34 – 34. Proposal

Before the castle gates.

Rianna stares blankly at the soldiers blocking her path.

The soldiers’ shoulders hunch at her gaze, colder than the northern wind, and they stealthily close their ranks.

Even with the gap closed, it’s as cold as a gale.

Finally, a savior appears to the soldiers enduring something indescribably fierce.

“Hah.”

The guardian of Malidian.

It was the arrival of Uldiran Caldius.

“A humble one has come to a noble place.”

“…….”

Rianna shows no reaction to Uldiran’s wordplay.

It may seem like Caldius is provoking her out of nowhere, but in truth, Rianna being here at all was a grave discourtesy to Caldius.

“The heiress of Helmont greets the Marcher Lord.”

Rianna bows with formality.

Her voice and expression were composed, yet strangely, those around her sensed a hint of anxiety.

“Surely the Marcher Lord has heard of the gravity of the situation.”

“Hmm.”

“Allow me to pass. Rianna Helmont, in the name of Helmont, will resolve this.”

“I refuse.”

Rianna’s demand, cut like a blade.

“I’m sorry, Helmuth, but you’ll have to go to the dungeons right this instant. We need to know why you’re here –”

And if the situation becomes more grave.

“Keep in mind, this could even lead to a military tribunal.”

The already heavy atmosphere grows even more ominous.

“The only place where the name Helmuth gets you pampered is in your extravagant manor.”

After that declaration, Uldiran’s spear slowly aims towards Rianna’s throat.

So close that a reach could skewer her neck with the spear.

Unwavering crimson eyes meet Uldiran’s gaze.

“I’ll take responsibility for the crime of disrupting the front lines. But I believe the situation must be resolved first.”

“That’s not for a prisoner to decide.”

“Marcher Lord, it’s no boast but I am Helmuth. I can reach the location and resolve the issue quicker than anyone here.”

“……”

“If we’re late, even the residents of nearby villages could be in danger. Please, let me go.”

“Helmuth, you’re hard of hearing.”

Uldiran clicked his tongue.

His spear tip didn’t even twitch at Rianna’s plea.

“I already said that it’s not for a prisoner to meddle. Helmuth, what you should be worrying about is what excuse you’ll come up with in the dungeon to stay alive.”

Rianna paused to catch her breath.

Her stoic expression began to melt.

“Marcher Lord.”

A faint tremble.

Not fear for the spear tip touching her throat.

But because beyond the ramparts, she fears the future she cannot reach in time.

“I humbly beg you.”

Not as Helmuth.

But as Rianna.

She slowly lowered herself to one knee and bowed her head.

“Please… allow me to go save my husband.”

A silence fell in that instant.

A hushed silence, even the north wind seemed to have died.

For Helmunt’s eldest daughter kneeling before Kaldias was a sight that would be talked about for ages.

“Who stands before me now, then?”

Yet, Uldiran, who should’ve been basking in the most superiority, frowned and questioned her.

“Just Rianna. As Isaac’s wife, Rianna.”

At the answer, the corners of Uldiran’s mouth stretched wide.

His smile, like a boisterous old man’s, and the relieved puffs of breath that escaped him, made him seem like he had a cheroot in his mouth, reveling in the moment.

“I’ve been mistaken all this time. You weren’t Helmunt’s eldest daughter before me.”

Uldiran chuckled, shaking his head and gripping his forehead with his palm.

“My woman always says northerners have no romance. Honestly, I never saw what use it was –.”

“……”

“Your kind of romance, might actually have some lessons to teach, it seems.”

The thick spear didn’t come down upon the kneeling Rianna, but instead, rose to the sky.

“Open the gates! Won’t a woman go to meet her lord and husband?!”

* * *

“Kyahhh!”

The crimson glow from the greatsword flickered and dimmed, making Sharen urgently turn his back.

“This is really too much now, for real!”

Behind Sharen’s fleeing figure, a viscous black swamp spread.

The shadow’s thralls spread deep and wide, engaging in an uncontested land grab.

Where they passed, no light could reach.

A scene that seemed as if a world without sun was being made.

Even Silverna, who stood the most firmly in the front line against the thralls, was starting to appear strained.

*Click.*

With clenched teeth, she swung a spear enveloped in white aura.

Her aura, swirling along the path of the spear, unleashed a burst of force that resembled a storm, but.

Like cutting through water, it only briefly recovered the color.

Before darkness would quickly engulf the area once more.

‘It’s not enough.’

She felt, down to her bones, that her aura couldn’t stop them.

Frankly spoken.

In this particular arena, Sharen’s descent was far more useful than her own.

‘Why am I, so… impotent?’

She was pushing her aura to its very limits, achieving leaps of progress, but it was happening now, of all times, which was a tragedy.

‘Enlightenment always comes too late.’

It felt as if all her insides were twisted into knots.

No one could point a finger at Sylverna.

Yet, Sylverna was the woman who would still blame herself.

‘If I had only focused more on training my aura…!’

“Sylverna!”

A shout that cut through the tangled mess of her thoughts.

She snapped her head around, her eyes finding Isaac, who had called her name.

“Don’t get consumed by your emotions!”

“……!”

It felt like a club had just smashed into the back of her head.

‘I almost made another mistake.’

She had almost repeated the very same error she made during the past snow incident.

Hadn’t she already experienced what happens when she gets caught up in her emotions, unable to make cold, clear decisions?

If Isaac hadn’t pinpointed it early, she would have stood here alone, wielding her spear until the darkness swallowed her whole.

‘You truly are–’

How can he know me so well?

To others, she probably looked like she was just swinging her spear.

But to Isaac, did he see something else?

It was more than simple sharp insight; something warm and unidentifiable settled in Sylverna’s chest.

He, too, was proof that Sylverna’s awakening was always a step behind.

“Retreat.”

She pulled on the reins, turning her horse.

If they had endured this long, reinforcements would soon be arriving from the Malidian Wall.

Join them, let’s find a way inside.

Shadow’s underlings, they trail.

Swimming, like in a vast pit, they stick to us.

From the starting point, that Andean village, everything they pass is fouled.

Nortemus’ shadow, it still pointed to Isaac.

“We can stop it, right?”

“If we can just break through the shadow’s lackeys guarding Nortemus. That’ll be enough.”

Call in the aura users, blast a path, then strike him down.

In the end, all the roots are Nortemus.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Hah! Hah!”

Silberna and Sharen’s faces, they looked grim.

They’d squeezed themselves to the limit, it was natural, but watching it stung Isaac.

‘What’s different from when I hurt my leg?’

It was infuriating.

So Isaac buried the feeling deep inside.

To move forward further.

“Huh?”

Just then.

A deep, fragrant scent rode on the wind.

Silberna thought it sudden, she was flustered.

But Isaac and Sharen, they straightened their backs, their grip on the reins tightened even more.

On top of the galloping warhorses, they gazed far.

There, a woman, alone, standing, holding a greatsword.

Long, red hair scattering, from the woman’s whole body, an intense, powerful red light started to burst out.

“Wow.”

Sharen, of the same house, was impressed.

“……!”

Silberna, the same age, she felt the gap between them.

And.

“Hah-.”

Isaac, ridiculously enough,

recalls a day from his woeful life,

a day he could never forget.

That day was like this too.

A wind carrying a rose fragrance out of nowhere, then-

[Let’s get married.]

Abruptly, a proposal came.

* * *

‘Let’s get married.’

Ridiculously, Rianna thought that day and now were quite alike.

To find Isaac.

With no context, no emotion, no romance.

Just like that day of the proposal.

“Sisssterrr!”

“Please, Rianna Helmundt.”

She remained silent, not responding to the greetings of two women riding by.

Finally.

After seeing Isaac pass by.

Rianna raised her greatsword.

The white bandages wrapped around the greatsword unraveled like scattering fabric in the crimson aura.

The crimson aura, which the sword couldn’t contain and scattered in every direction, made her recall the blow she thought Rianna could never wield again in her life.

[Huh?]

‘Let’s get married.’

Was he even pretending to be some ronin?

The twig he had been chewing fell from his mouth as Isaac made a dumbfounded expression.

[Isn’t it a bit sudden?]

‘Is it?’

[Yes, usually these things involve setting the mood a bit.]

‘Wasn’t it… a decent atmosphere?’

[We didn’t even say hello today.]

I felt a little wronged.

Each moment I looked at you.

At any time.

It makes me wonder if I was the only one who felt the atmosphere was good.

‘Do you not like it?’

I asked, trying to hide my unease, and a joking reply came back.

[Ah, it’s not that I don’t like it.]

‘Okay.’

[But won’t it be inconvenient for you?]

‘What?’

I thought it had something to do with my family, but it wasn’t that.

[I’m the one who’s supposed to row your boat.]

[Without me, how will you cross this river?]

I understand it now, but.

You were just trying to drag out the conversation because you were embarrassed.

‘Okay.’

My reply to that was the same as it is now.

High in the sky.

A greatsword raised.

Toward the crimson river reflecting the sunset.

‘I want you.’

I swing the most desperate strike of my life.

Everything in front of me.

Started to split apart.

* * *

The world of shadows was cleaved in two.

Just like the river that split in two that day.

She hid a smile within the rain-like torrent of the river.

To think he could say it so clumsily, that he no longer needed to row.

That’s why he was so endearing.

And that’s why I came to yearn for him.

‘Perhaps…’

No, definitely.

The reason I can’t let go of my sword.

It’s because I can’t forget that day’s proposal.

“No, no way…”

“W-wait, Unnie was *that* strong?!”

Just one swing.

And the darkness receded, light settling into the landscape, making the two gape in astonishment.

The very same reaction I’d had when I first witnessed it.

“I told you,”

I add, with a small laugh.

“I can… part the river.”