Chapter 84

Elise met Rezette’s gaze, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. He’s probably mad at me for being careless. It’s happened more than once. Rezette’s intense stare bore into her, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. Elise’s voice, low and measured, broke the tense silence.

“Do you know how scary it is when you get angry?”

“You’re scared?”

Before she could comprehend his words, his hand descended abruptly to her waist. A cry escaped Elise as the merciless pressure aggravated the bruises already mottling her skin. Tears welled up, stinging her eyes. Yet, the restraint that typically held him back seemed to linger, a realization that Rezette conveyed with a grim smile.

“I don’t think so, at least not now.”

Confusion etched Elise’s features.

“Have you ever been afraid of me? Only once, as far as I can remember, the first time you took me inside you.”

A surge of discomfort washed over her, and she swallowed hard.

“How would you know…?”

“I do, so don’t lie to me.” Rezette’s fingers gently cupped Elise’s cheeks, his lips pressing against her pale forehead. “No matter how much you hide it, I can see it.”

“It’s true…” Elise insisted.

“I just told you not to lie to me, Elise.”

His tone carried a weight of seriousness.

Elise closed her eyes, attempting to shield her agitation. Her heart thundered against her chest, each beat threatening to fracture her bones. What would he make of this relentless pounding, refusing to subside?

Or was he already detecting a sense of deceit?

I don’t think he’s noticed Barnon yet, or he’d have caught him long ago.

In that case, she couldn’t help but wonder.

“…What if I’m wasting your time?”

“I have plenty of time.”

“Are you planning to stay here for days?” Elise questioned.

“No,” replied Rezette. “I’m revisiting the farmhouse tonight. There are aspects of this place that continue to puzzle me.”

With those words, Elise felt her heart, once pounding painfully against her breastbone, plummet to her feet.

“Will we leave by dawn?”

“Yes. We’ll wrap up before dawn, so by tomorrow morning, we’ll be ready to cross the river again.”

“So we’re heading back to the castle, then?”

“Yes.”

His tone was icy, causing Elise’s shoulders to slump involuntarily. Even if he wasn’t afraid, there was an undeniable tension in the air.

Ruben, Isaac, and the knights would already be outside, meticulously scrutinizing the peasants one by one.

But Barnon wasn’t one to act recklessly; he was a seasoned knight who had led Argan’s army for years, confronting barbarians with unwavering resolve. If he allowed Elise into this plan without hesitation, there had to be a reason, even if it meant risking his life.

So, we only have tonight.

Determined not to squander this chance, Elise knew she couldn’t afford any missteps. Somehow, she would bide her time until Rezette departed, leaving her alone to establish contact.

There was only one course of action available.

That evening, Elise forced a meal down her throat and retired to bed earlier than usual.

Despite her alert mind, her body easily succumbed to the weariness of a day spent riding horses and being drenched in the river. Elise, aware that she couldn’t deceive Rezette’s keen gaze by pretending to be asleep, yielded to slumber without resistance.

As anticipated, when Elise awoke, her side lay empty.

Drawing back the covers and pushing herself up gingerly, she detected a faint rustling emanating from the corner of the room. The noise was accompanied by the rhythmic banging against an object.

Across from the exit door, another door stood with its curtains half-drawn. The source of the sound was beyond it.

Elise, intrigued, moved toward the noise. She nudged the nightstand that obstructed the door slightly and gripped the doorknob with a trembling hand.

The slender doorway creaked open, revealing the newest addition to the company. A shiver ran down Elise’s spine as she recognized the dark gray hair atop his head.

“Barnon…” she whispered.

It marked the first time she’d stood face to face with him since he appeared in disguise as a boatman. A surge of emotions swept over her, her heart swelling, and her eyes burning as she gazed into his dark green eyes, a blend of concern, joy, and nervous anticipation reflected in them.

The other man, now finally seeing her face, mirrored equal agitation. His breath faltered through the doorway.

“…Your Grace.” His throat tightened, and Elise endeavored to steady her breathing.

“Be… brief. There’s no time for manners.”

“…Elizabeth.”

Barnon’s gaze bore into her anxiously. He had been the first to witness her, alive or dead, since the burning of the Imperial City of Argan the previous winter. The cherished hope of all Arganians, the one they had sought relentlessly, lay before him, swallowed up by the snow.

“Are you all right? You were injured when you fell into the water earlier.”

Barnon clutched the door, his eyes drifting over Elise’s face, hesitating to scrutinize the princess’s form.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. I’ve been fine all this time.”

“The rumors have reached the south. That you’re carrying the child of a beast worse than that.”

“No, not yet.” Elise barely managed to shake her head.

“Not yet? Elizabeth, you can’t possibly….” Barnon grimaced. “Did he, the Archduke of Rotiara,… force you?”

“Not that, and not that it matters.”

“Elise, that’s more important than anything else…!”

“Barnon, there’s no time.”

Elise anxiously scanned her surroundings. If Rezette discovered this clandestine meeting, she wouldn’t be able to foretell his future, let alone her own. There was no time for a protracted explanation.

“First of all, what happened to you? I didn’t expect to find you so close to Rotiara. I had only heard that your brother was cut off on his way north.”

“My mission was to find you, and, of course, I had to come up to the borders of Rotiara. I went to great lengths to disguise myself as an ordinary peasant from the north.”

Barnon jokingly remarked that it wasn’t easy to mask the inherent dignity of a stranger, and suddenly, he looked like the Barnon Conrad Elise knew.

“I didn’t realize it was so cold up north,” Barnon said.

“That’s why your face is so flushed.”

Elise swallowed the lump in her throat. Like Barnon, she had left the ruins behind and survived as best she could. And perhaps…

Maybe….

“Barnon, do you have something to tell me? Actually, I have something I want to ask you, too, I suppose… the same thing.”

“…Yes.” 

As Barnon confirmed, an odd sense of relief slowly washed over her. And now, in this moment, the determination in his eyes. A voice with a resolute core. The unmistakable pride in their country.

Every sign pointed to one thing.

“His Majesty is alive.” Duke Conrad’s face radiated conviction as he conveyed the news of his master’s survival. “Our Emperor… my friend and your other half lives, Elizabeth.”

A tear silently rolled down Elise’s pale cheek.

She had believed that the least she could do for her brother, who had perished at the hands of the barbarians in her stead, was to erect a tombstone. But no. It felt as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs. 

Surely, this couldn’t all be a dream.

“His Majesty has sent a message.”

Elise struggled to straighten her back, sensing this was not just a warning or a request from her brother; it carried a message from the master of Argan.

“‘My dear sister.’” Barnon’s voice resonated, overlaying his brother’s raspy tone. “‘I know you have come to me, if only for a moment, as I have sought you in my dreams.'”

“…Also, the magic I first inscribed in you acts as a conduit to tear our destinies apart and put them back together again. What was once one was split in two, and we were born with something taken from each other. In the end, I left you the spell for fear that it would lead you to your death.'”

“Now that you’re away from my mindless draining of your magic, you’re healthier than you’ve ever been, so I understand if you’re shaken by the comfort of the nest that now surrounds you.'”

At that moment, Elise halted her sobbing.

Andrei remained Andrei, the one who knew her best in this world. The half of her that could decipher his weak, foolish sister’s anguish as if it were second nature, even from a distance.

“But, Elizabeth, think of the things you and I have to protect.”

Elise’s trembling gradually subsided as the calm voice continued.

“Consider the lives of our people exploited by the barbarians, contemplate how the soldiers of our allies have been torn apart by the right arm of the man you have chosen to be your husband.”

“…I know, I know.”

“You are capable of many things, as I have always told you. So come back to me. This time, I’ll give you everything I have. It’s your turn to reclaim everything I’ve ever taken from you, Elise.”

That was the final utterance. Andrei’s words echoed silently through Barnon’s mouth. Elise wiped the back of her hand across her face, now damp with tears.

“…You don’t have to sound so pleading, Andrei.” She smiled wryly. With the assurance that her brother was alive, everything else seemed trivial. Her priorities were crystal clear.

I must go south, even if it means facing death on the way.

If Andrei could communicate with her through dreams, she could do the same. The magic stemming from his unwavering will intertwined like golden threads between Elise’s fingers.

Hope, a small bud, unfurled alarmingly fast, blooming into full vibrancy. Before long, Barnon’s face was streaked with tears.

But the reprieve was short-lived. Lingering beneath the open window were long shadows.

Rezette and his knights were returning.