner, even after changing the continent’s landscape.
In addition, many people talked about her, but the summoners were silent, arousing people’s doubts about her.
Were the rumors about her from the Atien Empire really true? The number of people who raised suspicions increased as much as her popularity.
“What about the 2nd Consort of the empire? Still staying in the central city where Duke Verdin resided?”
“Yes, they say she hasn’t woken up yet.”
“That’s a big deal.”
The purple eyes narrowed. Even though he had sent his envoy to the Atien Empire and invited the 2nd Consort through a letter, the situation became embarrassing because this happened while he still hadn’t received an answer. What if the 2nd Consort of the Atien Empire died?
“Celestine.”
When he called, Celestine, his supreme wind spirit, appeared. In the shape of a huge wolf, it rose from its summoner’s feet and lifted its head.
Ishmael brushed the muzzle that was already touching his chest. The energy that touched his fingertips was definitely different from before.
“Ha…”
Sigh leaked from the lips as red as the eyes. This wolf had beaten many rivals and placed him in the crown prince’s seat, and was now a noble being known as the protector of the empire.
It didn’t matter if he didn’t prove this wolf’s worth. Just by his name alone, the highest spirit of the wind, many people worshiped Ishmael.
But now? A comparison target that had never existed before, and the opponent was still unfolding a history similar to his with a low-level spirit. Was this for real?
“Not all rumors are false, but how many of them are true?” It was a tone that seemed to say that there was a lot of propaganda from the Atien Empire.
“Do you really think so?”
Teo was speechless as Ishmael looked at him. As much as he was paying all his attention to the Atien Empire and not to anyone else, he knew that what he just said was nothing more than comfort. For a moment, he’d forgotten that the other person was a target that should not be recklessly comforted.
“No. My apologies, Your Highness.”
Ishmael did not comment further as if he had known Teo’s regret. Instead…
“What happened to the matter of finding other summoners?”
“The number is so small, and there aren’t many known people. But it seems certain that everyone is going through a similar situation.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Otherwise, wouldn’t those arrogant people be able to answer right away?”
“Including Count Rondine of the Phenomin Kingdom?”
“Wouldn’t she be interested in this? If her spirit is Elestra, the water spirit of the highest rank and not an intermediate one, as Your Highness had felt during the previous meeting.”
That’s right. There was a reason she was hiding it. It seemed that she even hid the fact that she was a top-ranked summoner, thinking it was her card to use at an important time… But now that things were like this, she must be going crazy.
“Our spirits are losing their power, so why is the 2nd Consort of the Atien Empire the only exception?”
And she even showed tremendous power that could not be seen in lower-ranked spirit, Undine.
“I will have to check it out. You will find the answer soon.” Teo, the prince’s closest aide, said. This was no consolation. It was a fact that it must be so.
“You should.” After answering, Ishmael moved to the conference hall, where Cicero, the crown prince’s knight commander, approached.
“Your Highness, it is said that the snakes moved some time ago.”
“Where?” Ishmael, who sent Celestine back, asked back.
“… To the Verdin Duchy of the Atien Empire.”
The purple eyes widened.