Chapter 165
She was someone whose body had always been terribly weak.
When he last saw her in the previous autumn, she had visibly recovered her health, but there was no guarantee that nothing had happened in the meantime.
He soothed his burning insides with strong wine.
“Your Grace!”
How long had he stood there, facing the cold wind blowing from the mountains?
A familiar voice came from afar.
Varkas turned his head and narrowed his eyes when he saw Edrick Lubon riding slowly across the mountain valley.
The man passed through the checkpoint and approached the wooden palisade, then raised his head and shouted in his uniquely cheerful voice.
“Congratulations on your victory, Your Grace. Thanks to you, the imperial army should be able to occupy Balto’s central region with ease.”
“What is the current situation of the imperial troops?”
“The main force has passed through the southern plain and has now arrived right before Amasek, the rebel army’s base. At this rate, we should be able to capture Blodar Keep, where Duke Heimdal is entrenched, within three or four months.”
He took another sip of wine and lightly gestured to the knight with his chin.
“Come inside. I have one errand for you.”
The man, looking up at him with curious eyes, dismounted from his saddle and entered through the gate.
Varkas stepped down the watchtower stairs and gestured for the man to follow him.
The man led his horse after him and asked,
“What task are you trying to give me?”
“Go to the capital and deliver one letter.”
Varkas spoke calmly as he passed through the resting cavalry warriors of House Siarkan and entered the tent.
The man stopped at the doorway and showed a dissatisfied expression.
“Another letter? Everyone seems to think I’m some kind of messenger.”
“It is a letter to be delivered to His Majesty the Emperor. I cannot entrust it to just anyone.”
Varkas answered halfheartedly and pulled out a chair in front of the desk set up inside the military tent.
The knight tied his horse in front of the tent and entered, scratching the back of his head as he grumbled.
“The main force must have already sent a war report. Is there any reason Your Grace needs to send a separate report?”
“What I intend to send is not something like a war report.”
Varkas spread out a clean sheet of parchment, fixed it with a paperweight, and picked up a quill.
“I intend to request that His Majesty propose talks to the northern Noble Alliance.”
Edrick frowned as if he could not understand.
“Isn’t this a war we have nearly won? Is there any reason His Majesty must reach out first at this point?”
“It is precisely because it is this point that he must reach out first.”
He dipped the pen in ink and added while writing the letter in elegant handwriting.
“If he does not intend to wipe out the Balto people entirely, the best course is to show mercy while holding the advantage. If he proposes that only the ringleaders of the treason will be punished and the rest will be overlooked, everyone will turn their backs on House Heimdal on their own.”
“But if traitors are forgiven so easily, the dignity of the Empire may be damaged. Other lords may harbor rebellious intent later...”
“If the war drags on, resentment toward the Empire will only grow. The northerners have already witnessed their castles and lands being dyed with blood by the imperial army. If mercy is not shown at this point, they will remain enemies of the Empire forever.”
After finishing the letter in no time, Varkas melted red wax and poured it over the envelope.
Edrick Lubon, who had been quietly watching that sight, rubbed the nape of his neck and let out a sigh.
“I understand what you mean. But the day His Highness the Crown Prince learns of this, there will be chaos. Even now, he is raging about wiping out all the traitors...”
“That is why it would be better for His Highness the Crown Prince not to know.”
Varkas stamped the letter with his seal and handed it to the man.
Only then did Edrick Lubon realize that he had been given the role of delivering a secret letter behind the commander-in-chief of the imperial army’s back, and his face turned pale.
He spoke as if groaning.
“You know I am already out of favor with His Highness the Crown Prince, don’t you? You could send a messenger of House Siarkan, so why specifically me...”
“In a time like this, if a messenger of the grand ducal house moves, eyes from every direction will follow. But it is perfectly natural for a member of the guard to meet His Majesty. This meeting must appear to be entirely His Majesty’s intention.”
The knight, unable to find anything to refute, only opened and closed his lips, then accepted the letter with a reluctant face.
A heavy sigh flowed from his mouth.
“If the day comes when I am forced out of the knight order because I can no longer withstand His Highness the Crown Prince’s pressure, Your Grace must take me in.”
Varkas gave no answer and gestured with his chin as if telling him to leave.
Then the man, who had been pouting, suddenly gave a mischievous smile.
“Fine. If Your Grace the Grand Duke has no intention of taking me in, I will ask Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
This time, Varkas, who had been preparing a new letter to send to the vassals, stopped and turned to look at him.
The man shrugged and added,
“When I met her before, she said she would use me as her guard knight if I ever had nowhere to go.”
“Hah, how long ago was that?”
Varkas shook his head as if dumbfounded.
“To take something said in passing literally... You are more naive than you look.”
“She said it was not empty talk.”
The man replied indignantly.
“It was only two months ago. Perhaps she thought my situation, carrying letters here and there, looked pitiful, because she asked whether I would rather become her guard...”
“You met my wife two months ago?”
The man, who had been babbling fearlessly, flinched and stiffened his shoulders.
After watching Varkas’s reaction for a moment, he muttered as if making an excuse.
“I had to visit Kalmor before because of the matter of requisitioning technicians, didn’t I? I just happened to run into her then.”
“How exactly did you happen to run into my wife, who stays only inside the castle?”
At the interrogating question, an aggrieved look appeared on the man’s face.
He retorted as if dumbfounded.
“Who says she only stays inside the castle? Do you think that is possible when she has a wolf the size of a stallion with her? It seemed she came outside the castle almost every day because of that fellow. I ran into her in the field south of Raedgo Castle.”
Varkas narrowed his brow.
Come to think of it, he remembered receiving a letter from her about four months ago, asking permission to go outside with the wolf.
He had permitted it on the condition that she take a large escort with her.
In truth, he had not wanted to let her take even a single step outside the castle, but he had not been able to ignore the first letter she had ever sent him.
“I thought it would be only one or two outings to change her mood...”
Feeling his nerves sharpen, he pressed hard against his temple, and then he felt Edrick Lubon staring at him.
He shot him a sharp gaze.
“What?”
“No... I just thought it was impressive that you permitted her to raise a magical beast.”
He was about to reply that he had never exactly permitted it, but closed his mouth.
It was no different from tacitly allowing it.
He leaned his shoulders against the back of the chair and swept his hair back somewhat roughly.
When he first received the report that she had begun raising a direwolf cub, he had intended to deal with it immediately.
No matter how young, a magical beast was still a magical beast.
He had not the slightest intention of placing such a dangerous creature beside her.
However, the moment he saw her holding the small beast in her arms and basking in the summer sunlight, he had no choice but to turn away without a word.
Because the woman who had always looked tormented after losing the child was smiling as if happy.
When he recalled the bitter sensation he had felt at seeing that sight, a bitter taste rose in his throat.
Because he was gone, she really had become all right.
Varkas turned that fact over again and asked, hiding his bitterness,
“Did my wife look healthy?”
“She looked very well.”
Edrick said brightly.
“I do not remember ever seeing her look so full of life even when she lived in the Imperial Palace. It seemed certain that the magical beast is making her happy.”
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